#dragon brood

[rin-hanarin]

Same energy.

[kittyoperas]

Manifesting their dynamic to be like this in Veilguard

[theashenphoenix]

美麗への手紙

A gift from the ever wonderful @refinedstorage ❣️

[madbrake]

FINISHED BAHAMUT! All 7 First Brood siblings are now complete after 3 years of work!

Pencils + a compilation of everyone together :) Still interested in drawing Midgardsormr down the road (he has been heavily requested!) but for now I’m just happy to have the siblings done. :)

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 338

So the GIW is the Ghost Investigation Ward and not the Ghost Extermination Ward, yes? Hear me out, hm? 

See, it’s really hard to study ecto-entities when they’re going all over in and out of the world. Really hard! And of course they aren’t like, sentient, studies for years before the boom in this one town showed this! But, the overgrown not-birds (they’re still debating that) are really hard to watch doing their natural thing when they naturally mimic people around them! 

So! They got this idea, right? Their operatives can capture some! They’ve even made enclosures based off of what they currently know! It’s like containing crows, down to the mimicry & puzzle solving just er, with opposable thumbs and intangibility. 

And they don’t succeed first tries of course (Wow were said operatives frustrated and maybe cursing a bit that might be a bit violently) but then they get some assistance from the Fentons! Trying to hit an ecto-entities’ wings in a way to not permanently injure them is hard, but the new net canons that a ghost can’t pass through? Perfect! 

They have so many specimens now! They even released a few that were very much uncontainable- they rely on technology a bit and that entity kept unlocking all the doors. So catch and release with that one it is!  

They even managed to catch the white-haired ghost! In double! Which might not seem that important, but! As they realize during intake & initial examination (wow are they bitey) the two appear to be young! Something their ectobiologists only theorized about but oh are they excited! (Now if only the two would stop trying to escape their enclosure that’d be swell! Look, toys! Foo- oh dear God that baby ecto-entity is melting- Oh few, okay note taken to raise ambient ecto levels in that room dear god that was horrifying and stressful. … Maybe get some feelers out for feeding unstable energy entities…) 

[beammetothemoon]

Forgot to post the boy!!

[scrollsfromarebornrealm]

Honestly I want to think that. I imagine that if you wanted to prove your intentions were worthy, he was the one that you would go to. And when you won his trust, that was an accomplishment. Bahamut and Tiamat had to be in the back of their minds when engaging with the proto Ishgardians, and I could see him being the last member to warm up to them.

Its also probably telling that Thordan I and the Knights Twelve went for Ratatoskr first--things might have gone very differently if they had targeted one of the brothers instead.

Vrtra is a little more complicated I think. He states that Nidhogg's cause was righteous, but when he looked at the mortals on Raz-at-Han he couldn't bring himself to do anything against them. Nidhogg was wrathful to the point where his brood was rampaging against his brother's own, and the destruction of Cortheas might have not been enough to finally sate his rage. Vrtra, had Azdaja been killed, might have straddled the line between rage and 'fuck off all of you' but I could see his curiosity winning out in the end.

I wonder what Nidhogg was like before Ratatoskr's murder drove him into violent insanity. Was he the protective, kind elder brother, indulgingly granting his sister every wish? Was he ever the protector of the world Midgardsormr wanted him to be?

And would've Vrtra gone the same way had Azdaja been killed and not vanished and by an enemy he could have actively engaged?

[dawntrailing]

VRTRA & AZDAJA

[enderbot-magic]

Ah fuck there’s a cicada in my kitchen. Never seen this kind before, I guess it’s the superbrood?

[hyperions-light]

Ooooo A letter from an enemy regarding Rook?

🫡 Thank you for asking!

My Dear Viago,

Greetings from Seleny; the weather is simply gorgeous here in the summers. I do hope you are faring as well in Salle.

I’ve been asked to write to you regarding a matter of discussion amongst some of the Talons. They have recently expressed concern about a certain member of your House, who is known for their unorthodox methods. I believe you know of whom I speak.

The others have found that this agent— while often as efficacious as you say— can be disruptive. They seldom carry out orders as directed. Their technique, while impressive, lacks discipline. Surely, House de Riva does not wish to be represented by such an indecorous individual. I can say for certain that your predecessor would never have allowed it.

We wish to extend our assistance (should it prove necessary) in removing this cowbird from your nest, so to speak. I have heard that the weather in Ventus is beautiful this time of year-- perhaps they might enjoy a sojourn in the Imperium? I can arrange it.

Do let me know if the thought appeals.

Yours Most Sincerely,

Emil Kortez, Fourth Talon

BONUS:

Emil,

It does not.

— Viago de Riva, Fifth Talon

[the-raven-and-the-tower]

From after Rook helps Lucanis escape his mental ossuary;

NEVE: So you and Spite are friends now? Can't say my money was on that one!

LUCANIS: I would've lost that bet, too.

NEVE, shrugging: If it lets you sleep at night... Unless this clears the way for new and different midnight broodings.

LUCANIS: I wouldn't put it past me.

[beaulesbian]

important announcement from lucanis

[rin-hanarin]

For some reason I thought he's gonna be more grumpy, but no, instead it's this, god help me.

[arcielee]

TikTok aemtarg

Unmute, I am cackling. I just love my delulu baby girl.

[madbrake]

Finished Ratatoskr!

Ratatoskr was one of the tricker members of the first brood to draw since there are only three images of her officially associated with ffxiv and two of those are very stylized. I added design notes and thoughts below the cut for anyone curious. They're nothing too crazy since a lot of her design is very similar to other members of the first brood, but I did think about her a lot while working on this piece and wanted to share where I pulled a few elements.

As a base, I gave Ratatoskr the spikier build of Nidhogg and Tiamat based on those images but with some modifications to to match her image in the first brood concept art:

As a result, she has fewer horns and spikes than Tiamat or Nidhogg. The spines along her back are thinner than her siblings’ also to match the concept art and to make her feel a little closer to Midgardsormr.

I also wanted to keep the thick frill(?) of reverse scale plating around her neck from her concept art because it reminded me of Vishap’s more literal neck frill. I liked the idea that some descendants of the first brood might have incorporated elements of her form into their own evolutions. It didn't end up appearing as prominent in my drawing because I had a little trouble wrestling with proportions and the neck bend, but it's there! In pervious drafts I gave her frill identical to Vishap's but I had a little trouble getting it to feel like it fit her design so I stuck with thick scales instead.

Her head shape was based directly on the two stylized images of her from the game. I really enjoyed the strong shape of these. It felt almost shark-like to me:

I don’t usually include other characters or props to my first brood drawings, but I wanted to add the moogles after thinking about Ratatoskr’s history, her dungeon, and her Encyclopedia Eorzea entry which describes her as a bearer of dragon songs and one of the friendlier dragons. I like the think the moogles loved to complement her songs with their own instruments. Working on this piece as a whole made me really appreciate Ratatoskr and legacy all the more and I'm eternally sad that we'll (likely) never get to meet her in game. I think she would have been a wonderful friend. Her design is a little non-standard for a child of Midgardsormer in small ways, but I feel like she was probably a little non-standard as a traveler, songstress, and friend to man.

Lastly I want to give a little shoutout to the site Tales from Dragonstar which was put together by @/ahzuvi-txt and which made my reference hunt a ton easier. It has a lot of wonderful information about the dragons of Eorzea. It's also got an interesting guide to dragon language that I want to dig into soon. I definitely recommend checking it out!

Thanks for reading! Bahamut will be my next and final first brood piece to cap this series off. :)

[zhaitansvisage]

Shoutout to Guild Wars 2 for having extremely diverse dragon designs.