Ryslig: Monster post

[vitalfunction]

Gale | Faerie

1st change; Pt 1torso-mouth, faerie rings, need to feed | 6/28-30/15 2nd changechange | date of change & thread link 3rd changechange | date of change & thread link

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This place reserved for art!
See below for the tl;dr monster descriptions with reference pic links!

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Full monster regular form description.

[vitalfunction]

Widespread changes:
Micro-scales:
--just slightly larger than literally microscopic, all of Gale's skin will become covered in tiny, tiny scales. The scales are oblong, and wider at the free end. example 1, example 2
--color-wise, the base color is a translucent off-white pearly color (example) and this makes Gale's skin take on a paler, more ethereal look.
--iridescent! The scales are iridescent and reflect/refract different colors depending on the angle the light hits them at. Primarily Gale's microscales will shimmer either green or gold, but exactly the right range of angles will also cause brilliant blue.
--there are thicker micro-scales on his hands that slough off constantly, leaving dusty smears behind. when he gets the faerie dust activated, those micro-scales will become the 'dust', though Gale will have to have intent of some kind in order to activate the magic of it.

Moth-fuzz:
--grows over all of his torso, most of his head (minus his face, from jawline to hairline, and back as far as his ears), and a little bit on his upper arms and thighs. There are two distinct lengths of fuzz:
--Longer length: This length is long enough to be termed bushy fur (about 1-3 inches), and is present on his back, his shoulders to the base of his neck, much of his sides, and his upper chest. Color is the same green as Vayu's wings, with a tendency to change to yellow-green at the tips, especially at the boundaries between longer and shorter lengths
--Shorter length: this is more like "peach fuzz" and more sparse, so the mircro-scales can be seen through it. Grows on the rest of his torso, to approximately the first third of his upper arm and the first third of his thighs. Also covers all the neck and head, except for the face (Gale's hair is technically closer in length to the longer fuzz, but has a feeling quality more like the shorter). The shorter fuzz is about the same color as his hair and eyes, though some is darker and some lighter.
--his face and the rest of his arms and legs have no fuzz at all

Small feature changes:
Ears:
--come to a pronounced point and stick out from his head a bit more. The points make them slightly longer/larger than average ears, and there is no change to the lobe or the lower half of the ear, just the upper cartilage. There is fuzz on the back, the elongated tips, and the lobes, but not anywhere else on them.

Claws:
--there will be needle-like and very sharp claws on every finger and toe. These claws are very thin, about a third of the width of the nail on that finger/toe at most, but they're not particularly long. They extend past the digit no more than the length of the last joint, at most. The claws are mostly straight but may have a very slight curve towards the tip, and the claws on the thumbs/first toes are extremely short--barely extending past flesh. The longest claws are on the index fingers and second toes, and overall, the toe claws are longer than the finger claws.
--color: translucent but dark-colored, and again with a pearly sheen. like this
--the claws do not grow in length, and have a quick extending most of the length. They are thicker than human nails, perhaps 3-4x, and a cross section would resemble an oval. The outer layer loses luster and the sharp point and is shed and replaced by inner layers grown by the quick about every 1-2 months naturally, but tearing out or breaking the nail will require waiting 2-4 months for healing, or the next Fog.

Large feature changes:
Existing Limbs:
--legs and arms become thinner overall, and also longer. Not ridiculously so, but enough that those who know him before and after the change will definitely notice.
--hands also become longer and thinner, mostly due to each bone in them elongating very slightly
--feet more or less retain the same length, except for toes, which get a small but noticeable lengthening
-- on the bottom of the feet, especially towards the toes and the ball of the foot, a chitinous covering grows. It's rough, and there are a set of small ridges, and tiny tiny spikes. Provides very slight protection a very slight increase in traction, but no more than a pair of average shoes with good tread.

Extra arms:
--they are mantis arms (diagram), and where some species (hooded mantis, devil's flower mantis) have a hood or cape attached to the thorax, with Gale that "cape" is flexible, partially attached to the arms, and drapes slightly over the top of his shoulders. The arms are primarily the same gray as Vayu's body with white and blue stripes, but the hood and the spikes on the arms are bright yellow-green.
--they attach at the back of the neck/top of the shoulders, and drape over in order to hang in front of Gale's chest. They can fold in tight and almost be lost in the chest fuzz, though usually kept a little looser, and fully extended are somewhat longer than his original arms.
--they can be raised almost vertical, provided at an outward angle from Gale's centerline, and can be stretched straight out forward, but can never cross past the plane of his torso

Antenna:
--long and thick. (general example) Diameter is about 2 finger widths at the base, and remains about the same for most of the length of the antenna. Protrude from the head at just above the temples and have a fairly wide range of motion. They are very long, and at rest, extend down to his hips. Stretched out flat, they would probably extend down past his thighs.
--Lots of joints near the base contribute to the wide motion, but except for the tips that curl, the bulk of the antenna body is much less flexible.
--the tips have lots of tiny joints, but unless he's trying to straighten them out, they curl
--there's a single line moth-y antena fuzz along the whole length, but overall it's short. maybe an inch or two?
--towards the end of the antenna the fuzz gets really long in a curve. those are actually lobes, almost, with more soft mothy-fuzz growing off of them. In general the ends are a cross between this and this
--color: general antenna color is the gray of Vayu's body, and the moth fuzz is maybe a shade lighter than his hair. the lobes at the end match Vayu's wings (so green at the bottom to yellow green at the tips with the fuzz in between more or less matching his hair again

Chest mouth:
--it bisects most of the sternum, going down almost to the navel and it protrudes outward a bit
--the outer part is almost beak-like and the same gray as Vayu's body. when it's "completely" closed, there are actually shadowy gaps because it doesn't quite close all the way. this gray material is stiff, but not completely inflexible. part of it supports the rest of the structure inside.
--Inside the outer "beak", and the color of raw, going-bad meat is the "lips." they're really just flexible strips of flesh supported but cartilage bands that can open and close and move but do kind of look like lips at a glance. when the mouth opens all the way, they pull back like an animal bearing teeth, and the outer set of teeth are attached to them and move a lot
--Outer teeth are conical, and slightly curved. when the mouth is closed they angle down, and they're slightly widely spaced and offset, so that the tooth on the other side can fit between them. however, when the mouth opens, they swing out, so that they're angling away from each other, and when the mouth closes again, they angle back in towards the other set of teeth and towards the inside of Gale's body: ie they're meant to capture and hold things
--second set of teeth is lower down, and serrated like a shark's. these teeth are tightly packed and spaced so that they close like a pair of scissors.
--Tongue: It's very long and it curls up like a butterfly's proboscis when not in use. it's very thin, and doesn't widen anywhere along the length, and there's a deep groove in it. with a little pressure that groove can be essentially turned into a tube for sucking. the very end of the tongue finally comes to a point and it's got a hardened "callous" on it...and can be used to stab soft things

Wings
--two part wings. There is an upper/outer wing, and a lower/inner wing. These wings are different shapes.
--upper wing is gernerally a combination between a mantis's upper wing (additional images), and a dragonfly's lower wing
--Lower wing is a combination in shape of a mantis's lower wings (see above, plus: especially this and this), and a stick insect's lower/primary wing
--on the outermost point of both wings, there's a curl like on Pixie's wings because I can
--Color! The upper wing is transparent except for the veins, a thick patch of jewel-tone blue at the base, and two triangular white marking towards the tip. Between the blue and the first white marking, is a swirling eye-spot of Embryon orange and black that looks almost like Twister.
--Color 2! The lower wing is bright orange at the base, fading out to yellow, but almost swallowed up by vivid black striations and markings. As the black gets less numerous, the wing loses color until the end third is transparent. The upper edge of the wing is vivid blue streaks on a transparent background.
--Size and placement: Upper wings emerge from more towards the outer edges of the back than the spine, and near the bottoms of the shoulder blades. Thickest point is a little away from the point of emergence, and is almost equal to the width of the torso. Wing very gradually decreases in thickness until it reaches a rounded tip. If folded straight down, the curl at the end and a portion of the tip would both drag on the ground, but the angle means the curl just barely brushes the ground. Lower wings emerge from the lower back, vertically straight down from the upper wings, and probably in-line with the horizontal line that could be drawn between the uppermost points of the pelvis. They aren't as long as the upper wings, extending far enough that the tip and the curl would have to bend against the ground if going straight down, but the angle avoids that problem. However, they are much, much wider when fully unfurled, and the lowermost point of the wing reaches Gale's ankles in that case. They fold up like a fan against the upper "lobe" of the wing, which is the only part of the wing that is actually attached.
--Movement: both sets are generally folded up, and angle down and away from the back, but may come out partly to assist with balance. When Gale is startled, he will flare out both pairs of wings in a threat display and may make himself tiny. When flying, wing strokes alternate, with one wing down while the other is up. Like this mantis in flight, or this one

Hand-drawn reference images!
Ref for Antenna
Ref for fuzz and chest mouth (includes rough placement of wings and 2nd arms)
Ref for wings and 2nd arms (still forthcoming!)

Full Fog Form description

[vitalfunction]

Okay, a quick text-block description (hopefully a more detailed piece by piece description like above will be added later):

First, Gale goes almost full horror-movie insect monster, and the only part of him that looks like it might have been human once are his hands/arms, and even then, those change. They get carapace "shields" and much longer claws, and a lot more skeletal in appearance, (where did the flesh go?!). They also increase in length to match Gale's brand new mantis legs, which are long and sticklike, while the mantis arms get much bigger. Secondly, his head/face go full mantis, kind of like a combination of this one and this one but the mandibles will get ridiculous and crazy long, and be shaped like a wicked pair of scimitars but spikey/serrated on both sides. His antenna remain the same, but his chest mouth expands to take up his whole torso/thorax, and goes right up to where his head attaches/mandibles are. It get's cavernous, and the first set of teeth get a lot bigger (so maybe a bit like Pisaca). In addition, bits of Gale's human bones, like ribs and spine can be easily seen within the cavernous hole kind of likeNocturne's Vetala. The second set of teeth are still inside, and tend to constantly snap shut and open again in waves (so one "section" is closed, but the rest is open). Tongue is still present, but much bigger, and there's a ball of spikes at the end, instead of a single tip (and Gale can kind of flex and stretch them out like Taown does when it attacks). On the outside of this mouth are several more sets of "mandibles" and these strongly resemble skeletal but wickedly clawed human hands, some with strips of "flesh" dangling off them. These mandibles are constantly moving and grasping.

His wings remain the same, but the new way his torso has twisted forces Fog!Gale to walk on his legs and his original arms, and there's a protrusion back behind his legs that strongly resembles a spikey and upturned mantis abdomen (see reference images above and in normal form post). This is probably where all his organs moved on account of cavernous hole

Full list of anticipated changes:

[vitalfunction]

Change 1:
-formation of torso-mouth (bisecting chest)
-gained ability to form faerie rings (and theoretically use them for teleportation and energy drain)
-the urge to feed, either by eating human meat or draining energy.

Change 2: (offscreen, during the Fog July 12-14th
-ability to change in size
-a migraine that comes and goes, and a slow swelling on either side of his head that causes his hair to fall out in those spots
-growth of iridescent micro-scales all over body
-skin of the back splits open and begins to ooze clear fluid, mixed with blood. In spite of washing, the fluid doesn't come off easily and starts forming a chrysalis-like covering over his whole back. this process continues and gets worse until Change 2.5
-fingernails replaced with claw-nails
-pointed ears
-aversion to lying


Changes 2.5: (Fog starting July 25th)
-headaches culminate in the growing of antenna and awakening of new senses over several days (though full growth of antenna isn't reached until Change 3)
-toenails replaced with new claw-nails
-full formation of the "chrysalis" all over back, and it bulges out a good few inches. chrysalis build-up causes it to turn opaque, pearly-pink and becomes hard like glass (wings very slowly start forming inside)
-ability to use hypnosis

Change 3:
-wings finish growth and burst from "chrysalis"
-secondary pair of arms grow
-legs, arms, fingers, and toes get slightly longer and thinner
-bottoms of feet gain rough chitinous surfaces for gripping
-growth of "moth-fuzz" on torso
-ability to use faerie dust.

Change 4:
-Access to Fog Form.