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Mermay 2024 - 1 - Welcome Back

Beneath the waves of the Mor Bras, the Great Sea that surrounds the Armorican Peninsula, there is a city lost to time. Ker-Ys was once the jewel of a great kingdom, a beacon of prosperity and magic. But dark forces worked against the city and it was destroyed in a powerful magical storm, its princess condemned to live alone as a mermaid in her ruined home. But Ahes was resilient and clever, discovering that, while she could never again be human, she could make other Marie-Morgane. Taking in the lost and outcast of Alvez, Ys-Beneath-the-Waves rises again. Will you join her?

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Back in 2019, I launched a special series for Mermay, an art project to develop a small, but important part of the lore of Alvez, the world of Kroashent. The Marie-Morgane of Ys-Beneath-the-Waves are one of several merfolk races of the world. For this project, I decided to "adapt" each of the Dungeons and Dragons Character Classes into a character as they may appear in Alvez, then transform these characters into mermaids with art and short stories! Since then, I've been working hard on developing the world and the characters who live, there, even writing an ongoing novella, Kroashent: Bal des Loups, which you can read right now, for free! ---------------------------

Planning on revisiting Ys-Beneath-the-Waves once more this Mermay and checking in on all the Marie-Morgane. I am currently looking for prompts to help inspire this set, so suggestions are welcome if you have ideas for the other girls!

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Want to support Queen Ahes and the Kroashent project? Check out my patreon page, for exclusive alternate version of this drawing and other great rewards! All your support means a lot to me and helps bring the world of Kroashent to life! Check it out here: www.patreon.com/Kroashent

Interested in getting your own idea drawn by me? Commissions are open:

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Black Satin Brocade Bodice with Yellow Flowers and Green Velvet Bows

c.1890

made by American designer Miss Foley

brocaded silk satin, cotton net, and beads

Phoenix Art Museum

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I know unicorns in modern media are kind of relegated to cutsie, MLP, rainbow plastic toys, or shitting rainbows, 'lets go to candy mountain' but man. I WISH more fantasy media would put them in unironically. There is so much symbolic and narrative potential in a creature that is, depending on your mythology:

A guardian of wild spaces, the embodiment of nature untouched by mankind's industry and greed. Fewer and farther between.

The ideal of "Purity" made manifest, elusive and powerful and hunted for fruitlessly by many a person. To kill. To actually kill. Living symbol of the oh-so-coveted Purity, not treated as a sacred thing to protect, or even predated for food to survive off, but a trophy for knights and lords to boast about.

So absolutely fierce and deadly that no one smart dared to fight it fairly. A gentle maiden had to betray it into resting in her lap so that a man could spear it while its guard was down.

Able to heal any wound no matter how severe - it promised miracles, if you could find one.

A creature who's magic vanished if it was captured or killed. In trying to take control of it, you destroyed it. Some things can only be given by free will, and no amount of personal desire or brute force can change that.

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Kaz to the reader: Take that, you motherfucker, you thought reading my P.O.V would give away the plan? Well sike! Cause my brain is 24/7 Inej, Inej, and Inej and nothing else. You're welcome.

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Redraw Challenge: Kroashent - The Rescue

April's Redraw Challenge, selected by my wonderful patrons, is one that I have a special connection to, a redraw a drawing from May 2019, my 1000th drawing posted to this website! Its especially fitting that this one is ready just in time for Lesbian Visibility Week, celebrating women loving women in Alvez and our own world.

[b]Original Text: [i]An early encounter between Kathalia and Gwae from Kroashent.

When Gwae falls into a trap and is captured by an evil nobleman, Kathalia rushes in to save her with crossbow, sword and unnecessary action stunts, happy to play the swashbuckling hero. As Kathalia holds Gwae close for a daring escape, the silver-haired mage has a startling realization that she may have feelings for her rescuer. But the moment is quickly overshadowed when the pair suddenly swings off the balcony, Gwae screaming and hanging on for dear life as they sail over an army of very angry guards.

Val's Notes: I really love how this one came out, and the original is one I have a lot of love for. I wanted to keep the concept and general vibe of this piece, but upgrade it both artistically and in terms of Kroashent's ongoing lore as the story gets written (Check out Kroashent: Bal des Loups for the first ongoing published Kroashent story!

This scene is envisioned to take place in the Kroashent story that precedes Bal Des Loups. I changed Kathalia's outfit to that of her highwaywoman persona, La Louve de Frehel, and changed the scene to be more mid-swing, rather than before it, as the pair make a daring escape via a passing windship.

If you want to support Kathalia, Gwae and Kroashent, helping bring more scenes like this to life, consider supporting me on Patreon for exclusives, voting privileges and drawing rewards! Every bit of support helps: www.patreon.com/Kroashent Alvez and the World of Kroashent is owned by me.

Interested in getting your own idea drawn by me? Commissions are open: https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/Commission-Sheet-2024-1014668898

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Rouen

Rouen! It’s the capital of Normandy in France

© Steven Van der Hulst

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-Medusa-

I've had this sitting around as a sketch for awhile, finally had time to finish it! Hoping to do more mythology illustration this year.

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hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

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Gwaepril - Fighting Frostmaiden

It's time again for "Gwaepril", a celebration of Gwaeron Sulime Dethemir, Sidhe Sorceress and master merchant.  I felt inspired to try and find a good "action pose" for her this time.

Hoping to take a bit more advantage of April this year to get out a few more Gwae drawings for people to enjoy!

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Want to support Gwae and the Kroashent project?  Check out my patreon page, for exclusive bonus sketches with this drawing and other great rewards!  All your support means a lot to me and helps bring the world of Kroashent to life!  Check it out here:  www.patreon.com/Kroashent

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the english language is truly a wonder

[kroashent]

samhain 🧡 a banshee & a dullahan

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*For the people asking this ring is available HERE with free shipping

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Imprinting should be a thing werewolves do. Wait, no, stick with me. Not in a fated mates way, like Twilight did it, but as an evolutionary adaptation for pack-bonding. The werewolf has an instinctual (though not irresistible) attachment to whoever was there to help them through the transformation process. That's *supposed* to be the pack that turned them, but isn't always, and there things get interesting. -Werewolf imprints on non-werewolves, ends up with found family and unconventional pack dynamics

-Use it as a meet cute romance start, but less fated mates, and more friends-to-lovers.

-A werewolf imprints on a random group of campers who came across them on their first full moon. Hijinks ensue.

-In a darker story, it could have drama potential, being weaponized by abusive packmates.

-For straight-up horror, it could be a wurdulac situation, and the werewolf could be bent on turning their new "packmates" whether they like it or not.