#osmeithtober

[kintatsujo]

Osmeithtober Day 6

I talked about maybe going into alchemy or the undead but I kind of need to be able to do a shorter post tonight so here's Baba Ixandel with extremely little context

Baba Ixandel, everyone.

[kintatsujo]

Osmeithtober Day 3

I have a lot more notes about animals than I strictly have of like, sketches, so I'm starting this off with some of my sketches of the best party member, Mortimer.

Am going to note right now that I've always had some trouble getting proportions quite right on a lot of animals so you are going to have to bear with me.

Much like with the four peoples in the previous post, I wanted to avoid just having regular ass earth animals in this setting, because once you've decided to swear off having regular humans, having normal ass horses in the setting is actually really fucking weird.

So, I made a couple of decisions:

Rule One, all ungulates are essentially unicorns (the goat is a work in progress that I'm not stopping at). This would include even things like whales, because why the hell not. That does mean I had to come up with goofy ass names for the different types of unicorns, if only to differentiate them in prose, like nalhorse or nalhross for a horsicorn, mulicorn, naedelhinny. But it also means I'm not going to lazily draw a cow and later realize that oops, I put a normal cow in my weird fantasy setting.

(Notably, a lot of the unicorns of Osmeith have innate magic; naedelhinnies are more useful than hinnies in the real world because they're more magically powerful than either of their parents-- and the equine innate magic talent is purifying water enough that it's safe for both unicorns and people to drink. So, people breed naedelhinnies on purpose so that they can have them clean water more effectively.)

Rule Two, all birds are dragons.

All reptiles and fish are also dragons, by the way. I am a draconic anarchist.

And of course the dragons are also dragons.

I'm still working on the peligon's proportions but I want you all to know it's fun because it's utterly horrifying; typically it's about the size of a horse but also doesn't stop growing if it has a sufficient food source. And yes, it doesn't just LOOK like a pelican. 8)

Rule Three, none of the dogs are explicitly real-world breeds.

They also have horrible little paw-hands but I didn't think you guys were ready for that. =X (This is also why I made a post a million years ago about types of dog heads.)

The cats are currently mostly just cats, though, because I thought it was funnier that way.

Rabbits have antlers. Because again, I think I'm funny. There's also tarrasques, although at this point I'm still deciding if this means dragons replace bears or something even more screwy is going on with that.

There's also more monstery beasts, of course, of the sort that don't really have strict equivalents in the real world; I'm putting the last illustration under a cut because it's a spider-taur and I don't want to jumpscare anyone with arachnophobia.

The weftam, a domesticated spider-taur about the size of a small dog or a large cat, kept for silk and general companionship.

I wanted something that filled the niche of the giant spider from video games without being quite an actual spider; creepy, but unrealistic enough for someone with lower level arachnophobia to hopefully be less put off.

I have no idea how successful I was because unfortunately I have very little understanding of what makes a spider creepy. You're just going to have to take my word that the weftam is the wettest beast and hides from thunderstorms.

The wild version of the animal is called a spinnedir and acts more like you'd expect a video game spider to act, probably, but this IS a dark fantasy so like. Ooga booga.

[kintatsujo]

Osmeithtober day 2

In which I subject you all to my clumsy attempts to explain what you'd find in the character creator if this was an open world rpg

Osmeith doesn't have any humans because I wanted to challenge the assumption that there's anything that felt too "default" in the setting. The fantasy people are elves, trowa, draikana/riulan, and the salamandra. (The naming situation is a little complex with the draikana for reasons we'll get to in a second.)

Arguably, elves are the closest thing Osmeith does have to humans, in that they're pretty much the only people here who don't have tails, lol, but they're also, you know.

Kinda blue-ish compared to humans. (Purple counts as blue-ish.)

One of the things btw I wanted to make sure about is that there are different ethnic groups within the different groups of fantasy people, which is part of why the draikana have multiple names. (The other reason is that they're essentially another setting rescue and I am much older than I was when I originally came up with "riulan," which I'm still using but not in Jormungandir's Throat.)

The trowa on the other hand, come in human colors, but, well, they've got tails and animal ears.

Some tail and ear types tend to show up more in some ethnic groups than others, but I don't want you to think it's especially strict.

The trowa are also generally rather hairier than elves, keeping in mind that Osmeith elves are about as hairy as humans, lol.

Also technically the name comes from the same root as "trolls" but I didn't want people to actually think of the five or six pop culture things that get called trolls

The draikana/riulan are kind of uh, I wanted to have a wide variety of aesthetics and styles for them? They can be dragony in multiple directions to the point of being merfolk sometimes.

One of the things about Osmeith's inhabitants is that a lot of living things have innate magic, and the draikana/riulan are the ones out of the four types of peoples that have the most of it-- as evidenced by the fact that some can magically fly (those wings don't make sense), some of them can magically breathe underwater, and all of them can shift their shapes depending on their other abilities, putting their wings or tails away depending on their needs.

I wanted to have my cake and eat it too, basically.

And finally we have the salamandra, singular salaman. Here's Skarinath from toddler to about sixteen.

Where the dragon-merfolk breathe water through innate magic, the salamandra are just naturally amphibious. They're also immune to a wide variety of diseases and unreasonably tough, with the trade-off being that their children absolutely need to be in clean water the first couple years of their lives. (Although salinity doesn't matter because who cares about realism.) This means their communities tend to stick to riverways and shorelines, of course, even more than the other peoples. Skarinath himself grew up in a coral city off the coastline of Atalan.

(I don't have as many sketches to share of the salamandra for the sole reason that I've been kind of focused on Skarinath himself, lmao)

The real purpose I was pursuing with the four peoples was being able to adapt a wide variety of characters into Osmeith, whether I was playing an Argonian in Skyrim (Skarinath) or say, making a reference to (blatantly stealing from) the Draconians from Escaflowne, lol.

and now it's midnight so I gotta cut off here XD

[kintatsujo]

Osmeithtober Day 17

As noted I've decided to break the fashion down into regions and I am starting with (western) Dalrahan because um um um MOSTLY it's the sort of vaguely not-quite vikingesque look I tend to default to in fantasy settings (because of, well, Hagar the Horrible and Horrible Histories illustrations, tbh). But with stronger definitions here and there.

I had to write that description twice because Tumblr sucks. Also there ARE little capes and shit like Link's Hylian Hood and shit like that but I think this gets the gist down. I'll get around to doing a picture like this for eastern Dalrahan (which is largely that big clawlike peninsula) but the major differences include a heavier emphasis on huge shawls and enormous triangular sleeves and just wearing blankets because you can. And kilts.

Anyways, generally as an overview, it tends to run on the practical side, with common accessories being scarves, pouches for belts, belt buckles, brooches, heavy bracelets for keeping sleeves in place, etc. Cuts of fabric are largely straight line or simple shit like a big ass circle of fabric turned into a skirt or cape. Colors tend to hover around yellows, greens, reds, and blues and blacks.

I was going to talk about things like fabric types and spell embroidery and whatnot and realized I have enough to make it its own post, oops.

One thing I will note is that Wynhilda, despite living in western Dalrahan at the start of the story, rather notably wears more form-fitting tops and billowed sleeves than I've outlined here: That is because Wynhilda is a little obsessed with clothes.

[kintatsujo]

Osmeithober Day 24

Talking about Courier Guilds because as I noted I needed a shorter post for tonight, lol

Basically the idea that there would be courier guilds in the Throat comes from like, okay, this RPGMaker game idea I'd had where I'd been playing a particular mobile game for a month and started thinking about how I would handle a fantasy mail-carrier game, right. And since what I had was RPGMaker everything was looking like a JRPG, and the idea I had was that your party members would be dogs.

Because mailmen. Dogs. Dogs. Mailmen.

Anyway that made the basic concept pretty easy to rescue.

The little dude to the side with his mail-bag is basically like, that is more or less the bag I would have given to the Skyrim couriers if I knew how to mod shit because it's fucking spooky when you're running through the wilderness and a random man suddenly starts running towards you, thank you very much Bethesda.

A lot of people still get their actual news from bards, but if you want to send something somewhere hiring the local couriers' guild is usually the most reliable way for the average person. Couriers started forming guilds as a matter of safety in numbers; if a local ruler acquires a reputation for shooting messengers, the guilds just stop sending messengers, and since they have some organizational pull there isn't as much that a king or queen can actually do about it most of the time.

In case it isn't clear, the Darters are the husky-like dogs and the Steadies are the Bernard-like dogs. The Darters are called that because their job is to dart ahead towards trouble, not because they're sprinters.

Anyway, behold. Courier dogs. I like them, and I might still make that game someday if I ever have the time, but obviously it's set in Osmeith now.

[kintatsujo]

Osmeithtober Day 7

So today I'm gonna add a LITTLE more context to Baba Ixandel talking about how she helped start a fun New Year's tradition~

Reminder of my definition for dark fantasy: Fantasy that uses horror elements. I'll be keeping that aspect of it low-key for Osmeithtober by comparison but we are definitely heading into spookytown today.

Also apologies for the slightly washed out look; I'm still sorta getting the hang of getting scanned linework properly darker in CSP.

Baba Ixandel has a different idea of "fun" from most people, which I don't think should surprise you.

Generally, there are many kinds of undead, in Osmeith. Some arise naturally; some are essentially the final stages of deadly disease. Liches like Baba Ixandel are the main type that aren't just running on some leftover animal instinct or being driven by some kind of directive. Different liches take different paths to immortality, most of them are rather horrible.

(Generally, there's "regular" vampires and there's vampiric liches, which is considered a very different thing. There's a lot more to the "regular" vampires, but for now we'll just leave it at the fact that they're connected tightly to werewolves in the setting and that it's not all fun and sparkles.)

The Kinnatish Calendar, inherited from the Atalan Empire, treats Winter Solstice as the last day and the first night of a given year.

Magically, it's one of the days of the year that the "dark" facet of magic is strongest.

Baba Ixandel's curse, therefore, which makes heavy use of the dark facet, is strongest on Langestnacht.

[kintatsujo]

Osmeithtober Day 4

I am Very Tired today because I was at work for *checks* um, fuckin nine hours if you count my lunch hour

so naturally I'm going to attempt to explain the complicated magic system that I only have the basics sketched because why wouldn't I do something like that, it's me

Have an eyecatch Invid has to forgive me for wasting time on because it's of the draikana version of his Skyrim protagonist, Rexine:

Osmeith's magic system is complicated partly because it involves complicated ideas and partly because it's deliberately vague on some points and PARTLY because there are concepts here I've rescued from. Um. Well, if you count that I'm reusing an idea from Alien Revenant, at least three completely different magic systems. Possibly as many as six depending on how you count.

First off are the bones of the system: The Higher Facets and the lower elements, the interplay of which are basically the ridiculous magic math that I am absolutely not explaining every time something happens and you're just going to have to assume I'm running on "it seems right" 99% of the time.

Importantly, none of the higher facets are considered good or evil, rather; dark, death, and order are the voids which light, life and chaos rush to fill.

This is also why true resurrection, while possible in the system, is considered both a zero sum game and highly taboo: when one pulls something from death, surrounding life rushes to fill the void left behind, and it is both highly difficult to control what fills the void and necessary to allow for a full equivalent balance.

Sometimes, the person being resurrected leaves far more debt than the necromancers expected to have to pay.

This doesn't stop necromancers trying to cheat the system from being a tragic rhyme through Osmeith's history.

As for the lower elements, they function kind of like colors, flowing into one another and having much messier relationships with one another in general. A talented natural mage may not have very good understanding of the technicalities of what they're doing but can certainly figure out how to shift colors.

(And yes, mind/soul being equivalent to magenta is a deliberate choice. That one has two names because the wizards argue over it btw.)

With the right magic math and enough fucking with the hue slider, you too can fool dirt into thinking it's clouds!

Every living thing has its own arcane well (basically a video game magic bar), although how well they can access their magic isn't connected to how deep the well is, so to speak.

Fintain, for example, has dysmagicka and can't use spells on his own to save his life, though magic artifacts designed to draw power from the user work for him just fine.

(yes I gave my protagonist magic-dyslexia, suck it lol)

Using the power from the arcane well therefore takes a number of different forms; verbal and physical methods of focus, instinctive use through innate talent, and use of artifacts that draw on one's personal well.

Although it's not necessary that a magical artifact pulls on YOUR well. There's ways to create artificial wells that can be recharged, for example, and some dragons actually imbue their gizzard stones with enough magical charge to use as a power source. It's also possible to cast magic using someone else's well... if they like you well enough, at least.

(Ignore my spelling or I'll eat you)

Magical artifacts are generally created using rune-work, which can be as simple as the above three-rune spell (inscribed on a base designed to absorb magic power from the user when activated) and as complicated as, say, a piece of jewelry with a highly complicated protection spell inscribed inside the gemstones using magic.

A lot of smithies have some level of skill with runework for the simple reason that a blade with a simple self repair enchantment inscribed is going to sell for a lot more than one without it.

It's also possible to create complicated constructs with such runework, from clockwork marvels to magical summons known as fantasma.

It is common to inscribe runic programs into clothing or jewelry for easier use.

THAT said, there's nothing that keeps a runespell from working just fine if it's been tattooed into the skin, which is especially common for gender affirming procedures. Changing sex, as far or as little as one wants, is only about as difficult as it is to find a healer skilled enough at both fleshweaving and alchemy. Because fucking hell why the fuck not.

(Alchemy in Osmeith, it should be noted, has its fantastical video game qualities pretty much entirely because sometimes plants have innate magical qualities that they're using THEIR arcane wells for, just the same as the equine unicorns use magic to clean water.)

And also yes that does mean Camrian is a twink because he wants to be a twink. He could have been Conan the Barbarian if he'd really wanted.

His pipe may or may not be how he's taking testosterone, by the way.

This is actually gonna have to be part one for the magic system because this post is getting LONG and it's half past midnight, oops!

So tomorrow I'm gonna talk more about using magic with focus versus innate talents.

[kintatsujo]

Osmeithtober Day 10

Today I'm gonna pull in a little tighter than I have so far and talk about Wizenstatt, which I've occasionally mentioned in the past year as "Wizard City" but which also has some goofy ass nickname like The Big Orpple or some shit because it's basically one of the better known cities in Jormungandir's Throat and needs the kind of nickname that makes it clear that it's basically the setting equivalent to New York.

*cue cheesy educational video backing track*

Btw to give y'all a clearer idea of the scale, here, Eldeket is very specifically approximately nine Ohios in a square. Because I wanted to make sure I had a good scale measurement, I'm from Ohio so it's familiar territory, and also Ohio is itself mostly a square so it's easy to use as a rough unit. So this sea (which I think of as freshwater) is about on the scale of one of the Great Lakes.

The Torkaire Sea used to just sort of be a widening of the Kettair River, before, well, a continent crashed into the ocean on the other side of the Spine Mountains. And Wizenstatt, a thousand and hundred years ago, was little more than a particular archwizard's tower that happened to be built to survive anything.

Here is a half assed pixel art skyline of the basic concept:

Nobody goes in the archwizard's tower anymore because it's full of archwizard nonsense and fuck that shit, but there IS a magic university at the base that is still in use.

Due to the fact that Wizenstatt is also one of the two easier crossing points between Dalrahan and Eldeket, it has also become the home to a lot of organizations that don't want to be too heavily beholden to anyone on either side; there are numerous trades and mercenary guilds based here, and some fifteen years before Fintain's story there was a hub here for a particular black market and flesh trade organization known as the Blackwyrm. Some eight years before Fintain's story there was an Eldfae necromantic cult hiding out here known as Begal-Alone.

(Blackwyrm doesn't exist anymore because fifteen years ago is around when Skarinath Of The Twelve Lands arrived at Jormungandir's Throat and a woman bemoaned its existence in his presence. Begal-Alone still exists but was driven further into Dalrahan by.... someone else.)

It's also Wynhilda's original hometown, although that's not where she's lived since she was twelve.

Yes, I have written the soup song, before anyone asks. It is very cute and cheery, which is more than I can say for the rest of Wynhilda's childhood.