The thought has been brewing in my head for some time, now; whenever I want a new character, I use the same standard species. This makes sense in my Macro universe because it's so very grounded in reality, so the Voeldahn (anthros/furries) are ALWAYS land-dwelling mammals. It wasn't until I brought that universe into the future and added aliens with the (sadly unfinished) story 'Unity' that I gave that universe raptor-like creatures, avians and an insectoid race. Only that last one was even remotely original. Granted, I've discovered a hidden fetish for amphibian-raptor characters, which appear in other stories, like 'The Seventh Realm' and 'The AdvAnTAGE Project', but they're not terribly original, in form. In my story, 'In The Mist Of The Erie Isles', I made a race called the Helngar, who are basically just Sergal-lite, and the Jaliscan, who are Cabbit-lite. I'm tired of recycling ideas. I want a genuinely NEW species to use, and also something other people might like and reproduce. If it gets half as much traction as the Crux, I'll be happy. :3

Having said all of that, I've spent the last few days working with an artist friend of mine,  blackmustang13, creating this new species. I don't want to give away too much, partially because nothing is definitive and people love to steal ideas, but here's the concept, in generalities. It's basically a tetramorph, or in this case, a triamorph, a combination of three animals. The base animal is a horse, with features of a raptor and a hawk/eagle. I'm calling the race "Loshadnik", because I'm learning Russian and I like making fanciful sounding words that are just mixed up real words, but hey, it works for doctors! The race will be angelic/demonic in a way, with distinct magical/supernatural powers, multiple forms (a mundane form and a "true/full power" form), and a thorough racial history that stretches back to the birth of the cosmos.

I have no idea what the story will be like, where it will take place, if it will be more grounded in reality or if it will have anthros/furries at all, besides the Loshadnik, and I don't know if it'll be a one-off or a full series. I'm far too focused on The AdvAnTAGE Project and finishing Erie Isles to take too much time for that, so don't get scared that I'll be shelving any active projects. When I get the finalized art, I'll post it and start making more references to the Loshadnik, as well as writing short stories for them, until I'm ready to really dive in.

This is also something of a collaboration. So far the people I've involved are...

Main artwork by  blackmustang13
Concept assistance by  SinalaNF
Idea validation by  AnnVee
Idea validation by  fairyyuri
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Malstrum, my band's vocalist, who isn't a furry but a big DnD, Mythology and comic book guy. He's helping me build the world and write the Loshadnik's history.