#retjevu

I finally got pretty close versions of my Retjevu characters! In their society, which reveres birds, each person can go by a bird’s name and will usually dress in its colors. (I did this same Picrew for Saméol recently - these characters appear in his prequel.)

Starting with…

Red-Winged Blackbird - aka Blackbird

Real name: Rusefíno, aka Rusef

Fashion designer, formerly a guard. Too asexual and tired for everyone’s shenanigans. You can fit so much well-hidden panic in this man! Will get a full character profile at some point, and maybe a different Picrew that’s more accurate?

Happy late WBW! I had a busy week so I'm just now getting to your asks, but I always appreciate them!

I don't have fashion/music trends from exact historic periods, but I can talk about why the heck the Retjevu culture dresses like birds and how they do so now.

The Retjevu were founded in eastern Lopenya by rogues, pirates, and outlaws from diverse backgrounds, including many who had left the fledgling Tetradic Alliance in the west for various reasons (corruption, shifting power structures, etc).

Anyway, this means the Retjevu were already very colorful and valued their freedom, which birds represented for them. Their first leader was a Dracai'seng called "the Golden Pheasant" because they dressed in bright colors like that bird. Their followers began to dress similarly and name themselves after birds in the first Pheasant's honor. Soon any outsiders who joined the Retjevu had to earn a bird's name to gain respect in their society – and, eventually, their own pair of magical wings.

Because of their melting pot of cultures, from the past to the present, the Retjevu wear a mix of styles from across Lopenya. Each person strives to look unique while still capturing their cultural background and following local fashion trends, such as feathered capes and headdresses, flowing fabrics meant to evoke wings or tails, crest-like hair, and vibrantly painted faces. (For example, Quarrion wears spiky hair and paints her eyelids yellow and her cheeks red-orange like her namesake).

The current rage, especially among elite Birds of Paradise, is tall collars/huge fans or neck ruffs. However, this look can make flying difficult as its main purpose is to show status and wealth. Someone with an enormous ruff is so high-class that they no longer need to fly – they can strut around taking their time, unlike commoners, who face greater risks trying to get places quickly or working on the wing (like guards and messengers). But a ruff also sets the wealthy apart from wingless dregs who wish they could fly or afford to dress like that.

This fancy style, and others before it, has met pushback with a "punk" subculture that prefers ragged asymmetry; eg, one sleeve/trouser leg rolled up, half the face painted, and slashes in clothing. For a while Saméol (the Magpie) embraced this by wearing jewelry on one side of his body and cutting a row of horizontal slashes down the outside of each trouser leg. He's meant to look like a ragged worker who spits in the face of the Birds of Paradise and their snobby laziness, while still being somewhat fashionable in his jewelry.

Happy WBW! Thank you for the ask!

My main series takes place across many locations as the characters travel the continent of Lopenya. But the prequel book mostly sticks to one setting (my favorite, too), so I'll describe that.

The Volary is the city-state of the Retjevu people. Its territory covers a vast labyrinth of deep, narrow canyons and soaring rock pillars near Lopenya's eastern coast. To the east are the rolling Parchment Plains and to the north the woodlands of the Red Terrace. To the south is a tropical delta and then desert. The Volary's proximity to a seaport makes trade along the coast invaluable.

The Retjevu have adapted to life in the cliff walls and huge stone towers of the Volary. Using magic, imported lumber, and relatively advanced technology they have carved out spacious, comfortable homes in the rock. These are connected by stone/wooden staircases, bridges, and large pulley lifts for accessibility or to move construction equipment to higher levels. It's perfectly designed for Retjevu with magical wings who can fly from tower to balcony to platform with ease.

The Volary also uses pipes, aqueducts, and gravity to provide plumbing/running water. Some of the deepest canyons have running water at the bottom but remain uninhabited due to higher flood risk. However, there are nearby rivers and streams above the level of the canyons, some of which lead to waterfalls. The Retjevu built aquifers and pumps that capture this water and release it downhill on command. When a pipe is opened in most areas of the city, gravity shoots the water to that location at an adjustable speed. There are bathhouses that heat water (like an ancient Roman hypocaust) and cycle it out regularly. This system even allows for small gardens and orchards throughout the city.

During the region's rainy season, inhabited canyons face the threat of flooding. A system of channels and gates can be opened and closed to guide rainwater away from residential areas, down to more aquifers for later use, or to the huge sewage tunnels that empty into distant rivers.

Finally, the Retjevu have an effective ventilation system. Most buildings in the Volary stay cool because they are underground or can be opened to the wind currents that blow through the canyons and towers. But the Retjevu also constructed their own version of windcatchers to create air circulation where needed. (Other Lopenyan cities use some of the Volary’s systems, but the Retjevu often invented them earlier or improved on existing designs.)

In short, the Volary's location in a natural rock maze provides a safe haven to the resourceful Retjevu, who have access to fresh water, plumbing, ventilation, and protection from outsiders.

(While much of this is probably unrealistic, it's inspired by real locations such as the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and Cappadocian cave homes, with the added element of magic.)

The Volary is sort of a combo of these pictures (none are AI, I always double check for references):

Hi, thank you for the ask! New Year dates and celebrations vary across the continent of Lopenya, so I picked one culture: the Retjevu.

The Retjevu are descended from a variety of cultures, so many of their holidays have syncretic (merged) traditions. But one thing is for sure: in their massive city, the Volary, birds are revered as symbols of freedom, artistic inspiration, and spiritual connection. Their New Year's celebration reflects this.

The Retjevu celebrate by decorating small wooden birds, which are sold by artisans for this particular purpose; decorating them with paint, gems, feathers, shells, etc.; and hanging them on the bridges and stairways that span the sandstone towers and canyons of the Volary. Special foods are prepared by restaurants (the Volary is one of the few locations in Lopenya to have the concept of restaurants). The grand marketplace will also have games, feasting, and dances, some of which are performed in the air by winged citizens!

ABSOLUTELY I WOULD LOVE TO! Thank you for the ask!

Rusefíno Belrevas, aka the Red-Winged Blackbird or Blackbird, is a character in The Glass Lament series and a POV character in the prequel. He’s the love interest of another main character, Saméol. Both are in their 40s, though Lopenyan humans live longer than we do.

Rusef is very handsome – broad shoulders, deep voice, short black curtain bangs and beard – and a high-profile figure. He’s also asexual, softspoken, kind, and an artist. He's a bit of a twist on romance genre tropes that I'm tired of. In our world he would probably be Colombian-Australian?

He enjoys painting, walks in nature, and sailing. He tends to exaggerate stories to leave people guessing what actually happened. His favorite color is sunset-orange. He dislikes being the center of attention and has a complicated relationship with his sprawling, mixed family (it’s why he has only one surname now).

His once-brown irises are ruby-red because of one of his sister’s alchemical experiments gone wrong. He hasn’t talked to Garceta since.

If you want to know even more, I have to yap a bit about his culture (I really need to get a WorldAnvil wiki for my world up and running).