#kisonus

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Art Fight

An art gifting game

Finally created an Art Fight account and these are the current OCs up for attack! You have the Council of Warlocks…

And on the side: Tamara, Shogaken, and Fipik! I plan to add some more but Tumblr only allows ten images per post.

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Got another commission of another Warlock duo by @pespillo (who is still doing comms!) of these two dinguses Viracious and Kisonus. Kis might be more brazenly loud mouthed while Viracious is more of a pointed, condescending lecture. But they are both juvenile idiots around one another. Kisonus looks like she’s about to bite his head clean off.

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Btw here’s some concept art for the Warlocks. In particular there’s a sketch showing how Kisonus’ jaws open up that I’m fond of.

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            So what happens to the Council of Warlocks?

            I’ve already gone over how, in an obvious homage to something most of you should understand, Ruby inherits the power of Magick and uses it to thrash the warlocks definitively. It’s a humiliating defeat, and they’re left in the mud and rain.

            More specifically, Ruby shatters an entire mountain, or causes a chasm to cave in; Either way the warlocks are buried after they spit out their meagre curses and defenses at Ruby, but it’s too late. They know they’ve lost.

            Majikus gripes earlier on about how she doesn’t believe in worship or relying on reputations, but that she ultimately has no choice in using Magick and their power; By doing so, she inevitably reinforces that worship of Magick. Narellus reassures her that you can use a battery without worshipping it, but in the end it’s Majikus’ idea and it’s what the plan depends on, because the truth is that there is no plan, just some general ideas of how to keep the regime running until they revive Magick.

            Magick was their lynchpin, the warlocks’ way of strongarming and convincing everyone into doing what needed to be done; The rest would be figured out from there. They put all their faith that they could settle any questioning or dispute by aiming a big bomb in whatever direction was necessary. Without Magick, they would have to make this work on normal ideas and systems and solutions, instead of vague promises and threats.

            So when Ruby defeats the warlocks, she reclaims the Magestones to disintegrates them, preventing Magick from being misused and ending that plan forever. Likewise, seeing Magick clearly side with this human outsider over the warlocks delegitimizes them in the eyes of the Monster Realm as a whole; So on top of realizing they have no plan, the Council of Warlocks have also been disgraced in the eyes of the Monster Realm.

            Basically? They give up and jump ship.

            They all individually recover, dig themselves out of the rubble, and limp away to safety, their first focus being survival before thinking about finding the others. I imagine the first out are Hydrownus and Narellus; Hyd salvages Nare and brings her to safety in a cave, finding shelter from the rain.

            Nare feels a bit of relief as she attempts to rest, but Hydrownus… He reflects on how doomed the situation is. He looks at his hands, trembling, and thinks of how this is all gonna collapse and fall apart. He joined Majikus because she made him feel like he could actually do something for once, he could build and not just be nothing more than a destroyer.

            He thinks of what he did; Murdering a mother protecting her child, and how his own mother would’ve thought of that. At the time he made good with it, but now, in this tenuous moment?

            Hydrownus panics, and gives up. Without another word he just leaves the cave and Narellus turns to see he’s gone. Not so much as a goodbye or a parting gift, he’s just outta there and skiing as quickly in whatever direction is away from here. She’s quiet, and can only call out his name once, unsure.

            Viracious wakes up, to find himself in some bedroom. He’s bandaged and tending to his wounds is his sister Thanasia. He already knows what happened, so he’s just quiet. Thanasia admits to him, that… she helped do it. Just as Spelaris betrayed Majikus by powering the barrier spell that cut off the warlocks from one another, she helped plant the necessary nodes for that spell.

            That was the reason she was there; To sabotage the warlocks, and by extension her own brother. It grieves her… and realistically, she should’ve just gone along to preserve the mission. But Than couldn’t help herself. During that visit she called out Viracious to his face what he was doing, tried to appeal to him, only to be rebuked. She risked Majikus’ suspicion, because in the end she just wanted her brother by her side, and didn’t want to just throw him out so readily.

            That’s why she saved him, she tearfully admits; She really shouldn’t have. There’s no way he’ll forgive her now, so it’s pointless. But that’s what happened.

            Viracious is quiet. By all means he should be upset, but at this point he’s just resigned. It’s all over anyway. He wonders what his father would think and just lets Thanasia do her work.

            Megarus is recovered from a river and is nursed back to health. He lays low, knowing there’s a lot of enemies out for the warlocks, who see their chance with the regime’s collapse. He finds himself reunited with some old friends of his; Other mercenaries indebted to Mammon, who were freed when the warlocks slayed the dragon. They express gratitude, and so for old time’s sake, they offer him a new job. They’re working for this boss, and a warlock like Megarus could fetch a hefty price as a mercenary, and be valued as someone who could get the job done.

            Megarus considers… And relents. He finds himself signing a contract again, as he had with Mammon. Maybe this employer will be better, and they certainly can’t be worse, right?

            A door knocks and Kisonus’ mother opens it, surprised yet happy to see her daughter, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck, arms full of cardboard boxes; Her stuff, retrieved. Kisonus comes in and explains that this warlock gig didn’t exactly work out… Her mother reassures her that this has happened before and each time she’s gotten out of it! Kisonus feels a little better. And as always, her mother adds, she’s welcome to crash here until she finds a new job.

            Kisonus sighs, digging up her old mile-long resume scroll. She really thought she’d never need to touch this thing again, huh? But now… Well, time to start updating it. And there’s a lot to add with THIS entry… She begins typing.

            For so many people, the warlock regime was something that changed the course of the Monster Realm’s history forever. But for Kisonus? It was just another job of hers that didn’t quite work out, another addition to her lengthy resume.

            Editaurus wakes up unenthusiastically in one of her studios. It’s been a few days and she can already hear protestors outside, tangling with her chimeras. She made her way back to safety a long time ago, but of course here she finds herself, cancelled once again; In this case, for being a warlock. Probably a worse sin than the child labor sweatshop debacle.

            She considers, but in the end? She can only do as she always has; Blindly move forward and ignore the haters as she steels herself and begins work on a new project.

            Narellus’ mansion weakly limps itself to a big clifftop to overlook the area below. It still hasn’t fully recovered from Khemh and the Monster Realmers’ assault, and the chaos of the warlock regime collapsing didn’t help either. But in the end it’s reunited with its master Narellus, who opens its doors. Inside is a whole lott of empty, abandoned dust.

            …She sighs, and then sits down at a table as the door closes behind her, as she gets to work sewing together a torn curtain. Back to her usual tasks.

            Majikus? I’m still workshopping her ending. I’m playing with the original idea I had for the warlocks’ ending, where they end where they began; At the first village they saved, a scenario in which they actually were the heroes. Even after everything, this village still holds them dear, and believes in what they did for them; And so they offer to host them. Besides, the village reasons; They’ll need protection in the ensuing chaos. Since this chaos is the result of the regime they established, that is now collapsing under their watch, surely the responsibility of this place’s safety falls to them, right?

            In this original ending, the humbled warlocks would’ve been able to reflect on how it started right, and wonder where it went wrong from there. But maybe they can stay here, and just… leave it as this. Don’t allow it to develop and go wrong. Just keep it the same. If this was one good action of theirs, maybe they can just follow its example and they might not go wrong from there.

            I’m thinking about this for Majikus alone; Or maybe she remains a guardian for the community she started off in.

            Either way, we have a brief montage revisiting the warlocks’ fates as Ruby or someone else monologues the ending; Hydrownus butchering sea monsters in some underwater location, having resumed his travels and quest to develop his magic, taking down whatever gets in his way without much regard, once again. Narellus opening the curtains to let in some moonlight, tending to this mansion by herself, once again. Kisonus baking something with her mom and having some fun as she notices a bit of cream on her face, her mother laughing.

            Megarus protecting a traveling caravan from bandits. Viracious playing a boardgame with Thanasia and being surprised when she wins, only for them to both laugh happily over it. Editaurus notices some protestors engaging in combat, not very successfully, with her guardian chimeras outside as she rolls her eyes and focuses back on her current project. And Majikus, once more fighting as she defends this place; Is she still delusional or has she learned something from all of this?

            The ending is meant to be cyclical, stagnant; The Warlocks thought they could break their fates, but the tragedy is they find themselves back where they started, it kind of really was all for nothing. They thought they could change the world, but they couldn’t even change their own lives! And so there’s a bittersweetness to the curse as life moves on anyway and they’re forced to live with the shame and humiliation of their mistakes and keep going; Perhaps the cruelest mistake of all.

            Viracious is a… curious exception because like. He’s the only warlock to demonstrate some actual growth, just on the implication that he actually let it go and embraced change by hanging out with his sister. It’s not cyclical because to do this, he had to have given up on his conquests and just become a normal guy.

            My reasoning for this was because we already have two warlocks who have a complex past with their sister; I wanted to keep in Spelaris and Thanasia because they were OCs I created to develop the warlocks further, and I didn’t want to throw them out. I wanted to make them work. But if I already have the same situation twice, I gotta justify it by having both be different enough to warrant it, to avoid redundancy.

            So I opted for the idea that one Warlock-Sibling dynamic would end in tragedy, and the other wouldn’t. Likewise, I was endeared to the thought that came to me while figuring out the endings of Thanasia saving Viracious, confessing, and making an appeal to her brother that actually works because he’s too defeated and humbled, and she’s proven him right so in a retroactive sense what can he blame her for? And he DID miss her, truth be told.

            Conversely, Majikus and Spelaris… Yeah, Maj crosses a line and murders her own sister, doubling down. I chose Majikus just because I like making her deranged and realistically, while Viracious was the one being a warlord even before Majikus began her quest, it’s also true that as leader of the warlocks, Majikus takes responsibility for everything they do under her watch, and even retroactive responsibility for what they did beforehand by deciding that was fine and could keep happening.

            So in that sense, she is morally the worst warlock. And for that other reason it made sense to have Majikus’ sibling dynamic end on a sour note, while Viracious’ has hope. Not to mention the perspective of Kita and her story, realizing her aunt is fucking insane and having to live with that. Poor Kita.

            I guess it’s a bit funny though because I feel Viracious is morally one of the worst warlocks because he was already pillaging and slaughtering villages even before the council formed. Compared to more down-low ones like Kisonus or Megarus, it does seem a bit unfair doesn’t it? But I also suppose that what makes Viracious different is that… he has a family member who actually called him out and didn’t enable him.

            Bless the heart of Kisonus’ mother but uh. Yeah she’s really letting her do all that. Same for Editaurus’ father. Narellus and Hydrownus enabled each other in the end, what with Hyd’s suggestion of killing Nare’s colleagues, and Nare offering to help Hyd with murdering a mother and child that reminded him of his own past. Still working on what the story is with Megarus and his family member. Majikus did at least have Spelaris… But again, he had to differ from Viracious’ story beats and it feels more fitting for Kita’s story and tragedy for her aunt to fail her so badly.

            So I guess there’s a point that the warlocks enabled one another and were enabled; That in the end they needed someone to call them out, but also to take the final step of listening to them.

            This does make me consider that Megarus’ family member, perhaps a cousin, is someone he is actually resentful towards, just to diversify things and add to the whole mess. So if that cousin also spoke up, well that’s just another reason Megarus should do it. I suggest this because the thought of Meg, such a cheery guy, having this family member he actually fucking hates started off as this irony-based gag, but it could be more than that as I think about it.

            Regardless of Viracious’ anomaly of an ending, it still applies to the entire Council of Warlocks; In the end, they turned out to be the biggest losers of all.

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It’s not easy being the designated “dirty work” guy…

Explanation below the cut!

Viracious tries to act above it all but by the end of the day he’s a judgmental hater who thinks of Hyd as some savage, animalistic brute, when in reality Hyd is just doing directly what Vir often does from more of a distance. In Vir’s POV he’s way less messy about it, which, fair. But otherwise.

Kisonus and Hyd actually have a bit of a bonding moment where she rambles about alchemy and philosophy, and being an alchemist himself Hyd briefly adds to the conversation. Surprised, Kis tests the waters of his knowledge and confirms Hydrownus as someone with his own thoughts and opinions to the discourse. This leads to Kisonus sometimes sending Hydrownus some of her notes and alchemy schematics to use as a second opinion, get some feedback, as well as inquiring as to sources Hyd would know about. So the implication is that Hydrownus felt safe enough to extend the same, hence… This.

Megarus is the group financier and worked under Mammon. He would know this, and I guess he’s trying to be helpful here, the same way SpongeBob is trying to be helpful when he reminds people that licking doorknobs on other planets is illegal.

Editarus does not need Cocaina she needs Chimera (ingredients) and her main complaint with Hydrownus is that the bodies he butchers are so torn apart that it’s hard to salvage anything for her chimeras. Hence her reminder to be a little more clean this time.

Narellus has this weird little obsession with Hydrownus who she’s rotating in her mind. Truth be told the attraction doesn’t have to be romantic or sexual, as long as she’s important to him and vice-versa. But she has fun being a little depraved.

Majikus is Majikus and entrusted Hyd with the role of group executioner. And he’s never let her down.

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Continuing off THAT line of thought, my deranged headcanon (really just canon) is that Narellus is lowkey the type to start jerking herself off in someone’s room just to be perverse about being alone in another person’s private quarters.

Maybe that’s not what she actually does but that’s how Hydrownus verbalizes the vibes she gives off, maybe when talking to Kisonus. Kis is like Ok sure uhhh. Sure she’s kinda hot but uhhh. Uhhhh. She’s amazed that Hyd told her this but also at the way Hyd conveyed it and that the scary silent executioner of all ppl was the one to put it like that. It’s TRUE but from him? H U H .

If Narellus were ever to hear that take she’d be all So true bestie!!!! 🥰❤️🤭🥰😘 And maybe both takes are true that’s what Hydrownus thinks and it’s what she does.

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            Speaking of Warlock duos complimenting one another, each of the three pairs consists of a Warlock who is more of a ranged spellcaster, and another who is a lot more physical and hands-on. Majikus paired each Warlock like this, so they could cover one another and fulfill different niches as the situation calls for.

            Viracious relies a lot on minions, controlling them from a distance as any tactician does; He has his bone puppets that enable him to attack while sealed away completely. His undead and serpents act as guards, as does the natural environment, particularly the earth they spawn from. If uncovered, Viracious casts ranged spells and his Basilisk eyes see far, as do their abilities; Viracious is otherwise a pretty squishy wizard, and his skeletal spindliness gives it away. But he has a trick up his sleeve, using the Pink Magestone to reanimate wounded limbs and even organs.

            Kisonus tends to get up-close and personal with her natural claws, ability to transmute targets, and turning into creatures usually sicc’ed on others. She often has a smarter mind than said creatures to make full use of their abilities, and her transmutation can set up the environments they work best in, such as water. In her base form she’s naturally strong and vicious, and being up close is preferable too; She wants a taste of whatever she’s dealing with, not just to assimilate a sample to shapeshift into them, but for her own ravenous hunger as well. She wants people in her, can’t do that from a distance; That’s what victims are looking for!

            Editaurus creates chimeras, directs them from any distance, needs time before and even during a battle to set them up; She casts classic lightning bolts and webs, and can conjure life in the surrounding environment. She’d prefer to be more creative, just making a rock monster feels so bare minimum and droll… But whichever. It can be many chimeras, or one huge one whose reach is far despite relying on melee. The wings on her ankles flutter rapidly, allowing Editaurus to hover quickly. Mind you, she’s still a capable physical fighter, herself; Her own body is a perfectly-designed chimera!

            But compared to Megarus, Ed sticks to her relative niche; Megarus is a whole powerhouse, a super-fast beast even without the Orange Magestone. And that giant hammer he wields wreaks massive destruction. He’s always quick to close the gap and do things up-close and personal, which is where people fall before him thanks to Meg being proficient in melee combat and martial arts; His speed and precision can target weak points in bodies, and most witches are used to attacking from afar and relying on magic over their own flesh. Meg can use his Magestone to empower Editaurus’ chimeras, who fight for her. He’s a real whirlwind, conjuring literal ones to bring people closer, or to a chimera.

            Narellus relies a lot on her Blue Magestone, being selectively intangible, and making other things selectively intangible, makes it easy to play it safe. She specializes in illusions that can dazzle and disorient, and mind trickery. Ironically, she can actually get close and personal herself, because her selective intangibility renders her unharmed as she reaches a target, turns part of their body intangible, and then tears through the vulnerable pieces left tangible. But a lot of the time, her grace gives way to being more of a manipulator from afar, and whatever parts of herself Narellus exposes are fragile to make up for how hard she is to hit.

            Hydrownus gets his hands dirty, and bloody. His limbs can stretch due to being made of water, and being made of water makes him mostly immune to physical damage, with the Typhonus Motus protecting the internal tube and flask system Hyd relies on for stability, and to aid in funneling chemicals. He’s a master of different weapons, forming ice constructs around his staff; A giant club, a battle axe, a trident, etc. Hydrownus tears into his enemies, brutally tossing them around, burning and freezing or corroding; The worst is making the blood in your body concentrate in your head until it bursts. The pipes on his back can spew flames to propel Hyd forward as he forms ice skis to minimize friction; Sometimes a quick boost while jumping is all he needs.

            And then there’s Majikus, all by herself; And she doesn’t need anybody. Because she can fight up-close and personal, crafting energy weapons and constructs, even her greatest spell turns her into an invincible, super-strong, super-fast flier. And as the strongest Warlock, the jack-of-all-trades, she has a wide variety of spells and blasts to attack at a distance with. She can be both.

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            So there’s this bit about Viracious and Kisonus hating each other, questioning why Majikus assigned them together; Each concedes that okay, maybe it would’ve been hard to find someone suitable for the other at all. But surely they themselves, surely they’re better suited to another Warlock!

            Specifically Editaurus; Narellus and Hydrownus are creeps better left with each other, Majikus operates solo, and Megarus is alright. Vir and Kis both kinda admire and look up to Ed for her confidence and proficiency, in addition to magic they find similar to theirs; Maybe they’re just desperate to get away from their actual partner, though. Viracious talks a lot about how him and Ed are minion-mancers, they create and command armies, their constructs comprise the main bulk of the Warlocks’ army; It’s only natural!

            The source of the Warlocks’ constructs together and coming from a united place, to better collaborate their creations together and even combine them; Ed could find a way to mix in necromancy with her chimeras, and Viracious’ tactical knowledge would make full potential of Editaurus’ chimeras and their esoteric abilities. The Pink Magestone could even keep chimeras alive. Viracious considers himself sophisticated, like Editaurus.

            Kisonus has an argument for herself, however; Editaurus is an artist enamored with creatures, with life, and all of its many forms. And Kisonus is the perfect model to work off, to be inspired by; She can shapeshift into anything, even take a bite out of chimeras to become them, and help Editaurus test-drive her creations, provide feedback on what it’s like to be that chimera, etc.

            Likewise, transmutation and alchemy could turn raw materials for chimeras into other types of materials; This would give Editaurus more bang for her buck when it comes to what she’s working with, more freedom, so she doesn’t have to wait for a specific organ or limb when a pre-existing one could be turned into that. Combining alchemy to transform chimeras in ways that Editaurus herself couldn’t is much more useful, even incorporating inorganic materials; She’s already working with dead bodies anyway, what her works need is alchemy!

            I would not be at all surprised if Kisonus had a bit of a crush on Editaurus, whilst for Viracious he mostly respects and admires her as a visionary, someone with actual dignity. But in the end, Editaurus is uninterested in either of them, and bluntly makes it known; She prefers Megarus, agreeing with Majikus’ choice for partner (She would’ve figured it out herself of course, maybe already did before Maj came to the same idea).

            Editaurus puts it like this; Kis and Vir think they should pair with Ed because their magic is similar to hers, in their own ways. But that’s exactly why they shouldn’t be paired with her, because they’re redundant; Whatever they do, Editaurus already does better. She doesn’t need witches who are at worse at her own magic than her, what she needs is someone who does something she doesn’t, someone to add the variety that is the spice of life.

            THAT’s where Megarus comes into play, as more of a physical fighter whose magic relies on force. His spells stand out from Editaurus’, and thus cover for what few shortcomings hers have. Plus, she finds Kisonus and Viracious to be borderline sycophants in how they vie for her approval, or at least try to convince Majikus why they would be a better fit with her than the other.

            Sure Megarus is always a chill and agreeable dude, but he’s genuinely confident about it and good at conveying himself with sincerity, and it blends finely with Ed's opposite, outspoken nature that nevertheless comes from the same self-assuredness, two sides of the same coin. Megarus is someone who reminds Ed of the limitations of reality, and limitations breed creativity as he helps Editaurus make the budget work. And Editaurus appreciates sincerity, it is honesty and thus expression, art even!

            Kisonus and Viracious are stunned and embarrassed by this assertion, though not resentful towards Megarus for it, gratefully. Meanwhile Ed and Meg hi-five one another and go to get manicures.