The Gloamingfell Mutation – Concept

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The Gloamingfell Mutation (pictured above): From left to right, any normal Zirynavin, or "Tree-Folk", will experience such a mutation if they become trapped within the dark depths of Gloamingfell Vale. Changes will vary and will be different from person to person.
For years, the citizens of Cardinal Creek have known of the existence of the Gloamingfell Vale, but most do not understand the true danger of this dark and unknowable place. Whilst the depths of the Vale do unspeakable things to humans, it does something completely different to the Zirynavin.
Only a handful of Zirynavin live in the human settlement of Cardinal Creek, and every single one of them confess that they can "hear" a call, one that comes from the Vale and bids them come and dwell within it. One Zirynavin woman (pictured above) succumbed to that call, and when she emerged from that hellish place, she had been irrevocably changed.
She no longer speaks. She shuffles about, staring blankly at everything she looks at as she completes rudimentary tasks. Her tears have burned into her plant-like flesh, which had become wooden in her absence. Bramble-like horns have grown out of the top of her head.
The people of Cardinal Creek keep her around out of pity, and perhaps a little bit of guilt.