#realmshifters

[deshundein]

Happy birthday to our dear @zlukaka from @myarissimo and me. This is Otto - Zlu’s character from her and @luffik visual novel Eyes of the Swarm.

Ps. Pic is made by @myarissimo. She’s in work now and I’m just uploading Otto for you @zlukaka so you can have your gift earlier.

[zlukaka]

This character is a part of Eyes of the Swarm, my and @luffik​​’s visual novel in development. Any feedback/comments will be loved & treasured!

This is Thing.

Some say he is the result of a beastrider taking a liking to his mount, others think it was the other way around, or that he’s something that crawled out of a different realm or a lab. What ever Thing is, he is not human. 

Despite his spiky appearance, Thing is a peaceful timid creature who just wants to be left alone. Sadly that makes him even more of a target in the beastriders’ eyes - freaky appearance would have been forgivable had he been a killing machine. Alas with his disproportionate limbs and lack of moxie, Thing is doomed to be a scapegoat.

Unless someone takes pity on the poor misshapen creature. But what would a charitable person be doing in the Swarm...

More about Eyes of the Swarm here>>

[luffik]

It’s finally here! First of the characters from my and @zlukaka’s visual novel Eyes of the Swarm (for now in early development stages but we’ve got the plot and the characters mostly figured out so we just need to work on it a lot! Quietly hoping that you’d scream at us to move our asses and do that XD). 

All comments are super-loved, seriously please tell us what you think! <3 Proper post on the game’s setting coming later but I put a little bit of trivia below. We’re starting from the baddies, who could have ever expected that, hehe? :P

Emperor Vra

Vra is the supreme leader of the faction known as the Swarm and one of the two current avatars of the Swarm (the Swarm, which the entire faction derives its name from, is a hive of sentient insectoid spirits living in a hollow mountain - being worshipped as a deity and offered human sacrifices, it possesses its chosen ones, granting them powers over all other human subjects). The Swarm worshippers inhabit the jungle-covered, cavernous islands of the homeworld. Most of them are ‘civilians’, living in primitive settlements led by shamans who report to the higher-ups in the Swarm. Only the high command has access to technology, much of which has been reverse-engineered from the inventions devised by the Realmsguard, the so called ‘heroes’ and ‘protectors’ of the land.

Recruited from among them and trained to become the Swarm’s army, are the Beastriders (their various flying mounts trained by beastmasters are used in combat against the aricrafts of the Realmsguard). The Beastriders with powers are also called Realmshifters (bonded in twos they are able to walk other dimensions) and are too valuable to lose so they are connected to a reincarnation system. The Swarm high command would love to connect every fighter to the system but it’s impossible (they tried, it caused outages) because the Swarm’s reincarnation system is an imperfect copy of the Realmsguard’s flawless resurrection network. 

Vra was once the lead scientist working on the reincarnation system. Nowadays they have technicians who constantly oversee its performance but sometimes Vra still has to get involved in tweaking it. He loves tinkering with things, and even though he realises that the empire expects him to be a fearsome ruler and not a science geek, sometimes he doesn’t give a shit and burrows himself in his labs, instead of being present in the throne hall. The key figures of the Swarm (like Otto and the Spymaster) always know where to find him in case of emergency (and they have many of those, with the reincarnation system being faulty and sometimes unstable).

Vra was behind several of the ground-breaking scientific inventions of the Swarm’s own making. Him and Otto used to be the two ‘second-in-command’s of the previous avatar but overthrew him with the help of the founders of the Realmsguard (Otto and Vra were considered a lesser evil, plus them and the Realmsguard’s forefathers Nathan and Belgar fought so much against each other back in the day that they they are sort old time friends). Reluctant to rule, Otto has tricked Vra into becoming the next leader. Vra doesn’t mind though. He loves power; the authority, luxury and other perks that come with it. Responsibility, though, not so much...

Vra takes great delight in showing off his status as the Emperor. He does that by always looking as fabulous as it gets, usually changing his outfits and appearance several times a day. He hasn’t always looked inhuman, he mutated as a result of conducting experiments on himself, combined with walking through some wrong dimensions (in the past Otto and Vra were realmshifting together, under orders of their common leader). Vra is not the best fighter and faced with overwhelming odds, he’s somewhat of a coward. But he is capable of leading the Beastriders into a battle, as is (luckily only sometimes) expected of him as a ruler.

Otto and Vra bicker a lot, because Otto is the second avatar of the Swarm (though that is not common knowledge), so Vra can’t get rid of him and has to tolerate him as his adviser. But I’m gonna save all those stories for other art pieces :D We won’t reveal the actual plot of the game but we will show you the characters and the setting. And we’re open to all kinds of questions so ask away! <333

[zlukaka]

This character is a part of Eyes of the Swarm, my and @luffik​​’s visual novel in development. Any feedback/comments will be loved & treasured!

Nathan and Belgar are the founders of the Realmsguard. Whereas Belgar excelled in his warrior and strategist functions, Nathan was the mastermind behind the Realmsguard technology and organization. With divine guidance and with Belgar at his side Nathan established the sky bastions, opened portals to other words, built flying machines and created the resurrection system that allowed the Realmsguard to stand up to the brutality of the Swarm.

Humble and selfless, but also resolute and fearless Nathan drove progress through the centuries, becoming a figure of legend known to the world as Nathan the Savior. 

Eventually the grand machine that the Realmsguard grew into no longer needed its founders’ guidance. When they felt they weren’t keeping up with modernity, Nathan and Belgar stepped aside giving up power to the younger generations. Now they are just retired relics of the past, an inspiring duo of living saints - the chosen of Terry, the now sleeping god the Realmsguard worship.

Nathan still tinkers with technology and grudgingly makes public appearances to inspire morale, but he has grown taciturn since he took to the sidelines. Once Nathan stood his ground against rulers of men and challenged the Swarm itself with but a single ally and god’s will on his side. Now Nathan is a recluse, living more in books than he does in the real world. 

The Realmsguard is functioning well without his watchful eye. Or so it seems.

[zlukaka]

My half of the duo of the Swarm avatars, aka the rulers of the bad guys, in @luffik‘s and mine visual novel Eyes of the Swarm. 

Unlike flamboyant larger than life Emperor Vra, Otto usually goes about looking and acting quite humble. He is the Emperor’s adviser and in reality equals Vra in power, but doesn’t like the spotlight much. Not the political one anyway.

Otto had lived a long fulfilling life before he became one of the Swarm’s avatars. He values the simple pleasures in life. Such as driving Vra nuts when the opportunity presents itself. Nothing like pushing around your official ruler and getting away with it. Sometimes Vra retaliates, but both of them need each other to run the Empire, so it’s mostly petty bickering and low-key backstabbing.

Being the more level-headed and public-spirited of the two, Otto works hard on actually making sure their subjects don’t have to resort to cannibalism or murder each other too eagerly. He also goes incognito among the simple people both in their own lands and on enemy territory, gathering valuable information and recruiting new converts from the Realmsguard. This wise old man juggles the economy, logistics and public relations all in one. Where does he find the time, you might ask. Well, unlike some imperial majesties, the Spine doesn’t dye his hair and put on makeup several times a day. “Because he’s bald and no amount of makeup would save his ugly mug,” would be his Emperor’s retort.