Crepitans Bloodbark

Crepitans Bloodbark is a character from The Spectacular Exhibition.

Weapons/Abilities
As intimated (or, rather, explicitly stated), Crepitans is a treant, a vaguely-humanoid entity that appears, and in fact is, to be a living, ambulatory tree. Treefolk all resemble some form of regular non-sapient tree, and derive their personalities and natural abilities from the tree they come from. Bristlecone pines tend to be circumspect, long-lived, and wise, becoming leaders among their kind; yews are pragmatic and cunning, with excellent tactical minds and a propensity for mediation; birches are beautiful and fecund, often becoming the Orchard Tenders that are responsible for seeding and raising new dorukardia. While the personalities and predilections of treefolk as a whole vary greatly, almost all can be described as "wise", "kind", and "nurturing". The shorter-lived races frequently call on them for advice or knowledge, which the friendly trees are only too happy to give, with little or no thought of reward or payment.

However, not every tree produces the "stereotypical" treefolk; while it's possible, if rare, to have an actively unpleasant or even truly evil individual come from standard stock like alders and oaks, there are certain kinds of trees that almost-uniformly produce twisted, hateful, or aggressive dorukardia. Live-oaks are rapacious and greedy, with no compunction towards destroying things or people in the pursuit of their goals; strangler figs are conniving usurpers, parasitic by nature and sadistic by choice; mesquites are liars and thieves, self-interested and sociopathic. Crepitans is a sandbox tree, a rare species among treefolk, known for brutality, self-interest, antisocial personalities, wanton sadism, and a tendency to superiority complexes.

Most of Crepitans's weapons and abilities come from his species: his bark is coated in tens of thousands of thorns that could be better described as spikes; as a treefolk, his strength and endurance, as well as simple stature, far outstrip those of any humanoid short of giant lords; his sap is a potent acid and toxin, and he frequently injures himself to ensure that he is oozing it at all times. A blow from Crepitans is like being hit by a twenty-foot morningstar swung by an industrial demolition robot; if the target survives (and is organic), they can look forward to inflammation, festering sores, and potential blindness. Hundreds of pumpkin-shaped, tangerine-sized seedpods fill his branches, each filled with wickedly-hooked seeds and each capable of exploding with an audible bang and propelling the seeds up to three-hundred feet in every direction. The seeds themselves are even more poisonous than his sap, causing nausea, cramps, blurred vision, and possible delirium, seizures, and death. He is, of course, preternaturally tough and durable, and even in the event an injury manages to pierce his iron-hard bark and wood more than an inch or two, he has no vital organs to attack.

Less noticeably, Crepitans has some mystical power. He trained and studied as what is called to their faces a shaman, and behind their backs derisively referred to as a "saptwister". Shamans specialize in mind- and body-control magic, complex and dark rituals, and occasionally trafficking with whatever spirits, demons, or other eldritch beings suit their needs. Most, including Crepitans, are also experts in potion-brewing and poison-making, and many of his brews can be seen hanging from his uppermost branches. Fortunately for those around him, he rarely calls on his shamanic powers, preferring the simple method of brutally mauling anything and everything he sees fit to.

Description
Crepitans is approximately sixty feet tall; forty feet of this height is the main trunk, which is the most humanoid part. It is roughly anthropoid, with two arms, two legs ending in rootlike feet, and a vaguely-cephalized region with a wide, zig-zaggy mouth, two large, uniformly-black eyes, and a roughly-triangular bump that suggests a nose. The rest of his height is made up of his canopy, which is approximately hemispherical and has a diameter of about thirty feet. It grows from his back rather than his head, forcing him into a slumped posture. The branches are twisted and curved, interlocking and weaving and growing chaotically, as is fairly typical for his variety, and are covered in light-green, spade-shaped leaves.

From his topmost branches hang dozens or hundreds of small vials, large flasks, hollow gourds, and other vessels for his draughts. Several books and scrolls, and even a small cabinet, can be seen lodged deep in the canopy and held in place with vines. More visible, however, is the carrion. An unnaturally large shrike (or butcherbird) has adopted Crepitans's canopy as its home; given its extremely unusual size and habit of living in the treant (very few will allow birds to nest in them, as it's seen as unhygienic and barbaric, and even fewer birds would choose to live in a moving tree), it's speculated that the bird is Crepitans's shamanic familiar. Regardless of why it lives in his crown, it makes its presence clearly known. Hundreds of small mammals are impaled and skinned on his branches and trunk, in various states of consumption and decay. A few are even clinging to life, leading to occasional distressed squeaks and cries from no clearly-apparent source. The corpses are so many that when Crepitans moves, he will frequently shed bones, with no apparent reduction in the number of bodies adorning his bark.

Personality-wise, Crepitans is fairly typical for a sandbox ent. He is intelligent, in a focused, pragmatic, disaffected way, but does not seek knowledge or experience for its own sake. He is sadistic to a fault, and sees no reason not to kill things that stand in his way; he's too practical to allow his lust for violence to become a hindrance, but given time and opportunity, he's very capable of finding some very inventive uses for his poisons, both natural and brewed. He is typically solitary and quiet, but can be persuaded towards cooperation if the need arises.

In his own world, Crepitans had taken over a small swamp and had used it as his home and base of operations; for decades he had been consumed with an urge to dominate, primarily directed at what he considered the lower races (humans, elves, dwarves, et-cetera). Since taking over his swamp, he had set about gaining personal power, as well as using puppets (both mentally-dominated and persuaded or paid) to exert his influence in the surrounding regions. He was preparing to instigate a minor war between two longtime-rival city-states to weaken both when he was taken by the Counsellor.

Mental Diagnosis
Antisocial Personality Disorder (diagnostic criteria 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 [failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing actions that are grounds for arrest; deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure; irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults; reckless disregard for the safety of self or others; lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another); Schizoid Personality Disorder (diagnostic criteria 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 [neither desires nor enjoys close relationships, including being part of a family; almost always chooses solitary activities; has little, if any, interest in having sexual experiences {here defined as desiring to instill trees with the potential to become treefolk, a desire typical to most treefolk} with another person; takes pleasure in few, if any, activities; lacks close friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives; appears indifferent to the praise or criticism of others; shows emotional coldness, detachment, or flattened affectivity); xenophobia; sociopathic behaviors; non-sexual sadism

Biography
Very little that hasn't been hinted at or stated in previous sections is particularly relevant, so this will just be a brief overview. The general opinion held by forestkith is that nature has a reason for creating all of its children, and it is not their place to judge what kind of treefolk deserve life or nonexistence. To that end, Orchard Tenders go out of their way to instill life and sentience in newly-sprouted trees of all kinds, regardless of how unpleasant or cruel they view that kind of tree to be. It is their goal to ensure that at least a few dorukardia of every extant species exists; it is because of this goal, rather than any love for sandbox trees in particular or an actual desire for such a person to exist, that Crepitans was born at all.

His youth was typical for a treant; he spent about two decades rooted in one spot while he developed from a normal sapling to an adult darukardia, being tended to, kept company, and tutored by Orchard Tenders. When he was fully grown, he spent a few more years in one of the Groves that make up his kind's society before setting out on his own. Several more decades passed, filled with mindless cruelty, wandering, and no real goals. It was at the end of this period of wanderlust that he met Pomana Acidtouch, a manchineel shaman who, for her own insrcutable reasons, took Crepitans under her tutelage.

Decades more passed before Pomana judged she had taught her young sandbox protege enough and sent him on his way, with focused goals, determination, and the skills to make his visions happen. The following period was the one that lead up to his current situation in the swamp, and was cut artificially short by the Counsellor's intervention.