#heilzor

[styllwaters]

Decided to torture myself this week and redesign Vreaz's family! Made quite a few changes. Simplified Vreaz's piebald markings, Heilzor and Khozai's colours make more sense now, aaand introduced some new faces! Que-wek and Kik'ettk are Vreaz's siblings, sister and brother respectively.

Below that, obligatory baby picture :]

(Further notes under the cut!)

Sea Crawlers usually have clutches of 3-6 eggs.

Crawlers aged 0-5 are considered hatchlings!

They're much more mobile and active than adults, due to their compact size. Great for escaping predators, bad for exhausted parents.

More on hatchlings here. (The design for that ask is still relevant, except for the stinger tail)

Que-wek and Vreaz inherited their piebald markings from their mother, Khozai. Both parents are from Izvoi, hence the stripes, but Heilzor has some Xeld blood. More on markings here.

Vreaz is often mistaken for being malnourished, but the truth is he's just small.

While his parents were neglectful and distant, his siblings were kind and supportive (when they weren't playfully teasing him). Que-wek often translated for Vreaz. They made sure to take care of each other when their parents weren't around, leading to three very independent kids.

Vreaz returns to Qhuava every holiday to visit them. They help their parents run their jewellery store when they're not in school.

____

Pronunciations (and name meanings for funsies)

Heilzor = heel-zor (meaning: moonlight shimmering on waves)

Khozai = ko-zai (meaning: hidden pearl)

Vreaz = vr-eez (meaning: persistent)

Que-wek = kweh-wek (meaning: morning clouds)

Kik'ettk = kick-et-i-kuh [meant to be a series of clicks] (meaning: herald of the storm)

[styllwaters]

⚠️ Old designs and lore // Do not reblog ⚠️

Vreaz’s parents, Heilzor and Khozai. Here they are on one of their weekly scavenging trips around the reef. 

Some info!

(Sea Crawlers speak in a series of whistles, clicks, and ‘buzzes’. The buzzing noises resemble a distorted ‘z’ sound, hence why many translated Crawler names have the letter z)

Vreaz gets his markings from his mother, Khozai, whose chimera pattern was inspired by Halloween lobsters. 

They own a jewelry store in one of the many reef cities. Accessories are a huge industry for ocean-dwellers.

The translucent drapes Heilzor is wearing are quite common! Sea Crawlers don’t like concealing clothing, as they prefer to show off their vibrant colours. Many just stick to rings, bracelets and necklaces.

These two aren’t the best parents. They were quite neglectful of Vreaz - all their focus was on running the business. When he left, they made no move to try get him back. Vreaz looks up to Selma as a more of a mother figure anyways.

[styllwaters]

Individual closeup shots of Vreaz and his family. For now I'm using these as stand-in reference sheets.

I feel bad for posting basically the same art so here's some short notes on crawler culture ;)

Most ocean-dweller beauty standards centre around vibrant, flashy colours. There's a lot of societal pressure to make yourself as vivid as possible, either through fashion choices or full-body makeup.

This is especially prevalent in Izvoian culture. Both Heilzor and Khozai wear excessive amounts of jewellery and garments to conceal their dull/diluted colours.

Que-wek's bright purple stripes meant that she was particularly favoured by her parents, at least in comparison to her brothers. However, she was encouraged to paint over her pale patches as they were 'blemishes' according to Khozai.

Que-wek's generation is more progressive than that of her parents, and she refuses to conform to standards she deems stupid and unnecessary.

Vreaz refuses to wear paint simply on the basis that he dislikes the feeling of it.