Love Is a Many-Headed Thing, Part VII

On a trip to Australia some time last year, I went to a dry night market that catered mostly to the tourist trade. There, I came upon a stall where a man had a few small snakes for people to touch. Seeing other passersby petting some of the reptiles, I approached the stall and ran my fingers over one snake. I smiled with delight as I felt the smooth, bumpy texture of its scales under my fingers. It felt no different from a snakeskin wallet, I thought to myself. I turned to my colleague, who had accompanied me to the night market, and I asked him if he wanted to give it a go. He shook his head with such vigor that if some snakes were to land on him at that very moment, they would immediately have been flung several feet away. When I turned back to the snakes, I then espied a small sign on the stall that said, “Suggested donation: 20 dollars.” I had felt no fear while touching the snake, but the sign filled me with such apprehension that I slinked away and never went back.

The hydra model that I am making will only be seen and never touched, of course, but if the sight of it can evoke a feel of smooth, bumpy snakeskin, then I’ll know that I’ve created a good model. In that regard, I believe I’ve succeeded, as evidenced by the picture below.

When NWN2 players see this snake in game, they aren’t likely to say, “Ooh, look at those scales, so detailed and realistic.” No, they’ll say, “Holy crap! A huge, effin’ snake,” and they will proceed to kill my lovely creation.