weird character anatomy (pic included)

[Fluxhavok]

alright so i'm a sci fi guy taking my first stab at fantasy. and i have a couple of characters who have like... like five spikes coming out of their foreheads like a "crown of bones" and pointy elflike ears. its a mark bestowed by the gods on a ancient race. the longer the prongs on your crown of bones the stronger your magical ability. ... ahh nevermind it's a long story. anyway i can't seem to accurately describe it. people always think of the spikes like the ones on the statue of liberty, the ones that shoot straight out. anyway i drew a picture. i'm not a great artist or anything, if you can't see what i'm taking about i can draw a better one.

please give me any ideas on how to describe this.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e36/Fluxhavok/Photo26-1.jpg

[PipeandPen]

As if their faces extended, bones grew from their foreheads, slightly arching towards the crown of their heads.

Something to that effect would be the way I would handle it to start with.

[Wreybies]

Even with some intricate word play, getting the reader to see the morphology exactly as you do is going to be tough without resorting to an actual picture. I had a friend (who is an excellent graphic artist) draw one of my little sci-fi beasties for me once. His rendition was awesome, but nothing like what I had pictured in my own mind. The reader is always going to bring their own imagination to the game.

[CDRW]

They're going to have to wear only button-up shirts. :D

[Cogito]

I'd probably have a couple people whispering to one another, something like:

"Hey, what's with the spikes growing out of that guy's forehead?"

"I know. It looks like he has a crown, with the points crawling up along his scalp."

" I hear his kind all look like that. Does take some getting used to."

[mammamaia]

i wouldn't call them 'bones'... 'bony protuberances' is what such things are usually called...

are they covered with skin, or 'bare' like antlers, or horns?

[Fluxhavok]

thanks for all the advice guys. good suggetions all, especially you wreybies. in the end readers imaginations will see what they wish no matter how hard i try to guide them. maybe i'll have one of them drawn on the cover.

mammamia - the "protuberances" are flesh covered but towards the end of them the skin gets all dry and scaly. like lizard skin.

lol "button-up shirts"

[Aurora_Black]

They're going to have to wear only button-up shirts. :D

lmao!

The picture looks good to me, tough describing though, Cog's idea sounds good :D