Bi-Weekly Battler, Leaper!

[michael.galefire]

Felix stumbled just as the monster leapt from the shadows, saving his life as the hunched, bone plated beast soared over his prone form.

Shayde was up in an instant.  Her blades were glowing sabers in firelight as she cut the beast down, neatly separating its head from its shoulders.  Evidently, the bone plating wasn't meant to stop a blademaster.

Sheathing her swords, Shayde inspected the body as Felix got up and dusted himself off.  "Thanks for saving my life... again."

Shayde's only response was a snicker and she rolled over the corpse of the beast.  "Look here, on the back of its neck.  Dark magick runes... and there, where you fell.  More runes hidden by the dirt.  We may have stumbled upon a pygmy summoning lair..."

"I'll douse this fire and we can get the heck out of here," Felix responded in a hushed whisper.

"Douse the fire, and follow me."  Shayde touched her temple, and when her eyes opened they shone like a cat's.  She turned and swiftly made her way into the darkness, swords unsheathed again.

Felix dejectedly dumped a bit of dirt on their campfire, "what have I gotten myself into?"

"RAAR!"

Download - includes small and large battler, portrait, and bonus portrait

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Next time, we will see what awaits our heroes at the bottom of this Pygmy summoning circle!

While I already have a plan for next time, I'd love the community to throw some ideas out about what else our heroes find in this dark and mysterious jungle.  If you have an idea for a monster, leave it here!  Try to be descriptive, and I'll pick one in the near future to feature here!

Also, here's a bonus portrait!  Use it for whatever!  (its a character of mine that just happened to be drawn on the same page as our beast up there!)

 

[FeaR616]

Woah, this creature looks really evil and awesome!! O.O

thanks for drawing such amazing monsters!

 

[michael.galefire]

Woah, this creature looks really evil and awesome!! O.O

thanks for drawing such amazing monsters!

You should totally suggest a monster you'd like to see!

 

[TherainED]

As usual, high quality material we got here.

Now, refering to the idea, I got one. May not be the best, but...well, we'll see.

I'll leave it in a spoiler. No TL;DR.

Spoiler

So, the current area are the Azurian Tropics, where the Flesh-eater tribe resides. Culturally, each tribe has a head, but making that that lies in the depths of the Azurian the head of the tribe would be too simple. I'll go for a more used cliche that gives more room to creativity. Let's talk about a deity, a being they praise.

So, what would a maneater tribe praise? What fits in a tropical landscape without too much difficulty? Plants, undoubtfully. Evil plants in this case, and...hey, it just so happens to be an evil plant in german mythos called Alura Une.

That said, a plain Alura Une does not fit a tropical ambiance, but it is a good starting point.

So, yeah, an Alura Une is a creature with the body of a female in a gigant rose. Fed with blood and said to grow where the heads of the decapitated were thrown. Now, to make the Alura more fitting, I think making the rose a carnivore plant (such as the Venus Flytrap) would be just on point. Also, giving the Alura a wooden mask or a skull mask to fit among the tribal theme would also be a great idea. Now, more aditions like tribal markings (tatoos if you may) in her skin or the leaves surrounding the "rose" could fit very well too. Woody roots under the Alura Une would help to add a feeling of age to the creature, but are not really necessary.

Apart from that, spiked tendrils, poison, some kind of edged weapon/item...I guess that would be some cool aditions.

PD: Picture of an Alura Une by Genzoman, JIC someone can't fully get the idea.

Spoiler

 

[felsenstern]

They could discover some kind of emissary of an unknown party even more dark and sinister as the creatures which usually inhabit this place. Something the ancient Inca described in their drawings.

It's a tall humanoid, very tall and slender. Head, arms and upper torso are those of a bird with a long beak. It's not very likely that this thing can fly. The lower body is that of a human, but with a long tail that ends in a bony spear head. It's wearing loincloth and has some kind of spear in one of its hands. It's skin is over and over filled with ancient Inca symbols. It's eyes are shimmering like green diamonds and it moves fast and gracile like a dancer.

It looks and moves like Horus from the movie Stargate (1994), but without the armor and the bird head is real, of course. It will definitely take more effort to kill. It's extremely skilled with the spear and it's screeches have a similar effect as the screeches from an attacking howling banshee (WH40k).

(Ah yes, wow... amazing creature, it really exceeded my imagination and I will definitely use it in my pen & paper campaign ;-) )

 

[DarkstarMatryx]

Amazonian Pygmy Summoned Lust for the seven deadly sins and an ultimate weapon to go after Gilgamesh.

 

[Luminous Warrior]

*Begins chanting* Deadly sins! Deadly sins! Deadly sins!

But seriously, I really want the rest of the seven deadly sins. We have all but three, Sloth, Lust, and, most importantly, Pride. Logically, a Pygmy tribe would revere one of them. I personally suggest Sloth. Pride would see those worthless creatures beneath him, and Lust would see them as disgusting mongrels. However, Sloth would see them as easy pickings. He wouldn't have to do much, if anything, to get them to worship him, and once they started, he would have minions to do whatever he wants. Although, I'm pretty sure that's what you're already planning. One of them at least. Maybe not Sloth, but one of them. You already have it all set up. The Pygmy tribe, the summoning circle. The pieces are all in play. Am I right?

 

[Wavelength]

This one looks really fearsome.  Amazing artwork!!

 

[FeaR616]

You should totally suggest a monster you'd like to see!

Oh, I have some ideas, but I would love to see one particular, I put it in spoilers...

Spoiler

I think there are too few plant/tree monsters available. or swamp creatures. something like a huge, rotten tree, with glowing eyes (in red or maybe green or purple) or empty, dead eyes. many twisted branches, giant root feets. if it is a swamp tree, gas could flew out of its body to symbolise the rotten nature of a swamp. small flys could be within the gas or surround the creature.

otherwise there could be a "living" tree creature too. as forest guardian or something. full of flowers and leafes... but it should still look dangerous, as it is a guardian and a serious enemy. 

these are just ideas, I hope someone can imagine what I mean. ^^

 

[michael.galefire]

Great suggestions guys, keep 'em coming!  Tell your friends

*Begins chanting* Deadly sins! Deadly sins! Deadly sins!

But seriously, I really want the rest of the seven deadly sins. We have all but three, Sloth, Lust, and, most importantly, Pride. Logically, a Pygmy tribe would revere one of them. I personally suggest Sloth. Pride would see those worthless creatures beneath him, and Lust would see them as disgusting mongrels. However, Sloth would see them as easy pickings. He wouldn't have to do much, if anything, to get them to worship him, and once they started, he would have minions to do whatever he wants. Although, I'm pretty sure that's what you're already planning. One of them at least. Maybe not Sloth, but one of them. You already have it all set up. The Pygmy tribe, the summoning circle. The pieces are all in play. Am I right?

You'll just have to wait and see

 

[Makio-Kuta]

mmmm~ Your textures are really impressive. I like how battle-worn both illustrations look.

 

[michael.galefire]

mmmm~ Your textures are really impressive. I like how battle-worn both illustrations look.

Hey thanks

The art blog should be available soon, and I share how I did them.

 

[michael.galefire]

Aaannnnd its up! http://blog.rpgmakerweb.com/resources/battler-art-leaper/

 

[Shinma]

Awesome job, as always. I am a good bit late on adding all of these, but I have added them to your collection post.