Well, in a fantasy RPG, random encounters don’t stop happening just because you’re at sea. Instead, they become more specific…and inconvenient. And of course here one just had to happen right away, since naturally K’ip needs an opportunity to show off that he’s not only grown in size, but also in skills and stats.
So I needed a big aquatic monster, and I felt I should start from the top, and just go with the most famous one – Nessie. To set it apart from other, similar sea monsters you might be able to encounter in a fantasy setting like this, I made every effort to stress the Scottish aspect:
tartan – check
bagpipes – check
bonnet – check
flag – check
red beard – check
I don’t know how you could make a sea monster any more clearly Scottish than this one.
I do have to admit that, technically, Scotland does actually exist and is not a fantasy place*. But it’s as close as you can get to being a fantasy place as you can get in the real world, and many generic fantasy settings feature thinly-veiled stand-ins for Scotland or Scotsmen, so I felt it should mostly work. To be on the safe side, I had Si’ri provide a handwave (wingwave?). She’s good at that.
Aside from the Scottish aspect, the appearance of the monster is mostly based on a stuffed toy. I guess that’s also, from a certain viewpoint, as realistic as it’s gonna get. =P
So, yeah…please enjoy the clearest pictures of the legendary Nessie you’re ever likely to see. =P
More on Mon…uh, Thursday.
* Never actually been there, but I’ve got that on good authority.
Does that not also apply to ireland which is also a real place that is well a fantasy as well, with irish people of all elven kind.
Yeah, that’s true. And, come to think of it, I guess you could say the same for Wales. Perhaps it stems from the lingering influence of Gaelic legends on English fantasy literature.