Blarnsneep

Cryptologic Name: Daimicro polychroma
Planar Origin: Faerie
Habitat: Forested areas
Diet: Omnivorous, mostly eating berries, insects, and flowers

Appearance & Morphology
Blarnsneeps, are small, fuzzy, colorful fae beings with large eyes and pointed ears. They have two short, birdlike legs and a long flexible tail with a large tuft on the end. Most of their species have white ears and tail tufts, but body fur in a wide range of colors bright including pink, blue, green, orange, and yellow.

Behavior & Magical Abilities
The blarnsneep is often called a “paint gremlin” (or “paint pixie” for those who appreciate alliteration) due to a set of glands at the end of their tail which secrete a colorful paste. The individual can control the hue of their tail paint, though it appears that their diet influences the range of colors available to them at any given time. These creatures will then use their tail tufts as a brush to paint elaborate murals on a variety of surfaces in their home territories. They also have very fine control over the hairs at the ends of their tails, allowing them to achieve a surprising degree of fine detail in their artwork. If you are ever in a forested area and find rocks or trees with colorful designs on them, there is a good chance that a blarnsneep lives nearby.
While some of these creatures’ paintings are abstract, many of them are more concrete representations of objects and experiences they witness in their lives. Wild blarnsneep paintings often include motifs of the night sky, bodies of water, and other creatures that live in their habitat. Blarnsneep that live with humans have been known to paint intensely lifelike portraits of the people they are close to.
The blarnsneep loves when its artwork is appreciated, often preening and chirruping excitedly when people and other creatures show an interest in their paintings. While these creatures cannot speak in human languages, those that live amongst us have shown an aptitude for understanding human feeling and speech and a respectable knack for finding ways to communicate their own feelings and ideas.

Field Notes

• Aside from the artistic and alchemical value of the blarnsneep’s paintings, it also serves to mark territory and is involved in the creature’s mating rituals. When a female is ready to mate, she will paint a part of a stone or tree within her territory; the paint used for this has pheromones to attract males and indicate that she is looking for a partner. Eligible bachelors will then add to her painting with their own marks and the female will choose based on the resulting mural.

• While these creatures enjoy it when their artwork is appreciated, they can also be rather vain and scornful when their artwork goes unappreciated. This is much more common in individuals who live with humans than in wild populations; they have been known to throw tantrums if they create a new work of art its people fail to notice and praise it.