Northtitan

Creature Lore - Mana Mice

Credit to the Artist: Jessica Gibson, (We found this image on google)

Origin / Background / Culture:

In a world as vast and full of magical creations and uses of mana, a creature willing to use it as a food source was bound to come to be. The Mana Mouse is just that beast, and came into existence to fill that niche. They were first spotted on the 12th of the Amber Cold, 120 SA,  in the city of Celia’nor by the mages Nikko Windpelt and Caliana Ashwood-D’Avre while making their way to the latter magi’s shop. The curious creatures have since been seen throughout the city, often around large sources of mana or collections of mages.

No one quite knows where they came from, but it is clear that these curious little creatures have spread across the land to every corner of the world. Having no real natural predators yet, and being drawn to any mana they can get their hands on, there are few places they’d not expand out to.

What is known about these small, colorful beasts is that they tend to travel in groups. Should someone spot one, they can rest assured that there will be at least two others nearby. They have been sighted stealing small items, trinkets and mana crystals with their tails and carrying them off to nests and burrows where they will store them. These treasures are sacred to them, and they will attempt to meekly defend them by hissing and nipping at would be thieves. Should they realize they are unable to protect their hoard, the small creature will often grab a prized item and blink out of their dens to safety.
 

Creature Summary:

These small creatures are usually about the size of a squirrel but can get as large as a cat. They are generally considered hairless but do actually have a very light peach-fuzz of hair that covers their strange, wrinkly hide. The prominent color of their body tends to be a muted shade, often ranging in browns, greys and black but rarely they can be creamy white. Their limbs, the spots or stripes that mark their sides and face, and the grabber at the end of their tail are always much brighter in color. There is no standard range in colors that they can be, but they tend to not vary from more than two or three shades of a dominant color. This means, the mana mouse may have their accent colors be pale pink and red or navy blue and sky blue. It should be noted that these brighter colors often have a bit of sheen to them and appear to dully glow.

The Mana Mouse has a flap of skin that connects its front and back legs much like a flying squirrel and uses this to allow them to glide to safety from what they deem to be threats, to ro move from one food source to another. Their ears are long, with three prongs at the end that are usually a darker shade of their accent color. They are often seen swiveling on their head, and clearly allude to a keen sense of hearing. At the end of their fleshy tails sits a strange, four pronged appendage that they use to carry whatever trinkets or goods they have stolen for consumption or for their hoard.

Long whiskers mark their strange, mole-like snout and otherwise bear eyebrows. They use these to help them figure out if they can wiggle into the tiny spaces they often hide within. Wide, if not massive, disc-like eyes point forward on their head and are usually a deep color. They typically come in dark ember, plum purple, burgundy, navy blue and emerald but sometimes you will find them in lighter hues.

Mana Mice were born with one idea in mind it seems, the Consumption of mana, either voidal enchanted items, mana obelisks, paladin enchanted lightstones, druidic enchanted staffs or even some fae entities, Housemage enchanted items are delicacy and dark magic items tend to get the creatures rather sick. Anything that is made of concentrated mana of any kind, that is their food source. While their bite is not strong, barely able to draw blood upon a normal descendent, Their teeth, given a long enough time, are strong enough to chew through things up to Ferrum strength. This allows them to eat objects that are enchanted or hold a lot of mana if they are left unattended for a long period of time.

A strange but documented occurrence is what happens to the mana that they consume. When it has passed through the Mana Mouse, the droppings are always inert tiny crystals. They are completely useless and can not be used to hold mana again. Some collect them and turn them into trinkets and jewelry. It has been found that according to what the Mana Mouse eats the crystal they pass may come in varying colors. 

Additionally, it has been learned that by feeding these curious creatures different magical items, their physical forms may take one different attribute. These changes are completely cosmetic, and do not last more than a single day (1 hour or one day in RP). A known example of this is quietus crystals which cause the Mana Mouse to leave a sparkling trail of light behind it as it moves about. (these effects can be left up to player discretion, and should be on theme for whatever has been eaten)

 

Taming:

Mana Mice are very simple creatures with limited intelligence. They exist with the sole purpose to find food and collect treasures for their hoard. With that in mind, these normally docile animals are tamable with patience and the right bait. Feeding one over a short period of time will allow the Mana Mouse to learn to trust you and thus they will eventually bond with the person. It should be noted that Mana Mice are not smart, by any means, and are only able to learn the most basic of commands. A Mana Mouse will never be able to perform complicated feats and tricks and will likely just make an interesting companion animal to whoever tames them.
 

REDLINES:

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  Spoiler

  • Mana Mice can not be used by players to metagame knowing if something is enchanted or to locate hidden mana sources, such as an obelisk/identify if another player is a Voidstalker. etc

  • Being a mana based creature, druids are able to communicate with them but not will them to do as they please. These creatures will not respond to the commands or demands made by a druid and should be considered uncooperative to their attempts.

  • A player tames a Mana Mouse by feeding them mana sources. This can be enchanted items, cores, focus crystals and other mana rich items. This can not be done with another player’s items without OOC consent.

  • A Mana Mouse CAN NOT be used to destroy or steal another player’s objects, obelisks, etc. without consent from every party involved OOCly. 

  • Mana Mice are very unintelligent creatures. They simply want to find food, hoard things, and survive. They are unable to be taught anything complex but can learn common basic commands like most small pets, such as sit and stay. They can learn their names. Beyond this, the Mana Mouse will be unable to comprehend what the player is attempting to teach them. (ET can have slightly more intelligent mana mice for the sake of storytelling and events.)

   

ST Notes / Abilities: 

Blinking: A mana Mouse has the Ability to turn their entire body into pure mana for a short amount of time. They use this Ability to escape threats by turning to pure mana, and moving away at high speeds, almost like they are ‘Blinking’ or teleporting away, to then reappear somewhere else. The Farthest they can blink is up to 5 meters at any time. This ability uses a lot of energy for mana mice, and so is only used when the creature feels extremely threatened, using it as an escape mechanism.

-The mana mouse can teleport up to 5 blocks away in any direction as long as it can see where it is teleporting to. The mana mouse can carry something small within its grasp as it blinks, though nothing larger than the creature itself.


 

General Red Lines / Restrictions: 

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  Spoiler

  • In terms of Thanium and null arcana (antimagic items in general, Abjuration, etc.), striking them or being within 1 block of the mana mouse will prevent them from blinking but do nothing else to them. (example: stabbing them with a thanium blade will still likely kill them, but the properties of thanium only prevent them from ‘blinking’)

  • Mana Mice are NOT limited to voidal enchantments when it comes to what they are willing to eat. They consume mana in all forums, and thus will happily eat deific, voidal and other miscellaneous enchantments or sources of mana they are physically capable of eating. They are capable of eating dark magic items but it will lead to them being ill and likely dying, and so it is not suggested.

  • These creatures cannot be used in combat situations, as their flight/fight instincts would kick in and the creatures will ALWAYS run away. These Creatures cannot be used to metagame the information of if something is magical or not, if it is not apparent that the item is magical or if the one controlling the mana mouse doesn't know the item is magical, the Mana mouse will simply not know and regard the item as a mundane object.

   

Purpose (OOC):

Mana Mice are intended to add depth and diversity to the world by being a curious little pest.  They are intended to provide more interesting RP around mana sources and give more options for simple but engaging events. We also wished to try our hand in creating lore, practicing for future projects to come. For now we have this little piece to share, Feedback is appreciated! Let us know if we need to adjust anything on this pesky little rodent.
 

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