Felix smiles. "That was just our medallions."

"An artifact, then? I don't suppose you have spares?"

They look at each other.

"We don't... do you know how critters work?"

"Critters?"

Felix turns into a griffin with a red mane and red wings. "Yes, like us. We are griffins, there are many others mythical creatures. The medallions have a spell that allows us to shapeshift."

"...when you say you 'are' griffins..."

"Some of our human ancestors had a magic accident that turned them into half-lion half-eagle beings," Fenris waves at Felix, "and they had to live with that for generations until someone invented the medallions so we could change between shapes," Fenris turns into a bipedal griffin form.

"...and these magic accidents made other creatures, too?"

"Yeah, what sort of other creatures?"

"Yes. Some creatures claim that they are naturally occurring one way or another, but the vast majority was likely a result of someone's spellcasting going wrong. There are all sorts of creatures, pegasi, gorgons, harpies, centaurs, nixies, manticores but apparently no unicorns or vampires. Also, dragons and sphinxes killed each other centuries ago."

"Why did they?"

"No one is certain. Popular lore states it was jealousy of the sphinxes' power."

"Different critters have different powers? Which? What are yours?"

"Not all creatures have different powers, but all have some sort of magical affinity even when they are not sorcerers. We have elemental powers but they are a separate thing."

"Separate things? And not all critters are sorcerers, but they can do magic? How?" Pause. "And why did you never tell us this?" he asks Kero.

"You never asked."

"Illusion, I ask you to create a giant water drop near my head!" Temple asks the card. If they are going to descend into the anime madness, they will go all the way.

Felix laughs.

"Well, there are different sorts of 'can do magic'. Medallions are a sort of magic, and allow me to change my shape in limited ways." He gives himself claws. "Some critters have straightforward magical powers, like the bugbears' ability to track magical beings and create scary illusions. Some have affinities to cast certain kinds of spells, making them cheaper and easier to do, like centaurs who have an affinity for divination when they perform sorcery spells or rune circles."

"Explain those last two again? We know we can spend mana to cast spells and create like scrolls charged with magic. And then there are the cards."

"The spells and scrolls are sorcery. The cards are artifacts that can be created with either sorcery or runes. Runes are magical symbols that you can draw in complex and precise patterns to get certain effects; they use ambient mana instead of your own mana, so anyone can use them. The caveat is that they are more likely to fail explosively if you make a mistake."

(The Illusion provides him with the requested teardrop.)

"Wait, so literally anyone can do magic if they learn these runes? And was Clow the greatest magician of all time, or just greatest sorcerer, or were those reports greatly exaggerated? Was he a critter? ...are we?"

"Honestly I wish you could tell us more about Clow. What we know as fact is that he was the greatest sorcerer of all time, combined Western and Eastern magic, created the Cards, lived about three centuries and then vanished mysteriously. Besides that there are all sorts of crazy stories that he was the last sphinx or dragon - he was born after the war - or an entirely new being. Some say that he created the medallions. Some say that he created the runes too."

"Ah, we didn't mention it but the medallion effect is hereditary. Critter children of people with medallions are born human-shaped, then later in life they get a medallion and are forever bound to it. If they lose it they are stuck in critter shape. But the secret of medallion making is lost and they can be expensive so sometimes entire generations go without anyone knowing they are critters. Clow descended from two clans who should've been composed of mostly true humans, but that was centuries ago."