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