Finally a fully colored illustration! \o/ Incredible, right?
This drawing took AGES to make! This was supposed to be posted on Halloween, just to give you an idea of how late I am... sigh. XD
I have to say I'm really happy with the result, and I hope you will also like it.
Since I was bored, I also decided to write down a short story related to the image. I suck at writing (never done before), so I know it will be infested with typos and overall sound horrible, but if you are still interested you can check it out.
____________________________
Azad sat quietly, the flames of the campfire dancing in front of him. He looked down to see Tara, his bird companion, looking intently at the fire and at the embers flying towards the night sky. He had just entered the adult age, and, as it was tradition for his people, he was given a Raakish bird hatchling to raise an bond with. In a few years she would grow enough to allow him to ride on her back, and the two would live and fight together for the rest of their lives. A warrior of the Nomadic Kingdoms would be incomplete without his Raakish mount, like a hawk without wings. Tara was still young, small and frail, however. Azad smiled, as he leaned forward to place a kiss on the hatchling's head.
From behind he could hear the other members of his tribe setting up the camp for the night, in the middle of the colossal ruins surrounding them. Under normal circumstances he would be helping them, but tonight it was different.
Azad and the other youngest members of the tribe sat around the campfire, looking at Ka'shar, the elder. He sat with his back against a stone cliff, his weapons and shield, ornated with gold and stones, glistening at his side, showing his status as an honored warrior. His body could tell just as much: despite his age, his muscles and sinews stood out from under his short fur, and countless scars marked his figure. Ka'shar's only eye moved around, scanning each of the youngsters' faces, before he spoke in his deep voice.
"Look around you."
Azad and the others did so, observing the ruins surrouning them. The giant statue of an Ajshar with a serpent coiled around his body was still standing, even though its meaning had been forgotten eons before, and behind it Azad could see what remained of walls, towers and other buidings towering towards the sky. In awe, he was trying to imagine how they would have looked like at the time the city was still inhabited, but the size of these ruins dwarfed anything he had seen before. Not even the great walls and temples of the Oasis City States could compare to what stood in front of his eyes.
"This is your heritage" Ka'shar continued "These ruins, they were made by OUR people, many generations ago, before the desert even existed. We were great and powerul, and our empire spread from where the sun rises to were it sets. But this was all before our doom."
"Doom?" a feeble voice asked from the other side of the campfire.
"Yes, our doom." Ka'shar's voice had become even deeper. "Pride comes before the fall, always. The gods saw our hubris, our thirst for power, and they punished us for our deeds. The earth shaked, as the sky grew dark and filled with ash. Our people died by the thousands, coughing up blood, as our golden cities collapsed. Ashir, Goddess of the Sun, who once gave us life, cursed our lands to be always scorched by her fire. The land died, and the desert came."
Ka'shar remained silent for a few seconds, the silence of the night broken only by the crackling of the fire. Even Tara, nestled between Azad's arms, was staying still. Then he spoke again.
"Few survived, most of which left... but we've always remained here, in our lands. Every day we walk among the ruins of what was once our world, and we've never defied the gods' wishes ever since. We've never built cities again, and we are not blinded by power or gold. We live every day as if it is our last, and the gods have blessed us for our humility, making us strong and hard.
Remember, do not be afraid of these ruins. The spirits of our ancestors still live within these walls, and they will protect their kin, as long as you respect them. Their greatness still runs in our veins, but our lost cities will always be a reminder of the mistakes of the past, and of the way we must follow in the future".
This drawing took AGES to make! This was supposed to be posted on Halloween, just to give you an idea of how late I am... sigh. XD
I have to say I'm really happy with the result, and I hope you will also like it.
Since I was bored, I also decided to write down a short story related to the image. I suck at writing (never done before), so I know it will be infested with typos and overall sound horrible, but if you are still interested you can check it out.
____________________________
Azad sat quietly, the flames of the campfire dancing in front of him. He looked down to see Tara, his bird companion, looking intently at the fire and at the embers flying towards the night sky. He had just entered the adult age, and, as it was tradition for his people, he was given a Raakish bird hatchling to raise an bond with. In a few years she would grow enough to allow him to ride on her back, and the two would live and fight together for the rest of their lives. A warrior of the Nomadic Kingdoms would be incomplete without his Raakish mount, like a hawk without wings. Tara was still young, small and frail, however. Azad smiled, as he leaned forward to place a kiss on the hatchling's head.
From behind he could hear the other members of his tribe setting up the camp for the night, in the middle of the colossal ruins surrounding them. Under normal circumstances he would be helping them, but tonight it was different.
Azad and the other youngest members of the tribe sat around the campfire, looking at Ka'shar, the elder. He sat with his back against a stone cliff, his weapons and shield, ornated with gold and stones, glistening at his side, showing his status as an honored warrior. His body could tell just as much: despite his age, his muscles and sinews stood out from under his short fur, and countless scars marked his figure. Ka'shar's only eye moved around, scanning each of the youngsters' faces, before he spoke in his deep voice.
"Look around you."
Azad and the others did so, observing the ruins surrouning them. The giant statue of an Ajshar with a serpent coiled around his body was still standing, even though its meaning had been forgotten eons before, and behind it Azad could see what remained of walls, towers and other buidings towering towards the sky. In awe, he was trying to imagine how they would have looked like at the time the city was still inhabited, but the size of these ruins dwarfed anything he had seen before. Not even the great walls and temples of the Oasis City States could compare to what stood in front of his eyes.
"This is your heritage" Ka'shar continued "These ruins, they were made by OUR people, many generations ago, before the desert even existed. We were great and powerul, and our empire spread from where the sun rises to were it sets. But this was all before our doom."
"Doom?" a feeble voice asked from the other side of the campfire.
"Yes, our doom." Ka'shar's voice had become even deeper. "Pride comes before the fall, always. The gods saw our hubris, our thirst for power, and they punished us for our deeds. The earth shaked, as the sky grew dark and filled with ash. Our people died by the thousands, coughing up blood, as our golden cities collapsed. Ashir, Goddess of the Sun, who once gave us life, cursed our lands to be always scorched by her fire. The land died, and the desert came."
Ka'shar remained silent for a few seconds, the silence of the night broken only by the crackling of the fire. Even Tara, nestled between Azad's arms, was staying still. Then he spoke again.
"Few survived, most of which left... but we've always remained here, in our lands. Every day we walk among the ruins of what was once our world, and we've never defied the gods' wishes ever since. We've never built cities again, and we are not blinded by power or gold. We live every day as if it is our last, and the gods have blessed us for our humility, making us strong and hard.
Remember, do not be afraid of these ruins. The spirits of our ancestors still live within these walls, and they will protect their kin, as long as you respect them. Their greatness still runs in our veins, but our lost cities will always be a reminder of the mistakes of the past, and of the way we must follow in the future".
Category Artwork (Traditional) / Fantasy
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 1343 x 1800px
Listed in Folders
"And then......he turned....................
.......INTO A PICKLE!"
.......INTO A PICKLE!"
The ambient and lighting on this is amazing. Spectacular!
amazing scene and details and full faces expressions variety :)
amazing shodow and light
amazing atmosphere
perfect!
amazing shodow and light
amazing atmosphere
perfect!
Not a good idea to poke a Sunspider aka Camel Spider. Not as bad as soldier stories make them out to be but they're nasty with a painful bite. Just damn glad the ones in my area aren't that big but they are aggressive little sobs....
A wonderful tale and work of art. Looking at those moons makes me wonder if they had something to do with the volcanic activity described by Ka'Shar - bit too much of a gravitational pull during an alignment of those moons perhaps?
Woah dude! <3 This is such a great piece of art! I mean the shadows, the lights... everything! The facial expressions are priceless too! And the little story fits the atmosphere very well. I would like to write more suitable words, but unfortunately english is not my mother tongue... But still good to know that there are three moons in this world! Nice detail.
This is amazingly cool, absolutely love this and all the expressions! Great way to tell a story with a picture.
omg i LOVE the ambience and the scary story and the young ones looking scared! <3 Quite a great story, too!
Regardless of how long it took, this was worth the effort. It is gorgeous! The lighting is beautiful, the expressions on everyone's faces tell as much of a story as the elder does. Once again you've proven your talents for story telling with amazing pictures like this. Thank you for sharing this with us!
It is all fun and games until those two almost touching moons collide and the planet gets bombarded by a myriad of huge fragments.
All your hard work definitely paid off, 0laff! There's just so much to look at. All the characters, the statue in the background, the Nope-Bug, all catch my attention and I just want to stare at all of it. The orange against all the dark blues makes everything pop. I don't know if anything I'm saying is real art stuff, but yeah. Painting look cool. XD
I loved the lore too! Makes me wonder if the story was true or not. And if not, what could have happened to wipe out the empire and cause such gruesome deaths. Maybe some natural disaster? *ponders*
I loved the lore too! Makes me wonder if the story was true or not. And if not, what could have happened to wipe out the empire and cause such gruesome deaths. Maybe some natural disaster? *ponders*
Wonderful lighting in this and individual expressions! The contrast between warmth and dark, safety and emptiness, is superb. I think the youngster at the bottom right is more concerned about the huge spider-mantis thing than Ka'shar's moral lessons. ;) Great piece, great story! :)
Woah, that's definitely an atmospheric picture! :D The contrast of dark, starry night sky, bright fire and the shadows cast by the firelight create a perfect mood for some sinister story-telling.
Love how you fitted a number of characters into the picture, all with such a variety of emotions and reactions, from the elder completely engrossed in the story to the scared blue-eyed youth, nervous Azad and curious lady in right bottom corner! Oh, and Tara was absolutely adorable as a chick! ;)
...So, was the original civilization of Ajshars destroyed by a volcano, possibly followed by earthquakes? Earth shaking, sky filling with ash, cities collapsing... That would fit the description provided. :P
Love how you fitted a number of characters into the picture, all with such a variety of emotions and reactions, from the elder completely engrossed in the story to the scared blue-eyed youth, nervous Azad and curious lady in right bottom corner! Oh, and Tara was absolutely adorable as a chick! ;)
...So, was the original civilization of Ajshars destroyed by a volcano, possibly followed by earthquakes? Earth shaking, sky filling with ash, cities collapsing... That would fit the description provided. :P
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