We're in the final crunches of our animation school project and my braincells are gone so have Alchemaster's Apprentice doodles with varying levels of brainrot. Context provided:
- I've been planning Zamonia fan merch to sell at future artist alleys, so pic 1 is an idea that i had for a sticker HFJFJFSJF
- Izanuela my beloved i am so sorry that ugly ass alchemaster would let you down like that, you were KILLING IT in that flowery wedding gown. God i love her character so much
- Snow White Widow who I am still very normal about
- my friend said a while ago that Eisspin/Ghoolion in my style looks like a fusion of Gornab and Friftar. So. Yeah. Close enough, welcome back Gornab the 100th (he gets disowned)
Guess who can't draw but found a cool picrew to make some Hellings!
That they ended up looking too "pretty" and like anime-esque white-skinned Drow with horns just kinda happened, but the more I think about the second bit, the more I like that they are "weird-looking" in a Zamonian context because they look more humanoid than your average Overworlder (most of which, with the exception of gnomes, dwarves, and nocturnomaths, have prominent animal features). Given how few humans are up and about in Zamonia, I guess they'd be considered bizarre.
Since there is a disappointing lack in cool medieval hats in this, they have hair and their horns are visible. I'd say that normally, nobles decorate their horns with jewelry or they cover them with hennins/escoffions, but alas. Also, since they're all either rich or work for the rich people - naturally, they need to look at least kinda fancy.
Images under the cut + explanations of some creative choices.
First comes, of course, the king, Gornab/Gaunab.
He looks positively mad but not as insanely ugly as he is described in the book (which, I think is difficult to make in a picrew. Heiko Nerenz drew him - and Ticktack - once and that image has lived rent-free in my head).
The purple mists are meant to simulate the Gornabian Madness, and the halo naturally refers to him being the scion of a clan that was meant for greatness thanks to a prophecy. Gave him a nice crown too that he wears on casual days. Sadly there were no options for red gemstones, to hint at the Hellings' obsession with blood and violence.
Also, I like to think that while they all universally have white skin, silver-white hair, and white horns, there's quite some diversity when it comes to eye colours - although darker colours are almost non-existent, since light eyes make some sense in a subterranean setting. Gornab's are a very light-blue, perfect for that "staring into your soul" creepiness factor.
Next up is everyone's favourite royal adviser, Friftar.
I always found it hilarious how the book basically said that outside of the Netherworld, he'd be considered hideous and demon-like but by Helling beauty standards, he's quite the looker. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. He doesn't look as much of a schemer as I'd like to, but that's because I really wanted to keep the protrudent teeth, so he just looks pensive - like the philosopher king he so desperately wishes he was.
The spiderwebs behind him have him in the middle of his web of spionage, intrigue, secrecy, etc., and the red for his less-than-noble intentions.
I couldn't stop myself from giving him both a collier and also a piece of clothing that isn't black - mostly because in my personal headcanons, they do indeed wear other colors; but only together with black and they have to be dark. Thought about making his sash grey to refer to his being Gornab's grey eminence, but then went with purple since it's considered a regal colour and what Friftar wants most is to be king himself. Also, it matches with the lilac eyes.
And yes, he and Gornab wear blush. They're the most powerful men in the Netherworld, of course they wear make-up.
The third Helling is, surprise, someone who's not godawful - Ukobach.
Yes, I know he is bald, but this one had no good bald option (shocking, I know) so I chose to give him a mop of hair that kinda ended up looking like a mullet. My boy is looking stressed as he is throughout most of the book (not even the evil-looking red eyes can distract from the fact that he looks like he's about to have a breakdown!), and while he doesn't get a wooden spear, he gets a sword - not that he knows how to use it, but better to be safe than to be sorry.
Tried to make him look very youthful, but it's still funny he's the only Helling who gets to have a beard - while also being a mere teenager or at most a very young adult while Friftar and Gornab are implied to be middle-aged. Or maybe Ukobach's goatee is a gesture of rebellion and noble Helling men are meant to be clean-shaven in a way male members of Roman patriarch families used to?
Still, to denote his status, he gets some gemstones on a necklace. Not as extravagant clothing as implied to wear in the book, but he's hiding in underneath his cloak.
And then, because I can't help myself, my two girls! Since they're my own creations, it was all fun and games with them. Behold!
From The Gornab of All Gornabs, one of the main characters, Isari, dancer and entertainer at the king's court and reluctant valet to King Gornab.
Like Ukobach, I tried to make her look quite young as she is in her early adulthood (but older than Ukobach) although just like him, she's the opposite of stupid - except she's more streetsmart than the nobles she works for. Behind those big amber eyes hides a quick mind.
Since I made her as she appears in TGOAG, she was technically on the job and dressed for it, to be able to move freely during her performances instead of wearing heavy and layered robes like the courtiers do. She gets a set of flashy but otherwise plain earrings but no collier or otherwise significant jewelry and a lack of precious stones to show she is of humble origin.
She suffers from an injury while saving Gornab from the fate of being squashed during the cave-in that heals steadily but in the long-term has reduced her career as an agile artist to nothing, so sticking to the king's side is what's best for her for now.
Last but not least comes Lady Jesrin Khiendriel, the Baroness of Lesser Hel with a thirst for vengeance, who puts herself in Friftar's way to the throne of Hel in Prince of Peace with her own claim to the Crown.
Although, really, if you would ask the Helling residents of Lesser Hel, they'd really like to change the name of their city. Also, while the Khiendriels are nobility themselves, the title of Baron/ess is really just a glorified way to call them a mayor, but they're insistent.
She wants to rule the city herself, primarily because she has a claim but also because her family tried to overthrow the Gornabs some decades ago with very little success. The citizens of Hel view the Khiendriels and the Hellings of Lesser Hel with derision/disgust/mockery/etc, she is not exactly welcomed with open arms. And of course there's the titular prince of peace, who isn't going to let some parochial vassal steal his thunder. He does everything within his power to discredit her, fully employing his remaining spies and own resources to destroy her. So, those eyes that are focused on her? That's Friftar.
An able ruler that has ruled her domain for years and became popular amongst her subjects, Jesrin is very confident, you might even say openly self-sufficient and smug. It's not unjustified because she proves to be a formidable opponent to Friftar, but he does to her as well after she underestimated him, and that frustrates both of them to no end.
Jesrin is a lady of wealth and taste, and she certainly dresses the part. Like any good aristocrat, she's a fan of her jewelry. She's not there yet where she can wear a crown, but I seriously thought about it. Lesser Hel is also somewhat warmer than the capital, so she tends to wear warmer clothes in the comparatively cold Hel.
So much for that!
Maybe I can add the portraits of some other prominent Helling OCs later, but that's it :)
While I was searching speech disorders for the Stutterpoem post I came across this thing called phonological paraphasia. Basically a person has this problem when he “substitute a word with a nonword that preserves at least half of the segments and/or number of syllables of the intended word.” Some types include anticipatory error when telephone becomes “lelephone,” substitution error when wagon becomes “ragon.” The last type in the wikipedia page is metathetical error when segments of a word is exchanged, like "deks" instead of desk.
That is exactly Gornab’s problem right? So I think Gornab may have phonological paraphasia. According to wikipedia, malfunctioning blood vessels in the brain are the cause of 80% of aphasias in adults. For Gornab’s case it might as well be something like hypertension. Other causes include “head injuries, dementia and degenerative diseases, poisoning, metabolic disorders, infectious diseases” which are all quite relatable to Gornab. I think these can give us some more insight into this character.
I read Rumo quite some time ago so I may have missed out some details. Any input from mozania-naf?
