Editing Parting of the Ways (Fortune: Evolution Game) (section)

== Arctic ==
A frozen holdover from the long-gone days of the Ice Age, the Arctic is a cold, foreboding wasteland of ice and snow. Life, however, clings here nonetheless. Several varieties of the endothermic crustaceans known as the Snow Crab live here, huddling together for warmth, and the gelatinous Imperial Wolves traverse the white dunes of this frozen desert. White-furred Wretches prowl, hoping to dig up some measly meal to eat, and hoping to avoid the monstrous Demolisher, still a fearsome predator even in this white Hell of a biome.
===Demolisher (Arctic)===
If God is dead, as Nietzsche so famously said, it is not humanity that killed him, but the Demolisher certainly has the chops for such a task. The size of a schoolbus, armoured in a second skeleton and spiked back, to prevent cannibalistic fathers from consuming it, this creature is a walking tank, all fury and muscle.

The Demolisher is an endothermic carnivorous repto-mammal. Fearsome though it be, it is also thankfully incredibly rare, as an ecosystem can only support a few. Demolishers are ambush predators, and in the Arctic, their bone-white camouflage lends towards such a strategy. The creature will wait, for days if necessary, and once prey, like a Wretch or protein-rich Imperial Wolf, appears, it strikes out, with its long sticky tongue (half again the length of its body) or goring it with its might tusks. Such an attack could be compared to a freight train. A train made of teeth and murder.

====Demolisher (Arctic) Descendants====
''Coastal Demolisher''

===Imperial Wolf (Arctic)===
Imperial Wolves are agile pack hunters descended from the Shogun Walrus. While still capable of eating dirt, they prefer the rich protein and nutrients found in live prey. The wolves have several tools which make them competent hunters, the most important being numbers. Wolves live in large families that send out several hunting parties of 6-8 to search for food. Scouts will use a form of modified echo-location to search. When a scout finds something, it alerts the other wolves through a series of nasal burps who will then attempt to hunt down and surround the prey. They will then either shoot acid at the eyes and limbs to immobilize it or make a series of leaping rams in an attempt to gore it with their reinforced tusks.

What allows Imperial Wolves their greater mobility is a rudimentary form of hydraulic muscle. Each 'limb' is a gel filled mass able to squeeze and contract allowing for more able movement. The wolves have a primitive lung and modified trachea which allow them to either intake air for complex pack commands or pool acid in preparation for a like spray (typically used as an escape distraction).

====Imperial Wolf (Arctic) Descendants====
''Dinural Wolf''

''Black Nocturnal Wolf''

===Snow Crab===
[[File:SnowCrab_00.png|200px|thumb|left|A study of the sexual dimorphism in Snow Crabs.]]
'''Snow Crabs''' are omnivorous terrestrial crustaceans common in the Arctic Circle region, though they are occasionally seen in the upper reaches Northern Wildwood.

Snow Crabs are a reminder that evolution often moves slowly because, like your bum hippy cousin, it only works when absolutely necessary. Snow Crabs evolved from Pretender Crabs, who would lure creatures in by pretending to be the plants their prey ate. The thing is, neither of the plants that Snow Crabs resemble even exist anymore, having moved on to other forms. The Snow Crabs, however, have been successful enough that there has been little need to change their features, though it is possible that the "pretender stem" that is their species' legacy may eventually atrophy, or they may find use as a mating display. Only time will tell.

Snow Crabs live in colonies or "clutches" of 20-50 individuals, with singles, mated pairs, and offspring all present. There is no rank here, no alpha male or matriarch present. The reason Snow Crabs gather together is for warmth. While they are invertebrates, Snow Crabs are endothermic (what some call ''warm-blooded''), and the body heat generated from close proximity helps keep hypothermia away as the creatures sleep under large snow drifts.

As previously mentioned, Snow Crabs are by and large scavengers, consuming those creatures who failed to survive in the cold land where the crabs make their home. There is little discrimination in what is consumed, and even a fallen clutchmate, a stillborn offspring, even a deceased mate will be devoured. Meat is meat, after all, and food is scarce.
====Snow Crab Descendants====
''Hamburger Crab''

''Tent Traveler''

===Snow Tick===
'''Snow Ticks''' are terrestrial bloodsucking parasites common the Arctic Circle on Fortune. Snow Ticks are currently identical to other Tick species in everything but colour, discounting the Blood Ants.
[[File:SnowTick_00.png|100px|thumb|A Snow Tick, showing the colouration common to individuals living in the Arctic Circle.]]
The Snow Tick takes advantages of the many large animals in it's habitat, using it's sturdiness and strong claws to cling to their skin, while an adapted leg siphons blood from it's host. Demolishers and White Wretches are their most common hosts. As it feeds, it grows bloated and ever so slightly more fragile as its skin stretches to accommodate the fluid within. Once full in this manner, the Snow Tick leaves its host, hibernating inside a tree hollow or under a rock until it hungers again.

Snow Ticks spend a great deal of their lives asleep. Long slumber (3-4 days) punctuated by gorging themselves on a host and the occasional mating (sometimes done on a host if that's where they meet) comprises the entirety of their lives. Gross to humans, from the viewpoint of the tick (if it had one as a nonsentient) life is good.

====Snow Tick Descendants====
''Lapper Tick''

''Centitick Scarab''

===White Wretch (Grey Wretch)===

The White Wretch is a carnivorous terrestrial repto-mammal that makes its homes in the freezing wastes of Fortune's Arctic Circle

White Wretches are grizzly bear-sized solitary predators of the north, though they are also sometimes seen in pairs. Interestingly, White Wretches (like their ancestors) only seek breeding partners near the very end of their lives (somewhere along the last few months or so), and when they spawn, their death soon follows (similar in this respect to Earth's salmon population). Outside of this, White Wretches are highly territorial, duelling via their large horn and head plates. Though their thick shells will generally keep their heads safe, the horn can be quite fatal if the wretch chooses to target a different spot, and casualties are not uncommon among more aggressive wretches. Generally cannibalism is only practiced among the younger specimens, however.

The female lays up to a dozen or more football-sized eggs, burying them underneath the permanent layer of snow. When the young hatch, they are about the size of a chihuahua, and stick together for safety, catching small Snow Crabs and sometimes Snow Ticks, until they are old enough for larger game. Once they reach 60% of their adult size, the juvenile Wretches part, leading solitary lives, though by this point, there is rarely more than 5 of the original clutch left.

In the desolate Arctic, White Wretches are forced to feed upon Snow Crabs and occasionally lone Imperial Wolves.
====White Wretch Descendants====
Note that these names are working titles only, and are subject to change.
''Ursuals''

''Snodo Bird''

''Snodoseal''

''Yeti Wretch''

''Armless Tall Ursuals''