BeastBlood1885

Deep Bjornskar lore.

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Grey Woof

Ullrich the Grey is Orm the Ice-Wolf's oldest companion, as well as the oldest and biggest among his woof friends. He's also called Ullrich the Seer for his uncanny ability to seemingly predict events and sense thoughts and emotions from those around him.

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Drekar of the Frozen Forest

Drekar of the Frozen Forest, whose influence is felt all over the wilds of that area, preys on mental weaknesses, worsening cracks in the ice. His dread, wordless whispers drive many to lose themselves to despair, where they may very well join the countless souls haunting the forest. The Frozen Forest is called such because it quite literally is covered in ice; frozen corpses aside, the plants and trees have simply given up, letting the cold take them. This area is a warning, telling the tales of lost souls who may very well have endured, perhaps even bested, the whispers in the ice with the proper resilience and support. Life on Bjornskar is hard, so its inhabitants need to be strong. Though the Beasts are mighty of body, they must also be mighty of mind. I don't know why my brain is so obsessed with the idea of strength in adversity. It certainly comes up a lot in my stories, whether I realize it or not. I suppose it's just how my own mind likes to cope. Drekar represents mental illness, inspired mostly by depression. I thought of seasonal depression in particular, which is common during winter. He's more or less a dragon-shaped allegory. I based his design on whale carcasses; the long skull and odd bristly texture their decaying bodies have at times (think Trunko if you've ever heard of that) and icicles. His muzzle was supposed to have a droopy, downwards shape to it, which I believe would've helped to make him look unnatural, but my hand, for once in its lifetime where it would've been useful for it to refuse to draw straight lines, just couldn't get it right. For all of his malevolent influence over the forest, Drekar does nothing against those who do manage to resist him long enough, seemingly satisfied with whatever it is he got out of them.

Originally uploaded to Instagram December 12th 2023.

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The story of how Korraz met Hod, in video format.

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Ristaang the BIG MOMMA, in whose veins flows the eponymous Beast Blood; she embodies the animal and plant world as well as the strength and tenacity of the earth.

Her antlers are meant to evoke the sharp, twisting shapes of branches.

Mother Beast, Father Dragon I Among the Varldstrad’s boughs, there was Bjornskar, the Realm of Frost. There was no life on Bjornskar, for its harsh cold defeated any foe long before Beast or Dragon would. Then a mighty clash from the Varldstrad’s great guardians spilled their respective bloods, imbued with the world tree's own life-giving sap, over the frozen seas and rugged mountains of the cold realm. Thus the first Beasts and Dragons arose from the pools of shed blood, life from violence, as new trees would emerge from a forest’s ashes. When the Blood of the Beast first spilled upon the snows of Bjornskar, on the Isle of Solveig where all began, the first furry denizens of the infamous realm of frost formed. As the Great Beast Ristaang remained trapped, skewered onto deadly spires of ice by the Dragon, creatures emerged from her Blood - one by one, grotesque shapes rose from rivers of red, all bone and muscle and fur that would not only be the Dragons’ eternal rivals, but insurmountable obstacles for any who would dare invade their home. Bjornskar was so very cold, but its inhabitants would grow to appreciate it, for the Realm of Frost had its own bleak beauty to it. Colorful auroras painted its skies and reflected off its cold seas, the pale sun and moon gently lit the glistening snow, and its majestic mountains towered far above the clouds. But for the Beasts, the true beauty of Bjornskar was to be found deeper than its famed auroras. Warmed by their mountainous, furred bodies and the kindness of their hearts, the Beasts matched the tenacity of their thunderous forms with the resilience of their indomitable spirits, deriving joy and peace from the wisdom they could learn from their environment. For the Beasts, the true beauty of Bjornskar was the strength it would instill in its people.

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Of Beast, Tree and Dragon In the sea of shade, there was the Varldstrad, a Great Tree tall and strong. Its branches mighty, its needles full, its cones brimming with life; it was old and wise, a beacon in the endless dark. So full of life was the great tree that its own branches began to grow too far, twisting upon themselves. So Varldstrad gathered its own bark and leaves and sacrificed its own sap; then bark became body, sap became blood, and leaves became wings, and thus was born the Dragon, whose task was to weed out the excess life from the tree’s great boughs. But the Dragon's hunger was great, and it threatened to devour more than mere roots and pests. So Varldstrad gathered its bark, leaves and sap once more; then bark became body, sap became blood, and needles became fur, and thus was born the Beast, whose task was to protect the tree’s precious cones, to guard them against the Dragon. These great guardians would never see eye-to-eye and fought innumerable mighty clashes against the other, but they would share their home all the same - each preserving it in their own way.

I can't seem to get line breaks to work properly, so as a workaround for now, I'll just use quotes. It does give me the opportunity to put down some creative notes/thoughts below the text, though.

Varldstrad is my take on the concept of a great tree, chiefly inspired by the Norse Yggdrasil, the Irish Bíle, as well as the Erdtree in Elden Ring and the Millwood in Dark Souls III.

Varldstrad (whose name is Swedish for "world tree") is a pine tree whose cones hold realms inside. Since so much of Beast Blood is about resilience and the cold, I deemed it fitting to have the Varldstrad be an evergreen. Conifers are also my favorite trees in general, so naturally they were the first thing I thought of.