A drawing of Cherno as part of the 30-Day Monster Girl Challenge I have undertaken. See the rest of them on my other blog.
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“Strawberries, cherries, and an angel’s kiss in spring. My summer wine is really made from all these things.”
Clockwise from top left: Matthias of Glarus, Cherno Hazelnut, Lucy Hazelnut, Lisa Hazelnut. Artwork by Lisa Hazelnut herself!
Female satyrs were typically xenophiles. It was a logical product of all satyrs’ instincts to identify and avoid mating with close relatives. Females usually did not find their family members sexually attractive, while they found themselves magnetically drawn to exotic strangers. They could ascribe loftier thoughts and emotions to their attraction, justifying it by extolling the stranger’s virtues and physical perfection. But the basic fact of the matter was that this attraction was originally driven by instinct. Xenophilia was beneficial to the species, adding variety to the gene pool. The most successful male satyrs—where “success” is measured by the number of offspring—were the ones who ventured far into foreign territory.
After traveling quite a distance, Jasna and Vesna found themselves at a great gathering in Tympaki on the island of Crete. Among the revelers they noticed a man unlike any they had ever seen before. He stood tall on skinny tawny legs, with the most unusual hooves. He did not understand the local language, and no one understood his, which made him even more enigmatic. Jasna and Vesna desired him, but they were not the only ones! Almost every female in attendance was showering the stranger with attention. Jasna and Vesna joined in the competition, each female hoping that she would win the stranger’s temporary affection.
Competition was intense and jealousy hung thick in the air. In the end, however, the exotic satyr was enthralled by Vesna’s lovely singing voice. His decorated eyes met her seductive gaze as she continued to sing. Vesna knew her charm had worked; he was hooked. She began to lead him away from the crowd, and he followed her, brushing away the desperate women who clung to him. Jasna trotted over to Vesna, pulled her arm, and whined into her ear. “No fair! I want him, too! Please Vesna, let me be with him instead.”
Vesna stopped singing and hissed back to Jasna. “He loves me! Go find your own man.” Jasna’s face contorted into a pitiful pout, which the stranger noticed. Although he did not understand their words, he did understand their tone and their body language. While the two sisters bickered, the handsome stranger smiled gently and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. Jasna and Vesna fell silent and turned their faces toward him. He spoke in his strange language, smiling first at Vesna and then at Jasna. The corners of his mouth curled into a devious grin and his eyes twinkled as he rubbed both of their shoulders simultaneously. The sisters looked at each other dumbfounded, and then looked back at the stranger, still grinning. Vesna broke the silence. “I think he wants… two for the price of one…?”
The three of them walked together away from the crowd, the mysterious stranger with his arms around the waists of both sisters. The following year, they each bore a child with the same unusual hooves as that stranger.
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when it started, but Cherno was fascinated and delighted by birds from a very early age. Nothing held her attention quite like a bird; she was known to watch or stalk a bird for as long as it was in her sight. Whenever a hunting party had killed a group of birds, Cherno could not resist playing with their limp and lifeless bodies. It didn’t matter to her whether it was dead or alive, as long as it was a bird. Their feathers were so soft and colourful, she loved to pet them. And their songs were so sweet, they filled the forests with music.
It was not always easy to mimic the calls of birds. But Cherno practised diligently. Eventually, she was good enough to fool the forest birds into thinking she was one of them. It took many years of learning, but today Cherno is able to converse with the small birds of the forests. One or two birds usually accompany her wherever she goes, which helps keep the fleas at bay!
Why do I do these things?
This is ridiculous.
As mentioned previously, Cherno was the 17th child of Maya Hazelnut. Like most satyr children in the area, Cherno was raised by her older relatives (typically females). This included her oldest sisters, Maya’s first six daughters. (Maya’s first six sons were adults and had left home before Cherno could remember them.) Depicted here are Cherno’s oldest sisters.
Epiphaneia is Maya’s third child but first daughter. She is a huntress, a devotee of Artemis, and therefore a virgin. Epiphaneia is wise and stoic, and speaks only when necessary. Although she is a skilled huntress, Epiphaneia is a pacifist who absolutely prefers to settle disputes diplomatically and abhors violence.
Adrijana seems much younger than she really is, because of her short attention span and unbridled enthusiasm. She spends most of her time collecting things from nature and fashioning them into wearable decorations for the clan. Adrijana’s most prized possesions are her satchel and legband pouch, which she uses to carry all her found items. She has also been known to steal interesting trinkets from humans occasionally.
Fair Jasna is sensitive to sunlight, alcohol, and insect bites. Nevertheless, these physical sensitivities never stopped her from reveling. In fact, being a lightweight usually meant Jasna had the most fun at parties! Truly following in her mother’s hoofprints, Jasna’s life is one great carnal adventure after another. Being a mother never slowed her down, either; she attended every party with babies in tow. Jasna followed the party wherever it went, and vice versa.
Vesna and Jasna were inseperable since their earliest days. Not only are they sisters, they are the best of friends. Vesna shares the same hedonistic lifestyle as Jasna, and the two always attend parties together. Vesna entertains and mesmerises the boys with her magnificent singing voice. She has children of her own as well, and both she and Jasna share the responsibilities of motherhood. Because they are so extremely close, both Jasna’s and Vesna’s children frequently forget which one is their birth mother, and address both of them as “mama.”
In stark contrast to Jasna and Vesna, Lydia is a shy and private individual who feels suffocated by crowds. Lydia is one of the few literate members of the Hazelnut family, and therefore performs the duties of a scribe. She spends most of her time writing alone in the outdoors, or reading in the library in Thebes. Lydia has yet no children, and tends to avoid adult males completely.
Like Adrijana, Zdravka spends a lot of time gathering things from nature, except Zdravka is specifically interested in medicinal plants. She seeks to know the properties of every plant she can find, by testing it on herself. Of course, this has led to several instances of poisoning and a few altered states, giving Zdravka an increased tolerance for poison and an eccentric personality. On an unrelated note, Zdravka’s father was an antelope satyr, so she has the horns and tail of an antelope.
Second Life as a Permafaun 