#balorkin

New original character: Yakobar ‘Yachalis’ Lukin, 33 yrs, Alliance warlock & his new horse, Ombra. He’s basically on Ez’ opposing team. I’m glad they never met, they’d have killed each other and I couldn’t even tell who’d have won. He will probably appear as a side character in the comic, same as Ez.

Commission for Balorkin!

I’m seizing the opportunity to post my first batch of #Inktober drawings along with their background & meaning.

My challenge this year is to illustrate the first 31 entries of my self-written glossary - a try to organize and structure my head world a little before I am drawing my Comic ‘A Fool’s Journey’.

#1 Mundus

The Tarot card Mundus, or the World. It can be considered the universe, in this regard, more or less, as several worlds co-exist in my post-apocalyptic setting. Mundus represents the beginning and the end, temptation and regret, pride and fall. The four saints are guiding the world, but two of them are actually traitors.

#2 The Abyss

Also called the 'Space between Worlds', the Abyss is a negative space between the Inner and the Outer World. The Abyss is thought to be the place where Shadows originate from. In Aether theory it's one of the concepts that has not yet been proven to exist. Considering that Limbo, Purgatory, Tartarus and their spheres (everything beyond our mortal realm) are already pretty far out there and said to be connected with the communal conscience of all sentient beings, it is hard to accept that there is an even more freakish plane of existence in the world. But apparently, this is so, or at least, it has been considered, as there are some really creepy things out there that occasionally touch ground with the Outer World, but don't seem to originate from the Inner Worlds at all. The main difference to the other layers of worlds is, that no sentient being has managed to go there and live to tell the tale, and that is the main reason why its existence is still questioned.

#3 Aether

Aether is a sentient material that heavily resonates with emotions. It originates from the Inner Worlds and comes in many forms; actually, it is pretty much the stuff from which everything in Limbo, Purgatory and Tartarus is made of. Aether is fleeting and will dissolve over time when removed from the Inner Worlds if it is not treated in a special way. The Roman Empire and the Alliance have adapted methods originally developed by the Alchemists to make Aether durable in the Outer World. It is used as fuel and conceptual component in its refined form despite its high instability. But in this war of the worlds neither side can allow themselves to pass on such a valuable resource, so every faction is dedicating a significant part of their forces into handling, researching and damage control of Aether science.

#4 Aether Drugs

Aether possesses the ability to store raw, conceptual power. Conceptual power is originally generated by all Souls. Rifters call Aether 'Soul-Stuff' in their language. They were the first ones to actually distill Aether into various substances they make use of to enhance their chances to survive their trips into Rifts and the Inner Worlds. By now, the Roman Empire as well as the Alliance and several other factions have picked up this questionable branch of Alchemy to produce drugs that help them push their efforts to breach further and further into the Inner Worlds to take advantage of their secrets. Aether drugs mess with the soul of a sentient being when consumed and shouldn't be under-estimated. 

#5 Alchemists

Alchemists are a faction that is far underestimated by many, which is partly due to the fact that they make an effort to keep it that way. Hidden and elusive, there are many rumors about who the Alchemists really are. For the regular Scarred Lander, every enclave that stems from a vault population and still has access to pre-war tech can be considered Alchemists. Little is known about their real connection to other Alchemist enclaves and how or if they stay in contact with each other at all, but there have been rumours about a hidden old-tech network that they make use of to pass information around the continent.

If you want to help me with developing my head world further, I am currently looking for some beta readers. So just poke me if you are interested. =) Questions also open.