#codicenegro

[shi-gu]

Huntress-Warrior Donají 🦌🏹🐆

Donají with the attributes of God of Hunt, Mixcoatl. This drawing is full of symbols related to Donají's past, present and future, as well as to Chicahualizteotl, but I won't go into much detail. It took much longer than usual!

[chicxibalba]

tlazōlteōtl what is wrong with her

[shi-gu]

Codex Black Height Chart!

Not all characters are here yet, but I'll be adding them as the story progresses. Character ages represent their age by the last day of 1493 (or at time of death if applicable). For example, Itzcacalotl is 18 here, but still 17 in the comic, since his birthday is in December, while the story has developed between March and May so far.

Also, some character variations:

[shi-gu]

Xolotl, god of twins, monsters, deformities, and the personification of the Evening Star (Afternoon Venus). Very quick doodle (?), speedpaint (?)

[shi-gu]

Poyauhtecatl Ayauhcalli

My character, Ayauhtli, along her fellow shrine maidens in their daily lives at the ayauhcalli, "house of mist," a type of temple dedicated to the aquatic deities. This one is located in the Poyauhtecatl, better known as Mt. Tlaloc.

Here's the temple without characters:

Ayauhcalli temples were centers of purification, among other functions, including the famous ritual of the New Fire. The Poyauhtecatl was perhaps the most important natural sanctuary for Tlaloc, reason why it was also called "Tlalocan." Sources indicate that the mountain had two ayauhcalli temples, one at the summit, and another somewhere on its eastern slopes, but this one is a third fictional one on its western slopes.

Ayauhtli hasn't appeared in Codex Black yet, but curiously, she's the oldest character of the entire cast. I invented her even earlier than Donají or Itzcacalotl, although her first iteration didn't have any sort of backstory.

[shi-gu]

Warrior-Hunter Donají sketch. Been entertaining the idea of a possible sigil for Donají being a jaguar with deer antlers. I was mainly inspired by a strange depiction in Codex Bodley of a jaguar with what look like "horns."

[shi-gu]

Donají 🌼🔥

Just isolated this Donají from her family portrait drawing. I always liked how she looks here, but I had drawn all characters in the same layer, so I finally separated her to use as reference/official art.

[shi-gu]

Citlalmina & Tlazolteotl at the temple's entrance

It's not that Citlalmina is tiny, but Tlazolteotl, as a goddess, can appear whatever size she pleases, in this case enormous.

There's an alt version you-know-where, related to the "bunny on the moon" motif 🐰👯‍♀️

The temple entrance is based on my own speculative design of Tlazolteotl's temple: