Scorpion Folk

Ok, I've felt this way for months now, but I think it's about time I spoke up.

Regarding the Scorpsi/whatever they're going by nowadays....... Look, I'm gonna be honest. I think they need a complete and total rehaul.

When I look at just about any Felaryan species, I can immediately draw a parallel between their society, culture, habits and abilities, with their base animal.

But Scorpsi? There's nothing there. They scuttle fast - scorpions are slow. They have a tribal, shamanic feel - scorpions are big,dumb and solitary. They wield spears - why the hell does a huge, armor-plated, pincer-weilding, acid-spitting, stinger-armed monster need a spear? Spears are pussy weapons! A scorpion is one of the most terrifying animals of its domain. Any kind of weapon would just hamper it.

They just don't feel the least bit like scorpions. I think a scorpion-person race should be solitary, grumpy and badass. Like the real thing.

I mean, you want a quick, tribal, shamanic, spear-wielding race, I think it ought to be something that actually feels remotely like its component animal. What about some sort of canine? They have a social structure, and don't have such ridiculously obvious weapons that they look like idiots carrying spears.
What about a bird of some sort? Hell, why not some sort of carnivorous dinosaur? There might be a logical draw between the two there.

But.... I'm sorry to say, and with all due respect, when I look at what we have for the scorpsi, I feel like one of my favorite animals is being completely wasted.

I've felt the same way for awhile too.

You've mostly covered my thoughts so I am probably not going to say much but like you said with the spear I just found it kind of odd that a creature with giant pinsers and a tail with a stinger on it would use a weapon like that. I could still see them using some kind of blade weapon though.
I don't know that much about scorpions but I always found them to be kind of cool, but from what I have seen they seem to be more aggressive, I mean I was watching a show the other day and it was showing how a female scorpion was trying to kill her mate.

I find the image of a scorpion-being wielding prettymuch any sort of melee weapon to be ridiculous. Blades included.

I mean, scorpions have some of the toughest armor of any arthropod, have venom that, in some species, it lethal to humans, have a stinger that's deadly with or without the venom, and have armor-crunching pincers, not to mention they can regurgitate digestive enzymes into their prey.

There's really no manmade melee weapon that can compete.

GREGOLE wrote:

I find the image of a scorpion-being wielding prettymuch any sort of melee weapon to be ridiculous. Blades included.

I mean, scorpions have some of the toughest armor of any arthropod, have venom that, in some species, it lethal to humans, have a stinger that's deadly with or without the venom, and have armor-crunching pincers, not to mention they can regurgitate digestive enzymes into their prey.

There's really no manmade melee weapon that can compete.

So what are you suggesting

You say many interesting points, you should suggest some change or a better description.

Ok.... I think scorpion-folk should be solitary, omni-predatory(meaning they'll eat ANYONE, including their own kind), strong, maybe somewhat foul-tempered, but really tough.

They should have a beneficial role in that they keep predators off one another's backs, and tend to occur few and far between.

Oh, and maybe the ability to summon chitinous armor to cover their upper bodies in combat.
NO shrinking venom. Every insectoid humanoid in Felarya so far has that. Some sort of paralytic venom is a good idea.
Oh, and corrosive spittle. Scorpions actually have that.

They would fight unarmed, because once again, the idea of them needing any sort of weapon is laughable.

They would generally actually feel like scorpions.

GREGOLE wrote:

Ok.... I think scorpion-folk should be solitary, omni-predatory(meaning they'll eat ANYONE, including their own kind), strong, maybe somewhat foul-tempered, but really tough.

Do they will feed themselves in the same way as the dridders or do you see a particular way for them.

GREGOLE wrote:

Oh, and maybe the ability to summon chitinous armor to cover their upper bodies in combat.

They turn their human body into an armor like the diamond naga for example.

GREGOLE wrote:

NO shrinking venom. Every insectoid humanoid in Felarya so far has that. Some sort of paralytic venom is a good idea.
Oh, and corrosive spittle. Scorpions actually have that.

I think it will depend how they eat their prey, do they eat bigger preys in the same way the small ones.
Just a question can the position of human torso be a problem to their stings
I imagine them in the same way as the dridders, their human torso won't allow a better use of their sting or it will be extremely long or stretchy

GREGOLE wrote:

They would fight unarmed, because once again, the idea of them needing any sort of weapon is laughable.

A weapon can increase their range, a mace or a axe in each hand can be more interesting than a spear. Or they can turn their hand into armor-crunching pincers or weapon.

gwadahunter2222 wrote:

Do they will feed themselves in the same way as the dridders or do you see a particular way for them.

I'm not GREGOLE, but if I had to guess they'd be a mix of Soft and Hard vore, whichever works to their convenience naturally. "Small enough to swallow whole and too lazy to chew? *Gulp*"; "Too large to fit in the mouth? *Rends into smaller pieces before eating piecemeal*"; etc.

Malahite wrote:

I'm not GREGOLE, but if I had to guess they'd be a mix of Soft and Hard vore, whichever works to their convenience naturally. "Small enough to swallow whole and too lazy to chew? *Gulp*"; "Too large to fit in the mouth? *Rends into smaller pieces before eating piecemeal*"; etc.

Scorpions tend to liquefy its prey like the dridders.

GREGOLE wrote:

They would fight unarmed, because once again, the idea of them needing any sort of weapon is laughable.

I think about an idea of armored hands with a strong grip, a a good compromise between the skillfulness of human's hands and the armor-crushing pincers of the scorpions. The fact they use weapons will be just more a personal choice than a necessity.

The problem is not supposed to be so much that they are using weapons, but that they're using weapons that for the most part are inferior to what they already have. Slashing with the tip of their claws, piercing with their tail [which also has the advantage of being poisoned as they desire, so they can go both to disable and kill on a whim], blunt with the side of their claws / tail, and can snip with their claws as well. The only areas a weapon might win out are range and durability, and the former is not very useful in much environments when giant and in dense terrain while the later requires just about a dedicated mine for a small handful of warriors to be armed.

It could be done, but in most instances it wouldn't be cost-efficient for them.

Also, they BEG to have a better name. Scorpsi sounds awkward and super generic.

You know a good name for scorpion-folk?

Kragrons. Cmon! That just OOZES menace!

It bothers me more and more that the wiki's description for Scorpisaï has not been altered with the points raised here.

I believe this is what we have thus far, with some stuff of my own:

Scorpisaï/ Kragrons

Giant taurian scorpions who crawl slowly throughout their domain, steadily giving chase to prey until they can catch them with their formidable pincers, situated below their upper human torso. They aren't picky about eating, and most won't have any qualms about devouring one of their own; a territorial battle will often end with a great meal for the Scorpisaï/ Kragron. They eat small enough prey whole and use their wicked stingers attached to their arching tails to paralyze creatures of appropriate size. Dosage can be controlled, to the degree of calming a raging opponent of similar size, to comatizing them with their full repository. Scorpisaï/ Kragrons are immune to their own kinds' venom, so battles are fought with the intention of dismembering each other's softer upper body. Are tough and resilient opponents, possessing subdermal plating under the surface in many areas that would be considered a weak spot in human anatomy, making successful strikes with stingers rather difficult.

They can spit a highly acidic compound from their mouths, which begins to dissolve flesh in moments, and aids in consuming large meals quickly. Some may have smaller versions of their large crushing claws in place of hands, but most do not. Others use their dexterity to the effect of creating makeshift claws to wear on their hands, the only hand-held weapon that makes sense to them.

Scorpisaï/ Kragrons are found in places where they can reside over great tracts of territory, such as Great Rocky Fields and Lamina, though some may live in Dridder Forest, most probably because they find hunting that zone's inhabitants easier than most species. Not a very friendly race in the least; really the only way to make an ally of one is to defeat it in battle to gain its respect. Even then, they won't take kindly to anyone hunting within their territory.

I like that entry much better. And on that point, just how is something made "canon" in Felarya?

Thank you Jætte_Troll.

Once Karbo adds something to the Felarya wiki, it is then considered safely canon. In this case, we're lobbying for un-canonizing Scorpisaï in their current incarnation.

Regarding the changes you guys are suggesting:

A) Alright, I admit that only having them eat insects may be a bit silly. But I do like the idea of them eating insects, so perhaps we could say that insects are their primary diet, but they'll eat anything if necessary.

B) I agree with the whole no weapons thing. That wasn't part of my original design.

C) I think you guys may be making them too beast-like. Remember that they are half human. The original design called for them just to be extremely quick to anger.

D) Naming isn't my strong suit, so sue me. >_>

Haar wrote:

Regarding the changes you guys are suggesting:

A) Alright, I admit that only having them eat insects may be a bit silly. But I do like the idea of them eating insects, so perhaps we could say that insects are their primary diet, but they'll eat anything if necessary.

I sort of wanted to stick to that a bit, which is why I suggested them hunting prey in Dridder Forest, where they'd prey on dridders, chilotaurs and the like. I suppose they would even hunt tonorions and other giant insects, putting them on decent terms with fairies by accident.

Haar wrote:

B) I agree with the whole no weapons thing. That wasn't part of my original design.

With the whole weapons issue, I thought it would be funny if they considered claws the only weapons that made any sense, and therefore emulated them as hand-held weapons.

Haar wrote:

C) I think you guys may be making them too beast-like. Remember that they are half human. The original design called for them just to be extremely quick to anger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naJsLEgcT9Y < Scorpions put up one hell of a fight.

It really depends on the species you're basing yours on- I'd imagine their tempers could vary between one another. I see them all as brutal opponents once your raise their ire, though, and relentless in their pursuit.

Beast-like, you say? Well, would a really beastly taurian race hurt?

/Fish/ wrote:

Beast-like, you say? Well, would a really beastly taurian race hurt?

No, but it does seriously cut down on the cuteness factor.

Haar wrote:

/Fish/ wrote:

Beast-like, you say? Well, would a really beastly taurian race hurt?

No, but it does seriously cut down on the cuteness factor.

I hope we're still talking about behavior here. Dridders aren't held to a standard of 'cuteness', so why should a different race based on another predatory arthropod be held to such?

EDIT:

Hey, if you want a cute scorpiontaur...

How long have you been holding that back from us?

As I posted in my own thread, I hope to flesh out the scorpion-taur type design (Damn wish I had a scanner, I did draw a few diagrams for my explanations, I suppose I'll need to wait a little till I get to a net-cafe)

But I envisioned the Scorpions very much like the dridders, they have humanoid upper torso's situated upon where the head (Speciffically eyes) would be on a scorpion. They retain these characteristics, having equivelant, or perhaps above average strength in their human parts equivelant to their size (Depends on species, obviously giant desert based Emperor Scorpions would be considerably larger than those based on Garden Scorpions), They retain all the limbs of the insectoid components, IE retaining the pincers on their scorpion parts, along with the six legs and stinger. Since most Scorpions are desert dwellers, they would have shorter, raised hair on their heads instead of the long thin long hair found on Dridders.

Their temprament generally would be agressive, warlike. but can vary greatly depending on base species and obviously individual character personality traits. Upbringing and circumstances would also play a role in personality (Obviously, most of these things are universal to any sentient species, the only real difference is genetic predisposition)

More to come....