A Song from the Otigos

on July 17, 2018
Posted In: Culture, History

A song from the Ogitos, translated. To be played with accompanying instruments, preferably lyre, shong, and drum.

“Turn your ears and eyes to the heavens!
Turn your ears and eyes to the heavens! Praise.

Tigan was the first.
We are the children of Tigan. No equal has existed before or since.
He is the father of our nation, [and led our people away from] the demons of the desert. Praise.

Miress was the son of Tigan,
and Miratan the son of Miress.
Sidrak was the son of Miratan,
and Akkadir the son of Sidrak.
Akkadir the vanguard, the caretaker, he called forth a flood to destroy the wicked Khan of Dumessi.
What good are your boats now, river people? Praise.

Evek was the son of Akkadir,
and Kugavev the son of Evek.
Afkist was the son of Kugavev,
and Devukkah the son of Afkist.
Devukkah the singer, the poet, the savior of the decade of famine.
The rains came for us but no others, rainmaker! Praise.

Zugavek was the son of Devukkah,
and Eigek the son of Zugavek.
Kevel-Ek was the son of Eigek,
and Keval-Ol the son of Kevel-Ek.
Keval-Ol, the [rider-turned-leader], innovator, creator of the [true bow]. (note: the tivek)
A dozen armies felled by our arrows, pillar of the west! Praise.

Four more sons have since passed.
The time is upon us, though none know the day or the man.
We wait for the next. The one who will destroy our enemies and make them a mat beneath our feet once again! Praise and praise forever.”

Scribed and translated by resident journeyman Ione Boreg during his 3-year stay with the Keval clan of the Lan Otigos. The untranslated rhyme and meter is superior in Lan Otigo tongue.

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Character concepts 2 – armor

on June 9, 2018
Posted In: THOUGHTS

this is close enough to a character concept in my opinion.

it can be pretty tough sometimes but it’s always fun to have to design clothes and armor and such with non-human parameters. Of course the motherlanders aren’t that different from humans but it’s enough. One of my mains goals with this story and setting is to create things that are realistically exotic but could still conceivably exist within the setting. it’s not high fantasy, so I’m really trying to make designs and such that would believably be created by the people there with their resources and technology.

For instance, very little wood or metal is used in the Motherland world. it’s too rare or hard to shape with their resources. Much of the armor used by soldiers and such is a type of molded resin, along with kevlar-like hauberks made out of durable fibers from the local ecosystem. A wide variety of construction methods and designs exist in this era, influenced by cost and efficiency, and of course, looks. Rich people can afford more expensive and efficient protection than your average town guard. armor evolved in real life to counter the weapons of the day and vice versa, and here is no different. That said, the evolution of their technology can be anachronistic at times compared to our own history.

I really want to try to make things that are realistic-looking while still looking cool or at least interesting. A helmet in real life is designed to protect your face first and foremost above looks (with some less than “cool” results for the sake of efficiency), and boy do these characters have a lot of face to protect. a mask that totally covered their entire snout and ears would be very protective and practical, but looks real goofy as a result. It’s a challenge to find designs that do enough of both practicality and aesthetics, but that’s the fun in it.

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Character concepts 1 – Lain

on June 9, 2018
Posted In: THOUGHTS

I’ll probably end up posting quite a few of the character concepts I do on the site. I think it’s interesting to show, honestly I enjoy inventing new characters and scenarios more than drawing old ones over and over.

This is Lain, a character I’ve had since the very early stages of this comic back in 2010. Her basic design and personality has remained fairly unchanged since then, which is a far cry from most of the other characters that will appear in the comic. she’s around 17 or so. I’m looking forward to writing and drawing her cause I think her circumstances and personality will make for interesting stories. I don’t plan in detail too far ahead, I find it more fun to have some rough ideas of who she is and where her story goes and basically fill it in and wing it from there. planning too much makes it turn out really stale when I do it.

Main things I’m trying to figure out are minor cosmetic choices. Mainly the exact cut of her tunic, collar, and what kind of circlet she’s going to wear. I want something that doesn’t cover her eyebrows, I’m leaning towards either a thin band tiara kinda thing or a thicker band that goes around behind her head, over her frills, and doesn’t connect on the forehead. she’s come of age but is unmarried, and therefore doesn’t have the family crest facial tattoos like Sago or Jos, but has her own family mark on her tail or back or something. if she got married she would have the husband’s crest tattooed on her face as a symbol of the family unity, like Ausrea. If it was real, likely her current tattoo would be somewhere visible like her neck or arms, but in comic visibility I don’t think it looks all that great to have every single woman’s arm or neck tattooed and confusing the body language.

She started out pretty tall for a her gender, but I feel I’ve been steadily decreasing her height the more I sketch her. I don’t know, I kinda think it feels right if she’s just average or slightly below average. her slender build combined with her pretty long (and kinda goofy) frills and tendency to wear baggier clothes has a good look to it I think.

Stay tuned to see her coming up in the story!

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