Genetics: Horns

These genes are named after the horns, as that's where creatures tend to look most magnificent. But they affect many more body parts, too! Claws, armour, hooves, scales and certain body markings can share the colour and material, depending on breed and sex.

There are in fact two layers: base which is always expressed, and extra whose visibility is determined by another hidden gene. Its coverage can range from extensive to minimal, or not appear on the creature's body at all.
Both of these layers are composed from their own colour, shade and material parts.

Plain

The most common material - just pure keratin. Like feathers, hair and scales, mutations such as Albinism or Erythrism will change the pigmentation here, causing a colour shift.

	Light	Muted	Bright	Intense
Silver	Silver Light	Silver Muted	Silver Bright	Silver Intense
Gold	Gold Light	Gold Muted	Gold Bright	Gold Intense
Copper	Copper Light	Copper Muted	Copper Bright	Copper Intense
Onyx	Onyx Light	Onyx Muted	Onyx Bright	Onyx Intense

Metallic

Some of the colours are unexpected, but trust us, we've thoroughly researched these creatures to identify which alleles are responsible!
Thanks to centuries - in some cases millennia - of selective breeding and experimental magic infusion, this keratin's structure is arranged in such a way that it appears metal. The surface is covered in miniscule dimples or ridges, and looking at a piece from different angles, you'll probably think it looks glittery and metallic. Unfortunately it's just a visual effect; the strength is much the same, and no real metal particles are contained. That doesn't stop Underworld raiders from poaching creatures for these horns, of course.
Metallic horns are not affected by mutations. The colour you see is caused by structure, rather than pigmentation - to see the actual colour, you'd have to look under a microscope, or cut/grind up the horn. But why would you want to ruin beauty, when you can check the genes in other ways?

	Light	Muted	Bright	Intense
Silver	Silver Light	Silver Muted	Silver Bright	Silver Intense
Gold	Gold Light	Gold Muted	Gold Bright	Gold Intense
Copper	Copper Light	Copper Muted	Copper Bright	Copper Intense
Onyx	Onyx Light	Onyx Muted	Onyx Bright	Onyx Intense

Opal

Thanks to an incredible magical invention back in the 17th Century, actual crystals can be grown out of live bodies! Like a strange kind of oxidisation, the keratin's surface area hardens and changes into materials that genuinely resemble minerals. Light and Muted alleles cause clusters of differently-coloured crystals to appear opalescent, while in Bright or Intense cases, veins of gold and tourmaline snake their way through the cracked-looking marble - though they're very shallow, rarely deeper than a millimetre or two, so you couldn't break them apart and mine much from them. Do you hear that, Underworlders...?
Even some of the creatures' flesh and organs may carry an iridescent sheen, with tiny glittery specks. Not that we endorse cutting them open to look. It seems to be harmless, never getting into the blood.
As with Metallics, these horns are not visually affected by mutations. The mineral particles and veins grow independently, with no influence from the pigmentation on the rest of the creature's body.

	Light	Muted	Bright	Intense
Silver	Silver Light	Silver Muted	Silver Bright	Silver Intense
Gold	Gold Light	Gold Muted	Gold Bright	Gold Intense
Copper	Copper Light	Copper Muted	Copper Bright	Copper Intense
Onyx	Onyx Light	Onyx Muted	Onyx Bright	Onyx Intense

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