....-«†$$#                                          #$$†«-....
.....-«†$$                                          $$†«-.....
......-«†$                                          $†«-......
.......-«†                                          †«-.......
........-«                                          «-........
.........-     .. 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   . $$†«-.....
......-«†$ . it is actually a kind of ferret.     . $†«-......
.......-«†   this makes it the largest of the       †«-.......
........-«   phylum, and it's the most recently     «-........
.........-   evolved as well, bred for use as a     -.........
..........   predator. it's made more dangerous     ..........
.........-   by the fact that it's almost           -.........
........-«   completely unknown to biologists.      «-........
.......-«†                                          †«-.......
......-«†$                                          $†«-......
.....-«†$$                                          $$†«-.....
....-«†$$#                                          #$$†«-....
...-«†$$#£                                          £#$$†«-...