Llayad has sheep, which are basically the Afrikaner sheep (dark one) native to South Africa and the damara sheep (white one) native to Namibia. Both geared for living in the desert, they have fat tails which function like a camel's hump, and they're a particular delicacy to Llayans. Their hide makes for particularly soft leather and is used as gloves and soft shoes. The rams of both breeds have curly horns, which continue to grow through the animal's life. After their death, the horn is used for anything from buttons to serving spoons.

The wooly one is farmed in the mountains, where their wool is used as both the fibre and as the floofy hide for lining boots and such. They have short hair in summer, not as short as the plains breed but enough to keep them cook, then it thickens out to dense wool in winter before being shed in spring. They get brushed every day as they're moulting and their wool collected to be washed and spun as fibre or matted into felt. The hairs are thinner and softer than real-world sheep just cos I find wool can be kind of itchy :< also in a world where they have marsupial fur as a standard soft textile, sheep have something to live up to.

The sleek one is farmed on the plains and is just farmed for meat and hide.

The zahnenzaun, or fence of teeth, is a semi-mythical creature living in the Llayan Great Lake. It's seen rarely enough that nobody knows what it looks like, just general impressions of brown fins and the holy shit teeth fencing off that gaping maw. It has been known to attack people, lending credence to its existence, but it still has almost Loch Ness Monster standing among those who don't live on the Great Lake.

In reality, the zahnenzaun is a freshwater shark, a bit smaller than a great white and a bit of a cross between a wobbegong and an eel, not much more than a mouth with a tail. It lives on the lake bottom where it feeds on other bottom feeders, out where the water is quite deep. It's mostly an ambush predator, hiding amongst the seaweed before launching itself in that way sea creatures do and taking down its prey. Very occasionally, when it hasn't eaten in a while and it's REALLY hungry, it'll pursue its prey up to the surface and breach the surface with a great gnashing of teeth before disappearing back to the depths. If it sees a fisher's legs standing there in the shallows, then so much easier for the zahnenzaun. As with saltwater sharks, though, they don't like the taste of humans so they'll invariably spit them out and swim away.

There's really nothing to say about this one, it's a butterfly :D In my favourite colour combination of citrus colours :D I hadn't yet made an insect for Llayad, was thinking of Christmas beetles, or a fuzzy wuzzy something, or a butterfly cos I hadn't done one yet, then discovered that fluffy beetles are in fact a thing and they're so cute I won't top them, so butterfly it is.

This one's the male, with the female being slightly larger but duller and with a second of the small tails instead of the full ribbons.

MORDVOGEL.

I've now drawn all the creatures I've already stuck into Llayad, so now I'm up to the kind of fleshing them out part, creating more critters to throw into the narative when I need. One of those is another bird, because I've only got the flamingo and hummingbird so far. So I was thinking of a bird of prey, except I've already got the griffin filling that role, and why am I going to stick an eagle in the sky when I can soar a griffin through there? So next I was thinking maybe a flightless bird. Some sort of ostrich, moa, emu, cassowary type thing… and because I already had birds of prey on the mind… cassowaries are already evil murder birds… why not make it a proper, truly legit murder bird and make a flightless bird of prey? I google translated murder bird into German, because Llayad is the Barossa but make it Africa, and it spat out mordvogel and I was sold.

The mordvogel is, obviously, a terrifying creature. It has an eagle's beak, a velociraptor's hooked toe because why the shit not, all fused onto an emu's body that can run at 60kph and is one of the fastest creatures in Tsyllaes. They're territorial birds, solitary until the breeding season, when they pair up and raise their chicks as a pair. Both parents equally share the roles of sitting on the eggs/chicks and hunting as well as teaching the chicks to hunt. Once the chicks are grown enough to go out on their own, the parents separate with the female keeping the same territory while the male goes to find a new mate.

They hunt by sitting down in the grass of the savanna and scanning through the grass for a likely victim. They'll then launch off the ground and sprint after their quarry. When they catch up, they jump up on the prey's back and dig in with those massive claws and beak, ultimately aiming to claw the throat open and tear it to shreds like an eagle. Both extremely agile and with huge stamina reserves, the mordvogel can run at top speed for way longer than any of its potential prey animals. If it gets its sights set on you, you are stuffed. Just show it your neck and hope it gets it over with quickly.

Wildebeest are the cattle of Llayad, living in farmed herds as well as the 100,000+ wild herds. The farmed herds of a few hundred to a few thousand migrate with the wild herds, and the drovers work to protect their herd from predators until they reach their northern farms. Groups of nomadic hunters will often also work to protect wild herds on which they live.

MEERKAT.

I have nothing else to add.

LEAF DRAGONS! I've been really looking forward to drawing these little guys <3 They can grow to be huge, with the oldest, Oak, the size of a small forest, but these ones are just little, the thickness of your index finger. Llayan dragons all share their appearance with the trees around them.

I always associate Llayad with golden colours, therefore autumn, but deciduous trees from Australia are thin on the ground (there are two, one of which is subtropical) and I've not found one at all in South Africa. The single temperate deciduous tree I've got is the tanglefoot fagus, represented by the middle dragon here. Llayans therefore refer to autumn as the 'turning of the fagus.' There are three other related faguses (fagi? idk), all of which are evergreen and one of which is actually Kiwi, but screw you I'm bringing them into Llayad and making them deciduous: the myrtle fagus, flat-leafed fagus and the silver fagus.

Red moulmein cedar, represented by the top dragon, is the one that's technically subtropical but I'm stretching it into the Llayan mountains so it can also be temperate. Ditto the white lilac, which is more of a tropical tree that goes gold when it feels like it (so far as I can tell). There's one next to the cafe I often have lunch at and I had no idea it was Australian. Definitely not native to my area but there you go, Llayad can have them.

Finally the, almond of flame, represented by the bottom dragon, is again a straight up tropical tree I'm making temperate, native to south-east Asia so y'know what it counts. That's as native 'deciduous' as I've managed to get.

This is all relevant to the dragons, because the deciduous ones will turn to autumn colours and subsequently lose their leaves in winter, so they can no longer fly until they get new bright green growth in spring. They have seedpods which grow at the tip of their tails, which they'll then drop in the ground and let it grow into a tiny new sapling of a new dragon!

Dragons are very much creatures of magic, nothing to do with fire (though, idk, maybe those which do well with fire and need it to germinate seeds do make fire) but they have some connection with the wind and the weather. I know exactly what that connection is but that's spoilers, so shh. They communicate with twists of wind around the ankles, an uncomfortable breeze up the back of the neck or a soft waft through the hair, up to destructive gales and dark clouds full of lightning.

They may or may not be related to the sea dragons of Tsayth, who can tell?

NAME Prince Domasson WHO IS THIS PERSON Adoptive son of Crown Princess Evelandel and Crown Prince Jeorgenig of Llayad GENDER Male AGE 5

Llayad has a tradition of adoption, most especially amongst the nobility and, of course, same sex couples because they haven't invented IVF yet. Evelandel herself was adopted (new info since I created her), not because she was an orphan but because she was born on the most auspicious day ever and that's clearly going to make a good queen. Her whole family came to live at Wensleydale Castle with her, so she still has both her parents, as well as the king and queen as adoptive parents. She therefore always intended on adopting a child, though she did so traditionally by adopting an orphan.

Domasson was adopted at age three, after his mother died giving birth to who would have been his baby brother, and his father, idk, got some disease or something. He knew he was gonna die, heard the crown princess was looking to adopt, and took his son to the castle. Evelandel took little Domasson in and allowed his father to live there until he inevitably carked it.

Domasson himself is a happy, bouncy kid, though he does get the sads on occasion and cries for his daddy, mostly when he's alone in his bed at night. It's been happening less and less as time goes on, though, and he's recently started calling Evelandel and Jeorgenig Mama and Papa, so progress is happening. Also he has ADHD because why not.

NAME Prince Nicolinaus WHO IS THIS PERSON Son of Crown Princess Evelandel and Crown Prince Jeorgenig of Llayad GENDER Male AGE 6

Nicolinaus is a serious young man because I haven't got one yet amongst the Llayan kids. He especially wants his big sister, who's next in line after Mama to the throne, to be a bit more serious about her responsibility. Boy needs to lighten up more, because the reality is the king and queen of Llayad don't do much. He'll probably end up on the council when he's old enough, and Annakarina will be stoked to have him.

Time for the final art of the Big Book of Stuff, about a dozen headshots for characters. They're all pretty random and, plot-wise, extremely minor, so I'll group those together who make sense, starting with Sebastien and Florien! Sebastien is Sallie's, and in hindsight his eyes might be a bit wonky. I do quite love his shirt and hair, tho.

NAME Sebastien WHO IS THIS PERSON Sebastien belongs to Sallie! He was created to be a boyfriend for Kurae. Lucibella is his little sister GENDER Male AGE idk, like, early 30s? We never gave him an age, I don't think.

Sebastien was a chef in a Llayan castle, which is the dream job of any Llayan chef because of the financial security and also your budget is huge and of course you have to at least taste everything you're making. The best nobility will even let you eat the same stuff you're making for them, omg. For Seb, though, he ended up with extremely picky eaters for employers. Sucks arse. When his parents died, they left their inheritance to Sebastien's older brother, Florien, who used the money to move them all to Ni-Yana where Seb could open a restaurant where his food would be appreciated.

For this, Seb is eternally grateful. He spends most of his life caring for his critically ill big brother, the rest of the time working on new recipes and building the restaurant he's always aware is owned by said brother. It's a hard, hectic, literally thankless life, until finally opening night arrives. One of his patrons, who is there at the opening of every new restaurant in Ni-Yana, is King's Own swordsman, Kurae. He's quiet, unobtrusive, but Seb can tell he likes what he's served. He comes back, again and again. He brings the other swordies to show off this new, Llayan restaurant.

After, like, three years, Sebastien finally approaches him. In all this time, Kurae's never ordered wine with his meal, only ever Raykinian beer, so Seb offers him wine. Kurae allows it. At the end of the night, Seb offers him a kiss. Kurae allows it. And there was much rejoicing =3

Florien is Ku's! I originally had him properly pallid and grey, but he looked more zombie, more dead than chronically ill, so I gave him a bit of a fever-induced flush to his cheeks and some sweaty shine, cos it's a lot of work being in constant pain. Also stringy, sickly hair. Still a handsome man, though.

NAME Florien WHO IS THIS PERSON Florien belongs to Saku! He's Sebastien's and Lucibella's older brother. GENDER Male AGE A few years older than Sebastien

Florien has some unidentified illness which has him in constant pain. Yamin has tried healing him, but whatever it is basically just constantly eats at his flesh, so Yamin's healing will give him relief for like ten minutes, but the added pain of the actual healing process lingers (Yamin calls it the memory of pain) for long enough that it pretty much means nothing. Until she can figure out what the actual illness is, all she can heal is his symptoms, so. Suckage.

The constant pain gives Florien one hell of a mean streak. He has no filter, no concept of the work Seb puts into caring for him or the sacrifices he makes in his own life to keep Florien as comfortable as he can be. Seb reminds himself Florien's in constant pain, reminds himself of the sacrifices Florien has made just so Seb can follow his own dreams, but jesum christmas it's hard.

I know I've been doing oils for the other religious art, but I just wanted to draw the Llayan horoscopes in medieval style because it amuses me =3 The basis for the signs came from three sets of opposite character traits: extrovert/introvert, relaxed/alert and cautious/impulsive, then mixing and matching those to create the eight unique signs and matching a creature to them. Extra flavour then just comes from how the creature itself behaves in the wild.

Llayans also believe in reincarnation, and the sign you are in this life indicates what animal you'll be reborn as in your next. This conveniently explains away why your personality may not perfectly match your sign, cos it just means you were a different animal in your past life.

MEERKAT | Early Summer Extrovert, alert, cautious Meerkats are extremely family-oriented, often having large families and many children, because they love children. They can tend towards anxiety, when the alert and cautious interact a bit too strongly, but they're always willing to help and always putting others before themselves.

SNAKE | Late Summer Introvert, alert, cautious Snakes tend to be quiet and patient people, but will strike with enough provocation. They like their alone time and, in bigger groups of people, tend to sit and listen rather than participate in conversation. Mithé is a snek.

GRIFFIN | Early Autumn Extrovert, relaxed, impulsive Griffins are extremely loyal to their friends often to the point of being blind to their faults. They can be a little naïve but mostly they're just awesome friends to have. Lynnlita is a griffin.

WOLF | Late Autumn Extrovert, relaxed, cautious Very strong family bonds, strong loyalty to friends, optimistic and probably a bit too naïve and trusting, possibly to the point of being outright stupid but they're loveable idiots.

BAT | Early Winter Introvert, alert, impulsive Bats live the night life, sleeping in late and staying up into the night. They can feel a little distant on first meeting and it can take a while for them to open up, but once they do you'll feel special to be in their inner circle. Bats are homebodies and often have lovely homes.

LEOPARD | Late Winter Introvert, relaxed, cautious Leopards don't waste their words, they're quiet but when they speak they're worth listening to. They have phenomenal patience, but once it wears thin you'll want to get out of their way. Also brilliant hunters, whatever context that means in people. The twins are leopards.

HUMMINGBIRD | Early Spring Extrovert, alert, impulsive Hummingbirds are always on the go and find it hard to sit still or relax. They love being in nature, often having jobs in the garden or floristry or something. They like shiny things =3 Assili is a hummingbird.

RIGAFFE | Late Spring Introvert, relaxed, impulsive Rigaffes tend to be friends with everyone wherever they go, but very rarely on a deep level as they don't like sharing. They're social butterflies. They will always try their hardest to be the absolute best and can be perfectionists and, if they get it right, they will absolutely lord it over you. Nol is a rigaffe.

DRAGON | Equinox and Solstice Personality a combination of the signs on either side of the solstice Dragons are seen as the particularly auspicious sign. Those born on a full moon are silver dragons, and a golden dragon is born on a golden full moon, an extremely rare event. Lynnlita's eldest sister, Evelandel, was born under a golden dragon. She was adopted into the royal family because of this and, as the eldest, is next in line to the throne.

This feels like the Most Fantasy I've drawn, and I've done dragons and griffins. This is a battle turtle, which lives in the Llayan Great Lake. The name comes from back in the day when Llayad was a more warring nation and they'd use their shells as shields. Whole lot of leafy seadragon-esque fins floating around them for camouflage, and freshwater mosses grow on their shells so they can really blend in with the rocks on the lake floor. They have a long helmet so when they draw their head in they have an extra spike sticking out, more spikes on their shells, a long hooked beak and frigging sawblades of scales on their front fins, but they're not carnivorous. This is aaaaall defensive, because something else lives in the Great Lake, oooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooooo.

They're also, predictably, a delicacy in Llayad, but it's a criminal offence to raid their egg nests.

SNEK. This is the fire spitter cobra of Llayad. It does not spit fire (otherwise it'd be the firespitter or fire-spitter cobra), just has a fire pattern on its hood and it spits venom. In looking for refs, I learned four of the… ten, I think? species of cobra in Africa spit venom. It's just as a defence mechanism so it's not going to kill you, just temporarily blind you so it can flee. Even on humans, you just rinse it out with water and after two days, you're fine. Like it sucks, but compared with the alternative of being bitten by the snake, being spat in the face is definitely the better alternative.

I went through so many options for the hood pattern. Started with maybe a shield, looking up patterns first of African shields, thinking maybe that might be a bit too appropriation in my kingdom of whitey mcwhitefaces, so instead looking at ancient Germanic shields, but none of them worked as a snek hood. Thought of mirroring a constellation maybe, but decided there was already enough going on with Llayan fortune telling and reincarnation that I didn't need to bring actual astrology into it, too (snake is one of their zodiac creatures). Finally settled on the flame pattern, I think because I was looking at the spitting ones and had the phrase 'fire spitter' come into my head.

Hummingbirds often have extremely specialised bills for reaching into extremely specific flowers so individual species of both the flowers and the birds have symbiotic relationships. There'll be a plant in Llayad somewhere with a curved trumpet flower for the little turquoise one, and a reeeeeally long, like, red hot poker type thing for the pink one. The one the black and gold one is ruffling around in is an impala lily, which is apparently really good for bonsaiing. So. Imagine a bonsai of this thing in a Llayan castle with little hummingbirds flitting in to feed off it =3

Flamingos live in giant flocks in the Great Lake of Llayad, as well as some flocks in the Shallows in Tsayth and in the other Great Lake in Kazin, but the Llayan capital and most of the population lives around their lake so flamingos are mostly associated with Llayad. There are also several farms throughout Llayad, because, according to the ancient Romans, flamingos are delicious.

Canines don't technically exist in this world, because I~ am not a dog person. The Llayan wolf is a Tasmanian tiger with the big ears, floofy tail and gorgeous markings of an African wild dog. It's still a marsupial, so has the pouch and the weird back legs and HUGE jaw of a Tassie tiger, and not technically a dog. Aside from the appearance and the pouch, though, the Llayan wolf functions like African wild dogs, living in big packs with strong social bonds.

They have been domesticated, but they still need to keep their big packs so it's really only in castles with room to keep enough to keep them happy. They're kept as hunting dogs rather than as pets.

Like the marsupial lions of Raykin, Llayan felines are largely marsupials, which includes the leopards, so I gave them more marsupial-looking faces and paws, based on a quoll. Their general lifestyle is otherwise like a leopard--solitary big cats that hunt and drag their prey up into trees then leave them there for a while before they come back and eat them.