Month: February 2023

Fable Friday: Celtic Sorceress cont.

Sierra Iverson Leave a comment

Continued with the same theme as the last few weeks. I took the character design I made for this celtic sorceress and made a more rendered/dynamic posed illustration for her. I thought the fire powers combined with the green outfit would create a compelling color scheme. She reminds me of a character someone would draw for DND – but may that’s just me since I haven’t actually played the game. Also, I feel like I may want to change it up next week with a new character, but at the same time it has been so fun working on this one character more in-depth. Stick around to find out!

 

Brinnslow

Micey Leave a comment

This is Brinnslow! The body horror-based Mercenaries Guild employee! She can grow bones, and organs, and make strawberry-flavored blood. A shame she’s nerfed by chronic pain from when a building fell on her when she was young and messed up her nerve cells. They grew back wrong and her body thought that was normal. The constant regulation of her pain sensors makes her tired.

That’s why she wears a swimmer’s parka because they’re really comfortable; it’s like wearing a sleeping bag. She has zippers and openings in her clothes so she can pull things from her body with ease. She had cargo pants for maximum comfort too. She’s supposed to be carrying a first aid kit on her back.

The Kingdom of Tokavsk, Session 13: A Missive from Ambassador Tomon Inket to Roshevian Emperor

Alias Leave a comment

There is not much that can be said of Tokavsk’s king.  Stergye is a hard man, perhaps harder than he need be, but the same can be said for nearly all monarchs.  He is the second member of his noble house to be raised to the throne, and he carries that fact with him wherever he goes.  House Tallat is one of the smaller Houses in the kingdom, and his ascension fifteen years ago was a surprise to say the least.  I noticed that some of his contemporaries in the more powerful houses—Shanay, Helkat, and Jondrav—bore resentment toward him.

Much of what I gathered of his character was through rumors.  As such, I am not certain as to their veracity.  Some said his hardness makes him cruel, others said it is a front and that he is more emotional than he lets on.  Those of his age and older who competed for the crown say he is willing to leave the fat on if it means he stays ahead.  He is both ambitious and meandering, angry and carved of ice, personal and distant.  He did take my interests into my consideration, so I can testify that the rumors of his stubborn refusal to listen are false.  When I did interact with him, I tried to assign the traits I had heard to the man standing before me and found little success.  He is as elusive as he is public, methinks.  He said little about Your Majesty beyond what he thought of Your policy toward the Hentars, but beyond that he took care not to let me observe his character.

You wanted me to study him for violent tendencies, and I am afraid I have failed this part of Your request.  I spent little time around him, instead conducting most of my affairs with administrators toward our Empire.  He remained a figure lurking on the fringes, never quite emerging from his hiding space.

There was one rumor that warmed my brain the most.  I heard it but once, but it has stayed with me since.  The young Lord Mortshana said in idle conversation that the time would soon come for Stergye to select his heir, as he is nearing fifty.  I asked him what this would mean for diplomatic affairs.  He did not answer me, just returned to his frivolous chatter.  I took his evasion to mean the tensions in the Tokavskan court would reach a breaking point, but I could not be certain.

The Jukebox: Black Water

thimai Leave a comment

Lyrics from “Black Water” by Of Monsters and Men. I interpreted these lyrics as someone who dreams of a life they’d enjoy more than the one they have now, but are too scared of the risks that come with breaking from convention. In the first panel the character is held down by the weights of their day-to-day life. They stare at the much more free-looking ocean. They know there’s nothing stopping them from taking that path but, their fear is holding them back. Getting too caught up with the struggles of surviving the ‘black water’ they don’t get to live the life they want, rather observe as someone else lives out their dream. The song continues more optimistically, the lines “but I’m ready to suffer the sea / black water, take over” later follow. Seeing someone else surviving the storms at sea while still smiling gives the character the inspiration to take this path as well. The last panel is homage to the music video “Love Love Love” also from Of Monsters and Men. I really enjoy their music as I think their lyrics can be interpreted in lots of different ways, and anyone can see themselves in their songs.

Sagas Among the Arcana: Rumors

suparnah Leave a comment

The Emperor and the Seven of Swords are pulled

 

Initially, he was hailed as reliable, respected, and righteous — this new emperor. He saved this barren kingdom from its destructive self, restoring order, under his expert rule.

All the more why none expected his sudden betrayal.

However, no one truly knows what the betrayal was, all they know is that one day, the date of his execution was posted on the local message walls.

Naturally, all of this has become the talk of the town. And naturally, many wild rumors float about as free as the wind.

 

Rumor 1

He sold the lucky chickens — the lucky chickens that helped him rebuild the city. They laid so many eggs, immediately eradicating the widespread hunger and malnutrition. Also, legend has it that every time those chickens leave a community, they lay an egg of destruction. So if the emperor truly sold those chickens, then he’s truly dommed them all 

 

Rumor 2

He buried the seven swords of the seven children of the previous emperor. While the last ruler was worth as much as dirt, his children were as noble as their sacred dogs. They fought in the war that had initially made the kingdom the desolate hell it was before the current emperor came. Their seven swords were said to be made of magic that once infused with their owners’ blood after death, created a barrier around the kingdom that protected the citizens from further harm. And true enough, once all seven children died in battle, the war had ended. 

However, it’s not suspected that the current emperor buried those swords, and no one knows what will happen to the barrier now. Apparently, the emperor claims that he had to hide them from the rabid lucky chickens.

Perhaps, that’s why he sold them . . . 

 

Rumor 3

He stabbed the sacred dogs with the seven swords. The sacred dogs have — as the people say — been in the kingdom since the dawn of time. They are said to be always watching the residents of the land coming only to guide the citizens to their underground dwelling if destruction is guaranteed. But now that the emperor has massacred the sacred dogs, the people no longer have any place to go if a time comes that is worse than the last war.

Perhaps, that’s why he sold the swords. 

 

Regardless of all the rumors, everyone is convinced that the emperor will be executed for his betrayal within the next few days. Funnily some even say that he’ll be executed by the seven swords. So perhaps the buried swords were found?

Nonetheless, at least now, everyone knows how betrayal will be tolerated. . . 

At least that’s what the emperor was hoping for when he put up that false poster on the message walls and spread all those ridiculous rumors. 

So much for being reliable, respected, and righteous — this new emperor.

end

TOLAROIDS: Favorite shoot

akilian Leave a comment

I’ve been sorting my photos recently and I stumbled across so many pictures from the past that I wanted to share, but this still probably remains my favorite creative shoot. It was for my own exhibition that I curated in 2019 and it featured dance in different transformations. The problem with capturing dance is that a photograph only captures a short snippet, freezes the dancer in one moment, while the entire idea of dance is that it’s continuous. That’s why I used long exposure to capture the continuum and to really show the act of dancing.

If you hover over the images you can see what settings I used, just if you’re curious 🙂 I am working on editing some new photos so there should be some new exciting content soon.

 

 

 

 

 

With any questions/comments/concerns you can find me at:

email: akilian@umich.edu

Instagram: akilian,jpg