The Shalkad is a subrace of the custom species I created, the Dralyx. Their main distinguishing feature is their black fur with colored glowing spots.

The glow varies in brightness depending on the Shalkad's mood, with a brighter glow produced by emotions of anger, happiness, or love, while a dimmer glow is produced by emotions of sadness or boredom. The glow goes out entirely when sleeping, anxious, or when actively trying to avoid notice. The level of glow can also by consciously controlled. When in a completely enraged state, the spots glow as bright as a flame.

The glow also serves a useful purpose. Since the Shalkad typically live underground, the light emitted by their spots assists them in seeing their nearby surroundings. Combined with their already strong nightvision, it makes them well adapted to living underground. In one in every ten Shalkad, the banded fur on their thick tail also glows, able to produce far more light than the spots on their body normally would.

Shalkad cities are built entirely underground. Light in these cities is primarily provided through plants and mushrooms that have been magically altered to produce their own glow. As well, most structures, roads, and signs in their cities are coated in reflective paint that helps spread light around. The light, although not very bright, is usually sufficient for foreign visitors with normal eyesight (such as humans) to navigate without issue.


Rendered in Blender using the Cycles engine, with Branched Path Tracing and Adaptive Sampling. Total render time: 57 minutes, 41.6 seconds.