Day 02 GNARL, Tree Spirit

| November 2, 2010 | 12 Comments
Day#02 GNARL, Tree Spirit for Aedre's Firefly by Jande Rowe

Day#02 GNARL, Tree Spirit

Another Aedre’s Firefly character: GNARL
Gnarl is another of the entities that Aedre meets on her journey. He is young for a tree, but like Aedre, has had to face much suffering: the itch of insect infestations, the painful drilling of the woodpecker and sapsucker, the long dry spells, and more than once, being the tallest on the hill, hit by lightning! But along with Aedre, he is a survivor and more. He has discovered how to send his spirit from tree to tree to see what goes on in the wild world.

His trials and travels have given him much wisdom, though he makes birds nervous (except for woodpeckers and sapsuckers) until they get to know him.

Aedre is a tree-hugger. She loves to feel the rough bark beneath her sensitive fingers; the way it warms to her touch. She can imagine she almost feels a pulse there. She loves the smell of bark and the smell of leaves. Perhaps it was her love of trees that freed Gnarl’s spirit. Perhaps…
Still, aware of her skittishness, Gnarl won’t speak to her until she is ready, but he can still help in invisible ways to make her path smoother than she would make it herself.

Category: Drama, Fantasy

About the Author ()

Writer/Artist for "Aedre's Firefly" graphic novel webcomic and "Wheeler's Orbits", Science-fantasy webcomic

Comments (12)

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  1. Warren says:

    This is a beautiful piece of art. Absolutely love it!

  2. Samantha says:

    “Gnarl” is excellent! Great name, too.

    • Jande Rowe says:

      Samantha! Nice to see you here. Thanks! I had a completely different name for him and then when I went to save the file he told me his real name. That was exciting.

  3. KingGolem says:

    Alas, poor Gnarl. Poor guy’s got it rough. Still, makes for a cool character. Nice work!

  4. Malveka says:

    Woot! Another Aedre’s Firefly sneak preview. It’s great getting a peek at the intreeguing possibilities to come. 8^)

    Love the blackbird!

    Cheers,
    Mal

    • Jande Rowe says:

      Oh, Mal! in-TREE-guing! LOL Took me a few seconds to realise that wasn’t a typo! Yes, this Challenge is very stimulating, not only of Characters, but places where they could be part of a greater story. I love it. Thank you!

  5. King AdBeck says:

    Great name. I saw a spooky human-faced tree in the park yesterday that inspired me to maybe design a tree character of my own – but more along the sinister haunted tree lines. Nice to see a friendly tree for a change. Well done!

    • Jande Rowe says:

      Thanks! I share Aedre’s love of trees, so creating a friendly one was important to me,and also to Aedre’s Storyline. She needs all the friends she can get right about now. I have an idea for a sour and spooky tree too, I may do him tomorrow. I’m sure both our trees will be very different from each other’s.

  6. JoeCook says:

    That’s really nice. From the description along with the image, you can almost feel the texture of the bark. And Gnarl is an awesome name.

    • Jande Rowe says:

      Thanks, Joe. I really appreciate the positive feed back on both the writing and the image. I wish I could take credit for the name, but, meh, he whispered it to me like the faint whistle of wind through branches. ;`)

  7. Jande Rowe says:

    I’m going to take some time tomorrow and catch up with my fellow and sister Challengers. Right now I’m falling asleep as I type.
    Thanks again all for your kind encouragement.

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