Forgot to post this earlier, but better late than never? Last fall, a friend of mine wrote a scene that stayed with me, and in February I decided to try my hand at drawing it! The Arrest of Cliopher Mdang is fantastic and can be read here💜
A friend of mine wrote a story that I loved, and I finally managed to draw one of my favorite scenes from it 💜 You can read the amazing Tenebra, or The Crow here!
This scene from At the Feet of the Sun has lived rent-free in my head since I read it, and I finally got around to drawing it in October (my tumblr is, as always, running a bit behind…)
Rote Ladies Big Bang 2023, prompt #25: It was the end but she didn’t know it yet
Upon a dais stood a figure dressed in a flowing garment that shimmered with the glint of gold thread. She wore a gilded wooden crown decorated with cunningly carved and painted rooster heads and tail feathers. Her sceptre was no more than a feather duster but she gestured with it royally as she issued some decree. In the circle about me, folk roared with laughter. I could only stare at her ice-white skin and colourless eyes. She looked right at me.
- Assassin’s Quest
To launch my RLBB2023, a female character who has never even been named or had a speaking role, but captured my imagination from the moment she first appeared: Realder’s White Prophet 💜
In October 2021, I participated in the Once Upon a Haunted Forest art challenge hosted by moonbound.studio and kneeleyp and created the story below, originally published on my IG account between October 2021 and January 2022 (I’m... slow XD But I finished it and I’m very proud of myself!). The original prompt list, which I’ve cut and skipped to match my energy levels, can be seen in the IG posts. I’ve been meaning to put it together in one slightly edited post here since then, but only managed to get to that now (I kept telling myself I would fix some things in the illustrations first, but pfft who’s got time for that and I guess the mistakes are charming in a way).
Aili’s name was originally Ail (hence a garlic joke later in the story), but I’m currently in the process of translating it into my native Finnish, and decided that Aili suited the translation better and also resonated with me more. The story is meant to read like a picture book.
Aili and the Little Ghost
Once upon a time in the Haunted Forest there lived a young goblin girl. Her name was Aili, and she was a messenger for important goblin families. Her work took her all over the Haunted Forest, and she was no stranger to odd things that crossed her winding path. On this particular occasion, however, she was stumped: she had run into an odd shawody creature she didn't recognize, moaning in the middle of her path!
"What are you?" she asked the creature in amazement.
"I'm loo-oooooost," wailed the being.
"Hi, Loooost," Aili replied politely, although she did find it a strange name, "I'm Aili."
Her new shadowy friend hicupped. "C-can you h-help me, Aiiii-il-iii?" it asked mournfully.
"Certainly," answered Aili, who was kinder than she was wise, and often promised things before asking for more details. How do you think she ended up a courier in the Haunted Forest? A good friend who was afraid of the Forest and a tendency to say yes without thinking things through, that's how.
She was not in the wrong this time, though. It turned out that the shadowy creature was, in fact, just a little ghost covered in soot. The poor thing had been on a regular family haunting with its parents and siblings, and it had thought the hauntee's chimney the cleverest hiding place - what better way to scare a person than to peer at them from the fireplace just as they were relaxing in front of it with a good book? Alas, the little ghost had fallen asleep, and by the time it had woken up, the other ghosts had moved on to their next haunt.
The ghost had tried to find its way to its family, and then to its home, and had only succeeded in getting spectacularly lost. Now it was tired and lonely and scared, and there were creepy eyes in the woods.
"Never fear," Aili told it bravely, "here, let's get that soot off, and you can climb into my bag. I'll help you find your way home. Perhaps the talking trees will know the way?"
Aili took the little ghost to the talking trees first. She introduced herself and the ghost politely, and then asked if the trees had happened to see the ghost's family traveling past.
"Why yes indeed," said the older tree (though of course they were both quite ancient in Aili's eyes) ponderously, "they went to the left."
"No, no," called a cheerful voice from the darkness, "it was to the left!"
The tree frowned. "Why, that's just what I said! To the left."
The younger tree groaned, the few remaining leaves flapping dismissively. "You mossy old stump! I heard you perfectly well the first time, all right?"
"Oh, yes, it was right!" the cheerful voice chirped again. "They went right!"
"Why, you impertinent sapling!" grumbled the older tree. "Contradicting your elders and giving them sass, and in front of messengers and ghosts, no less! Next you'll claim they spouted wings and went up!"
"Yes, up! Wings and up!"
At this, the bewildered goblin and ghost finally looked up from the quarreling trees, and saw a party of dark fae, merrymaking and giggling in the branches above them. Dark fae are, of course, much like their relatives, except much more prone to making mischief.
"Oh, you!" Aili huffed and stomped her foot at them. "You tricksy sprites! Now look at what you've done! You know how easily trees get confused, and now I won't get clear directions out of them. Look at this poor little ghost!"
The fae, still sniggering, looked and did find the little ghost peering at them curiously from Aili's messenger bag quite endearing. And although they still thought their joke had been in excellent taste, they were moved to assure Aili that the ghosts they had seen had indeed taken the leftmost turn at the nearby crossroads.
"Oh dear," said Aili in some surprise. "That will take us to the guardian..."
The road the fae had indicated led Aili and the little ghost to a small clearing, and as they approached it, they heard a soft, ethereal voice humming a lullaby, sweet and haunting at once. Aili walked bravely on, but the little ghost hid behind her back and under her hair.
The Guardian of the Haunted Forest sat comfortably in the middle of the clearing, spinning sweet dreams for the slumbering ghostly animals scattered across her arms and lap and the ground around her. She looked down at her visitors and gave them a sharp smile, and when she spoke her lullaby went on, as though she didn't need her mouth to sing it.
"Hello, little travelers," she greeted them. "What brings you to me?"
Aili bowed politely. "Good evening, Guardian! I'm Aili, and this is Looost."
"No, I'm not," piped up the little ghost, and dared to peer out over Aili's shoulder. "I'm a ghost!"
"I'm helping the ghost get back to its family," Aili explained. "Have you seen them, or do you know where they might live?" She then realized she had been quite inconsiderate, as of course ghosts could not live anywhere. "Oh, I mean. Where they might... linger?"
The Guardian hummed thoughtfully, and the ghostly squirrel curled up on her palm looked up curiously. "Ghosts linger all over the Forest. Why not stay here, with my little ghosts? I shall take good care of you, and sing you such lovely dreams." And she inclined her horned head at the ghost, now leaning over Aili's shoulder to look up at her.
Aili looked at the little ghost, and the ghost swayed for an indecisive moment before shrinking behind Aili's back again and muttering something. At Aili's questioning "Huh?" it whispered a little louder: "But I would miss my family," and the Guardian nodded, unoffended.
"Well then, I would advise you to go north. I do not know where your family is, but there's a grove north of here, and the pumpkins of the patch there might know more, for their Jack-o-lanterns often collaborate with ghosts."
Aili bowed again to thank her, and started down the northward road. The Guardian's lullaby followed them long into the darkness.
Following the Guardian's instructions, Aili and the little ghost arrived at the ancient grove north of the Guardian's clearing. It was home to one of the largest pumpkin patches in the Haunted Forest, and they bounced excitedly up to them upon seeing that they had visitors. Their carved grins twinkled at them in the looming dark, and the little ghost gave a squeak of terror and burrowed into Aili's bag. Aili, more used to the weird and fantastic things one could encounter in the Forest, simply sat down to greet them.
"Hello, friends!" she cried over their excited babbling.
"Hello, friends!" the pumpkins echoed in a chorus, piling up around Aili and the increasingly horrified ghost. A solid knock-knocking sound announced an actual scarecrow's approach: jumping on his stick, he made his way to the visitors and swayed this way and that to flap his sleeves importantly for order and silence.
"Greetings, travelers," he said ponderously. "What ails you?"
Aili blinked. "I, uh. I Ail us. That is, I'm Aili."
"How unfortunate," the scarecrow said kindly. "Have you tried carving it out?"
The little ghost very nearly swooned in horror, but Aili bravely stammered, "W-well, no! I quite like being Aili." The pumpkins muttered to each other in confusion, and Aili went on hastily. "And anyway, we're here to ask if you've seen ghosts - this little one has lost its family. Have you seen them?"
The pumpkins all started babbling and bouncing at once, and the scarecrow swayed thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose your ails are yours, and you may keep them if you wish. But ghosts? They're all working tonight: the Vampire Lords are holding a masked ball at the Manor, and have hired nearly all the ghosts in the Forest to spook up the place. It's that way." He swung around and pointed a stick at a little path leading away from the grove.
The little ghost perked up at this, and Aili got up and bowed at the scarecrow.
"Safe travels!" the scarecrow called after them as they left. "And do return if you decide to get carved after all!"
Aili and the little ghost could spot the Manor of the Vampire Lords from far away, the lit windows shining in the night. Sounds of music and merriment - which for vampires meant pipe organs and threatening drawling - greeted them as they walked up to the door and knocked. The door opened, and a vampire of great dignity and even greater sense of ostentatiousness sneered down at them.
"Hello!" Aili greeted him brightly. "I'm..."
"... A goblin!" the vampire exclaimed, as though Aili had said something very rude. "I can see that!"
Aili sighed. It was a well-known fact that vampires were allergic to goblins, and this was clearly going to be a problem. "Yes. I'm here on behalf of my little friend Looost here..."
"Not Looost," the little ghost disagreed absent-mindedly. It was looking curiously at the other vampires, who had crowded in the window to stare at them.
"... Who is looking for its family. We heard you are employing a lot of ghosts tonight." Aili put on her most appealing smile. "May we please come in and see if we can find them?"
The vampire lord wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Most certainly not! I am entertaining guests of the greatest importance, and I can't have grubby goblins and lost blankets wandering about in my manor tonight! And you're not even wearing a mask, in this time and age. I'll have you know that this is a masked ball, young lady."
His guests tittered at them and turned to one another to whisper and mutter about the manners of messengers, these days, and would the Countess perhaps like another glass of Type MerlO+.
Aili and the ghost must have looked utterly dejected, because as he was closing the door, the vampire lord looked too see if his guests were listening, and quickly whispered, "Oh, don't look so glum. The Home for Peculiar Spirits is that way, and I'm sure they'll all return there when the party is over. Just follow the strange wind."
Just as the vampire had said, a strange wind picked up soon after Aili and the little ghost had started walking in the direction he had pointed out. The wind tugged at Aili's hair, and she had to grab the little ghost by the tail as it was almost swept away.
"Help!" it cried in terror.
"Don't worry!" Aili cried back, tugging on the ghost until she managed to reel it in and stuff it securely back in her bag. "I'm an experienced balloon-handler!"
They pressed on, until they arrived in the back garden of a large and rather derelict house. It had had large grounds, once, but after centuries of neglect and lack of upkeep - after all, ghosts didn't need roofs - the Haunted Forest had crept in and swallowed it whole, crowding in at gardens and driveways. The thick row of trees and the garden wall shielded them from the wind, and Aili dared to open her bag and ask the ghost if it recognized the place.
The little ghost peered out, and its ghostly glow brightened in delight. "Yes! This is my home! We made it!"
As if on cue, a ghostly head wearing a top-hat and a monocle popped through the back door and exclaimed, "There you are! We've been looking for you!" And before Aili could blink, a family of ghosts poured out through the door and floated up to them, each trying to make its own version of the daring search for the lost ghost heard over the others. The little ghost spilled out of Aili's bag and right into the family's waiting arms, barely able to contain its joy and relief.
"I'm so happy to see you!" it said. "We've had such adventures! This is my new friend, Aili."
"Pleased to meet you, Looosts!" she greeted them. The little ghost sighed, and its family looked puzzled, but no one bothered to correct her, this time.
So the little ghost was reunited with its family, who had not been at the Manor because they had only just returned from their search. And Ail and the ghost remained fast friends and had many more adventures together - but those are stories for another time.
Rote Ladies Big Bang 2022 ends today, so here's a quick Alise sketch! Might clean it up and recolor it some day, but for today I figured that messy Alise sketch is better than no Alise drawing at all, because hello I love this oblivious bookworm
"Be king of Attolia. But never drink from my wine cup while you hope to live." - Attolia from "Queen of Attolia"
❤️🗡️🍷
Never have I turned around on my feels for a character within such a short number of pages as I did for this fantastic lady, Queen of all and also of Attolia 😍
turnnoffyourmind
prguitarman
ellievsbear
andulkaphoto
theartofmadeline
areudirty
origamiaround
pixelskylines
snowghoul