The final part of the puzzle, the ruins of Death’s temple. I’ve added a few extra drawings to show the progress. Having started this when The Abyssal was dropped, this project is months in the making.
I can no longer open this file on my tablet, so I guess this is it. I wish tumblr would let you zoom in on all the little details that I added and that transfer from tablet to computer wouldn’t make every image greyscale. But, oh well.
Little details added to the Ruins of the Abyssal (starting from the bottom up)
1. The rug is from what I could gather when it comes to the @theabyssal lore. With the creator’s ‘death’, Sol and the Abyssal One’s creation as well as that of Hylaria.
2. The mosaics are of the Abyssal’s priests of the past. Some other sketches I made of the temple had urns lining the walls alongside a series of statues for both the gods and heroes from the past that have myths&Legends involved with Death.
3. The vase is that of an Amphora, commonly used to carry oil, keep offerings for the dead, or to signify graves. The Amphora vase in question is that of the three abyssal gods (that I know of) Death, Quaboth, and Nemeya (who both are also heavily depicted in the stain glass.)
4. The Bodies and bones, I tried to tapper down on the gore and I don’t LOVE the shading in this file, but these are followers of death who were left to die in her temple. the main four bodies have signs of decay but are Incorruptible. A type of mummification where the body appears to not decay. Common in saints. It’s a really interesting topic and I totally suggest reading up on it.
5. The statue of death, ensnared in ivy with her hands chopped off. Death staring up at the sky with an almost somber expression not too dissimilar to that of the Madonna’s enthroned pose. A form of imagery often used by artists involving Mother Mary during the Byzantine empire.
- Ivy symbolizes eternity and fidelity often times with poison ivy it can showcase a sense of internal struggle.
6. Columns from the bottom up. (Note that the columns are heavily based off of ancient greek art.)
- Death’s awakening and darkness’s arrival. I see darkness as being able to take on the visage of some eldritch tentacled sea-goat. (capricorns deserve more recognition I swear.)
- Death and Sol meet with some animals in the background! Cranes and Peacocks to symbolize harmony (cranes), grace (both), and passion (peacocks.)
- A battlefield with the appearance of wraiths and the twins in the form of bulls!!! Which makes so much sense in my opinion! They should totally have cows as familiars.
Gods partying, came from a little fan myth snippet I wrote. Involving the gods getting together to create the various different races.
Sol and Death being a couple <<<3 I don’t know why but I see them as being total dorks and going on solar eclipse dates. It just makes sense. (I also wrote a small fan myth involving Darkness blotting out the sun so that Sol and Death could get together. I might post it later) Also involved in the portrait is that of some little soul creatures. I know it’s probably not true that animals have souls but I feel it in my soul.
Death leading the lost souls into her domain. An excuse to draw different figures and shapes.
Top is Sol and Death’s wedding!!! It’s so cute and I love it. Yes I am very much a Death/Sol dumbass.
After the column art is that of Death and her pet. How they met, that sort of thing. I did have a brief idea of death taking her shade-snake as a pet when it saved her life or something like that.
the very top is just a time lapse of Death’s power. Starting from the abyss, to nymph, bride, matron, capture, and her escape.
7. Stained glass (left) Nemeya. This stained glass is dedicated to the moon and secrets goddess herself. With a multitude of images involving court gossip, her time in the abyss with her siblings, meeting the gods, love affairs, thieves, and lastly, her betrayal of Death.
- The flowers found in her glass mosaic is that of Orange Marigolds which symbolize death and broken love. A perfect symbol for the Moon goddess and her sister who she betrayed.
8. Stained glass (right) Quaboth. Volcanoes, smoke, and lava burning brightly. With scenes involving how Death and Quaboth met, the abyssal gods wandering the land after leaving the abyss, and his betrayal of Death (stylized as i imagine that he wasn’t there for the initial stabbing.) Flowers involved in Quaboth’s is that of:
- Bleeding hearts oftentimes symbolize love and kindness. In this case, it is familial affection since I see them as having been quite close at some point.
Hemlock, found at the very bottom shows that there has been a strain in their relationship. A poison, in the language of flowers hemlock, means: You will be the death of me.
Orange Dahlias originally far more numerous in my sketch is that of change in the relationship.
In essence the relationship between Quaboth and Death is strained and uncertain for the future.
9. Stained glass (top/center) Sol. My death’s spouse, the one who did not rescue her when she needed him most. Sol’s mosaic plane is rather broken, empty. Showing only his ascension as the king of the gods and her ‘corruption’ so to speak. With her tendrils reaching out to ensnare him. That isn’t to say that their original relationship wasn’t bad. It’s just that death... isn’t very happy with him. Other scenes are that of the cycle of life, death’s domain, and their union.
- The flowers, yellow roses, are intrinsically bound to Sol’s character. Found in the demo. Yellow Roses often symbolize sickness, affection, a broken heart, and a betrayal so severe that the relationship is in jeopardy. (Probably not the best thing to give to your wife.) These roses are my favorite part of Sol’s scenes.
10. Weather, behind the stained glass is actually Death’s escape, obscured by her temple. Only a small town can be seen as the world goes dark. Wraiths materializing in wait for their mistress’ return.
And yeah, that’s about it. God i’m so excited for the next update!
