lsdoiphin

[lsdoiphin]

I'm curious about the nobility in Vestur! What-all are the different kinds of noble titles? Since the Gift is hereditary, how are illegitimate children treated? Since relics get passed down, do nobles in the same line usually conduct the same kinds of meur?

What-all are the different kinds of noble titles?

A midland illustration from the 1500s, meant to demonstrate for children that nobility is in service of the commoner. It depicts a fantastical act in which the lord conducts blue meur to forms a river, signifying ownership over the land. The viscount then nourishes the earth with green meur, so the commoner may grow food for all.

While Vestur is ahead of much the world in the realms of standard of living and technology, the social order is antiquated compared to other contemporary nations. Vestur still functions on something of a feudal system. There are only three ranks in the noble hierarchy, with little socialmobility except through marriage.

The Tri-Kingdom is an alliance of three sovereign kingdoms, each of which are headed by a Monarch: an Archduke/Archduchess, or High King/Queen if occupying the High Throne. Vestur’s Monarchs are absolute rulers, with ultimate executive, judicial, and legislative power. Of course, in the modern day such authority is wielded with a cautious hand, and a monarch will often defer to the expertise of various councils rather than rule by his own intuition alone. The High King may override the word of an archduke or archduchess in especially perilous situations, or regarding matters of the meur economy, but they are (theoretically...) considered equal on all other matters and in full control of their respective kingdoms. The son or daughter of a Monarch are referred to as Duke/Duchess, or Prince/Princess.

A Lord or Lady of the Land holds authority over a specific territory, or lordship. Lords oversee the appointment of viscounts within their province, collect taxes, and whatever other administrative tasks their land might need. They are ultimately beholden to their kingdom's Monarch, but are given the freedom to define local laws and run their own courts (so long as the offense doesn't involve another lordship or kingdom). The son or daughter of a lord/lady are referred to as Master or Mistress.

Both monarchs and lords pass their title by blood, following primogeniture-esque laws of succession. Eldest son is the preferred heir, of course, but in absence of any suitable men, a seat of power will turn to the brothers of the current monarch/lord. Technically, a daughter can claim right to succession if her family has no sons, though this is a politically risky move and she may face consequence for it should she "steal" power from a more popular relative in doing so.

The final noble title is the only one not to follow this system of succession:

Viscounts/Viscountesses are an appointed title, and culturally thought to be one you “earn.” In reality, if your mother or father holds a viscount title, it's extremely likely you will be granted one as well. Appointments are given based on a meur-related service the viscount can provide to his/her lordship. One viscount may provide green meur based soil enrichment to a specific town. Another may own the local quern, powered by a blue meur water wheel. viscountry is largely seen as the reward for fulfilling your pledge. To compare with the real world, if taking your pledge is like receiving your university degree, viscountry means you’ve established a career with that degree.

There are untitled nobles as well, but that’s... an embarrassing role to occupy socially, and one assumed to be caused by being too lazy or inept to be appointed a viscount title. In reality, there are many reasons someone might be untitled: They might not own gloves - the visual mark of nobility, and without which performing meur in public is illegal (and a grievous, heretical insult to The Architect, according to men of faith). They might be from a fallen family and unable to afford a relic. And some may, for personal reasons, choose not to use their gift at all.

Since the Gift is hereditary, how are illegitimate children treated?

Prince Lucas chose specifically to read law under and clerk for Mr. Beiric, who challenged the Crown on the eligibility of bastards to VRMA. Beiric was born to a common mother, but sired by a noble father. Though too old to attend VRMA after his landmark win, he received an honorary conductor’s pendant. (Black, signifying he is not allowed to conduct at all.)

“Half-common bastards” (as the lovely people of Vestur call them) are considered nobility, but this is a twenty year old development. The scientific “realization” that The Gift doesn’t get diluted or lessened by having only one noble parent is less than a century old. It took the courts some time to catch up.

But... the outlook of a bastard attending the Vestur Royal Military Academy isn’t great. While the school has loaner gloves, unless the noble parent or some benevolent benefactor is willing to give a pair of priceless unicorn hide gloves to the illegitimate child, they could never be able to conduct meur legally post-graduation. Most noble families guard their gloves jealously, and few would deign to waste them on a “mistake.”

Do nobles in the same line usually conduct the same kinds of meur?

It depends on the family whether or not they tend towards one kind of conduction. Some have a generational reputation to uphold, or possess a famed historic relic.

Among old white conductor families, the pressure is immense. White meur is famously the hardest pledge to take, requiring an aptitude exam and an extra two years of education after graduation from VRMA. Those who fail the aptitude exam must shamefully pick a second option. (Drawn by @lsdoiphin!)

Tradition aside, relics are expensive, even for nobility; some families conduct one color for financial reasons rather than upholding a legacy. If dad’s old hand-me-down blue relic is all you can ever hope to afford... you're going to take a blue pledge and become a blue conductor.

But no one is forced to take a specific pledge, legally speaking. Everyone is free to choose their own pledge/conduction specialty at the end of their education... so long as they can live with the consequence.

[lsdoiphin]

Please what brush do you use for lineart? 🥺

I hunted for a lineart brush I liked for years before I found Tramonts's Inked Up.

I like Inked Up a lot, but my recommendation comes with a few small caveats. If you're looking for an inking brush that you can use as effortlessly as Default Hard Round Brush, it's probably not this one. You know how when you're inking in traditional media, you usually have several different widths and types of marker? Big chisel tip, fine liner, etc? Well, Inked Up is bit like a digital approximation of a chisel tip, and like a real chisel tip, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

I don't use the default settings that come with this brush. I can't give you those modified settings either because I modify the settings frequently to suit the situation. I change the stabilizer, pressure sensitivity, minimum brush size, etc all the time.

When I can't get the stroke I want, I flip or rotate the canvas so I can approach the line from a different angle. I rotate and flip all the time. It's easy enough with the touch controls, but it might be a grating experience if your tablet does not have those.

That said, I really like this brush. Once you "get" it, it can create some great varied widths and lovely angles thanks to the squared, non-circular wedge tip. At large sizes this can be very dramatic, and at small sizes it can look very believably pen-like.

(BONUS: No one asked but I also think more people should know about this fantastic set of hatching brushes.)

[lsdoiphin]

Winter Coat Theo AU.

The people of Northcrest have long been living dreary lives controlled by the cruel and miserly North family. However, then one day, a shooting star passed over Northcrest! IT WAS A WISHING STAR!!! Everyone was amazed, but no one who spoke to anyone else discovered whose wish came true.

Everyone was disappointed and figured that whoever had their wish granted was probably like, a lone flea (non-sapient) or something equally lame and non-deserving. The hopeless people gave up hope.

However, the following winter something Amazing happened! A strange visitor appeared in Northcrest. He looked exactly like Baron Theopolis North but nice with beautiful white fur! His charisma made him friends all over town and he sang and danced his way through the season befriending more friendly friends and teaching orphans the meaning of Christmas.

Not a single soul noticed that this gorgeous, fluffy white stranger was never seen in the same room as Baron Theopolis North, because pretty much no one was ever seen in the same room as Baron Theopolis North, because whenever someone entered the same room as him he would leave.

When spring came, the mysterious and generous stranger vanished, and Theo had no memory of his reverse Jekyll and Hyde experience. He forgot the true meaning of Christmas and went back to being a sour bitch the moment spring broke. Still, every year, the people of Northcrest would leave a seat for the mysterious stranger at the table, and every year, he would grace them with his jolly good presence.

Finally, you've done it. You've Fixed the Theo (temporarily anyway).

[lsdoiphin]

DUUUUDE this looks fantastic! You did an excellent job of translating my shapes into something that exists in 3 dimensions!

cyndaquil is now real and it is in my house...

this paper cardboard model was inspired by a drawing made by @lsdoiphin ! go check the post out!!!

i was wishing i could also paint the background too but i got super lazy and I don't think my paints can produce those colors anyway. the pink on cyndaquil's flame had to be taken from the one dollar paint my family got and never used. it was hell to use

anyways yeah hope you like the little critter

[lsdoiphin]

Perhaps you should just let this one slide. If you try to fight him, he'll probably just keep talking.

[lsdoiphin]

Artfight 2024 - @clairecomics's Lavinia. (I really put my all into drawing big monster ladies this year.)

[lsdoiphin]

Artfight 2024 piece of @teethterror's wonderful Diedre (and the human illusion she uses to hunt her prey)!

[lsdoiphin]

Art from artfight 2024... I had other stuff going on this year so I dropped the ball a bit and only made like 6 pieces. Two of them were very large though and I'll be posting those separately.

In order we have:

blankstorefront's Crimson Prose & Hazy Sight cheetahtrout's Andraste some strangely familiar cats for @broncoburro macaronitrash's Ingrid Rapshaw

[lsdoiphin]

comms from last month for @lsdoiphin, @chocodile and @kwillow who just keep giving me the most fun dudes to draw!!!1!!

[lsdoiphin]

Some of my favorite images from the codex entries in the Forever Gold demo! Truth be told, my wrist is still a bit tender from the final push to make sure every entry had an illustration.

If you want to know more, see the images in context, and learn all the juicy lore I suggest you play the demo. It's free on itch! ;)

[lsdoiphin]

Demo is out, guys.

✨HERE✨

Forever Gold is a dark fantasy, text-heavy roleplaying game being developed in the Twine engine by Broncoburro and LSDolphin... and the demo is playable now on itch! (And rbs ARE appreciated.)

(A disclaimer: Forever Gold is a game for mature audiences. It does not feature adult content, but the subject matter can get serious in a way not appropriate for all ages.)

[lsdoiphin]

TWO DAYS UNTIL THE DEMO DROPS. (What are these two laughing about?)

How time flies!

[lsdoiphin]

Forever Gold's demo will release on June 26th, 2024 on itch. It's been quite the development road to reach this point. We're excited to show you the first look of Vestur!

Forever Gold is a dark fantasy, text-heavy roleplaying game being developed in the Twine engine by Broncoburro and LSDolphin.

Take a looksie below. : ) (The game is free and playable in browser, on both desktop and mobile.)

(A disclaimer: Forever Gold is a game for mature audiences. It does not feature adult content, but the subject matter can get serious in a way not appropriate for all ages.)

“Even among the finest breeding, aberrations of nature can occur. A prized goat births a kid with two heads. A pedigreed cat bears a one-eyed kitten. An archduke begets a son with the haretouch."

You are Duke Quintrell Barghur: a cursed black meur wielder, misanthrope, and an all-around painfully awkward man. When a mysterious affiliation called the "Brothers of the Barehand" starts stirring up political unrest, you are summoned from your lowly job of mine inspector to join the Prince Convoy. With the rest of your companions, you must travel the Tri-Kingdom of Vestur, quelling unrest and managing the complexities of public and court life... all while navigating the pitfalls of being, well, you.

Halfway between visual novel and interactive fiction, Forever Gold is incorporates artwork and writing with role-playing game mechanics such as skill systems, dice rolls, and lasting narrative decisions.

In the demo, you've been summoned to Diadem Castle by Prince Oscar Andimeur for unknown reasons. The demo spans one major quest from the first chapter of the game.

Play in either human or wolven mode - a visual reskin depending on your personal preferences.

You've a variety of companions on the Convoy who can accompany you. They may aid in quests, help surpass skill checks, or...

...drive each other crazy and be of no help at all.

A lot of artwork is sprinkled throughout the game - every character has several portraits, and in addition, illustrations are sprinkled throughout.

There are several systems to help you navigate the world of Vestur - from a map system, to the party camp, to the inventory and the codex... we can't name them all as this post is long enough, but here's some screenshots!

...And I think that's a good enough introduction! Thank you for reading. This game is a labor of love by two hobby devs - we've spent many a weekend coding, writing, and drawing for Chapter 1. We hope you'll give the demo a play on the 26th!

You can follow the game's progress and see all our extracurricular artwork by following this blog or checking out the website. : ) Additionally, we welcome questions (and sometimes draw answers for them, too).

[lsdoiphin]

I've drawn him a few times but I needed to solidify the design for LORD URDAGAN, Vestur's worst lord. So I did.

(The snow nose on his snout alternate gets me every time.)

[lsdoiphin]

Still pouring 90% of my energy into Forever Gold's demo but as a side project I'm trying to bang out some new character sheets before Artfight. Here's Itaja (human and alternate snout version).

[lsdoiphin]

hi just wanted to say i adore your texture pack! the sky is chefs kiss. but when i have a shader on, it takes it away ;-; what shaders would you recommend using with your texture pack?

Glad you're enjoying Anemoia. Sadly, I don't have shader suggestions as I don't play mincraft with shaders myself - the preview screencaps taken with shaders were taken by my wife.

Sorry I couldn't be of help. Good luck finding a setup that works for you!

[lsdoiphin]

They get each other. (:

Two of Vestur's future rulers have a fine conversation about teapots. (Colored by @lsdoiphin, of course.) There's an understandable expectation for the heirs of Vestur to bond. It's just... difficult when one of them is like 10 years younger than the rest. But as far as the situation of "grown man forced to awkwardly hang out with random child" could go, Duchess Rhea and Prince Oscar get along pretty well.