Looking for elaboration on the species and traits? You've come to the right place! Feel free to click any of the listed buttons to be taken to a page with all sorts of verbal and visual elaboration!
VIRULAI-OS are an open species made by @SPACELAND on toyhouse. They are completely free to make and use. The buttons below link to other species resources.
This page is the basic rundown of the species! If you have questions about their lore, basic anatomy, and how things work for them, this is your stop! Of course, this by no means needs to necessarily be followed when writing your own stories and including Virulai characters in it, and primarily serves as a place to jump off of when coming up with your own stories for them!
One of our mascots, Azerty, who will be our example today.
The absolute basics start simple. Virulai (Pronounced Vee-Roo-Lai) are digital beings of a somewhat unclear origin. It's rumored that they primarily came from a large tech giant called Imagine Tech, but some Virulai claim to not know what that is, so it's not exactly clear...
What makes Virulai special is the fact that they are capable of becoming trans-dimensional beings, that meaning that they do not immediately come into existence from the normal world, but rather have somehow arrived here from the digital plane, where they are created. (However not all Virulai choose to make this journey!)
Another thing, for better or for worse, is that no Virulai is perfect. All Virulai have flaws, corruption, and damage to them that makes them stand out! These are seperated into things called Extensions, Textures and Corruptions.
As seen on Azerty, he has extensions all over his body! Creativity is key!
Before delving into the trait terminology, it's important to establish traits that pretty much all Virulai have, and any distinctions between things that are required and things that are just common.
Virulai almost always have flat, 2D faces with oddly shaped features. These features float off their head, but function fine.
If not 2D and floating, their faces are still odd looking!
Virulai often do not have noses! But they can have simple-shaped noses.
Animal features are not required!
Additionally, Virulai may be humanoid, anthro, or feral*!
Virulai also often have very simple limbs! The amount of digits they have is up to you.
Moving on, Virulai traiting works in a somewhat nested way. To start, an Extension is any area on the Virulai that is corrupted or damaged. A Corruption is any abnormal trait that the Virulai has on their Extensions. And a Texture is the appearance of the Extension.
Virulai don't have many organs if at all!
There isn't much to say about the internal structure of a Virulai! Most Virulai are completely unique to themselves and nothing is necessarily required, so the example here has been simplified to both only include the bare minimum organ structure a Virulai can have, but also the organ structure that our Mascot Azerty has.
The bare minimum Virulai Organ Structure would be the following:
A brain! Virulai do not need brains, but some have them!
An internal recycling bin! Virulai have these in place of stomachs and digestive tracts. Anything that goes in never comes out.
Extension organs! These are usually eyeballs, but due to their corrupted states, Virulai tend to have a couple misplaced eyes somewhere on their extensions.
So very spooky!
Virulai skeleton structures are often anatomically incorrect, biologically impossible, and resemble more artistic interpretations of a skeletal structure.
There are no required dos or don'ts in regards of this part of your Virulai, nor is it required to have a skeletal reference. Because that'd be weird...
Examples of this would be:
Rigging Skeletons! (Both 2D + 3D)
Stick Figures!
Armature Fixtures!
Endoskeletons!
Abstract Shapes!
No Skeleton at All!!!
If you saw and read the previous species / trait guide, you may recall the fact that I mentioned Virulai have strange skin textures and I just wanted to briefly touch down and say that this is still a thing!
At creation, Virulai can just randomly have an odd texture to their skin, while still being able to sometimes get cuts, bruises, and other injuries!
Despite being organic in nature, their skin can be akin to or made of:
Foam!
Smooth or Hard Plastics!
Metal!
Wood!
Meat!
Water or Slime!
And Pretty Much Anything Else! Go Crazy!!!
And hopefully that is it for the absolute basics! If you have any questions comments or concerns, please feel free to reach out to @SPACELAND on Toyhouse or in the Virulai Discord Server for clarification. I'd be happy to help you!!
TERMINOLOGY TO REMEMBER WHEN DESIGNING!
an Extension is the fancy term for any area on the Virulai that is corrupted or damaged. Extensions can apply to any part of the body!
A Corruption is any abnormal trait present on the Virulai's extensions, or more familiarly a common or damaged trait.
A Texture is any special appearance trait (Such as translucency, Wireframe, etc.) present on the Extensions and are vital to the presentation of the Virulai's traits.
PHYSICAL TRAITS TO REMEMBER WHEN DESIGNING!
The only required trait of a Virulai is their odd looking faces! They can be flat, 2D and floating, or attached to their head! But they must be oddly shaped!
Virulai can be of any species! (Humanoid, Anthro, or Feral*!) +But Feral Virulai must have human-like intelligence to qualify as a Virulai! If they are just a normal animal with animal-like intellect, they would be a Virulae! A Virulae is basically just the equivalent of a normal animal, whereas a Virulai is the humanoid counterpart!
Virulai often do not have noses! But it's still possible!
Virulai often have very simple limbs! The most common portrayal of this is the "mitten hands and nub feet" with few or no digits. However you can give your Virulai as many digits as you'd like! Within reason of course-
Animal traits such as ears and a tail are not required, they are just extremely common!
There are no correct or incorrect ways to interpret the internal structure of a Virulai!
Their skin can be weird so you should make it weird if you want to!!
Common traits are self explanatory! They're the most common traits you would see on a Virulai, and are generally caused by functions they had at the time of their creation or during their time in the digital plane, or minor damage they have accumulated overtime.
No Traits is here as a control base! Ideally your Virulai will have at least one trait.
Common Virulai traits include the absolute basics, such as:
Body Extensions! These include any part of the body, such as ears, tail, horns, wings, torso, and limbs!
Extension Organs! These are any misplaced organ found on the body. They are most commonly eyeballs.
2D Floating Face! Not really a standard common trait, but since Virulai aren't required to have this trait, it goes under common. Is exactly what it says on the tin!
Glowing Extensions! Any part of any extension that glows!
Extra / Vestigial Limbs! They can be any shape and even be functional if they read as some kind of limb! Can come from any part of the body, not just the back.
Traits can stack and interact with eachother! You are free to use as many traits as you like in your design. Please feel free to be creative!
Damaged traits are less common and are caused by the Virulai having significant corruption and damage to them! These traits aren't usually present at creation, but could be if the source is significantly damaged. They are less "desirable" and sometimes freak others out.
No Traits is here as a control base! Ideally your Virulai will have at least one trait.
Damaged Virulai traits include more complicated options, such as:
Sentient Extensions! Basically any living creature produced by your Virulai that are bound to it. Such as worms and small animals. Includes parasites as well as the Virulai's shadow being sentient.
Floating Polygons! Basically any 2D floating thing around them, such as shapes, polygons, words, pop-ups, etc.
Face Extensions! Any Extension that affects the Virulai's face!
Floating Extensions! Basically any 3D floating thing around them.
Clothing Extensions! Says right on the tin! It's an extension that affects a piece of clothing or an accessory! These usually can't be taken off normally since they're kind of part of the Virulai's body now.
Traits can stack and interact with eachother! You are free to use as many traits as you like in your design. Please feel free to be creative!
Textures are traits in themselves, but are designed to be paired with a common or damaged trait! They basically encompass what the extension looks like, and can be almost anything under the types listed below!
No Traits is here as a control base! Ideally your Virulai will have at least one trait.
Virulai Texture traits include visual appearance options, such as:
Object! This basically encompasses any physical Thing taking place of the extension, from actual objects like phones, fruit, or spoons to things such as fire, water, ice, etc.
Wireframe! This texture simply means a mesh-like texture over the Extension. They can be any color, pattern, and opacity.
Glitch! On it's own I believe it is self explanatory enough!
Improper Texture! This includes but isn't limited to any odd patterns, solid colors or blocks of multiple colors that cover an extension. Think like a screwed up vertex texture, checker board, photo texture, etc!
Capsule! The Extension is a container or capsule full of any sort of contents.
Translucent! This texture is pretty much what it says on the tin! Bones showing through are optional!
Traits can stack and interact with eachother! You are free to use as many traits as you like in your design. Please feel free to be creative!
Extra traits don't necessarily fit into any other category and are generally... Well... Extra! A little cherry on top that doesn't rely on any pre-existing damage or physical trait of the Virulai.
Due to being so broad, there are no visuals for these! Only descriptions! Examples of "Extra" traits would include:
'Crossbreeds' with other species, open or closed! Both species must have their rules accounted for! If a Virulai trait is not compatible with the other species, then that other species' ruling is final! PLEASE GET YOUR CROSSBREEDS APPROVED BY @SPACELAND!!
Multiple Palettes / Changing Colors! Self explanatory I think. No restrictions to how many options you have!
Multiple Forms! You can have up to three alternate forms for your Virulai! They can be as minimal or as drastic as you'd like, but they MUST have most traits intact, as to still read as the same Virulai!
VIRULAI TERMS OF SERVICE AND SPARE LINKS
Toyhouse World | Discord Server
Virulai are an open species! We do not have a masterlist. You are free to make and use them however you'd like. This includes but is not limited to:
Personal and Commercial Use (With designer permission, if applicable).
Co-Owned Virulai.
No restrictions on amount of traits / amount of Virulai one user owns or adopts.
As of writing, I do allow third-party adopts to be made using this species!!
You may trade or sell your Virulai at any time if you lose connection! I do not have any say in that.
Virulai may be 'voided' and disassociated with the species at any time without any design changes or consent to do so (Unless the original designer requires it.). All that needs to be changed or removed is the species name and nothing else.
Virulai may NOT RESEMBLE canon characters, but can be INSPIRED by them.
You are allowed to make existing characters AU forms that are Virulai.
You may also adapt pre-existing designs (With designer permission if needed) into Virulai.
Newly designed and non-adapted Virulai are NOT allowed to be heavily inspired by other Virulai or pre-existing OCs.
You are allowed to make crossbreeds with other species if they allow it.
Both species need to have their traitlists followed, however if a Virulai trait is NOT compatible with another species, then the OTHER species gets the final say in what is and is not allowed in the design. (Ex: Most Virulai have floating faces or bodyparts, but the other species does NOT allow that, then the Virulai will need to have an attached face.).
I, SPACELAND reserve the right to request you distance yourself from my species at any time.
Virulai may not be owned by anyone on my block or blacklist.
Being asked to distance yourself from the species does NOT mean you have been added to my blacklist unless I explictly notify you of this when requesting it.
PLEASE DO NOT CREDIT ME AS THE 'CREATOR' OF ANY DESIGNS THAT I PERSONALLY DID NOT CREATE OR DESIGN MYSELF. Credit yourself or whoever originally did the design work.
VIRULAI CODE OF CONDUCT
Without regards to anything else, please be kind. No bullying, harassment, or hateful speech towards members will be tolerated.
There is a no tolerance policy for bigotry or immoral content (Pedophilia, Incest, Bestiality, etc). If you are found out to be participating in or encouraging any of this behavior, "real" or not, you will be asked to take your leave and added to the blacklist.
NSFW content IS allowed of your Virulai, but it must be put under the correct filters and be in a place where minors cannot see it.
Virulai who have ANY NSFW content CANNOT be traded, sold, or gifted to minors. If you are found to be breaking this rule, you will be subject to blacklisting.
Do NOT harass or hound anyone for their art or designs. This includes begging or making unsolicited offers.