#*raal’maker

[etherealvoidechoes]

Pretty sure I got an ask ages ago on why Elder Maker’s shells are human and not Hybrid. Sorry. May have lost it or tumblr ate it.

Give me a few hours and I’ll answer it with hopefully my usual brainspew. I’ll tell a little now. Technically, the humans shells are Human Hybrids but more subtle. His powers and DNA literally reject the usual base Hybrid(s) after the big incident for him. They used to be a little bit more on the Hybrid side before than happened.

[etherealvoidechoes]

And here’s that symbol/insignia design and the meanings behind them for Elders Va’loFe and Raal’Maker. Gonna be fun working this into the fics when the time comes.

I’ll have to add the text to the post later as I’m about to run some errands.

And detail shot to the void orb.

Okay text is now here under the cut if it’s too small to read in the images. And me adding more info.

The Butterfly & Void

Ver. 1

Va’lo’Fe’s original insignia has been lost to time roughly around the time he had his change of heart. He does not care for it anymore and doesn’t want to see it ever again. 

For his new insignia, he adopted butterfly motifs after encountering a few sentient and sapient species that had butterfly and moth attributes. He found their life cycles fascinating. Especially the ones that spun cocoons to regenerate limbs or to move onto the next “stage” of their life cycle. He viewed the cocoons, their metamorphoses, as a death & rebirth. Something his kind was seeking.

Part of his hands make up the butterfly. Hands holding the Void. - Longing for what was once lost. - Longing for forgiveness to repair what was broken. - Longing to be remade into something new. A death and rebirth.

Four more Void orbs make up additional markings .to acknowledge where their power comes from. And a reminder for what they damaged.

Ver. 2

Va’lo’Fe made a slight update hundreds of years later. Just a few minor changes such as removing the “antenna” thumbs. Felt as if it was “capturing” the Void and not holding it/reaching for it. Embracing it. The Void is not something they can control and should never try to control it. He does not want to repeat the mistakes of the past. The Void must be respected

And then he added parts of the diamonds of another symbol he adopted.

The butterfly symbol is something Raal’Maker has put on the backs of his human shells.

Ver. 3

Just a “gilded” version when important things need to be branded with Va’lo’Fe’s symbol.

The Diamonds. Hidden Pyramids

Another symbol adopted by Va’lo’Fe many eons ago. Pulled from multiple species. Including humanity(info acquired from surviving Zudjari data banks.)

The Square Diamond symbolizes:

Balance

Structure

Logic

Law and Order

Something he feels that their kind and many others do need. And then it fits his nature as being one of the eldest in the branch he leads and among is one of the oldest in the species. His branch has the least amount of conflicts. Especially senseless ones. He does not tolerate petty rivalries. There is some disappointment when he learned his pupil Raal’Maker gets into petty fights with Ga’rox but does find it somewhat amusing.

Then the Pyramids within the diamond.Three-part concepts he found interesting. Past, present, future. Something to constantly keep in mind. And then when they are viewed at a particular angle you get more meanings. Upright - Stability - Strength

Inverted - Conflict - Stagnation

A double meaning he loves and fully embraces. Something to silently mocking his brethren as he sees that they bring a great amount of conflict to all they cross and their kind is stagnating due to actions. Actions he knows will lead to them repeating old mistakes.

And then he snuck in some meaning with the color choices(I’ll probably adjust how the red is to be more vibrant in line with ADVENT and the Elders’ robes in the future.)

Colors Upright - Gold. The Elders gilded appearance others see. An uplifting Empire. - Red. A fiery passion to unite all. Bringing peace and prosperity. - Black. Strong willed beings. Protectors of many.

Inverted - Gold. The gold is a facade. They only care for themselves.Selfish, arrogant parasites. - Red. Violent parasites, terrorizing the weak, spilling blood, as they hunt to cure their condition. - Black. A dominating force. Death follows them where er’ they go. Many have gone extinct due to their hands.

[etherealvoidechoes]

WIP crop. Deciding to paint over a sketch and liking it so far. Need to slightly tone down the warmness to Maker’s robes and may need to tweak his skin tone, but like the idea that some Ethereals/Elders have really blue skin.

[etherealvoidechoes]

Long overdue sketches of Raal’Maker and his human shells. Plus a version of his Elder/Ethereal form. One day I’ll color these, but for now enjoy the sketches!

And probably spoilers in some backstory blabbering as usual.

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So the many faces/bodies of Raal’Maker. He rarely has duplicate shells and is always switching faces, ages, and slowly exploring body types(not pictured yet). He envies humans(and other species his kind hasn’t messed up) and their genetic diversity as that’s something his species has lost due to their own folly.

His clothing also frequently varies(though always sharply dressed), but all of his clothes have tech embedded in them to keep track of the health of his current shell body. He keeps meticulous records to see how fast he’s burning through his bodies and to see what genetic changes work and what doesn’t. Though when his Brethren get involved, he’s burning through a lot of bodies that day.

Now, Raal’Maker is a conundrum of an Elder. So different from the rest of his kind. Well, most of his kind. He gets his thinking from his mentor Va'lo'Fe, who just nudged that budding difference, that benevolence, inside of him. So if there’s an Elder you have to work under, you want to be under him(or any under Va’lo’Fe.) He values those who work under him and will fight tooth and nail to keep his brethren from taking you. Though that’s had mixed results with him currently being apart of the Earth occupation. He’ll get eventually some well earned revenge.

Back to the Earth occupation. Only reason why the other Elders haven’t kicked him from the Earth occupation is that they need him and his work on the Avatar project(and some other projects) as he strikes that coveted balance with his genetic manipulation of not pushing past thresholds when mixing species or breaking limits. And the other reason being Elder Va’lo’Fe. Va’lo’Fe is a high ranking(if not around the highest) Elder and they don’t want to cross him.

Personally, Raal’Maker thinks the Avatar project is a foolish endeavor especially with what is currently happening to him. How he’s burning his human shells at varying, yet increasing, rates. Also knowing how his kind will still be seeking to increase their power out of greed/self importance and to fight the future threat; he believes no matter what future species they find and try to engineer better bodies for themselves, it will all be for naught. There will be no bodies to hold back their increasing powers. They will be doomed to die in decaying bodies, like how they are now. Their own self-inflicted fate.

He finds their decaying condition to be almost poetic. How many species had they scourged in their quest to fix themselves? How many no longer resembled what they once were after being ‘perfected’?  How many had they driven to extinction because they were not worthy or fought back? Far too many for him to stomach. They deserve to die for all the pain and chaos they have inflicted for their own selfish quest they try and make look righteous. Reasons why that rebellion grows within him, but he bids his time.

Though he doesn’t want to die yet. No, no, no, there’s someone he has to meet again before he’s content with dying. Well two people. Commander Jynn and her other half. The Guide, the Ascended One. How he had to keep his Brethren from being so hasty when working with the Commander. They nearly killed her a few times until he was able to wrestle the project to be fully in his hands. Until he lost that when they wanted the ADVENT system fully online, with the occasional “maintenance” checks and “future preparation”.

But he knows that Guide is there in her somewhere, but just doesn’t know how to draw them out. But he doesn’t blame them for being so hidden with how the rest of his kind is searching for ones like them to dissect and repair themselves and to better upgrade the ADVENT system to work with the other species under their control. But he hopes they’re still there, bonding to the Commander, as he just wants to see them, to have one conversation to one that was so close to his species. Actually a different path his species could sometimes take under certain circumstances. An ‘ascension” of sorts.

[etherealvoidechoes]

Haven’t drawn in ages and still slow to get back to it.

Still mostly drawing the various human shells of Maker. Currently him operating in two bodies at once.

[etherealvoidechoes]

Stuff from my Instagram stories. I have a bit of an art and writer’s block, so it’s been slow with me producing anything.

But slowly drawing Raal’Maker and his many human shells and then thinking about his Ethereal/Elder design.

A headcanon of mine is that Elders that have reached a certain status and have made great achievements can really customize their clothing and helmets to express individuality.

[etherealvoidechoes]

Friend: “How would Bradford react if/when they eventually meet Maker?”

Me: “Instant overprotective friend/boyfriend mode would kick in much to Jynn’s annoyance.”

[etherealvoidechoes]

Realizing when I get to throwing in my other named Elders, Acai would technically be in the same age group as Raal’Maker as they are the last of the born(tub/vat) generation(s) that survived.

Think I'll have Maker be the older one which will add onto him getting absolutely exasperated with Acai’s hot-headed and brash nature when he butts into conversations he should stay out of. And that is is not helped by Acai being somewhat mentored by Ga’Rox so he's picking up even more bad habits.