February 2018 Challenge: The Ruby Temple

[Kellerica]

Ladies and gentlemen, it is my first challenge entry ever! I shall now pause for the thunderous applause. I honestly don't know if I'll have time to finish this, but I figured what the hell, no harm in at least trying.

“In the Labyrinth of Mist, when the Last Gate opens, the Ruby Temple shall fall.”

Since the dawn of time, the acolytes of Ruby Temple have been guarding the secrets hidden by the mists of the Labyrinth. Built in the name of the goddess Luki, the Mistress of Mist and Death, the maze has been used for centuries for the purpose of the deepest meditation and communion with the dead. Within those walls is the veil between the two worlds at its thinnest, and only sworn members of the Ruby Order are allowed to walk the maze. In center of the Labyrinth stands the Last Gate. The mysterious, monolithic structure is said to be older than the world itself, and although it stands alone amidst the stones, the followers of the Mist Goddess know it for what it truly is: a closed gateway to the realm of the dead. The Order has sworn to keep it forever protected, for its opening would bring forth the fall of the Ruby Temple, and thus the end of times.

Sorry, I know that sounds cheesy as all hell, I typed that out really quickly just to give you a general idea of what I'm going for here. This is, obviously, a very very rough sketch, but hey, gotta start somewhere. Here we go!

### Latest WIP ###
SumuRubiini1.jpg

[Diamond]

I was hoping you'd enter a challenge one day! This sounds like it'll be a good 'un!

[RjBeals]

This does look promising. I love seeing the concept sketch compared to the finished maps!

[Ilanthar]

Go, go, Kelleri ! I'm looking forward to see what you'll do from there.

[Kellerica]

Time for a little update again... the layout is done, as far as the built structures are concerned.

I fleshed out the grounds, decided to go with a Mayan-inspired direction with the temple. And drew the labyrinth. Man, that took a while. I originally meant to include just a corner of it, but finally decided against it. I think it drives the point home more to show the whole thing. I hope it looks complicated enough This is probably the first time I've ever tried to create a maze. Fun stuff.

### Latest WIP ###
WIP2.jpg

Up next: textures and painting, lots of painting. Also, I'm aware the buildings don't have throw shadows. Fear not, I'm on it

[MapMappingMapped]

Looking great! That labyrinth threatens to give me a headache.

[Kellerica]

Goooooood, goood! That was very much the intention!

[Kellerica]

Okay, I actually have a second update on this thing. Do NOT ask me how many hours I spent on this today, and do NOT ask me what I should have been doing instead of working on this.

I am not happy how the water came out, I'll have to tweak it tomorrow. The shadows also need to be redone, since they look like absolute garbage, but I'll really have to call it a night since it's Way-Too-Late o'clock and I need to get some actual work done tomorrow or I'll be totally screwed.

I also added more space around the map itself, I thought I'd try having the legend sort of next to the whole piece for a change. I'll see what kind of decorations I come up with for the thing.

ALSO I really hate the colors of this. Okay, at this hour I hate everything about this. Hopefully I'll feel a bit better about it after a good night's sleep...

### Latest WIP ###
WIP3.jpg

[Southern Crane]

I very much understand this thought process as I read the last post hahaha cheers
Really love how this is shaping up!

[Kellerica]

Yeah, I really shouldn't be allowed to write anything or do anything when I'm that tired... XD