consistent inconsistency

It's the time of year when I draw one (1) not "weird" drawing to send to friends and family.

#christmas card

Hunters' meeting

#cireks

Dwarf design commission. Commissioner wanted them to look artificial and being able to fold into themselves with a metallic like exoskeleton but still be a biological being. Quite an unusual design for me but I'm happy for the challenge.

#commission

A single short whoop breaks the quiet of the night, melodic but hollow, it reminds you of an old bronze bell somehow. A cirek stands on a tree stump in the clearing, surveying its surroundings.

You squint your eyes in the direction of the forest edge, between the shadows and the mist you see pale, humanoid shapes. It's not ghosts, not this time, but a herd of brynaglo. This nocturnal herbivore has an inquisitive but careful nature, listening with its large ears to anything that catches its interest before slowly and quietly approaching. It's not unusual for brynaglo to approach campsites in or close to the forest, often with terrifying effect on non locals.

You're drunkenly stumbling home one night and from the duckboards through the booze haze you see the most scrumptious ass teasingly glide away deeper into the dark swamp. You follow, legs getting heavier and orientation more difficult by each step.

How many times that scenario has played out in Ditovo is not easy to calculate but it's likely not zero. The more sober locals will tell you that the slamreta, also known as "harlot of the lake", is not a malicious creature, it wants nothing to do with you in fact. This animal uses inflatable sacs on its hind legs to float on the water's surface perfectly still as it looks for fish or other small things to eat. It hunts using its sharp vision and plunges its long neck to reach prey. It's long tail is curled up to act as a stabilizing anchor. At sign of danger the slamreta can deflate the hind leg sacs to dive and swim away. It spends most of its time in water and will build a nest in-between reeds or other shore vegetation.

As if "swallowed by the earth" is a way to describe someone who's gone missing without a trace, particularly in the woods, but in Ditovo it may be more than just a saying. At least if you believe the many legends and folktales about giant plumsaina, or as they're more commonly known "earth belly". The plant does exist but usually it is only big enough to catch small vertebrates, which it does when prey step onto its camouflaged trap door and fall into the pit of the plant filled with digestive liquid and downward pointing spikes preventing escape. The roots of the plant are for storing nutrients and other substances, as well as firmly anchoring the plant in the ground when prey is thrashing about inside it. In order to reproduce the earth belly sprouts a red flower above the surface, a red flag that may perhaps save the life of one who recognizes it.

Onyx and the 5 red - a pack of prized hunting hounds. The red variation of the field breed, especially those with the "blood mask", are renowned for their bravery, strength, and tenacity. The "ember" variant (black with red markings on face and legs) is the most exclusive color of the breed, valued for its elegance and intelligence.

My contribution to the Darkest Dungeon "Fools and Corpses" fanzine back in 2021. Grandpa Man-At-Arms spending quality time with three of his adopted granddaughters.

#darkest dungeon #fanart

Commission of a goblin-fae-like creature.

Three more people

(commission)

Really happy with these guys, they were all great fun to work on. I had some guidelines from the commissioner but got free reins for most of the outfits. Love that the crocodile crop top got a pass.

Let’s dance!

#cireks

Seven people

(commission)

#commission

Freshwater beasts. I don’t have names or much info on any of them except they’re all slightly cursed.

So…humans. Humans have always been a part of this worlbuilding project’s setting. Regular-ass old humans. However an issue I later would realize is that there are no 1-to-1 Earth animals in this setting even though some species can look quite similar to an Earth counterpart. There are dogs that are not quite dogs, lizards that are not quite lizards etc. So what about humans? I’ve already written a lot about their way of life, culture, history and so on and it all kinda assumes they are just regular-ass old humans. I didn’t want to make too big of a change, nothing too crazy. I actually wanted them to look like people with Star Trek level of makeup and prosthetics. So well, here they are.

(They’re neither mammals nor amphibians as neither animal group exist here. The setting is not Earth, the setting has a different evolution and different classifications of animal groups. Don’t worry about it.)

Ditovians (and other people of the islands of the Sea of Giants)

1. The ancestor of Ditovians was an “amphibian-like” animal and the modern humans still retain some physical traits that hint of an at least semi-aquatic lifestyle. Most noticeably are their gill like protrusions called rami behind where their outer ears should have been. The rami no longer support breathing under water instead they have evolved to aid in hearing by improving the localization of sound direction. Folds on the side of the torso are also remnants of a time when the ditovian ancestors could breathe under water. Today some people, especially of the Sarbrin culture, claim to be able to reconnect with ancestors and learn this “skill” again through intense practice and meditation.

2. Colors of the rami vary from pink to red, purple and even blue. While brighter colors are seen as a masculine trait it is not exclusive to the male sex. The rami also play some role in indication of mood. All ditovians have lower arms and lower legs in a darker shade than the rest of the body and on the back there are spots in the same color.

3. Ditovian, along with the other native people of the islands of the region lack outer ears and have instead tympanum, an oval shape covering their inner ear. Like in frogs, the inner ear connects to the lungs. On another note, their 6 most frontal teeth in both the upper and lower jaw are pointy.

4. The eyes have slightly horizontally oval pupils. The iris is typically dark in shades of green, brown, or grey, with a lighter colored circle around the pupil.

5. The hand has long fingers with some slight webbing in-between. They completely lack fingernails, the same goes for the toes.

6. In Ditovo the animal closest related to the ditovian humans is the whisper monkey. They share a few notable physical characteristics like typanum and the lack of nails but otherwise their species took different evolutionary paths a long time ago.

Davin Karein

(commission)

#commission