(Click for the next drawing) Yeah I didn't really think I would end up changing the lad again, but it's occurred to me that his design really doesn't match his role as a forest deity. Like. At all. It's mainly because he was never originally conceived as one back when he was just a Scratch Cat recolour, and when he got his first redesign for RCN and his new lore, I mostly just adapted the Scratch design. But as my career reaches it's tail end, I've decided to give him one last shine in the spotlight. His newest rendition and a full lore dump for the first time. Behold, the tale of Scurn: Scurn was brought to life by 'The Grand Tree' tucked away in a forest that still remains hidden to mankind. Scurn's goal is simple: He must protect the trees from those who dare take more than they need for survival, for the trees cannot protect themselves. After he was nearly fully grown, he was sent out to a different forest to protect his kin. Though there is a drawn line when it comes to what is considered 'needed for survival'. For the birds that naturally nest in trees, taking leaves and sticks, this is fine. They only scavenge what materials they need, and the tree gets to stay. Even the ones that make their homes within the bark itself are fine, for the tree still stands. The line is crossed once the trees get cut down. A select few would be passable, but when entire forests get mowed down in pursuit of land, that is too far. Those humans that keep tearing down nature for the homes that are already plentiful in Scurns eyes disgust him. Once Scurn hears a call for help, he moves with haste to deal with the intruders, his bark naturally fitting in with his home forest for camouflage, allowing him to ambush the humans with much less hassle. His singular arm bears a hand with four claw-like fingers for attacking, with it also being able to appear as a branch when he needs to disguise himself amongst his comrades. Yet Scurn acknowledges that not every human is a bad apple. Some are generous. Some care for the trees. Some are good. If Scurn encounters a human that truly cares for the trees, he will let them live, and perhaps he will even spill a few secrets about the forest he inhabits. He wouldn't dare ever give the location to his birthplace though, he cannot trust any human with that knowledge, regardless of how nice they may seem. If The Grand Tree ever fell, he would be devastated forever. That's the main bulk of the lore, at least for now. I'll end this little lore dump with a few miscellaneous facts about him: -Scurn can root himself into the ground and take in the ground's nutrients like an actual tree. This is how he eats. -The trees speak, though they speak at such a high pitch that the human ear cannot hear them. Scurn can hear them perfectly clearly though. -Scurn is able to adjust the pitch of his voice in order to both speak in a pitch too high for humans to hear and a pitch low enough for humans to hear. That's why his voice is so low pitch, he lowers his voice a lot to do this. -Scurn's bark will naturally change to match those of the trees in the area he's in. His camo wouldn't really work if he were the only oak tree in a forest of birch. -There are multiple Scurns, spread out across the world to protect as many forests as possible (though I will only refer to this one unless it's relevant to mention others) -This Scurn specifically is missing his left arm, which isn't usual for the species. This is due to some kind of incident (the details of which I haven't figured out yet) that caused him to lose it. This is also a way to distinguish this Scurn from the others. -Each Scurn has an estimated lifespan of 200 years. When a Scurn dies, it's nutrients are given back to the soil and new life springs forward, much like when any other tree dies. -The basic outline for this redesign came to me while I was falling asleep one night and I knew I had to do it. I had an idea a while back for a 'redesign' where I gave him elf-like ears but that never got much farther than a thought. And that's the full lore dump! I thank you for reading this all, hopefully this'll all stick and doesn't go straight to the dustbin. I don't think Scurn'll get to show up in any more projects from here on out, but hopefully i'll get to bring him back in whatever I do next. And for those who miss the old design... I've got one idea on how to recycle it... But that's for another day. See you whenever!
