Wildlife touched by the Glass

Ordinary animals with mirror-glass grown through them, one or two per biome (VEL-51). They aren't evil. They are frightened and in pain, and the drops say so (Idea): what they drop is mirror_grit, the glass that grew through them, and Sister Orla, the Tender healer at Halfway, will buy it "to bury it properly".

Mirebelly toad — mirebelly_toad

• Region: The Sallow (Sallow Fen).
• Look (VEL-51 concept): A huge fat fen toad the size of a cart. Its green warty back is covered in round glassy blisters that each reflect a tiny sky. It has a pale cream belly and a wide, grumpy mouth, and sits in a reedy marsh pool with willows behind. Silhouette: a low dome with a wide mouth. The blisters glint as one cluster, and the throat swelling is the clearest tell in Act 1.
• Behaviour: A tongue lash every 6 s for 10. Special, Gulp: every 14 s a tongue that grabs a cast mid-draw. If it lands while the player is drawing, the cast is lost (new: the cast cancels). Tell: the throat swells for 1.5 s. Special, Blister Burst: at 50% HP it bursts three blisters, 4 damage each over 3 s.
• Counters: Draw short spells (Repel, Brace) or wait out the swell; that teaches timing around breath. Coil (tier 1) at full strength on a living thing (rule 5). Mend after the Blister Burst. Repel's stagger stops a Gulp. From Act 2, Wither also works in full.
• Rough stats: HP high (200). Damage low (10; Burst 12 over time). Speed normal (6 s), first attack 7 s. maxHp 200, attackDamage 10, attackIntervalSeconds 6, firstAttackDelaySeconds 7, color "#6E8B4E"
• Drops: mirror_grit x2, river_reeds.
• Where it appears: Act 1, Sallow Fen beside the Sallow Road.
• Model notes for Meshy: static mesh, animated in code (squash-and-stretch hops and throat swell by blend shape or scale). Reference: mirebelly-toad-ref-a.png. The tongue as a separate stretched part.

Shardback boar — shardback_boar

• Region: The Sallow (the heath above Sallowbank); the Shardfield edge.
• Look (VEL-51 concept): A stocky wild boar touched by the Glass. A tall ridge of jagged mirror-glass shards grows along its spine in place of bristles, patches of its brown bristly hide have turned to polished mirror, and it has short thick tusks of clear crystal. It paws the ground at the edge of a field of standing mirror shards. Silhouette: a low, heavy wedge with a bright jagged crest. The crest flares up before a charge.
• Behaviour: A tusk jab every 7 s for 12. Special, Charge: every 3rd attack is a charge for 22. Tell: it paws the ground twice and the shard crest flares, over 2 s.
• Counters: Repel (tier 1) during the paw cancels the charge, as the door-mark is meant to do. Brace takes the edge off it. Drift (tier 2, Act 2 on) dodges it. Coil (tier 1) does full damage (rule 5).
• Rough stats: HP mid (150). Damage mid (12; the charge does 22). Speed slow (7 s), first attack 6 s. maxHp 150, attackDamage 12, attackIntervalSeconds 7, firstAttackDelaySeconds 6, color "#7A5B44"
• Drops: mirror_grit x3.
• Where it appears: Act 1, the heath above Sallowbank. Act 2, the Shardfield edge (with shard glints).
• Model notes for Meshy: quadruped (non-Meshy rig). Reference: shardback-boar-ref-a.png.

Gale hound — gale_hound

• Region: The Long Road.
• Look (VEL-51 concept): Lean grey highland wolves touched by the Glass. Their fur is wind-whipped, with streaks of pale green light, and each wears a collar of floating mirror shards around its neck. They leap out of a dust storm beside a wagon train under pale-green-lit sails. Silhouette: long, low bodies in mid-leap, with the shard collars as a bright ring at the neck. Three of them read as a pack from their collars alone.
• Behaviour: A pack of 3, like glints, but each attacks (no leader rule): a bite every 4 s each, offset by 1.3 s, for 7. Special, Run With the Wind: while the wind blows (every other 6 s on the Long Road), their attacks come 30% faster. Tell: the collars spin faster.
• Counters: Gale and Squall (tier 2) hit all three and break their run (rule 2). Drift dodges one bite but not the pack. Linger (tier 1, Act 3) halves the pace. Echo (tier 1) doubles a Squall.
• Rough stats: HP low (45 each, 135 total). Damage low (7). Speed fast (4 s each, a bite every ~1.3 s in all), first attack 4 s. maxHp 45 x3, attackDamage 7, attackIntervalSeconds 4, firstAttackDelaySeconds 4, pack-all-attack (new), color "#8E9A93"
• Drops: mirror_grit x2.
• Where it appears: Act 2, the Long Road ridge and Dace's caravan jobs (caravan_defence).
• Model notes for Meshy: quadruped (non-Meshy rig). Collars are floating parts, spun in code. There is only a battle concept (gale-hounds-a.png), so VEL-66 makes the side and front sheets.

Glasshorn stag — glasshorn_stag

• Region: The Long Road (highland meadows).
• Look (VEL-51 concept): A big, sturdy highland stag touched by the Glass, with short, thick branching antlers of clear mirror-glass that reflect the sky. Its chest and shoulders are crusted with chunky glassy facets over a thick brown winter coat. It has a calm, dangerous stare, in a misty meadow with windmills on the far ridge. Silhouette: a tall body under a wide, bright crown of antlers. The antlers lowering is the tell. (VEL-51: the antlers were thickened for Meshy and phone size; keep them thick.)
• Behaviour: An antler sweep every 8 s for 20. Special, Antler Mirror: with antlers lowered for 3 s, every spell the player casts is reflected back at 50% power (new). Tell: it lowers its head slowly over 1 s, and the antlers flash.
• Counters: Don't cast into the mirror. Drift (tier 2) or Brace during it, then hit as the head comes up. Wither (tier 1) before the mirror goes up keeps ticking through it, since damage over time isn't a cast (rule 5). Tally (tier 1, Wardens) turns a reflected hit back.
• Rough stats: HP high (260). Damage high (20). Speed slow (8 s), first attack 8 s. maxHp 260, attackDamage 20, attackIntervalSeconds 8, firstAttackDelaySeconds 8, reflect window (new), color "#8B6A4F"
• Drops: mirror_grit x2.
• Where it appears: Act 2, the Long Road's highland meadows (optional, off the caravan path).
• Model notes for Meshy: quadruped (non-Meshy rig). Reference: glasshorn-stag-ref-a.png.

Shardshell crab — shardshell_crab

• Region: The Shardfield.
• Look (VEL-51 concept): A big, squat, pony-sized crab wearing a domed broken pane of mirror-glass as its shell. The shell reflects a different sky from the one above, and the crab has thick stone-grey legs, one claw much bigger than the other, and small eyes on short stalks. It scuttles sideways across the cracked lakebed between standing mirror shards in amber evening light. Silhouette: a wide, flat dome with one big claw raised. The shell is the brightest thing on screen.
• Behaviour: A big-claw crush every 6 s for 14. Shell: a 30-point shield that regrows fully when it turns its shell to the player. That happens every 10 s, with 1.5 s of shell-turning as the tell. Special, Pincer: the small claw grabs, so the player can't move their next thumb stroke for 1 s.
• Counters: Squall (tier 2) strips the shell, then follow up. Repel during the turn stops the regrow. Coil (tier 1) full damage (rule 5) once the shell is down. Bevel Lash (tier 3), once both halves are found, ignores the shell: the Facet answer to the Facet land's commonest animal.
• Rough stats: HP high (240, plus a 30 shield). Damage mid (14). Speed normal (6 s), first attack 7 s. maxHp 240, attackDamage 14, attackIntervalSeconds 6, firstAttackDelaySeconds 7, shield 30 regrow on turn (new), color "#7D8288"
• Drops: mirror_grit x3.
• Where it appears: Acts 2–3, the Shardfield's cracked lakebed.
• Model notes for Meshy: static mesh, animated in code, with legs and claws as separate parts moved on pivots. A crab doesn't suit a quadruped rig. Reference: shardshell-crab-ref-a.png.

Echo owl — echo_owl

• Region: Hushfold and the Hour Stair.
• Look (VEL-51 concept): A huge, round snowy owl touched by the Glass. Its face is a smooth silver mirror disc with no eyes, and its wings are edged with thin mirror-glass feathers. It perches on a broken stone arch in a silent snowy valley, with snowflakes hanging still around it. Silhouette: a round white body with a bright face disc, perched high in the frame. The disc turning toward the player is the tell.
• Behaviour: A silent swoop every 6 s for 12. Special, Echo: after the player casts, it echoes that spell back at them at half power, 2 s later (new). Tell: the face disc turns to the player and shows the spell's glyph. Flying.
• Counters: Hush (tier 1, Still Choir) silences it, which stops the echo: sound answers sound (rule 5). Gale (tier 2) grounds it (rule 2). Cheap spells first while it is listening (Repel's 10 echoes as 5).
• Rough stats: HP mid (160). Damage mid (12; echoes half of the player's last spell). Speed normal (6 s), first attack 6 s. maxHp 160, attackDamage 12, attackIntervalSeconds 6, firstAttackDelaySeconds 6, flying (new), echo (new), color "#EEF1F4"
• Drops: mirror_grit x3.
• Where it appears: Act 2, Hushfold. Act 3, the Hour Stair.
• Model notes for Meshy: static mesh, animated in code, with the wings as separate parts. There is only a battle concept (echo-owl-a.png), so VEL-66 makes the side and front sheets.

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