The East Wind

The Mod has Returned!

... And took a bunch of photos

Brief updates below:

So I wound up having way less free time than I expected... sorry for the sudden hiatus. On the plus side, I have a bunch of reference images to hopefully use in backgrounds? And it was a really fun trip (if... not cheap. I’m cramming a bunch of small jobs into my last couple weeks before classes start so I can afford food and books T^T)

A few life updates from the mod:  My family is in the process of moving (which, depending on how long our house sells, could be anywhere between weeks and months away), and as part of that I’ll be spending a lot of time helping out with whatever needs to be done- moving stuff between houses, transporting my siblings to school, taking the pets to the vet, etc. 

Blog update! (mentions under the cut)

First off, sorry for the lack of updates recently. Been spending a lot of time helping my parents move to their new house, and between that, petsitting, and packing for my upcoming study abroad trip, I’ve been a little distracted lately.

But! Related to that last bit! I’m going to be spending the next month in the UK, so with that in mind I’m probably not going to have as much time to spend on artwork for this blog.

I still want to do stuff on here in my free time, so I’m going to do something a little unusual: for the next month, I’ll be focusing on written content. My plan so far is to try and write a short story each week, narrated by Naomi. 

I’ll be tagging each thing from the event #interlude and #campfiremusings. Some of the stories might have relevance in the future, some might reference characters from far off places, and some are myths of the land! 

I’ll return to being a mainly art-based blog when I get back, though I still want to throw in the occasional short story here and there when I don’t have the energy to do a full-blown painted response.

Oh- Don’t worry, I always carry medicinal herbs and first aid wherever I go!

I also take the precaution of packing my saddlebags in case of emergencies.

And... I’m not actually traveling alone- my partner specializes in medicinal herbs and berries.

???: nnnnoooo  thankyounope

Naomi: You sure?

???: ............ 

Naomi: ........... ... Ok.

It seems Naomi’s companion is... in her mane. You might have to find a way to get them to come out if you want to meet them.

Working on some practice drawings to (hopefully) shake myself out of this motivation slump- and playing with some new brushes! And apparently drawing foxes so much and watching a bunch of drawing tutorials is starting to pay off?

Naomi: Thank you for the compliments, both of you.

Mara is one of my favorite places. It’s also the biggest city in Canavron (the only real city, to be honest). There’s the castle, the port, the research institute, and the guild of course... Yeah. It’s a pretty cool place.

I make it a point to visit Mara for every Harvest Festival. It’s a good time to meet up with old friends I’ve met in my travels. 

This city you mentioned- Lento? It sounds interesting. What’s it like?

Naomi: I have traveled across the seas before, but by ship- I can’t say it’s my favorite experience. As a rock type, water isn’t exactly my favorite element…

I do have a good friend, a Floatzel, who trades entirely on the water. She always goes on about how amazing the lake is… but as for me, I’m much more comfortable admiring it’s beauty from dry land.

???: ...To answer you more directly, I’m on my way to Mara. It’s a large port city on the coast, some ways south of here- it also serves as this Kingdom’s capitol, so as you can imagine, it’s quite the hub for traders and merchants like me.”

The Lycanroc pauses for a moment, studying the darkening clouds on the horizon. “This weather doesn’t look like it’s letting up anytime soon. And you all seem rather lost... Why don’t I show you the way to the nearest village? There’s one not far from here. I hear they have a welcoming inn, should be a nice place to rest for the night.”

Nodding back to the small crowd to follow, the merchant carefully guides the cart back onto the trail winding across the cliffs. Moving with a steady pace to keep pace with the travelers, they lead the way.

“Oh- ” The Lycanroc glanced back at the others.

“In case you’ve been wondering, the name’s Naomi.”