Carbuncle

"Excuse me, sir," a little girl said as Raga and Aùshe were walking past the Children's Center.
Raga sighed, "what?
"I can't find my friends can you help me?" the girl asked.
"I don't work for free," Raga said about to walk away.
"Raga, this is Pōyâ's best friend!" Aùshe scolded.
"Don't care," Raga said waving a dismissal.
"Wait! I can pay you 50 Ebony." The girl said.
"Alright, who am I looking for?" Raga asked crossing his arms annoyed with Aùshe but giving the girl his attention.
"My carbuncles, there are three of them. I think they are around town. I hope they didn't get lost." The girl said.
"Carbuncles, great. I will look for them." Raga said noticing Aùshe smile with approval.

Carbuncles are cat-like creatures that are native to Miyla and have protective shells that they roll up into for protection. Many of the races can agree that this bedazzled creature symbolizes wealth and good fortune making them popular pets to many. This reputation has also created some problems for carbuncles as some people take the symbolism literally and believe that there is treasure inside of them causing some protective measures to go into effect for them.

Basic Information

Anatomy

These cute creatures have four ears, four legs, and a tail. Carbuncles are muscular and well equipped for running and digging. The things that make them stand out however are the gem on their foreheads and tails. Their shells on their backs take the appearance of an ordinary rock when they are curled up into it. When they are not curled up into the shell it looks similar to armadillo shells on Earth.

Biological Traits

The traits that all carbuncles have are the gems on their forehead and tail and their shells.

Genetics and Reproduction

They reproduce sexually and can have one to two kits per litter. The ones with the shiniest gems are the ones that more often than not get mates.

Ecology and Habitats

Carbuncles live in hills and mountains when they are in the wild exploring caves and mines, although they are very dangerous for them because of the people who work in the mines. Being cautious of people wild carbuncles will hide from them because they are scared of people. When not spelunking they will be hunting from mice and other small creatures for food or eating berries and grass. Due to their gathering habits, it is not uncommon for carbuncles to steal food from miners if they are in mines or hikers and picnickers.
They can live in nests or colonies depending on how many are in the area with five to ten in a nest and twenty to a hundred in a colony. They are very social creatures that will get depressed when they are alone and die of loneliness if they can't find their nest or colony. They live in small shallow caves or dug-out dens that are big enough for them all to fit and cuddle at night. There is also space to store food for the winter when gathering is hard and when they stop hunting.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Carbuncles are omnivorous and will hunt and gather. They live in regions that can get bitterly cold in the winter and so store some of the nuts that they find so that they can eat in the winter. Winter is also the only time that carbuncles will not eat meat and instead just eat the stored nuts and other found vegitation.

Additional Information

Domestication

The Miylian Elders where the first to domesticate carbuncles because they thought they thought the creatures were cute. This happened somewhat by accident as the little guys found their way into granaries where mice were hanging out eating the Elves' food. Seeing that the carbuncles were hunting the mice and getting rid of that problem for them they did not hurt them. As time went on the two grew close in companionship which was destroyed by the Miylian War  .
After most of the Elves were driven out of Miyla some Shifter Dragons started to take carbuncles as pets not just because of how cute they were but because of their gems. The dragons were delighted to see that the gems of well-taken carbuncles were shinier than the ones that weren't, or so they believed. The Illusion magic of carbuncles was also sought after and it was common for some dragons to use carbuncles as familiars to help make their Illusion magic that much stronger.
During and after The Refugee Crisis  when more mortal races started to live on Miyla carbuncles became popular pets to Humans because they reminded them of cats, a creature that is native to their homeworld Earth. The exiled humans found it comforting that in this strange new world there was something, for a time, that reminded them of home.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Some mortals such as Dwarves and humans believe that the gems that the carbuncles have are a sign of greater riches which was quickly disproven after someone killed one and learned that there was no treasure inside it. Regardless of how many times this false belief has been proven to be wrong, there are still people on Miyla that believe that carbuncles have great wealth inside of them in the form of jewels or gold. This has become enough of a concern for some nature-loving groups that they started to do what they could to protect both wild and domestic carbuncles. In the case of wild carbuncles, it is illegal to kill them for their gems because the groups argued, that they were of low quality and won't sell for much. This has caught on in many regions although it has not stopped the hunting of these creatures for some people. For domestic carbuncles, many shelters have the policy of using a strong Illusion spell to make sure that the pet owner does not harbor any strong desire to kill the carbuncle.

Facial characteristics

Carbuncles have a gem on their foreheads which is usually a ruby. They have four ears two larger ones closer to the top of their heads and two smaller ones on either side of their heads.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Carbuncles can be found in hills and mountains throughout Miyla although they are more common in mountains where they can find caves to explore.

Average Intelligence

They are not the smartest but carbuncles are very curious which is why they explore environments even if they are dangerous. Carbuncles often offset their curiosity by also being cautious more so around people regardless of race.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Carbuncles have four ears two large ones that are on the top of the heads with smaller ones on either side. With these ears, they can hear danger and will hide in their shells if they can't run away. The shell looks like a normal rock when they are curled up because of an illusion that the creature casts when scared.

Carbuncle by Esther Harmon

School

Illusion

Alignment

Light

Origin/Ancestry

Miyla

Lifespan

15 years when domesticated and 10 years in the wild

Conservation Status

They are domesticated and kept as pets so there isn't much in the way of conservation. However, some wildlife groups are working on dispelling some myths about the creatures so that they can stop being killed. This happens because some people believe that carbuncles harbor great riches within them so it is the goal of these groups to educate people on the fact that there is no treasure in these creatures.

Average Height

9.1 – 9.8 in or 23.1 -- 24.9 cm

Average Weight

8.3 – 10.3 lbs or 3.8 -- 4.7 kg

Average Length

18 in without tail 30 in with tail, or 45.7 cm without tail 76.2 cm with tail

Average Physique

Carbuncles are cat-like creatures in stature with some exceptions being having an extra pair of ears, long tails, and their shells. They walk on all fours keeping their ears perked for trouble.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Carbuncles usually come in various shades of blue and sometimes close to a blue-purple these colored carbuncles are often found in the mountains by caves. They can also come in browns and other earth tones if the carbuncles are living in the hills for extra camouflage. The same goes for the mountain dwellers who depend on their cooler tones to hide among the rocky caves.
For markings that varying greatly from colony to colony with some being spotted, speckled, stripped, or having no markings on their ears, chest, legs, and bellies. The colors of the markings are in the same tone range as their base colors although it is possible for there to be brown marks on a blue one and blue marks on a brown one if they have parents that have those colors. That is very rare in the wild, however, when breeding them as pets it is a bit more common.
Their shells match up with the colors that their fur is and can be seen as translucent at times or a solid shell. This is because of the magic that carbuncles use when in their shells to help make it look like they are rocks. There are bums and groves on the shell that make a pattern similar to armadillos that can also be spotted, speckled, stripped, or having no markings. The breaks in the shell although the carbuncles to curl up into their shells and pretend to be rocks.

Geographic Distribution

• Miyla