#witch watcher

[teethterror]

Some scene sketches, to play with more cinematic composition/lighting and get outta my funk.

[ Witch Watcher Project ]

[teethterror]

DEVIL'S GUTS [Dirofilaria Daemonium]

FIG 1. :: VASCULAR CENTER - The parasite imbeds itself into the heart on the host. Due to the quasi-immaterial nature of the vines, this seemingly lethal blockage eventually causes some cardiac-related symptoms and yet does not result in immediate threat to the host's survival.

FIG 2. :: KNOWLEDGE - The parasite is categorized as a Daemonium (demon) rather than an Aegritudo (affliction) because it is sentient and communicates with its host through visual, auditory, and tactile hallucinations. There is debate on whether the brain is the true first target of the parasite, rather than the heart, as the first symptom of an infection is the intense sensation that one is no longer alone.

FIG 3. :: INVASIVE SPREAD - The parasite uses the vascular system as a guide to infect the full body, but as infection progresses it can expand beyond and wrap around, into, and through all structures and systems. Similiar to the plant named after it, the parasite will eventually smother the host.

[ Witch Watcher Project ]

[teethterror]

While most priests come into the disipline of Exorcism through lineage or decades of training, Jordanus proved a natural. The Plague known as Snake's Fever is a consuming illness, causing erratic and violent behavior as a hostile demonic entity overtakes a human host and their body is cooked from the inside out by an unending fever. The Plagued are usually abandoned, with only the trained Exorcists able to handle them in their final days; They are a threat to themselves and others, and people have long since decided that anyone infected is at moral and spiritual fault for their own infection.

But when Jordanus' devout, loving, charitable mother came down with Snake's Fever, he knew it was not her fault. With no qualifications, only love and loyalty, he cared for her in her final three weeks. And when the Vatican finally bothered to send an Exorcist, the man was so impressed by Jordanus' endurance that he recruited him into the discipline. Now, Jordanus is the leading authority in the practice; Though, his size and hardened appearance often confirm people's incorrect assumptions about what goes into performing excorisms. And so when the Vatican decided to send an Exorcist to muzzle the heretical Salma Auerbach, W.W., for infecting herself with a Plague, they send Father Jordanus to handle her under the false assumption that he is an expert in domination and oppression or unholy minds.

Instead, the tired old man and his empathetic heart can't resist the hope that Salma may find some treatment or cure. He gives her his support, monitoring her progress to keep less supportive members of the Vatican from hindering her efforts.

[ Witch Watcher Project ]

[teethterror]

Hezekiah Esposito was abandoned to the Vatican's care as a small child when he began exhibiting symptoms of the Plague known as Virgin's Tears. The supernatural illness manifests in infants and toddlers, causing them to cry blood for no medically evident reason. The constant drain slowly depletes them of life, causing a map of complex medical issues that are unresponsive to traditional care. In the final stages of the Plague, they lose their sight and begin to experience visual hallucinations of the divine. Traditionally, all children with Virgin's Tears pass away before they've finished puberty.

Hezekiah was one of the first exceptions, thanks to the treatments developed by a team of cutting edge Witch Practioners. But his survival came at the price of being a guinea pig, his consent never courted; The Vatican sold his body for experimentation to the group, knowing a terminally ill orphan would have no way to refuse. Despite this trauma, Hezekiah formed a close bond with one of the WPs that helped treat him; Salma. He has studied under her ever since he escaped the custody of the Vatican, determined to make her proud and further develop treatments for other Plagued in a world that despises his kind.

[ Witch Watcher Project ]

[teethterror]

Vicenta Santos was (or is, according to some) a groundbreaking figure. She was born in the Philippines to a poor family as the sixth daughter, joined the local convent as a nun, and climbed the ranks of the Vatican until she could access their resources and fund her medical education on church dime. Her status as a nun left no doors closed to her; She could immigrate anywhere, attend anything, be accepted by any establishment that desperately needed to remain in the Vatican's good graces. Any contempt for women these establishments held was set aside for the pure, noble facade of a respected nun. And she did not squander these chances.

The moment she became a doctor, she no longer needed the shield of being nun; She dropped that act and began breaking ground on a new area of medicine: Witch Practitioning, the combination of modern medical science and old world mystical healing to combat supernatural illnesses. She created a treatment for the Plague known as Virgin's Tears, using afflicted orphans provided by the Vatican in exchange for granting the church the glory of being associated with her accomplishment.

But her student (turned assistant, turned lover), Salma, who she'd been grooming to take the fall for her less than moral tactics (should they ever be leaked), tumbled her kingdom in a matter of weeks. Salma realized that her mentor planned to make her a scapegoat and struck first: Whistleblowing to every form of authority that would listen. Vicenta lost everything she'd spent her life working towards, now left rotting in prison as a criminal.

And the worst part is that Vicenta still can't ignore her ex-student's request for aid, despite herself.

[ Witch Watcher Project ]

[teethterror]

Work in progress!! Lot of this is visual filler/placeholder nonsense. I need to work on the contrast and filling in spaces with more meaningful linework and motifs; Make it read like I want it to more. But the major shapes and stuff are settled.

I recently got to buy some pages from an antique medical textbook, which inspired me a lot for Witch Watcher. This will be a speculative biology illustration for the parasitic demon Salma is infected with.

[teethterror]

Salma Auerbach was born to highly influential parents, meaning she could have been and done anything. But a teenaged crush on a controversial nun-turned-doctor, Sister Dr. Vicenta Santos, led her down a path of unorthodox and highly specialized education and training to help pioneer a whole new kind of medical field alongside the object of her affection. Nothing had ever been hard for Salma until she'd grown to learn just how morally bankrupt her mentor-turned-lover could be. Salma avoided becoming a scapegoat by being a whistleblower instead, and robbed Vicenta of all the glory of their accomplishments while saddling her with all the blame of their wrongdoings.

While Salma has lost the person who motivated her to rise to her current (famous, notorious) career path, the work itself has gotten its roots into Salma. She's tasted success, and she intends to best herself; Salma is even willing to infect herself with a demonic parasite to further her research and cement her name into history. Having to face a demon in her own mind, with no way to veil herself from the knowing gaze of an Angel older than mankind, is just an inconvenient symptom to her.

[ Witch Watcher Project ]

[teethterror]

Some backstory sketches for lil Hezekiah, during the first few years of knowing Salma.