#esoteric fantasy

[sahashbelvanie]

Falans Ütaél the Divinator

The Sindal, warlord-prophet and self-proclaimed King of the Void, known among the Tyrants as Falans Ütaél the Divinator. He is depicted both in a shapeshifted form meant to placate his eastern worshippers and in his true guise, whose teeth writhe like a centipede. He devours his victims with surgical precision and, through the spirits of men, grants himself potent visions of the future. Wielding twin ancestral blades, he can scourge enemies from miles away unlike any other living man. He seeks to cleanse the Hawûnnar of the Waylūsa peoples for his followers and usher in a new age through bloodshed and ruin.

Tyrants lead groups of tribes, known as Enclaves, beneath Olotan banners. They are akin to lesser Voturmunds and cannot act meaningfully without an ordinance from an appointed Falans. They rule these tribes according to their whims and can shape their identities through the influence of the Falans Rust. Olotan mastery of the body and of Tyrant magic is most clearly expressed through the sacred magic book of the Falans. Some individuals hold dual stations, serving both as Tyrants of the Olotan and as Voturmunds of Rurvōda, or in other such permutations. Tyrants manifest Ancestor Swords as symbols of their legitimacy. Most possess only a single sword, and its reach extends only a few feet. However, the very act of forging an Ancestor Sword is itself a mark of authority, signifying that a Tyrant possesses a “right” to tyranny.

A being that embodies mankind’s struggle against the cosmos, sanctioned by the masses and the realms alike, and empowered by an ancient truth to push a broken world beyond its decline and into a new age. A Voturmund is the mechanism through which the Old Oath advances itself in order to eventually restore harmony to the world. Any individual Voturmund is only one link in a long chain of necessary successions meant to overturn the world as the Headcarvers left it. Their authority over reality is granted through the admonitions and recognition of the masses. In essence, a Voturmund is someone capable of altering reality by becoming the champion through which the Oaths advance across the realms. Their power depends both on the spread of their influence among groups of people and on the prominence of their identity within the collective unconscious. Some Voturmund arise from only a handful of fiercely loyal followers, while others become the center of vast movements, such as the Cjeltskaersi. Most Voturmund display the traits and pressures of mass influence long before they are formally named. However, they can only begin their “walk” — the reality-altering expression of their nature — after reading the Ansoturré, which itself shifts according to the fixed perspective of each Voturmund.

[sahashbelvanie]

Doodles of the night

WIP art of the warlord Cjeltekær in his ceremonial Arruwitic garment, likely for political or courtly stuff (his battle garments are more foreign or alien comparatively)

Drew my husky as a person lol.

[sahashbelvanie]

Mask of Cjeltekær, Void Prince

Mask-helm of “Cjeltekær,” a god of war to some and an arbiter of change. The third-born son of the Agayic Dynasty — Ikarien — Cjelt rose through the ranks, becoming a seasoned marksman in his foreign exploits. Upon arriving in the land of Arruway, he was praised as a hero by the smallfolk, for Cjelt culled the dreaded Threym beasts that had plagued the Arruwitic for centuries.

[sahashbelvanie]

Obligate sketches

Ugūqāru Áxa, Vēttēsa — “Mirmacj,” “The Seven Fingers,” “The Butcher of Thaénog,” “The Acting Viceroy Ugūqāru Áxa, known to most as Vēttēsa, is a trusted Hushamite Thunder-General within Cjeltekær’s cadre, commanding the 2nd Army of the Cjeltekærssi. They maintain six lieutenants under their authority. Prior to their current position, Vēttēsa was an Ugūqāru—a eunuch caste subservient to tribal patriarchs known as Yaqama. Ugūqāru are afforded limited social mobility and the right to literacy in exchange for administering the estates of their Yaqama, at the cost of being gelded at a young age. Little is known of Vēttēsa’s youth or parentage before they were sold to their Yaqama, though Vēttēsa believes that, like many Ugūqāru, they were offered to settle familial debt obligations. At an early age, they were granted board at the famed Garden of Qrao, where they were trained in the twin arts of Administration and Tactics. Indeed, the “name” Vēttēsa is itself a title meaning Overseer, referring to their mastery of these disciplines. Vēttēsa ultimately managed to emancipate themselves from their Yaqama by entangling them in a legal dispute with a Khondla over rightful ownership—though the precise circumstances of this conflict remain unclear. With their newfound freedom, Vēttēsa pursued higher learning throughout Hasbahar, moving from lecture auditorium to word-house, from trade hall to roaming city. They even trained briefly at one of the Ballad schools in Qolhaalat. It was during a tenure at the Qunkhāl obba Zorshtelm, in the city-slum of Oshqil-az-Zanēn, that they encountered a young Btarean then known as Ēminola. The two engaged in a prolonged philosophical exchange, grew to deeply admire one another, and embarked on a crawl of academic institutions across the Gulf of Avarice, before ultimately setting out for the castle-compound of the Ikaríen conglomerate, where they would work together on its restructuring.

Some ideations of Eminola

[sahashbelvanie]

Obligate sketches and concepts — Ütaél

And while he has this normally horrifying mutilated look, he does shape shift in a more elegant form upon visitations as to play into the superstitions of certain people groups.

[sahashbelvanie]

Sketched a Mountain demon based on my friend’s original design for his dream-like fairy world

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Doodles of the night — finally got back drawing after like, neglecting to do so for almost a month. Both designs are based off of friends of mine (not what they look like but their own designs and characters).