jlficks

Sorry, I've been off the map for so long. I've been meaning to get to my epic city map, but I just spent the last three months driving around the country on storm duty. However, I did chat with Arcana a while back and he had advised that blogs on this site are not limited to just map blogs, so I thought I'd post one of my none map blogs that has a lot of character and is not too long, so here goes:


Meet Kishrub and Zulbash, a pair of “hug at your own risk” big dumb brutes. Well, here are the original Kishrub and Zulbash in their concept sketches. As you can see, the Gutter Dwarf that sold them their armor spared no expense. He assured them every piece of their armor sets was genuine Dwarven craftsmanship! The claim is not entirely untrue, you see, that furnace door which makes up Zulbash’s massive breastplate did in fact come off a Dwarven furnace. And that coal scoop on Kishrub’s leg was once used by Dwarves to shovel coals into that very furnace. And I think a Dwarf may have cooked some Wriggle Rat in that cauldron that rests upon Kishrub’s monstrous shoulder once or twice. But Warlord Lewd did not employ Kishrub and Zulbash for sound council. They supply the muscle behind Lewd’s syndicate just as long as the pair is directed away from any food stores or palace guests foolhardy enough to poke fun at their armor.



Now our artist, Thom Scott, did a bang up job of crafting the most ridiculous set of armor to ever grace the pages of fantasy history, but haven’t you heard scrap metal is all the rave? Kishrub and Zulbash are breaking in a new fashion craze. Just watch our two fat models as they strut the flashiest set of scrap metals to ever grace a runaway. You catch those big yellow-toothed grins?

Kishrub sports a shield hammered flat at the ends to better tuck away that bulging beer belly. He wears metal chargers for his right bracer or a cluster of tin plates if you prefer. Zulbash shows off a set of striking window bars on his right forearm, which matches Kishrub’s left bracer or perhaps the bumbling duo got the set mixed up? Zulbash is a true trend-setter proving once and for all that tough guys can wear bows and carry dollies as they crack skulls like walnuts.

Words cannot describe how much we loved these concept pictures. It was really nice to see the artist put so much thought and energy into their armor. However, the oafish bodies needed a bit of tweaking. Kishrub and Zulbash belong to the race of Gorums. None of Covent’s people understood just who or where Gorums came from. They just showed up one day and started eating. Many poor cooks, farmers and herdsmen have had kitchens, livestock and crops sacked by Gorum, but their forms are different than say your traditional fantasy Ogres.

You thinking we’re being too picky? After all what could possibly be wrong with those awesome concept designs, so in reply let me tell you about Gorums.



Gorum walk hunched over like apes. Their arms are disproportionately long forcing them to drag their enormous hands on the ground behind them. Or they ball their fists and throw their huge bodies forward like overgrown banana-stuffed gorillas. Their huge hands are good for smashing down walls and handling other big races. Gutter Dwarves utilize Gorums to keep slaves inline. And so we relayed this information to the artist. See images above. Exhibit 1 shows our artist taking our Gorums away from Ogre form to Gorum form in Exhibit 2. The result is Kishrub and Zulbash look dumber, more apish and capable of breaking down walls and bullying other brutes.

Kishrub and Zulbash stand as my three-year-old son’s favorite Covent characters. I have not read him a word out of the book and I have shown him only the age-appropriate pictures, but these two dumb brutes seem to have stolen his heart. There’s something about them that makes them lovable and brain-numbingly inviting. He asks to see them regularly and likes to point at them and say, “that’s Kishrub and that’s Zulbash!”

Below is the final B&W interior picture of Kishrub & Zulbash which is some of the top-tier quality artwork that is included in Waiting Game as a purchase bonus.



For other memorable characters, come browse our character informational pages. New characters and artwork will be revealed with each new book!

http://www.chroniclesofcovent.com/characters.html