Elnin Anatomy Guide

Do you have an elnin to design but you're not sure how to proceed? This is just the place for you! Here are visual guides as well as some text-based checklists that you can follow to avoid common pitfalls.

Standard Proportions

• Overall a standard elnin's body shape should be "boxy". Be sure to check if your elnin's body to leg ratio one to one (1:1) / like a square.
• For Adult elnin their head to body ratio is two to one (2:1). That means when looking at an elnin their head should be able to fit into their body about two times.

Baby Elnin

• Kittoms (baby elnin) differ from adults in quite a few ways:
  • Their head to body ratio is one to one (1:1). When looking at a kittom their head should be able to fit into their body about one time.
  • The horns are flat and round, like water droplets.
  • Their ears are smaller, being the same length as the head, and closer to equilateral triangles rather than elongated triangles.
  • The hair is only a small tuft, and should not pass the eyes in length.
  • Kittom tails are always 0MP, which means they should be very small, half the size of their already small body!

Proportion Mutations

• If the elnin's body shape is rectangular it has a mutation that changes their standard proportions.
  • Slinky elnins have longer spines. The maximum length of a slinky elnin should be just a bit over half the body length longer.
  • Munchkin elnins have shorter legs. Munchkin legs are around half the length of a standard elnin's leg.
  • Slinky and Munchkin mutations can stack to have a very long elnin with short legs.
• Note: The Munchkin mutation does not make an elnin any smaller (just shorter).

Size Mutations

• Size mutations directly scale up or down an elnin's overall size (with a few optional styling tweaks for flavor). Generally you would still follow all the standard proportional rules for things like head to body ratio, ear sizes, hair, and ear fluff length, etc.
• Elfin elnins have a slightly smaller body than average.
  • Optional: Elfin elnins can lean toward more delicate kittom-like features.
• Dire elnins are larger than standard elnin.
  • Optional: Dire elnins often have a somewhat bulkier physique and bigger paws. They can be more muscular than your average elnin.

Body Shapes

• Standard elnins tend to stay around the same relative shape and size (ratio wise) but can still vary by being somewhat more muscular/round/slender etc.

Body Fluff

• Elnin fur is very dense and plush. It tends to be uniformly fluffy though, and doesn't stick out around the body unless there are certain types of fluff related mutations. There are a few xceptions where a standard elnin's fluff can stick out however. All of these areas can exhibit clumps of fluff!
  
  • The ears
  • The cheeks (keep fluff smaller than the size of the eye)
  • The lower chest area
• Mutations that grant extra fluff:
  • Facial Fluff (Such as extra fluffy cheeks/general cheek fluff larger than the size of the eyes - mini guide in mutation entry)
  • Spinal Ridge
  • Maned
  • Pantaloons
  • Leggy Fluff

Standard Shapes & Positioning

• Elnin ears should be plush, fluffy, and tipped with a tuft of fur that flares outward.
  • Aside from that feel free to stylize. (See examples above: pomtuft, squishy, onion, fluffsploded, plush stuffed, hidden inner fluff)
  • Be careful that the tuft of fur at the end of an elnin's ear flares outward as many mutations impact this aspect of the ear.
• Elnin ears do not have a very wide range of motion and should be positioned with the inner ear facing off to the side and the whole ear itself facing back directionally.
  • If an elnin's ears face forward and sit more upright they have a mutation!
• Standard adult elnin ears tend to be shaped more like isosceles triangles (with two sides of equal length/roughly the width of an elnin's head) and a shorter side near the base of the ear.
• Kittom ears tend to be shaped more like equilateral triangles (all sides about the same size) with the ear shape drawn around that.

Standard Size

• The length of an adult elnin's ears are roughly the size of the width of their head.
• Standard adult elnin ears should minimally be longer than the width of their head and at maximum shorter than two head widths.

Shape Mutations

• The pointed ear mutation ends in a smooth point near the tip of the ear, lacking the notable tuft of fur near the tip that flares outward.
• The rounded ear mutation has a bit of fluff on the end but a notable curve on the tip to add the characteristic rounded shape.
• The lop ear mutation impacts how an elnin's ears sit, causing them to rest downward and to the sides of the head.
• The upright / forward facing ear mutation allows an elnin's ears to sit upright with the centers of the ears facing forward rather than off to the sides of their head. Unlike other ear mutations this mutation can appear pointed at the same time without having the pointed mutation present.
• Ear mutations that do not conflict can be stacked. (For example petite upright forward facing ears can appear much like a cat's. If you were to add the lop eared and rounded ear mutations you could get a folded cat ear or floppy puppy dog ear depending on how you style the art.

Size Mutations

• Petite elnin ears are ears that are smaller than the width of an elnin's head.
• Oversized elnin ears are larger than standard elnin ears, about two head width's long on the smaller side and four head width's long at their largest.

Structure & Qualities

• Elnin hair and fur is surprisingly similar in structure to their horns.
• Strands (mana filaments) are formed with two parts, an outer covering and an inner chamber:
  • The outer covering is considered a specialized form of containment shell, similar to the type of lamina that covers elnin horns. The surface of this casing lamina is almost perfectly smooth, which means that elnin hair does not tangle or catch on shrubbery while traveling like normal hair typically would.
  • The inner chamber within each strand of hair/fur acts as a tiny conduit of energy. This is why elnin hair and fur lengths are tied so closely to their innate mana pool. When an elnin is "wearing" their hair or tail at full size, they are essentially letting their mana breathe and circulate freely.
• Elnin hair, ear fluff, and tail size can grow to whatever length their innate manapool allows for, it never grows any longer than this (see the lengths section in hair). However, it is possible for an elnin to suppress or otherwise regulate the manaflow in their own bodies to "shrink" or "shorten" their tails or shorten their hair for convinience.
  • The act of shortening their hair, ear fluff, or tail size is similar in effort to a person taking very deep, slow breaths. The elnin does this by pulling their circulating mana closer to their bodies, which in turn causes the hair or tail lamina to break down since they are empty. Empty lamina will naturally disintigrate into sparkling motes of light before vanishing entirely.
• Elnin hair is grounded, generally adhering to gravity on Eyre. If an elnin's hair does not appear grounded it's likely to have a mutation!

Lengths & Size

• Hair and ear fluff lengths as well as tail size correlate directly to the amount of mana an elnin has attributed to those lengths. The graphic above shows how mana points (MP) corresponds with hair and ear fluff lengths (for info on tail sizes see the "Tails" section lower down on this page.)
  • 0MP - An elnin's hair and ear fluff stops at about jaw length and no longer.
  • 1MP - Hair and ear fluff sits somewhere between jaw length and ends just past an elnin's shoulders and roughly around their elbows.
  • 3MP - The length of hair and ear fluff drape down just past an elnin's elbows and drags on the ground slightly past their paws at the longest.
  • 4MP - Hair and ear fluff can be seen dragging significantly along the ground when let down.
• Remember to factor in how hairstyles can influence the length of appearance. Hairstyles should be visually clear if they are bunned up or an additional reference may be required for clarification on hair lengths.
  • Hair length appears reduced when braided or curled. Visually strands that are braided or elnin hair that is naturally curly will be shorter than typical straighter or unstyled strands of hair.

Mutations

• If your elnin's hair is not grounded and appears to float they have the featherlight hair mutation. Hair with this mutation is highly reactive to ambient energies and has a tendency to float in a cloud of invisible currents as though it is under water. This quality shows best in longer strands of hair.
• When an elnin has the celestial shroud mutation their mana filaments are constantly phasing through various densities, or dissolving entirely to release small amounts of surface mana into the air. Normally this appearance only happens for a short moment when an elnin is conciously changing the length of their hair, and is generally not a sustainable effect. However, some elnins exhibit this visually striking state of flux at all times.

Lore

• It is not possible to cut and keep elnin hair under normal circumstances. If cut, which in itself is extremely difficult to do, the lamina and its contained mana will simply disperse into the air. It is wearying for an elnin to experience this because they actually lose the energy contained within the removed lamina and must rest for a period of time before the lost mana is recovered naturally.
  • There are specialized tools that can cut and preserve elnin hair and its contained mana, but it is highly taboo because it's seen as keeping part of an elnin's soul or life blood. This type of hair cutting for magical use carries innately negative implications. Any person looking to acquire elnin hair for spellwork would need to see out seedy contraband dealers or other such back-ally merchants.

Qualities & Placement

• Anima makes up an elnin's horns, eyes, skeleton, and paw pads.
  • These four parts of an elnin should generally be the same color unless a mutation or glamour is present.
• In general anima has a gummy like quality to it.

Eyes

• Elnin can change their pupils into simple shapes at will.
  • Examples of acceptable simple shapes include hearts, squares, diamonds, circles, etc.
  • Shapes like swords, trees, shells, snowflakes, kitty faces, etc. are far too complex and would not be acceptable pupil shapes.
• Elnin pupils should be either white, black, or a lighter/slightly darker shade of the the eye color.

Horns

• Standard adult elnin horns are roughly about the size of their eyes. They can be slightly thinner or more round but never particularly large or without points.
  • Kittom horns are round and flat with a flatter droplet like quality to them. Upon touch they are still squishy though much like an adult elnin's
• Elnin horn tips should be pointed upright and not be slanted too far forward.
  • If the tips of the horns point forward or off to the sides the elnin likely has a mutation of some kind.
• Horns have a glossy and semi-transparent surface. Many tiny bubbles can be seen suspended inside. Bubbles should be present in all standard elnin horns giving them a gummy like quality! If bubbles are not present then it implies an elnin may have the Opaque Horns mutation.

Horn Glamours

• Horn glamours (previously called phasma horns) are available to all adult elnin, but don't have to be shown
• Standard horn glamours should match an elnin's anima color. If a horn glamour differs from an elnin's anima color it would be a non-standard enchantment of some kind.
• They follow a guide based on the rank. (Click on the guide image below to see a larger version!)

Skeleton

• Elnin skeletons match their anima color.
• Mutations that impact anima in general can also impact an elnin's skeleton, though this is not very noticable for the most part.

Toe Beans

• Elnin toe beans should match an elnin's anima color with a gummy quality.
• All elnin have the ability to glamour their toe beans to be any color, however when a glamour is in place an elnin's toe beans will be matte and not have the glossy gummy like quality to them.
• Elnin can have either 3 or 4 toes on each paw and one thumb nub (on each of their front paws).

Styles

• Elnin have a variety of tail styles.
  • 0MP - No tail!
  • 1MP - Marsh, Meadow, Warren, and Steppe
  • 3MP - Glade, Canopy, Lagoon, Grove
  • 4MP - Welkin, Zephyr, Shoal
    • Subtype Elnin Only: Whip, Flare, Bulb
  • 5MP - Overwild (Aquatic), Overwild (Furred)
• Common Tail Style pitfalls:
  • Shoal tail end fin fluff is vertical (like a shark) and not horizontal (like a whale).
  • Marsh tail fluff is consistently the same length down the whole tail and has a rounded tip.
• The visual guides below can be used to cross check your sizing.

Sizes

• Elongated tail styles (ones that are not Warren or Canopy) follow these rules of thumb for sizing:
  • 0MP (Miniature) - Generally a kittom sized tail on an adult elnin body. About half an elnin's body length or smaller! ( < 1/2 )
  • 1MP (Standard) - Typically about a half a body length to two body lengths. ( 1/2 - 2 )
  • 3MP (Infused) - Usually about two to three body lengths ( 2 - 3 )
  • 4MP (Giga) - Three body lengths or longer. Currently there is no upper limit, however if pushed too extreme we may be required to implement one. Fluff responsibly! ( 3 < )

• Rounder tail styles (like Warren and Canopy) follow these rules of thumb for sizing:
  • 0MP (Miniature) - Generally a kittom sized tail on an adult elnin body. About half an elnin's body length or smaller! ( < 1/2 )
  • 1MP (Standard) - Typically about a half a body length to one body lengths. ( 1/2 - 1 )
  • 3MP (Infused) - Usually about one to two body lengths ( 1 - 2 )
  • 4MP (Giga) - Two body lengths or longer. Currently there is no upper limit, however if pushed too extreme (aga) we may be required to implement one. ( 3 < )

General Crown Info

Crowns are considered an additional horn decoration. Unlike horn glamours, they cannot be changed. Crowns can be displayed with horn glamours, without horn glamours, or hidden entirely.

Styles

• Not all elnin have crowns, however when they do they can come in a variety of styles.
  • 0MP - No crown, Eldritch crown
  • 1MP - Classic Diadem, Classic Fractal, Classic Sigil
  • 3MP - Infused Diadem, Infused Fractal, Infused Sigil, Trinket
  • 4MP - Cloudlet, Fairy Orb, Fauna, Flora, Spellform, Treasure, Witchlight
  • 2MP / 4MP / 5MP - Compound Crowns

• Elnin insides are typically a red / pink fleshy hue.
• Elnin skeletons are made of anima (as covered in the anima section above)
• Elnin teeth are small with pointed canines. 
  • Note: Prominent Canines are a mutation, so please avoid fangs / long canines if you do not have it!
• The inside of an elnin's mouth is naturally pink hue and should not normally match the anima color.
• If an elnin has the Mana Saturated mutation then their fleshy insides will match their anima color or a very close hue. This is typically easiest to see by looking at the elnin's mouth and tongue color.

Elnin can have a variety of markings! For the most part there are not that many restrictions on this area of design. In general just keep in mind markings should not mimic existing mutations if an elnin does not have that mutation!

Common marking notables and potential pitfalls:

• Markings should not look 3D! To avoid 3D markings it's recommended to not render the markings themselves.
  
  • For example don't shade flowers or add shading to leaf patterns, etc.
• Markings that look more artificial may require adjustments.
  • Basic hearts/simpler patterns are generally ok.
  • More complex stamp-like markings of artificial items are generally not allowed.
    • Examples of these types of markings include:
      Pill bottles, potions, and other man-made items/things as markings.
  • Natural markings and natural sorts of shapes like fish are ok.
  • Simple choker or band-like markings are ok but no patterns that look like or could be mistaken for 3D jewelry/gems/etc.
• Wing-like markings are generally discouraged. Wing-like markings have only been permitted on elnin when they were stylized heavily. Any heavily styled wing-like markings allowed through the submission process should be very flat and it should be obvious that they do not come off the body.

Elnin outfits and accessories can similarly vary a lot. Most elnin can wear cloth-based clothing, jewelry, and accessories with little trouble.

There are some restrictions for outfits and accessories to not conflict with elnin, ranks, traits, and future plans. Outfits in masterlist art will be vetted thoroughly to ensure it falls within our guidelines, since it is a way people browse to see what is allowed or not. However, we ask that you still respect these restrictions for prompt art as well.

Weapons & Magic

• Small tools like hatchets and tiny cutting knives are ok for casual everyday use.
• Objects that appear to have magical properties are not permitted unless they have been acquired alongside the elnin's sale.
• Weapons & armor should not appear on elnin without proper training as a Knight or Champion, these titles will be shown on an elnin's masterlist entry if they have them.
  • Weapons require training to wield.
  • Armor difficult to wear without training.

Accessories

• Accessories resembling wings are generally not permitted.
  • The only exception to this is if it is clear that they are not winglets or wings attached to the elnin and have features that indicate they are fake. For example if your elnin is dressed up in a costume as a bat they might be seen with a stunning set of cardboard wings that are generally stiff and attached to a backpack. In general, we advocate staying away from wing accessories.
• Accessories that are very near, attach, or wrap around an elnin's horns should be avoided as they can be confused as part of the horn or its glamours.
  • In general, please avoid accessories that are meant to look like horns / antlers. You can have accessories that use horns / antlers but they should not be arranged in a way that they appear to be actual horns / antlers on the head.
  • Avoid living materials appearing to grow around or attach to the horns in any way, as living horns are exclusive to Royal elnin.
• Feathers, fins, or other accessories that might be perceived as part of the elnin's body must have their attachment clearly shown. For example, a feather stuck in the hair by itself would not be allowed, but if it is shown wrapped to the hair with a string or has a metal clip then it would pass. Just please make it clear it is an accessory and not growing out of the body!

Bipedal Form

The bipedal form is pretty much an elnin standing upright. xD No major visible physical differences.

Human / Gijinka Form

Elnin can appear as humanoids by drinking a Manaberry Potion! We refer to these humanoid forms as "gijinkas."

• Their gijinka forms are short (royals and knights are an exception) and very young-looking. Like so: [Example 1][Example 2]
• They have human faces. They do not have animal noses in humanoid form.
• Skin color can match their feral form, or be a normal skin tone, or a combination of those!
• You can't create new markings, but you can remove them to mix and match skin tone color with parts of their base markings.
• They have human hands but tiny paws for feet (with toe beans hue hue).
• In gijinka state, they are gender-neutral (no boobs, et cetera).

Merjinka Form

Undine elnin with the "Aquatic Influence" arcane trait, can optionally sport mermaid-like tails when in gijinka state. (This change cannot appear in bipedal state.)

• An elnin's top half in a merjinka form always follows all human gijinka guidelines.
• Their mer-tail style will always match one of the following, dependent on which the elnin has:
  • Undine subtype tail style: Either a Flare (Finned), Bulb (Finned), or Whip (Finned) depending on which the nin has on their maserlist entry.
  • Overwild (Aquatic) tail style: Matching whatever fishy tail the elnin has.
  • Standard tail style: If Aquatic Influence is present on an elnin with a standard tail style their fishy tail gijinka option would be just a default fish tail that mirrors the elnin's standard tail colors and tail markings.