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Thanks guys.
Next up.
Of the 3 races, the ones least affected by the war are the Seraphim, due to their preference to living in cities in the clouds, which only they can reach without the use of magic. Because of this, and due to their naturally haughty and proud natures, there is often a fair amount of resentment towards them, especially from the Earthen tribe, who bore the brunt of the fighting. However, the Seraphim did see war come to their domain many times, especially during the middle years of the war, before the alliance with the Elves fell down and the cloud walkers withdrew to their realm of storms and wind. However, there are those amongst the ruling families of the Seraphim who would still join the battle.
Vail Clouddancer is a distinguished member of the Royal Guard of Cloud City, serving as one of the most trusted protectors and confidants of Lady Alininal. When the elf, Talin Nightcaster ventured to the Seraphim realm in search of aid in her quest, the Lady of Cloud City answered her call and bade Vail journey with her, in search of the one to unite the 3 races against their foe.Thanks AoC & HK.
This next one is a repost, but I thought it would make more sense to post it again at this point because of the story continuation.
Anyway.
When the Gremlins first invaded EtherWorld, the Elven King Kastarobos formed a grand alliance of the three races to combat this threat. From his capital (and the largest city in EtherWorld) Castaryl, he coordinated the war, forcing back the invasion on many fronts and utilising the strengths of each of the three races to their fullest. But he was betrayed. One of his princes gave the Gremlins vital information about the defences of the city. The city was destroyed and the King and all of his other potential successors were slaughtered. All but one.
Talin Nightcaster was an Elven Guard in Castaryl, powerful in shadow magic, concealment and teleportation, she often worked as the bodyguard to the princes and princesses of the Elves, hiding amongst the shadows and watching over them. She was close to Princess June Spellsong, one of the favourites to succeed Kastarobos. She managed to survive the fall of Castaryl and was one of those who helped search for survivors, being the first to reach the royal court and discover the horror within. However, she noticed one thing that many others did not. Her friend was not amongst the dead. However, without leadership, the Elves were in disarray and she could not put together a party to search for the missing Princess. Most of the Elves were more worried that, without their King to hold the alliances together, the war would start to go against them. And they were right. The Seraphim began to withdraw back to their clouds, whilst the remaining Earthen and Elven warriors struggled to hold back the tide. Knowing that only the Elven Ruler could reforge these alliances, Talin took it upon herself to find June and, with the blessing of one of the loyal Ladies of the Seraphim, as well as one of her most trusted Seraphim guards, she set out in search of the one who could unite the three races again.Anyway, taking a break from the current series, because of a special occasion. I do believe I’ve just hit 2000 posts. And when I reached 1000 posts I did a run down of my top 10 favourite creations that I’d made on heromachine up to that point, so I thought I’d do the same again. So lets take a look at my favourites in the last 1000 posts and thank you to everyone who has commented on this thread, whether it be complement or critique, I appreciate every comment.
Anyway.
10. Alyria
This one is the earliest on this list, from my Manokindd series. It was the first time I’d tried multiple colour blending on one item and I was inspired by AlexanderOfLimbo’s Mummy character, especially the colour fade that he made on the skin, going from white to normal skin tone, the first time I’d ever seen that effect, so I took it and ran with it. Plus, using those eye tattoos was fun.9. Grawrp
Oh. My. God. This took AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGES to shade, I think that it was about 4-5 hours (at a very conservative estimate) altogether over 3 days. I loved doing the entire Galactic Guard team, but this one just pips Mira Abina as the best of the bunch, because basically everyone said so. But I’m so not doing that much shading ever again.8. Butterfly Dress
I’m going to go on record and say that the Fashion Contest I hosted on the blog for CDC41 has to be my favourite contest we’ve ever had on the blog, the quality of entries was just stellar, it was so hard to choose a final 5 (which is why it was the only time I’ve done an honourable mentions section afterwards) and this was the result of seeing all of those entries. Inspiration overload. I have to give a big shout out to Trekkie though, because I completely ripped off the shading style from their entry. I never realised how much you do on your works until I tried to copy your style, how do you do it?7. Colours Fade
I feel that this piece is probably the most under-rated of my works, in terms of how much attention it got (two comments I think, and one of them mostly focused on the lyrics I posted along with the picture) compared to how proud I am of it. Maybe it’s just the fact that I made it and I know what inspired it, but this picture just bleeds emotion to me. The character is blind in case anyone was wondering, and if you notice the blood stained bandages behind her back, presumably in her hand, as well as the bloody tear from her left eye, you can start to form a picture about what happened, but I’ll leave that up to you. Either way, I have to include this one, because whilst it may not be my best, this is my FAVOURITES list and this should actually be higher up if I was just basing it solely on emotional pride, but there are others Im more proud of technically (if that makes any sense). This list was so hard to decide.6. Rainbow Wings/ Guardian
Now lets talk about one that got a lot of attention (and so far my only HOF nomination, although it didn’t get in). I think that at least 4 people are going to steal these wings at some point and I will admit, that is a bloody brilliant effect, even if I do say so myself. And it’s not that difficult to do.5. Little Black Dress (+Little Black Dress 2 by Jeimuzu)
This one had to be on here didn’t it. So far to date, my only “collaboration” with another ‘machiner and boy did it work well. I’ve talked at length at least twice about how much I love Jei’s style, so I won’t go into it again (go and search Character Of The Week on the Blog if you’re interested), but I will talk about my half. I totally stole ideas from Harlekin for the dress, he managed to do silk/ velvet perfectly, so (as with Trekkie earlier) I just studied every little detail. And then we have the face and pose, they turned out perfectly from my perspective, giving off just the right shy aura with that touch of mystery. This is a good ‘un.4. Kira Saiban
Speaking of good ‘un’s, ever had a creation that you just randomly started with no plan at all, that then ended up being one that blows peoples minds. Well I’d say that sums this one up. Also Atomic Punk wrote a truly brilliant duologue companion story on his Tell My Story thread (what ever happened to that AP, did you run out of submissions? I loved reading the stories you came up with). Just everything about this one turned out right, the expression, the tattoos, the pose, the costume. Pretty proud of this one.3. Higher
Now this one has a backstory. This piece was very cathartic for me. I was at the time going through one of the worst periods, if not the worst period of my life. My cat had just died, then a week later my Grandad had a stroke and I was going through a pretty bad bout of depression. I can’t even look at the page in my gallery that this piece is on because of the feelings the other works on that page bring back. Fortunately the song that inspired this piece helped me through it and I felt I had to turn the feelings the song gave me into a piece of Heromachine art. I don’t know if I captured them perfectly, but it really helped, so it has to go on this list.2. Meditation
Up until recently, this was my favourite piece I’d ever done and I still feel it’s probably the best work I’ve ever done, especially the red girl. Everything I did here is the best I’ve ever done. It’s all very minimal in terms of the character design, but it contrasts well with the backgrounds. Plus it’s another music inspired one, this time the English progressive rock band Anathema, who do very relaxing, chilled out stuff, so that’s what I was going for and I think I succeeded, and most of the comments I got would suggest others agree.1. Angel Wings
If you’ve been on the blog recently, you probably knew this was coming, but I will say it again, this is my favourite thing I’ve ever done on Heromachine. I had this idea in my head for months, but I could never get it to work, because none of the wings we had in Heromachine at the time worked for what I wanted. But then comes along MadJack with these wings and it all just clicks. New favourite item ever. I couldn’t really explain why I love this one so much, especially not in the way I’ve explained the last two. I don’t know what it is about it, everything just feels right. I seem to have a thing for doing tattoos, and this is probably the best example of that (I managed to sneak those wings in twice there), plus the shirt just rocks. By the way, did I mention that I love those wings.Anyway, that’s my list, now over to you guys. What’s your favourite of my creations and why?
Here’s to the next thousand.Thanks guys.
Back to the current series now.
After the fall of Castaryl, the Gremlins scoured the whole of EtherWorld, pillaging and burning any town they could find, virtually unopposed as the Seraphim withdrew their forces and the alliance of the Elven and Earthen peoples crumbled. One of the earliest was the river port of Mari, home to a population of both Elven and Earthen peoples, just across the mountains from Castaryl. The town was raised to the ground and its people left to burn in their houses. Few survived and those that did fled to the Crag Maze, a network of pathways and passages in the mountains, impassable to all but those who live in its surroundings.
Many years after the burning of Mari, Talin Nightcaster and Vail Clouddancer became lost in the Crag Maze whilst on their search for the Elven Princess. Had they not been found by Lyra Meadowsong, their eventual demise through starvation would have been an inevitability. Whilst the duo were allowed to stay with the people of the Crag, they were not welcomed warmly. Resentment still lingered within the hearts of the people of Mari towards the Seraphim who abandoned them to their fate and soon a fight broke out between Vail and one of the townsfolk. Though Lyra quickly broke up the fight, it was decided that the Seraphim and the Elf could not stay much longer, especially in light of their urgent quest. After hearing of their mission, Lyra volunteered to join their company, in order to avenge the deaths of those who didn’t escape the flames of Mari.Seraphim society is highly dependant on structure and rigid order. Each city is ruled over by an administrator, usually a Lord or Lady of the Seraphim High Royal Family, said to be descended from the first cloud-walkers at the dawn of history. The overall rule of the Seraphim race is a position held by a Seraphim titled the ArcLord, who rules from the Seraphim capital of Arcumulos. The current ArcLord is a black winged Seraphim called Gade, the fifth of his line to rule and the son of the ArcLord who helped King Kastarobos forge the triple alliance. The Seraphim withdrawal from the alliance against the Gremlin invasion after the fall of Castaryl caused deep and long lasting fissures within Seraphim society its self, its underlying tensions still tangible even a decade later. Many of the High Royals disagreed with the ArcLord’s decision and many believed they should never have joined the alliance to begin with. However, the most outspoken of the High Royals against Gade’s withdrawal was Lady Alininal, administrator of Cloud City, the Seraphim second city. A powerful presence in the royal court, she has made many enemies amongst the elite for her views, including Gade himself. When it was discovered that she had been aiding an elf called Talin Nightcaster in an attempt to find a way to reforge the broken alliance, her enemies found the chance they needed and banished her under the pretence of an attempted act of treason. Now she has travelled to the east, where rumours of a powerful Elven mage have started to grow.
Thanks guys.
Next up, last of the heroes of EtherWorld, before we go onto our villains. But first a little history lesson.The Elven royalty is not a hereditary system, instead their rulers are chosen on the strength of their magic. All of Elven society is based around learning, the Elven children are all enrolled in a basic level of schooling at an early age, where they learn a broad range of subjects and magics, whilst they try to figure out which area they are most talented in. Once this talent is discovered, they then move on to a more specialised Royal Academy that focuses on this type of magic. However, there are often students who have a talent in a wide range of magics. These students are usually enrolled in the Royal Academy of Magic, the most prestigious of Academies, as it is the Academy that provides the royalty with their next generation. The current King or Queen will take on a handful (5 or 6) of the most powerful and promising students from the Academy, as Princes and Princesses and personally tutor them in magic and statesmanship. When the incumbent monarch has completed their teaching, they will select their best student to become their successor and when they die, the throne will pass on to that student, whilst the others will be given Baron-hoods and other royal positions or may take on teaching positions in the Academy.
June Spellsong was one of King Kastarobos’ most prized students, rumoured to be the eventual successor ever since the King took her on. She had shown incredible magical aptitude from a young age, mastering spells that even many Elves with talents in those areas of magic could not. However, this dream ended when the King and his other students were killed and the city of Castaryl destroyed. June survived because she was in the castle library studying when the attack came, not with the others in the main hall. When she heard the attack, she tried to aid the others but found herself fighting for her life against the Gremlins. Overwhelmed and full of grief that she had failed to protect her friends when she needed them most, she fled. She took on the disguise of a travelling mage to disguise herself, not only from the Gremlins, but from anyone else she came across, not wanting to be recognised out of shame. However, her wanderings led her eastward and into the clutches of a band of Gremlins. Her capture and eventual recognition would have been assured if she hadn’t been saved by a passing band of Earthen fighters led by Rani Warvale. Knowing that she would be safe and that the Earthen’s did not recognise her, she agreed to travel with them for a while. That is, until she was found by the Seraphim Lady Alininal.
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