"Pffft- Look at these crazy little fellas, going at a strawberry plant with bladed weapons. I mean, granted it ain't a bad idea, buuuut- Oh yeah, right- I'm supposed to be writing one of them data logs for Proto since I'm a farmer and all that junk. Uhhhhh hmmm... So like, sometime during Cycle 9, the parasitic plant goddess, "Mother" kinda sorta spread her influence all around and effected a lot of plant life. One of those being any berry producing plant and turning them into "Hydras" or making them more draconic in nature. It doesn't apply to ALL berry plants in our current time, like I'm going to keep it real, Blueberries were not touched by her influence, but are infinitely more deadly since they... Explode to spread their seeds and are as big as my torso, but like- a lot of berry plants got these big snappers and are pretty ravenously hungry for anything they can get their vines on. They grow, and grow and grow, and basically become too big for their own garden. This also includes a lot of infighting and stuff, and their limited intelligence may have them trying to eat itself...

Now, the real kicker is Mother did this so any creature that wanted to forage for berries would be sorta done for? I mean, that ain't what happened at all though and it was kind of a stupid plan, most armor nowadays, and a lot of creatures can resist the berry plant's beak as it has miserable jaw power. Like, even more so it usually chokes on anything it tries to swallow whole since it can't even properly chew its food. The thing that actually makes this plant so dangerous is when it eats nearby plant life that can't really fight back. That and of course it's vines that are great at manipulation and grabbing things. A berry plant will usually eat and out-compete all other plants in a forest, find nothing to eat and then wither up and die because it can't properly sustain itself, ruining ENTIRE ecosystems and making lands miserable, rotten and barren. Despite EVERYTHING I've said, these plants literally founded many of our agriculture techniques today. Even getting the morbid nickname of "Corpse Plant" for... Okay, you can guess why.

The plants are a literal STAPLE of so many different empires and societies and stuff in the Realm of Materia as its plant-y meat is THE most common food source. Also, with its ravenous appetite and how much it grows, it certainly explains why some beasts on this planet or- uh- "realm" can get so big. The image that Proto just sent me though annoys me, we have so many better ways to harvest them instead of sending actual soldiers at them! Come on man! They're really not that scary... If you wanna show off scary plants? Send me a picture next time of "Blueberry" accidents and or pillars forbid, the dreaded "Banana Tree", which ya know- Also ain't a part of Mother's influence, but uh- they do make a good, ranged weapon for better or for worse. I mean- the Bananas when you actually get your hands on them as I wouldn't dare wanna really eat one... A delicacy plant ya know?...

...Bananas are a berry right?"

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It's been a moment since I've done any monster related posts of Skin to Scales- I also wanted to ensure monsters actually "exist" in the universe and have a reasoning for being there instead of them just being... Useless fodder or are just there for a "gameplay" standpoint, I want them to actually live, breathe and exist as well as how impactful they are. Hunter's log is a bit mystical and jarring, but that's also kind of the point. You can also probably tell this is long after her adventures with the Boars of War. (Also, the grammatical errors and lack of intelligence are still purposeful as I wanted to still show various skill levels of writing for the characters.)

Until next time! Thank you for reading!

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Disclaimer and Copyright: These characters involved, and the artwork belongs to me, TwistedHensley. The Skin to Scales Universe also belongs to me there, TwistedHensley... You get the drill. I want to point out that this is an Epic Dark Fantasy setting with a lot of mythological and religious tones and that there is no real-life connection to any of these events, religions, characters and it is fully, grounded, in fantasy. There is no copyright infringement also intended to other forms of media as Skin to Scales is meant to be its own thing and something I've been working on for a very long time. This is the same setting where faith is a massive part of the magic system, and it is usually meant to have a very bright and colorful art style to help balance the tone.

Other Disclaimer: You are allowed to share my artwork as long as I am credited, but do not upload it anywhere else, edit it and or mark it as your own if that wasn't common sense.