The witch came from the north like a shiver down Narniaās spine.
The witch came from the north like a shiver down Narniaās spine. The type that makes you turn around, certain that someone is watching you, only to find yourself alone.
By the time she realized that there was a danger in her midst, it was too late. She felt the fear in the country increase; her attentions were pulled in every direction. The king and queen marshalled their forces in a last-minute defense, and Narnia felt every death as if it was her own.
The ice and snow followed, scraping over her flesh, leaving her barren and void of plants. Her rivers and lakes froze. Her people turned against one another. The witch built a castleāall sharp and iceātearing it from Narniaās chest.
The easiest thing for Narnia would be to slumber, to hibernate through this cold period until it found its end. But she could not abandon her people that way. So she stayed present and conscious. The tried to make her presence known and keep hope alive.
It was all she could do to keep her own hope alive as well. Surely Aslan would return and rescue her and her people from this terrible winter.
The day was warm. Susan had found respite in the shade with Rillet, who glittered in the sun that dappled through the leaves above. Her ample skirts served as their blanket, lying between them and the earth.Ā
Even now, she felt shy, even after. Her flushed skin was beginning to cool.Ā
Rilletās arms around her shifted with the breeze. Susan looked up.
āYouāre certain no one will find us?ā she asked quietly.
Rillet nodded. āWe nature spirits may be everywhere, but we do try to afford each other some privacy.ā
āI was more worried about my brothers.ā She smiled softly.
forget Susan and Lucy (donāt) but please donāt tell me Lewis didnāt like female characters when Polly ādonāt touch the obviously cursed bell, you absolute walnutā Plummer, Jill āmy litigious bestie and I are here to fight the Antichristā Pole and Aravis āāI did not do any of these things for the sake of pleasing youāā Tarkheena exist
More character designs except this time theyāre fantasy dwarves and whenever I draw fantasy dwarves they legally all need to have facial hair regardless of gender cause I think thatās cool.
Also these guys are all secretly Narnian and are also on the crew of the Dawn Treader cause Iām forever building out the crew in my mind, and itās practicing doing my own designs. Here is some more of the crew.
The slightest amount of lore for them is down here if you care, along with general Narnia headcanons and waffling.
The dwarf on the far left is a river dwarf Iāve decided. I donāt know fully that is other than I think itād be cool if there was a tribe of dwarves that were close to the water nymphs, and generally have great knowledge and skills that are an asset on a sailing crew.
The river dwarves are one of the reasons telmarines were scared of the water (along with the niads, however the bridge of beruna imprisoned the river god, who otherwise was also responsible for many folk tales told to young telmarine children. Their fear of water is ironic to me cause I believe thereās evidence of them coming from the Caribbean as pirates? I imagine the humans on caspians crew are like, either rediscovering their roots or the few who held on to that seafaring background. Mostly younger telmarines in the same generation as caspian, they questioned the leadership and were very happy when old narnia overthrew Miraz.)
the river dwarves are generally peaceful and most lived in hiding during telmars reign. Theyāre temperament is very stable and they do well under pressure. River dwarves are incredibly stealthy and only attack in necessity as self defense. In terms of stealth think like lotr hobbits, and this is a great contrast to most other dwarves in Narnia (strong strength and combat, low stealth) A lot of them abstained from fighting against telmar alltogether due to their peaceful values. They are disconnected from some other dwarf cultures which can cause some tension.
The two in the middle come from a tribe of dwarves that are blacksmiths, and also theyāre siblings. The brother in particular is a toy maker by trade specifically, and loves kids. His wife (far right) has a background in carpentry. Him and his wife donāt have any but virtually adopt any child they see. The sister is always having a good time, and seafaring comes more naturally to her than smithywork ever did.
The carpentry/forest dwarves generally have a history of closeness with dryads similarly to how the river dwarves are with the water spirits. Some of that connection has been severed due to how deeply the dryads retreated and were removed when Caspian the Conqueror (not our caspian) and his descendants over-deforested. It takes time to restore that connection.
The two on the left may or may not have a situationship and the two on the right have been married for years.
Regardless of trade theyāre all on the ship because theyāre loyal as fuck to Caspian, the married couple kind of see themselves in a parental role to him but itās debatable on how that actually plays out.
Also no one has a name cause Iām so bad at coming up with names.
āāāāāāāā
My thinking in general is that Narnian dwarves make up a lot of the trades, other races do contribute as well, (Iād imagine some marshwiggles work in stuff related to ships/seafaring but perhaps not travelling themselves) most fauns are more into the arts/spirituality, but some do take up trades (a couple of my designs from this post are tradespeople, one of them is a bard.)
I havenāt done many centaur designs, but my vague thoughts is that there are those who are more spiritual and practice prophecy, stargazing, advising, and those who are more into combat, and are protectors, or messengers.
āāāāā
Gender and the ideas around sexuality Iād also imagine would be a lot more fluid and most Narnians are a lot more open than some of the more human civilizations. (Like itās a country made of sentient trees, talking animals and mythical beings, and the human countries kind of canonically are like āwhat the heck is going on over there???ā Or theyāre afraid of them and try to colonize them, like the telmarines)
These are all half baked ideas but Iāve been fixated on Narnia since I was five and itās lowkey the reason I spent so much time and passion into drawing and now have a career in graphic design and illustration, so. This is mostly all for me, so donāt mind how long this post has gotten. š¤
My take/designs on the pevensies! (Theyāre definitely heavily inspired by their looks in the movies.)
Beginning of the lion, the witch and the wardrobe
End of golden age-ish
Iād call this a WIP but itās not really, mostly once we get into designing clothes in fantasy settings I feel very out of my depth, but I wanna practice more. Iām the most happy with Lucyās but thatās also cause I most heavily referenced with hers.
Im mostly still just figuring out the clothes design for when theyāre in narnia. I want brighter/more jewel toned and warmth to contrast with the more muted London clothes. And for the clothing design I want embroidery, but other than that I have no idea how I would make the designs of the narnian style in this era cohesive.
I also have vague main colours for each of them, lucy green, secondary red, edmund blue secondary brown, Susan purple secondary blue, Peter red secondary purple, and all of them use gold as well.
Some more of my Polly Plummer design and mostly figuring out her look as she ages further but also some of her in like the 20s roughly cause I keep finding references I think are cool and I wanna draw her in.
Iāve been thinking about the Magicians Nephew, right now specifically Polly Plummer and in an attempt to get back into doing art outside of work.
Iāve been thinking of what sheād maybe look like in the book and then as she ages (except it turns out I have such a hard time visualizing the passage of time in decades I was not alive in)
most of the references I looked at for clothes was anywhere from 1900-1940s. Maybe some late Victorian in her younger dresses? Not sure. Mostly Edwardian.
I like to think of her definitely going to school, and then becoming a journalist. Sheās super sharp and level headed in the Magicians Nephew, and also has an interest in writing.
Also she definitely wore pants.
More rambling stuff under the cut if youāre specifically like me and fixated on Narnia for most of your life
Ok so c.s. Lewis isnāt very well known for his like, accuracy/timelines making sense. (The beavers somehow had potatoes and other vegetables despite it being a 100 year winter).
The magicians nephew takes place in somewhere between 1900-1910, cause thatās his childhood. And then LWW takes place in the 1940s, so like at the oldest Digory and Polly would be in their 50s by then, but also Digory is an old eccentric professor with white hair?
(I could be wrong and maybe that does work timeline wise, and I suppose in different eras, 50s is a lot older. My brain just doesnāt compute that at ALL. At the very least the movie version of the professor DOESNT look like heās only in his 50s with how they made him look.)
I am also not a clothing expert at all, but itās cool looking up fashion from different eras. I slightly interpret Polly as having a rich family because her first thought seeing digory is āoh heās dirtyā. I think itās a thing that richer Edwardian children were usually dressed in light colours which wrapping my head around is tough, cause like, are their play clothes also white?
One time for character design practice I decided to draw Captain Drinian and also give him a sister except Iām not much of a writer so I donāt even have a name for her, all I know about her is that sheās an asexual lesbian, and like super strong or something.
Also I just want to believe that Lucy wasnāt the only woman on that ship the entire time.
āShe had been a great lady, wise and gracious and happy, King Caspian's bride whom he had brought home from the eastern end of the world. And men said that the blood of the stars flowed in her veins.ā - the silver chair, c.s. Lewis
King Lune told Corin not to pick fights with people weaker than him cause that makes him a bully but if he wants to pick fights with someone bigger and get beat up that's his perogative and Corin really said "okay" then went off to pick a fight with a bear, huh.
I'm surprised there aren't many (that I can find) fics where the Pevensies have magic powers. Like Aslan says "To the glistening eastern sea, I give you Queen Lucy the Valiant. To the great western woods, King Edmund the Just. To the radiant southern sun, Queen Susan the Gentle. And to the clear northern skies, I give you King Peter the Magnificent." This could easily be interpreted as the Pevensies getting elemental magic (Peter air, Susan fire, Edmund earth, Lucy water)
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