Gobliny Goodness

Just a bard bringing you fairytales and illustrations of Sverenne - Websites

[yoel-o-fellow]

Other Sites You Can Find Me

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Intro

Hey there, fellow wayfarer!

I'm just a goblin, here to recount and illustrate some unsavory tales from the realm of Sverenne. Links are beneath the cut if you want to learn more about these sordid tales.

Sverenne Tales

Malignant Remedy

A victorian inspired tale about a man who allegedly bottled eternal life and the city that maladroitly adjusts to this new mad reality.

GrímR of Nowither

A psychopomp, who has spent a millennia reaping souls, discovers he can defy his nature and extend the lives of those facing imminent death. Though defying nature has serious consequences.

The Triad of Time

These are stories about Sverenne's pantheon. Learn about Sverenne's peculiar gods, legends and monsters with this link.

[yoel-o-fellow]

Taking a hot minute to share this godly pic @helplessavacado made for me! Obsessssssed!!! 💚😭

(Character: Dietre from GrimR of Nowither)

[yoel-o-fellow]

Nope. Not dead yet. I’m just a little disillusioned by social media, the beleaguering advertisements, the all-consuming mouth of generative AI, and all the fallacious narratives social media likes to promote. It has opened my eyes to how stupid and futile the internet dream is - the “rinse and repeat”. I have to ask: to what end?

And now additionally, with the western world on the verge of collapse and in the hands of a tempestuous orange moron, we must also weather a storm materialized by the Silicon Valley cult as they worship their all-mighty, ever-encroaching lord, AI. It has made me tentative about posting anything at all. I may be an unknown drowned out by a sea of influencers and viral adepts, but I believe AI is indiscriminate of who it scrapes from. Anyway, I’m going back to the library days. Good ol’ dusty books, instead of the eye-soldering compulsion of doom scrolling. My head feels clearer this way. Fresh. Lucid. Almost perky.

I will still drop art on my platforms from time to time, perhaps give much vaguer descriptions of my work, and I’m considering starting a patreon or some kind of account with higher security but I’m vamoosing in the periods between, and will henceforth be less proactive in chat, comments, asks, etc. Nothing really new. I’m just putting it into writing.

But before I scurry back into my hermit hovel, I want to thank my mutuals. I love you guys! A handful of you have been very encouraging over the years, and there is no way to express, in words, how much I truly appreciate it. So I’ll be sure to check out your timelines and see what you’ve been up to during the rare occasions I’m online. To those who want to keep in touch, I have Discord, which I never lock, though admittedly I’m very sporadic with my replies.

Your friendo,

YoeL

[yoel-o-fellow]

Spam #2: You've mentioned sand-striders once or twice in talks about the Ottoneshan empire and Lash discussions! I was wondering if you had any sketches featuring them, or if you had any ideas about what other critters frequent that area??

I do, actually!!

I’m really bad at creature design, so bear with me. I want to learn animal anatomy so I can get better at it.

Pezelshan

These are sketches of the Ottoneshan Pezelshan (sand-striders) from 2023. I haven’t settled on their designs quite yet but in the end they will probably look something like this. I intend to add some extra features, possibly more frills down their neck, exquisite orange patterns highlighting their edges (ideal for rich autocrats), and I need to find some way of conveying their camouflage abilities, because their scales/skin have a reflective quality that essentially allows them to turn into giant walking mirrors.

The Pezelshan are blind, thus they are sand delvers, and they “see” via reverberations in the sand. When travelling above ground they whip the sand back and forth with their tails, making a striding effect. I don’t have a height comparison, but the average human - when standing - might just reach up to the beginning of the sand-strider’s shoulder.

Other Ottoneshan Creatures

I don’t have any definitive plans for other Ottoneshan creatures just yet. But here are some old sketches I found of possible creature designs. I think the thin legged creature was actually my first concept of the Pezelshan, but I may as well use it for something else.

Edit: I don't want to overdesign, because one thing I dislike about certain fantasy worlds is that they feel too alien to me (unless that is the intention). I'd like to find a balance where the original creature design is just different enough that the world feels more like a fraternal twin to Earth.

[yoel-o-fellow]

I have been sick for several consecutive weeks - which was such fun - but as I lay bedridden for an unprecedented amount of time, I found myself being more and more depraved of the stuff that truly matters in life:

Tumblr shenanigans.

So if you would like to amuse me, or help stimulate this horribly idle brain with tomfoolery, questions about Sverenne, Malignant Remedy, or GrimR of Nowither, you will forever be on my “I love you in abundance” list.

[yoel-o-fellow]

When Zeph first pretended to be a median, he was not well-versed in mystic hieroglyphics. So he took mathematical symbols from his engineering days and dressed them up a bit. His clients didn't seem to know the difference.

[yoel-o-fellow]

Old unfinished sketches of my favourite gays 🫡

[yoel-o-fellow]

“Home sweet home, Yvule.” - GrimR

Concept art for GrimR of Nowither.

[yoel-o-fellow]

Realizing I gotta simmer down the depictions of Urokmura with a sword - as badass as it might seem. While it’s true he has a war history, the story is really about his life as a death worker, and how it helps him atone for a past he will not speak of.

[yoel-o-fellow]

Taking a hot minute to appreciate the Daisugi pruning method that makes it look like trees can grow atop trees 🤌

[yoel-o-fellow]

Some old & new sketch concepts of a GrimR of Nowither character: a Eureskan raider in search of dragon blood, and the proxy of Dietre - the harbinger of death - who promised him fortune in exchange for his soul. He’s going to be an ever present shadow in Urok’s life, an easy out, a source of redemption. Sure, he may be a looming threat to the Siens, but he’s really just trying to provide for his younglings back home.

[yoel-o-fellow]

The Evolution of “GrimR of Nowither”

Do you want to see old 2010s concepts of “GrimR of Nowither”? They’re below the cut (and just as embarrassing as I remember). 😅

The story’s first iteration was titled, “The Tale of the Cedar Tree” and it was going to be an independent low fantasy story about a grim reaper living in modern day Canada, stalking a pretty ordinary human being expected to die. I’ve since repurposed the concept, turned the grim reapers into “morgai” and molded the story into a high fantasy legend set in ancient Sverenne. The changes are not necessarily for the better, but I’m enjoying the new version. I intend to make it a dash more poetic.

(What does “GrimR of Nowither” have to do with “Malignant Remedy”? The legend is heavily alluded to in MR, but after centuries of broken telephone, their version of the story has been horribly abridged and revamped to fit Druwolise societal values - completely disregarding its Sienese origins. The GoN comic would be a full and accurate retelling.)

Scrapped or Changed Characters:

Godfried

In the earliest development of GoN, the mortal soul on the agenda to be reaped was a snooty man named Godfried, who was honestly just the very first version of Izammar before he swapped stories. The concept was supposed to be simple and bittersweet - a gay growing up in a homophobic environment due to be reaped before his golden years. I changed Godfried’s character because I didn’t like how generic his design was. So now in his stead is Urokmura, the walking spirit of a Sienese volcano. A bit melodramatic, but I have a soft spot for Urok.

Dieter

If you remember Dietre - the giant morgai woman - she was originally going to be a psychotic Norseman grim reaper who would later adopt nazi ideology during WW2. Admittedly, he was not a very well thought-up antagonist. But there is one thing that he and his new version share in common, and that’s that they are both obsessed with making GrimR their bond brother.

GrimR’s Monster Form

This creature design is still technically canon! This is GrimR’s monster self, but I think the design needs anatomical adjustments and refining.

That’s it for now. I have more old cringey art on hand, but sadly you can only post 10 pics at a time! :0

[yoel-o-fellow]

I’m musing about the Sverenne characters as modern day musicians. o-o. Tried to match their instrument to their personality.

[yoel-o-fellow]

Breaking my internet hiatus to drop a really random post about what I think my characters would play if they were modern day musicians (with western instruments).

Zephry = Trumpet (canonically, he plays clarinet...poorly. But he should have been a trumpet player.)

Izammar = Flute (ironically all the flute players I know are the sweetest creatures. But I still consider flute a snooty instrument.)

Urokmura = Electric Guitar & Tenor Sax (My 1980s Yamaha Sax is named after him. It's roughly his external age too. Bro's aloof and a saxophone is aloof. 'Nough said.)

GrímR = Bass Guitar (Bro doesn't like drawing attention to himself, so a background instrument suits him just fiiiine.)

Evelyn = Piano (This lil' brat is a show off, and there's nothing more show-offy than an instrument that can glissando seven full octaves.)

Haven't thought about the others. I'll have to think on it. But in the meantime, I wouldnt mind drawing these guys with their respective instruments.

[yoel-o-fellow]

I had these random concepts of Mortifan just sitting on my iPad for months and I don’t know why I never posted them. I love this pigeon-loving, ghost-like, ever-watching mortician, but I think I want to draw him more hunched in the future. Gotta amp up the macabre old man vibes.

He’s definitely more of a symbolic character in Malignant Remedy - as you may eventually find out - but he always seems to show up in the most pivotal of circumstances. 👀👀

[yoel-o-fellow]

Lil’ Update:

Still not dead. I’m taking a break from the internet to work on the scripts for the graphic novels, but I want to say that I now have written roughly one half of GrimR of Nowither and one quarter of Malignant Remedy.

LeT’S GOOOoooooooooo00000oooooooo🫡🪖🪂💥

I’m gonna be offline for a while more. I might occasionally drop a teaser or two. But I’ll definitely be back once I’m closer to the drawing stage. I’m looking forward to showing you what these weird lil’ guys are all about.

YoeL OuT-

[yoel-o-fellow]

Scribbling some concept designs for GrimR of Nowither characters, including Urok’s adoptive sister (newly widowed), GrimR’s adoptive father (the bald man), and Ben (a.k.a. Young Achtbenatu).