Now I'm working on the Unrequited Love Project (which has, admittedly, got off to a slow start), a community art project where little chapbooks are passed about, and people contribute art and stories and such. Today I'll be making more of the books and trying to get them out into the community so I can hurry up (hopefully) get some back. If you are interested in hearing more, or want to help out, email me at rick (at) skagawa . com.
I worked on this giant mushroom idea for a creature concept project. I decided to name it the Red-Masked Reaper due to it's appearance and it's deadliness. It's scientific name, I decided, was Amanita Rex, as in King of the Amanitas, the mushroom genus which includes two of the deadliest mushrooms (in real life); the Death Cap and the Destroying Angel. The back-story is that the hyphae (the "root" part of the mushroom) grows above the soil, and secretes a sort of sticky mucus that traps animals. The hyphae are pressure sensitive and then send a chemical message to the gills to produce it's spores, which also contain an organic acid. The trapped, unfortunate creature is then peppered with spores that burst on contact, dissolving the creature's flesh for absorption by the hyphae. The spores also are a reproductive delivery vessel, and new hyphae start growing on the remaining flesh of the prey. The prey is lured to the Reaper by hallucinogenic pheromones it secretes from it's stalk. As it is obviously a death trap, the mushroom tries to get you to freak out and basically stumble into it's gooey maw of death. And that's the kind of story you get from someone who took an entire class on mushrooms and slime molds and algae. Ha!
No comments:
Post a Comment