Been doodling during lull periods at work and made some designs for some of my races from certain periods of time in my Arachnia setting. Thought I'd share here for funsies. Each pic also has a lot of lore written beneath it, if that's your thing. :V
Northern Huldra (Circa 0 A.C.): Huldra clad in painted steel and symbols of their twin god, Ilapriat. When the Great Cataclysm caused land masses to break apart and shift uncontrollably, two distinct huldra cultures were interlinked to a new continent now known as Tenrai. Lines were quickly drawn in the sand due to the Southern Huldra following the "old ways" and the Northern Huldra following the "new ways" (which would be considered ancient by any other race's metric). Despite their borders and walls, this was not enough to satisfy either side and strong feelings of animosity were born due to differences in culture and religious beliefs. Small raids and skirmishes erupted into battles and eventually war, for wars over land or resources can eventually be satisfied, but wars over beliefs often don't end until one side is either dead or reduced to insignificance. Thus began the Huldra Civil War, and the fighting between the two different kinds of Huldra would continue for over a thousand years after the Great Cataclysm, changing not only their way of life, but even their very appearance, as Northern Huldra have lion-like tails, whereas Southern Huldra have fox-like tails.
Ice Age Warriors (Circa 8,000 B.C.): Human (left) and Tero (right) warriors from the harsh Ice Age that followed a great war between the gods and titanic beings known as the Sho-Qwala. Humans and Tero fought alongside the God of the Sun, Thufarr, in order to repel the giants, which were led by the God of War, Cheruvyx. This conflict was known simply as the Giant Wars, and both Tero and Humans fought to push back against the giants and banish them from the main continent (if not outright kill them). Later the giants would spread throughout the world and seek refuge in previously unexplored corners of the globe, hiding and trying to either live peaceful lives or plot their revenge. Particularly evil giants would later turn into cyclopes, transformed into monsters by their malice born from oppression. Though the reason has long been forgotten, even to this day, cyclopes despise Thufarr, Humans, and Tero.
Alulan Invader (Circa 425 B.C.): A typical soldier part of the Alulan Dominion. Invaders from the desert world of Xerozyg, they were brought to another world alongside their goddess Spinthra on biomechanical ships in pursuit of the fleeing god, Ilapriat. Long ago, Spinthra had woven a powerful magic artifact that could protect her from divine energies and reflect a god's might back at them no matter how or where they struck. Spinthra used this to defeat Ilapriat in battle and wipe out the first generation of Huldra, conquering Xerozyg for herself. When Spinthra arrived on this new world and used the very same mirror to beat back the gods of that world, she put a naming curse on the world so that it would forever more be known as Arachnia. Even if someone tried saying another name, the curse would change the word as it came out of that person's mouth.
The children of Spinthra, the Alulans, were known to be warriors of incredibly physical prowess, able to throw foes several times larger than them and leap great distances. The truth was that Xerozyg had incredibly intense gravity, so when first walking on Arachnia, even boulders felt light as a feather to a typical Alulan. This extreme difference in perceived strength allowed the Alulans to successfully conquer Arachnia beside their mother goddess - though the Alulan Dominion would not last, as it was eventually foiled by King Illarion and his knights, making it (ironically) the shortest-lived empire in all of Arachnia's history (500 BC - 400 BC). The great strength of Alulans was also shortlived, waning in less than a year as their bodies adapted to Arachnia. It was only through their goddess's power, their intellect, and advanced biotechnology that they were able to keep the world under heel for a century. During their reign, Alulans would advance the art of chemeia, which they called Al-kimiya. This marked the beginning of the practice known as Alchemy.
