Scorpsi

Scorpsi:

Scorpsi are half human, half scorpion people; they are distant cousins of the more widely-known Dridders.

Unlike Dridders, however, Scorpsi genereally have a fairly good reputation, especially among fairies. This is primarily due to their diet. The main food for a Scorpsi is insects; this does not mean they will pass up a tasty human who happens to wander by, of course.

Most Scorpsi range in size from 50-80 ft, though sightings of smaller, even human size Scorpsi have been reported. Of course, many insects in Felarya would be too big to eat, right? Not quite, thanks to the Scorpsi venom. In most creatures, the effect of the venom is simply temporary full-body paralysis. In insects, however, it also acts a shrinking agent, so the Scorpsi can swallow the insect whole and alive.

There are no longer any known male Scorpsi on Felarya. Only the Scorpsi know what happened to the males, and they keep it a tight secret. Fortunately for them, though, they have developed an alternate means of reproduction via parthenogenesis, whereby they fertilize their own eggs.

Scorpsi are generally fairly easy to get along with, provided you don't make them mad. They have short tempers.

Scorpsi can generally be found living wherever there are large populations of insects. A large community of Scorpsi can be found just outside the entrance to the Fairy Kingdom. Since most Scorpsi tend to live alone, this community is generally viewed as being a sort of 'capital' of the Scorpsi society. The Scorpsi in this community live in harmony with the neighboring fairys, and their community has grown to be intermingled over the years. There are, in fact, quite a few fairies living in this community.

Interesting race

Ooh. I see the insects have a new problem on their hands.

Excellent work, Haar.

Copycat. *Had a similor idea, only they were called "Stingers." Those of you who RP with me know what I'm talking about.

^^;; Yeah... I think everyone wanted to do scorpion-girls, but no one else ever bothered to get it done. Congrats on being the first. XP

Anti-bug usage aside, these are a pretty decent take on the concept, though I think they might could use a little more fleshing out here and there. Maybe some cultural quirks to really solidify the concept.

Flare wrote:

Copycat. *Had a similor idea, only they were called "Stingers." Those of you who RP with me know what I'm talking about.

Never saw that. The only thing I saw was you once saying you think there should be scorpion girls.

Yeah...like the one I got, she's a bit on the meek side, but if she has to defend herself, she will with both claw and stinger.

I agree, nice idea
I loved the fact they eat insects, it's original and can allow great relation with fairies ^_^

I am just no too fond of the "Scorpsi" name.. ^^;

Karbo wrote:

I agree, nice idea
I loved the fact they eat insects, it's original and can allow great relation with fairies ^_^

I am just no too fond of the "Scorpsi" name.. ^^;

You can change it, if you want. I'm not that good with names...

Well, there's my suggestion "Stingers"

Bit of a story about how I thought of that...

Still not sure aboutthe name but I put them on my list ^_^

If I may, I have a suggestion for an alternative name:
Scorrow, in D&D, the same source of the name "Drider".
see here

[sarcasm]Also, to go with the persistent and widespread misspelling of "drider" as "dridder", you could use "scorow", with one 'r', though that might not affect pronounciation.[/sarcasm]

Nice race, BTW.

observer88 wrote:

If I may, I have a suggestion for an alternative name:
Scorrow, in D&D, the same source of the name "Drider".
see here

Scorrow is an option, but I've never really been fond of that name for a race. "Sorrow with a 'c'".
It just seems weird, especially since the word doesn't really relate to Drow at all, unlike "Drider".

My contributions to the name pool:

Going scientific, there's Iurida (for plural, you can use Iuridae). Both are subclassifications of scorpion orders and families, and a name I've always thought looked just neat. Yes, I'm a nerd.

Going mythological, the idea of scorpion-people dates all the way back to Mesopotamian myth; in the Epic of Gilgamesh, two of them guarded the mountain passage through which the sun rose into the sky every morning. The Akkadian word for scorpions was Girtab, which means "Stinger". It was also used in the later, Akkadû versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh as a name for those scorpion-folk Gilgamesh encountered (as well as the constellation Scorpius).

Just some ideas.

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

It just seems weird, especially since the word doesn't really relate to Drow at all, unlike "Drider".

Scorpion + Drow = Scorrow <- portmaneau
Just like how "Drider" is a portmanteau of "Drow" and "spider".

*facepalm* Yeah. I really don't know how in the world I missed that.

Think I'll just go sit in the corner for a bit.

Good naming ideas, though.

Gilgamesh? *snicker*

What...It's a funny word!

I hope this doesn't come off as rude or pushy, because I mean no offense, but I'm really not feeling this race.

The idea of a race of insect-eaters who the fairies get along with is a good one. Making them bugs themselves is also a nice bit of irony. But.... scorpions? I'm sorry, but the scorpion really doesn't meld well with this concept.

Most, if not all of the other chimera races have society or habitual traits that reflect the animal they're based on. IE: Nagas are reclusive but peaceful - like snakes, everybody hates dridders - like spiders, dryads are intertwined with the scenery - like plants, gyspas are effectively biker gangs - which is about as wasp as you can get.

But the Scorpsi/Scorrow/scorow don't really feel like scorpions. Here you have one of the baddest, most intimidating, most formidable, most ancient bugs on planet Earth, and then you have that they eat bugs and people like them.

It just... doesn't really work for me, y'know? I'm not the type to give into cliche and wish for a scorpion monster to be the bad guy, but I think they should feel at least a little bit like the animal they're based on.

GREGOLE wrote:

I hope this doesn't come off as rude or pushy, because I mean no offense, but I'm really not feeling this race.

The idea of a race of insect-eaters who the fairies get along with is a good one. Making them bugs themselves is also a nice bit of irony. But.... scorpions? I'm sorry, but the scorpion really doesn't meld well with this concept.

Most, if not all of the other chimera races have society or habitual traits that reflect the animal they're based on. IE: Nagas are reclusive but peaceful - like snakes, everybody hates dridders - like spiders, dryads are intertwined with the scenery - like plants, gyspas are effectively biker gangs - which is about as wasp as you can get.

But the Scorpsi/Scorrow/scorow don't really feel like scorpions. Here you have one of the baddest, most intimidating, most formidable, most ancient bugs on planet Earth, and then you have that they eat bugs and people like them.

It just... doesn't really work for me, y'know? I'm not the type to give into cliche and wish for a scorpion monster to be the bad guy, but I think they should feel at least a little bit like the animal they're based on.

A question do you read the stories about scorpion people in this page http://xenomorph1112.deviantart.com/

GREGOLE wrote:

I hope this doesn't come off as rude or pushy, because I mean no offense, but I'm really not feeling this race.

The idea of a race of insect-eaters who the fairies get along with is a good one. Making them bugs themselves is also a nice bit of irony. But.... scorpions? I'm sorry, but the scorpion really doesn't meld well with this concept.

Most, if not all of the other chimera races have society or habitual traits that reflect the animal they're based on. IE: Nagas are reclusive but peaceful - like snakes, everybody hates dridders - like spiders, dryads are intertwined with the scenery - like plants, gyspas are effectively biker gangs - which is about as wasp as you can get.

But the Scorpsi/Scorrow/scorow don't really feel like scorpions. Here you have one of the baddest, most intimidating, most formidable, most ancient bugs on planet Earth, and then you have that they eat bugs and people like them.

It just... doesn't really work for me, y'know? I'm not the type to give into cliche and wish for a scorpion monster to be the bad guy, but I think they should feel at least a little bit like the animal they're based on.

Makes sense to me. I can agree, it is sort of odd for a scorpion-based creature to be the sort everyone likes, but there could be other reasons for it. Loooooong before scorpions earned a sinister reputation, they were very respected and used as a symbol of protection and strength. The gesture that most people recognize as "the horns", that was believed in medieval Europe to ward off the Evil Eye? In many pre-Egyptian cultures, it was supposed to represent a scorpion with claws extended, to warn off evil with the promise of retaliation.

The scorpion people in the Epic of Gilgamesh were often assigned as guards to ancient and sacred places, including the passage to the Underworld (before the Greeks came along and Kerberos put them out of a job ), and the Egyptian God Thoth assigned seven scorpions to Isis to guard her from Set.

Maybe the reason this race has a good reputation with pretty much everyone is more due to the fact that they have a strong warrior culture, and tendency to hire themselves out as bodyguards? That way, they're still badass, have a tendency towards nasty tempers, and the sort of person you'd be nervous to have at your back... but exactly the kind of person you'd want in front of you, between you and something nasty.

A bodyguard who can handle darn near anything, on a world like Felarya? Priceless... or at least, well worth looking past certain quirks (and rumors that they'll sting you in the back and swallow you when you aren't watching). Right?

Quote :

A question do you read the stories about scorpion people in this page http://xenomorph1112.deviantart.com/ Question

Yes. And with all due respect to the writer, that's part of what solidified my opinion on the matter.

I'm sorry, but they don't feel right to me. Something's missing.

Quote :

Makes sense to me. I can agree, it is sort of odd for a scorpion-based creature to be the sort everyone likes, but there could be other reasons for it. Loooooong before scorpions earned a sinister reputation, they were very respected and used as a symbol of protection and strength. The gesture that most people recognize as "the horns", that was believed in medieval Europe to ward off the Evil Eye? In many pre-Egyptian cultures, it was supposed to represent a scorpion with claws extended, to warn off evil with the promise of retaliation.

The scorpion people in the Epic of Gilgamesh were often assigned as guards to ancient and sacred places, including the passage to the Underworld (before the Greeks came along and Kerberos put them out of a job Wink ), and the Egyptian God Thoth assigned seven scorpions to Isis to guard her from Set.

Maybe the reason this race has a good reputation with pretty much everyone is more due to the fact that they have a strong warrior culture, and tendency to hire themselves out as bodyguards? That way, they're still badass, have a tendency towards nasty tempers, and the sort of person you'd be nervous to have at your back... but exactly the kind of person you'd want in front of you, between you and something nasty.

A bodyguard who can handle darn near anything, on a world like Felarya? Priceless... or at least, well worth looking past certain quirks (and rumors that they'll sting you in the back and swallow you when you aren't watching). Right? Smile

Making them the good guys isn't my problem.

My problem is that scorpions are one of the most menacing arthropods evolution has produced. But when I look at scorpsi/Scorrows, that menace isn't there.

The graceful, cloaked menace of a snake is present in nagas. The frighteningly alien predatory nature of spiders is found in dridders. The ferality of raptors is found in harpies. And the anarchic menace of hornets are found in gyspas.

But when you look at a scorpion, you're looking at an armored, predatory, solitary juggernaut. Yes, they can make wonderful guardians, but even then, the sense of menace is there.

I'm sorry, but I don't see any sense of menace in scorpsi/scorrows. And that makes them feel incomplete to me.

There are bit too much "good" for you.
They lack of a dark side which make them dangerous.

Quote :

There are bit too much "good" for you.
They lack of a dark side which make them dangerous.

That's not even close to what I meant.

You mean the scorpion's vibe.
What I mean by dark side, I mean the thing which reflect their beast part. The "good" the human's part, the "dark" the scorpion's part, the things which make you feel the scorpion inside them.