.........~                                          ~.........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........                                          ..........
..........     .. 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.      %==«~.....
......~«==                                          ==«~......
.......~«=                                          =«~.......
........~«                                          «~........
.........~                                          ~.........
..........                                          ..........