....~«†¤¤@                                          @¤¤†«~....
.~«†%¤¤@@@                                          @@@¤¤%†«~.
.~«†%¤¤@@#                                          #@@¤¤%†«~.
.~«†%¤¤@@@                                          @@@¤¤%†«~.
.~«†%¤¤¤¤@                                          @¤¤¤¤%†«~.
.~«««††¤¤@     .. 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.      @¤%«~.....
....~«†%¤@                                          @¤%†«~....
...~«%¤¤@@                                          @@¤¤%«~...
.~«†%¤¤¤¤@                                          @¤¤¤¤%†«~.
.~†%¤¤@@##                                          ##@@¤¤%†~.
.~«†%¤¤@@#                                          #@@¤¤%†«~.