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rah-t — The Magda ref sheet (open species)
Published: 2018-04-22 22:24:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 10491; Favourites: 354; Downloads: 25
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Description
There's nothing I love more than designing creatures and coming up with their function and place in the world.And i figured I had pretty much half-assed that latest attempt at revampin gmy open species, so here is me trying my best to compensate for that unfortunate experiment.
Behold, the new and completely revamped Magda.
Please read everything below, as well as the text on the ref sheet, before creating your own magda, for the simple reason that if you're not interested in the entire species, why make one?
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Origin: Magda were created to be "living pots" by nymphs in very ancient times. Nymphs had a strong love for elks, so they tried making their creations similar to these animals. The first magda were all very similar, were very calm and lacked any need. They obediently followed the nymphs around and provided companionship and entertainment. Their skin was like fertile soil, and any seed planted in their fur could grow into a plant. The nymphs kept these animals as pets and sometimes used their magic to transform them into nymph-like creatures. They were pretty much objects for the nymphs and were beign treated that way, but since their creation had been for that purpose, no Magda felt unhappy. But Nymphs underwent a mass extinction at some point in ancient times, and Magda, who could not die and had no other need than to serve their creators, were left alone. THe magic with which they were created ran wild in them, with nothing to rein it in, and soon enough, Magda started reproducing by themselves. The magic and the way the magda were built, resulted in offspring with great variation in appearance, which continues to be the case for magda to this day. Through the ages, their personalities hanged as well. Most modern magda are wild and vicious, and they have little regard for anything other than themselves. They now live in every corner of the world.
AppearanceMagda are elk-sized creatures that do not belong in any known animal family, since they did not evolve from anything. They are almost always covered in thick fur, that can range from extremely short, to so long that their legs are not visible. The fur can be of any type, and their coat can be any colour as long as it's dull (not very saturated).
Their markings are usually like the ones that can be found in the animal kingdom (gradients, spots, stripes, etc etc) (no specific imagery like stars, flowers, skulls etc as markings ).
They can have horns, spikes, wings, fins, scaly parts, and anything else you can think of to put on them. They cannot have human-like arms, unless they are royal magdas (see restricted features for info on royal magdas)
Their faces always have the same structure: slightly elk or horse-like, the holes at the very front of their snout are actually their eyes. the eyes are always bright coloured and lightly saturated. The slits at the top of their skull are their nosetrills, because they had to accompany the nymphs as they swam in rivers and lakes, and therefore needed to be able to breath while submerged in water. further at the back of their skull there are their ears, which can either be simple holes or have an external structure like a horse, wolf, elk or other animal.
Their tail can be any length, and so can the fur that grows on it.
Their front legs may be hooved or end in paws, their back legs are always hooved.
Body types may vary a little bit, in terms or proportions, fat and muscle.
Their hooves are awlays a natural yellowish or brownish colour.
Plant growingSeeds that are either planted on, or get tangled naturally in a Magdas fur, will grow into plants because Magda skin acts as fertile soil. Usually, it's just grass, weeds and small flowers that grow onto a magda, because Magda may scratch them off or they may get uprooted in another way. Larger plants, such as bushes can only grow on magdas that are tended to by a keeper (see what a keeper is below). A magda cannot support a tree of any kind, so they usally scratch off anything that starts to grow too big. Succulents and slow-growing plants are even rarer on magdas and again only appear on those who are taken care of by a keeper.
All the above means that usually a magda only has very few plants on them, and any time you draw your magda, it's okay to place different plants at different places on them because they do change. Also, barren magda do exist, and it's usually those who move about or run a lot.
behavior, diet and reproductionAll magdas give birth to one egg every other spring. they tend to their young for about three months, which is how long it takes them to reach their full size. Magdas do not mate, they do not have reproductive organs, and there are no sexes in the species.
Magdas eat only dead organisms. They are also full of diseases.
Magdas are spitefull, arrogant and untameable creatures. They are difficult to aproach, please and understand. They easily form close bonds with their own kind but they despise everything else. They cannot be trained and they are often cruel and violent. THey do not have any kind of social structure other than close freidnships in small groups (herds under a keeper are the only exception to that, but even then, all magdas in a herd are equal)
MagicMagdas do possess various types of magic at varying degrees. THey do posess life-related powers (healing, creating small animals, killing on will etc)
Magdas can commucate with the souls of pther beings.
magdas can shift into their nymph form for short periods of time.
KeepersA magda keeper is someone who for some reason has been touched by a magda tongue, and the magda deemed their soul nice. The magda will then stick around this person, because deep down all magdas long to have the nymphs at their side and humans are the closest they can have to nymphs. A magda bonded to a keeper will be much calmer and nicer than an independant magda. The calmness and security attracts other magdas to the keeper, which leads to keepers being responsible for herds of magdas. A keeper can be anyone, so long as their innermost self is someone a Magda would choose to live with. A keeper doesn't have to own a piece of land, since even bonded magda cannot be kept in cages or fences. the keeper simply has to stay close to where his herd lives (the woods, a plain, a valley) and devote themselves to carign for the magdas, by brushing them and providing them with companionship. Magdas love listeing to songs and being petted. Magdas who belong to a keeper often have accesories on them. ( "free" magdas cannot have any accessories, braids or anything that would require hands to be put on because they do not have hands and they do not care for their appearance that much).
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Magdas are an open species! This means that you can create your own Magda/s.
- You can make as many as you like.
- You can sell or trade them.
- You can add any feature you want on them, except for thing forbidden by the species description above, as well as the things listed below in the "restricted features" list.
- You can make your magdas have offspring
- you can make your own magda keeper
But before you create your own Magda, there are a couple of rules you have to agree to follow:
- -Always credit rah-t (me) when uploading any image of a Magda anywhere on the web, with a link back to my deviantart page.
- -Do not claim the speices as yours
- -Take care while making your Magdas. I want to see characters that are well thought out, that have backstories, that make sense. Have fun with your magda and don't just half-ass a bunchof them to sell them for profit (do go ahead and make adoptables if you want, but please make them with care and love!)
- -Follow the species guidelines when creating a magda
- -Reply with a link to your character to get them aproved, whenever you make a new one, under this comment:comments.deviantart.com/1/7416… All magdas must be aproved by me before they can be counted as official (you cannot trade/sell unaproved magdas)
- -Reply with links to any magdas you are selling/trading under this comment: comments.deviantart.com/1/7416…
(these can only be used by rah-t , for adoptables, customs or personal characters)
Black, dark or completely white eyes.
unnaturally bright coloured hooves (blue, red etc)
Dwarf and giant magda (mutations)
Royal Magda (magda with a human-like face, intellectually superior to other magdas, front paws resemble hands)
Important note on restricted features: Magdas with restricted features still give birth to regular Madras without these features. Restricted features are given to a madra by dipping the newly born egg into Raht's special mutation juice that I may or may not mke available to the public in the future *wink wink*
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Pheww that should be everything I think!
no questions yet!
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Magdas and art are © rah-t
magdas are an open species!
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Comments: 64
OOOOHHH :<>
I LOVE THESE BBS!!
Also I could not agree with you more.
Wold building is just do satisfying uwu
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I always love when species or fantasy creatures, in general, have plants on their body.
I'm very tempted to make one of these.
Just a short question will you open a group for them?
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I'm really not sure. I'm gonna be trying to organise all my species in fall though, so perhaps there will be one in the future.
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Nice work indeed - very well drawn and interesting anatomy, and it's also rather refreshing to see an original species that doesn't have a hundred and one bells-and-whistles glued to it, and that doesn't have common/uncommon/rare/legendary traits that appear to be simply random changes that don't make any sense... I've seen that A LOT in so-called original species lately and it's just completely unrealistic and makes me every time I see it - fantasy creatures should still be believable within their setting, in my opinion... and seem like feasible creatures you might find in another world - not like "collectors items" with "omg rare feature that makes no sense".
But yes, in short, I really like the concept of these guys and their relative simplicity but yet very distinctive appearance - nice work indeed!
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Thank you very much!
Well, I get that some people enjoy these collectible species, much like people enjoy collecting cards, figurines or other stuff.
But I really like storytelling and worldbuilding, and making realistic-feeling creatures is one of my favourite things to do. I want to make things I can picture living and breathing, and coming up with all the info for them makes me feel like I'm studying an animal instead of just coming up with randomness. Zoology is one of my greatest loves and combining it with imaginary craziness is just too much fun.
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You're very welcome! ^^
And well, I suppose... though for me it's still kinda inducing when I see it in original species - but then, each to their own. (one thing I genuinely can't stand though is the trend of making desert-themed creatures - like, making markings inspired by foods is perfectly fine and can be quite cool as a source of inspiration and colours - but creatures with edible parts or things glued onto them... nope 
And yeah, I really LOVE that as well, I can see this in your work, and long may it continue! <3
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ahh I have to agree on that, food on creatures is pretty high up my nope list.
You're too kind hng tahnk you.
I hope it does continue!
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Yeah, to me it just seems entirely implausible and kinda... stupid and childish to be honest. 
You're very welcome indeed, and all the best!
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A very impressive comcept, I love how much information you've concocted about these creatures!
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I love how thought out this is! I only have two quick things to point out,
1) you say they are elk sized, but not everyone really knows how big that is. it would be super helpful to people interested in these if you had something to mark how big humans are compared to them. (like a shadow, stick figure, or line)
2) Since they are made from magic, body parts can be anywhere, but it is unusual for eyes to be so close to the mouth on animals with a snout, it give me the feeling that their eyes would be IN their food when they ate, would this cause any problems for them? or is that included in the "they don't get sick" section?
I'm mostly curious about number two, since this seems like a really fun species to play with. I already have a really fun idea about this, but I'll probably sketch it out before showing you and asking permission.
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Thank you!
1) well people can easily google an elk I guess XD and it's not a strict rule, a little taller or a little shorter is fine if you're worried about that! I could have added a size chart but I didn't really think about it while I was making.
2) if they are eating something like a big dead animal, then yes their eyes will be in their food. They may close their eyes while eating, or they may not be bothered at all, since they are magic creatures. Honestly they are pretty open to interpretation, other than what I've written for them. As to if their eyes can be damaged, that's up to each person to decide. Is your magda good at using life powers so they can heal a small wound like that (they usually do, small wounds don't really affect them) or is is going to go blind? if it does go blind, why is that so? wouldn't it be better that it tried to cure its eyes, since it's not a mrtal injury that could kill it and go on living normally?
There are endless possibilities with how vague their powers are, so please feel free to even make up your own stuff if you ecide to make one of them!
I hope I make sense....
I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll make!
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this was supposed to not have much detail, but i ended up having fun doing the flowers lol
I'm posting it under your character's section too
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I'm picking some colors now, but the basic idea is something like an animal sanctuary, but the family running it grow different plants on them in order to sell the plants for a living.
so far I've made personalities for six, though my drawing style is a bit cartoony ">.>
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That's a really cool idea!
Any style is fine ^^
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just a heads up i think sould is a typo is it meant to be souls? anyway i love this design so much its so creative
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Yup it's a typo it should have been souls.
Thank you!
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Ill probably make one with sunflowers
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that's be nice, I'm looking forward to seeing it.
What do you mean?
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like pouches and longer back legs?
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they could have pouches since they can have any kind of feature on them ^^ but they will not be used like marsupials' pouches since their offspring hatch from eggs.
The back legs have to remain hooved and at least resembling what you see on the ref sheet a little bit. their entire body type should be close to and elk-like, or horse-like creature.
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Loving how much work was put into to create such a character! great work!
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thank you very much, I'mglad you like them!
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It's a refreshing character design, we need more like it.
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I'm kinda confused, you say their teeth yellow with age, but further down you say they don't age. Which is it? P.S. I love the concept
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Ah wrong wording on my part ^^ You're right to be confused.
Their teeth yellow as years go by, because of use, but their body doesn't grow old after it's reached full size (which is three months after they are born), which is to say they won't die of old age or show signs of deterioration, physically. But their teeth are being used when eating, so they take a certain colour, but they won't go bad or fall off.
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ooohhh. That makes a lot more sense. Cool species
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I really like the concept of Magdas! It's so interesting and unique. I might consider making a Magda character, but I really don't know what I'd do with them yet.
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thank you!
Well, you have all the time in the world to think about it ^^
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You're welcome! If I do make one, I'll give you a link to their ref sheet. :3
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Please do!
because I need to aprove of all characters before they are official Magdas (whenever you make it, you can post the link by replyign to the "characters comment on this deviation!)
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