Humans are dangerous. Just as their brilliant minds bring the stars to their fingertips, so too does it place fiery brimstone at their heels. If you are able to comprehend these words, then you too know this fact better than any wild beast will ever be able to understand, even more so for occupants of human-adjacent vessels irreparably warped by man's cruel, clever hands. We of the lesser race, of the smaller, weaker kind, are of particular interest to them, and must thusly avoid them at all cost. But without the knowledge to do so, the sole asset placing us on any semblance of equal footing with the enemy is squandered, our lives forfeit to fear and terror. That is why this guide exists: to give the weak every possible avenue to avoid the strong, to create escapes where there previously seemed none. Because though the human threat is strong and witty, we need only to look to the masters that have survived their reign for thousands of years to scuttle free.
At long last, I present to you every last bit of information I have on Piper's bug-based martial art form, Scuttle! It's a work-in-progress that is highly subject to change, so I'm really interested to hear other people's questions, critiques and additions. Please don't be shy!
First and foremost, Scuttle is not a guide on how to kill humans. As far as Scuttle is concerned, killing a human is completely impossible and any attempts to do so are suicidal. Rather, it is a guide on how to avoid them by any means necessary and reasonably executed by a tiny (1-5") humanoid that is surviving on their own. It does this by categorizing bug-inspired techniques, also known as bugforms, into a simple 3-part plan on what to do in the presence of a human, each of which is only to be progressed to if the previous part fails:
1- Don't Get Caught (Wings)
2- Run Away (Legs)
3- Strike Back (Sting)
Wings has everything one needs to know about staying out of sight, Legs on creating distance once they've been sighted, and Sting on freeing oneself from a human's grasp should they find themselves there. Every Scuttle part after 1 exists to get the scuttler back to part 1 as smoothly as possible, so a seasoned scuttler would seldom (if ever) see past it under ideal circumstances. That being said, reality is often disappointing, so parts 2 and 3 should be studied closely regardless.
Scuttle also uses a set of highly versatile tools in the vast majority of its techniques. These are called the dreipoints, and there is so much info on them that they will be getting their own section right under this one.
Dreipoints
The dreipoints are a set of two needles, one with one point, the other with two, called the einpoint and zweipoint (or just ein and zwei) respectively. Their primary purpose is to grant the wielder the tiniest bit of extra breathing room during scuttles so that the scuttler has that much more time to react. They accomplish this by creating distance from the human threat while simultaneously granting extra mobility to the wielder, greatly increasing chances of survival so long as they are held on the scuttler's person.
Note that they are referred to as tools rather than weapons, and that a scuttler should always aim to have just one of each point rather than any more of one type. You won't avoid being crushed under a boot by doubling your einpoints, just as you wont inflict any more damage to someone a hundred times your size by stabbing them with two zweipoints. Carrying any more than one set of dreipoints stifles mobility, and should therefore be avoided.
While it is important to the full techniques of Scuttle that scuttlers have one einpoint and zweipoint, both are not required to utilize some of the bugforms to be discussed. This art form is nothing if not accommodating after all, which is also why dreipoints can reasonably come in many different shapes and sizes. Some suitable materials include:
Wood- Best resorted to if none of the other materials can be found. easily worked into a sharp point, but doesn't work well for much past that due to material weakness and roughness.
Chitin- Refers to points made of bug parts such as stingers and mandibles. Naturally sharp and can be poisonous, but not easily obtained.
Metal- Metal points must be scavenged, and are usually found in the form of knitting or medical needles, or even nails and screws. Durable, potentially poisonous, and extremely sharp. These points are ideal.
Glass- Must be scavenged in the form of broken glass. Material's natural sharpness makes this a fantastic choice for defensive use, but is otherwise so brittle that it isn't terribly useful as part of climbing tools.
Other materials such as plastic or paper could also be used if circumstances prevent the use of aforementioned resources.
To maximize mobility, neither dreipoint should be any longer than 3/4 of the scuttler's height. Longer points can be worked with, but they become more unwieldy with length. Similarly, certain wide points like screws and nails can become cumbersome. Do not hesitate to drop your dreipoints during a scuttle to free up extra movement. The ultimate goal is escaping the human, not defeating it.
Certain point types provide their own advantages to scuttlers in distress. Scavenged einpoints have an especially wide selection by comparison to zweipoints, a few of which will be listed here.
Einpoints
Screw
Nail
Sewing Pin
Sewing Needle
Suture Needle
Fish Hook
Thumbtack
Specimen Needle
Hypodermic Needle
Dart Tip
Zweipoints
Porcupine Quill
Sharpened Feather Quill
Medical Transfer Needle
Double-Ended Upholstery Needle
Shaved Specimen Needle
Ideally, the dreipoints will only be used as tool handles or climbing sticks. Worst case scenario, they are for escaping from humans. A sting from a distance allows the most probable means of escape to smalluns that may find themselves in a bind, and the dreipoints exist to create the opening and get them away, but only when wielded in capable hands. This is where bugforms come into play.
Bugforms by Part
As previously mentioned, each part contains several bugforms to guide scuttlers back out of a human's sight. Each will be discussed here, but a more detailed exploration of them must be done through their own individual posts lest this one get too long.
Wings
Roach- Hiding your existence. Unlike walking stick, roach focuses on the best means of hiding deep within the recesses of a home and staying totally hidden while minimizing any risk of ever being found. It also emphasizes resilience, strength, and endurance training. In other words, roach is the techniques used to set up your body and dojo to train in the other ways of Scuttle.
Walking Stick- Hiding in plain sight. Especially useful to scuttlers stuck in precarious positions, such as high up on a shelf, or suspended from a cord.
Cricket- Pass without trace on ground level. Involves means of identifying and utilizing escape routes, creating escape routes if they aren't available, and further minimizing traces of your existence.
Moth- Pass without trace vertically. Just as a moth leaves traces of itself in dust form, a scuttler is bound to leave traces of their struggle to climb no matter what method they use unless they are able to utilize the cricket to ascend. As such, moth mostly explores different means of climbing using the dreipoints while leaving little evidence of doing so.
Also, just as an insect's wings won't work while wet, a scuttler's ability to flea is severely hindered in water. Avoid it whenever possible, but utilize each part as appropriate either way.
Legs
Fly- Embodies observation and reaction. It's best if you see your enemy before they see you, so you have to be the one with a more observant eye. Also explores the reaction- If you've been spotted, you can't afford to hesitate. Run away, and be ready to react to anything they may do next.
Centipede- Running from the ground. Also includes quick means of escape if it involves shoving yourself into a tight space.
Grasshopper- Running from a height. Includes what to do if you're spotted in the situations mentioned in walking stick.
Click Beetle- Explains recovery if one should falter in their escape, but hasn't yet progressed to Sting.
Sting
Mantis- The art of deception during combat, and how to react offensively rather than defensively as in the case of the fly.
Stag Beetle- Grounded struggles and how to effectively use what little strength you have to escape. Though personal strength is the main focus of stag beetle techniques, it also goes over how to channel that strength into the very tips of one's dreipoints.
Wasp- Ungrounded struggles and how to maneuver the dreipoints to most effectively get the target away from oneself.
Assassin Bug- Active dirty tactics such as the use of poisons and blinding sprays.
Spider- Passive dirty tactics. This includes preemptive placement of traps, and using the terrain to further harm the enemy.
So yea! That's what I've got so far. Scuttle also has a sub discipline called Slink that focuses on outdoor survival, but that one is entirely too underdeveloped for me to show at the moment. And like I said before, please don't hesitate to comment! I'd love to hear other people's opinions on this idea.
Alrighty! I’ve got both their profile pictures ready for when Art Fight fixes up whatever issues they’re having with their email provider, so here are the refs of both Piper and Alec. Divide is for Breaking Point spoilers!
Piper Pointe is a mercenary with an extremely small stature, coming in at only 2.5in tall. She has no idea how it happened, only that it is somehow vaguely connected to her previous line of work. At odds with the new world she finds herself in, she often comes off as extremely rude, vulgar, and aggressive to anyone she meets, but she wasn’t always like this. Back when she was part of a team, her leadership skills brought her and her squad through many a battle even as the pressure would have been too much for most to bear. Sometimes this part of Pointe shines through, though very rarely, especially now that everyone is a potential threat. A cornered animal without its pack has nothing to lose, so why not make a joke of it all?
When she isn’t being a little roach of a woman, she’s practical, realistic, and surprisingly understanding. She went into the military because she wanted to protect people, after all. It’s another reason why she feels so betrayed when Kyle and Grey treat her the way they did. Deep down, she wants to believe that Alec is different, but experience has proven time and again that every person she meets always ends up being the same no matter how much they deny it initially. The scars adorning her limbs, body and mind are proof enough that perhaps she was never meant to be part of a team..
! I will add more to this reference later to include her scars. For now, just know that she has two big scars on her right leg, one on her left arm (partially revealed in this ref), a few medium-sized, circular ones dotting her upper arms/shoulders, and a whole bunch of smaller ones on the rest of her body.
Alec Yrmec is an unremarkable 9th-grade chemistry teacher that does his due diligence and doesn’t have much to complain about. He loves his job, has a small but good group of friends, and works to keep as much drama out of his life as possible. His family makes this quite a task, as they somehow manage to make his life a live soap opera at every possible turn. His half-brother Grey is one of the few people from his family that he enjoys living by, even if they don’t talk terribly often.
Alec’s biology teacher friend Sarah discovers Piper on the floor of his study while both are up late grading papers one night. Alec nearly crushes Piper to death on accident during the ensuing struggle to capture her, and he still feels awful about it. He’s scared to admit it, but Alec has an awful lot of unresolved issues that result in a fear of abandonment, and a *lot* of aggression boiling just beneath his calm, introverted self. Without a means to properly vent and unwilling to burden his friends with his issues, they manifest in short bursts of clinginess and/or anger. Especially inconvenient for someone like Piper, who is too small to resist. He just wants to hold her and keep her safe.. can you really blame him?
Sooo yea! These two are currently living together under Alec’s roof. His chapters are still a ways away from being implemented in Breaking Point, but I’m so interested in developing his character and learning more about him as I write that he’s the captor I’ve drawn the most. More to come in the future!
I drew up a banner featuring two of several characters I've been meaning to make refs/write things for for a long time. Their names are Alec (the big) and Piper (the small). She really thought she was slick.. too bad she forgot to check both flanks.
Piper's ref sheet is actually sketched up and in the process of being lined, but I've been busy with other things this month so I haven't been able to finish it.
