The Nyctomaren

I told you about the uncanny valley creatures before, So let me show you them, And go into more detail about them and their anatomy!





Here are two examples!
Both are my characters, Not adopts, I haven't made any adopts yet as I want to gage interest first! As you can see, These are resized in a way to be eventually made into custom decor. Every single adopt will be in high detail, But they are made in a higher resolution which those who own the adopts will have.

However, there are also some details I need to point out between the two
One is more Felid, And the other is more Draconic! There may be more variations in the future, As well as limited numbers of adopts on each set of lines to make sure to accommodate the custom decor recolour limit. As such, There will be much variation from one Nyctomare to the next.

Each Nyctomare is able to stand upright on its hind legs. Their long neck tends to fold in on itself much like a Green Heron, So balance is far easier than if their neck was long and extended. They all have padded hands and feet, As well as a colourful line under their eyes.
Their faces can be skin, Very fine fur, Very fine scales, Or sometimes even unnatural textures. They are rarely a very different tone than what appears on their body, As it is usually just a fine, Very difficult to notice version of their main body's texture.
One notable thing is that they don't exactly have nostrils or noses, Just a vague snout. That was mainly to add to the unnatural feel of them. They have a snakelike tongue to 'taste' the air, much as snakes do.
They are lithe and thin, Much smaller in body mass than a Lion. They do however have wicked claws, and their teeth are sharp. Many also have other weapons, like spikes, horns, and some have armour like scales or thick fur and hide.

No Nyctomaren will come with a set gender. There will be no set gender restrictions on breeding. You can decide to assign a gender to your Nyctomare, And follow rules for how you want to breed them, But for the purpose of the ARPG they are able to breed regardless of gender. Hybrids are also possible, And so more variants of Nyctomaren can come into play dependent on what characters are introduced. Traits will likely also only be limited in rarity dependent on how people wish to breed and spread the traits.

I am not good at Species sheets so here is a quick one using a template
Click for a better view!

(i have an ungodly amount of pride for how good that apple looks from far away)

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The Adoption Aspect

You will be able to adopt a Nyctomaren with various ways, Likey being USD, SB, GB, And/or items/lions!
It is yet to be determined the price, Or method of adoption.
You will be getting a transparent background image. You will not have permission to upload it as custom decor. The reason is mainly because I have details I need to work out around Custom Decor first, And making sure transfer of ownership of the character won't interfere with the decor in the game.

The Breeding Aspect

The actual mechanics are not going to be explained. Not unless a non realistic method is found.
The basic summary is that they are able to create hybrid offspring with most species. Humans are not currently allowed as that comes across as very strange to me, Unless non realistic methods are found.

When breeding between two Nyctomaren, Gender is not a factor. You can, If you want a realistic reason, Consider many possibilities. Perhaps the species is all functionally intersex or nonbinary. Perhaps they are like some Amphibians and Fish, Where gender can alternate depending on factors like the species' need or based on factors like age.
Regardless of however you want to view it, You can breed any Nyctomaren with any Nyctomaren.
A Nyctomare can also breed with other creatures to create hybrids. While you are free to create things like Wolves with scales from your personally owned Nyctomaren at any given time, You are not able to create Nyctomaren. This comes down to the Breeding Seasons of a Nyctomare.

The Lore is that during breeding seasons, Nyctomaren can breed with other Nyctomaren or other species to create more Nyctomaren.
The non lore reason is that I have no guest artists at the moment and so can only take on these semi customs when I am able to.
If I get guest artists, There will be more options!

If you are trying to Hybridize a Nyctomare, The other creature must be one that has been approved for the ARPG, Or one that I approve of otherwise. If it is a Lioden Lion, It still might need to be approved, Though that would mainly be if you wanted certain decor like Bone Wings or a Dragon Leg Morph to be an actual part of your lion for breeding, Rather than a piece of decor on top of your Lion.

The ARPG Aspect

You will not need a Nyctomare to participate in the ARPG! You would only need to confirm a character with me first to participate!
This is only so traits that can be bred into Nyctomaren are kept to a reasonable level, So all you need to do is describe the character if you have no images or do not wish to share them of your oc!

ARPG or Art Role Playing Games are games where you can draw pictures or write out or in some cases submit a roleplay involving someone else and the species for prompts, In order to gain prizes! This is often usually a currency that is only applicable for the closed species. However, This would be a fun way to make it so you can gain prizes in Lioden, All for making art of your own characters and sharing it with a group of people with like interests!

An example would be for a prompt telling you that your character is exploring a cave. It may have tidbits at the end giving ideas, Such as do they find treasure or danger, And are they afraid or brave. All you have to do is draw, Write, Or Roleplay with a friend and submit it to the group to see, And you will be rewarded with SB for participating in the group.

This aspect will be highly dependent on my SB funds at the moment compared to group members. I will likely only open these when I personally have a lot of SB to share, Or items I could give. The hope is that the adopts will someday fund the ARPG!
Currently I have 734SB saved up on this account alone. My side has about 300SB. My goal is to try to give roughly 100SB per prompt to start with. Being that you are making art/writing for your own characters you own and will own the art you make, It won't have commission prices to begin with. I'll hopefully make a scale that goes upwards as well. A very rough sketch might net you 10SB to start, Clean Sketch or Lineart will be 30SB. From there, Maybe 20SB addon for colour, Shading, And a 40SB addon for a BG. That would be 110SB if you do the whole kit and kaboodle, But still 30SB if you just did a rough sketch with colour, If that makes sense.
As time goes on, And I get more SB and GB from the adopts and playing Lioden more (i recently returned after a few years absence so am low on resources but that will be changing) I will hopefully be giving closer to Commission prices for each finished Prompt. I would again like to emphasize that the ARPG aspect is for you to make art/writing of Your Own characters, And that You will Own your art, It isn't me commissioning you to draw for me or to buy your characters. Think of it like a quest on Lioden, As you certainly can draw/write about your Lioden Lions completing the quest instead of a Nyctomare regardless of if you own one or not, But as drawing/writing is more effort than clicking buttons, The prizes are a bit better.

Another aspect for the ARPG is that eventually, I hope to make these into Custom Decor for Lion replacers and to have them alongside your Pride. That way, they can be integrated into gameplay as well.
This will likely be an added price, As I will be adding growth stages. I may be the one to upload them, Not to limit your ability to buy more copies of the Decor, But in case you trade your Nyctomaren, So the next owner has access to the Custom Decor as readily as you did.

ARPG EXAMPLE

Prompts may or may not match with Lioden's events. Unlike Lioden, However, They will not always be monthly, As I will need currency saved up to reward each person!

For art, Rewards would be based on effort. Even if a background isn't detailed, It will count as long as you tried! That means abstract and Stylized backgrounds count, As long as they match the prompt!

For writing and Roleplay, It matters based on total word count and relevancy. If you spend most of your count describing the colours and marks of your lion, No matter how eloquent and rapt your description and good your writing style, It will be counted mainly as fluff! That being said, If the long description of your Lion is worked into the prompt, Say, A prompt about sunset and you describe how the light makes your lion look or if the lion matches the hues of the sunset, That does count!

If you aren't confident in your art or your writing, You can also try to mix and match! There's a possibility that it might get a higher reward, Though that depends on feedback! An example of mixing and matching would be to have a short comic, Or some text describing the image!

All examples I will be given would be accepted.

July Prompt!

You watch the shooting stars blink across the sky. What does your character think these stars are? How to they spend this time? Do they search for fallen stars, Or hide in fear, Or maybe just watch with a loved one?

Example of submission 1: Basic written response.
My lioness Caadr would think that the falling stars were giant fireflies. They were just dancing around in the sky right now. She would try to get really high up, and see if she might catch some. She might end up falling a few times, but that won't ever stop her!

Example of Submission 2: Story Response
Caadr looked up at the night sky, her grey browspots furrowing lightly. Shimmering golden lights streaked across the reflections in her bright red eyes, as she made her way outside of her den. Were those... Fireflies? She had to get a closer look. She leapt up a large rock, and stretched her neck out as far as she could. But try as she might, the lioness was too far away to even smell them. And yet she could see them so clearly... how big were those fireflies? She turned around quickly, blue grey tail whirling behind her, as she climbed up a tree, trying to get closer. She scrambled to the top, and reached her paws out, claws outstretched as if they could cage in the stars falling. With a loud crack, the branch under her broke, and she tumbled down onto the grass. As she blew at the ground under her in frustration, she glanced up. No, the little tumble wasn't going to stop her. She was going to catch those fireflies.

Example of Submission 3: Art

(Any art style, Level of Skill, ETC is accepted. So even my chibis which look awkward compared to my normal style or the style I am using for the Nyctomaren would be graded the same based on effort!)

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What I need from others

Spoiler alert. It's feedback.
Any and all, Positive and negative. It's not rude or hurtful to say you are not interested if you at least throw in reasons why or why not! Point out what you like or dislike, And if you are blunt about it that is fine!

Here's the main points of what I need:

Opinions on the CS: Do you like them? How would you like to see them interact with other creatures like Lions and Wolves?
Opinions on the ARPG: What would you like to see as rewards for prompts? Are you most interested in SB? Perhaps decor items? Lions? Or maybe a surprise of the above, Given based on effort? (No, not quality. I will not be discriminating based on someone's level of art skill. This is for fun.)
Opinions on Breeding: What traits would you want to see the most? Do you want rare traits that can pass on, Or just have player breeding be the factor for rarity?
Opinions on Prices: What should the minimum price be? Should they be flat price? Auction?

Also, Should there be a group made on Lioden, With a hoard used for Prompts?

Any and all feedback is very helpful!

Current Topic

The current topic I really would like feedback on!

Currently, I would like feedback most on a method of adoption!
I will need currency to fund the ARPG, So I was wondering about an Explore option!

This would be where you pay small bits of SB to explore, Where you will find a Moodboard!
An example would be for my personal sunset dragon, You might find a moodboard with sunsets and dragons. If you do not want it, You can decide to pass, Though someone else will have a chance at finding that Moodboard later. You will need to spend SB to explore again, But to compensate, I will transfer over an item, Be it food, Amusement, Or decor.
If you choose to take the Moodboard, It will cost a price to make the adopt. When done, I could share a watermarked copy. Maybe offer a chance for the Nyctomare to be auctioned off if the person doesn't like it, For the base claim price to be lower and another price to be paid later? I'd need feedback on compensation, Maybe the claim price refunded or an item?

Example of Exploring:

Person: I'd like to explore (i guess beach as an example) please!

Me: I'll take that explore request! You can transfer over the SB!

(Sb gets transfered)

Me:
(A drawing of the area you are exploring, with different animals and Nyctomaren lounging in it. After that, There will be a description of the area.)
As you wander along the coastline, the waves lap against the shore. What a beautiful area, the water in some places almost shimmer like the night sky itself.
You can swear you see a Nyctomare, But it is hard to make out... All you can get is an impression...

Do you wish to get a closer look?

No: Release the Moodboard, Others may find it later!
Yes, Make Me one: This will cost XSB, XGB, XUSD, Or an equivalent in items or lions! You can Mix and match payments! This claim will have me make you a Nyctomare!
Yes, Claim as a MYO: This will cost XSB, xGB, xUSD, Or an equivalent in Items or lions! You can Mix and match payments! This claim will let you make your own Nyctomare, Though it absolutely must match the given MoodBoard And any special options you can add as traits will be listed!
Moodboard created using Canva and free to use stock images found on unsplash. As such, this Moodboard is free to use, However you are not able to create a Nyctomare without claiming this Moodboard as a MYO when you encounter it.

(if yes, i will confirm and they will transfer, and i will create an adopt. If no, Others may get it. For this example, I am going with the person said no.)

You decide not to investigate. However, as you wander, you prick your foot on something sharp. With a yelp, you look down to see some Murex Shells!

Items will be transferred to you shortly.




What do you all think of this method for adopts?
Items will be random, But will hopefully be of some use and not worthless, Like craftables, Decor, Food, or amusement items. Please let me know what you think!

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seems like an interesting concept to me!!

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It seems intresting, but very confusing/complicated. i doubt many would want to participate in something like this. not because its bad, but more just odd and out there and a lot of people will be unwilling to try it simply because they dont understand it well. But i hope im wrong. cuz as much as i find cs silly this seems like an intresting idea!

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I am glad you are interested, Cio!

And Ratlover, There are quite a few closed species ARPGs out there, Some of which even have their own websites! Some resemble Neopets in a way, Others more like an entire storyline you draw out yourself, Following prompts and adventures! While I have no idea if one might take off here, There is no harm in trying!

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I love the idea tbh! The art is stunning as well! I’m not sure if I’d be interested in the actual adopts, but I know a lot will with the quality and uniqueness of the adopts! I think these will work out just fine here on Lioden! I’ve seen quite a few take off here and actually move to a different platform(discord) and have made their own website, which is gorgeous! 😊

I think you’ll do just fine with these adopts! I will definitely keep and eye on them and see if any come up that interest me! 🥰

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The adopts are mainly a hope to fund the ARPG aspect in the future, So a group can make art of their characters and share them for rewards! I do hope people do end up liking them, Though, And I am really glad you think well of my art! It means a lot, Even if you don't have any personal interest in them! Thank you so much for the feedback!

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Gosh this is just so cool, your art is absolutely gorgeous. Definitely going to subscribe for the future, looking forward to seeing where this will go! The entire concept of the adopts is very well thought out, and the overall design is perfect and fits very well, while also being very unique. Although I cant give much advice since I haven't necessarily worked on or done anything like this, all I can suggest is definitely making a discord or some sort of group (on da, etc) to help promote these guys. I feel they will have loads of interest, and having them on one or more platforms will be very beneficial to you. Please do message me at any time about these guys!! Would love to know more! best of luck with this project!!


p.s. I especially love exploration when it comes to species. It just makes them all the more fun to have! great ideas all around!

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Thank you very much! I am glad you like their design and concept! I'll look into trying to put them on other platforms as well, I would love to see how everyone interacts and see where people take them!

I like the exploration concept too, I think it adds more character I suppose? I hope others like it as well!

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