This is just me throwing around my deer's character concept ideas. I can't wait until she grows up!

There are so many neat pelts, antlers and masks - it's hard to choose for Riven. So I'm tossing around the idea that her features change over time - the phrase, "seasonal savant" came to me as I was drawing my ideas down. A unique look for each of the four seasons, if it's at all possible. I may just go lazy and pick a favorite, but it struck me as a cool idea. For lack of pics, I'll indulge with more unseemly blocks of text. I'd like to make an attempt to organize my posts, but CSS makes my head hurt. I suppose I'll mess with a sandbox when I get another helping of patience. Anyways...

Spring - A time of renewed life. The skull mask, a haunting reminder of the adversities of winters past, whose call reminds me of twisting wood, representing growth. The reindeer antlers, or great horns, as I call them - furl like the bare branches of an old tree - symbolizing greatness to come. The Kirin pelt, with the greens of delicate grass and the pink of spring flowers - gives color to the otherwise bleak landscape.

Summer - Let the good times roll. The beluga mask, whose strange call reminds us that we of the forest are not the only ones who appreciate the lazy days and warm waters of summer. The Hyacinth antlers represent the fact that life's in full bloom. The peacock pelt, representing but a fraction of the colors of summer.

Autumn - Something funny goin' on here. I don't know if Riven will end up being a rut participant or not - so, I've actually created two here. The first (rut) consisting of the doe horn, crying mask, and native/painted pelt - basically telling everyone "Ima doe, and I'm puttin on MAH WARPAINT!"or something like that, lol. The other will consist of the crying mask (I love that mask), the Idol pelt, and the poppy antlers. Maybe the BZD antlers to represent the falling leaves - they are broad and leaf-like, imo.

Winter - Monochrome desolation. The raven mask, often considered the herald of the ominous and the mystic, here the raven also represents the birds gone south. The candle antlers - whose quiet warmth gives comfort and light in an otherwise cold and dark season. The secretary bird pelt, white to represent the landscape, black for the jagged edge of the cold, and red for the days gone by or the warm dens of the animals, protected from the cold by the snow itself.

It's occurred to me that I might be hard to recognize if I did this, what with players from all over the world, opposing seasons - and just flat out being unrecognizable. I suppose my only defense is that the seasons don't really change often. And my pictogram, yes! I have two now! haha! ...Further food for thought I guess. I wonder which one I would choose if I had to pick a favorite?

As far as personality goes, she's young for the time being and can't stand staying alone or in one spot for very long. Just look for a fawn making a nuisance of herself - running around like an idiot and trying to understand the language. She's mastering the oddities of the forest one by one - She's figured out flight, but she's still trying to figure out water walking - or rather, how to stop herself from falling in the drink when she decides she doesn't wanna water-sit anymore. She likes to watch others mostly, but takes enjoyment talking away from the center of attention. Riven's mischievous and likes to use her limited forest magic on sleeping or "incomplete" deer in a game she's come to call "Tag", running off as fast as she can when the deed is done to find a new spell and fitting victim. Riven is searching for a spot to call her own in the forest, but usually beds down in a spot by the playground when she's tired.

I expect when she gets older she'll mellow out considerably, but still appear restless when not in company. Perhaps playing the warm sagely observer type - perhaps I could have fun with her seasons idea and make her personality change *slightly* with the seasons too. I'll prolly dump that idea but it could be fun if I managed to pull it off.

In general I've grown to understand most of the basic language - watching people participating in the rut was great practice. But most of the more complex movements I can't understand or replicate yet, which leaves me standing there like a deer in the headlights (no pun intended) when I try to talk with most of the older deer. I also figured out the hard way that the Forest is a spherical world, running quite literally in circles. I noticed I kept passing the same deer, and towards the end some of them even stopped what they were doing to give me a few "wtf?" looks. Hilarious in retrospect.

Riven won't be having a picture for a while, but I'll be sure to draw one when she gets old enough. I'm due to get a tablet thingy from one of my relatives soon, which is exciting to me, to say the least. I might not know how to work it like a pro just yet, but it makes me giddy at the concept that I don't have to wrestle with a mouse to move into digital media, which I've been wanting to do for years now. It's a warm and fuzzy feeling, y'know?