#its basically a winged wyrm

[doodle-snek]

New sona in the makinggg

Snekky, a shape-shifting winged serpentine!! The gem on their forehead is where their magic lies (kinda like Espeon)

[xensilverquill]

The woodland amphithere (Amphitheris silva), also known as the fairy dragon or the beech wyrm, is a small draconoid endemic to the temperate broadleaf forests of the Sunken Continent. Vestigial wings aid in thermoregulation and can be freely contracted and expanded. The shapes of these wings have evolved to resemble the leaves of beech, hornbeam, and other marcescent trees that are the favored hunting territories of woodland amphitheres. Fur-like moss growth on its head and tail enable it to supplement its primarily insectivorous diet with photosynthetic energy.

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(Extended species description under readmore.)

The woodland amphithere (Amphitheris silva), also known as the fairy dragon or the beech wyrm, is a small draconoid endemic to the broadleaf forests of the Sunken Continent.

Vestigial wings aid in both gliding and thermoregulation. Each wing can move independently of one another, and their membranes can be freely contracted and expanded (see last image/GIF in gallery). The shapes of these wings have evolved to resemble the leaves of beech, hornbeam, and other marcescent trees that are the favored hunting territories of woodland amphitheres. Whole covens have been observed sunning themselves on tree branches in autumn and winter.

Fur-like moss growth on its head and tail enable it to supplement its primarily insectivorous diet with photosynthetic energy. This adaptation along with their unique wing structure allows them to forego hibernation altogether in more temperate regions.

Two pairs of eyes make these creatures adept hunters. The rostral pair are used to observe shape and color while the caudal pair specialize in tracking the movement of their prey.

Like many extant members of the amphitherid and other draconoid families, the woodland amphithere possesses relays, growths on the head which house complex electroreceptors. Relays in this species have evolved as rigid, antler-like structures. The exact purpose of these relays is unknown, but it is hypothesized that they may be involved in communication between members of a given coven.

Woodland amphitheres are semisocial and congregate in single-generation groups known as a coven or a flight. Covens are typically made up of six to ten individuals, although covens as large as two dozen have been observed. While they do not exhibit the same coordinated hunting prowess of other amphithere species, they are still remarkably sociable and have been observed to groom and to sing to one another.

Eggs are laid in communal nests in small ponds in early spring, and the brood is left to fend for itself by the parent coven shortly after hatching. The fry begin life as tadpole-like creatures with their wings and relays becoming fully developed by midsummer. The brood may linger for up to a year near its birth pond before leaving in search of new hunting territory.

Birds of prey, including eagles, owls, and lesser rocs, are typical predators of woodland amphitheres. Its primary defense is its own coven, which will swarm upon and harass the predator to drive it away. Larger covens have even been known to kill and subsequently feed on their would-be attackers, especially during the nesting season.

---

First entry in what will be a small series of original dragon amigurumi patterns following a general amphithere body plan (basically all wing and no leggies lol).

My personal challenge for each of these is that I cannot directly reference patterns from other creators. This is to (1) force me to figure out how to work up complex shapes and (2) so that I can avoid copyright infringement if I ever decide to sell these patterns a later date. Which was why a good portion of the time for this entry was working out the shapes of the leaves for the wings, haha.

[felassan]

"also, on the broadest line around the edge, you can see those symbols again. I’m thinking now that these 6 symbols represent the 6 factions we can choose from for Rook to belong to."

not only that, but the factions of 6 out of our 7 companions, Harding/the Inquisition aside. from some of the things they've said lately (tho at the moment I can't remember specifically where), it sounds like we will encounter each faction in the game too and that they each play a role in the story. in the center is the Veilguard logo itself; it's like representatives from these 6 factions came together to form Voltron The Veilguard. :> about the symbols btw:

The Warden symbol is closer style-wise to this new seemingly updated or northern Warden[?] symbol than it is to previous game/southern Warden[?] symbology (two). shape of the wing, stylization etc. it being 'half' like that gives it the impression of a shield/heraldic beasts.

The Veil Jumper symbol looks to be a halla. it makes me nostalgic for Clan Sabrae heraldry :') makes sense for a faction based in Arlathan and interested in ancient elvhen ruins.

The Shadow Dragons (Tevene faction) have a snake. dragons are all around in Tevinter imagery, a country where they are a symbol of divine power. Another kind of 'worm'/wyrm also kicks around in Tevinter iconography; snakes. in the Imperium heraldry, a serpentine dragon faces off against a snake (opposition..). (side ramble - As a group the Shadow Dragons are a resistance group, they oppose slavery, corrupt rulers and the worst aspects of Tevinter society. Their name makes them seem like 'a different kind of dragon' - an alternative way for the 'dragon' Tevinter is to be, a different future it could have. a different kind of dragon than the dominant ruling one, but one that is currently still overshadowed. it also carries the implication of them working in the shadows and carrying out operations under the radar - this is contrast to the Lucerni, a faction in the Magisterium whose goal is to redeem and restore Tevinter. They're more like a political party, they operate more in public. "lucerna" is Latin for lantern. light, and shadow. Maybe the Shadow Dragons are basically the stealthy/secret operational arm of the Lucerni? like a left and right hand. end side ramble) Snakes crop up in Neve's design (her leg, her hat). I keep thinking about the snake in the Imperium heraldry. with their symbol, it's like the Shadow Dragons are saying they're fighting for a Tevinter.. without the 'dragon' part. in which.. the dragon is a metaphor for the bad stuff? corruption etc? Snakes also carry the symbolism of stealth and slyness, which again fits with the 'shadow' stuff. Would a dragon be able to see a lowly snake coming...? probably not :> I also can't help but think of the imagery of snakes that's to do with healing and medicine. like they wanna de-corrupt Tevinter, heal it of its rot. ALSO. the other thing thing is The Viper from Minrathous Shadows. well, look at that. The Shadow Dragons' symbol is a snake. "We are the Tevinter you forgot". And what do they want? "Everything". maybe The Viper is the founder of the Shadow Dragons? the story mentions they have a contact, a lady who is lightning-smart (Neve?). in the accompanying art-piece, the dealer's silhouette and other aspects of their design are snake-like, recalling Neve and what seems to be 'Shadow Dragon Rook's clothes.

The Lords of Fortune have a cephalopod. (it reminds me of House Greyjoy). makes sense for a faction with ships, dominion over the coasts of Rivain, a pirate-y aesthetic and originating from a nation almost entirely surrounded by sea. maybe this explains the cephalopod that was portrayed 'on' Rivain in the trailer from a few months ago? like maybe it was supposed to represent the Lords of Fortune, their presence in Rivain, and their storyline.

The Mourn Watcher one is just so cool. it's at once both a humanoid skull (you can see the two eyes and the teeth), recalling the symbol for the broader Mortalitasi itself, and a beetle. it makes me think of stuff like scarab beetles and deathwatch beetles, both of which have lots of cool symbolism/lore and cultural meanings irl on stuff like life and death, the cycle, decomposition etc. beetles are also culturally important in Nevarra, where they are prized. lots of households keep them in cages for good luck, and encrusted beetle wings are part of Nevarran decor.

The Crow one is obviously like looking down at a corvid in flight. its head is the top triangular part, but this shape is also known to be worn by Crows as a mask/disguise, and from that perspective the pointy part at the bottom gives the wearer a beaked appearance, masquerade-ball style. the Crows are always watching :>

[olde-scratch]

psst hey. chimera!laios. you want it.

(reblogs >>>>>> likes)

(ignore that i didnt add fleshy colors to his hands and i forgot his knuckles on one of them shhh)

my friend @gltchghst and i came up with a chimera!laios for a falin/laios roleswap au that i wrote a oneshot for (link here) (eventually u should check my prof in case i turn it into a series of connected oneshots).

where falin gets chest feathers, laios gets a happy trail. why? well. laios is an adult. and IM an adult.

sketches in read more along with notes about chimera!laios. spoilers, obvi.

did i lowkey trace the sketch of falin ripping her shirt because i couldn't be bothered to make the pose myself? yeah. ive never drawn that angle or pose before and i didn't wanna burn myself out trying to figure it out. im not trying to hide it so its fine.

i was gonna do a little simplified anatomy sketch for it but cannot be bothered so instead have bulletpoints

where falin has feathers, laios has fur. idk if thistle just gave falin feathers or if he combined her with another animal, but laios i think would be happy if we did two monsters instead of one + another basic trait. we ended up using dungeon rabbits, the blades of which you can very faintly see hidden in the fur on his forearms in the second image.

the red dragon itself does not actually have wings, which would technically make it a drake. (eastern dragons are technically wyrms, which also exist.) however, wings are cool, and dragons are supposed to have wings. thistle has wings on his eye of the magician dragons, and those are red. so its basically the same thing.

chimera!laios is significantly bigger than chimera!falin. falin herself isn't as tall as laios, but there's also the fact that falin has magic on her side. she has feathers to make herself appear bigger than she is. this all very much seems to play to falin's strengths, since she is a magic-user. laios, however, is a tank, and this is apparent in his bigger stature (falin's like 35 ft i think, i imagine he's 5-10 feet taller and much bulkier) and the red dragon hide across more of his body which we know is extremely tough.

falin has magic. she has Magic. HELLO. laios gets to breathe fire. ITS FAIR OKAY. laios isn't made to breathe fire so i imagine that it also severely impacts his ability to talk (rather than him being extremely disoriented or just a puppet) by causing burns on the inside of his mouth (and probably the remaining human portion of his throat before it turns into dragon). he also probably couldn't breathe the fire very far, since he does still have a human mouth, but he can also use the wings to fan any fires he does cause. modern problems.

falin has more estrogen in her body than testosterone and isn't a front-line fighter. laios, however, is Male and exercises A Lot, so his fat stores will be empty looong before falin's would have been. on top of nourishing a bigger body, he also cant eat without causing pain to himself due to the open burns on the inside of his mouth. someone else come up with a concrete way to redo the curry scene, maybe tire him out and feed him some medicinal herbs before they freeze him. mf ain't fighting for long.

laios has horns because same reason as the happy trail. my friend and i are into men. if u don't like it make your own chimera!laios design. this is for Us.

yeah this entire thing is just us 'rule of cool'ing chimera!laios and doing our best to use logic to justify it. keep scrolling.

the shirt in the second image is falin's shirt, and i think that even though they are rather similar, falin's shirts might end up being too short for laios. does this mean he got abducted with his entire everything out? no, i think either falin grabbed and salvaged a pair of his pants from their stuff (maybe the extra shirt was one they shared or maybe it got got by a dungeon creature?) or they whipped up/found him a pair of shorts. i think canonically falin borrowed marcille's underwear but i don't think anything they have is fitting laios.

maybe its because im biased considering laios is one of my favorite characters but my friend enabled me so i think laios would be capable of more destruction than falin. she's meant to use magic to locate delgal (tho she isn't often seen doing it to the extent id expect her to be), but i think laios' method of searching would be to pick up where thistle can't and use physical search-and-rescue to find delgal instead of more magic. thistle wont let him leave any more than falin, so this point is moot, but yk. i think laios' ability to destroy would also do more to symbolize thistle's growing desperation to find delgal and his willingness to destroy what's in his path to do so.

maybe soon ill redraw the falin and thistle interactions to do laios and thistle instead, but i know that i do want to draw some wish fulfillment art where thistle gets a nice big hug. it probably wouldn't be as comfy as falin's, and laios has weapons on his arms, and also laios would be really sweaty and gross with no feathers to act as a buffer, but no one said thistle had to enjoy the hug.

[ink-flavored]

Urban Fantasy Animals

I couldn't resist adding a small zoo of magical animals to this WIP, most of which are specifically for the joy of having a little magical pet. Here I have outlined the favorites of mine that I'll be including in the various anthology stories! You can find this and more world-building details on my Neocities site! Unnamed Urban Fantasy Anthology Taglist (Check out my Google Form to get added): @foxys-fantasy-tales @auroblaze @thelaughingstag @auntdarth @damageinkorporated

Dragon

European and Eastern type, drakes, wyverns, wyrms, etc.

Can be as small as a ferret, or the size of a Great Dane

Are kept as pets regularly

Depending on the species, dragon behaviors can vary from "lazy cat" to "purebred working border collie", so it's very important to research the kind of dragon that's right for the home

Griffon

Originally a lion and an eagle, but can be any combination of cat and bird after years of selective breeding and the influence of magic in different regions

The larger species’ are big enough for an adult to ride comfortably, but there are also smaller breeds kept as pets

Unicorn

Can be any horse with a horn glued on it

Are particularly picky about who they allow to ride them

Basically just a magic horse, so it's used for transportation, sports, pets, animal therapy, etc.

Pegasus

Can be any horse with wings glued on it

Incredibly skittish, even compared to a standard horse

Basically just a horse with wings, so it's used for transportation, sports, pets, animal therapy, etc.

Hippocampus

The upper body of any horse with the lower body of various fish

Used in water rescues, sports, and short-distance water transportation and recreation (think of them like living motorboats or jet skis)

Mimic

Modern day mimics can copy standard mimic objects (chests, rocks, etc.), but also modern-day objects, like music boxes, safes, microwaves, etc.

Most of them are wild animals, but can be kept as exotic pets

As they grow, they mimic bigger and bigger things, with the treasure chest size being the biggest. Technically, they never stop growing, but as they age, growth and mimicry become a larger and larger burden. Nearly every mimic dies of old age before it can even begin to mimic something bigger than a chest.

Imagine a venus flytrap crossed with a hermit crab

Gargoyle

Carved from a special magic rock that comes alive when crafted

Behave like magic pigeons, flying down from buildings to beg for pebbles

Are also kept as pets. Some are even specially commissioned!

Basilisk

Created by a chicken hatching a reptile egg

Giant serpentine creature with chicken features, poison breath, leaves a trail of venom wherever it slithers, and is able to kill with a glance

Often confused with a cockatrice

Cockatrice

Created by a reptile hatching a chicken egg

A giant chicken with serpentine features, with similar powers to the basilisk, including being able to kill by glancing at its targets

Often confused with a basilisk

Phoenix

Classic phoenix, the bird that dies and comes back to life from its own ashes

Although it appears to be "coming back to life" it's actually how the phoenix reproduces in stressful situations—the new baby bird is a genetic clone, not the same animal

A well cared for phoenix should NOT be regularly bursting into flames

Jackalope

Bunny with antlers <3

Often kept as pets

Wolpertinger

“The most widespread description portrays the Wolpertinger as having the head of a rabbit, the body of a squirrel, the antlers of a deer, and the wings and occasionally the legs of a pheasant.” (thanks Wikipedia)

Often kept as pets, but are much more temperamental than a jackalope.

Will-o-the-Wisp

Little blips of magical essence where intense spells have left remnants

Familiar

Can be any animal or combo of animals

Soul-spirit created through magical willpower that calls the latent magic around you into a fully realized form, bonded to your soul and devoted to helping you

Looks like an animal (standard or magical)

Follows you around like a wisp—you can barely see it out of the corner of your eye, but it lights up and becomes more immediately visible when you’re in need of magical aid

Created by a magic user in an intense emotional state, most often completely by accident. You can attempt to call a familiar on purpose, but it’s not common

Can also be created from two or more people having an intense emotional/magical experience together/when their spells interact. The resulting familiar will be loyal to all parties involved

In the event a familiar has to help more than one bonded individual at once, it can fracture into less powerful mirrors of itself, and snap back together once aid is no longer required

When not in helper mode, the familiar will remain in a quantum state, everywhere and nowhere at once, until one of its soul-bound partners needs its assistance

[rainbow-scarab]

Symbols of Hallownest and its Royalty

(Edit: This post has been expanded upon, with new info and some revisions. Please see this expansion, though read this post first!)

In art and architecture, Hallownest has symbols representing the kingdom, the Pale King, and I would argue the White Lady as well as generic bugs.

(Note: This post has many images. If anything's unclear about what I'm referring to in the image, I have tried to put much description in the alt text of the images)

The most prominent symbol in the entire kingdom is the same one that can be seen in the Hallownest seal.

It can be found pretty much anywhere in game, from architecture, to tapestries, to the UI. Its most basic elements are the crown, the wings, and an oval body.

It has obvious relation to the Pale King. He is at the top of the Kingdom’s hierarchy. Though the Queen’s role in the Kingdom is a bit uncertain, it is clear the Pale King is spoken of much more frequently, and it is him who the citizens of Hallownest seem to focus on.

It hardly needs saying the crown on top of the symbol is the Pale King’s. Also, the Pale King may be seen to have wings in the White Defender fight.

However, there are many symbols in the game that don’t look exactly like this. Many times, you find something similar, but it will be missing the wings, or missing the crown. Or both. You also can find variants where the top of the symbol has a single spike.

Lemm describes Hallownest Seals like this:

These ornate seals were the official symbols of the King and his Knights, and were treasured by those who carried them.

As you sell him the seals, he chooses to speak of the Great Knights of the kingdom, rather than the king. The impression I get, then, is that the seals are less a direct representation of the Pale King as much as they are of Hallownest itself, or at least the upper levels of government. Of course, the design of the symbol must be at least in part based upon the physical traits of the Pale King, with that crown he has…it’s just that as a symbol it represents a bit more than that.

We do have direct representations of him, though. Lemm says of the King’s Idols:

An icon of Hallownest's King, who was revered as both a god and a ruler.

He says that the idols were for worship, and that each idol was personalized for their owner. He says “Depictions are of an imposing, gleaming figure and a fiercely horned crown.” He also speaks of the White Palace. In other words, unsurprisingly, the idols are just about the king, and not so much other things.

This figure does not have wings. And in fact, neither do the few statues that can be found of him.

In fact, besides Ogrim’s memory, there are no views of him with wings. His body, alive and dead, has nothing that can be easily identified as wings.

I’m not exactly setting out here to answer questions about if and how he has wings though. Just focusing on the relevance to the symbols.

I do get the impression, even if the more direct representations of him lack wings, that the instances of the symbol with both crown and wings are still supposed to be based off of him. A ruler often represents more than just themself, for instance, in the real world, a ruler may speak with the royal we. And for someone who is king, founder of the kingdom, god worshipped by the citizens, and even said to have created the world…the Pale King and the Kingdom of Hallownest are strongly linked together.

There’s one more detail that sometimes shows up. There’s often a spike at the bottom of the symbol. I have wondered if perhaps it’s a tail of some kind. The king being a wyrm…well, he certainly had a long body, and possibly even still in his small form, under his robes.

There are also a few cases where there’s a sorta head shape and not just a crown. This is true of the save symbol. On these tapestries, I wondered for a moment if the shape enclosing the symbol was like…some long wyrm body. Perhaps in the way that his current body was born out of that giant body. But that is pure pure speculation—there’s really not evidence for such.

There are also cases where there are no wings, and no crown. Just an oval, with lines across it. Actually, this is very very common. It can be seen just about everywhere. In fences, for instance…so many fences. The shape of the windows too, as can be seen from the outside of buildings in the City of Tears.

Had tumblr no image limit, I would spam so many pictures. But since there is, I want to highlight a certain subset of these ovals appearing.

There are a few instances where the full Hallownest seal is alongside an oval on its own. In most cases, it is the full symbol above, and the oval below. I got to wondering if the oval is a generic symbol for bug. As it turns out, what you might call “generic Hallownest bugs”, the kind you find in places like Crossroads or the City of Tears, tend to have this sort of body shape. Quirrel as well.

I wonder if this configuration is a bit of extended symbology for Hallownest. The kingdom/king above, and average bug below.

As I was looking through the game, I found more variations built off of this lined oval. Many of them are in the City of Tears, on the rich side of the city. Though I'm not sure if many of those have particular significance...extra embellishments just to be fancy.

More importantly, I kept finding these variants in the image above. We have these types, in two different sizes, that have flowery embellishment around the ovals. We also have one symbol here that is similarly flowery, but does not have this bug oval in the center.

These particular symbols can be found throughout Hallownest. I have found them in areas such as near the city storerooms, in the Stag Nest, or near the bench where you find Quirrel in the City. They’re also all throughout Queen’s Gardens.

Besides this gate marking its entrance from Fog Canyon, Queen’s Gardens does not have the Hallownest seal anywhere within it. We have either the plain bug ovals, or the flowery symbols without ovals.

I’d like to say that these flowery symbols are symbols of the White Lady. She herself is not particularly flowery looking. She is called Root, and she looks the part. But of course roots are associated with plants, and she clearly loves them.

Greenpath is also full of plants, Unn having turned the land green. Queen’s Gardens used to be a part of Greenpath. But the architecture in the Gardens is clearly Hallownestian, and not something from the mosskin.

Either these symbols represent the queen directly, or they may have a parallel with the Hallownest seals: symbolizing everything that comes with a queenship, the power and role in relation to Hallownest.

These symbols may often lack the bug oval in the center as well because…well. The Pale King changed his form to be more bug-like. The White Lady did not. In this view, the flowery symbols with the bug oval in the center are the more odd ones.

This architecture may also be found in this one room in Fungal Wastes, where there are two shrumal ogres. Clearly a smaller garden as you might find in Queen’s Gardens. …. Okay this isn’t very important, I just find it a neat detail XD

The Queen for whatever reason does not have statues. There is no reference to her being worshipped by the people (discounting Godseeker). In development, there used to be a statue of her alongside her husband (and broken statue of the Hollow Knight). This was replaced by the time the game came out, with a more abstract shrine to the Pale King (as symbolized by his crown). There are also soul totems in the White Palace which I’ve heard people interpret both as the Pale King and the White Lady. In truth, it doesn’t really look like either of them. Maybe a bit more like their concept art, a bit more like those old statues. But in any case, it does not look like the current versions of the two royals.

If these flowery symbols do represent the queen, it would be one of the few things that reference her as being part of the kingdom in an official capacity, beyond the places named after her. Having some sort of official significance, beyond just “the king’s wife”, acknowledged through symbols.

Lastly, the fountain, the memorial to the Hollow Knight.

The Hollow Knight has at their feet four spikes coming up going around their body. This must be representative of the Pale King (his crown always being depicted with four spikes) (presumably yes there are more from the back view of this fountain but hey, the Pale King also in actuality has eight spiked horns XD). They’re also standing on what seems to be shaped like a flower, and the next level down from that is either a larger flower, or leaves. I can’t help but think that those aspects have to do with the White Lady.

Anyway.

If anything, I hope all this shows something about the relationship between the Kingdom of Hallownest, its two monarchs, and the average bug.

Edit: Please see my continuation of all this for new info and some revisions.

[smorgasvoid]

Taxa Revisited (Chortis: Territory of Magic) (1 of 2)

Taxa listed:

Aa - The keythong (Keythong keythong) is a species of flightless basal pterosaur that lives in savannahs, deserts, and mountains. They hunt in small packs consisting of 6-10 members and feed mainly on small mammals and mid-sized fauna. The barbed pycnofibres on their neck and hindlimbs serve as defense against predators.

Since it feeds on the innards of animals that ate fruits, it is indirectly responsible for distributing seeds to other habitats, creating new ecosystems.

Element: Basic

Ba - The horned sandwyrm (Psammanaikondra 𝘨𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘬𝘵𝘦𝘴) is a robust species of wyrm (terrestrial mosasaur) formerly placed in the closely related genus Arenavyrmis before being found to be distinct. It is the second largest wyrm species known on Chortis. Due to its digging capabilities and the fact that it is an ambush predator that will eat any small creature that it detects, it has been dubbed "The Dune Shark".

Element: Earth

Ca- The Shinihebi (Mortovyrmis choristognathus) is a species of small yet highly venomous (and poisonous) wyrm that is more derived than the horned sandwyrm morphologically. They reside in deserts where they prey on small birds and mammals. When threatened, it opens its vibrant blue mouth and will usually spray a deadly cocktail of toxins. It has terrible vision due to its burrowing lifestyle.

Element: Poison/Star

Da - Sea laggie (Pseudolagiacrus pursutor), a species of leviathan marine herperian synapsid that resides in warm seas, where it is an apex predator. Mostly solitary, during breeding season males will court with females who they will then breed with. Parental care is present in this species.

Element: Water/Thunder

Ea - The Golden skyshark (Aureovivernis vulgaris) is a hunter and scavenger found within the tallest rainforest trees. Being an antique wyvern, its wings are its hindlimbs rather than its forelimbs. They are known to be non-aggressive, fleeing when encountered by humans.

Element: Metal/Dragon

Fa - The lesser andeda (Tritonapeilis volans) is a fairly large pseudo-dragon descended from Permian weigeltisaurs. Unlike their ancestors, they can fly remarkably well with their 'wings'. This is due to the segmentation within the wing bones, allowing for true flight. This particular species is a specialized mammal hunter.

Element: Dragon/Wind

[dragonskxn]

@lady-quen I FORGOT I NEEDED TO SCREENSHOT AND SHARE THESE REPLIES BUT

AUGHHH I absolutely adore this kind of theme especially for Anna's Elden Ring verse.

As I'm slowly taking in all of the lore of the game (since I'm unable to play it atm) dragon communion is such an interesting concept especially as a metaphor for hubris and greed. Someone who covets the power of dragons tries to take said power by force by consuming their hearts and gains those powers...at a grave price, eventually transforming into a twisted, grotesque mockery of a dragon: a magma wyrm, unable to fly, left to crawl about on its belly. Not to mention it's basically considered heresy to the Greater Will as opposed to the beliefs of the Dragon Cult

I feel like Annalise would also side more with the lesser dragons/drakes/wyverns moreso than the ancient four-legged/multi-winged dragons commonly worshipped by the Dragon Cult, being more of an underdog. After all... she's basically kind of a nobody. A peasant woman. Not a royal, nor a warrior, scholar, knight or mage.

She doesn't even really crave power; she only feels empathy for the lesser dragons, and wonders what it's like to be able to have wings and take flight whenever one wishes. Her kindness, in spite of the chaos and cruelty of the world around her, might be just the thing that results in her gaining the true powers of the lesser dragons. Perhaps even a transformation of her own, not as some wyrm that wriggles pathetically in the dirt, but a true wyvern.

[ectocs]

The Lumchagg

Feel like I'm cutting it a bit close this week :P

So. The lumchagg. It's a bird, it's purple, it likes aromatic herbs and it sets itself on fire to revive itself into a worm. Honestly this thing grew on me the more I worked on it.

Ideas behind this design below the cut ! Alongside some doodles, rambles, and concepts :)

It starts life as a "worm" -- a featherless, pink squirmy thing with nubs where its limbs will later grow in. The lengthy tail will later be absorbed to facilitate that.. like a lot of metamorphosing (is that the word?) creatures.

The idea at this point is pretty straightforward. Recently got to watch two robin nests grow, which was interesting, and young birds look really... fleshy. Wanted to give it coloring on its throat like the clitellum on a worm (aka the saddle) but I think it's just not distinctive enough. I gave it four eyes for more of a bug feel, though it's so minor I don't think it matters much in the end.

As it grows and gets feathers, the lumchagg's tail shortens -- the wings are the first limb to fully grow, giving it an amphithere-like appearance, though the legs soon follow within the same day the wings finish growth, making the change from worm to bird seem almost instant. All four eyes are open, though body coloration is not "mature."

Not much to say on this stage; it's a bird with fun antennae-like tufts on its head and a fun beak, a vaguely dinosaur feel, and coloration based sorta on a violet-backed starling. It has faint horns/ridges because ... um...... well to be honest I just decided to give it to the thing based on the dinosaur/dragon/etc vibes in the room.

In the adult stage, they will spend most of their long-lived lives as a darker, mostly-solid purple tone. This coloration lasts until the very end of their lives, at which point the lumchagg's wings become pale on the inside, allowing it to concentrate and direct the sun's rays onto flammable material. Through this method, the bird is able to burn and rebirth itself.

Drew the end-of-life stage here setting itself on fire. Don't ask how white/pale wings lets it burn stuff; it comes back to life, it gets privileges the average white goose doesn't get.

Here is a basic idea of the life cycle, hastily slapped together as a visual:

There was quite a bit of thinking to get to this point. Here is the last sketch page I did. Unlike the other doodles I never bothered coloring it in, as I decided to go with this look.

Note the "wyrm" title -- I initially wanted to do a more dragon-y take, with a final form maybe being an amphithere, but decided against it in the end and changed tracks when I couldn't get that to look right. Liked the idea though, so it gets to be a life stage that exists for 0.1 seconds. You can also see the adult pose change!

The butterfly note here comes from some images I was looking at with interesting wing shapes. Never quite got it how I wanted, pivoted to a purely pennant-winged nightjar kind of wing.

Now the thing I had done earlier was some bugs, which I liked, but ultimately just couldn't draw 'em. Bird can be a loose term, after all, and large black swallowtails flying by at fast speeds have had me thinking a small bird flew past me on multiple occasions.

Plus, well, lots of bugs have worm-children. There are literally just worms, of course. But butterflies, beetles, flies, sawflies... all winged (usually) with little squirmy babies.

And the first doodle page was, of course, birds. I must admit, this is my favorite just because I figured out how to draw birds only on this ONE sketch session. That heron is beautiful. But anyway -- I kinda merged ideas together in the end, giving it several traits from both doodled birds.

In my heart, after all these arts, a lumchagg is a kind of weird purple bird of any type lol. Even from the beginning, I wanted that kind of long feather just for looks. Please note the incorrect text describing what I call the "standard-winged purple swampjarhen." It's a hybrid of a grey-headed swamphen (aka a purple swamphen) and a pennant-winged nightjar. Oops! I was looking at them in a tab, I have no idea how I messed up my own damn text.

Here's a pennant next to a standard -- big difference in silly wing feathers!

[thefirstknife]

you just reblogged a (very very cool) piece of riven art where she has wings and it got my wondering. i never imagined the ahamkara with wings because riven doesnt have them, but is it mentioned anywhere in the lore that other ahamkara may have had wings? or are there instances of ahamkara descriptions that differ from what riven looks like in general? or did all ahamkara look basically like riven? (tho i have to say, after seeing that art of riven i love the idea of them having wings, whether its lore-accurate or not)

Ahamkara are shapeshifters! They can look like anything they want. And more often than not, they take on forms as requested by those they fight so in a way, they reflect their enemy's desires. Riven could alter her form and did so fairly often, mostly by presenting in different sizes. It sometimes also included wings!

Mara sits cross-legged in the canopy shade of Riven's wing.

The same tab describes Riven with a different size and colours:

Riven turns to watch. On this day, her head is the size of a Fallen pike. She is vibrant blue with a yellow and red crest, and her pupils are crescents within her lidless eyes.

When Uldren first brought Riven to Mara, she was small enough to fit in his hand:

In time, he returned to the Reef with a creature not larger than his hand, saying, "Behold, Sister, the lie that makes itself true. This is an Ahamkara."

Another ahamkara explicitly said to have had wings is Azirim:

He spread his wings and flew out into the empty air beyond the steep cliffs that bordered the gardens.

They can also turn into other species! The ahamkara that ate Talullah Fairwind, the first Hunter Vanguard who bet on her life in a game against an ahamkara, appeared in the shape of a human:

The Ahamkara looked like somebody's kindly old grandpa just now. And it could play a mean hand of cards.

Praedyth fought one that looked like this:

In the middle, between them, Praedyth smiled. A winged and scaled lion with a boar's tusks leapt at him, and he could swear he saw the thing wink at him as he tore it apart.

A Warlock called Gallida who fought in the Great Ahamkara Hunt alongside Taeko-3, wished for an ahamkara to take the form of a Vex so she could study it:

The massive Vex construct that was the Ahamkhara towered over them... ... "The rear ventral plate, please?" Graciously, the construct shifted its superstructure and allowed the researcher a detailed look at the thing's internal workings.

And of course, Lord Saladin wished for his ahamkara to appear in the form of an actual dragon:

"Why in the Traveler's crack did you wish to fight an actual DRAGON, old man?"

Saladin Forge grinned inside his helmet. The enormous wyrm towered above them, bleeding wounds covering its gleaming scales as it reared up for another breath. The massive axe in his hands was dented, scarred, and melted at the tip. But it still held an edge. "We are knights, Lady Efrideet. Do you not want to be a dragon slayer?"

They're incredibly cool creatures, and really ancient. They're mentioned in the Books of Sorrow; the Harmony tried fighting the Hive with the use of their wish magic, but they were unsuccessful against Xivu Arath.

I would love to see more of them, though the Great Ahamkara Hunt happened so they're now extinct. There's a chance that some ran away into hiding or that there's more of them somewhere in the universe, but as far as our system is concerned and ofc barring some major new reveals, they're gone.

[bluegekk0]

Random thought that went to my head: How would vrym feel about the king molds and wing molds? Would he feel guilty about what happened to them and how would he react to the collector( if they are still alive)?

Btw, your au has been a big inspiration for my own au surrounding the collector, especially the inspiration toward my version of the pale king. Have a great day 😄

First of all, I'm so happy to hear you could find inspiration in my AU! It really warms my heart to hear that people enjoy it so much! And I wish you luck in the making of your own AU!!

Now to answer the question, I actually wrote about void a bit on the WorldAnvil page on higher beings yesterday, so this is really good timing. I'll start with the general idea of void in my AU. I see it as a naturally occuring substance found deep underground, which mutated and evolved into a form which, under certain conditions, can unify and take the shape of a Void Entity, which is considered a very strange type of higher being, under the name of The Shade Lord. But in its basic form, it is a substance which seemingly has some kind of mind, but acts purely on instinct and can't experience pain due to its sludge like form. It has the capability to animate objects if contained within, and I like to think that in the distant past there was some kind of civilization which used it for technological progress (before being wiped out by it, since as it later turned out, starting a settlement in a place dripping with void was way deadlier than anticipated). As void evolved, it became too dangerous to stay around, which is why it was left forgotten in the Abyss, especially after it was sealed away there by The Radiance and Grimm's father (I'm planning to expand this plot point on the WorldAnvil page at some point, so I'll share more details then).

I mention this because, after defeating the weakened Shade Lord that was locked in there (this is how I interpret the Black Wyrm in the AU), and during his experiments on a way to stop the infection, Vyrm learned of the animative properties of void and put together the kingsmould and wing moulds. They were originally going to be the vessels, but unfortunately their artificial shell wasn't strong enough to hold the entities and they were prone to breaking down. He later made the terrible decision to use a living being as the void vessel, but we know how that went.

After the experiments failed, Vyrm was left with a bunch of those animated metal knights that were still intact, so he decided to use them as guards for the Palace. There weren't enough of them to pose any serious risk, and he didn't want to just discard them, so he found a use for them. The moulds were not actually sentient, or at the very least, they had the same level of intelligence as void itself. They could be made to follow orders, so they were pretty decent guards. Of course, they weren't the only ones protecting the Palace, I see them as just an addition to strengthen the defenses. Wingmoulds, meanwhile, were used to carry messages throughout the Palace, and as general surveillance.

With that said, void has proven to not act as expected, as seen in the vessels. They were meant to be obedient and experience no pain, and while Vyrm feared that this could fail, for quite some time it appeared that things went according to plan. Well, they didn't, and that realization made him view void differently as a whole. For all intents and purposes, there is nothing there to feel bad about when it comes to the void moulds, they were not living beings, just metal animated by an oil like substance. But I think despite that, he would feel bad about the kingsmould that broke down at the Palace ruins, as if it died guarding its king to the end of its days. Perhaps he even feels some guilt about disturbing the void in the first place. I think he wishes that he placed the moulds back in the Abyss and allowed the void within to return to the void lake, instead of keeping them for his own gain.

As for the Collector, it's a strange being. I'm not yet sure if I'm going to make them a failed/rogue kingsmould or if its a completely unique entity. What I do know is that he wouldn't be aware of their existence, and so would have no feelings about them. I think the Collector's existence serves as a nice showcase of the unpredictability of void, as well as its ability to take form and even develop some sort of personality as a result. Perhaps they're still alive somewhere out there, be it the City of Tears or someplace else. I haven't thought about them that much aside from occasional ask responses that weren't really meant to be concrete. I quite like the idea of them just being a wild entity that existed at some point and maybe still does.

If Vyrm did bump into them, I'm sure he would be shocked, though perhaps a bit fascinated. Seeing a void entity that does not inhabit any outer shell would be an interesting thing to experience, especially after all his attempts at trying to study it and experiment with it. But it would also make him even more confident in thinking that he should've never disturbed void in the first place, as clearly it can be very unpredictable. So his feelings would remain the same, a mixture of regret and caution.

[reikiajakoiranruohoja]

W5 ranting again ft. Fenrir issues

I want to preface this by saying that W5 has good parts and with a bit of work the setting is much better than Legacy for new players. Why W5 bothers me is how some of its mechanics are extremely poorly thought out (quitting garou life for one, heightened senses giving you HUMAN SENSES IN LUPUS??) or are made to punish creativity (ritual frenzies.) But also, how one man's quest to make one tribe evil basically hurt the entire game.

To those not in the know, the Get of Fenris was a tribe that had some unfortunate symbols and sub-groups. It also sadly attracted players who wanted to actually play out those groups. To not mince words, neo-nazi were attracted to the tribe. Before the truth came out, I was miffed about losing the Fenrir but I understood why. I was confused why a tribe like Red Talons was kept, when they were a tribe that was just generally banned. It was only when a person working on a version of W5 came out and explained that the Fenrir were made bad guys NOT due to concerns of right wing players. No, because one guy high up wanted the whole tribe to be neo-nazi. Not only had the Fenrir in canon destroyed the neo-nazi camp, but the same writer wanted to kill off one of the indigenous tribes and remove the feminism from a tribe literally dedicated to sacred feminity. Luckily, the indigenous writers hired managed to talk him out of killing Younger Brother/Gale Stalkker/Winter's Teeth. But Furies lost their feminism and all cultural ties to tribes were removed. Well, that is not true, the Fenrir kept their ties to Nordic cultures. To the point of having gifts renamed to suit the viking image. Now, I must be fair and say that the person who pushed for Fenrir as antagonists is called Karim Muammar and he lives in Sweden. Given his name and general racism issues there, I am sure his vitriol came from a place of pain. Yet, there are better ways to handle including your own experiences to a game than the way Muammar went about it. For one, it says a lot that you want to include fascism in the game in a big way yet that you also want to remove feminism and destroy an indigenous tribe outright. Second, the laser focus on the Fenrir meant tribes like the Red Talons, Silver Fangs and Shadow Lords were kept as they were. While Fangs and Lords are generally popular, Talons whole deal is that they want humanity gone. Because humans hunt wolves and pollute nature, yes, but most people still felt uncomfortable with the tribe. It really seems like the only thing Muammar wanted for W5 was to have Fenrir as fascists. Otherwise, I can't really see Red Talons staying. The way the newly dubbed Cult of Fenris is used is also very clumsy and going against their whole ethos. In a free adventure, a pack of Fenrir are torturing another werewolf to make them join their cause. The problem with this is, that it goes against what the text in W5 has said about the tribe; That Fenrir see other tribes as weak and they are removed from the rest of Nation because THEY will still fight the Wyrm head on. A tribe like that would not torture someone to get them to join. They would see torture and breaking someone as weakness. This method of recruitment is more the wheelhouse of the Black Spiral Dancers. Corruption worshipping torturers who live by Zerg Rush rules. So the Fenrir have been given the MO of another tribe, just so they appear villainous. (Also, as a personal aside, sure was fun to read that the ONLY Finnish character in W5 is a neo-nazi. As in, outright stated to be one in the text.) The way the Fenrir are handled and how their reason of being foes is stated to be mental illness fascism all hurt W5 as a game. The focus and push to make them foes also meant other tribes of shady nature were ignored which adds to the disjointed nature of the game.

[161957]

MY PREDICTIONS for the new ancient

1. light, its just an emperor. all basic genes. everyone hates it

2. earth, a wyrm. no legs no wings just rock snake

3. wind, its a really ugly bird

[exsaltedd]

What is wofau what are all these words (Pantala, __Wing) please edificate I beg of thee. Your lizards (wyrms? dragons?) are very nicely drawn.

THIS ASK GOT EATED IM SO LATE TO RESPOND..

the wof au is based on the book series wings of fire using its world and species as a basis! i have the entire first 11 books as well as a legends book here if ur interested (theres 15 total in the main series, the last four of which i don't have currently saved anywhere :'{)

there's not much else u need to know than whats provided in there, and if ur not a books person the fandom wiki os a great source to get the basics of the world!

[thenixkat]

I'm curious how dragon taxonomy works in Prince of Gold, since Centaurs are included in that clade.

'Dragon' is the term to describe all creatures descended from ancient hexapod vertebrates in the setting which are descended from a common ancestor.

Colloquially, common centaurs tend to use 'dragon' in a general speech to refer to scaly dragons, ie. any hexapod that is mostly covered in scales. Even tho fire dragons like cattle (a small domesticated sauropod-like dragon commonly bred for meat and milk) and Fire Drakes are more closely related to salamanders (a scaleless wingless semi-aquatic hexapod kept for wool, highly flammable saliva, and milk) than they are to the poison dragons like wyverns and basilisk who are more closely related to gryphons.

Centaurs belong to the Order of dragons that adapted to flight using their middle set of limbs as wings. Centaurs secondarily lost their ability to fly in exchange for being really damn good at running, but traces of their ancestor's wings can be found in the long spurs on their front legs and the skin membrane that extends from the elbows of their front legs to their hips and/or knees of their hind legs. The other species in the same Family are sphinxes, who remain fully flighted semi-social ambush predators, and manticores, a semi-flighted solitary ambush predators. A different Family in the same order were middle-wing flighted herbivores like pegasi and winged wild boars.

Wyverns and Gryphons belong to an Order of dragons adapted to flight using their first set of limbs as wings. The Griff (colloquial term for gryphons and their close kin) Family is fully feathered and lack poison/venom and the majority of them are large apex predators. Gryphons have cat-like hindquarters and live in the mountains. Hippogriffs evolved alongside centaurs as their major predator in the open plains chasing them down with their own long horse-like legs. The wyvern Family are sparsely feathered, with some feathers adapted into poison-filled quills, and use venomous fangs (or venom spitting in the case of basilisk) to defend themselves from larger predators like their griff cousins.

The fire dragons (most of which actually are all in the same Family, a bunch of long-necked herbivores that evolved to weaponize their methane production) are in the same Order as salamanders and tarasque.

Wyrms belong to two different Orders that reduced their number of limbs as they became burrowing and/or swimming creatures. The only fire dragon that isn't from the same family as cattle and fire drakes is the lindworm, which uses a chemical reaction similar to that of a bombardier beetle to produce its stone-melting flames.

Basically, 'dragon' in this world is used the same way that we use 'reptile'. A bunch of shit thrown under a term with only some of them having close common ancestry due to outward appearance which shit that does share a common ancestry but not looks left out when non-scientists are talking like how people leave birds out of reptiles when all their closest relative are all considered reptiles.

[pandabibble]

The seraphim deserve a special mention: They're mentioned in Ezekiel as these servants of god who mostly just hang around behind God's throne in heaven and chant "o holy o holy o holy" but the word "seraphim" is hebrew and used on one other occasion: In Exodus when referring to a plague of snakes, and the snakes themselves are referred to as "seraphim" and the scholarly consensus is that this means "firey snakes" and then there's no real consensus as to what that meant.

Some say that it's because it's one of several potentially still extant snake with a fire-like pattern on its scales, other that it's because it's bite was particularly burny feeling, some go whole hog and assert that those snakes? They were on fire.

This opens up an entire can of wyrms because now the seraphim are not guys with 6 wings two of which cover their feet and 2 of them covering their face, or wheels within wheels or any of that, seraphim are some of the most well described biblical entities that get lumped together as "angels", and SPECIFICALLY that description is a snake with 6 wings and the snake also has feet AND ALSO the snake may or may not literally be on fire.

Now the feet and the wings are important to understand, because in Genesis, before Eve eats the apple snakes had wings and feet (though they're not enumerated afaik) and then God's like "nah, fuck you, crawl bitch"... which then adds an extra layer to Ezekiel's vision because now not only is it a snake that may or not be on fire that also has all these limbs, it's specifically a snake that may or may not be on fire that has been restored to it's prelapsiarian state - which means there's very important symbology happening regarding how in the presence of God even such lowly creatures as snakes who may or may not be on fire have been made whole and returned to their sinless state.

As for why the seraphim in Ezekial are described as covering their feet? well that's to stop rabbis having lengthy arguments over how treif snakes are. Basically the authors of Ezekiel going "Don't worry about the snake feet, that's not the important thing here, don't get distracted"

Two Friends Discuss Angels

There's a 45 minute explainer video on my Patreon if people want to learn more