Mutations
Cloud Breath
Allows an elnin to exhale puffy wisps of colored vapor. Aside from being pretty darn effective at inducing drowsiness, it's not particularly useful for anything else. It does make for a lovely display though.
![cloud-breath-1.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/cloud-breath-1.jpg)
![cloud-breath-2.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/cloud-breath-2.jpg)
w/ Starlit Anima
Details:
- Vapor color should match anima color (will also display starlit anima mutation if present).
- Vapor has a smoke-like quality, drifting in soft cloud-like puffs that linger in the air.
- The vapor trail must not exceed two body lengths.
- If the gills mutation is present on an elnin, breath mutations can be adjacent to the gilled areas as long as other traits are not heavily obscured.
- What can affect cloud breath?
- YES: Anima mutations can impact the color of breath mutations. Starlit anima specifically can add a starlit effect on the breath itself, but keep in mind this effect does not alter the shape of the breath so the breath’s silhouette and general appearance would still be fire-like. Emberglow anima can affect the breath but the motes should remain anima colored and stick very close/immediately surrounding the breath with little drift. Chimeric anima can display as either colour or a gradient of both. Prismatic anima must display all the colors in the prism.
- NO: General body suffusion mutations.
Colored Sclera
A benign form of manableed. Mana has permeated the sclera, infusing it with an unusual coloring. Colored sclera must not read as black or a hue so dark it's not discernable as a color other than black.
Note: Black sclera standalone is present as part of the higher rarity mutation called Infernal Gaze. Black sclera alongside cracked horns denotes the non-hereditary mana flaw, Gloom Kissed, which is not readily available at this time. If your sclera is deemed too dark or close to black in approvals changes will be requested, or staff may recommend pursuing the Infernal Gaze mutation.
Decora Anima
A single-color full or partial pattern across the surface of the eyes and horns. Patterns can be uniformly present in both eyes and/or horns but do not have to be. This mutation is not to be confused with the Knight engravings which are runic in nature. Patterns should not look like symbols/sigils and must not cover more than half of the surface of any given eye or horn.
Details:
- Can be any single color. (Exceptions may apply when this mutation interacts with other mutations.)
- Patterns must not cover more than 50% of any single eye or horn the mutation appears on. An elnin's base anima color should always be clear.
- Patterns must have a solid edge, no gradients or special effects.
- Patterns and shapes present should be relatively simple (think stencil hearts, leaves, circles, stripes, etc.)
- Patterns should not have any lineart, they should be solid patterns.
- Patterns should not cause the horns to look like organic materials, like crystals, wood, or plant materials (as this treds into royal horn glamour territory).
- Can be semi-transparent or opaque depending on if the elnin has standard horns or opaque horns.
- This mutation affects the surface of an eye or horn, not the center of an eyeball or horn.
- This mutation cannot be used to imitate another mutation or enchantment.
- What mutations can affect the color of decora anima?
- YES: Heterochromia, Odd-eyed, Chimeric Anima, Kaleidoscopic Anima, Prismatic Anima. (Reach out to the team if you're looking for a specific example for color interactions in relation to one of these mutations.)
- NO: Dual-toned anima specifically cannot affect the color of decora anima, as dual-toned anima only affects the base anima color that sits below the patterns. Anything else not listed under YES.
- If any mutations are not listed here then we have no definitive answer for it. Please check with us first before going forward if the mutation is not on the list.
- If you have a pattern idea you want to run past the approvals team, you can ask about it as a general question via ticket or official group discord. If the example is elnin specific please submit it as a design approval for us to review! Multiple pattern ideas can be run past the team if submitted all at once.
- Historically this mutation was called "Sectoral Heterochromia" and could not be uniformly present in both eyes and/or horns. Most older depictions of this mutation will likely present as non-uniform, but non-uniformity is no longer required.
- This mutation will be handled more case-by-case due to it's restrictions being broader than they were historically. We may ask for adjustments or simplification of patterns if there are any depictions of this mutation where we can't discern which other anima traits are present.
Demon's Brand
"Mark of Bloodlust" in one eye. This will turn the left or right eye and corresponding horn pure white with a bright crimson color partially bleeding in. The eye will also display a blood red trail of glowing particles similar to the Inner Fire trait. This marks a carrier for vampirism, but does not impart any additional vampiric traits or abilities on its own.
Doe-eyes
A mutation characterized by huge, dilated pupils and an iris that takes up the entire eye. Sclera is not visible in doe-eyed nin. Has no visible effect on horns.
Details:
- Keep in mind that since the large area in the center of the eye is actually the pupil, it always needs to be black or very close to black. You can have a tint of color to match your elnin's eyes better but it should appear black at a glance.
- What can affect doe-eyes?
- YES: Some anima mutations can affect the iris around the pupils like Starlit anima, Emberglow anima, Heterochromia, Chimeric anima., Prismatic anima, Grafted anima, Kaleidoscopic Anima, Luminous anima, Dual-toned anima, Anima patterning, and Decora anima.
- NO: Polycoria
- If any mutations are not listed here then we have no definitive answer for it. Please check with us first before going forward if the mutation is not on the list or you are unsure how something might work.
Dual-toned Anima
[2] distinct colors present within the anima. Always uniformly mirrored in each eye/horn and usually appears as a gradient. This mutation cannot be stacked with the odd-eyed/heterochromia/grafted/kaleidoscopic/prismatic/chimeric anima traits.
Emberglow Anima
Emberglow mutation causes small motes of glowing light to float off of the anima's surface, creating a small trail of ember-like lights around the horns and eyes. Coloration should be consistent with the color of the anima. Will also cause eyes and horns to glow softly. Emberglow lights are generally less "sparkly/twinkly" than the Starlit mutations, and are more focused on larger "color-heavy" glowing particles.
Emberglow Suffusion
Fur gives off tiny motes of winking ember-like glowing lights that float and trail off of the elnin's body. Lights can dissipate into the air, or float for longer periods of time giving the appearance of being followed by an assortment of tiny blinking fireflies. The points of light should be similar in color to the elnin's anima. Emberglow lights are generally less "sparkly/twinkly" than the Starlit mutations, and are more focused on larger "color-heavy" glowing particles.
Facial Fluff
Elnin cheeks are a bit fluffy by default, but any excessive cheek volume or flared facial fluff qualifies as a mutation. This includes any mustaches or beards.
Be mindful that this mutation doesn't obscure other mutations on masterlist art that you want shown (like infused teeth/claws, mana saturated, etc).
![facial-fluff-pt-1.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/facial-fluff-pt-1.jpg)
![facial-fluff-pt-2.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/facial-fluff-pt-2.jpg)
![facial-fluff-pt-3.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/facial-fluff-pt-3.jpg)
Details:
- Kittoms only exhibit cheeks that are extra fluffy with this mutation, and will not depict facial fluff in the form of beards, mustaches, etc. until they reach an adult stage.
- Adult elnin can depict this mutation as extra fluffy cheeks, mustaches, beards, goatees, and sideburns.
- As a rule of thumb, if cheek fluff is larger than the elnin's eyes then it would be considered facial fluff.
- Beard-like and mustache-like facial fluff cannot exceed the length of an elnin's ear fluff.
- Facial fluff does not have an MP stat but it length is limited by an elnin's ear fluff length stat.
- Ear fluff can be depicted as flowing or tying into any beard-like fluff, or be drawn separately from that fluff as long as the beard-like fluff is still less than or equal to the elnin's ear fluff.
- Be sure that any and all elnin beard fluff respects and abides by gravity.
- Featherlight Hair can affect Facial Fluff beards as long as the length is 1 MP or greater.
Featherlight Hair
Hair is highly reactive to ambient energies, and tends to float in a cloud of invisible currents as if under water. Also applies to long-haired tail styles.
Fire Breath
Allows an elnin to puff small wisps of flame. It's not particularly effective in combat, but it's pretty flashy and makes lighting fires a snap.
![fire-breath-1.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/fire-breath-1.jpg)
![fire-breath-2.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/fire-breath-2.jpg)
Details:
- Flame color should match anima color (will also display starlit anima mutation if present).
- Flames should not contain any rounded edges or smoke swirls when rendered, as these features are generally associated with cloud breath.
- The fire breathed must not exceed two body lengths.
- If the gills mutation is present on an elnin, breath mutations can be adjacent to the gilled areas as long as other traits are not heavily obscured.
- What can affect fire breath?
- YES: Anima mutations can impact the color of breath mutations. Starlit anima specifically can add a starlit effect on the breath itself, but keep in mind this effect does not alter the shape of the breath so the breath's silhouette and general appearance would still be fire-like. Emberglow anima can affect the breath but the motes should remain anima colored and stick very close/immediately surrounding the breath with little drift. Chimeric anima can display as either colour or a gradient of both. Prismatic anima must display all the colors in the prism.
- NO: General body suffusion mutations.
Gilded Anima
Gilded anima overlays a covering on the anima's surface, and can be applied anywhere anima exists apart for the eyes. Typically this just applies to the horns, but if your elnin has a fractal crown or a mutation like crystallization, gilded anima can be applied to those areas as well!
The gilded overlay typically appears as a metallic surface with metal hues. However, it can also be a matte surface with non-metallic hues.
![gilded-anima-1.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/gilded-anima-1.jpg)
![gilded-anima-2.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/gilded-anima-2.jpg)
![gilded-anima-3.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/gilded-anima-3.jpg)
![gilded-anima-fae.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/gilded-anima-fae.jpg)
![gilded-anima-scales.jpg](/files/traits-examples-small/gilded-anima-scales.jpg)
![Gilded Anima Notes](/files/guide-examples/note-gilded-anima-placements.jpg)
Details:
- Gilding can appear on the top or bottom of the horns (or both). Consider it like a "cap" to the anima. Apply this logic to any other place the gilding can appear.
- The gilding needs to be flush with either the top or bottom edge of the horn (or piece of anima) since the gilding originates from these points. There should not be a gap where the anima shows between the gilding and the edge it originates from. The gilding does not have to wrap all the way around the horn, it just needs to have a clear origin point.
- Note: This same concept applies to how gilded anima interacts with crystallization. Gilding on areas with Crystallization will form at the outer edge/tip of a crystallized area like a cap, and will never form where crystallization is flush with the rest of an elnin's skin.
- Gilding can include engraving and detailing consistent with metalwork or jewelry. If your gilding has this sort of decoration on it please keep the theme consistent throughout the gilding.
- Overly segmented designs with many overlapping pieces are not allowed unless the elnin has the Scale mutation. Standard gilding should appear as one cohesive piece.
- You may design the gilding so that it has gaps or areas where the anima shows through. Please do this in moderation and make sure the gilding overall feels like one cohesive piece.
- There may be a couple of "floating" pieces that are separated from the main body of the gilding, but keep this to a minimum and keep it consistent with the theme.
- The gilding should not appear to be organic material. Abstracted / simplified organic shapes are allowed but should not use a colour that mimics an organic material (ex. green leaves, pink flowers, etc.)
- Gilding should only partially cover the anima. Please leave at least half of the anima visible.
- The color of gilded anima should be monochromatic. There can be slight color variance for aesthetic purposes but overall it should appear as one color.
- The gilding should appear to be flush with the anima for the most part, but it can still show a tiny height difference or lip on its edges.
- No embedded gems are allowed in the gilding, these can only be shown in horn glamours.
Grafted Anima
When an elnin's base anima presents two core colors in a particular configuration: One eye (or horn) that is one color and the remaining eye(s)/horn(s) are another color.
Details:
- What can affect Grafted Anima?
- YES: Prismatic Anima, Starlit Anima, Emberglow Anima, Chimeric Anima, Heterochromia, Odd-eyed, Decora Anima, and Patterned Anima.
- NO: Kaleidoscopic Anima, Dual-toned Anima, and anything else not listed under YES.
- YES: Prismatic Anima, Starlit Anima, Emberglow Anima, Chimeric Anima, Heterochromia, Odd-eyed, Decora Anima, and Patterned Anima.
- If any mutations are not listed here then we have no definitive answer for it. Please check with us first before going forward if the mutation is not on the list.
Lore:
- A radical branch of academics have relocated to strynhalde to evade strict oversight after starting to be more adventurous with their tinkering of living anima. It's said this branch of academics will trade a single eye or horn between elnins, since a missing eye risks an elnin imploding due to disrupted mana flow.
- Mechanically when acquiring this mutation you do not need to actually switch an eye/horn with an existing nin. The acquisition of this mutation only affects the elnin this mutation is being applied to (not multiple known elnin). For example: If you acquire this trait you would not edit two elnin that you own, just the one you would like to have a different base color for a single eye or horn.
Hallowed Gaze
This mutation comes in two states. "Inactive" state appears as normal white sclera with a faded iris and no visible affect to horns (horn color is not faded and retains vibrancy). "Active" state will also shroud the iris, turning the entire eye a solid brilliant white. Horn appearance may (optionally) be affected while mutation is in its "active" state, turning fully white and giving off a steady glow.
![Hallowed Gaze Notes](/files/guide-examples/note-hallowed-gaze.jpg)
Details:
- For design approvals, please provide the inactive state for masterlist art and approval. This is needed to see the elnin's anima color. If you want to show the active state on the masterlist art you can provide both and do a quick follow-up design update to get the active state art after the inactive state art is approved (similar to outfit approvals).
- Be sure to put the white fade over the entire in for the inactive state - including the iris, the iris' lineart, the sclera, and all shadows.
- If your elnin has colored sclera, the white fade must still go over the colored sclera and the colored sclera will appear faded.
Lore:
- Elnin opinions and superstitions relative to this trait can vary from region to region.
- Like hallowed gaze might be associated with spirits or celestial magic (just as a public reaction/superstition, not that they are actually related to either of these things).
- Some regions may percieve hallowed gaze and infernal gaze traits on the same elnin in varying ways as well.
- In a region like Kyendi elnin with both hallowed gaze and infernal gaze may be considered lucky and well balanced, as this region holds a sense of balance in high regard.
- A region like Enmir, where elnin are particularly superstitious, might have locals that find an elnin with both traits split equally to be quite unnerving and uncomfortable to be around.
Heterochromia
When an elnin's anima presents two core colors in a particular configuration: Left color will align on the entire left side- eye/horn/skeleton, and vice versa for the right.
Details:
- What can affect Heterochromia?
- YES: Prismatic Anima, Starlit Anima, Emberglow Anima, Decora Anima, Grafted Anima, and Patterned Anima.
- NO: Kaleidoscopic Anima, Odd-eyed, Chimeric Anima, Dual-toned Anima, and anything else not listed under YES.
- YES: Prismatic Anima, Starlit Anima, Emberglow Anima, Decora Anima, Grafted Anima, and Patterned Anima.
- If any mutations are not listed here then we have no definitive answer for it. Please check with us first before going forward if the mutation is not on the list.
Lore:
- This is considered a balanced alignment. A representation of the nature of harmonious duality, with each side balanced equally.