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Guide: Mutations

There are 13 mutations that can cause a Mythic's coat to look different than usual. When these genes are active, some work by blocking or increasing the production of certain pigments, while others uh.

FA mutations

These 2 pairs of alleles, known as Fade (F) and Alter (A), can interact with each other to create 5 mutations.
In the average Mythic, these are both homozygous recessive: ff and aa. They have no effect, and the coat may develop as normal, according to the usual genes that control colours for each body part.

Should a Mythic pick up a dominant F allele or two, colour production will be suppressed. If AA alleles are also present, production will be dramatically altered in a different way, producing strange colours and shades not normally possible.

ff aa Normal	Ff aa Sepia	FF aa Monochrome
ff Aa Normal	Ff Aa Sepia	FF Aa Monochrome
ff AA Pearl	Ff AA Flame	FF AA Ice

Sepia is a fading of colour until the feather, nail or fur is a dull brown colour. As you may remember from the Colour Guide, this is the base colour for all Mythics; those with no red, blue or other pigments will naturally appear champagne or gold-coloured.
Sepia is even duller than usual, though, and ignores all the usual colour genes in the body. Only melanin (black pigment) still works as normal, so markings remain clear.

Monochrome goes further: a complete lack of any colour, even the natural brown. Again, melanin (black pigment) is unaffected. The Mythic's whole body will turn to shades of grey.

Pearl causes a colourful sheen to appear across the body's surface. Feathers, horns, scales, even bare skin and the iris can all produce a little sparkly iridescence! A similar-looking effect naturally happens to Rainbow-coloured Mythics (GGRrBb), and those with Pearl mutation will look the same as usual - but the workings of this one are different behind the scenes. If you ever jealously wondered how a non-Rainbow Mythic could achieve that lovely sheen, AA are the genes to look out for.

Flame is a funky alteration of Sepia's brown colour, turning it bright red and yellow, with a purple tinge at its darkest, which is actually the middle shade. After that point, melanin production somehow goes into reverse, so a body part with DDSS genes - the darkest possible - will instead be bright yellow, matching the lightest.

Ice is similar to Flame, but with a cool blue-green tint.

CM mutations

This pair of alleles affects colour pigments and melanin.
Most Mythics have 'nn', meaning no change. c or m cause reduction of pigment, and C or M mean extra production.
Note that CM mutations are higher priority, and will override any FA mutation. It's not much use changing colours to Flame if they're all about to be switched off, y'know?

nn No change (if FA mutation is present, it will appear now)	nM Melanism - colours are same, but much more black pigment is produced, causing darker coat.	nm Albinism - another name for 'amelanism', this is a total lack of melanin. Colours will become pale, and any areas that were black or grey will be white. Eyes become pink.
Cn Spectrum - colour is boosted so much, extra splotches of it start erupting all over the body. Even on single-colour, dull blue feathers (such as ggrrBB) you'll see blobs of rainbow colour being produced in the middle, or at the tips. Depending on breed, some Mythics may appear thickly 'rainbow dappled' while others have countless tiny specks.	cn Leucism - a complete loss of colour, turning those areas white. Grey or black areas fade to pale brown; this is because in Mythics, grey is not just composed of melanin, but red and blue interacting (RrBb) so the tweaking of those gives a weird effect. Leucistic Mythics usually have blue-grey eyes.	CM Melanism + Spectrum - the spectrum areas are unaffected by extra melanin, so the whole coat appears darker underneath the rainbow specks.
cM Binary - all colour is lost, while melanin production is ramped up. Any grey areas, even pale grey or silver, turn black, producing a striking black-and-white look.	Cm Albinism + Spectrum. Again, the spectrum areas are unaffected by lost melanin, and continue to produce a range of colours over the paler body.	cm Achromatism - a total loss of all pigment. The entire body will be white, likely with pink areas of skin. Horns, hooves, scales and feathers can actually become translucent, showing blood underneath! Some find this repulsive, others admire glassy-looking armour.

Hey... why does that Mythic have Pearl effect AND another mutation?!

Indeed, it's impossible to have two visible at once! The pretty creature you're seeing must be Rainbow-coloured (GGRrBb). While the colourful sheen on their body appears similar to Pearl mutation, for them it's actually caused by the shape of the feather/hair/scale surface. Even with zero pigmentation, light will be reflected in that fancy way. This physical quirk is inherent to the Rainbow base colour. They'll always have the sheen on top, no matter what colours or markings are on their coat.