The purpose of these newsletters is to keep our community informed about site updates, upcoming events, official artist commission openings, new user guides, highlight different bits and pieces of our species, and build on community engagement. The content of these newsletters will vary by month.

Thank you to everyone who commented on last month’s newsletter! We are posting this Newsletter earlier than usual to prepare for Corruption later this month.

To sign up for a Faunids account, message a moderator for an invite code. Once you have that, you can register on the sign-up page.

View the Faunids Policy Handbook

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Lore Development: Clothing

Our latest lore development is focused on clothing. The way Faunids interact with the world around them is reflected in the outfits they wear, and what materials they might use to create those outfits. We have plans for a quad-specific lore update soon, and future plans to add quad-specific clothing and accesories. For now, this lore development features Minodae and anthro Faunids in various climates. 

As always, this is meant to be a jumping off point as you enrich your own characters, not a hard and fast rule for how every Faunid might dress. 

Thank you hearteater for sharing your knowledge and art to make this page possible. A lot of research and thought was put into all of these! 

[View the full Clothing Lore Development here] 

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Character Appreciation

We want to appreciate all the hard work that goes into turning designs into full-fledged characters.
As part of the Newsletter, we choose community members with well-loved Faunids to tell us a bit more about them!

This month, we wanted to highlight the bonds between Faunids and their non-Faunid companions. 

Up first, owned by Hyenadayy, are Mazi and his shrieker Zul!

1. How did your Faunid come to find/take in their companion?
Mazi found Zul when he was just a baby, stranded and thrown from the nest too early. He spent a lot of delicate time and care fostering him! He very much bonded with him over that time.

2. What is their relationship like? Are they more like a beloved friend, a working companion, or something else?
I would say their relationship is a beloved companion, but also a work partner! Zul is helpful for helping Mazi track down animals and other Faunids. 

3. Why does their companion have the name they do? How were they named?
Zul is named after a character in World of Warcraft. Because Mazi is based around WoW, he is mostly named after the location Zul'aman though!

4. How does your Faunid communicate with your companion?
Mazi communicates with chirps, chitters and whistles to signify commands to him! He has trained him heavily over the years.

5. Are there any special challenges that come with living with their companion?
Yes, Zul has quite the personality and sometimes likes to be disobedient... Mazi can be seen arguing with his shrieker, receiving loud and angry caws back!

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Next up is Kieran and his stagwagon, Brutus, both owned by Grremllin! This interview was held in-character.
 

1. How did you come to find/take in your companion? 
Oh Brutus? My Family has owned a Stag Wagon ranch since I was just a fawn, When I was about toddlin' age my momma brought me out to the grub site while she was tending the larvae dirt. All was well until she stumbled upon a sickly runt, now it was about Leaf Fall, and we couldn't just leave it out to freeze, and she was already taking care of me so she figured, what's one more grub? Haha!

2. What is your relationship like? Are they more like a beloved friend, a working companion, something else? 
He's definitely a beloved friend, and a working companion. We grew up together so he's been by my side for longer than I can remember. He's very dependable. Always there when I need him, even with his hulking size.

3. Why does your companion have the name they do? How were they named? 
Well... his original name was 'Lil Squishy, but. As you can see he's quite large. I had someone say he was quite Brutish, once... so Brutus was a silly joke that kinda stuck!

4. How do you communicate with your companion?
Well, he sorta shutters and chitters, and when he's particularly happy he goes wee wee wee. He's such a gentle little thing. He likes it when you scratch his forehead right up under his pronotum, he's super soft there too. Sometimes I have to clean his face up with a damp cloth, he enjoys fruit as a treat and especially on a hot day. I just speak all gentle with him. He's a giant but he doesn't mean any harm.

5. Are there any special challenges that come with living with your companion?
Stagwagons start out from a Larvae, and then they pupate and must remain in the dark for- well, however long they need. I gotta say my biggest challenge was the anxiety I got from him being under ground for so long. It took everything in me to not go dig him up and roll him around. And of course, when he emerged he was too big to come back inside the hut. I was only a spike then, so my momma had Volo and some of her friends come out to help me build him a special barn. I'm sure it gave her a headache, having just had Séance around that time, but I was so happy to welcome my friend into a warm leaf litter filled space of his own. Of course- in those first few days she's catch me sleeping in the hay next to him. Its definetly a core memory.

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And, last but not least, are owned by a member of our staff, Necrologia. Rún's companion is an avestrich named Ghost. 

1. How did your Faunid come to find/take in their companion?
When Rún, barely out of his teen years, decided to travel up north, he mostly kept to himself and off roads due to him not wanting to socialize with other Faunids. This led to him straying farther off his path than calculated and ending up in an almost tundra-like landscape, not yet covered in snow but draped in thick mist. As he ventured through the fog, he was alerted by a sudden thumping noise behind him, making him freeze in his movement and turn around, just to look into the hazy eyes of a barely mature avestrich, covered in a white and gray coat of feathers. Staying calm yet intrigued, Rún watched the wary creature for a while, staying near it, observing it and studying it. This stretched on for a few days, until the Avestrich finally decided to approach him and forming their bond.

2. What is their relationship like? Are they more like a beloved friend, a working companion, something else?
They are a rather similar pair, both being on the quiet and observing side, yet somehow codependant on each other. Due to Ghost being partially blind, he almost exclusively depends on Rún's communication with him when they leave the ranch. After Rún took in more Avestrichs for training, Ghost took on a natural mentor role for the younger Avestrichs there.

3. Why does their companion have the name they do? How were they named?
As Rún studied him in the fog, his movements spoke to him as fluid and wary, careful to not make a noise unless intended, which reminded him of a snow spirit making itself known to the one entering its territory. Playing into that, the Avestrichs misty eyes made him ultimately decide on 'Ghost' as a name.

4. How does your Faunid communicate with your companion?
Rún works a lot with energy communication, body tensing and loosening muscles as well as breathing. Very rarely he uses vocal commands, but only when Ghost is outside of his vicinity.

5. Are there any special challenges that come with living with their companion?
Given that Ghost is partially blind, there was a lot of new things to learn for Rún as he travelled and bonded with him. Their communication is rather specific and dependant on a calm and collected temper, making it hard for others, including Rún's own sons, to communicate with Ghost. In general Ghost likes to avoid other faunids just as much as Rún and is rather antisocial.

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Upcoming Adopts

There are two Fenris Children up for auction this week.
The first was designed by Loutta and GoryTeeth, and the second was designed by L0sw.

[See more information and place bids here]

There will also be one more auction Faunid in November, created by Necrologia. Be on the look out later this month! 

Auction Bidding

Last month, a Discord poll was held in the server regarding how auctions are run and where bids can be placed. 
"All auctions will continue to be posted to the Faunids website regardless of the outcome of this poll, but I'd like some community feedback regarding in what ways users can bid on auctions." 

There were 51 votes. The results were: 
1. "Bids should only be made on comment threads on-site" - 18%
2. "Bids should also be able to be placed in the server" - 57%
3. "No preference" - 25%

Thank you to everyone for the feedback. As a result of this poll, our moderation and admin team are now monitoring the bidding threads and comments to keep them fully up-to-date across the server and the website! All bid histories within the server will be placed on the website as well. 

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Site Updates

Viewing the Guides Page

We are still in the process of streamlining our dropdown menus on-site. Something we really want is to host all relavant information in one easy place. The page itself is live, though keep in mind some of the pages are still in progress. Here's how you can get to it: 

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Site Error Reporting

If you encounter any errors or bugs while using the site, please report them in the #website-chatter channel of the Discord, or report them directly to MUTT. 

Thank you so much to our incredible coders. bluiestarss has been working incredibly hard on the back end of Faunids to fix errors, increase stability on the site, and so much more that I don't know how to do myself and is immensely valuable to our community. 

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Trait Feature

If you haven't already, please check out the news post on Trait Updates [HERE]! It includes information on new traits and rehauled images for existing ones.

This month's trait is: Beard! 

This is a personal favorite amongst several members of staff, both for how much character it can add, and because it's so dang funny! Look at that thing! 
From unicorn goatees to mutton chops, this trait certainly has the range. 

Here are some Faunids and Minos that showcase their beards gloriously: 

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Art Challenge

Thank you to all our participants for October! Look at all those lovely costumes! 

Our winners were: 
20 Barters - kojoty
20 Barters - L0sw
30 Barters - Banriion
Exclusive Applicator - HatoKnight
Re-ref/Self-Ageup Fee Waiver - darthdadddy

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The November Art challenge is now live! 

What does your Faunid bring to the table?

Following this year's harvest, Faunids across Atalav think this is the perfect time to share a feast. What foods does your Faunid eat? What do they make when invited to share a meal with others? Does your Faunid have a special dish, or a family recipe? Is your Faunid the worst cook in the world? 

Your submission this month must include food of some kind. This is your chance to practice something you may not draw every day! 

Remember that in order to enter for this prompt, you must submit your entry into the art challenge gallery and submit a prompt.

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New December Event (The Winter Gala)

This coming December, we have some really exciting updates for all of you. Expect more information in the following weeks as well! 

Winter Advents

First of all, the Winter Advents will be making a return! The previews for this gacha set were revealed all at once, with participants being able to choose which previews seemed interesting to them. One adopt was rolled each day. 

This year we will have a full advent calendar that runs from December 1st to December 25th. Similarly to Springtide, each day will alternate an adopt being won or another special prize being raffles. During Springtide, these were randomly drawn tokens from a pool. The Advent Calendar, which will be revealed later in November, contains some prizes that cannot be gained through our year-round Barter shop.

...But wait, there's more! A new base set has been made by MUTT for this event. Thank you to hearteater and Cockroach for your pose suggestions.
Enjoy a sneak peek: 

Winter Wonderwheel

You may have stumbled upon my disgusting and horrible test wheel on-site. I'm using it for my nefarious purposes (testing). 
There are more details to come, but December's event will include our first daily mechanic.
Once a day during the event, you'll be able to spin the wheel for a chance at prizes!

Secret Shriekers

This has been suggested in many different ways for quite some time now. So, a big part of the December event will be a community-driven Faunids version of Secret Santa. This arts-and-crafts section of the event will replace December's art challenge. We will be opening forms to apply during the last week of November with more information included on rules, requirements, and FAQs! 

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Monthly Question