My first subspecies.
LORE
Dark Masks are pearlcatchers who've wandered too much in the Tangled Wood; they've been bleached pale by their time in the shadows, and their bodies have been scarred by the thorns, allowing the dark magic to seep into their bodies. Their formerly haughty nature has shifted to something ethereal and spooky; some of them are mysterious and shy, while others have learned to revel in the trickster nature that the Shadowbinder's realm encourages.
They have pale primary and secondary colors and a dark tertiary color, usually Thylacine, but rarely Spines or Smoke with a Falcon or Savannah primary. Their eyes can be very dark or very pale, or match the color of their scales or markings.
Their transition begins with arrogance. Pearlcatchers know themselves to be the Lightweaver's favored children, the aristocracy of dragons. (Sure, imperials were crafted first… pearlcatchers consider them to be the rough draft.) They wander through the outer regions of the Tangled Wood, and never notice how the Shadowbinder's magic starts to seep into their wings and scales, how the luminous mushrooms of the Wispwillow Grove cast odd shadows and how their own colors start to fade. When they reach the Foxfire Bramble, they don't notice the thorns - so many of them are dripping with faintly-glowing oils that numb any pain - and their skin is slashed, over and over, with deep cuts that scar and twist the scales and wing-leather around them.
The scratches let the shadowy energies soak into their skin, marking them with the signs of the thorns and the twisted shapes of the Shadowbinder's region. Their austerity twists into an eerie shyness, except in those cases when it subverts into sly mischief. Dark Masks wear the mark of the Shadowbinder's favor on their face, regardless of their elemental background; she has enticed them away from the light and into her service.
The most common combination is white-range Falcon/white-range Stripes/black-range Thylacine, but many colors and genes are possible.
KEY CONCEPT: Pale primary & secondary; dark Thylacine tertiary. If the tert isn't black-range, it needs to match the color range of the primary, secondary, or eyes. Flight can be Shadow, Ice, or matching one of the colors.
DETAILS
PRIMARY COLORS: Maize, Cream, Antique, White, Moon, Ice, Platinum, Dust, Grey, Mist, Sky, Pistachio, Banana, Ivory, Peach, Latte, Tan, Pearl (i.e. the white range and pale other colors, except those with darker underbellies.)
SECONDARY COLORS: Maize, Cream, Antique, White, Moon, Ice, Orca, Platinum, Silver, Dust, Grey, Mist, Lavender, Sky, Robin, Pistachio, Peridot, Banana, Sanddollar, Flaxen, Ivory, Beige, Rose, Pearl (i.e. white range and other pale colors, minus a few that have darker wings.)
TERTIARY COLORS: Black range: Coal through Mulberry, Grape-Royal-Eggplant, Indigo-Cobalt, Abyss- Azure, Jungle, Hunter, Murk, Terracotta, Slate, Clay-Soil, Crimson-Maroon, Raspberry, Wine (i.e. the black range and the darkest of each other color range.)
Also, while the black range is possible with any primary or secondary, and any white-range primary or secondary can have any color of tertiary, other terts need to be in the same color range as either primary or secondary, e.g. jungle, hunter, or murk with pistachio, or they can match the eyes.
PRIMARY GENES, common: Basic, Falcon, Tiger, Savannah, Piebald, Swirl
Rare: Ripple, Vipera, Iridescent, Poison (only with a color in the same range as the tert)
SECONDARY GENES, common: Basic, Stripes, Safari, Shimmer, Current, Paint, Noxtide, Marbled
Rare: Current, Peregrine, Toxin (only with a color in the same range as the tert),
TERTIARY GENES: Thylacine
Rare: Spines or Smoke (only with dark-contrast Falcon or Savannah primary)
FLIGHT: Shadow, Ice, or any as long as eyes match one of their colors
Samples: A pale blue-range Dark Mask
An Earth Pearlcatcher who wandered too far into the deep woods:
A rare non-thylacine Dark Mask:
LORE
Dark Masks are pearlcatchers who've wandered too much in the Tangled Wood; they've been bleached pale by their time in the shadows, and their bodies have been scarred by the thorns, allowing the dark magic to seep into their bodies. Their formerly haughty nature has shifted to something ethereal and spooky; some of them are mysterious and shy, while others have learned to revel in the trickster nature that the Shadowbinder's realm encourages.
They have pale primary and secondary colors and a dark tertiary color, usually Thylacine, but rarely Spines or Smoke with a Falcon or Savannah primary. Their eyes can be very dark or very pale, or match the color of their scales or markings.
Their transition begins with arrogance. Pearlcatchers know themselves to be the Lightweaver's favored children, the aristocracy of dragons. (Sure, imperials were crafted first… pearlcatchers consider them to be the rough draft.) They wander through the outer regions of the Tangled Wood, and never notice how the Shadowbinder's magic starts to seep into their wings and scales, how the luminous mushrooms of the Wispwillow Grove cast odd shadows and how their own colors start to fade. When they reach the Foxfire Bramble, they don't notice the thorns - so many of them are dripping with faintly-glowing oils that numb any pain - and their skin is slashed, over and over, with deep cuts that scar and twist the scales and wing-leather around them.
The scratches let the shadowy energies soak into their skin, marking them with the signs of the thorns and the twisted shapes of the Shadowbinder's region. Their austerity twists into an eerie shyness, except in those cases when it subverts into sly mischief. Dark Masks wear the mark of the Shadowbinder's favor on their face, regardless of their elemental background; she has enticed them away from the light and into her service.
The most common combination is white-range Falcon/white-range Stripes/black-range Thylacine, but many colors and genes are possible.
KEY CONCEPT: Pale primary & secondary; dark Thylacine tertiary. If the tert isn't black-range, it needs to match the color range of the primary, secondary, or eyes. Flight can be Shadow, Ice, or matching one of the colors.
DETAILS
PRIMARY COLORS: Maize, Cream, Antique, White, Moon, Ice, Platinum, Dust, Grey, Mist, Sky, Pistachio, Banana, Ivory, Peach, Latte, Tan, Pearl (i.e. the white range and pale other colors, except those with darker underbellies.)
SECONDARY COLORS: Maize, Cream, Antique, White, Moon, Ice, Orca, Platinum, Silver, Dust, Grey, Mist, Lavender, Sky, Robin, Pistachio, Peridot, Banana, Sanddollar, Flaxen, Ivory, Beige, Rose, Pearl (i.e. white range and other pale colors, minus a few that have darker wings.)
TERTIARY COLORS: Black range: Coal through Mulberry, Grape-Royal-Eggplant, Indigo-Cobalt, Abyss- Azure, Jungle, Hunter, Murk, Terracotta, Slate, Clay-Soil, Crimson-Maroon, Raspberry, Wine (i.e. the black range and the darkest of each other color range.)
Also, while the black range is possible with any primary or secondary, and any white-range primary or secondary can have any color of tertiary, other terts need to be in the same color range as either primary or secondary, e.g. jungle, hunter, or murk with pistachio, or they can match the eyes.
PRIMARY GENES, common: Basic, Falcon, Tiger, Savannah, Piebald, Swirl
Rare: Ripple, Vipera, Iridescent, Poison (only with a color in the same range as the tert)
SECONDARY GENES, common: Basic, Stripes, Safari, Shimmer, Current, Paint, Noxtide, Marbled
Rare: Current, Peregrine, Toxin (only with a color in the same range as the tert),
TERTIARY GENES: Thylacine
Rare: Spines or Smoke (only with dark-contrast Falcon or Savannah primary)
FLIGHT: Shadow, Ice, or any as long as eyes match one of their colors
Samples: A pale blue-range Dark Mask
An Earth Pearlcatcher who wandered too far into the deep woods:
A rare non-thylacine Dark Mask:
