#weevil man

“Weevil Man” © Jason Lenox

[From the Fighting Fantasy book Phantoms of Fear. I changed the name for petty taxonomic reasons. The term “weevil” in English typically refers only to beetles in the Curculionoidea, which usually (but not always!) have long snouts. This is in contrast to most other languages with Germanic roots, in which the various versions of the word refer to all beetles. So I changed it to one of these other languages--”vifill” is the Old Norse version.]

Vifill CR 4 CN Monstrous Humanoid This stooped creature resembles a cross between a beetle and a man, with a human-like face, craggy and worn. Its hair is shaggy and grows behind two pairs of antennae. It has two arms and two legs, each ending in a pincer-like claw. A large carapace grows on its back in the shape of a dome—short spurs and spikes protrude from it.

The vifills, or beetle men, are cantankerous hermits with insect features. Their carapace is formed from wing covers fused together—vifills cannot fly, and are somewhat sour about it. This does provide them with exceptional protection, however. They are omnivores that can consume just about anything organic—a vifill will happily eat hair, leather and sinew. Vifills do not hunt humanoids intentionally for food, but are very territorial and tend to throw axes first, ask questions later.

The axe is a nearly sacred object to vifills, able to be tool and weapon both. Most vifills are skilled carpenters and trappers, living in caves or hollows secured by wooden beams and protected by wooden traps. Springing branch spear traps, pitfalls and deadfalls are favorite choices. They typically live alone, but form temporary families in order to care for children. Once the children are grown, young and parents alike go their separate ways and rarely if ever see each other again. Vifills are superstitious when it comes to magic, and an ostentatious display of spellcasting is a sure fire way to intimidate them.

A vifill stands about five feet tall with its permanently stooped posture. Their maximum lifespan is similar to that of a human, but their rough and tumble lifestyle means that few survive to be elderly. 

This one’s a bit out of sequence as it is a new addition to the collection. Phantoms of Fear by Robin Waterfield, the 28th book in the series, is a little bit different from most other Fighting Fantasy books. It’s still set in the fantasy world of Titan, but in this one you play as a Wood Elf (and you are actually given a name, which escapes me at the moment).

During the course of once again saving the world from some mad demon, you are able to flit between the real world and the dream world, which gives the adventure a rather strange and interesting structure. As is presumably intended, it can get confusing keeping track of which world you are in.

The cover art by Ian Miller is suitably bizarre. It presumably depicts the nightmare demon Morpheus and has come under some criticism due to its sheer ugliness: red snot demons? I think it kinda works as an idea, but could have perhaps been executed better (maybe just reworking the colours?).

Ok heres a "I havent posted any art in a second again and need to just share whatever Im currently working on so people dont think I've just stopped drawing" kind of post.

Ref sheet lineup for a short comic Im doing, the goal is to finish this by the end of April. Its fully scripted/thumbnailed already and a mere 30 pages and also going to be entirely uncolored, so I am actually confident Ill be able to finish it at or around that time This Time. I am still working on my other comic with my guy Nathan (I Will Do Everything In My Power To Die In Death Valley) but started kind of entering a doom spiral about not having anything thats finished and briefly put it on halt to bang this thing out.