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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
12234 Posts |
 Posted - 08 Feb 2026 : 14:36:03
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For those that just want to see pictures... scroll to the thingiverse links, look at the 3d models that I virtually made and virtually painted. I haven't actually decided the "powers" of foxibous, and I'd like them to be different, so feel free to throw out your ideas.
I first conceived of the foxibou in this thread (basically nothing more than a large fox with antlers) as a mount for the god Faerthandir of the Metahel, because I wanted the metahel gods to have "connections" to animals, but I also wanted most of these animals to have horns. I also wanted to tie the concept of Faerthandir to both Lathander of Faerun and Frey of the Norst gods... as in "which is he, or is he something different entirely". Frey is known to ride the golden boar Gullinbursti, but I wanted something much more "fey" for him than a boar. So, the concept of a "dire foxibou" was born.
Oddly enough, just a few months after I had this in my head, I started watching a kids cartoon on netflix called "Hilda" .... and if you've never watched it because it looked kiddie, let me say, go enjoy your inner child. It is a wonderful celebration oddly enough of norse mythology (which my metahel pantheon was a tweak on, so interestingly to me it seems I was going down a good path). Some of the descriptions below are modifications on the powers of "deerfoxes" from Hilda's episode in which her little deerfox meets some adult deerfox and they seem to possess some "world walking" abilities, so this piece is a little homage to the writer who obviously beat me to the general idea.
Foxibous are unlike feystags, who are known to be wild and chaotic magical beasts. When their loyalty is obtained, its said to be amazingly profound and lifelong. In particular, foxibous are known to make friendships with forest dwellers who tend or live in tune with nature, such as elves, sprites, pixies, amber dragons, and firbolgs. Much like jackalopes and al-mi'raj, they have been known to inhabit the same areas as unicorns, and will always come to the aid of a unicorn in trouble even if it costs them their own life. While there are multiple breeds of foxibou, their exact powers seem to vary between their breeds. For instance, the white furred snow foxibou is said to have long ago gained the blessing of a goddess of the moon, and as a result they possess the ability to walk on moonbeams in order to cross chasms to evade enemies. Also, somewhat similar to blink dogs, they can disappear into an area of shadow and reappear a short distance away in an area of moonlight. Foxibou also come in several sizes, from the tiny fox like ones, to slightly larger ones said to be ridden by some forest gnomes and uldra, to the rare dire ones said to be the size of a horse. In fact, one sun deity is said to have a dire foxibou mount whose antlers can glow and give off a bright yellow light, and its said that at times he can be seen being ridden across the sky jumping from cloud to cloud.
Foxibou from Cute Fox 2
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7290335
Foxibou from Little Snow Fox
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7290640
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Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1267 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2026 : 23:55:28
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Hey Sleyvas. I notice a lot of your creatures could fall under the blanket of Duhlarken from the Bestiary of the Realms Volume I. Sent you a PM about it.
Is that on purpose? Have you ever considered that as their origin story? |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
12234 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 20:20:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Seethyr
Hey Sleyvas. I notice a lot of your creatures could fall under the blanket of Duhlarken from the Bestiary of the Realms Volume I. Sent you a PM about it.
Is that on purpose? Have you ever considered that as their origin story?
Well, I just had to go look that up, so no. I was intrigued by your question though, so I went to look it up. Looks like the idea of the Duhlarkin comes from the Duhlark's animerge spell from City of Splendors (1994), and it says that he created the spell in 1367. That timewise doesn't work for me, plus most of these creatures I want to stick as unique "strange fey-like" spirit animals for Anchorome.
I'd also like it if a lot of the "mythology" of these creatures links back to the metahel and their gods. So, Sifya the warmother, for instance, has the full title of
Sifya,The War Mother, goddess of birth and breeding of antlered animals and windhorses, goddess of excellence and skill in battle, games of wiles, Defender of hearth and home, goddess of Shieldmaidens.
Also, the story of her birth makes her have a very nature oriented origin .... so she's much more than a war goddess...
Sifya is not one of Asagrimmr's children by birth. It is
rumored that she was one of a pair of twins born of Kaelleara, “the
Horned Hamadryad”, and Eiggdra, a spirit of the world tree, when
Kaelleara used Eiggdra to walk into the world from elsewhere. Sifya
was a beautiful child who looked much like her mother, and many representations of her show her growing deer like antlers from her forehead. Her brother, Raelkath Maneeboughs, is said to be a great elk with a resplendent pair of antlers that are in fact trees who walks the world, periodically shedding his antlers to plant a twinned pair of magical trees around the world. Exactly how she ended up in the care of Friggya and Asagrimmr is something of a mystery, but it is believed that she was carried to them as a swaddling by the red squirrel, Rititisk the Clever, and his rabbit mount, Harifur, who were being pursued by misshapen giants and nightmarish beasts. In the end, she was raised alongside the many sons and daughters of Asagrimmr, many of whom think of her as a sister, and perhaps as a bit of irony,
those closest to her seem to be the ones that survived the Last Battle of the Gods.
So, I like the idea of herself and her "brother" Raelkath Maneeboughs being RUMORED to being behind a large variety of "horned" animals in Anchorome that may possess various magical abilities.
Some ideas for development that would make some interesting artwork as well, but not sure of the exact abilities to give
Bearam - a kind of cave bear that possesses bighorn sheep like horns. Rumored to be linked to the god Magnaer Yarnsacsasun, one of the Thunder Twins (for more on Magnaer and how he came to be birthed as a twin from another being's womb, yes... you read that right, see the Metahel Pantheon of Anchorome at DM's Guild). I picture this bearam as possessing powers revolving around thunder roars, magical barriers, and a charge that is enhance with force. Why and how were they created? No story as yet.
Of course, I also placed numerous types of "jackalopes" all over Anchorome ("regular", dire, giant, eight legged sabretooth behares, blink bunnies, Hawkhare/volpertinger, blinktingers) plus wildwood jackrabbits that grow flowers from their foreheads LIKE antlers... and similarly wildleaf stags that grow and she small trees. These are all found in the DMs Guild product "Amber Dragons of Anchorome".
In addition to these, some other animals that might be "blessed" with horns.... more for the look than anything...
a bobcat with musk ox type horns that make the top of its head hard, and the horns curving downwards and around/behind his cat like ears. If I did this type of animal though, I'd want to make his coloration odd. So, he would have black fur with white "spots" that form in 4 pointed white stars. Have them nocturnal and give them some "light" related aspects, including the ability to "fire" these stars from their fur as magic missile type effects that return the next night that they're touched by starlight, maybe the ability to turn invisible if under starlight, etc...
a tree dwelling squirrel with small "pronghorn" type horns that possess the ability to "merge" with trees, treewalk from one tree to another, and can even give up its life to heal a tree like plant creature by merging itself with it (such as treants, dryads, etc...). Thought to be relatives of kercpa, they are thought to have been blessed by Raelkath Maneeboughs, and not a distinctly separate race as they occasionally occur as regular births amongst Kercpa. Those that are born typically show a talent as druids, rangers, or spirit shamans.
a large constrictor Snake with musk ox like horns that is non-venomous, but tries to head but its prey to knock them back and then encircle them when they're reeling. Its enhanced with the ability to "mirror image" by giving off a musk that affects people's eyes if they smell it. In doing so it gives itself advantage on its attacks as people try to dodge the incomring head butt. This isn't an actual illusion and only effects those in striking distance of them. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
Edited by - sleyvas on 14 Feb 2026 20:27:08 |
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Brainstorming Anchorome
