#leppicorn

This Leppicorn actually originated from a cloning experiment at an unspecified, secretive scientific facility. Modified genes affected his nature, making him obedient and trusting, with the intent of making a more tame Leppicorn. However, it left his body with some flaws, making his antlers very brittle and his hair unable to grow the proper way. His psychic abilities have been unable to fully develop, with telepathy as his sole skill.

There were numerous attempts by the scientists to fix his unusual physical ailments, which included experimental medical treatments and painful procedures. Chance remained patient despite some of the agonizing abuse he went through. But eventually the scientists decided he was incapable of being treated, and ultimately deemed him a failure. They began a new cloning experiment hoping for more desirable results; meanwhile Chance was released into the Esper Woods, with no knowledge of the area or means of survival, though the scientists assured him that he would be fine...

A completed drawing for my art stream earlier tonight. Basically just a Leppicorn looking smug. I'm giving him the name Butch T. Leppicorn, named after the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T Pepper.

One of the Tortula’s most interesting skills is its ability to control its prey like puppets. Using a captive with barely any life force left, the Tortula strings nearly invisible soul web around portions of the body and channels consumed Spectral Force through them. It then controls the captive with Psychic Force, emulating their personalities and mannerisms almost perfectly. The puppet is typically tasked with finding other creatures and coaxing them into the Tortula’s lair, where a well-laid trap awaits.

The method is not entirely seamless. The soul web does grow subtly in the dark, and it's more obvious if the strings are too thick. What's more, if the Tortula is not careful with its acting and control, the puppet could reciprocate the Tortula's thoughts or get tangled in the strings it's being controlled with. And of course, since the Tortula is putting full focus on controlling its puppet, it becomes unaware of its own surroundings, leaving itself vulnerable to whatever may try to attack it.

Taking a Leap of faith posting these.

This is a series of images I made that I eventually entitled "Bugging Rudd." What was once an odd alternate version of the Beeby illustration ended up becoming a small story. I don't typically share these sorts of images, but in the one place I did they seemed to be received fairly well, and I was unsure if the same reception would be found elsewhere. So that's what led to this post.

The story goes something like this:

One day a Leppicorn named Rudd got on the bad side of another Esper Beast (one I've yet to introduce). The Beast retaliated by using its Psychic Force to summon Beebies and trap Rudd in a hive made of solid "BeebyWax." When the Beebies regained control of their minds, they found Rudd stuck in an awkward situation and were both confused and curious as to what happened.

As they investigated Rudd, they noticed he was reacting to an odd weakness as they were scratching around. Becoming even more curious, the Beebies started to look into this even more as Rudd desperately cried out for help between helpless laughter...

Eventually his cries would be heard by two Leppicorn friends, who managed to shoo the Beebies away. But they found Rudd's predicament to be so ridiculous that they eventually tormented him a bit further before finally breaking him free.

After that, they would continue to laugh at and tease him, even giving him the nickname of "Honey Bunny." Humiliated, Rudd was already deliberating on some form of retribution.

When he was finally able to be alone, Rudd happened upon a small Tortula named Maeve, attempting to set a web trap in the woods. Surprised that Rudd found her, she begged not to be smashed flat. But finding her gave him an idea, and he offered a proposition that would benefit both of them...

A few days later, the two other Leppicorn found Rudd looking around by a large tree. As they approached him to find out what was up, he signaled Maeve to spring her trap. In the blink of an eye, the two Leppicorn were suddenly snapped up in soul web, pinned against the tree and unable to escape. After Maeve further secured the two, she and Rudd would begin to torment the pair.

It was a good deal for the both of them. Rudd would get his revenge on the other two Leppicorn, and Maeve would have plenty of food thanks to the life force her soul web absorbed from their struggling.

The Tortula is a spider that typically dwells in deep caves and holes. Their main source of food is the spiritual life force of other living creatures; it obtains this with the help of its unique webbing that's been called "soul web."

The soul web is woven along the walls and ceilings of its cave; as it sets, it gains a very elastic property. When prey reaches the right spot, the Tortula will trigger the soul web to spring onto the unsuspecting creature, and it will quickly weave even more web until the prey cannot hope to escape. As the prey struggles to break free, the soul web absorbs their life force, causing it to glow an eerie green. Later on, the Tortula will cut away the glowing soul web and eat it for the life force it has collected. Amazingly, the prey itself is never consumed, though its eventual fate may vary (more on that later).

If the situation occurs where the prey stops moving, either from exhaustion or defiance, the Tortula will utilize some method to encourage their prey to keep moving. Sometimes it just uses intimidating gestures to make the prey struggle again, but sometimes it will use its sharp retractable claws to painfully prod and scratch at the helpless prey. Worst-case scenario, it will bite the prey with its fangs, where its venom will cause all their muscles to spasm involuntarily. It gets the job done, but the venom dilutes the life force a lot. Plus Tortula seem to enjoy tormenting their prey.

Tortula have been seen in a wide range of sizes -- from as small as an average tarantula to roughly human size. Both ends of this range have advantages and drawbacks. Smaller Tortula have to take a lot more time end energy to make effective traps, but they don't require as much to satisfy their hunger, meaning most large captives are able to survive those Tortula encounters. The same can't be said for the larger Tortula; even though they can make traps in less than a few minutes, they often have to drain everything from their victims to get anywhere close to a satisfying amount of sustenance.

The Phlex is a nocturnal insect with strong Psychic Force. Similar to a mosquito, it depends on other creatures to get its nourishment. But the Phlex is a much more extreme case than that.

Whenever it needs its vital nutrients, it will fly around at night in search of some unsuspecting, usually sleeping creature. It will then land on their head and inject the Psychic Force it stores in its body, controlling its new host like a puppet. The host will then be controlled to find and consume whatever the Phlex assumes is food, and will continue to do so until it is satisfied. It cannot sense taste through its host, nor can it gauge how full the host's stomach is. It can't even feel pain through the host if they eat something possibly hazardous. And once the Phlex is satisfied, it will detach itself and fly away, leaving the host with an itchy scalp and an exceedingly bad tummy-ache.

In this image, this poor Leppicorn just broke into a human's home at night and consumed a lot already thanks to the Phlex. We can see he's been eating a smoked ham, a bread roll, half a stick of butter, half a carton of egg whites, some cran-mango juice, and part of a can of soda (like, the can itself). We haven't see everything else he's had so far -- half a (still) frozen pizza, dry macaroni, three bananas (peel and all), a cinnamon stick, a box of raisins, the box the raisins came in, and four strawberry-scented wax cubes.

Felt like drawing a Leppicorn today. This one's name is Pan.

She's got some flaws for sure. She doesn't have enough hair on her head to cover both her eyes, and her antlers are very stubby. What's more, she's very clumsy, so her fighting skill is practically nonexistent. Because of all this, Leppicorn like to tease and ridicule her, and it's made it hard for her to find a friend.

She does find someone willing to stay by her side...an unlikely friend, but a loving one regardless. And they're willing to protect her from harm. She feels particularly lucky to have such a friend, and as such she will do anything she can for him.

Bonus:

An alternate version of the image, where she is wearing a cowboy hat that her friend gave her as a gift. Her friend thinks it's a cute fit.

The Beeby is a typically docile insect that resides in the Esper Woods. They typically spend their time building hives and making a uniquely sweet honey. They're larger than regular bees, and their colonies work slightly differently -- the average colony rarely exceeds 20, and rather than having different "classes" (queen, worker, etc.), they all work together doing all the important jobs. It's assumed that they communicate to each other telepathically.

They typically run away when danger approaches, but when they're pushed too far they will retaliate. One option is to use their stingers to incapacitate their threats. The venom in their stings will cause the stung area to go numb, or even be paralyzed, ranging from a few minutes to hours depending on how much venom is released. Too many stings in too many places could cause a total nerve shutdown for the victim, leading to death. It's theorized that Beeby venom could be used as an anesthetic. (Beeby stingers are not barbed, so stinging will not risking their well-being.)

Their second option, however, is a bit more unusual. They may begin to swarm the threat and expel beeswax in massive amounts, effectively encasing them in the substance. We have an image of a Leppicorn up above being subjected to this form of imprisonment. The worst part about this is that the beeswax of Beebies is very tough -- it's been compared to stone in hardness, though it is lighter and surprisingly buoyant. In this situation, it would require a strong tool like a metal axe to break the beeswax open.