Wildlife and Vegetation

>>54459184
And how much of your setting just has normal "earth" life?

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>>54459184
Ranges from familiar flora and fauna featuring subtle innate magical properties, to much larger and more aggressive versions of said animals, to prehistoric beasts and creatures of legend. There are no highly intelligent talking beasts, however fairies can and often do assume the forms of animals and they can talk just fine.

>>54459277
>transformed fairy working up the courage to talk to another transformed fairy but turns out its just an animal
Yes

our world with some magical shit

>>54459333
Can't deny those trips

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>>54459228
I wouldn't call any of them normal really, since we're talking about a world where magic is ubiquitous and has existed and affected life since forever. So most "normal" animals evolved with some sort of basic magical abilities to help them survive. It's like those nature shows where a weasel hypnotizes its prey with a dance, but slightly more supernatural.

>>54459312
It could happen. Playing games with mortals or messing with one another is pretty much all fairies do.

>>54459184
Repost from a great anon a few weeks ago.

>Medium sized tortoises which carry soil on their shells for camouflage in the wild. Owners often grow small moss gardens or bonsai on the turtle's backs.
>Tiny little clockwork golems
>Sleek, long legged chickens bred for racing. Although they can be kept as house pets, they often become restless if they cannot run.
>Ferrets which are uncanny in tracking pests, able to sense rodents through walls and appear directly within the tunnels of their prey. They possess a weaker version of the blink dog's blink ability.
>Large white doves which blunt hostile intent in a 21ft radius. Although they do not protect from determined or ranged attackers, the birds are often kept as good luck charms.
>"Teacup pigs" that actually remain small their entire lives and are not just malnourished pigs.
>Small chickens with fluffy, downy feathers. They do not crow, and petting them reduces stress.
>Small turkeys with iridescent feathers. Often referred to as "the poor man's peacock", they are bred as show birds.
>Pig sized goldfish. Easily trainable and food motivated, they can be ridden across small bodies of water.
>Black rabbits with red eyes. Created to betray the presence of vampires, the rabbit will give its full attention to any undead within 50 ft. The rabbit will stare and swivel its ears to unwaveringly face the offending creature.
>Scruffy green canaries which are immune to poisons and toxic gases. They will sing a single repeated note when exposed to levels of gas which would near lethal to a human being.
>Attack fish. Large bettas which "swim" through the air and attack on command.
>Magical toads which bring good luck to their owners. However, the luck is mostly good from a toads point of view, so it results in surprise rain showers and large numbers of insects.

1/2

>>54459390
>Goat sized snails which will eat nearly any plant material they can find. They are often used to clear away thorny or otherwise noxious vegetation. Big enough to hug. They taste delicious when cooked but their shells are strong and heavy.
>Guinea pig sized crickets which reproduce rapidly. The meaty insects make a fine meal, but are more often used as bait or a distraction when facing larger monsters. The crickets can be fed on grains and taught tricks.
>Small plant eating alligators with a demeanor similar to tortoises. They have abnormally strong scutes and hug the ground when threatened.
>A large red frog which releases a sweet-smelling scent from its mouth. The scent proves irresistible to mosquitoes, gnats, and other insects, and they are quickly devoured. In insect-poor environments they can be fed finely chopped meat.
>Furry pink boa constrictors which are often worn around the neck as fashion item. Sedentary and with little constricting power, they rely on humans for food and protection.
>Medicinal leeches which drink diseased blood, cycling the healthy blood back into the body. They differentiate their owner based on a "secret code" of pokes and taps which cause the leech to become docile.
>Actual talking crows. Sometimes they become too smart and start slinging spells around everywhere. That's when you call in the adventurers.

2/3

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i rarely describe wildlife in our dark heresy campain, with one exception : bat-hyena
they live in the savanna in the outskirt of the hive cities, and are often used by hive gangers as watchdogs
imagine a bat, the size of a hyena, with powerful jaws and who can galop
and also fly

>>54459409
>Large axolotls created for medicinal use. Able to sense injuries such as missing limbs, organs, and bones, they grow an exact match for the patient's missing body part. When the organ is fully formed, it pops off and the axolotl goes about its salamander business.
>Geckos with large colorful eyes and an iridescent sheen to their silvery skin. Created to hunt down and devour fey pests, the geckos are not fooled by any kind of glamour or magical invisibility. They are effective predators of weak fey such as mites, atomie, and killmoulis.
>A brightly colored frog covered in ever-shifting patterns. The easygoing amphibians are often kept in display tanks for their aesthetic appeal, but if threatened will spit a chemical which can cause disorienting hallucinations in those hit.
>Non-venomous snakes which absorb ambient heat from the environment, rendering their surroundings several degrees cooler than the area norm. Used as a form of air conditioning in desert countries.
>Chameleons which flush bright pink in the presence of demonic entities. Also used to devour pesky biting insects. Demonic insects won't come within 100ft of one of these lizards.
>Fuzzy tarantulas with tough exoskeletons. Although dangerous to insects, their venom is harmless to humans. Resistant to biting, crushing, and pulling, these harmless yet robust spiders are often used as children's toys. They have been bred into a variety of colors.

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A lot like ours, but somehow it gets even weirder, which considering how weird our stuff gets is an impressive feat.

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I'm still not sure what to make of this.

I like to use three tiers of flora and fauna.

Magical
Magically enhanced/altered
natural

Magical creatures like the fae and extradimensional creatures are the way there are because of magic and they control that magic, whether through culture, invention, or tradition each one honestly believes that the form that their species takes is the optimum form for them exist as. Dragons are the prime example, maximising all of their attacks and magical abilities.

Magically enhanced or altered takes nature and changes it. These creatures do not as a whole have the ability to enhance their own forms but have abilities that would not normally exist in our world. A rabbit could jump with the aid of strong legs but some can blink in and out of existance a few times. It is not a big enough advantage to completely out class and replace the existing rabbit population but useful enough to ensure those magically muted genes continue to the next generation.

In areas where magic does not exist I assume the forces of natural selection take heed and creatures adapt. In the snowy north there are wolly boars with white fur and wide flat tusks that can dig through snow to find food underneath the permafrost.

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Disorganized tips for creating fantasy fauna and flora:
- Large eyes= nocturnal, low light environment, Weaker/no eyes= lightless environment
- Spines, spikes, and thorns are defensive weapons against larger predators, especially those which attack with their mouths or paws
- Desert living requires some method of releasing excess heat (large ears, exposed skin...) or escaping the sun (burrowing, being nocturnal...)
- When hunting, predators do not fight what they do not "think" they can easily kill. There is no medical attention in the wild, and a simple leg injury can result in death. This is why many prey animals defend themselves by bluffing to appear larger and more formidable. The risk isn't worth it from a predator's point of view.
- Animals very rarely fight to the death
- Plants are just as competitive as animals, and struggle with their neighbors for the greatest share of water, sunlight, and nutrients. This is why "weeds" are bad for a garden. They're competitors of the plants you want.
-Venom is often used by animals which do not directly overpower their prey, and hang back while their toxin does the work.
- If given the chance, some herbivores will eat small amounts of meat. Like deer eating baby birds.
- Try to visualize the complete life-cycle of your creature. What is its habitat? Where and how is it born? How does it survive to adulthood? How does it spend its life? How does it reproduce? How long does it live? How does its life-cycle interact with the life-cycles of other species?
-Small animals need some method of defending themselves, whether by hiding, living in groups, being swift, or having some other adaptation.

>>54459390
>Medium sized tortoises which carry soil on their shells for camouflage in the wild. Owners often grow small moss gardens or bonsai on the turtle's backs.

I once did something similar to this, except they were tortoises that had been infused with elemental earth. They had something of a symbiotic relationship with some of the goats of the setting and were fad pets among the rich.

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>>54461714
-Shallow water environments like coral reefs are more biodiverse than open water
-Animals want to expend as little energy as possible, resting when not occupied with some pertinent goal like finding food or shelter.
-Albino or oddly colored creatures have a difficult time surviving in the wild. They may have a more difficult time hiding or escaping from predators, ambushing prey, and interacting with their own kind.
-Animals hibernate when there is too little food to sustain them, or the environment is unfavorable. They emerge once conditions are favorable again.
-Females are often larger in species which lay eggs, but males are larger in species where males physically compete with each other. When the sexes look different, male birds are often more colorful than female birds.
-A highly lethal disease must be easy to transmit or it will quickly burn through its hosts
- Tails are often used for balance while running or climbing trees.
- Predators have more binocular vision for judging distances while prey animals have eyes on the sides of their head for a greater field of vision.