#mage emblem

I initially started on another 'chapter' where Orko goes to the museum, but then I thought of this and figured that timeline-wise it made more sense to have this mini-lesson before the museum trip.

Anyway, we're just having fun here, seeing what a Trollan wizard can do with their own Mage Emblem. I'm sure there's a lot you can do with the Oracle Ring--though Orko's going the playful route today.

Why did it take me this long to draw Gark? He's their pet, he should have appeared at the party, or heck, a pic where he welcomes Orko home from his Sorcerer's Quest.

Oh, well.

Gee, coming up with things for this was not unlike coming up with adventures for the Sorcerer’s Quest--brain farts galore! But I managed to come up with some stuff. I’ve got references to official MOTU canons, but I’m mainly doing my own thing because Trolla is free real estate for the most part. 

Okay, here we go. 

IRL you’d want a parent to be a chaperone, but Orko’s a Certified Good Boy, Montork trusts him to help keep an eye on children. 

Starting off by defining the Mage Emblems, because I’ve been looking for an excuse to do so in-story. Heck, this whole thing is an excuse for more Trolla worldbuilding, haha. 

Trollans Discover Magic

Birth of the Star Tree

Star Tree Blesses the Oracle

Coronation of a New Overlord

Doing a bit of exploring and seeing some prominent figures in Trolla’s history that I had fun coming up with (or rebranding into something else, i.e. Blim from the She-Ra episode ‘The Greatest Magic’ now being practically Santa Claus). 

And I’m skipping Dr. Seagg’s presentation because most of the artifacts he talks about aren’t really relevant to this tale, I will say he mentions belongings of the Ringbearers, and at some point, the Horn of Evil comes up. 

“Oh, he drives his sister up a wall, but he hasn’t done any property damage.”

Anyway, let’s go back to exploring this museum:

Considering that Ringbearers are extremely rare and Destroying Angels pop up at least once a generation, somebody had to keep them busy so that less innocents are killed in a rampage. DAs are extremely difficult to kill, you either need a Ringbearer or a Storm Spell cast by the Overlords (which was mentioned in an earlier post where one of Orko’s neighbors recounts the last Destroying Angel rampage), and the latter takes a bit of time to charge.

All right, I’ve saved this next stretch for last:

Whew! This was a long one!

Anyway, I admit to being a little nervous touching on Eternia. With it being the main setting of MOTU, I’m trying to strike a balance between being faithful to certain key factors and tones and stuff, but also putting my own little spin on it. 

It is kind of funny to have this story set on Trolla and portray Eternia as the mysterious world the Trollans wonder about from time to time. In this AU, Trolla’s been cut off since the Ultimate Battleground, so they have no idea what current Eternia is like.  

Orko can ask the questions when he ends up on Eternia. 

Also, say ‘Hi’ to Adam! 

I know that’s not what He-Ro’s staff looks like... I couldn’t figure out how to draw it. TT_TT

Uncle Montork is a proud dad. :3

And right behind him:

Za-Gras gives Orko a few words before the latter is allowed in the Star Tree Chamber:

And so, he enters.

The Star Tree has made its judgement, and given him his Mage Emblem. 

And what has Orko received?

AKA the ‘O’ on his chest except I made it special for some reason. 

Basically, this is the result of me thinking that the Trollan alphabet and language would be completely different from ours, and hence they wouldn’t know what the letter ‘O’ is. But, to give him that familiar aspect of his design, I decided that it would be some sort of Trollan symbol of excellence. I ended up with this Mage Emblem thing where Trollan wizards would be wearing a symbol that reflects their character, focus, and what path they may tread. 

And the Oracle Ring is the highest and rarest of the Emblems, named after the Oracle of ancient times and his special ring-shaped medallion, and those who wear it (known as Ringbearers) become some of the greatest archmages in Trollan history. 

Let me end this with a couple reactions to Orko receiving this rare emblem:

I was too lazy to draw the other Overlords.

I swear, a lot of my junk ends up longer than I intend it to be. :/

Anyway, I figured that after a Sorcerer’s Quest, there’d be a graduation and presentation ceremony for the young Trollan wizards who completed it. With that in mind, as well as Orko’s emblem being A Big Deal, I drew this up. 

I had finished drawing this when I remembered, “Wait, shouldn’t they have titles like Orko the Great?” Since I did not want to erase and rewrite again, I’m just gonna say that they typically earn titles as they grow older and their traits shine through, with Orko just being enough of a prodigy that he got a title while on his Sorcerer’s Quest. 

Sometime I oughta make a thing about the Mage Emblems and what they mean.

Oh, hey, look, there’s Squonge in the crowd, cheering on his friend. 

 And there’s a couple of weirdos attending this thing. No big deal. 

Little conversation between Orko and Montork. I dunno, I guess I wanted a chill moment between them after the last couple posts were more eventful. 

They’re on their way to their hometown so that the Crimson Council can present their newest full sorcerer to the town. Considering Orko’s reputation and what he got, it’ll end up being a pretty big event. 

Oh, and the Crimson Council’s reaction to Orko’s Mage Emblem: