Pup

-- A little butterball, quite literally. The golden brown layer of downy fluff that covers him, and the general roundness of his little body lends no more apt description. He looks like a toasted marshmallow, and his doofy grin is just as sickly sweet. Stratum's ears stay floppy at the very tips for longer than the average pup, and bounce with each step for the first few months of his life. The kid is illegally cute. The weight advantage that he retains over any smaller pups doesn't go unnoticed, and during youthful spars he does his best to pin and squish his opponents beneath his heavy body. Easy win if your opponent can't shove you aside, right? As he grows up he’ll stay stocky and round, well into his yearling phase, until puberty finally hits like a freight train and the roundness of youth gives way to hard muscle and chiselled features.

Build

-- Stratum is built like a bastion of the earth itself. He stands 42" tall, and when winter rolls around he accumulates extra fat that brings him close to three hundred pounds in weight. That dun coloured coat draped over a burly frame, everything about him is sturdy and imposing. He cuts an incredibly intimidating figure, with powerful shoulders wreathed in muscle and prominent muscles in his jaws and neck. The size of his thigh muscles leave little room for doubt about the consequences of stepping in front of the charging behemoth, which would almost certainly snap a smaller foe in twain. His long legs are not unlike tree trunks, retaining their rippling musculature even when the rigorous training of his youth tapers off. His massive paws leave the ground trembling with each stride, even if the thick fur of his paws muffles the heavy steps. Stratum moves with a great deal of weight behind each stride, unabashed about making his presence known. Stratum has an incredibly deep, broad chest with enough muscle and insulating fat that his hugs are pillowy soft and his right hook is devastating. His neck and head are blocky and solid, with rounded ears that add a bear-like quality to his face. The broad planes of his face are adorned with high set cheekbones and an endearing crookedness to his smile from his oversized fangs.

Coat

– Born and raised in the harsh cold of the northern regions of Boreas, Stratum wears a thick pelage with a dense undercoat. It softens the hard lines of muscle and bone that ripple and shudder under his skin. Around his cheeks and ears, it grows a little more unruly than the rest- prone to tangles or awkward cowlicks. Not unlike a clydesdale horse, the fur of his paws is equally abundant- quite useful for keeping the pads of his toes from freezing on cold stone or within heavy drifts of snow.

Undulating fields of golden wheat are called immediately to mind at first glance, as the prince is draped in pale hues of dun and blond. Spread like a cloak over his back are varying concentrations of turquoise, most prominent between his shoulders and hips, and again over his crown. Over his hind legs, stockings of desaturated brown that climb from his toes and mingle with base shades of dun until they reach his thighs. Each of his limbs is shot through with streaks of alabaster, and a few of his toes stark white with wispy trails of ivory trailing up his paws. Though most of his skin lands on the brown side of liver coloured, the toe pads of his few ivory toes are a pale pink with liver freckling instead. Pale stripes cling to the backs of his thighs and stretch over his hips, moving up and over his spine like the white capped waves of an angry sea.

His face is decorated in an artful sea of pallid streaks, concentrated in a vague mask of alabaster over his eyes and cheeks. The space beneath Stratum's eyes is pale as the driven snow, with ivory stripes radiating outwards atop the mask of turquoise over his features. That blue-green hue is draped over his crown like a cowl, painted from the space between his ears and down to the end of his snout, where a cream hued blaze creates a soft upwards point from the end of his snout. Unlike the majority of his relatives, the trademark Fatalis stripes lay in a series of four turquoise slashes over the right side of his face that cross over his eye.

Eyes and Scent

– Stratum doesn’t take after either of his parents, with eyes like liquid mercury settled into the divots of his eye sockets. There’s a subtle downward tilt to the corners of his eyes that lends a hint of kindness to his expression, even when locked in a very familiar scowl (who could he possibly have gotten that from?) that seems permanently painted onto his features when he’s working on something or another.

As his fondness for herbology develops, he’ll begin to take on the sharp tang of fresh herbs alongside the earthy aroma of damp stone. The specifics of his natural perfume will change with the seasons and the availability of herbs, and in the winter he’ll wear a far more notable stink of charcoal from working with armour while he waits for the growing season to start back up.

Voice and Gait

– Adulthood will bring with it a sudden drop in his voice, and a rich baritone will rumble from somewhere deep in his chest when Stratum speaks. Like the rest of him, it will be incredibly imposing and perhaps even threatening. So he finds himself trying to counteract that effect by simply staying quiet. Can’t scare a little kid with how deep your voice is if you don’t say anything, right? When he does speak, it’s often quite softly. Cave walls carry voices well enough, he rarely finds himself needing to shout.

Each stride comes with the trembling of the earth beneath his paws, and Stratum doesn't put much effort into hiding his approach within the caverns of his home territory. Despite the imposing figure and lumbering strides, he does make an effort to avoid taking up too much space when he moves about. It's only polite to keep to one side of the hall and tuck in those meaty limbs when laying in the common areas so everyone else can enjoy the space, right?

Quirks & Mutations

– With all that bulk, it would be unfair for him to also be a mutant, right? Well, he comes from a lineage well known for producing giant mutants. So it comes as no real surprise that a pair of long, serrated sabre fangs protrudes from his upper lip. Two short, pale horns have found themselves nestled into the space between his rounded auds. A keen eye would recognize them as the tiny antlers of a brocket deer, which don't share the forking tines of most cervines.appearance

YOUR HEART IS A MUSCLE THE SIZE OF YOUR FIST, KEEP ON LOVING, KEEP ON FIGHTING

Shy

-- Stratum struggles with his place in the world, uncertain of how to conduct himself or where he stands amongst the crowded masses. It mostly manifests as silence during meetings and hesitance to share anything personal with strangers. It suits him just fine to leave the lime light to his many siblings, who are just as keen to make themselves known as he is to relish in obscurity. While it may be ill-suited to a wolf of his lineage, he’ll never be able to shake the urge to avoid the spotlight. He keeps to himself on his bad days, preferring to work quietly on his own tasks or creative endeavours until someone or something pulls him out of his funk.

Mellow

-- He's broadly accepting, and prefers to live and let live. Stratum doesn't waste much time with judgement or offense, and prefers to outright ignore pointed remarks. It makes him an exceptional friend and confidant, where he'll listen to anyone's struggles or problems without comment. At the end of it, he might not have the best advice, but you'll walk away without that lingering feeling of anxiety or rejection that sometimes follows you after a deep conversation. Growing up with such an intense, driven family Stratum has had to learn to let many things go in order to keep moving forward.

Thick Skinned

-- Kids who have been granted the privilege of status tend to go one of two ways when it comes to their tempers. Rather than being quick to anger, wearing a mask of empty pride, Stratum is nearly impossible to rile. The most vile degradation handled with nary a slip in the bored facade of his broad features, he'll simply sit there and wait for someone to lose interest in berating him. You can only scream at a brick wall for so long before you're simply too tired to continue. Stratum was quick to master the grin and bear it technique- even if he's hurt by what's being said, he won't act simply for the sake of denying someone else the satisfaction of getting under his skin.

Kind Hearted

-- The core of his being is impossibly soft and warm. He wants only the best for everyone, at the end of the day. He loves his parents, he loves his siblings. As time goes on, he will love healing- helping those around him recover from minor sicknesses to traumatic injuries and everything in between. Life is cruel and the world is unforgiving, but he doesn't have to be. Stratum is the type to help a stranger without any expectation that the favour be returned, and the kind of wolf who would put a baby bird back in the nest if he could. Some might see it as weakness, a waste of energy that has no guaranteed reward- but he's not one to listen to that kind of nonsense.

Proud

-- Despite his overall laid back demeanour, Stratum wears his family name with a great deal of pride. He carries himself with his head high from a young age. All he strives for is bringing honour to his family and furthering the success of his pack and his kin. Though he might not show it outwardly, he would be crushed to disappoint the Fatalis clan.

personality

PURCHASES:

4" height pass & 2" of height

Odd coloured markings pass

Deer Daddy's Blessing - Brocket deer antlers

Minor Mutation Pass - saber fangs

Large Companion (battle) - Ground Pangolin - Male - "Peabody"

Small Companion (perception) - Big Brown Bat - Male - "Pebble"

misc