On breeding

With the exception of traits caused by star corruption (and possibly some special ones), physical traits earned from stars are genetic modifications and can be passed down. Higher sphere traits have a lower chance of being passed down. Racial traits from the parents are artist's choice.

Uncommon traits

These are genetically hidden traits (would normally call them recessive, but I don't intend to use Mendelian genetics) that can spontaneously occur in a breeding. In between common traits and rare traits, they can randomly show up as an option in a breeding, at which point it's artist's choice. If a Steorling has an uncommon trait, it's immediately available as an artist's choice trait for any children of that Steorling.

Mechanics-wise, this is a random roll (20%) that determines if the pair generates such a trait, then a second roll to determine which trait. Keeping track of pairings is annoying so this is discrete for every litter. As these are surprise traits, the trait list can be expanded without notice and the full list is not known.
Uncommon MYOs allow up to 2 traits from the discovered list, as breeding is artist's choice. As these are non-magical traits, they are not accessible via star magic and cannot be earned.

Examples are generally, biological characteristics:

• *Curly fur
• *Floppy ears
• *Back ridge
• *Heterochromia
• Curled ears
• Long ears (1-2x length of skull)
• Hairless
• Tailless
• Split tail (not multiple tails; artist's discretion as to whether this looks good or not)
• Large fangs (visible when mouth is closed)
• Large whiskers (coeurl-style)
• Albinism/melanism (character is solid-coloured - breedings with this character allow the artist to draw from any coloured ancestors; cannot be chosen for MYO)

*Available from the start

Rare traits

As Steorlings are magical beings, they do have low chances of spontaneous mutation even for the ones that don't have a star. These mutations are restricted to a "rare" tier (they are also accessible cheaply via star magic; something like hidden potential) and need to be rolled on for inheritance. For non-Crossers, these are randomly rolled on at birth, but exposure to magic via a strong source can also randomly unlock these traits at a low chance.

Examples generally apply to the Steorling's core:

• Glimmer (a glowing spark inside the crystal core, does not cause the crystal to glow/is not a useful light source)
• Marble (soft uniform marbling of the gemstone, like marble acrylic)
• Glow
• Glitter (does not give off stars, just noticeable glittery dots, which do not have to be white)
• Ornamentation (metallic designs on the core and/or polishing to roundness and/or geometric shape; may have additional small gemstones but these are understood to be glued on)
• Multicolour (2-3 gradient colours present in the core; can be a top-down or left-right split)

Note the core crystal cannot be larger than the Steorling's skull. It should fit comfortably between the eyes on the forehead and have a tapering, naturally faceted shape.

Crosser traits

These are draconian traits. Lower sphere traits are biological characteristics, while higher ones tend more elemental in nature. Some traits can "evolve" with higher coverages allowed at higher tiers - for example, scales are limited to sparse coverage at a lower tier, but without any changes, the same character can have more scales at a higher tier.

Tier 1:
Take a breath weapon (compulsory): fire, ice, water, electricity, poison, acid

• Scales (fish-like or plate scales over (T1) spine, forearms, thighs; (T2 allows spines) cheeks, wings, flanks, tail; (T3) full body)
• Feathers (feathers over (T1) spine, forearms, thighs; (T2) cheeks, wings, flanks, tail; (T3) full body)
• Horns - can be antlers. Symmetrical keratinous pair. (Sizing (T1) no larger than core, (T2) no larger than skull, (T3) any size)
• Talons - non-retractable claws.
• Multicoloured Irises - irises display a soft gradient of multiple colours. If heterochromia is present, both eyes should be different, although they can share colours.
• Coloured Sclera - sclera can be a colour other than white.
• Shaped pupils - pupil shape can be something other than vertical slits.

Tier 2:

• Wings - 1 pair of bird or bat, OR 2 pairs of insect (forewings/backwings, or elytra/backwings). Must be attached to shoulder/back area. More cannot be added at this stage.
• Odd tail - non-feline tail shape. Must a vertebrate's tail (no ass jelly).
• Extra tail - each instance allows 1 extra tail.
• Long tail (up to 3x body length from nose to butt)

Tier 3:
Primarily light effects. Note that children should inherit the same type of light effect that parent(s) have.

• Star-cloaked: Light effects on fur/scales/feathers (glitter/iridescence/shimmer/glow). Each instance of this is one type of light effect.
• Star-touched: Light effects on skin (nose/mouth/pawpads), as above. Each instance of this is one type of light effect.
• Star-gaze: Light effects on eyes, as above. Each instance of this is one type of light effect.
• Star-dust: Shedded light effects (sparkles/embers). Can be localised to parts of body. Each instance of this is one type of light effect.
• Star-trails: Sparse tendrils of light from the body, like whiskers.

Tier 4 non-hereditary:
Traits in this tier and above may be added to transformation, but not base form, unless T4 power leak is also obtained.

• Additional wings - full-size or small decorative wings. Can be attached anywhere. Each instance of this allows adding up to 2 pairs of wings.
• Odd wings - wings that don't fall within the bird/bat/insect classification.
• Halo - must be light. Cannot be larger than Steorling. Can be a ring encircling any part of body, or floating light above head.
• Elemental attunement - element shows through as floating wisps, charged fur, bubbles, smoke, etc. More of a visual effect than actual element; does not replace body parts. Coverage unrestricted but shouldn't extend more than 1m in radius from the centre of the body.

Tier 5 non-hereditary:

• Power leak (T4+ traits are now allowed on base form)
• Third eye - core breaks; an eye is left in its place.
• Anomalous crystal growth - core-like crystals can grow anywhere on the body (including horns). All growths must be smaller than the core crystal (or what the core crystal would have been like if it were still intact). Rare traits can apply to all these growths.
• Irregular ears - replacement of ears with non-ears, e.g. wing ears, fin ears, complete ear removal.
• Irregular tail - replacement of tail with non-tails, e.g. ass jelly.
• Extra limbs - each instance allows 1 extra pair of limbs (not including wings).

Tier X:
Take one or more on hitting tier 3 (compulsory).

• Shadow - fur tips trail off into shadow/smoke.
• Glitch - entire form is unstable. An observer sees them flickering, twitching.
• Fracture - fracture lines appear on body. These aren't markings, and appear to slip sometimes, but they're mostly...holding together.
• Custom? - propose a glitch based on their stage 3 form. Should appear to be an instability of some sort.

On top of that, take:

• Furnace - in all forms, chest now glows the colour of their star