It’s been a really busy two months! This newsletter will combine April and May announcements, and gives an update to an upcoming duo adopt, site updates, new companion updates, Fawning, and Wild Trait updates.

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.

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.

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Support for a Community Member

Please consider donating to the GoFundMe for one of our treasured longtime community members, c0rvld19, as they build the foundations for a new living situation for them and their partner as they start their lives together! Any donations would be a tremendous support for them in their new journey! 

[Donate here]

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Supplemental Artist Announcement

Please welcome L0sw as our newest Staff Member! They will be a Supplemental Artist. This means they’ll assist in site assets, adopts, event artwork, companion artwork and lore development assets. Soundwave is the mastermind behind several of the April Mule's day assets, including the mini-event banner, Roach's mischief, and trophies. They also made the Fawning item event shop banner! 

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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! 

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Our first Faunid is Enzo, who is owned by Guava! 

What labor/craft does your Faun do? 

“I see beauty beyond the death of any individual, I do not believe that memories should fade and be forgotten as their flesh and skin give away, bones can hold as many stories to tell as lips and the mind can, so I preserve them, turn them into something beautiful like it was always meant to be.”

She loves making jewelry out of any kind of bone, not just jewelry but she likes mixing them along with clothing and just anything wearable, taxidermy is also something she’s big into but the bones are where it is at!

What brought them into this field? 

“My dear mother Puvu, she inspired me since I was young with her hand crafting, always a believer of bringing the confidence that others needed to feel comfortable in their own skin… I support the ideal, and believe you can be capable of feeling comfortable beyond your skin.” 

She took it from her mama Puvu since she does jewelry herself but ofc she didn’t went with the route of metals and stuff, she just thinks they’re neat and wanted to be special <3

Does this craft bring them joy, or is it just something to pay the (nonexistent) bills of Atalav? 

“Whether I am compensated for my effort or not, it matters little to me, what I do is a craft of the mind, a showcase to be exemplary in regards of the stigma death brings to many individuals in our land, I do not believe she is cruel or ugly, I believe we should embrace her in her rotting glory.” 

She does it for the game LMAO If someone is willing to pay ofc she won’t say no she has a family to provide for, but she gets assistance from her parents or she has smaller side gigs that she does along with them for that, she genuinely sees this as a form of art and entertainment so even if no one ever paid her for it she wouldn’t stop regardless 

Is this their dream hobby/craft, or is there another specialty they'd like to do? 

“I have been unfortunately incapable of having the same spark and passion for other crafts as I have for my current hobby, I know others have their own calling to them and I respect it, very few individuals feel the comfort or have the “bravery” to take on the work that I do and I am completely ok with that, of course the more the merrier.” 

Naaaaaaah, like it was said she does some side work with her parents but it’s more for money or to help them out, nothing that she is big about So yes this is her dream since she was a little baby <3 

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Our second Faunid is Luka, who is  owned by DarotheWolf!
 

What labor/craft does your Faun do? 

“I’m, uh, a miner. I go down underground and I come back out with gold or iron.. The metals we need for tools and for jewelry.”

What brought them into this field? 

“My dad was a miner. I started following him into the mines when I was young. I guess I’ve been doing it my whole life.”

Does this craft bring them joy, or is it just something to pay the (nonexistent) bills of Atalav? 

“I do like the work. It’s hard work. It dirty. But I like being underground. And not much is better than striking gold.”

Is this their dream hobby/craft, or is there another specialty they'd like to do?

“I haven’t really thought about my dreams. This is what I do. It’s what I’ve always done. I don’t know what else I would do if not this.” 

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Companion Species Updates

We have been making steady progress on various additional companion creatures to enrich the world of Atalav. Here are a few updates on some of them: 

Cacklers will be released next. Their artwork is now finished, which was illustrated by NotSo0FFset! 
Their species description is being worked on and should be finalized this month.

Bolters have an additional behavior illustration set coming, illustrated by Necrologia.

Piksies are in development, with artwork and character design led by L0sw.

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Priorities to follow these three are:

Stagwagons

Vulpetals (fox-like creatures who have a symbiotic relationship with Piksies, who often pollinate their flowers.
(Shout out to Zorkia, who may be especially jazzed about this news!)

As-of-unyet-named Merfaun companion species, which will be an interpretation of the existing gray wolf subspecies, the Vancouver Coastal sea wolf! 

Gnarlugas, which were revealed with the first Minodae/Merfaun Hybrid. Here is the description that came with them: 
The gnarluga is a marine mammal very rarely found within Arctic waters off the northernmost coasts of Atalav.
Post-Blissen elements in the natural world created the conditions for a new branch of evolution from what were once only two living members of the Monodontidae family in our time (narwhals and beluga whales). The gnarluga is particularly distinct for the specific way its teeth grow from its skull, winding up together like gnarled roots to become visually one horn. With Minodae coming into more frequent contact with Merfauns and Faunids alike, hybrid Minodae adapt without sacrificing their ability to withstand freezing climates.

...and possibly another mount; stay tuned! 

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Upcoming Auction Duo

Two April and May themed auction Faunids will be announced this week, designed by guest artist Sh3Draws. 
Proceeds from both Auctions will be split between the designer and two different plant/biome conservation organizations!
Here's a sneak peek:

These will both be released this Tuesday, May 19th!

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Site Updates

The image cropper is still broken! We are actively looking into fixing it, but that means that for the time being, all thumbnails are being created manually so that this doesn't affect users. If you notice an issue with any of the thumbnails, feel free to ping Michael (@sekwoja) in the #website-chatter channel in the discord or message him directly and he’ll fix it up as soon as he can. 

Invalid/Forgotten Faunids are no longer active on the site. This was done for multiple reasons, including to preserve the anonymity of the original owners who are no longer in the species, as well as to avoid confusion about what is and isn’t actively a Faunid and protect the individual character designs that have been requested by owners to never be eligible for reinstatement. If you happen to come across a Forgotten you want to go through the reinstatement process with and you’re not seeing it on the website, don’t fret– we can still conduct a case-by-case investigation to reinstate the Forgotten Faun, and we are still preserving an archival record of the Forgotten Fauns.

Have a Faun-To-Fawn from a previous year that isn’t on the Archive? Message Michael (@sekwoja on discord) with the FtF that is missing and we will get it on that character’s page and add the FtF to its total official archival worth! 

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Fawning-related Updates

So far, this has been a very successful season for Fawning! We are over ⅓ of the way through the Fawning queue at the time of writing this newsletter. Exciting!

The updated system for Herne’s Grace, where the commissioner can indicate a color to direct the design, seems to be a net positive for both users and artists. We will continue this in future Fawning seasons!

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Wild Traits

This is the list of Wild Traits that were not rolled this Fawning season. While they won’t be made into Standard/Exclusive traits (Wild Traits are their own category!), we as a team will make sure to keep factors in mind for upcoming adopts to increase the possibility of these traits for next year’s Fawning season. 

Chameleon Tail
Crown Feathers
Phalene Ears
Royal Crest

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Lifesource Aspects

This year, every Fawn had a rare chance of being born with a Lifesource Aspect. There are twelve Aspects, all representing different ways that Herne's essence, a Faunid's life path, and Lifesource interact within the souls of Faunidkind.

They are noted separately, like Mutations, and are non-passable. In Faunids lore, these aspects can fade with age but do not always, so it is up to the owner whether these aspects stay into adulthood. Some Fawns may have residual marks on their souls from past lives, whereas others may have had strange experiences early on in life that led to Lifesource presenting itself on their physical bodies. Why there are twelve is yet to be known or understood by those on Atalav; they are not inherently tied to specific elements, and are something else entirely. 

This Fawning Season, the spirits are abnormally restless in the weeks following the meteor's crash into the deep ocean, and more and more stories of unusual Fawns touched by Lifesource are traveling through Atalav. 

This is a list of the known Lifesource Aspects so far: 
Exploration - Blessing - Loss - Devotion - Wrath - Grace

 

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April Mule’s Recap

Thank you all for a successful run of our first April Mule’s mini-event!
This was a lot of fun to roll out for everyone, and it seems everyone had a great time collecting and spinning April’s wheel.

There was a lot of interest in trophies being earned through events. While it was a thought that occurred after the event began, now we know that, in the future, this is something the community may be interested in! For future events, we will try to integrate trophies/collectables to celebrate and encourage participation. 

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Art Challenges

The winners for March's Art Challenge were: 
20 Barters - msmydeer
20 Barters - Zorkia
30 Barters - HatoKnight

And the winners for April's Art Challenge were: 
20 Barters - L0sw
20 Barters - twentynyne
30 Barters - MothDad
Headshot by L0sw - Fluff
Faun-to-Fawn of choice by MUTT - FatalChimera
Character bust by DarotheWolf - @Gauva

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You have about two weeks left to submit May's Art Challenge prompt: 

[Spring Blooms!]

Find a flower that represents a Faunid (whether that's because of the colors, the flower's behavior, floriography, etc.) and showcase them both together. Maybe your Faunid found these flowers in their travels and collected them. Maybe your Faun just received a bouquet. Or, maybe they simply stopped to admire them during their daily travels.

Feel free to draw from real life for this primpt. Take notice of the world around you the next time you go outside and see what's blooming!

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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Monthly Question

For the upcoming Summer Camp Event, would you prefer Semi-MYO Merfaun adopts (like last year's bugs), or pre-made adopts with a matching theme?  

RESPONDING TO THIS MONTH’S NEWSLETTER WILL GRANT 15 BARTERS TO COMBINE APRIL/MAY + DELAY!