Pillowing

Pillowings

( A Closed Species )
DA Group: Pillowing-Pile Trade Center Pillowing Master List Terms of Use

Pillowings were crafted by a skilled artisan who regularly saw magicians using their magic to move puppets for street shows. The artisan wanted to take it a step further, to give the dolls life themselves, to provide pure companionship and loyalty.

The fox like shape was a personal choice of the artisan, they weren't sure if their enchantment idea would even work as they were more of a novice magician themselves. But with careful crafting and lots of studying they accomplished their goal. There have been mistakes along the way to crafting Pillowings, see Lintlings. But over all the artisan was extremely pleased with their creation.

Once shown to the public, it seemed to be a big hit. Pillowings are now a common creature to keep in the home, shop, or even on person. Many jobs and skills have been made for these soft and playful creatures. For public appeal pillowings are now crafted in a variety of shapes and colors. They are inextricably bound to their creators (person who gave them their Heart Token), and can only receive that spark of life through sentimental bond with them.

Physical Characteristics

Pillowings come in a variety of sizes and styles. Like the very clothing we wear on our backs they can come in all sorts of designs, features, and colors. To help you get an idea here is a [Features Guide] about pillowings to help you get started thinking about how you might want your pillowing to look. Or what features you would like to look for in the shops! There is no limit on colors, patterns, and fashions these foxes can come in. Some claim these creatures to be living works of art with how well crafted some are.

Most pillowing are crafted base on looks and function. You will see great examples of different pillowings for different functions in Section 6: Pillowings of Clo Pillowings made for therapy usually have smoother plain surfaces, several pillowings will be made in all sorts of different types of fabric for all the different kinds of patients they will coax. They're softer and quieter, made for petting, cuddling, and hugging. While more decorative pillowings are more to show class and decorate the home life. Just a little something to flash about the house or shop to get more attention! Other pillowings will be crafted to be hardier, tougher materials to help them protect their home. Few people will get a guard pillowing that has claws and teeth to chase and attack intruders that break into the home or shop without their master's permission.

Variants

Kit

The smallest variant, kits are roughly 9" tall by 1' long, and weigh less than 5lb. The mascot is the small yellow Pip. These pillowings are the best for small children or people who are on the move. Their smaller compact size makes them easy to take on trips and carry in bags.

Standard

The most common size of pillowing. Standards are approximately 18" tall by 3' long, and weigh 5-10lb. The original pillowing, Missy, is the standard sized mascot. This was the original designed pillowing, about the size of a small dog. Truly made to be a creature of comfort inside of the home to act as a constant companion.

Large

Exceedingly rare, Large pillowings can range up to 42" tall by 5' long, and can weigh up to 25lb. Big boy bub is the Large mascot. These are usually the most expensive pillowings due to the sheer about of materials they use. They aren't seen very often except for in very large shops or homes that can have wide open spaces for them to move around in. They don't mean any harm to their home environment but because of their lumbering size of a very large dog they accidentally knock things over constantly if they're not careful.

Heart Tokens

To give life to a Pillowing, the body is implanted with a token imbued with great sentimental significance to its owner - this becomes the heart of the Pillowing. The nature of this token will dictate the nature of the Pillowing, and no two are ever alike, even between two people using the exact same token. The pillowing springs to life once this token is sewn into their chest. Removing a Pillowing’s Heart Token effectively ‘kills’ it, rendering it lifeless once again. Once this is done, the Pillowing it was is lost forever - even reinserting the token will yield a Pillowing devoid of all previous memories. This method is used when trading, passing on, or euthanizing Pillowings, depending on the situation. The giver of the Token will, except for special circumstance, become the Pillowing’s recognized master, and the Pillowing will bond to said master with unconditional love and affection.

Habitat

Domestication was their intended purpose. So there is no such thing as a "wild" pillowing. All pillowing are hand crafted and infused with a bond to their designated master. This means all pillowings are made usually to be indoor pets only. They are normally seem in personal households or in shops. Occasionally pillowings will be taken on the go where ever their master might be.

Depending on the type of pillowing function will determine where they most likely will live. Like therapy pillowings can easily be seen the most in clinics, hospitals, or retirement homes. Pillowings with any guard-like features of teeth and claws are most likely used in shops to help protect it from thieves. All in all, pillowings are normally kept close or near their master. By either staying with them or staying at home waiting for their master to return.

Diet

Pillowings are able to subsist entirely on a diet of love and affection from their creator. A pillowing lacking these will slowly begin to corrupt the natural positive energy that it's heart token provides. Instead of a loving and affectionate companion you will be left with a estranged and rather destructive like creature. It would start in small motions, casually tripping you, hiding important things, but slowly it could grow more and more violent if not treated or reset right away.

In some cases, pillowings will consume Lintlings and absorb their magic into themselves, but more often than not will instead bring them back to their master as a trophy. They like to show off to their masters how good they are.

Behavior and Interaction

Pillowings are naturally mischievous and extremely curious creatures. They have nearly endless energy and love to romp around, particularly with their masters. Being as they are (physically) only stuffed animals, their footfalls produce almost no noise on most surfaces, and they often use this to their advantage while playing and hunting. The only thing a pillowing might like more than playing is snuggling their master, which is vitally replenishing for the small foxes.

Though their exact tendencies vary amongst individuals, being so curious, one can expect them to get into everything they shouldn't the moment they are left unattended. They (usually) don’t mean any real harm so much as they are 'exploring'. Above all else, pillowings love to snuggle and share affection with their masters. They make great pillows, and its said that those who sleep with them experience much more restful and peaceful slumber. Pillowings are generally quite friendly, but do not like to share, and may become aggressive if they feel that their bond with their master is being encroached upon. With that in mind, most Pillowing owners are cautioned against having more than one Pillowing at a time. When two or more share a master, or sometimes even a household, they can become very territorial and will often fight for dominance. This being said, a careful master can condition their pillowings into accepting one another with patience and careful guidance.

Hunting

Pillowings have one natural prey species: Lintlings. Pillowings originally were not designated for a job other than being a companion, this was a new enchantment adding onto pillowings after Lintlings became a house hold pest for nearly everyone. Pillowings now do their best to aid their masters in chasing off the pests, if they can they will catch them and bring them to their masters as trophies looking for a reward of pets and coddling. Rarely pillowings might even eat Lintlings which is odd considering neither of them have no internal organs or really the desire to feed. Once ingested the pillowing is assumed to just absorb the lintling and it's magic entirely.

Occasionally pillowings and lintlings get along! This is not the norm but it is completely possible.

Senses

Pillowings, whether with open or shut eyes, do not see as other creatures typically do. Rather, they have a special sense of sight that focuses more on auras than on actual perception. This aura sight works in a way similar to echolocation, allowing the Pillowings to deduce with surprising accuracy not only their surroundings, but the identity of their Master even in disguise, despite never actually ‘seeing’ anything as we do. This sight makes them very sensitive to emotion, and they will frequently drawn to their master more when they sense distress or negative emotions, in an attempt to cheer them up.

Communication

They usually rely on body language but Pillowings can make a variety of vocal noises to communicate. These often include:

• Barks
• Cries
• Growls
• Whimpers
• Snarls
• Yips
• Howls
• Very Rarely, some Pillowings have been known to master human speech.

Care

Considering that pillowings do not actually have organs, per se, they do not consume any sort of food for nutritional purposes. They subsist entirely upon loving affectionate energies from their masters. This provides fuel to keep their magically-sustained life force going.

Pillowings cannot feel pain, but they are easily injured by sharp objects. Damage to a pillowing often results in a tear and leaking of stuffing. Since they are incapable of healing by themselves, owners must take care to patch them. This is not painful to the pillowing, and they often find it to be a soothing experience and a time of deep bonding.

As expected of a living stuffed animals, pillowings tend to get very dirty very quickly. They must be washed fairly frequently, but be aware that they tend to dislike water. Most pillowings react about as well as a normal fox would to bathtime. Additionally, care must be taken to carefully and thoroughly dry a pillowing after a bath to prevent mold, mildew, and the associated nasty smells, from growing inside of the pillowing's stuffing.

Pillowings in Clo

Like any domesticated species, pillowings have been trained for many different kinds of work. Taking into account how strong their bonds with humans are, and that they are individually crafted by a person, pillowings can be made extremely specialized.

Companion Pillowings

These pillowings are the normal every day pillowings you would see as pets or comfort animals to people who need them. They are not strictly therapy pillowings but they can be used to the same degree. Only they usually only have one master and are not reset often like therapy pillowings.

Guard pillowings could be placed in the same category as companions because they are usually the designated pet or companion to the shop owner and keeper. They might spend most of their lives in the shop but they thrive to do good by their masters and stay with them while they're in the shop. Occasionally the master will even take them home with them if they need extra comfort by their pillowing.

Therapy Pillowings

Some pillowings are created specifically to provide short-term comfort as a sort of therapy animal. They are often found roaming hospitals, hospices, and retirement communities. Their natural affection for people makes them excellent companions for those that are unwell, and often-times will be adopted by their patient when they recover enough to head home.

Therapy pillowings are crafted with uniquely designed heart tokens that must be replaced if the pillowing is adopted. Their special tokens allow them to bond more to a task than a specific person. So they find fulfillment in providing comfort to everyone, rather than their specific master. This can be very draining on a pillowing, and so their tokens are often reset after any high-stress events.

Corrupt Pillowings

A corrupt pillowing is one that has had the sentiment that powers its token corrupted. If the pillowing experiences too much stress and negativity without its master providing adequate consolation, the entire heart token may become corrupt. It instead becomes a token of grief, and the pillowing itself reflects this change. The changes in behavior can be extremely varied and are very specific to the situation that caused the corruption. The only thing that is known for certain is that they are no longer light-hearted good-natured housepets, and should be handled with great caution.

Pit Foxes

The pit foxes are a reflection of humanity's vices made pillowing. These creatures are crafted specially to fight for the entertainment of their masters (and any spectators). While not technically illegal in most parts of Clo, pit fox rings are generally frowned upon by polite society.

Pit foxes are generally not the same as guard pillowings who were made to protect homes and shops. These pillowings are crafted with the intent to destroy and be destroyed. Naturally aggressive upon summoning, they heed their masters orders and do their best to focus their negative energy at the target they've been given. Professional pillowing artisans do not approve of this practice, living creature or not they would never want to sacrifice their creations to this bloodless sport.

Pit Fox Physical Traits

Pit fox characteristics are dependent upon their purpose. In high society, pit foxes are often crafted with soft fabric and stuffed to bursting with feathers so that when they are clawed or bit it creates a spectacular burst of fluff into the air. Often in the darker rings of pit fox fighting, the goal is simply to win, and the foxes are crafted with much more utility and brutality in mind. They may be stuffed with sand or gravel for durability, and made from coarse fabric designed to catch enemy claws. Some of the more depraved artisans may even stuff a pit fox with tacks or nails to bite at the opponent even as they strike.

They will almost always have sharp claws, and large fangs to use as weapons, with some artisans even adding horns. Anything that can be added to a pillowing to cause tears and punctures likely has been attached to a pit fox.