Inhabitants of the world. Any need for illustrations?

[Badger]

Well after RP mentioned you talked about it ..a nd went back and read through the posts (evidently I had missed a few more than I thought on this thread) but I actually remember reading how you did your illustrations .... I just got really excited when I saw it and immediately had to know .. great job and have some rep

[Ascension]

I love lizardmen and this one kicks! Well done indeed. How about a lizard shaman? Loves me some lizards.

[12rounds]

Ok ... on to the next.

Raedis is one of the rising stars of Akron's independent city states. It's rise has been mostly influenced by the weakening of city state of Akron itself and it has quickly became a bustling port wherein many kinds of tradeable goods pass hands when the price is settled upon. The quick rise has had it's unwanted consequences as well - mainly in that the laws and regulations in Raedis are lagging behind progress. It's also not uncommon in today's Raedis to come upon some very shady characters and groups who are in the trade business for a quick profit be it legal or not.

Raedis has it's own guild of merchants and it's head huncho has been Plinius Alleuri for almost 25 years - excepting a short period of upheavel a decade ago when an enterprising young rivalling merchant family from the nearby Voran interrupted the guild's normal operations for almost one year. Alleuri family restored their place as a leading merchant family soon enough and it was also the turning point in the career of Plinius' eldest son Filipo.

Filipo was only 19 when he was facing a difficult situation - either to succumb to a new leadership controlled from Voran or try his hands on
difficult maneuvering to restore his family's position. His father and his uncles were rendered powerless by the scheming politics of the new rising power, but they unwisely did not think that Filipo could do anything to stop them. Filipo took matters into his own hands and after a six-month-long marathon of diplomatic and politic struggling and dealmaking he had almost destroyed the credibility and trade routes of the rivalling merchant family. The price of the merchant war was high on Filipo's family though. His youngest brother - aged only 11 at the time - was assassinated by the rivals and his sister Lucida - only 15 - disappeared and believed to be either murdered or sold as a slave by the rivalling family.

After the short period of upheavel was over, Filipo took over the day-to-day routines of the Alleuri family and his father Plinius acts as a formal head of the merchant family and also the leader of the merchant's guild of Raedis. Plinius was very pleased by the initiative his son took and is proud to see him grow up to eventually take over the whole family's affairs.

Filipo is a very bubbling, cheerful and social persona. But there is a much darker side inside him - rotting soul as his enemies would call it. He is very adept at playing with other people's emotions and also lacks empathetic response himself. In fact he doesn't have much in the way of empathy at all. This in turn makes him capable of things that most are not. He has quite the reputation as a womaniser and he has a tendency to leave behind him broken hearts and tears. He himself apparently does not understand the concepts of love and caring the way his female companions do and this naturally has consequences in the way of high-drama conflicts. Still, Filipo is not an unpleasant fellow at all. He has a good sense of drama and humor and razor-sharp wits. He has a tendency for pranking and doesn't mind being on the receiving end of entertaining pranking either. All in all he lives an outgoing and highly visible life of a rich socielite - which he is.

Filipo is well educated, literate and well-mannered. He is also an adept swordsman rapier being his chosen instrument of death. Although he rarely needs to use his skills, there has been many occasions when he has been involved in serious and bloody duels. Rather than rely on his skills alone, he uses the much wiser solution of simply hiring muscle power when it comes time to use it. Filipo is a major financier of many mercenary groups in Akron since he rans several merchant routes in and out of all the big cities in Akron. His routes are routinely targeted by bandits, monsters and rivalling merchant groups, but so far he has still managed to keep ahead of the game. Mercenary groups also respect the Alleuri family because they keep always keep up their end of the deal - even if things end up bad and a merchant caravan gets robbed.



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[Steel General]

Once again, fantastic job!

[Valarian]

Stunning work (as usual). The writeup is wonderful. Throws some high intrigue in to the mix. Just the flavour I'd thought of for the region. I'm loving your work.

[Redrobes]

Yeah thats really cool. I will have to post a map of Krull defending the merchant from lizardmen now. The only issue now is that Krull is going to look *so* bad next to these two.

[Gamerprinter]

Personally I only care about the final look and don't mind what kind of tools it takes to get there. I'm not a fan of plain renderings myself. Many try to achieve the "looks like an actual photo!" -look, but I'm the opposite in trying to go the other way. I know lots of people look down on 3d/2d work ... "Oh you just pushed buttons to get that. Big deal.", but the main point is that *I* enjoy the results. If it's liked by anyone else, that's just an added bonus!

That's exactly how I feel about my artwork. I often dabble in 3D myself. I also have a tendency to use photographs of textures, as one would use in 3D for some of my maps. On other sites, I get accused of just place photos in a unique way, but not creating my work, myself.

For me its the final result that counts. Sometimes I hand-draw, sometimes I use 3D, sometimes I use photo textures as shape fills to create maps. The fact that I don't actually "paint" using PS or GIMP makes some think that I am somehow less of artist, because of it.

Well, that's meaningless bunk and doesn't sway me on what I do to create my art. In this way, the end justifies the means.

GP

[12rounds]

Thank you all for the nice words. It's much appreciated.


Now something for Witchlight Strand.
As I didn't find much text about the land, I'm making this up as I go.


The area has had it's share of trouble with orcs and goblins and the northern parts of Witchlight Strand are regularly switching ownership between humans, orcs and goblins and occasionally even elves. Port Magalie is one of the mightiest cities in the troubled land having a mixed population of elven, halfling and human origin. Many of the elven inhabitants come from the nearby Liaglades forest, but some have their origins much farther away. Thus there is a certain level of tension between the different elven clans and communities taking residence in the city. This tension is very subtle and almost invisible to all except elves themselves.

Port Magalie's current highest authority, Lord Weers, has a firm grip over the affairs of the city and is thought as one of the major reasons why the city has gained prosperity and has avoided open confrontations with the restless groups of humanoid tribes northeast. The firm grip has it's grimmer side in that many justly think Lord Weers as just another tyrant who finds ways of suppressing any echoes of opposition. In reality one of the key elements in Lord Weers' power is his magical advisor, the half-elven High Counselor Colm Theron. Colm Theron goes to great lengths to keep himself out of the awareness of the general public and instead pulls strings and exerts influence behind dark curtains.

High Counselor Theron has his own remote castle in the heart of Bone Hills - area plagued by both orcs and goblins. Theron Castle is not an easy place to reach and it holds unspoken secrets within it's walls. High Counselor is actually a necromancer belonging to a widely spread, but small, group of necromancers who call themselves Cult of the Black Flame. Black Flame necromancers draw their power from natural phenomen, but corrupt and taint the power when channeling it into their own foul deeds. Counselor Theron's black art originates from the Withclights forest not far in the south and year by year he has advanced his skills into gaining access to more and more of the power the forest has to offer. Unfortunately the necromancer's activity has slowly started to taint the whole forest as every time he uses his magic, small portions of corrupted mana flow back into the source.

High Counselor Theron's castle is protected by the necromancer's magic and also by resurrected orcs, goblins and humans who have been foolish enough to try and invade the castle. The undead presence is a highly kept secret by Theron, but nevertheless rumours about Theron's bony guardians are starting to spread even into Port Magalie - he denies it, of course. But the humanoid tribes know the true side of things and have grown more careful about the castle and it's surroundings. In effect the castle is no longer a regular target and this in turn only validates Theron's determination to go deeper into the black arts - because it works.

Theron has been friends with Lord Weers since childhood and nothing has made ripples between them in over 60 years. The necromancer always travels alone and in cognito and moves in and out of the city undetected as he wishes. Many elven magicians know what Theron truly is, but they are reluctant to do anything about it - yet. Theron's actions are tolerated because his role in keeping Port Magalie safe from the hordes of humanoid tribes is understood. Lord Weers does not perceive his trusted aide as a master of the black arts, but as Theron deteriorates towards the Black Flame year by year, it's only a matter of time until Lord Weers gets a rude awakening.


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[Torq]

Another great pic 12rounds. Thanks for the amazing input to the CWBP. If, on your troubles you pass through Groam, do stop in take look around.

Torq

[industrygothica]

Stunning work, as usual. In one post you've managed to accomplish probably more than you realize, not the least of which is making a little girl very happy (Port Magalie is named after my daughter, Megan Leigh, after we sat down one afternoon and went on a naming spree).

You've laid the foundation for an intriguing story of not only Port Magalie and its advisors, but given legitimate reason for the humanoid hordes in the Bloodspires to resist the urge to move farther south... for now.

You've also given substance to the Witchlights themselves, both the forest and the phenomenon, with the ability to draw a magical energy from them--something that had never occurred to me.

And outside of all that, you've expertly demonstrated what the Cooperative World Building Project is all about. I'm so glad you've managed to find your way here. Please, keep up the amazing work.

I've also added sections to the wiki page for Port Magalie and the Cult of the Black Flame, in case you're interested in elaborating there.


-IG