#rangifer

The Paladin's Shadow is Aries's backstory, focusing on his struggle to live up to the reputation of the prior incarnations of his constellation, cementing them as a lineage of powerful and upstanding paladins. Aries has to wrestle with both his small stature and standoffish temperament by comparison, meaning he is constantly in the shadow of his own lineage and has to somehow forge his own path despite that. Curse of the Hunted is Orion's backstory as a once infamous name on the Astral Plane prior to his adoption as Taurus's zodiac companion. True to his namesake, he was once a skilled yet relentless hunter, and had his dogs (Canis Major and Minor) at his side. Though Orion could tame them to obey his own command, he is warned by Rangifer (the reindeer), that should his dogs ever turn on him, it will turn them to stone. Orion initially dismisses this by claiming they have complete loyalty to him, and as punishment for his hubris, Orion is cursed by Rangifer and given his half-deer appearance that is seen in the main story. This makes him the "prey" for once, and thus both Canis Major and Minor chase after him, turning them both to stone as promised. The guilt from their loss and the fear caused by being the hunted rather than the hunter does much to humble Orion, and he begins his journey to redemption afterwards. I don't have finished designs for most of the characters featured here but I like where their placeholders are for now. Oh and if you're wondering about the font, it's one I'm developing for this project specifically! :D It's called SGZ Display, and is based on the lettering I did for the main logo. I'm testing it out here to see if it reads well at smaller sizes, but it still needs work all around. It'll be a long while before these or the stories they're connected to are finished, but I hope you enjoy this little sneak peek anyway :]