#sassraa

 RQG requests #11, FUNKY LITTLE DRAGON GENDER GUYS!!!! thank you so much for your prompt!! i’d never sat to think about their individual designs before this, and as much as i prefer to plan beforehand, it felt great to just doodle and build them as i went! this is pretty much exactly the result and vibe i wanted, so i’m very happy with this one. it’s really cute! they’re all so cute!!!!! character design is great!!

 going from top to bottom we have meerk, draal and driaak, natun and tadyka, sassraa at the center, and our guy skraak on the front. what absolute lads.

 mechanical pencil on cream paper, with digital colors.

 ID under the cut!

[ID: Digital fan art of the seven kobolds from Rusty Quill Gaming. They are red and lizard-like, with horns and spikes. There are seven portraits of their heads drawn in profile in various poses. Skraak is medium sized and an intense red color with small spikes. Natun is large and dark brownish red, with multiple scars. Sassraa is medium sized with light and dark stripes, and pure white horns and spikes. Meerk is small, dark red with dark stripes, and has numerous spikes. They are posed with their mouth open, showing small sharp teeth. Draal is small and brownish red, with a light stripe, dark spots, and stubby horns. Driaak is large and lighter red, with long horns and a scar. Tadyka is large and dark grayish red with dark spots. Each is labeled with their name. End ID]

the kobold gang’s all here!! lineart under the cut

“oh it was wonderful, it was a party and i was dancing; Aziza was singing, my family was there, and so were Sasha and Grizzop”

its not a direct quote but its close enough 207 hurt in a lot of ways so i have to draw something happy so i don't cry

meanwhile back on the bear...

sorry (not sorry)

okay so i never actually ended up finishing the colors for this, but i still wanted to share my Snakobolds, aka my personal design/headcanon for the kobold crew from RQG. each of them is based on a different species of snake.

from left to right: draal, tadyka, skraak, sassraa, natun, meerk, and driaak

based on a western hognose snake, a ball python, an indian cobra, a blunthead tree snike, a green vince snake, a cornsnake, and a coral snake, respectively.

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[Image description: A half-colored drawing of seven kobolds from Rusty Quill gaming, with pencil and watercolor textures. All of them are based visually on snakes, but have arms and legs, and stand with an upright, digitigrade stance.

Draal is a short, stocky kobold with yellow scales and orange spots, based on the appearance of a Western hognose snake. They have a blunt, up-turned snout and forward-pointing horns. They have a nervous expression, and are wearing a loincloth or slitted skirt.

Tadyka is a tall, muscled kobold based on the appearance of a ball python. They are uncolored and have a somewhat irritated or angry expression. She short, stout, pointed horns, and is wearing a toga clasped on one shoulder.

Skraak is a medium-height kobold with dark red scales on his back and lighter, pinkish scales on his front. They are based on the appearance of an Indian cobra, and the eyespots on their hood are just visible. They have long, narrow horns pointing backward off their face. He is wearing a toga or tunic clasped at both shoulders with a belt around his waist. He has his arms crossed over his chest and an irritated expression.

Sassraa is a short, skinny kobold with an exceptionally large head, based on the appearance of a blunthead tree snake. She has pinkish scales, with darker scales on her back and lighter scales on her front. They have large, curling horns and very large eyes. She is wearing a dress or robe clasped under her armpits, with halter-style shoulder straps. She has a happy, interested expression on her face.

Natun is a tall, somewhat skinny kobold with red scales and a yellow underbelly. They are based on the appearance of a green vine snake. They have long, narrow, wavy horns and a very long, pointed snout. They are wearing a toga or wrap crossed over their front with a clasp, and a belt. They have a happy but mischievous expression, and are looking to their left towards Meerk.

Meerk is a medium-height kobold based on the appearance of a cornsnake. He is uncolored, and has one large pair of backward-curing horns and a smaller straight pair behind those. They are wearing a skirt or belted tunic, with the upper half of the tunic hanging around their waist. They are holding one hand up in a ‘why not?’ gesture.

Driaak is a medium-height, somewhat stocky kobold with black, red, and yellow stripes over their body, based on the appearance of a coral snake. They two pairs of short rounded horns and are wearing a tunic or toga clasped at both shoulders and belted at the waist. They have a long forked tongue poked out from between their lips and a somewhat worried expression.

Cel and Sassraa talk about gender

“Cel, I have a question.”

They leaned back from where they were installing part of the elemental engine that would power the airship. Cel’s draconic wasn’t great, but they were working on it constantly, so between that and Sassraa’s English they could get by easily enough.

“Sure, what is it?  If it’s about Skraak’s suggestion for the rudder, I told him already that it won’t work, and if he’s trying to get you to convince me, I’m-”

“No, no.”  Sassraa looked down sheepishly.  “It’s about your society.”

“Oh.  You mean, the society of the village I lived in just recently? Or half-elf society?  Oooh, is there an alchemist’s society you’ve heard of that I am somehow not a part of?”

“Maybe I said that wrong…”

“No, no, it’s all good.” Cel offered a supportive smile. “I got carried away.  Go ahead.”

Sassraa sat down next to Cel.  “Well, I was talking with Hamid, and I realized that much of his culture seems to revolve around two main genders.  Not that there aren’t others”- Sassraa gestured to Cel –“but they’re a rarity, and not always well regarded.  Among kobolds, we have… eight sort of ‘common’ genders, but there are way more than that and sometimes people have a mix or have multiple.  And nobody bothers you for your gender or makes you live and work in a different role because of it.  It’s just… very strange.”

“It absolutely is,” Cel replied, nodding and letting out a heavy breath.  “A lot of languages are very much not welcoming to a gender that isn’t male or female.  You have to make your own rules.  But, hey, if your gender doesn’t, I don’t know, translate across from your society, you don’t have to try and press yourself into one that people around here might know of.  Just be you.”

“It’s hard.”  Sassraa chuckled.  “I’m sure you know.”

“I’ve had a lot longer to figure it out, though.  You’ve just been thrown into this.”

“You and Hamid have been trying to teach me English, but pronouns… I don’t know which ones to use for me.  There are a few that could fit, I suppose-”

“You can use more than one set!”

Sassraa’s eyes grew wide. “I can?”

“Of course!  You can use as many pronouns as you want!  Or none, as the case may be, and we’ll just use your name.  And it can change day by day, whatever you’re feeling.  Or!  Or you can make your own pronouns!  Like I said, you get to make your own rules, which is scary, but also freeing.”

“Hm.”  Sassraa thought about it a long while.  “I think I’d like to try they and she?”

Cel smiled. “Absolutely.  Is there anything else I can try and help with?  Not sure I helped at all here or if I just rambled.”

Now it was Sassraa’s turn to smile, placing a hand on Cel’s arm.  “You helped a lot.  We make our own rules.  We don’t force ourselves to play by someone else’s.”

“Exactly.”

“Alright, now I should go tell Skraak how terrible an idea that rudder design is.”

Cel chuckled.  “Good luck; he’s real set on it.”

With a fond roll of her eyes, Sassraa stood and trotted away to continue their own construction work. Meanwhile, Hamid came over to Cel with an armful of equipment they had previously requested from the scrap of Earhart’s last ship.

“Is everything alright with Sassraa?”  He asked.

“Oh, yeah, she’s all good. I was just helping them out with some cultural things.”