What is a Synx?
Well... I am. I would be physically if I wasn't stuck in this human
body for some reason. Yah, who says we only get one form! But if you
truly want to know about my totem, read on and enjoy.
DISCLAIMER:
[The following document blatantly and flagrantly makes up history
whenever it's convenient. Whatever is not true is (c) Tasci. Have a
nice day.]
Let's start with the scientific definition.
Synx frabonicus sapiens
A synx is a nocturnal scavenger inhabiting the hills and forests of
Northern Europe, though recently having increased their range to the
Americas and the Asiatic continent by hiding in sock drawers. Not a
pure mammal, their body structure bears certain similarities to the
Aves family, specifically Aves Draco, in pelvic musculature, vocal chords,
and dermal anatomy.
Like dragons, synxes have a multitonal, flexible vocal chord system, although
the sounds between synxes and dragons are distinct due to differences in muzzle
and throat shape. Synxes can talk, as can any animal with suitably flexible
vocal chords. Birds wouldn't have a problem talking, if they had the smarts for
it. Just look at parrots! And if squirrels were intelligent, their chattering
could easily be transferred to speech. Many monkeys could adapt to human speech
and don't try to tell me I didn't hear a strange cat walk up to me one day and
say "Hello!" It's true! o.o Of course that deserved a good long pet. ^.^
Dogs could probably speak softly using their whine or growl and horses could
probably make do with loud whispers. But let's return to the subject of synxes.
The characteristic qualities of a synx include a semi-prehensile bottle
brush tail, a long luxurious coat of orange fur, and a dangerously kYOOte
smile, which is their natural facial expression. Most notable is the
retracted aethic vibrissae which form a lyre shape underneath the darker
patch of red fur over the head and neck.
The longer, matted coat of wooly fur is deep red in color. It goes behind the
ears down the back of the neck to the place where the wings meet. It's a form
of protection, covering the aethic vibrissae which synxes inherited from dragons.
Dragons and Faerie both bear elongated hairs or antennae that resonate in the 4th
dimension, although Dragons' antennae fold back along the neck in the distinct
"lyre" shape for protection.
The dermal anatomy of a synx is a topic of intense study. The mammalian
fur extends from a network of moveable scales which is thought to have
some aerodynamic advantage in flight.
Approximate size is 48-60 cm body length, 32-40 cm tail length. When
fully extended, wing span is slightly less than the sum of the body and
tail length. There are mixed records as to paw anatomy. Current data
shows that they have longer grasping claws on the forepaws, though other
data has shown a normal plushy soft paw. Hind paws are long and
semi-digitigrade, giving them a rabbitlike hopping gait.
Synxes are considered wild animals. They prefer to call themselves
'independantly cute!'. They do make excellent pets if you don't mind a
flying sentient raccoon in the house.
Now for some history...
2000 years ago, people invented a new calendar. 600 years later, Arthur
and Merlin and friends were duking it out over a place called Calmalot
or something. Meanwhile, in a totally unrelated incident, a sage of a
great worth, and a small dementia was working in the magic(k)al arts of
making new creatures from old ones. He stumbled upon some ancient
Egyptian documents concerning a creature whose name can only be
pronounced in pictoral hieroglyphics, thus is inappropriate for display
on a text mailing list. His best pronunciation of it in German was
zoehs, where 'oe' = o with an umlaut. That was the origin of the word
'synx'.
This sage was fascinated with a little creature that inhabited the
deciduous rainforests of Israel and... what? What?! There were
rainforests there! Did I mention that people invented a new calendar
2000 years ago? ^.^
Anyway, not unsurprisingly the synx had gone extinct due to some sort of
massive climate change. The last synx had been seen 300 years before
the sage was born. He decided to fix that. Consulting the documents,
he discovered that they were medical records for a veterinarian who
cared for pet synxes. Using the tabulated information, he decided to
construct his own synx from an earlier (failed) project to combine the
gentle nature of a rabbit with the playful nature of the fox. (He got
an animal with the vicious nature of a cornered rabbit combined with the
paranoia of a fox)
Noticing the synx's anatomy and dermis were very similar to his half-fox
creatures, he began finding differences between what he had done, and
what was written. (drawn? hieroglyphed?) After going over the necessary
alterations in bone structure, and organ arrangement, he found just what
he needed in a small species of local river dragon.
The sage put two and one together and got 5. 5 kits actually. The
fox-rabbit was most surprised to have children with small orange wings,
and whiplike scaly tails. Thankfully once the fur grew in, the black
colored scales all over them vanished beneath a pleasant coat of fox
fur. The sage was delighted to find that his latest merging using a
common dragon created a creature that was both timid and friendly.
"Just needed a bit of spice to smooth it all out," he was said to quote
in German.
He bred them extensively, adding a dash of this a pinch of that here and
there. Fortunately, he didn't anticipate the cunning and ingenuity of
his critters because one night most of them escaped. The sage was
shattered. He went to a bar, got roaring drunk, gave a man at the bar
poodle ears, and slept off the hangover before moving on to his next
project.
Thanks to the work of this nameless sage, the synx lives again in one
form or another. We have been growing as a species, covertly
integrating with society as the urban sprawl covers everything. We make
great pets, though we inherited a fox's dangerous curiosity, not to
mention a dragon's capable forepaws. I've been told it's not unlike
owning flying sentient raccoons. *shudder*
Our foxily eyes are widely varied in color due to a genetic error in the
creation process. Mine are green. From our neck to our tail, we're
covered in copper red fur, with a nifty white swish at the tip of the
tail. There is darker red fur on the head and the backs of the ears.
Matching our fur color, the wings themselves nestle snugly against our
back when folded up, almost invisible. As for the insides, synxes
turned out as fine omnivores when, after the 3 digestive systems of our
parent species met, they said, "Oh forget it! This is too complicated.
Just eat something and we'll digest it eventually." Concealed beneath
the fur is a delicate network of flight-scales, an evolution from bird
feathers by dragons millions of years ago.
So that's what I am.
A synx is a quadrapedal winged omnivore found in the lands just south of
the south pole. Synxes have copper, fox colored fur, except on our
heads where it's darker red. We have velvety wings of the same orange
color, haunches much like a rabbit or squirrel, and a long white tipped
flexible bottlebrush tail. Though habitually arboreal, we often nest in
ground burrows, usually looking for ones previously vacated so we don't
have to get all tired digging and stuff. Synxes are especially known
for their widely diverse calls sounding something like a bird song
dancing on a moonlit reed.
From a distance, you might mistake a synx for a fox combined with a
marsh hare topped with draconic wings, and point-up-then-flop-down
ears. You would be right. ^.^
Now that you know what a synx is, here's what I look like:
As posted on fur.lifestyle,
> A small creature melts out of the bushes. It looks not more than 90 cm
> long, from tip of nose to tip of tail, rising just over a foot tall at
> the shoulders.
> The nose is broad, somewhat triangular, with a pair of tiny flat
> incisors centered on the upper jaw, which curves up in a natural
> smile. The tail might be the most familiar part, as it resembles the
> bottlebrush of a fox's, orange in color down to a white tip at the
> end, but the movement of the tail seems almost reptilian. Then it
> pops up like a squirrel?
> A brush of burnished dark red fur crowns the head and covers the backs
> of the ears, traveling down the nape of the neck to a pair of velvety
> orange wings, carefully folded on the back. The animal drops down on
> four downy paws, regarding the gathering of people with a hint of
> wariness.
Synxes are not at all related to sphinxes, or lynxes, though the names
rhyme quite well.
I would like to thank Wastrel the otter for prompting me to post this
information. I would like to thank Bill Kieffer and one other guy I
just can't track down for asking me, "What the heck is a Synx?" All
Bill could find on the internet was a picture of a guy named Ryan. ^.^
Hee hee. We synxes are very good at hiding.
A poem on synxes
A synx is a pal so quick and soft
The whole darn day, he'll fly aloft,
And charm you and warm you and smile and preen,
And, whirring and cheerfully, up and keen.
He'll sing and he'll murr and he'll meep 'till bed
Then land and stretchers and sleep on your head.
Most synxes are a bit like that
Which is why I own a cat.
--with apologies to L.C. Briggs
Some Synx Art
ASCII synx art by me
________________
|
THIS IS A SIGN |
________________|
|
| ^ v _ .`` ----.
3 =^.^= ( . ---``
m CC /
Normal synx:
^ v _ .`` ----.
=^.^= ( . ---``
m m CC /
Synx with wings half spread
_______
// =
^ v\ ___ = ----.
=^.^= ( . ---``
m CC /
Synx smile
^.^ <--- I MADE THIS UP!!!!!!
After bad joke
>.<
"Oh, please"
-.-
"Don't look at me."
c.c
Confuzzled
@.@
*twitch*
x.@
Evil Grin
n.n
That is just the bees knees, baby!
=^.^=
Whiskered Evil Grin (prepare for world to explode)
=n.n=
Other Synx Art
Sideshow Lew
Synx Sketch
His abstract, colored version of above
My rip-off cut-and-paste freeware drawing program modified variation of above
MISTER Pearson, the Intolerable Picklejuice
Yes, sharp teeth. Rar.
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