taylor titmouse

an imp got her name today [lore]

Added 2025-01-07 23:20:02 +0000 UTC

these colors aren't quite accurate since i'm working within the atra menta palette, they'd be more saturated blue and red. while working on the book an imp was Named which means she is a character and needs a design. so her name is Brackitte, and she's in the scavenging party that captures fleur and fawn. the one on the right is just a generic male.

imp social behavior is based on spotted hyenas, in that they're matriarchal and the females are bigger and meaner than the males. females are highly dominant; the lowest ranking female is nearly always higher than the highest ranking male. the atra menta castle clan is made up of roughly 100 individuals, but they break down into smaller groups (1 or 2 females, a party of 10-12 males each) throughout the day to hunt and scavenge, so all 100 are rarely ever present at the castle at once. males will cycle in and out from clans in the nearby mountains, but females always remain on the mountain where they were born.

the females' adornments are gifts received from solicitous males, to show their fitness as scavengers and signal loyalty to the particular female. highly adorned females are considered highly desirable, so it ends up a positive feedback loop the closer it gets to breeding season, when females choose the father of that year's cubs. the most popular females will be practically weighed down with the trinkets she receives. males don't wear any adornments themselves, but having a thick mane is considered very attractive.

brackitte would be considered somewhere in the middle in rank. she's not a matriarch, but she has a decent handful of boys at her disposal, and gaining atra menta's favor with a delivery of some virgins will do a lot for her reputation