The Iegumbra - a place beneath the fabric of the world as they know it. Most cannot even sense it, less can interact with it in any meaningful way, and even fewer still can traverse the boundaries of spacetime and enter this place that is both a dimension in of itself, and a reflection of it's umbranaut. It is a bubble in a vast ocean. For Arhulians, this place was the domain of their true power and truest self. A place disconnected from time and space in such a way one could interrogate themselves, hone discipline, and scour weakness. Provided, they can handle the isolation of their own presence.
Zel'Vultet rested his vessel. Unlike the tempestuous ripping tides of maelstrom, jagged mountains of flesh cutting rocks, or the fog smothered plane where nightmares and anxieties manifested physical forms, this vesicle universe was a reflection of it's master and the authority they commanded over their own domain. This Arhulian rested upon a great sphere of obsidian, painted in a glassy film of water. The air was still. Zel'Vultet cupped their hands in front of their body. The task was simple in concept, yet formidable in execution. Between their hands was a small, intense point of purple light. It shimmered as the stars in the clear sky did above, but not from the air. Zel'Vultet was channeling their psionic power at it's maximum, and concentrating it into the smallest point they could.
As a dam with the floodgates open, Zel'Vultet could feel the faint burning in their veins as their soul's luminescence scalded their vessel from within. It hurt. Although there was no physical need to breathe in the Iegumbra, they breathed in and out to give their vessel a rhythm to synchronize to. This point of light, as big as a marble, contained enough energy to break even the mightiest of steel-ships in half should it be manifested as raw destructive energy. In this state, it was naught but a harmless wisp.
Zul'Vultet could feel it. The pain was subsiding. Their control was growing. Their Thread - the umbilical of will that binds spirit to vessel - was acclimating to this power, and resisting the oncoming threadburn. It was arduous, meticulous work to channel psionic energy in such small increments, yet anything more could risk tearing their own thread from their vessel should they command too much power recklessly. Psionic training is as a exercise in patience as it is magnitude. What once was a raging tempest of seething energy was now a calm bead of light. The Arhulian felt the stinging pain be overcome by a surge of relief, and perhaps - a tinge of confidence. "Just a little more." They thought. As they did so, their words manifested into physical sounds in the amaranthine plane.
"The hill has been crested. Focus. Maintain. Endure. Soon, this power be yours and flow from within and without thought as blood does in your vessel." Many Non-Arhulian Psions pride themselves on channeling as much power as they can withstand in a single instant in a display of explosive power. But like an explosion, it always vanished with the moment. The innocuous miniature star that Zul'Vultet cradled was just that - a beacon of light that cascaded power pure and unending.
Discussing past relationships and what happened to Milana after she left him.
For several years after the split Hyden was far too occupied by his own issues to spare much thought for her. But news tends to get around in noble social circles.
She married wealthy, of course. And chose someone far more palatable to her parents (who she mended her relationship with after leaving Hyden). Absolutely NOT a wizard, she swore off of ever dating those things again. She had children and the family she hinted at wanting in the past. Whether any of them survived the fall of the Old Kingdoms is unknown, but reasonably likely, given that none of them had any magical blood.
She and Hyden never spoke again after the breakup and rarely if ever crossed paths at parties and events, because Hyden became something of a recluse after his injury. As you can see, he's not exactly over her (for one, he's periodically referred to her as his 'wife' and used terminology like 'divorced'--they were not married) but he seems to find more value in wallowing in his chosen narrative of "my wife left me because I'm sick :(" than in awkwardly trying and failing to talk things out. So 2/10 discomfort, perhaps. The extra point is because he has to brace himself for having his lies called out, but he's ready to defend them. Mostly he enjoys the pity party session.
(Also, the woman in the first picture hasn't been discussed before, but let's just say there are a couple reasons his fellow countrymen suspected he might have divided loyalties back in his early 20s.)
It's hard to rank how uncomfortable this question is, because Theo is certain of his goal but also has a whole lot of feelings about it. Let's just go with an arbitrary 8/10.
Theo would be inherently perturbed at anyone asking about his pet project as he has told no one besides Hyden about it -- but even putting that aside, discussing his grief and his failure to process it is naturally fraught. In this instance in particular, he's stumbling around expressing a thought he knows is not rational, but that he deeply feels to be true. It's a belief close to his heart (or, more aptly, his soul), one that straddles the line between spirituality and delusion.
Though his voice is faltering and his grasp on reality is somewhat unstable, his convictions are neither. He will never give up on Mother. He simply can't.
it's hard to describe just how much this game has utterly captivated me with it's protagonist and atmosphere. fluffy/dark-haired slightly feral bisexual with a nicotine addiction facing down indescribable horrors all while working in MYST-style isolation and clunky, tactile cassette-futurist interfaces… that's the good shit right there.
While Kel is a player avatar, I hope their "canon" story gets some charactization. Going from "Oh, god, I'm a disposable pawn and I'm never coming out of here alive." to "I have seen so much and can handle what others can't so much that they are boned if they try to silence me."
did you study fundamentals when learning to illustrate or did things just fall into place as you drew a variety of subjects? if you have any recs on art improvement books, i’d love to know
Good question!
I did study certain fundamentals (like proportions, careful observation and study-practice of different subjects, line weight, the illusion of tridimensionality and volume through Iine variety, how color can work to evoke certain emotions or atmospheres in art, etc.
The thing is, I am self-taught, so I learned a lot of this in a makeshift manner, and in random order.
The books I have used to learn fundamentals, observe animal and human anatomy, dynamism, linework etc and I would definitely recommend are:
Anything by Terryl Whitlatch
The Andrew Loomis books for human anatomy, proportions etc (very old school but good for fundamentals)
Books by Socar Myles and Linda Ravenscroft for fantasy folk/humanoids
And any anatomy books you might stumble upon, so you can observe and memorize how internal structures, bones, fat and muscle work and may affect the shape of a creature or human (then you can experiment combining anatomy of different species to create anything you want)
For more stylized art, the “How to think when you work” by the Etherington Brothers (many tutorials by them are available for free online in Deviant art and other sites) are absolutely stellar!
It all depends on the type of art you’d like to create.
I’m wishing you the best of luck with your projects and art endeavours!
@kwillow @chocodile Hey, so when I thought of this, I imagined Theo and Hyden instantly, haha. Though I don't think Theo would appreciate being called a lab rat (noun) and not lab Rat (occupation). XD
Just been wanting to getting the ball rolling on getting a world/character bible set up for my Arhulian original species. I'm wondering what questions you all got about them!
(this drawing has a silly lil short story to it. Click in "read more" to see it! )
(OCs from @screeching-raptor @anchasvtt @mixterglacia @inanator @chaifootsteps @auroranwolf )
Thank you for letting me borrow your bird babies for that! This drawing (because of ancha and raptor's OCs) is from when the skeksis were younger, that's why their face is smooth and shoiny. To everyone that did not participate, do not worry! If more people appear, I'll make a part 2 :D
Skektra's main occupation in the gold days was to throw parties to raise skeksis popularity amongst thra. Parties that, if you didn't attend, would make him extremely offended and not talk to you for a whole thrine.
This was one of the many parties he threw. A casual one, amongst his fellow skeks, in a peaceful night.
The bard was playing his favorite tunes, happy to be there, while skekmix kept him entertained talking about his numerous alchemistic stories and experiments.
Although Skektra was PRETTY CLEAR about not talking about work at his party, some of them had different plans for tonight...
Skekky was tracking some gruenak concentrations and showing their locations and next steps to Skekan and skekven (who seemed intrigued, but interested by his fellow skeksis abilities.)
Skekrho was bummed by the situation, thinking about it. "Me and Ven have a similar age... Then why is he there and I still need to sit at the kids table?! I even made the cake that's being eaten! Unfair!" He thinks about it while babysitting a small skekling.
While Skektra, the host?
Well... His body is 90% alcohol now. Once again, "too much partying" led him to fall under the table... The emperor will be furious with his incompetence tomorrow! He'll only have to decide what's worse... Having to deal with skekso in the morning or his hangover. XD
@skekdris asked Hyden whether he can still sense magic. Yes, and it's a weird, frustrating, melancholy experience. Somewhere between a phantom limb and those videos where astronauts back on earth try to set pens down in thin air and then look confused when they fall to the ground. A wizard's personal magical field feels and behaves like an extension of the body. Even for wizards who aren't all flowery and psuedosexual about magic like Hyden is, losing the ability to manipulate it would feel "wrong", like the rules of their reality have suddenly changed.
…Not that there's really much literature on the topic. Hyden's situation seems to be quite unique. Perhaps there was more information about such wizardly ailments before the fall of the Old Kingdoms, back when forehead catalyst stones weren't so unheard of.
Arhulian have the ability to use their body as a living surgery suite on patients they host. Some take it a step further and alter their vessel to be specially adapted to this task. Fleshweavers are often even bigger to allow them to intubate other, mature arhulians. They can reach staggering sizes of being 20 feet long from head to base of tail or more.
The signature "zipper mouth" and vertical maw allows the Arhulian quickly and easily intubate a patient, where they will be restrained with numerous tendrils and numerous internal hands can perform surgical tasks. There are six distinct levels of "integration" to the Arhulian's body that can be achieved.
CW: Mild Body Horror stuff below:
Stage One - Intubation: When hosting another creature, that being first has macro scale tendrils intubate the body to maintain basic vitals such as air, nutrition, and waste removal. The subject is restrained by six pairs on internal arms, while sedatives facilitate long term immobilization.
Stage Two - Vascular Integration: The host is pierced by specialized tendrils with needles for intravenous activities. Blood samples are taken for the Arhulian to analyse and "whitelist" for the Arhulian immune system. dialysis and intravenous compounds can be applied at this stage. Metabolism is slowed down to drop body heat generation as the patient now passively absorbs body heat from their host. Intensive Surgery can done at this stage.
Stage Three - Hyphal Weaving: Vine like tendrils root into the guest, and blood is exchanged with the arhulian's synthesized blood. This crashes the prey's immune system, and preps them for more cellular intertwining. At this stage, the Arhulian can mend nearly any disease, and restore the patient's body from congenital issues. Extremely advanced life support.
Stage Four - Marionette: The Arhulian pierces the prey's body with their hyphae, and tap into their nervous system. They can override autonomic functions directly, know what the prey is sensing, and can even issue commands to muscles. Nicknamed the marionette phase. Like after receiving a shock, the patient can notice how their body "acts" without their input. Pain can be muted directly without need of anesthetics.
Stage Five - Mind Splaying: The Arhulian can read your mind directly, know your thoughts, and peer into your memories They can peer into things you thought you didn't/can't remember as they can navigate your subconscious, and analyse your memories with their finer array of senses as they direct read your nerve clusters and even find weakened neural pathways unable to be navigated by the conscious mind. The mind is not altered as the Arhulian's interactions are "read only" at this stage.
Stage Six - Arhel-Vāl: "Weaving of mind and vessel" Although slow and arduous, as they have to reverse the stages one by one, the previous stages can be reversed. Stage Six is the point of no return as the patient consciousness is subsumed into the Arhulians vessel, and their old vessel becomes vestigial. The ritual can only be performed on a willing patient certain of their decision, as the stress of unwilling subsumation often shatters the mind and has dire spiritual implications for the Arhulian.
A voice comes to you. The sound is there, but their odd mouth does move to speak. "Be not afraid, little one, I will not harm you. Quite the opposite, in fact. I can take your pain away, mend your ails, and show you the stars of our home - should you accept my tender embrace.
Arhulian tongues are hollow, and can be used like straws to drink fluids, they split into four petals on the end to grab small prey, and they are quite long. This feature of biology shows how alie-
"PTHBTT!"
This featur-
"PTHBTT!"
Th-
"PTHBTT!"
They can also use it like a party noisemaker should they decide to get a little silly.
Arhulian tongues are hollow, and can be used like straws to drink fluids, they split into four petals on the end to grab small prey, and they are quite long. This feature of biology shows how alie-
"PTHBTT!"
This featur-
"PTHBTT!"
Th-
"PTHBTT!"
They can also use it like a party noisemaker should they decide to get a little silly.
