.....^~=†£                                          £†=~^.....
....^~=†£¤                                          ¤£†=~^....
...^~=†£¤@                                          @¤£†=~^...
..^~=†£¤@#                                          #@¤£†=~^..
.^~=†£¤@##                                          ##@¤£†=~^.
..^~=†£¤@#     .. 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.      ^.........
........^~                                          ~^........
.......^~=                                          =~^.......
......^~=†                                          †=~^......
.....^~=†£                                          £†=~^.....
....^~=†£¤                                          ¤£†=~^....