Tree Stump Settlements

 Hi!

We're about to depart on a well deserved holiday down south for a week where I suspect we shall be catching up with some relaxation, reading and perusing of National Trust properties as well as peeking into the odd bookshop but before I trundle off, I thought I'd post a bit of randomness to get the inspiration going.

Over the last couple of years I've become fascinated by the odd moss covered and decaying tree stumps that we often pass while out walking and have begun photographing them as they're oddly beautiful.

Beyond their odd beauty, I find myself pondering their similarity to the South American Tepui or tabletop mountains that Professor Challenger explored in the Lost World but in a much smaller scale. 

Some of the tiny but lush vegetation looks surprisingly like trees and it gets me to pondering creating some sort of setting where a once mighty forest of unimaginable scale has been reduced to a wasteland with the stumps of once mighty trees thrusting up from the surrounding desolation. 

Small settlements of beings could inhabit them, creating tiny fortifications to protect themselves from the creeping beasties that live on the ground level and gliders, airships or even insects could be used to travel between them. Possibly some of the closer ones could have great bridges build between them and tiny fields that are hidden in the secluded interiors could provide inhabitants with their daily needs.

What adventures could be had when the inhabitants of the stump islands descend to the ground level with its fungal forests moss and endless ferns while searching for safe passage or rare herbs or exposed mineral deposits. Could this endless morass of greenery conceal untold dangers to be fought in defence of their homes?

Now I need a new project like I need a hole in the head, especially as there is absolutely no way I can reasonably recreate the cliff like landscapes and outcrops, I doubt I'll do much more than keep taking snaps of these strange little outcroppings and musing on what tiny civilisations could live on such things.

With that said, I may end up doing a series of illustrations and fleshing out the idea a bit into a bit of an RPG type setting as it could be rather fun and a satisfying thought exercise in its own right, possibly giving me the excuse to crack out the pens and start doodling some outlandish bits and bobs!

We shall see what ideas I can come up with over the coming week and I'll post any progress when I get back. If nothing else, I may end up incorporating it into my ongoing Colostle solo RPG campaign and its a rather fun and fanciful change from my usual stuff and will hopefully act as a bit of a palette cleanser before I get back and continue with the assorted 6mm, 15mm and 28mm miniatures I've been working on.

It never ceases to amaze me how inspiration can be found in such unlikely sources but I suppose its one of the bonuses of wandering around some ancient woods on ones day off!

I doubt I'll get chance to post much over the course of the week but I've got a backlog of completed stuff that I'll try and get photos of when I get back that will hopefully be of interest to folks but in the meantime, All the best!