The judging is complete!
I want to do a full display of all the entries, as well as drawing them in the Harkovast style.
But for now I will just post the winning entry and the results so you aren't kept in suspense.
Red Ned was once again impressed with the high standards of the entries, and found judging it very tough (he took his responsibilities seriously!)
The judging was blind, but he was hazarding a guess at who wrote what.
When I post a full break down I will give you the run down on his thought process in more detail.
But, without further ado, its time to announce the winning entry!
The winner was....
CANOUVEA with this creature
the Grib.What is a Grib you ask?
I will let canuovea explain-
Name: GribIt has a long, furred, body that transitions seamlessly into a tail that is also furred. The tail is prehensile and so the creature will sometimes hang from things by wrapping the tail around something. It has no hind legs, so their lower body is often very muscled and sinewy, like a mammalian snake. It does, however, have arms that end in paws that they usually fold in front of them when not in use. When in use they use them to clamber about or pull themselves around with the use of some semi-opposable thumbs. Sometimes if they are traveling with their person they will wrap themselves around one shoulder and then lay across the neck and hold onto the other shoulder. Their head is long (almost like a European badger's) and their ears display a fair amount of genetic diversity so they range from floppy all the way to very pointy and straight. Their jaws are very long and their front teeth are needle-like and good for latching on to prey or fruit so their long tongue can lap up the blood or juices. They are not above tearing out chunks of meat and then chewing it with their back teeth, however.
In the wild they normally would fight with the sharp claws on their paws, but these claws are often filed down by more civilized owners.
They can be very vocal animals and produce a wide range of sounds that range from a contented gurgling sound when happy (in the same way a cat might purr but instead of purring it is a happy burbling/gurgling sound) to a yip or whine when wanting attention to a mucusy hissing sound when angry or frightened.
Though very active and athletic animals, they require mental stimulation more than they do physical exercise. They can usually find something to clamber on and such, but given their active intelligence they also need to be presented with challenges. These challenges can be finding treats or opening things or even learning tricks. Their obedience varies from individual to individual (and by certain breeds of course) but they can indeed learn the odd command and usually can be relied upon to do as their owner wishes. Though usually of a temperament somewhere between dogs and cats, they do often deign to be affectionate animals when cared for likewise. Both their senses of sight and smell appear to be keen.
They do have some certain behaviours that have earned them laughs over the years. One of these is that when confronted by something strange they may do one of two things. Firstly, they may throw themselves backwards and balance on their long lower body/tail as if they are trying to stand up. This is probably an attempt to frighten any predators away and make them think that they are not worth the trouble, but it IS rather amusing. Not quite as amusing as their other reaction when confronted by something strange (especially suddenly), which is to use the force of their lower body to fling themselves into the air as high as they can go and flail about as they do so. This is meant to shock and confuse predators while giving them some distance, but to a person observing it it simply tends to induce laughter. Even some Ivos have been known to break down into hysterics.
They can be found in the wild, but these are usually very wary of people. They aren't usually aggressive though, and can be approached if done so with care and caution. There are also many different domesticated breeds of the thing. These range from the puffy Eslum variety, who come covered in a large amount of puffy fur for the weather, to the long haired ones found in Junlock lands, to the kind of creepy hairless ones sometimes owned by Tolpish, to the shorter haired ones more common elsewhere in Vellastrom. Some Nymus aware of their sense of smell and learning ability have ones who are trained to check food for poison by smelling it. If they refuse to eat it, or hiss at it, it means the food may be poisoned. This has resulted in some rather portly Grib over the years, giving them a chubby look if they are so employed by the Nymus. This has also backfired sometimes as the smarter Grib sometimes learn to turn down food they don't like in order to be brought something better tasting.
Forgot to mention that their size does vary dramatically as some breeds have been bred to be smaller and some have been bred to be bigger. The largest would probably be as tall as a decent sized man if stood from tail tip to top of the snout. The smallest would probably be the height the waist, though keep in mind that the tail adds some length. Though that isn't to say that there couldn't be smaller ones... my god I mean, I've seen an adult toy chihuahua before. Yes. Chihuahuas are normally the size of an American football (a fortuitous size) but this... this thing... it was actually the size of a largish rat.
Well done to Canuovea and well done to everyone else that entered.
As I mentioned, I will draw all the entries and present them for you all to look over, along with some extra info on Red Ned's judging process.
Thanks to everyone who took part!
