#I'm basing imperials on perytons

[naturalist-fr]

I intend to base pearlcatchers very heavily on qilin/kirin, so I'm considering getting rid of the wings entirely. They feel a little slapped on otherwise. I think I can have way more fun with their design if I omit the wings.

To make up for that, pearlcatchers are quite the scholars, especially when it comes to magic and spells. So magic that allows them to fly isn't that unusual. A spell that briefly "hardens" the air beneath the foot is a very popular one, allowing them to essentially run through the sky.

[naturalist-fr]

Something I want to do to add my little touch to everything is to depict each breed differently with design conventions more in line with how I like to think.

In particular, I'm trying to have each breed visually be heavily inspired by one or a few specific animals. For example I want to give guardians a very feline-like body plan, and I'm basing imperials heavily off of perytons, so a weird mix of bird and deer.

I just got a ridgeback, and I'm stumped on what do to with those! They also kind of scream feline to me but I can't just give everything a cat body... they're such odd breeds that I can't really easily place any real animal to them.