#gazon q’raktic

[hiddendepths-aublog]

I love being an artist

Small little shitpost I cooked up. Inspired by a distant memory of another sketch comic from some other fandom… though of course I changed the dialogue to be more in character (and “bi” to “pan” to suit Wiggly’s actual sexuality).

[markerofthemidnight]

I love your Hatchetfield fics Grayscale and Hidden Depths. Can you tell me a tidbit about both/ether of them?

AHHHHHHH I’d be happy to oblige!!!

As much as I’d like to talk about both at the moment… I hate to admit this, but I’ve really been ignoring the existence of Hidden Depths as of recent. And Greyscale, but Hidden Depths deserves attention too! So, since Chapter 6 has been held back for so long, why not share some more about the Old Lords?

HD: ULTIMATE Recap was, after all, only a very small tidbit of extra info on them. I’m also working on a piece that’ll show you all their designs- except Kindler’s, since we’ve already seen his, but I’m not even halfway through that yet. Starting to get pretty concerned with how little I’ve been doing stuff as of recent…

Well, anyways! Here’s some extra information on the Old Lords and my thought process behind making them.

Kynzol Errakt (aka Kindler)

The God of the Sun and Flames, as you know. Previously known as the God of Drought in Chapter 1, but I felt like it was pretty odd to have a god whose powers can only be defined by what they aren’t associated with.

Obviously very draconic in design, but the dragon actually isn’t his associated animal. That would go to the thorny devil: everybody’s favourite spiky little reptile that I felt best summed up what exactly I was trying to go for with Kindler, and that was before I learned that they can apparently drink water by absorbing it through their feet!

Known as the Everburning Star, Kindler is the de facto leader of the Old Lords. He carries himself with a sophisticated yet very intentionally intimidating disposition, and tends to not really think about the wellbeing of others unless it affects his.

It’s fairly obvious from his behaviour that he has a pretty big god complex (ironic, huh?), and is incredibly stubborn in his beliefs. Not even the Old Lords would ever dare speak out against him: the only reason why they’re so comfortable with his presence is because they’ve spent 5,000 years with him.

You may be wondering why I chose this specific personality when it’s not very different from Wiggly’s. Well… that’s because Kindler was pretty much just based on my perception of what Wiggly’s predecessor probably would’ve acted like, which slowly developed into the dragon we know today.

The main difference between them, I’d say, is that Wiggly is only partly scary (hence why so many people are in love with him), whereas Kindler is actually genuinely scary and villainous. It’s like the difference between any normal Disney villain and Emperor Belos from The Owl House.

Trypnarash (aka Thrasher)

The God of Noise, associated with a bat for fairly obvious reasons. Rather fittingly, also as blind as a bat. For some reason he switches between having an Australian or a Cockney accent depending on whichever one I think would be better suited to what he’s saying.

Known as the Beastly Cacophony, Thrasher is… loud. Very loud. Strangely enough, he’s actually surprisingly chill: he’s pretty much fine with anything as long as it’s entertaining.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that this still doesn’t make him a good person. He’s evil just like the rest of them, only in his own ways. (Not Evil from The Lego Movie 2 is a song that I associate with him quite a lot, by the way.)

Inspiring false hope so that the others can crush it, and toying with people in more personal ways, is his MO. He pretty much does whatever’s most entertaining to him at the moment: the only reason why he’s alright with Blinky not being evil is because in a few months, he’s gonna be dead for good. No point in caring about that.

Gazon Q’raktic (aka Gazer)

The Goddess of Space, associated with jellyfish since it was the first animal I thought of that felt alien enough to be associated with space. Also known as the Scholar of the Stars.

My basic concept behind her and her personality was “what if the ancient deity was a girlboss.” A stark contrast to the slowly rotting incel with ADHD that we call Tinky. Some would call her arrogant, though it’s important to keep in mind that arrogance implies misplaced confidence.

And hers is definitely not misplaced.

She is smarter than you. Much, much smarter. Gazer has peered into the distant voids of space, and understands the universe in a way no one else can. She knows how the Big Bang happened, she knows about the existence of extraterrestrial life, and the answers to many more unanswered questions about the universe. How does she know? Simple: she figured it out. HERSELF.

She has an IQ of at least 2,000. And she is cursed with knowledge no one else can ever bear: because no one, not even any of her fellow Old Lords, is intelligent enough to understand it.

Kindler is arrogant to the point of being delusional. Gazer is… probably the only one out of those five who actually has her head on straight.

Honestly, she’s also probably the closest to being a good person, as well? Whenever she plays with mortals, it’s usually some kind of simple challenge with fair enough rules, which only gets violent if those rules are broken.

Retonydunfir (aka Rattler)

The God of Decay, associated with vultures. The name Rattler comes from the bones all over his body. Known as the Harbinger of Decay.

Rattler is… you know how I just said Gazer’s probably the only sane one there? He’s close to being sane. Not quite there yet, though.

His base personality is best described as the archetypical cranky grandfather who says the most appalling and racist things as if he’s just talking about the weather. Except Rattler is more intimidating than that.

He works slightly differently to the other Lords in that his powers are fueled. When something somewhere in the universe dies or decays- no matter how great or small- he gains power.

He is obsessed with what he calls the “art” of decay. Partly because it fuels his powers, but mainly because he’s just, for lack of a better term, a nightmare fetishist.

This stretches not only to physical decay, but mental decay as well. Unlike Nibbly, he’s very patient, and prefers to make people suffer through slow torment that steadily gets worse as it continues, rather than just… eating them.

Definitely not someone you want to have on your bad side… or your good side, as he’s known to subject some of his own followers to similar things once they die. What they endured his room (and, to this day, continue to endure in Nibbly’s room) can only be described as a really big, really long retelling of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.

Stinturmor (aka Stinger)

The Goddess of War and Discord, and probably my favourite out of the old Lords in Black? Her associated animal is an ant, because ants go to war with each other all the time. She’s known as the Gyne General (a gyne being the primary reproductive female in a system of insects, i.e. an ant queen).

She has two forms in total. The first and more commonly seen one is a small cartoony blue ant. The second… I can’t talk about what the second one looks like.

She’s also the first of the Old Lords to have her room fully designed. It’s a medieval castle on a hill (🎶 AS THE STORY GOES 🎶), mainly either royal blue or baby blue in colour.

She likes ponies, drinking tea with honey, and drawing her favourite mortals all being horrifically tortured whilst laying on her little princess bed with her feet kicking in the air like a toddler.

…Yeah.

So the main inspiration for Stinger, as well as my headcanon voice for her, was The Ghost of Christmas Present from Scrooged. If you’ve watched that, I’m sure you’ll know exactly what Stinger’s going to be like in the story, specifically when talking to Pokey.

The reason why that specifically is her personality is because, if Pokey represents peace and harmony, she represents war and discord. Dissonance, conflict, contrasting elements between characters.

So naturally, my only option with her was to play up the general vibe of the canon LiB, giving her two sides: the first being this cutesy little whimsical creature who talks like she’s from Oz, and the second being a horrible nightmare that’ll torture you for days on end, kill you as soon as she gets bored, and then resurrect you as soon as she gets bored of all her other favourite playthings.

She also has the ability to summon any weapon at will. And I do mean any weapon, even ones that she shouldn’t feasibly be able to wield. She prefers ones from the Dark Ages or beforehand, but unfortunately for you, our dearest Stinger doesn’t exactly believe in consistency.

For this very reason, I am very much looking forward to writing a scene in Hidden Depths where she just nonchalantly whips out a grenade launcher.

[hiddendepths-aublog]

My villain archetype chart with the Old Lords (plus The Stars, Lucius, and Persephone (who I just realised I’ve never talked about???))!

[hiddendepths-aublog]

Correct me if this is wrong, but the tidbits about the churches implied that they started as five separate but parallel churches then they turned into a system centered around Kindler's church with the other four being sub-churches.

The Churches of the Everburning Star were always (technically) one cult. The only reason why the subdivisions exist is because… well, first of all, I think it’s cool, and secondly, I figured it’d be impossible for all members of a cult to worship all the Old Lords the same way at the same time, especially given how differently they all treat their followers.

Stinger is always making sure her henchmen stay in line, Thrasher shows up often too but he’s a lot more friendly to them, Gazer’s cult are lucky for her to even acknowledge that they exist, Rattler’s cult actively fear him, and Kindler lets the Crown Spire do pretty much whatever they want and only checks in to make sure they’re still loyal.

[hiddendepths-aublog]

⚖️ for every one. Old Lords, new Lords and Webby.

That’s a… tall order if I’ve ever heard one, but- ok!

Ruling Law/Chaos as willingness to abide by societal rules, and Good/Evil as general levels of empathy.

⚖️ Alignment (in DND terms?)

Wiggly - Lawful Good, but the “lawful” part is mainly as a result of him conforming to other’s will to appease them. By the end of his character development, he’ll be Neutral Good.

Blinky - Chaotic Good, that woman owns a T-shirt reading “EAT THE RICH” (or did in her past life) and you can’t tell me otherwise.

Tinky - Neutral Good, leaning slightly on Chaotic.

Nibbly - Chaotic Good, and I don’t think I have to explain why.

Pokey - Lawful Neutral, making him the least moral character of all the New Lords… but we knew that already.

Webby - Lawful Neutral. She’s loyal to the Lords and to the Lords only.

Stinger - Surprisingly, I’d say Lawful Evil. You’d think she’d be Chaotic but she’s actually kind of a stickler to her own personal rules, believe it or not.

Rattler - Now, he’s Chaotic Evil. He just sort of goes around doing his own thing, spreading decay wherever he feels, and there’s no one who can stop him.

Gazer - True Neutral. Easily the most moral of the Old Lords, but still not a good person.

Thrasher - Chaotic Neutral, bordering on Evil. He very much does find bloodshed hilarious, but he doesn’t really do much of it himself, just kinda… waits and listens while the other Old Lords or his followers spread some chaos.

Kindler - Neutral Evil, bordering on Chaotic. Not sure why, I just feel like that fits him best.

[hiddendepths-aublog]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember you saying that Kindler had dominion over Europe and Gazer had dominion over the Americas. And guessing Thrasher had Australia based on his accent. So who had Africa and who had Asia?

I never said they had dominion over all parts of the world- for example, the Black Altars don’t take up the entirety of Hatchetfield- but…

Yeah, that’s basically it. Kindler had a fair chunk of Europe, Thrasher had Australia, Gazer had South America, Rattler had most of Africa, including Egypt, and Stinger had some parts of Asia (most notably China).

EDIT: Forgot to add that my favourite part of this is the fact that, since they held dominion over the places they lived in when they were alive, and only indigenous people were occupying Australia at the time, it makes Kindler the only white one, and I think there’s something hilarious about that.

[hiddendepths-aublog]

You said you were cooking lore, well I am interested. So if you don't mind sharing, what is it?

Ok, so it’s a little weird right now but basically…

Fun fact! The Old Lords weren’t always confined to Hatchetfield! They used to be gods ruling over the whole world, and each specifically ruled over a certain part of the world, one that’s already closely connected to mythology in real life.

I haven’t decided 100% how it goes, but right now I’m thinking Kindler had a fair chunk of Europe, specifically Greece and Rome, Rattler had Egypt (because death), and Gazer had Mesoamerica (because the Mayans were, rather famously, good astronomers). Stuff like that.

These were also the places they used to live in back when they were alive. So, yes, the Old Lords were mortal at some point too. It’s just that it’s been so long that, despite having gotten over their collective amnesia at some point just like the New Lords will, they forgot those lives anyways.

But then after an… incident, the Old Lords were confined to a tiny island that would eventually be known as Hatchetfield, and all evidence that they ever existed was scrubbed from existence by The Stars and replaced with evidence of their societies worshipping other, false gods.

What incident, may I ask? Well, Kindler tends to be very strict on even his most devout followers. And when your one and only god is that strict on you, and takes so much in return for giving so little, it’s likely a fair few people are going to want to find a better deity, unless you’re just that brainwashed.

And naturally, the God of the Sun and Flames is going to have a wide variety of powers. And due to his lair literally being one, Kindler always did love a good volcano.

So anyways, now you know how the Pompeii disaster happened.