September 2025 Newsletter

The purpose of these newsletters is to keep our community informed about site updates, upcoming events, official artist commission openings, new user guides, highlight different bits and pieces of our species, and build on community engagement. The content of these newsletters will vary by month.

Thank you to everyone who commented on last month’s newsletter! We are posting this Newsletter earlier than usual to prepare for Corruption later this month.

To sign up for a Faunids account, message a moderator for an invite code. Once you have that, you can register on the sign-up page.

View the Faunids Policy Handbook

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character appreciation

We want to appreciate all the hard work that goes into turning designs into full-fledged characters.
As part of the Newsletter, we choose a community member with a well-loved Faunid to tell us a bit more about them!
This month, we wanted to highlight a few Corrupted Faunids made in previous event years. 

The first Corrupt, owned by msmydeer, is Scrimshaw! 
 

1. Where was your Faunid born? Where's home for him now?
Scrimshaw was born in Veritam! Not much is known about him but he was later chased out of Hernlak as a corrupt and made his way down to around Lavandul. He is naturally drawn towards people and wants to be accepted but after years of isolation and corruption he's struggled with connection!

2. Does your Faunid still have family? Does he know what happened to them? 
If he had any family he doesn't remember much about them, but the most important moment in his life is when he found a family who accepted him! They are teaching him how to speak again and how to reacclimatize to society! 

3. What are some of your Faunid's favorite pastimes?
He loves carving things! He primarily uses his teeth as it's what he's had the most experience with since his corruption but he's been learning to use tools for finer details! He's even learning about paints! He sees the world in a very abstract shapes sort of way so he picks up on patterns and forms before anything else! 

4. What is your Faunid's most treasured possession?
His most prized possession is probably a homemade blanket that he got from his found family. He helped make it when he was trying to learn to work with fabrics! He finds great comfort in it and while it's a little dirty he still treasures it and cuddles with it constantly. 



Our second corrupt, owned by MothDad, is Maliketh! He chose to answer our interview questions himself. 
 

1. Where were you born? Where's home for you now?
"I ain't from 'round these parts. I was born and raised in Veritam, but 'home'? Home is wherever my ass is sat down in front of a fireplace with a good cigar in hands and my little family running around me, chasing at each other and talking crazy loud like only my doll Velly does... Ah... Cozy, right?"

2. Do you remember the family you came from? Who is your family now? 
"Family? Like ma and pa? Nay. If yer talking that, they've been loong gone... I miss them, I really do. But nowadays I do got a family of my own. Little thing I take care of, likes to get bigger and bigger as the years go by... My pride and joy, little star Tali, my daughter. Lottie, a... Close friend of mine, songbird I call him. And doll eyes Velly, that crazy bastard, have been my closest family awhile... Sometimes a few more show up and make the family grow a bit... I ain't ever said no to a hungry mouth ya know?"

3. What are some of your favorite pastimes? 
"Pastimes? Hah! I do got a few! Wood carving has been my go-to whenever I ain't babysitting or working, I make toys for the kiddos, Danny boy's kids used to like em when they were but wee babies. But sometimes, I like to go fishing 'round Atalav. Been everywhere by now... From Vinnde to Lavandul. Only place in which's been hard to get is Makino... Hellish little place that is... But the fish in there do taste different! Maybe it's coz they're just as snobby as the fauns in there, hah!"

4. Is there anything you'd refuse to do under any circumstances? Why?
"Oh there's plenty o' things I wouldn't do under any circumstances! I could think of a list of some pretty disgusting things for ya! But if yer looking for the kind of serious and deeply meaningful answer, then that'd probably be forgive that bastard Herne for what he did to me. That useless little 'god' of the good-mannered faunid may stay as far away from me as I stay from ursas and shadow cats."

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corruption event

We will be doing minor edits to these pages over the next week, but those will be addressing formatting inconsistencies and adding already-existing images.
All of the information you need should be available now! 

Atalav.com Event Hub changes in 2025

• Merfauns are eligible for Corruption
• Minodae are NOT eligible for Corruption 
• New rule regarding the use of existing symbols from real human cultures (Corrupts cannot include Nordic runes, human religious symbols, etc.)
• New note for Corrupt creation encouraging users to incorporate Faunid Runes and Sigils into their design concepts
• New purchasable Sigil Creation token ($5) to have an official Corrupt Sigil made for your Corrupt as supplemental art to be given along with the finished Corrupt's release 
• You may re-roll a Corrupt if you are not happy with what you received. This will work similarly to Fawning, costing Base Price + needing a new mood board at minimum

Reformatting / Website Related

• Reformatted 'Forms and Links' Section to link directly to the prompts, which are now hosted here on the Faunids website! 
• Added the full art for both of our new bases and an antler guide (Caribou - Père David's - Roe - Sambar - Sika - Chinese Water Deer) to the main Event Hub
• Fenris Dispensary Prompt will now grant all users 6 items from the Dispensary pool (which has been pre-tested!) 
• Available artists for 2025 are up-to-date

Event Tokens

• The 'Corruption Token Guide' now includes all Tokens relevant to the event on one page, in order from Standard -> Corrupt -> Premium. This page is still being edited to include visual guides but all of the visuals are still viewable in the meantime on the item pages in the shop. 
• Feather and Fur vials will have new images to show the areas of coverage instead of a selection of traits, so it is more clear that users are not limited to a small selection of traits.
• Crow Foot may be stylized with webbed avian hands
• Eyeball token may be used in areas that are not the face, such as palms, hands, and other relatively 'even' surfaces on your Corrupt's body (check with your artist)
• Retiring Mite token - users may specify mange as a stylization detail just as they can request runes, scars, body modifications, etc.
• Striped Shell outlines that predator mouth refers to all mammalian carnivores. 

New Token Combinations

• Velociraptor Feet has been absorbed into Dragon Feet (Loose Paw/Crow Foot + Scales), with the note that stylization may be specified as dragon, velociraptor, or other specific dinosaurs but may require approval from the artist team. 
• Insect Wings (Locust Leg + Premium: Wings)
• Insect Mandibles (Locust Leg + Broken Tooth)
• Avian Predator Mouth (Crow Foot + Striped Shell)
• Reptile Predator Mouth (Scales + Striped Shell) 

Token Payment / Faunids Business Account

• We have been trying to fix issues with Token checkout preventing users from purchasing items / having payments bounce back from purchases. We're going to reset the whole structure of that section as a last ditch effort and rebuild it to see if that fixes our issues. This shouldn't effect any other part of the website. Please do not purchase tokens until told you can do so. We have a backup plan for if this is going to be a more longterm fix. 
• The Faunids official business PayPal has been made! All age-up and re-reference fees, as well as token purchases, will be sent to and maintained on this account. 

corruption event quick-guide

Our community has requested a guide for steps to follow as they participate in Corruption. Here's a quick step-by-side for how to participate! 

STEP ONE: Receive your 6 free tokens from Fenris with THIS PROMPT

STEP TWO: If you want to work with the tokens you got, you can skip to STEP THREE. If you want any specific tokens, you'll need to trade them with other users or purchase them directly. Purchased tokens can be traded or gifted to other users. 

STEP THREE: Fill out the CORRUPT CREATION PROMPT once you have all the tokens you want to use. Templates for both the semi-custom Corrupts and Corruption of existing Fauns are in that form. You can type your answers directly into the form, or you can link a Google Doc. Either way is fine. Attach any items you are using to this form so they are removed from your inventory.

STEP FOUR: Wait for a moderator to approve your submission. Moderators will be carefully tracking forms so that Corrupts are added to artist queues in the order they are received. Once it is approved, look out for a message from the artist who takes your form for payment! 

STEP FIVE: Wait for your Corrupt's release! We will be posting the Corruption Artist Hub to be visible to the community once the event starts. 

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Upcoming Adopts

Be on the lookout for a pair of auction adopts by GoryTeeth and MUTT some time this month! 

There will also be a handful of special raffle adopts released throughout the month of October.
For those not wanting to Corrupt an existing Faunid or do not want to create a semi-custom, this might be the perfect chance to still obtain a freaky creature of your own! 

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Trait Feature

This month's trait is: Predator Mouth

Predator Mouth has a wide range of uses, and is a very versatile and striking trait category. This year, we are expanding on the trait iself to add birds of prey and reptiles to the mix, but here are some Corrupted Faunids who now count as mammalian carnivores (horrifying to think about)! 


 

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Art Challenge

What a range of skills our Faunid friends showcased last month! THANK YOU to our lovely participants! 

Also, an extra special thank you to our participants last month for your understanding as we had complications with the raffle system attached to the Art Challenge prompt. 
Due to this, we added another set of Barters as rewards to the raffle rewards. 
Our winners were: 

20 Barters - Zorkia
20 Barters - DarotheWolf
30 Barters - Morningdove_s
30 Barters - Ferramora

Headshot Bust with Background by Elk_Montauk - Harmioncs

This month, we have removed the automatic raffle and will be manually doing rolls, as well as changing the end date to match up with the end date on the Discord (which is now always on the last day of the month instead of the 1st). 

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The September Art Challenge is now live! 

It’s Opposite Month! 

Your non-Corrupted Faunid had a nightmare that *they* were Corrupt! What was that like? How did this affect them? What did they *look* like, in that horrible, dark realm? 

Your Corrupted Faunid was like us, once. What were they like, back then? What do you imagine they might have looked like, before becoming twisted up in their own Corruption? 

Remember that in order to enter for this prompt, you must submit your entry into the art challenge gallery and submit a prompt.

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Monthly Question