The kobold crew ? I just love all those funky little dragon gender guys
RQG requests #11, FUNKY LITTLE DRAGON GENDER GUYS!!!! thank you so much for your prompt!! i’d never sat to think about their individual designs before this, and as much as i prefer to plan beforehand, it felt great to just doodle and build them as i went! this is pretty much exactly the result and vibe i wanted, so i’m very happy with this one. it’s really cute! they’re all so cute!!!!! character design is great!!
going from top to bottom we have meerk, draal and driaak, natun and tadyka, sassraa at the center, and our guy skraak on the front. what absolute lads.
mechanical pencil on cream paper, with digital colors.
ID under the cut!
[ID: an illustration of all the kobolds. it's drawn with mechanical pencil on yellow paper, and is colored digitally with flat, warm colors. the style is simplistic and shows everyone in profile. they're all shown in full body, and are bunched together each posing and doing their own thing. skraak is on the front, crouched down, and sassraa is just behind them, standing up straight, at the center of the composition. natun and draal are standing out to the left from behind her, while tadyka and driaak are doing the same, but opposite them, towards the right. meerk is directly above sassraa, at the cusp of the pyramid. they are all variations of red with yellow fins, horns and eyes.
skraak is crouching and leaning towards the right, resting his left arm on his knee, and keeping balance with their right hand on the ground. he's the biggest of all the kobolds, bright red, with a longer tail and spikier, fan-like ear-fins. he's frowning and has his eyes narrowed, with his head turned to the left but looking right. he has tight black armor on his torso and long gray cloves.
sassraa is wearing a white lab coat and goggles. her fins are spiky and pointing diagonally upwards, making them look like cel. she's facing left and is looking right, with her left arm behind her back, and her right holding a test tube up to her face. she's smiling softly.
behind her and stepping towards the left is natun. they're small and reach to about sassraa's chest. they're leaning forwards and have syringe spear on their right hand, and are wearing plain leather armor on their torso. they have a shorter, snubby snout, small horns that curl like a ram's, and two sets of ear fins, which give them a more aquatic look. they have an attentive, eager face and look younger than the rest.
above them is draal. they're wearing a fur-lined, dark brown coat and are holding a fang on their right hand, holding it in front of their face with a big grin. their horns and fins are sharp and short, pointing backwards in spikes.
opposite natun is tadyka. she's a slim, lanky kobold, standing with a bit of a stoop. they're holding a syringe spear in both claws, in front of them. she has a long, less angular snout, and her fins are split into two horizontally. they have plain leather armor. her horns are short and slightly curved forwards.
above her and opposite draal is driaak. they're as tall as draal, and are also wearing a fur-lined coat for the cold. theirs is white with light brown fur, anf they're a dark maroon rather than red. their horns are very small, and their fins are wider towards the top. they're stepping forwards and have a left claw up to their eyes, looking into the distance with a cheery smile.
behind them all is meerk. his body is facing right but he is yelling upwards, sticking his tongue with a grin out and holding drumsticks on each claw. they have a black headband around their heard, spiky bracelets on their right arm, dark gray gloves, and a shiny leather vest. they're bright red, their fins are short and spiky, and their horns are shaped like lightning bolts. his tail pokes out from behind draal in a curl, and the tip of it is a small spiky ball, like a morning star. end ID]
[ID: A digital drawing of Hamid as Azu and Azu as Meerk from rusty quill gaming. Azu is looking up at Hamid as he shows off a ball gown. Azu is a Kenyan half-orc with a shaved head, her ears, lip, and nose are pierced. She is wearing pink suit top with a purple under dress and a beige lower skirt. Meerk is a red Kobold and he is wearing leather armor with a leather skirt and spiked shoulder pads. /End ID]
[ID: Digital fan art of the seven kobolds from Rusty Quill Gaming. They are red and lizard-like, with horns and spikes. There are seven portraits of their heads drawn in profile in various poses. Skraak is medium sized and an intense red color with small spikes. Natun is large and dark brownish red, with multiple scars. Sassraa is medium sized with light and dark stripes, and pure white horns and spikes. Meerk is small, dark red with dark stripes, and has numerous spikes. They are posed with their mouth open, showing small sharp teeth. Draal is small and brownish red, with a light stripe, dark spots, and stubby horns. Driaak is large and lighter red, with long horns and a scar. Tadyka is large and dark grayish red with dark spots. Each is labeled with their name. End ID]
the kobold gang’s all here!! lineart under the cut
[ID: The same art as above, but a colorless line drawing. End ID]
! Some spoilers for RQG S4 - CWs for animal cruelty, drugging and mourning !
Some considerations for Skraak and Meerk backstory/lore. Sorry RQG178 made me emotional so I have to make things like 100% more tragic.
From the sounds of Skraaks post-resurrection reaction it sounds like they knew Meerk for a lot longer and much more intimately than any of the other kobolds. Therefore, this gives me ample opportunity to play around with the shoin institute stuff and make just the most angsty stuff ever. I headcanon Meerk as being a runt, rejected by their mother. Young Skraak finds the dying runt and takes him in, acting as an older sibling/parental figure. They get separated once the Shoin lot show up and are only reunited years later with the LOLOMG liberation. Time lines and ages be damned.
Apolgies for lacking updates, been experiencing art block recently. These ‘quick’ sketches were an absolute struggle. Thank you to everyone in the RQG zine server who helped me with shoin queries!
do you reckon Skraak felt Meerk in the garden? A little bit of reassurance that he’s doing well, that of course it wasn’t Skraak’s fault that he stayed behind? That he is and always will be in skraak’s corner
[ID: Digital fan art of Hamid and Azu from Rusty Quill Gaming, body-swapped into Azu and Meerk’s bodies. Hamid is in the body of Azu, a Kenyan orc woman with a shaved head and small tusks. He is wearing a pink and purple ball gown with a suit-like top and a large skirt. He is standing with hands folded in front of him and smiling. Azu is sitting on his shoulder. In Meerk’s body she is a small dark red kobold with dark stripes. She is wearing two large horns on her head, and various metal spikes and scales. She is waving. The background is blue. End ID]
