The 'zh' sound sounds like the 's' sound in vision and pleasure.

More Refs and Images That Will Help:

Head and Hair Ref:
[link]

Variability Refs:
[link]
[link]

Transparency Ref:
[link]

Important Notes For Drawing

Zharacor is a very variable character. In fact, I almost consider him an amorphous creature. I just generally draw him like a dragon with a unicorn head, because that's how he appears when my main character comes across him in the story. He changes his shape often, and actually enjoys mimicking the shapes of other creatures. He's not going to end up being the exact shape of what he's copying, because he can't just get rid of the liquid in him, that in his weight makes it so that his limbs have to be thick enough to support him. Also I use the word mimic, instead of copy, because he's still recognizable as himself (as his colors do not change). You can almost think of him as one of those long balloons used to make balloon animals. You can change the shape to resemble many different things, but you can still tell it's a balloon, and even though it resembles another object, it can't be mistaken for the object it's mimicking.

When drawing him, it is OK to change his shape (particularly his head, which is generally the most accurate when mimicking something), when it is a colored picture. The color is recognizable enough to identify him. In pictures that are not colored, it is best to stick with the general shape here. Proportions can vary if you wish (ie length of horn, ears, arms, etc.). The position he is in in the main picture here is a transition from bipedal to quadrupedal. In all of this, just remember these two aspects of him: he is heavy, but fluid like.

Another thing, his mass does not change, meaning he does not gain or lose fluid when he mimics. So if he mimics a mouse, he still going to be considerably larger than it. When compared to most animals, he will probably be larger. If he's mimicking a dragon, he will probably be smaller than it. One technique that can be used to make his body seem smaller is to move the liquid to the tail making it much longer (and if it's too long, it's going to have to rest on the ground).

When I request a drawing of him, I would actually prefer to see your creativity in rendering him, than trying to draw the exact form you see here. Be creative. If I didn't want you to be, then I wouldn't request a character that has a changing form (though if you're uncomfortable changing his shape, you can keep it as you see here).
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More Random Info

(this is from the conversation I had with ~LightningPhoenix. It might sound kind of random and unorganized as this only has my part of the conversation. The whole conversation is in the comments. Also some of the things I describe here are shown in the other two references.)

Generally areas that don't support much weight tend to be more variable as far as their actual shape. Most bones can be built upon.

The most of the vertebrae (with the exception of the vertebrae in the tail) can lengthen (the ribs on the tail vertebrae can change though). The neck vertebrae can lengthen more then the back vertebrae, because they do not hold quite as much weight.

And there is something else I forgot to mention about the differences between standing up and being on all fours: The shape of his rib cage changes. This is possible because at the base of the ribs, proteins can be added in different amounts on either side. This allows one side to be longer than the other, and change the angle of the ribs. When he stands up, his rib cage is wider, like a human rib cage. On all fours, it’s narrower but wider vertically like most quadrupeds.

His hair is quite variable too. If you compare these pictures to the picture of his death [link] you’ll notice that his thick hairs are much longer. The proportion of thick hair to thin hair can change, but you must remember that the liquid has to go somewhere.

His head can pretty much look like anything: any shape, any number or length of horns.
If his ears are particularly long, then a bone formation will grow on the skull to support it, however this prevents the ears from moving around. When the ears are fairly small, they can be moved by changes in the microskeleton.

His joints have to be fit together in a certain way, to move smoothly and correctly, and there are structures in the bone right above where the cartilage starts (which is not shown above) that prevent the assembling proteins from detaching the proteins beyond the starting point of the cartilage, so he can’t entirely liquefy and become like a puddle of water. He can shorten the bones a lot though, enough in fact that most of the bones are not too much bigger than the orb when they are shrunk down to as small as they go. In this state he would look pretty much like a long puddle on the ground (he would not be completely flat though). The issue is moving however. Moving nearly two thousand pounds of liquid with bones (and muscles) this short is very difficult. The microskeleton has to do the moving. This exhorts a lot of stress on the skin, and uses a huge amount of energy, so it’s generally avoided.

He can’t quite construct entirely new bones, but he can build upon what is already there.

The bones are not entirely made up of the protein, which is why an entire bone can’t be formed. The other parts to the bone are not as easy to take apart or recreate. Also the proteins that are used to construct the bone have to be slightly altered by the assembling proteins before they can be added to a bone. This is to prevent the proteins from spontaneously connecting and forming one large bone while floating around in the liquid. The assembling proteins are meant to stay anchored to the bones already there.

Some of the limitations are due to design. Many of the factors that prevent variability have to do with his size. A great deal is sacrificed for a large size, and this is true for existing animals. A much smaller creature may be able to get around some of these factors, particularly the rearranging of joints.

There is one instance where Zharcaor can have bones on the outside of him. The microskeleton can constrict around the area breaking through the skin, and prevent liquid from escaping. Though only some bones could do this. The tips of his fingers and toes can be shaped into sharp points, and the bone can extend near the base of the bone. This would allow the bone to continue extending after it broke the surface. The tips of these “claws” would be have to be straight though. Proteins could be added in an uneven way at the base to create a curve after the bone breaks through the surface, but the tip of the claw would still be straight. In battle, I guess these claws would be better at stabbing than slashing. These claws could also be small enough to make it easier to pick up and manipulate things.

He can make intricate structures from adding to several bones, though these structures might not be entirely useful, as far as function. For example, Zharcaor could create wing structures like this, [link] , but they would not be able to function as regular wings ( wings not only have bones in the arms of the wings, but also the leading edge, the trailing edge, and the highest area on the membrane of the base of the wing.

He can use extended bones to carry things around (create a basket) since he has to move on all fours.

He would sink in water, but he would not drown. He does breathe, but it’s different from many animals. It’s something between the way a frog breathes and the way a fish breathes. This mainly occurs where the thick hairs are. Thick hairs are lined with vessels along the inside surface. Many of the vessels that transport the oxygen coil along the length of the nerves (these vessels give the nerves a blue color, the blue portion is when the protein in the blood cells contain carbon dioxide, otherwise the blood is colorless. It is the returning vessels that are around the nerves.) The walls of the skin are particularly thin in these hairs to allow oxygen and carbon dioxide to pass though. In order for this to happen the hairs have to be wet. The skin in the areas of the thick hairs secretes water. He obtains water by absorbing it when it’s on the outside of his skin. This is because his skin is permeable to water and the solutes on the inside make him hypotonic to most water environments. If he falls into water, particularly freshwater, he has to get out fast or else he will absorb to much water, and explode (the thick hairs don’t absorb water as easily because there is a thin membrane on the base of the hair that prevents most of the proteins from getting in. There are also protein pumps in the membrane to pump water fast enough into the hairs to make the net flow of water 0 between the areas.

In the case of trying to manipulate an object while standing up, it would seem that he would not be able to get close enough to be able to manipulate it (imagine something like a control panel or something on a table). He does have a way around this. One way is that he could shorten bones and curve his spine a bit while he is right next to the object (his spine is not too flexible though, even in quadruped form). Another way is that when he’s standing up he can lengthen his arms in order to reach, so he does not need to stand as close to begin with.

Also one thing that I forgot to mention is that his orb has some hollow areas where the veins pass through, and the where the nerves connect. The orb also acts as a heart, and pumps the blood through the veins.
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Zharcaor's structure is very unusual obviously. I've gone very in-depth with his anatomy. I have even contemplated figuring out the amino acid sequence for the proteins mentioned. I guess that shows just how nerdy I am.



Please do not use any part of this anatomy with out permission.

Zharcaor is my character. Do not steal him.