The Bog Hunter

I finally got down to my scanner today. This is a little sketch that I did a few weeks ago. I roughly fleshed out a race to play the Templar in the book I'm rolling around in my head. I had the general build, but I wanted to see how the body form works in action, and thus, this scene.

Before anyone asks any questions, let me lay forward some facts about this guy, and the critter he's hunting. The guy is not human, human tongues cannot pronounce the name of his race, so they're simply called Templar, for now. You don't need to know what those things are coming out of his chest, suffice to say that all Templar have them, and they get more, the older they are. The reason that his legs look wierd is because they aren't like our legs. There's an extra joint, giving the Templar a very different anatomy. Templar only have three fingers; a thumb and two hensile "graspers." All Templar are skinny by human standards. All Templar wear either masks or helmets when hunting, or in the prescence of humans. Seeing a Templar's face is considered an act of trust.

This scene is a sort of "preamble" to how the characters will play out in the story. This is a primitive hunter with a crude spear. He's baiting a reptile that (in the book) is the most feared predator of rivers and bogs. Similar to crocodiles, these creatures are incredibly smooth compared to their reptilian cousins, and their flesh secretes an oil that prevents the reptile from breaking the surface tension of water when exiting or entering a body of said water. In essence, this means that the reptile doesn't splash, and thus, is very quiet when hunting it's prey. It's considered a test of skill and patience to be able to bait one of these creatures, as usually its the creature that makes the first move, and its intended prey doesn't even have time to act before it's soundlessly drawn into the water to be eaten.