So I was messing around with this. Uploaded two versions because I’m not sure which scanned in less terribly.

But anyway, this fellow is a member of a species I came up with out of boredom. They’re TREE PEOPLE, isn’t that fresh and exciting? Bet you’ve never come across people who are trees before! I thought I’d call them the Trell, but I don’t know where I got the inspiration for that name. I hope I’m not copying anything without realising it.

Hey, it was kind of fun coming up with their culture, though. One idea I liked is that their society embraces death. They live for maybe a couple thousand years, and there are few enough of them that you only get a death every hundred years or so. When one of them does die, they have a massive ceremony lasting maybe a month where they celebrate the individual’s life and accomplishments. Since they live so long, there’s always a fair bit to celebrate. Over the month, the deceased’s body is processed and turned into a book (this is how you can tell I thought of them), which is then filled with information the person collected over their lifetime and stored in a massive library at the centre of their civilisation. They see it as the highest honour to be able to continue to pass on knowledge after death, and it’s a way for friends and relatives to be able to talk to people they’ve lost. Of course, this makes defacing or damaging a book a huge deal for them, since it’s basically disrespecting an ancestor and insulting the knowledge they worked to collect. It’s not illegal, but you’ll be pretty much ignored or hated by everybody if you do.

The strip of cloth around his body isn’t to cover up anything or keep him warm. It’s pretty much just a way of carrying bits and pieces around, and there are a lot of pockets and pouches sewn in. A few of the younger ones have been experimenting with little boxes bolted to their bodies, though. 

I’m not really sure about the masks. When I started the drawing, I was sure I wanted them to be wearing masks, and also that they weren’t allowed to take the masks off while they lived, but I didn’t know why. I still haven’t thought of anything, actually. Maybe there’s something under there they want to hide?

Okay, I’m enjoying rambling about these guys far too much, I’ll stop here. This was fun to do, though!