C06 (provisional name), Haven's creature, level 2: a rideable ground mount from the owner's concept sheets. A long pink-and-blue salamander, about 1 m at the seat, with gills and a forked tongue, and a 'sham fire' tail: five flat streamers that read as a blaze from the side and as hair-lines from above. Pass 2 (game lab/creature06 9ea8c4338): proportions after the owner's read (bigger head, compact body, forelegs reaching as on sheet 2), feet with an ankle, a toe pad and thick claws, a real jump arc, stronger hits and flinches, the fire keeps its colour from behind, and the ridden mount's moves: tail lash, dash, drifts, boost and ram, plus the water clips (swim, dive, surface, float). ANIMS1, W1838 (game lab/creature06 eec3b6e4d): the full ride set (every state the ground-mount code plays: ride idle, brake, separating, saddle brace, remount catch, three cast segments, standing and running, the launch heave and the riderless coast), ten taunts and gestures, and its moods and deaths: sun bask, a hurt stance, yawn, scratch, shake off, stretch, sneeze, snap at a fly, dig, eye lick, two new deaths (roll, gutter) and a corpse; 80 clips in all. KNOWN FAULTS: at this scale the claws read as a clump rather than separate hooks; the head, jaw and gill details and the red shoulder lobe are not done yet; the jump reads modest from the side; the eye lick's tongue barely reads head-on, the stretch's arch and the hurt stance's lifted paw are subtle. Every combat number is a placeholder; the water clips are not in the game's controller yet.
how it liveshow it fightsup and downpass 2: the ridden mountpass 2: wateranims1 (W1838)orbitsthe riderfrom aboveablations
Standing: the long salamander body low on bent legs, the sham-fire fan breathing over the hips; the idles use the forked tongueFrom the side: the fan stands tall and ragged, the flame read of sheet 1The walk, four loops: lizard-like, the spine swings and the feet lift on arcsThe walk from the sideThe run, six loops: quite a bit faster than the wizard on footThe run from the side: the fan streams backAn idle: the forked tongue tastes the airAn idle: it looks back over its shoulder (where the rider sits)An idle: it noses down toward water (the gills are real: the mount will go underwater)It snaps alertIt settles downFor scale, beside Temper (creature 04)The attack, a bite: the head drives forward and the fan flicks up behind itThe bite from the sideThe threat: the jaw gapes and the fire flares wideThe hissHit from the frontHit from the rightHit from behindHit from the leftHit from aboveA flinch from the frontA flinch from the rightA flinch from behindA flinch from the leftA flinch from aboveIt dies: rolls onto its side, the fire settles lastA jumpLandingKnocked to the floorHit while downGetting upA tumble through the airFallingIts second attack: the sham-fire fan sweeps right to leftThe dash, six loops: the ridden sprintThe drift: the body yaws into the turn, the fan trails outThe drift the other wayThe boost: a bound forwardThe ram: head down, shoulder firstIt turns to look while its rider castsThe dash with the rider onThe drift with the rider onThe boost with the rider onThe ram with the rider onSwimming (the gills are real): three loopsIt dives underIt surfaces, nose firstFloating at rest
The full ride set: every state the ground-mount code plays, with Tarin on (16 clips)
Standing under the rider: it shifts its weight, glances back at the saddle, the fan breathesThe brake: forelegs plant and skid, the body bunches up behind them, the fire swings forwardSplitting away to the left at speed: it leans out of the lineSplitting away to the rightThe rider lands hard in the saddle: the mount takes the weight and sinks into its legsThe same brace in stride, over the run's legsCatching a rider who jumps back on: it dips and swings under themThe catch in strideThe rider casts, segment one: the mount braces wide and stillSegment two: the fire flares up behind the rider's spellSegment three: it crouches low out of the line of fireThe brace in strideThe flare in strideThe crouch in strideA wizard launched off its back: the mount heaves under the push and runs on without themRiderless, it coasts on and slows, looking for its rider
Ten taunts and gestures on the sim's gesture donors
The laugh: the jaw drops into a wide grin, the tongue flicks, the fan shakesThe bow: forequarters down, hips and fire up, tail sweepingTalking: the jaw chatters and the gills workSorrow: the head sinks, the fire droops lowA double take: a glance, away, then the head snaps backDisgust: it recoils, the tongue out, the head shakingA shrug: the shoulders roll up and drop, the head tiltsDizzy: the head wobbles on circles, the legs wanderShowing off: the sham fire fans out to full spread and shimmersThe tongue taunt: the forked tongue lolls and waggles
The idle flourish, the hurt stance, eight idle-pool clips, two new deaths and the corpse
An idle flourish: it flops onto its belly and spreads the fire to the sunHurt: it holds one foreleg off the ground and dabs it downA yawn: the jaw stretches wide, the tongue curlsA scratch: a hind leg rakes behind the gills, the head turned backShaking off: the body rolls through, the fire whipsA stretch: the back arches and the hind legs reach outA sneeze: the head winds up and snaps downTracking a fly, then a snapDigging: the forelegs rake the dirtLicking its own eye, as geckos do (the tongue reads best from the side)A death: it staggers and rolls onto its flank, legs kicking, then stillA death: the sham fire gutters and goes limp before it sinksThe corpse, after the collapse: embers dying in the fan
One camera turn round the stance: the fire's side read and its read from behindOne camera turn round the runThe rider in the seat (Tarin's stand-in), clamped on with his legsThe seat from the sideThe run with the riderThe jump with the riderFrom above: the sham fire's other read, hair-lines over the hindquartersThe run with the fire's blades unrolled flat, beside the shipped run (side)The run with the fire held stillTaste the air with the tongue switched off (the knob)