#rensaga

[banjo-gk]

Jitte Wielder Ngo

Character design redone in my new, more animation friendly style. I might mess around with shading later, but I’m happy with how this turned out.

[banjo-gk]

Joy. Those who experience. pt 1(1st draft)

Aight, got some writing done. Without going into an hour long lore/biology lecture about the context, here's the short version. This is for Renegade Saga. Valiant in Combat aka 'Val' and Dire have just graduated from the Garuda Empire's version of high school. They're all Avian, which are bird people. Their size variance is roughly that of the bird breeds they are based on but scaled within typical human height ranges*(mid 4 foot to low 7 foot, usually)**(Though that's heel to crown and Avian toe walk so...). Avian culture uses genderless pronouns as the default. Winds are combat focused frontline generals, think WC3 Heroes. Any other questions? Just ask me and I'll answer. Hopefully this all makes sense but I can't look at the screen anymore, it's all blurring together.

“Valiant in Combat Ladeau?”  The call echoed throughout the cramped plaza. At its epicenter stood Lieutenant Dread Shriek Mograine,  their statuesque form cast a shadow which threatened to envelop the entire clearing. Dread was exceedingly tall and well equipped with an impressively broad wingspan. By any standard Lieutenant Mograine was massive, even considering that they were a Golden, one of the largest Avian breeds. Next to the veteran officer there rested a mountain of scrolls laid out on a table, one for each cadet. “Valiant in Combat?” Again, they read the name off the parchment with a deafening rumble. Dread Shriek was, as their name suggests, quite loud. The mass of new recruits shifted uneasily, yet no one stepped forward. “Valiant in Combat?” The officer repeated with another raspy bellow.

“They’re calling your name…” An Eagle Owl, another sizable breed, murmured from the corner of their mouth as they pointedly nudged the Blyth’s Hawk Eagle who lounged beside to them. The much smaller bird rolled their eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Val-”

“Here!” Val emerged from the congregation with their hand raised. As they sauntered toward the grizzled Eagle, their dark crest swaying in sync with their movements. Dread fixated on the juvenile Avian as they aimed a cold piercing glare in the petite bird’s direction. “You know, just Val is fine. You don’t have to say the whole thing. It’s a bit of a mouth full anyway.” Val pleaded with the veteran, their offer accented by their undulating curves, toothy smile, and a sweet longing look. However, Dread held their gaze, unwavering, unaffected, and unamused. “Besides, that’s a lot of pressure to put on a kid. How would my parents know that I’d be Valiant in Combat?” Val recited their full name as though it were a caricature. A parody of the poise and dignity that the Ladeau flight were known for and they were expected to exercise. “For all any of us know.” Val shrugged. “First time I’m in real combat; I’m just as likely to piss myself or kick them in the slit. That wouldn’t be very… valiant? Would it?”  Dread refused to acknowledge Val’s request, they did not want to validate their behavior.

“Valiant in Combat Ladeau?” They held out the scroll. Val’s posture sank and they flailed their arm indignantly as they accepted the orders. “You’ll report to the Temple at Chayot.” Dread spoke in a hushed tone that only Val could hear. Shock, excitement, and joy overwhelmed Val’s disposition and shattered their defenses. “Congratulations, Aspirant.” Incapable of words, the little bird lunged towards the Golden and buried their face deep in Dread’s ruff.

 The force nearly knocked Dread off their feet and, despite their best efforts, caused blood to rush into the Lieutenant’s cheeks, forehead, and other… places. This was a strong biological response that Val was well aware of and would typically be quick to exploit. Luckily for Dread’s virtue, however, Val’s intentions were pure and they quickly detached themselves before they darted back towards the grouping of recruits.

“HEEEE! You’re looking at the next West Wind, Dire.” Val declared with a maniacal glee. The Eagle Owl was hardly surprised. Dire had known Val since they were fledglings. They remembered being weak, alone, scared, and together. No one could appreciate how much the little Eagle had developed to the degree that Dire could.

“You? An Aspirant? There has to have been some mistake.” They responded with feigned disinterest.

“Nope! Top of our class in combat and technical skills.” Val interjected. “ Second in flight capabilities. But that’s only cuz some grouchy bird had to go and be a lot bendier than one would have guessed…” Val continued as they absentmindedly ran their talons through Dire’s soft down.

“Dire Goupillon?” Dread’s voice mercifully cut through the chatter.“Yes, sir!” Dire replied immediately and, in equal parts, rushed towards the Lieutenant beckoning and from Val’s advance. A short inaudible exchange occurred between them. Dire saluted their superior and then they returned to their previous position.

 “So?” Val inquired.“Officer’s Academy, naturally.” Dire calmly stated, brimming with well earned confidence.

“So…” The little trickster adorned their sultry tone once more. “Looks like I’m on track to win our little… wager, Dire.” Val grinned suggestively. A shivered sprinted up Dire’s spine and through their nerves.

“What? I never agreed to…” Dire feebly protested as they struggled to regain their composure.

 “If you want out, all you gotta do is say so.” Val teased. Their eyes met briefly before Dire quickly redirected their vision towards an unoccupied plot of earth. 

“Y-you’re perverted.” They muttered to themselves

.“Nu-uh, I just like really… big… birds.” Val’s words clung to the air, practically dripping with intent. But Dire was not defenseless.

“You are impossible, Val!” With great strain they shook themselves free of Val and their own temptation.

“I think you’d find that I’m quite accessible, Dire.” Val fired one last rejoinder, though even they could see they were bested.

“That’s not what I… “ A sudden pause. “Congratulations, Val.” The realization that the two would soon part ways suddenly struck Dire. “I guess I will miss you…” Their lips curled into an earnest smile but their eyes betrayed another emotion. “Despite myself.” They joked with a token chuckle. Val nodded their head as they hoisted themselves onto the tips of their talons. Now they were nearly eye to eye with Dire. As Val raked their knuckles gently across the side of Dire’s face, they reassured their life long acquaintance

.“It won't be so long this time, Dire.” The Owl wrapped his right arm around Val’s slender waist to support his friend’s weight. “I promise.” Val added. Dire could feel the Eagle’s lips move along their feathers as Val whispered.

“Val?” Dire softly questioned.

“Yes, Dire?”

“Why do you always tease me?” Val giggled slightly and then pressed themselves against Dire’s chest.

“Because no never let me do anything else, silly.” Val said plainly with great affection and free of accusation.

“What do you mean?” Dire inquired, not unafraid of what the answer may hold.

“You never say, yes. You never say, no. So I wait.” Val had now completely wrapped themselves up within Dire’s embrace. “I want you, Dire. I want you to tell me what to do.” They draped their head over Dire’s shoulder and smiled. Buzz-saw ivory revealed behind gold painted lips.

“I…” Dire choked. But this was pleasant. It was more than enough.

Several minutes passed as they stood in silence, frozen in time. The two lingered in what should been a passing moment and then, wordlessly, they parted. First for the night and then for much longer. Off they went to different skies, different lives, different fates, and different stories.

[banjo-gk]

Mustardseed: Textless/Non-Berserker Version

Colorized and digitized version of a sketch I did over the Holidays. Mustardseed is one of the main badees from the first arc of my story RenSaga, which it is my New Year's resolution to start and finish at least 1 chapter of in 2020.Alternate version will be posted later for Patreon's only(https://www.patreon.com/ThatMansonFire), so sign up if you want more art and world building stoofs. Every little bit helps so thank you!

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An Ascension of Sorts

A pair of figures stood at THE border. Beyond; an endless number of possibilities, universes, and outcomes bleed into one another in a chaotic churn. The overwhelming visage was indistinguishable, intertwined, and messy. Behind them, all that Mr. Tarpid had known was neatly packed away and stored just out of view. He stepped into the storm. 

“You coming?” Mr. Tarpid inquired, not daring to look back at his companion. Resolve is a fickle boon.

“Mmmmmm...” Cat’s face contorted with a feigned consideration. “Cat thinks... that Cat would get lost.” They offered gently.

“That...” Tarpid grinned, unfazed by the light and wholly expected rejection.”...is entirely the point, Mr. Cat.” With a shrug he vanished into the noise, just one more disaster in that wreck of a sea.

[banjo-gk]

So I’m back to working on the Color Storylines for RenSaga

I started doing the six of the main story lines for the first act of Rensaga one chapter at a time by asking for a color at random from some of my followers. Then Nano and the holidays happened and that pretty much killing my progress. But now I’ve mostly recovered and to get my self excited I started making some art for the purple story line which was were I left off.

Anyway here’s a character:

Captain Go Yul of the Imperial Jayjanse Army. I may do a little mixed media experimentation for this chapter... at least if it turns out well and does take forever.

Also i did bone rig his eyes and eyebrows if you wanna check him out on my patreon:   https://www.patreon.com/ThatMansonFire/posts

Also the gifs were made before I darkened his complexion, but I do like him having the darker skin tone so that’ll be what’s canon. 

[banjo-gk]

Vision. Those who innovate. Part 1, First Draft

Alright! Got a starting point for the Vision/Green story line of Rensaga. This is still in a rough state but I need to walk away from it for a bit so I thought I'd share what I had.  Reader digest version of relevant background info. Gao is a region of the Jayjanese Empire that use to be a separate nation. before the Jayjanese Incursion. Gao is made up of the lands of 6 major clans(Senni, Nadi, Tek, Bari, Tson, and Hijo). For lack of a better term, Senni is the 'dominate' clan and their leader, the Dorsai, is part military leader/ part head diplomat for all of Gao.  The Round is a pilgrimage that the people of Gao can under take for a variety of reasons but is usually done before making a life changing decision. Sound good? Any questions or if you wanna know more, let me know and I can talk you into the grave about world building stoofs!

It’s pretty long so for Tumblr I’m just gonna link to my patron: https://www.patreon.com/posts/21920219

The story is public though so go check it out!!!

Also thanks @hobbular for helping me select what I was working on next.

[banjo-gk]

Valiant in Combat

Since I had actually sat down and wrote out the first chapter of Val's story, I wanted to redraw them in my character portrait style. I think they turned out well... the little tease.

Patrons of mine can read the first part of ‘Joy. Those who Experience.’ Here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/joy-those-who-21503221

Also, if you haven’t already, you can become a patron here:

https://www.patreon.com/ThatMansonFire

[banjo-gk]

Aight did another character design... like three more and I can actually start the Jayjan story line of RenSaga. However, right now, I'mma go to bed. Goodnight, y'all!