.~««****&#                                          #&****««~.
.~«**%&¶##                                          ##¶&%**«~.
....«***&&                                          &&***«....
.~«**%&¶##                                          ##¶&%**«~.
...~«««*&&                                          &&*«««~...
.~«**%&¶##     .. ferrets                           ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶##                                          ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶¶¶ ...~~~«****%%%&¶¶¶####¶¶¶&%%%****«~~~... ¶¶¶&%**«~.
.~«**%%%¶#                                          #¶%%%**«~.
.~«**%&¶##  you see something move in the corner of ##¶&%**«~.
....~***&#    your eye - probably one of these.     #&***~....
.~«**%&¶##                                          ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&###             backbone animals.            ###&%**«~.
....~~~**&         cat-snakes, or so called.        &**~~~....
....«**&¶#       comes in different flavours.       #¶&**«....
.~«**%&¶##                                          ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶## ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the mink ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶¶¶ ~                                      ~ ¶¶¶&%**«~.
....««**%¶ ~ minks, also called the snow ferrets, ~ ¶%**««....
.~«**%&¶## . make up the "wandering food supply"  . ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶## . used by the shamans and underlings   . ##¶&%**«~.
...~~~*%%¶   of kirugu vargir. when called upon,    ¶%%*~~~...
.~«**%&¶##   they present themselves, and can be    ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶##   caught.                                ##¶&%**«~.
....~«*%¶¶                                          ¶¶%*«~....
......«**& ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the marten ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ &**«......
...~****&& ~                                      ~ &&****~...
...~***&&& ~ the marten is the sneakier one here, ~ &&&***~...
..~~~***%& . often used for spying, or stealing.  . &%***~~~..
.~«**%&¶## . in the older tales about vidmi,      . ##¶&%**«~.
.~«****%%¶   these are probs the ferrets that she   ¶%%****«~.
.~«**%&¶##   was said to control. this connection   ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶##   might explain why many denizens have   ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶¶¶   this as their main "pet" god.          ¶¶¶&%**«~.
.~~«**%&&¶                                          ¶&&%**«~~.
.~«**%&¶## ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the ermine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶## ~                                      ~ ##¶&%**«~.
..~~«***&¶ ~ the lusher one in the family is the  ~ ¶&***«~~..
.~«**%&¶## . ermine. used as bedwarmers, or       . ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶¶# . harvested for their beautiful fur,   . #¶¶&%**«~.
.«**%&¶###   the white coat, very pretty,           ###¶&%**«.
.~«**&¶###   although rare.                         ###¶&**«~.
.....««*%¶                                          ¶%*««.....
.~«**%&### ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the mewn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ###&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶## ~                                      ~ ##¶&%**«~.
....~«**&& . one of the most notable in kirugu    . &&**«~....
.~«**%&¶## . lore, the otter ferret? it goes in   . ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶##   rivers. there are a lot of ferrets,    ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&&&¶   but for some reason, this otter one    ¶&&&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶##   is hardly ever seen. it might be       ##¶&%**«~.
.~«***%%¶¶   that it is unbound...?                 ¶¶%%***«~.
.~«**%&¶##   locals use it for sport fishing.       ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶##                                          ##¶&%**«~.
.....««*&¶ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the husky ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ¶&*««.....
.~«**%&### ~                                      ~ ###&%**«~.
..~«***%&¶ . the husky may seem like a dog, but   . ¶&%***«~..
...~«««*%¶ . it is actually a kind of ferret.     . ¶%*«««~...
....~*%&¶#   this makes it the largest of the       #¶&%*~....
.~«**%&¶##   phylum, and it's the most recently     ##¶&%**«~.
~«**%&¶###   evolved as well, bred for use as a     ###¶&%**«~
...«**%%%¶   predator. it's made more dangerous     ¶%%%**«...
.~«**%&¶##   by the fact that it's almost           ##¶&%**«~.
.~«**%&¶##   completely unknown to biologists.      ##¶&%**«~.
....««*%&&                                          &&%*««....
.~«**%&¶##                                          ##¶&%**«~.
..~««**%¶#                                          #¶%**««~..
.~«****&&¶                                          ¶&&****«~.
.~«**%&¶##                                          ##¶&%**«~.