In week 1, I have developed my idea and do some research, and I decide to make a scene about a people who from outside place encountered with an ancient forest god in a dark cave. So I collect some reference pictures for the main character, the scene ( the style, the tone, the landscape, decorations like sculptures or stones), and I summarized them in Pureref.（Since the blog can only upload images no larger than 10mb, the images are a bit blurry）
I wanted to make a dragon boss with natural powers, so I also found some references for tree spirit.
My sketch of the main scene:
Story and character settings:
Character 1:
1. Protagonist:
The main character wants to save their famine-stricken homeland and start a journey to find the Spirit of Nature. In the end, the protagonist find it and want to kill the Spirit of Nature to obtain its power, to make the poor land in hometown can grow crops again.
Cycle of plunder
After the protagonist plunders the power of the Spirit of Nature, he or she may become the next target for others or forces seeking that power. This power continues to transfer between different individuals, creating a cycle. Just like the power of nature cannot truly be “owned” or “controlled,” it simply shifts from one being to another.
This is similar to the Chinese idiom “怀璧其罪” , which originally means that possessing a precious gem invites disaster, and it later came to symbolize being envied and harmed due to one’s talents.
So, as the second owner of this power, the protagonist may, like the first owner, bring harm or disaster to themselves or those around them.
Character 2:
2.Spirit of Nature：
A dragon-like beast formed from the power contained in the staff thrown away by Kuafu before his death. It guards the primal forces that sustain the forest, serving as the balancer of the forest’s ecosystem. Its body is ancient with rough bark, vines, moss, and rocks.
It has the ability to heal and drain life. After being defeated by the protagonist, its power is stripped away, causing the forest to gradually wither.
I wanted it to look like something that had happened to it before, and it’s impossible for an ancient creature to stay intact, so I wanted to design a big scar. Maybe someone else came before the main character and tried to kill him too, but maybe the person in front couldn’t handle the power and went crazy. Then the spirit of nature revived, but with a scar.
I summarized my research in figma, because I felt that in the brainstorming stage, figma layout is more flexible than blog, I can freely add or move some ideas and pictures. Feel free to check it.
https://www.figma.com/design/s03X2JToFwPwQPGotGGiHs/Untitled?node-id=0-1&t=4j9g3ekPMDHIgSke-1