Fall Concept Development Progress Blog

(This is a deprecated blog that transferred from another website, some images are missing)

This blog contains progress from the fall Concept Development class with Professor Pasquale. Also check out my blog from summer of 2024 where I posted my initial ideation titled "Senior Project Summer Ideation". The first post on this blog contains the first iteration of my reference board along with my written description of my project pitch.

11/14/2024 New Previz Pass: I still did not get nearly as many story elements incorporated as needed and got way too tunnel visioned on aspects that were less important during this phase of the project. That being said here is the link to the YouTube upload: https://youtu.be/bsxfUdUiPxI

11/13/2024 Lighting and Rendering Updates: The link below shows my before and after of my interior shots and Raven flight shot with updates done to the fog, foliage, lighting and atmosphere as well as color grading. I think overall the exposure is improved (with some more improvement to come in the following quarters) and the color is refined a little bit more. The interior scenes have more of a spooky vibe about them. Over today I will be working to refine and render the remaining shots as much as possible: https://youtu.be/PN1m9vudDP4

11/6/2024 Reference Gathering: I am currently out of storage on my website to upload more images however I have been collecting some more reference for interior environments in general and working with AI tools to try and get some reference images for my exterior set ups as well. I plan to try out Google Sites this winter break and If I like the tool/It meets my needs than I will basically port over all my work from this site there and continue working there.

11/3/2024 Church, boats, and Blacksmith updates: I've made some additions to my scene including a better church model, and some additional assets to the blacksmith environment. I also added a few boats to the shoreline of the river though I am holding off on adding more detail there as I want to spend more time fleshing out the shape of the landscape etc. Here are some images of what I have added (I also split the bird flight shot into it's own level so I can better control the lighting):

The blacksmith scene is not the best at the moment and I am very aware of the fact it looks like a bunch of assets thrown together in a room. I am going to work on collecting some reference as well as reminding myself what technologies were available in medieval times.

10/30/2024 Motion Graphic Research/Pitch: My goal for the motion graphic intro to "Eldritch Prospect" is to begin telling the stories that are present within the environment I am showcasing in all the shots to follow. The elements I would like to include are:

• The pair of ravens

• A skull (maybe it transforms to gold)

• A pickaxe or other mining tools

• Humanoid mountain/mountain with a face (Eyes like spotlights similar to Sauron)

Beyond these specific objects I do not have any other specifics beyond perhaps including nature in some way such as the trees etc. I imagine the mountain peering out over the land in front of it and looking upon a skull which then changes color into gold and a pickaxe swings down striking it, shattering it. The crows then fly out of the void in this skull and the camera moves with them settling upon a title graphic. The title graphic would be golden in color and have roughly shaped letters to give them a "raw, molded" shape similar to this image but with some additional surface imperfections:

Title card reads "Eldritch Prospect" and the words are stacked on top of each other rather than side to side like the above example.

Here is some reference for style and looks that I am looking for:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qdPcFDLwP0 (Shot 1 of the sequence and the shots after the 10 second mark, I picture the eyes of the mountain leaving a trail similar to the light coming in through the open door.)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XU3jwFbg79w (Stop motion feel of this project, like its 18fps or some thing similar)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4PdUbCvAcQ (This is what I envision for the look and style of the skull and birds, a slightly stylized version of the real world equivalent but with a darker background like in the first example)

10/28/2024 UE Fixes, Lighting Adjustments, Additional Shots, Temp Geo and Decals: For this previz pass I have made some adjustments to lighting and places a lot of temp geo and decals for the purpose of just getting elements in. I was getting to in the weeds of attempting find or create final geo that I was losing out on including any aspect of the story to begin with. I still want to hide more details and such but I think many of them will come as I work on the project further and develop more of my own assets.

With the changes in lighting and such there is a loss of continuity between my levels which I will address at a later date. Aside from that I have added some more cameras which I plan to continue to update and modify a bit according to what I add to the project. At the moment it definitely hovers in the "look at this environment I made" zone rather then the "here's the story I am trying to tell" realm. I promise, I am painfully aware of that fact and am working towards remedying that. Disclaimers being said, here's the link to the updated previz: https://youtu.be/CuMGWcXvmW4

10/23/2024 UE Issues and Fab.com Issues:

I have decided to approach the second half of this week differently due to some tech issues. I currently can't access Fab.com at all, after attempting to login the site just sends me to an error window. I have replicated this issue on 2 devices in 3 different browsers with the same result. For now I have put in a support request and hope to receive an answer soon to verify if I have an account issue or not.
On the UE side I have a landscape material issue where in my scene looks like this:

I am trying to rectify this at the moment and look more into the texture streaming limitations of UE and what it means in terms of my scene. If the issue is in fact that too many materials or textures are in the scene then I have a few options which includes utilizing more levels to split the amount of assets in each level. This would take more time and set me back a bit but it is do able and may decrease render times in the long run which is not a bad thing. This issue only presented its self after I modified the landscape materials however so I may also try re applying the material and see what happens.

10/21/2024 Working Nanite Tessellation, Interior Progress, Lighting Experimentation: In all nanite and tessellation were a lot harder to get working than I thought they would be but alas here is a quick test I have using a Material Function linked to the snow effect:

In all I had to modify the DefaultEngine file as previously mentioned, enable nanite use on my material, Link the material function in the material instance I want the snow on, and then enable nanite on the mesh it's self. A lot of checkboxes in different areas which made trouble shooting difficult but now that I know all the steps it should be much easier going forward. Aside from the snow testing and such I have worked on the interiors a bit more as I had planned however I do not currently have renders. Here are some progress images and a technique I learned to make setting these scenes up much easier going forward:

Right now the light comes in through a large window however in the future it'll look more like a light shaft coming in through a crack in the ceiling. You can's see everything in these environments I worked on but I have highlighted the bulk. For the close up of the table (as well as the sword on the anvil) I have used physics sims to more realistically place them rather than trying to rotate and move them manually with an offset pivot. All you have to do is enable simulate physics on the mesh, ensure they have collision meshes, and then run the physics engine (which is a little different from the typical viewport). Then when the object is in a position you like press k on the keyboard and the position will be saved.

10/15/2024 Snow Research, Nanite and Tessellation, This Weekends Plan: I have been working on some less visual aspects and more technical aspects following the discussion in class on Monday. I am looking into some weather effects including rain and snow and how to go about potentially showing/creating footprints in real time or caching out existing ones for the purpose of rendering. I have gone into the DefaultEngine environment file and added two variables:

r.Nanite.AllowTessellation=1

r.Nanite.Tessallation=1

This should allow me to show snow build up on various materials, as well as allow me to better create 3D textures within my project. This helps me two fold with the snow as mentioned but also in creating a more realistic landscape material that appears 3D due to the nanite tessalation- think realistic looking puddles and bumped out pebbles on the ground etc.

Here is an example of what the UDS Weather System can create with character movements procedurally:

It looks more trail like than footprint like so It may take some refinement or manipulation. One thought I have had as I have also learned how to do physics simulations within UE5's sequencer is this: Create a series of foot shaped geo that is placed in the position of the desired footprint path, then allow each to animate according to physics (just falling straight down) thus creating the footprints. The geo would of course need to have its visibility disabled but as long as it has collision I don't see why this method wouldn't work. Making the environment snowy will also increase the material work needed drastically but I do think it can add a lot of atmosphere and help immerse the viewer in the location and story much more. The in between option would be to add rain in which I could still make the footprints appear in the mud or something. I'm not 100% sure how I would approach that yet but it would probably be similar to the snow idea but less pronounced.

This weekend coming into Mondays class next week I will have the interior scenes blocked out and rendered in an improved manor so that I can update my previz cut as well as hopefully have a method of either revealing footprints, or creating some in general. Due to the XR shoots I have been a part of, and the fact that I am responsible for creating the environment and optimizing it etc. I just didn't have the bandwidth this week to complete these interiors the last couple days. Fear not however, the shoot is on Thursday this week and will conclude the current milestone for that project so, as stated above, I can focus in on these interiors.

Here is a picture of me with my environment on the XR Stage! (I'm going to pretend that project is research for this project since it is also all UE5 except for the Houdini FX shots)

10/9/2024 Previz Updates, Birds added! Village Home Updates, Conceptual Updates: Linked below is version 3 of the previz with some changes. I added some birds to various shots (always a pair except for one shot) as well as some rough animation. in addition to this I created 3 cabin variations but plan to create some more. I scattered these cabins a bit and modified the village layout. I also have made the decision to separate most of my interior shots into a separate level so I can direct the lighting a lot more without making the wider and exterior shots look off due to disembodied lights. I unfortunately did not have enough time to do that right now so I do not have major updates in the previz for those shots.

here's the link: https://youtu.be/2PFRuQhr7K4

10/6/2024 Post Process Volume, Village Home Building: This weekend I got some updates in lighting and the sky in which I updated the clouds and sky colors etc. I also added a post process volume to add more of a green tint to my scene, add a vignette and some other more subtle changes which can be seen below where the first image is without the volume and the second is with:

In addition to this, I have experimented a bit with pathtracing though I think I will shelve it for now due to the increase in render time but also the lack of support for my current atmospheric fog etc. In pathtrace the image looks very flat and it will take more time than it is worth currently to trouble shoot and fix.

here is a current image of a Village home I have assembled:

I am trying to create 3 different versions I can scatter and modify as well as add decals onto. This screenshot is taken with 2 additional directional lights so that the village home can be better seen.

10/4/2024 Previz Update: Coming into this class I've got a small update to my previz including some lighting changes, learning the camera shake bp set up, and modifications to the village layout.

Previz V2 Link: https://youtu.be/ioxtxLwzPJw

The past week and a half have been tough in my personal life (in addition to the hurricane complicating the work environment) so I have less to show in the way of updates than I would have liked. Much like I echoed in my previous post I still want to update the village layout further to make it function both cinema graphically and as a real space. I also still want to update the camera shake and DOF etc. in many of the shots. Aside from that I have found a megascans pack for creating the cabin like structures in addition to another modular construction pack so I should be able to make better cabin or village homes going forward.

In addition to these updates I've also been doing some background research on rendering with Path Tracing as well as nanite displacement for materials (specifically landscape materials) which will allow me to create better looking materials.

9/24/2024 Asset Updates and Critique Notes: I don't have much progress to show in my 3D scene its self (it was a hectic past day and a half) however I have collected a bunch more assets and books about rendering and blueprinting in Unreal Engine which are pictured below.

I've come to the decision to use path tracing as well when I render which will be entirely new to me and not something currently taught at SCAD (at least not in the VFX department) so I will be documenting my experimentation and research with path tracing here or in a new linked blog.

Below are some screenshots of the asset packs I acquired from leartesstudios.com through the website humblebundle.com which donates a portion of the profits to charity! A class mate Sam Golden had introduced me to the site originally.

(Use the arrows on the image to view the other packs!)

I am kit-bashing various packs and modifying the materials where necessary. I am trying to avoid 3D modeling (at least as of right now) as it is not my strength and would slow my progress if I got too caught up in the details. The "Dark Medieval Megapack" there is a variety of assets that I plan to utilize as well as potentially some rigged rat models which I may include in my scene. Beside that there may be some assets I can use for the cabins themselves or the decorations inside them. The same goes for the "Stable" environment where in the main item I wish to use is the straw/haybales, and the wooden structure its self potentially. The water VFX pack I am combing through and seeing if there are any blueprints or materials I can use, especially with the river shot. The "Playground Equipment VOL.1" i want to age and potentially create a eerie playground environment but we will see in time.

This is a screenshot of the overall list of assets I acquired alongside some tutorial videos and such about modeling game ready assets. Many of these assets will not be usable for this project but here they are regardless!

Critique Notes!

The bulk of the notes I received revolved around pacing and camera angles feeling fast and sharp in their cuts which I couldn't agree with more. There was some confusion about the story which makes sense as I didn't have enough time to really flesh out a detailed environment for a first previz pass. Some of the feedback I received was a bit confusing to me however and surrounded adding a "temporary character" to help tell the story. This of course defeats the purpose of the project, that being environmental story telling so I am going to respectfully disagree with this feedback.

Caleb had a great suggestion though which was something I had been thinking a bit about already which is fleshing out the camera animation to make it more of a character in of its self. The main idea that Caleb suggested was to make the camera a sort of POV of someone exploring. I want to be a tad more subtle than that by gradually increasing camera shake and introducing some more erratic movement into the camera moves. In all I got some great feedback and will definitely be revisiting my camera moves after I flesh out the environments a tad more.

9/23/2024 First Previz reel is done!: Below is a link to the first previs reel I completed! I found it rather difficult to convey meaning through my camera angles without all the assets in my scene. It currently does not feel particularly cinematic nor is there any real narrative visible in the previz. I think the lack of character or specific subject definitely makes this more challenging.

Link to previz: https://youtu.be/OUTS0xFkXIY

Going forward I am going to make the following changes:

• Give the camera more personality and less of a "Pan left, okay push in, pan right" feel

• Add more assets or stand in props to make the narrative make more sense

• Play more with focal length and depth of field to create more dynamic shots

• Animate camera rotation in some shots

• Re-layout the town in a more sensible way to add some establishing shots of the town its self

9/22/2024 First Pass of Blocking: I've worked to develop my scene a bit and build it out with real assets as much as possible. With that in mind I chose to deprecate the version of Unreal Engine I am using for this project. I started with version 5.4 but due to the limitations/lack of tree foliage, I have chosen to utilize version 5.3 which has compatibility with the mega scans library. I weighed the pros and cons heavily as in my research part of the improvements of UE 5.4 was the quality of Lumen. Fortunately I am creating a nature scene with lumber construction, not a city full of glass and lights so I think this will not prove to hinder the results I can obtain in final render.

Aside from this change in engine version here's what I've worked on and wish to improve upon further. Due to the more fluid nature of this work flow, I am expecting some harsh critique on Monday as I do not think the cameras etc. will be strong in this blocking and it will be hard to grasp my vision:

• Created a more finalized heightmap

• Sculpted out the river bed area

• Created a rough layout of the town/cabin arrangement

• Setup preliminary camera angles and animation (expecting heavy revisions for class 10!)

9/17/2024 Environmental Stories: Alright it's time I finally discuss the stories I am going to tell after insisting upon environmental storytelling through this whole process. The ideas range from simple prop placements to entire dedicated buildings:

Bolded lines are Ideas I am strongly considering, Italicized lines are ideas I am unsure of including, normal text is ideas I could swing either way with.

• Abandoned tools and gold dust

• "The Eyes of Odin" crows Huginn and Muninn

  • Evidence of a pair of grows are visible in many shots from a pair of crow skulls along the dirt path to pictures or even an actual pair of crows flying over head in a shot

• Troll/Skogtroll Tracks

  • large foot prints are seen among the trees indicating a sinister presence

• Skogtroll Environment

  • Discussed in previous post, heightmap is going to be made to look vaguely humanoid

• Fallen trees or smashed cabins

  • Unsure of including due to modeling requirements- evidence of large creature

• Runestones and Ritual sites

  • Evidence of supernatural intervention or prayer etc. to higher powers. Can get translations to tie in actual meaning beyond the symbols themselves for any curious viewers

• A frozen clock or timepiece

  • Symbolizes the time at which the miners may have disappeared or something supernatural occurred, multiple clocks in various areas, all displaying the same time

• Nordic runes carved or hanging from trees

  • Similar to rune stones idea but present earlier on within the trees or hanging from the trees like in the film "The Ritual"

• Unused escape boat on river bank

  • Can add a bit more story to the river bank shot that is present in my story board

• Suggestive shadows of creatures or other phenomena

  • Can be large looming vaguely humanoid in shape shadows

• Gold laced bones

  • The gold the miners sought ultimately became their curse

• Dimly flickering lanterns (extremely dim, symbolize the trapped souls of those who came before)

  • Can be in the cabins or hanging from various trees on the outskirts of the town or from buildings etc.

• An overgrown shrine or effigy to a deity or monster

  • Would be a bit more modeling work then I originally wanted however it could help infer a story behind the disappearance of the miners, perhaps one miner was driven mad and prayed to the forest deity's to take them away

• Half completed construction project

  • Shows how suddenly the miners disappeared, they were still actively improving their town, it was not a choice that was made easily to attempt to flee

• A forgotten grave yard

  • can show some age to the town and also provide a canvas to tell some small stories with the causes of death etc. Maybe there is one last open grave (for the viewer dun dun dun)

• Cursed well (dim flickering light emits from the well, incorporation of Nordic water spirits)

• Shattered mirror within cabin (maybe in some way tie in faces that appear and disappear within the shards of the mirror?)

  • May be hard to execute but if done correctly can help cause massive unease within the viewer- need to be careful as to avoid a direct "character"

• Childs forgotten toy

  • A broken child's toy is found near a pile of rubble with small foot prints wandering towards the woods where they suddenly end as though the child disappeared (or was lifted by something and taken away)

• The Locked Door

  • A singular untouched cabin with an un-opening door covered in scratches as something tried to get in indicating either someone or something is still inside

• The silent blacksmiths forge

  • A blacksmiths forge with unfinished projects sitting exactly where they were left untouched except for that of dust and rust. A single pristine blade remains.

• The collapsed shaft- inclusion of Nordic folklore creature Fáfnir

  • Fáfnir is a worm like dragon said to live deep within the ground with a golden hoard, the miners dug too far and were met with unimaginable horrors. Clawed boulders and boards mark where a mineshaft once stood

• Vanishing trails of foot prints

  • similar to the idea with the child's toy, foot prints lead to the woods and disappear as they get closer to the forest edge.

• Faded family portrait with faint outline of something behind

  • faded and weathered portrait of a family with an ominous shadow present in the background, easy to mistake for a trick of the light

• Wall writing- mentions of "The Eyes of Odin"

  • charcoal or other drawing substrate used to make walls and other parts of the town warning of something or someone watching the town- when the camera approached these, faint whispers of the warnings can be heard.

I feel like this list gives me a lot to work with and a lot of ideas that I can tie into my environment. Due to the iterative nature of Unreal Engine I am struggling to create my story board. I have one started but due to the uncertainty of where to place trees etc. I feel I have the implications of shots but not the shots themselves well thought out in advance. After class tomorrow I will revise and then post my storyboard but I think that 3D block out will be better. I also am not sure of the runtime for this project as I don't want to over commit but I also feel want it to be long enough that I can include many of these ideas without cluttering my frames full of assets. I think as I work I may add shots and make some modifications however I need to remind myself to be careful not too add shots just because they would "look cool" or some other reason but because they actually help tell my story. Speaking of which, what is my over all story? Well, here goes:

In the 1800's a group of miners make an expedition to go mining for gold in the remote Nordic Wilderness (Located in Northern Norway). They build a town, Dödnheim (Norwegian for "dead home" pronounced dod-en-eye-m), and dig many mineshafts after finding evidence of gold. Problem is, these miners didn't know that where they actually chose to mine was the remains of a Skogtroll who's bodies are rich in resources. This upsets the spirits of the forest and various folklore inspired creatures, and the miners find themselves slowly disappearing. Concerned with the disappearances of their friends and appearances of ominous ravens and other concerning details like large foot prints in the trees, the miners decide to abandon the town as it was, however none of the miners made it very far when they decided to leave. Now all that remains is the slowly decaying town of the miners as well as supernatural foot prints that despite the passage of time remain untouched, as though they only just appeared. He who dares explore Dödnheim may be doomed to the same fate.

9/15/2024 Additional Reference and Heightmap Exploration: I conducted additional research into Nordic folklore as well as the nature of vegetation throughout Norway its self. I purchased a book by the publisher DK EYEWITNESS titled "Norway"

This book serves as a tourism guide talking about the early history, art, and various cities of Norway. It also has maps of the country and various images that show the architecture and landscapes throughout the country. Following conversations with Professor Pasquale I am looking into revising how heavily forested my scene is. My new idea is as follows:

• Establishing shot: densely forested

• Long shot: forested but a bit less so

• First shot on the dirt path: still forested but again, becoming more sparse

• Every subsequent shot approaching and exploring the cabins: levels of vegetation drop the closer to the cabins making it a "dead zone" of sorts

The Idea behind this change is to both address the feedback from Professor Pasquale, but also to add a new story telling element. The miners who built these cabins disturbed nature and ultimately paid the price for doing so. They cut down the nearby trees to build the cabins and the Nordic spirits who inhabit the forest never allowed the trees to regrow to spite the graves of the miners. Vegetation approaching these cabins becomes more bush like and ground cover, rather than dense or thick trees etc.

I also explored a bit with the idea of incorporating a "Skogtroll" into the heightmap as pictured below.

The Idea is that a now dormant Skogtroll is the very landscape that this scene inhabits. I want to tie this into the heightmap but also the landscape behind the cabins. here is a rough depiction of my intentions within Gaea:

I had a conversation with one of my child hood friends Stephen who is an engineer and he shared some interesting reference with me that I haven't documented here yet. He suggested the thought of recognizing faces in patterns which I will discuss in more detail but first, running with this idea, I want to shape the mountain that will be visible behind the cabins to resemble a face in a subtle way. I don't want to shift the focal point to the mountain or make it too distracting but I do think it will be a great detail to include, both to pay homage to this creature/painting from above by artist Theodor Kittelsen, as well as aid in making the viewer uncomfortable. The reference my friend gave to me was from a book. I don't currently have the title but I have some images that he was able to get his mother to send me:

In this book the squire recognizes evil carvings in the cave walls (faces) whilst the knight greedily looks after the jewels and is lured toward the evil. in addition to this book he also shared the film "Return to Oz" from 1985 in which a stone character morphs and changes revealing faces and varying patterns in its body and the walls of the chamber.

Here is a YouTube link to a clip of this film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4lhGXLzIYQ

I don't intend to have any animated faces in my walls or anything like that but I do like the idea of manipulating my assets to include subtle human like faces to add to the unease the viewers feel.

Aside from those ideas I also learned more about folk creatures like the ravens Huginn and Muninn or "The Eyes of Odin" which were a pair of ravens said to fly across the world every day and report back to Odin about what they saw. Creatures like these I think I can incorporate in subtle ways such as a pair of raven skulls somewhere in my scene which both tell a story and connect my environment to its real life counterpart of Norway.

Coming later this week I plan to start my 3D block out of my scene and figure out my camera composition. With that I also want to solidify the little story moments I want to tell so that I have more of a solidified narrative.

9/10/2024 Project Pitch: "Eldritch Prospect" is the current working title for my senior environmental story telling project. This Environment takes place in a remote Nordic forest and explores a desolate 1800's gold rush town with a mysterious past. There are no characters, no dialogue or narration, but plenty of subtle stories that the environment is trying to tell you including what happened to the miners that once inhabited and disturbed this remote forest.

Below is my reference board and some close ups for ease of viewing which I will explain just below!

In this section I wish to break down the sub sections of my reference and explain my goals and intentions for this project.

Section 1, Foliage Reference: I want to have a densely forested scene wherein the camera can peer between the tree trunks but from an aerial establishing shot view, cannot penetrate the foliage. The ground is covered in smaller ferns, moss, and other ground cover, but a overgrown dirt path is visible. The forest floor is not completely green but more so patchy with sticks and mud.

Section 2, Lighting Reference: My scene will look dim and foggy like its an over cast day with rain on the forecast. Its maybe 4pm. and the sun is lower attributing to long shadows where possible. The color pallet is vibrant but neutral in terms or warm or cool tones. The green of the foliage is piercing and the dirt path is deep brown.

Section 3, Weather Ideas: I am playing with a few ideas but one way or the other moisture is present be it in mud, rain, or snow. A humid foggy, muddy scene is the minimum but I do want to play with rain and rain puddles as well as snow. I am not sure If I can achieve the results I am looking for in these weather set ups but I will experiment and see what I can do. If my tests are successful I may make two versions and see what my peers think.

Section 4, Nordic Fauna: The purpose of including Nordic fauna in my reference is purely to keep in mind what sounds I may hear in this environment and what foot prints or evidence of wild life I may be able to include in my environment.

Section 5, Shot Reference: In the same vein as the weather ideas, I want to challenge myself to include a river in my opening establishing shots, however if I can not achieve the desired result, the river is ultimately secondary to the rest of the environment. I want to start with some opening drone shots that show the vastness of the forest, and then cut in closer to the potential river or creek bed scene, then cut again into the forest its self. I then plan to travel through this forest, peering through the trees at the abandoned mining town ahead. I then want to explore some of these cabins either from the outside looking in, or from the interior its self.

Section 6, Cabin Reference: The look of the cabins at current will be 1800's Norwegian village style construction with some dual level cabins as shown or the lower to the ground mossy roof design. I am looking into the more Viking stave like designs and considering them as well, as they do look quite cool and would give an ominous feel with the darker foggy lighting. I will update this as I make that decision!

Section 7, Creature Reference: I have this section for the same reason I have the Nordic fauna section- I want to conceptualize a creature that stalks this forest so that I can determine what impact it has on the environment and how that may effect the story I am trying to tell in this environment.