CBRunway Round 1

At post 275 I've got a new character to show off! (Yes, I edited this post because it just wasn't me what I said. Just felt wrong.)

I created a new character named Wood for the CBRunway contest over at (obviously) CBR. Click the post title to see Round 1 entries.

Of course if you don't want to go over there, check mine out right here (below).

This will be open to public voting starting tomorrow (Monday, the 10th), and I'm going up against my artist for Wannabez. So if you feel so inclined, come and vote for me. :)

In the meantime, check my character out, but don't mind the colors. Still need a lot of work there (and everywhere else for that matter).

The first round's assignment was to create a new character whose costume was made of completely natural (as in plants, fruits and vegetables) elements only. We also had to create a backstory and describe the construction and functionality of the costume.

Without further ado, I give you WOOD!

BACKSTORY

Wood is the offspring resulting from a forbidden union between an Elf and a Sprite. The Elven maiden, Lynthalasala ignored the protests of her parents and kinsmen and wed the troublesome Finhoff the Sprite in secret. The two were happy beyond measure for a time until their hidden union was revealed.

In an attempt to escape the wrath of both the Elves and Sprites, Finhoff made a run for it, but ran into a more gruesome threat. A party of Minotaurs were raiding a nearby human village when Finhoff stumbled across their path.

Meanwhile, Lyntha, as she was commonly known, was reprimanded and under house arrest. What her kinsmen didn’t know though was that she was with child. Finhoff was unaware of this also. Lyntha had planned to tell him the night they were discovered by their despisers. Once Lyntha’s pregnancy became apparent though, her parents hid her away for fear their entire family would be banished.

For months Lyntha lay in her room crying herself to sleep every night longing for Finhoff, whom at this point she was sure she would never see again. When the baby was finally born, Lyntha’s parents stole away the child in the night and sent it away with a caravan of mixed races who dealt with this type of thing on occasion. They would have allowed the child to stay for a while, but it had been born with a full head of the trademark Sprite green leafy hair.

Once Lyntha discovered what had happened to her child she ran away from home in search of the young boy. For years she searched, but found no sight of him. In the meantime, she joined up with rebel cadres that challenged the old ways of the world in hopes of changing the world to come for her offspring. It was the least she could do having not known her own son.

The boy was given to a unique family of misfits and outcasts that raised him in the ways of the woods, teaching him how to hunt and defend himself. From early on the boy took a liking to all manner of sticks and twigs and trees and was thusly nicknamed Wood. The name stuck.

Wood grew up with no knowledge of his heritage or his parents until one day he heard word of an Elven woman searching for a child such as he. Upon hearing this news, Wood ventured into the Elven city, but was quickly dismissed with slurs of “half-breed” thrown his way. It was not uncommon for the occasional half-breed to show up, but it was very uncommon for that half-breed to be part elf. In fact, it had never happened before according to the knowledge and history of the Elves.

Wood discovered his true mother all too late as she was taken into custody accused of high treason and collusion with the enemy. Wood learned his father was presumed dead, but there was no proof. Finally aware of who he was, Wood joined up with a troupe to rescue his mother, but the plan was thwarted. Upon her instruction, he turned his efforts to searching for his father while his friends delivered word from his mother from time to time as they could.

Wood has all the tools he needs. He possesses the resolve and elegance of the Elves, yet the mischievousness and spirit of the Sprites. He has been trained to defend and attack, and he finally has a purpose in life. His goal is to reunite his family and challenge the Elven and Sprite kingdoms’ ways.

ABILITIES

Wood is a master of hand-to-hand combat skills. He also possesses the Elven skills of excellent sight, speed and agility, as well as the limited Sprite magic he is still learning.

He has a way with wood and plant to make them bend to his will and become tools or weapons. His chosen forms are that of a whip made of vine that he wraps around his body, and a wooden three-piece rod.

COSTUME

He adorns himself with elements of the forest, using grass and vines to form his wardrobe, and wooden sheaths for knee, shin and arm guards. His shoes are sandals made of wood and strong, woven leaf dried in the sun and solidified by magic.

He also wears an enchanted leaf around his neck that has been with him since birth. It’s unknown what magical properties this leaf possesses, but at opportune times it glows and gives Wood a measure of invincibility.

© Brant W. Fowler, 2006

B-Out