1. Eliza Rain

    Eliza Rain Member

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    Magical Beast

    Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by Eliza Rain, Feb 27, 2018.

    Hello ladies, gents, and gentlethem! For my fantasy series there is a creature I have yet to pick a consistent name for but is very prominent in my world. It is used for many different reasons from dairy, meat, wool, and every part of it's body is used in the global culture. But they are also used as pets, put in beauty competitions, some even race them. They have been bred very similarly like dogs for us in that they have different appearances and purposes but you can still tell it is the same creature. They're medium sized, average size about a sheep, but gets no larger than a horse. Their natural coat is a soft wool that comes in an array of colors and thickness depending on the region. The other layer of is of a soft fur that ranges from white to black and can be patterned. They have large eyes, short snots, padded feet with claws that can grow so large they almost look like hooves. They're pack animals and if they're herded the farmer will assume the pack's matron role by asserting their dominance and ability to protect the pact. Females will grow an assortment of horns while the males will have barbed tails. Both of these things can be trimmed if domesticated, but wild can be extremely dangerous if threatened. They are omnivores like most beasts in my world and their main food source is what determines their wool and milk output.

    I am using many fantasy creatures already established in lore so if you find one that fits this description please let me know! I'm also open to all kinds of names you all may suggest. :superwink: If it helps anyone, the two main languages are Elvish (a grounded Germanic sounding language with a writing system similar to runes that the bulk folk population understands) and Fae (celestial French with a complex pictorial system similar to east Asian languages only Fae and upper class folk know).

    It is truly frustrating to have something so developed yet not named. Pretty much the story of my writing right there, haha. Thank you all so much in advance!
     
  2. izzybot

    izzybot (unspecified) Contributor

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    Just a thought, but there's probably different names for them in each main language, unless those languages have a single ancestor language from which they both imported the same name. Since you know one language is Germanic-inspired and the other is French-inspired, I'd consider which one your main cast uses and base what they call the creature in that language. Maybe, since this is such a universal creature, just look up basic things like 'animal' and 'beast' in German and French and derive a name from that.
     
  3. Eliza Rain

    Eliza Rain Member

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    I use this tactic with many things and tried with this creature as well. I think the current version of it's name is Lemus though I can not for the life of me remember what that is derived from. I feel as if this doesn't suit it though either. I probably will keep trying this tactic of throwing words in translators, smashing them together or rearranging the letters to all nonsense. That is until someone tells me what to call it, because I have no confidence in creature naming, haha. Thank you!
     
  4. animagus_kitty

    animagus_kitty Senior Member

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    Are you looking for a name in Elvish, or a name in Fae? Or is a name that is neither German- nor French-sounding alright? I use fantasynamegenerators.com for my 'throw some letters together' needs, and cherrypick from whichever generator matches the feel I'm going for.

    The Selkie generator gave me Rasdinn and Sadas.
    The Dryad generator gave Inula and Boaba.

    I've named my cat-like creatures 'kirra'. Find a 'feel' you want, and throw some letters together that work. If you need something that sounds 'German', find a generator that gives you German sounds. If you need something French, just use a bunch of vowels. It's what the French did. You don't even have to pronounce them all--they don't!
    jk, don't use all vowels.
     
  5. DapperDespot

    DapperDespot New Member

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    Sheep in German is Schaf. In French it is Mouton. You could use these as jumping off points and would lend them a somewhat familiar feel to give your reader and idea of how your creature looks and is used. If you want your Elven language to seem more rustic or earthy, consider adding some harder consonants (Skaffer, Skellek, Ghaff, etc) and do the opposite for the Fae language
     

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