64. Horror

For the 100 (201 for me) pictures challenge, I present to you... number 64. Horror- or rather "The Horror."

Originally, I wasn't going to draw this "character" as 90% of the effect of any decent horror...thing...is that if you never get to see it, you don't know what's lurking there.

However, now that I have a decent setting for the idea, that's not quite so important.

For the people who haven't read "The Horror" (basically a short story to give an idea of the full length ones to people who don't want to read something that long- and to show this thing when I didn't have an initial setting), here's a brief description:

"The Horror" (undescriptive names make things scary...I hope) is a creature that roams a strip of barren land and thin woods at the base of a large mountain. It attacks a group of orcs, leaving alive only a single casualty, Lugh, who runs to a nearby town, Morven, famous for its capture and control of large, unique, dangerous or otherwise interesting wild animals.

The Horror is a nameless, cold-blooded terror capable of outrunning a horse, with a habit of decapitating its prey using long, sickle-like claws, and surviving even a shot from a cannon. It can blend into its surroundings with precision that makes it almost invisible. It has a faint dislike of fire, but is otherwise completely fearless.

The tale instantly gives the beastmasters the notion of trapping it for their collection. Numerous attempts are made, every one fails. The Horror scatters the beastmasters, hunting them down in the dark one by one. Each time the only survivor is Lugh, who always climbs high up in a tree, and always wears heavy armour plates around his neck.

~~

Relating to the actual picture (woah, long comments!), I've decided that it should walk on its knuckles to avoid bluntening its claws or injuring itself with them. It's front limbs are lengthened WAAAY out of proportion, allowing it to flick out the huge claws and reach anybody nearby, while standing upright. I imagine the long front limbs would also let it run faster, while using the back ones simply for support.

Since its diet consists almost entirely of heads, I figure the ribs would stick out and stomach sink in. The teeth are hooked mostly because it sounds/looks creepy, but they would also give it a good grip for dragging down victims.

ps. Still, no actual gore/blood/violence in the picture, so it doesn't qualify for mature content. And yes, by the way, I am quite surprised I could think down to that detail of horror-ness. I blame it on the fact that the original idea came from a nightmare. I love those funky dreams... (it was still preferable to waking up)