I'm in a "posting about TDC" mood tonight. and ive been thinking about it a lot again. this happens when im not in school or busy with as much LOL
Working on a redesign of Crillix and Nolia's future child, Prince Aricid. oughhh he's so adorable. I drew this back in October 2024(?) and edited it just now to work on an update of the design. Changes to Aricid Crow's design:
The arm & body plates (Weaver trait) are now formed by Recast extrusions.
Facial features: Now has the face plates of a Whisp visible on the mouth, and also the ears are slightly elongated. Top of the face/skull are typical for a Weaver.
Because his father is undead and his mother is a Weaver, both of which are demon types with high recast levels, and "being undead" is not something that can be passed on to a child, I decided he would instead be a Weaver with traits of a Whisp. Technically, Whisps are demons with a medical condition that alters the body. Thus, Aricid is the first known person to be a Weaver Whisp. He is not a full Whisp, which is why he has hair, many visible Weaver features (including the obvious spider body), wings & horns inherited from his father, and of course his eight eyes.
I am considering covering/changing the fur on his legs to hardened Recast as well, but unsure. we'll see. i need to go to bed first lol.
Aricid is multiply disabled. He cannot properly fly due to wings that are not grown strong enough to carry a Weaver body. He also experiences mild chronic pain as a result of being a Whisp, which again is a fantasy medical condition. As he grows up, he would likely grow more Recast extrusions, probably starting along his arms and face plates, possibly also on his legs. His pain would get worse over time, if he lived long enough to experience this.
Thanks for reading! This character is not really relevant yet because, my focus is oftentimes on the time frame of the first book, when he is not yet born (as Crillix and Nolia don't get married and have a kid for a while) but eventually he becomes more important :)
The Divine Crows characters, the Empire of Hadenia, and these illustrations are created and owned by me, thedivinecrows. Do not use or repost without permission, please credit me where applicable, and feel free to reach out!!
Here's a random Crillix Crow art & writing excerpt post!!
I wanted to share this artwork from a while ago. It's just so very cozy and sweet.
The above picture might be one of my favorite drawings of him. He looks so relaxed.
Here are some more, I don't think I've posted them yet, even though they're old. and have a moodboard for the vibes.
In order, original illustration dates: August 2025, October 2024, July 2024, & moodboard of miscellaneous illustrations and pinterest pictures
And as a treat, here are various written excerpts related to this big ol sweetie. Goodness, I love my characters!
“We got one!” Crillix beams, holding up my shovel triumphantly.
I hold back a cough, “I smell that... Seems rather... decayed,” I choke out as I stalk towards the pair, finding a partially uncovered body beneath them. It is grimy and covered in clumps of dirt with bugs crawling everywhere, “Hm. So you have.”
-Chapter one
They both grinned, and Crillix knew he’d won. For a moment it felt as though this was a close friend and not someone who arrested his friends in the woods.
-Chapter three
Crillix unfolded his inky black wings. “Then let’s hope they can’t see well in the dark.” He held his wings above Nolia and Hale, trying to cover them both. Genius. Nolia tried her best to huddle under his wing completely, the soft feathers brushing against her shoulders. The three tried to silence their breathing, looking at each other with horror in their eyes. Nolia should have stopped them. She shouldn’t have brought them here; she knew it wouldn’t end well.
-Chapter six
His hands were strange, almost appearing to give off a faint violet glow. The skeletal form of bones were visible beneath his tough hands, though oddly silk-smooth, seeming to glow through them faintly. She took his hand anyway and helped to pull herself to her feet.
-Chapter six
:)
And finally, some cute little fun facts as a reward for sticking around!
Crillix is pretty clumsy and awkward. He bumps things with his wings all the time, forgets how big his horns are, and says rather charmingly-awkward things all the time.
One of his greatest attributes is his curiosity. He has this natural desire to want to learn everything about a world he has little memory of. Every new person and environment is greeted with an open mind.
He loves to take in details. He's the kind of guy who notices everything, but sometimes he's so caught up in appreciating the little things, that he misses the obvious stuff. He finds so much beauty in the world around him.
✦☾🐦⬛🪶Interested and unfamiliar? Need a refresher? Read an introduction to Crillix Crow in this post! 🪶🐦⬛☾✦
The Divine Crows characters, the Empire of Hadenia, and these illustrations are created and owned by me, thedivinecrows. Do not use or repost without permission, please credit me where applicable, and feel free to reach out!!
cuz people wanted to see me post about my OCs more so I will gladly introduce them to the ecosystem that is my blog <3
warning this is a LONG long post but you'll love it I promise. Lots of pretty pictures to look at.
At long last, the source of my url, The Divine Crows
Welcome to the Empire of Hadenia
(below the cut)
First, here's a map of the empire. this is helpful because I will definitely refer to the kingdoms by name. It's important to also understand that the Sun Kingdom controls all three parts of the Empire, and as such the queen of the sun is also the empress of Hadenia as a whole.
! WARNING: nuanced characters... what the characters believe is not always true or just. they are complex. they can be both bad and good. ! <-ok tumblrinas dont say i didnt clarify.
One little note before we begin: I will refer to the phrases "book one" and "book two". Neither book is finished, but since I have the plot like 95% finalized (and trust me, I've been ironing it out for a few years now lol). This helps me chronologize the events or characters' life stages.
Chonology notes:
Mythology and History is anything before the current lives of the characters. Certain immortals and undead are from times long past.
"The present" refers to. okay honestly just Alaric's adult life, idk why but he became my measurement for time. cuz im Normal about him. (note. he's around ten years older than Clarissa. and Do Not worry about the ages of the demons it gets complicated fast)
Then (when he's in his mid 30's) is book one, then there is a little under ten years (give or take) between books one and two.
"Book three" (always in quotations LOL) refers to anything that might happen past the set ending. This fluctuates, honestly. I throw out a lot of hypotheticals.
Cool, understand? No? That's okay.
I'd like to first introduce the five most important characters to this story.
EMPRESS CLARISSA HAYDEN of the Sun
☀️she/her, lesbian
☀️Clarissa came into power at 15, very young and unprepared, when the previous empress (her mother) was assassinated during a meeting with King Alaric.
☀️Ten years later, she has grown into her role comfortably, but still grappling with the feeling she does not live up to those before her.
☀️On either side of her kingdom, within her own empire (yet out of her control, due to fears and tensions), are the Sky Kingdom, ruled by the man who murdered her mother (and many other victims), and on the other side is where Demons live---creatures of the Moon, of danger and unfamiliar magic. Much unlike the humans' magic, which is well-studied and holy!
☀️To make matters worse, for the first time in a very long time, the prophet of her court was spoken to. He brought to her a prophecy no one can quite figure out...and Clarissa is starting to doubt her relationship with the Sun gods.
☀️Religion has always been Clarissa's greatest source of comfort (that and daydreaming). With that part of her life starting to falter, she begins experiencing bouts of illness (due to anxiety but fantasy medicine doesn't understand that symptom).
☀️Clarissa's position puts her in the middle of many things much larger than any one person should have to deal with, but here she is, and gods damn it, she will not let her kingdom settle for anything less than thriving, nor will she any sooner allow her empire to fall apart.
(note, I wrote this [above] first before I started going into wayyy too much detail, so I am SO sorry that Clarissa's segment is so normal and very light reading compared to the rest)
CRILLIX CROW of the East
🪶he/him, bisexual
🪶You wouldn't guess it from his intimidating stature, big wings and horns, and dark aesthetic, but he is actually VERY charming, optimistic, and just overall very fun to be with. Everyone seems to love him. Characters remark that he "friendships his way out of problems". This happens many times.
🪶Crillix Crow is undead with no memory of his previous life and a whole world just waiting for him to make his mark. Tall, intimidating, ambitious, and surprisingly wholesome, he is ever so curious about the empire he lives in.
🪶Brought to life by Hale, he was supposed to be a protector and best friend. Is it really protecting if he's the one causing getting Hale and him into Situations?
🪶Within the first few months of being alive (and travelling and making friends with other Demons, though not undead), he realized very quickly that demons are not thriving in this world. Sure, life anywhere east of the Whispering Valley (large canyon) is lively, rich with community, and diverse, but doesn't it feel a little unfair that all of the demons live in this one part of the empire..? Hale, what did that guy mean by ostracization? Did you hear that, that woman's parents were killed when they tried to venture past the valley! Hale, I thought you said I was from over there? I thought you said we could go back?
🪶As you can see, Hale ended up with a lot more on their plate: Crillix decided it was his new life's goal to change things. He will make it safe for demons to exist anywhere in this empire! He will stop the persecution of demons by the Sun Kingdom, even if that means usurping the empress herself.
🪶And this led to his most grand idea: the Divine Crows. A group of undead (thanks to Hale, he was also granted the ability to resurrect the dead in the same way... it's complicated and rare magic. More on that eventually.) from all over the empire, who would work to grow their power and influence until they could reform the rights of demons.
🪶Hale is not too fond of this. They're stuck with him now.
🪶Eventually, (woah spoiler alert!) he becomes king of the Demons, turning what was formerly just "the east" into the Eastern Kingdom, creating a strong group of demon representatives from many peoples within the larger kingdom who would become powerful and prosperous. He still aims to straight up take over the empire (hashtag he got power hungry over the ten years between books one and two). But for now, the demons are at least recognized and vaguely tolerated by the Sun, which is on the right track more or less.
🪶Also he marries Nolia and they're so good for each other but then they also kinda enable each others' vengeful sides and make each other worse. Oops. But 10/10 bisexual king and queen couple.
HALE, aka STAR
✨they/them, aroace
✨A lot of their plot relevance is explained in Crillix's segment, mostly because they're a best friend duo at first and then just kinda stuck with each other later. But there's more to it from Hale's perspective.
✨Fun fact, Hale is the only one written about in first person POV. Chapters centered around their story is always written this way.
✨This is also spoilery because in the actual book, this is revealed kinda slowly (well, the story is presented right away but it builds up). But you guys wont be reading that unfinished book anytime soon so its fine.
✨Hale is, or rather was the seventh god in the Hadenian pantheon: the Star. They were the god of mistakes, rebirth, balance, and were part of creating a LOT of things including some of the other gods. But they fell from the Cloud Realm a long time ago and have been living as an immortal creature who is not quite human, not quite demon, and not quite alive.
✨Hale, in attempts to stop Crillix and the Divine Crows---because they think he's going to get himself killed trying, and he's not doing this right, and he's disrupting stability, and a million other excuses---and reach out to the Empress through some interesting means.
✨Not quite siding with either the Sun or the East, Hale feels trapped by both.
✨Hale fun fact: they will NOT purposefully cause harm to another. They refuse to fight, to kill, anything. Like, not even in self defense or to protect others. ...and if I told you battles and war happen in this storyline, you would see the conflict of interest between Everything and them.
LADY NOLIA AARNES-CROW of the Weavers
🕷️she/her, bisexual
🕷️Formerly Lady Nolia Aarnes of the Weavers, later Queen Nolia Aarnes-Crow of the East
🕷️The Weavers are spider-like people who reside in a cave system/undergrown town. Super cool. Their culture is very heavy into textiles and fiber arts---for obvious reasons, they can spin silk like normal spiders but on a larger scale, and their clawed fingers are immaculate at precise detailing.
🕷️Nolia is the leader of her people, acting as the authority figure in power. The Weavers' leader is more or less whomever is the oldest eligible living relative of the Seer (her aunt).
🕷️Likely due to her close relation to the Seer, Nolia very in tune with her intuition. However, this gets confounded because she also struggles with anxiety, which presents almost identical to that intuitive feeling (woah another main character who would really benefit from anxiety medication if it existed).
🕷️However, Nolia has had this undying feeling that something is wrong. Something big is going to happen and danger will befall her people---but she has no idea what it could be, and Aunt Yvette refuses to consult Fate about it. She chalks it up to Nolia's stress and constant worry.
🕷️Frustrated that neither her aunt (the Seer) nor her sister (head of the guardsmen) will take her seriously, she's getting restless.
🕷️When a turn of events (a twist of fate, if you will) leads to Nolia and her sister (and the other gaurds) quite literally arresting a strange, large, purple winged man in the woods (along with a handful of other eclectic demons), she realizes she may have just found her key to finding some answers about her persistent dread.
🕷️Crillix convinces Nolia he will help her figure out what to do about her situation if she, in return, helps the Divine Crows find their last undead members (read: graverobbing and corpse-scavenging) and supports them in the future. She agrees to this, and lets the Divine Crows go free so long as she accompanies them.
🕷️Nolia temporarily grants her leadership status to her sister, Terida, until further notice as she goes off to (hopefully) prevent catastrophe.
🕷️Along the way, Nolia totally starts to feel like a member of the Divine Crows---she absolutely belongs with this group, aside from one (Blaize, we'll get to that another time). She may or may not also be falling in love with Crillix. Who absolutely has been smitten by her ever since the night she arrested him in the middle of the night. They'll become a great power couple as time progresses.
KING ALARIC CELESTINE of the Sky
🌩️he/they, vaguely gay
🌩️oh Alaric, the man you are... *sighs dreamily* He's my faaavorite.
🌩️Shockingly, he is quite far removed from the central plot of the first book of The Divine Crows---but he's a very important figure up until then, in the background, and the finally in the second book he comes into his glory.
🌩️Alaric's full story is something I WILL get into eventually, because it's just. I love his miserable, self-inflicted life. So much. He's one of my blorbos and I MADE HIM and i've cried over him. a lot. You might too someday. idk i just got rlly attached to him.
🌩️So, some things to know about the Sky Kingdom: they do their own thing. He wants them to separate from the empire, but Her Majesty will not allow it. Neither will the new Her Majesty. Even before Alaric's time as king, though, the kingdom is very different from the rest of the empire. Well, the most obvious thing is the four arms, and the overabundance of blue color pallets. That's a thing.
🌩️Fun fact. Gender is very fluid and playful and Not A Big Deal in the Sky Kingdom. It's partially a societal thing (clothing, gender roles, etc) but also partially a biological thing---don't worry about it. It's fun!
🌩️ANYWAY without infodumping about the worldbuilding too much yet (we'll get there), I'm here to get you interested in. Well, I won't sugarcoat it: he's straight up evil.
🌩️I will talk him up a lot ("ohhh i love him sm, hes so sexyyy so hottt so pretty"), but Alaric is nasty. A real villian in a cast of characters who could go either way. YAY! On top of all the murder and assassination stuff (a lot), he's very abusive and manipulative, unstable, has an alcoholism problem, lied and cheated and killed his way into power, and he's just the worst. Like I'm talking both of his royal guards are permanently disabled due to his doing. The heir to the throne (not related to him btw) has chronic depression. Sure, the aristocrats (and Atlas but he's just a freak) love him because he spoils them and throws parties for them and is just sooooo glamourous look how good he makes us look! But everyone else is scared. He's got this horrid on-and-off relationship with Ram (more on him eventually), and then later Blaize, and none of it is even remotely real love to him. And on the larger scale, Empress Clarissa won't do anything about his power, because she's terrified, I'm talking petrified because HELLO he killed her mother. And Clarissa knows he'll kill her too. He probably would have if she was in the room back then. So, his power remains stable! Because Hadenia is corrupt. In every regard, honestly. And also cuz I said so and I'm Fate sooo <3
🌩️OK so I just did the OPPOSITE of get everyone interested in him oops. Actually, yall r villain lovers like me, that might work.
🌩️Alaric's backstory is one I need to tell you someday, because that's what gets me going even more. He's been A Red Flag since childhood (yk the classic "that troubled child is killing small animals and tormenting others") but he was smart, and he was loveable and charismatic and people just loved him.
🌩️There are only two living beings he's ever truly loved and cared for with all his heart. All other instances of love have taken a backseat to either lust, manipulation, or convenience. Some instances come close to it, like Atlas, but that's still not love really. Those two things he has love for are his favorite horse Sparky (affectionately named after a toy he had as a kid), and his late ex-lover, Kasey, who still haunts him emotionally and reminders of them are a large part of his behavior. Trauma, and it's entirely his fault they're dead. Like, not even an accident. That was in his early 20's.
🌩️He's obsessed with glamour and beauty, he needs to feel like he is the best around, he's egotistical and cruel and just oh-so troubled. He drinks to forget the past, parties to feel the rush of lust and pride and all those beautiful rich people around him because otherwise, he'd just be alone with himself. He's surrounded himself with people to take that out on in a variety of different ways.
🌩️Also he's a sadistic FREAK and I had to add that even tho its prooobably a little obvious.
🌩️He's not a complete wreck, though. I mean, away from the public eye he is, but outside he is a very composed and charismatic person---maybe a little off and clearly kind of conniving or untrustworthy, but that beautiful hair and pretty face and stunning clothes will make you forget it for a moment. yk, kind of an exaggerated but real kind of villainous.
⛅TAKE A BREATHER, THE YAPPING IS OVER!!!⛅
WHAT'S THIS?
MORE CHARACTERS??
That's right chat, there's WAY MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM!!!
I will be posting more now that I've started down this rabbithole... but I maaayyy need to know what my beloved mutuals are most interested in first. Eventually it'll all come up though, I'm sure. I love to talk. Obviously. Look how long this post is now.
⛅MADE IT TO THE END?? ⛅
COOL. NOW YOU HAVE TO TELL ME WHO UR FAV IS SO FAR :3
also feel free to ask questions--send me asks, i loooove to yap you guys know this ^^
AAALSO, I'll post links eventually when I get on a roll posting about The Divine Crows, but I will also share the following with yall:
- character-specific playlists
- the pinterest boards for characters and locations
- Quotev quizzes!!! Things like "which character are you?" and "what does [character] think of you?" and also one dedicated to Alaric's list of crimes...which crime are YOU based on these arbitrary and unrelated questions based entirely on vibes?!
anyway just wanted to say thank you so much to anyone who read all that. yall make me feel loved hehe <3
there are two (2) things i will Not let myself introduce to Hadenia no matter how badly i want to. i will resist. the characters would love it. it would be great. but i wont allow it. theyd like it so much it would derail the plot probably.
those two things:
- drugs. like weed. and crack and meth and everything in that realm of addictive substances. they should feel lucky they at least have alcohol.
- guns. Blaize would THRIVE with a gun but i wont allow it. there would be a lot less plot if my characters had access to firearms. they should feel lucky they have magic and the weaponry they do have.
I had a dream where I drew like a three page comic of your characters, so the propaganda is already working ✨️
(I wish I could remember what it was about but all I can recall is a vague impression of yellows and pinks and oranges, drawn wifh graphite and chalk pastels)
‼️‼️YES MY PROPAGANDA IS WORKING ‼️‼️ glad the telepathic propaganda is having an effect as well
