#this one's about karna solara from the ravening war

[poemsonmars]

and it always comes back

to your willingness

to destroy yourself

for the slightest chance

that someone might

care enough to stop you.

-mars

[bardicbird]

rot

[rodentchild]

It's canon that the mycelium aids in the life-death cycle of Calorum. I hope this means that even though she was consumed by the Disposal Avatar, Karna Solara was maybe able to be reincarnated as one Ruby Rocks.

[rowanyx]

something something the moment you stop fighting is the moment you die something something Karna in the disposal something something death is a release something something Karna letting go

[vethbrenatto]

This was far and away my favorite episode of The Ravening War so far, and I wanted to figure out why breaking down emotional beats by character. Apologies, this might get long.

Bishop Raphaniel breaks, falling into madness. He sees through the trees of the organization he's been representing with a mindset all along that he was the one who knew something the others didn't, only to realize he had been hoodwinked all along. He looks back on the life he's lived, the things he's done, and the things he's been through/plagued by and turns to the fungi going: It has to have been meant for something, please make it all worth it- don't let this be meaningless.

Lady Amangeaux trades her title and her notoriety in for the safety of her child, accepting that she may not even be much in that life (as she turns her life to service), but knowing that the child will be protected. After the death of Pamela Rocks, the woman who in Episode 1 was so fervently clinging to her title, has finally realized there are far safer things you can be than a queen.

Delissandro Katzon loses Colin and falls desperately into individualism. With his anchor to friendship and community gone, his worst instincts of self kick in. What matters is his name, his legacy, his power. Not that of Basha Myaso, no matter how he may support him. Certainly not that of his mother. While he does swap Colin for Karna, she only encourages these instinct in him, having similar values about the importance of his power.

Karna Solara is offered the opportunity for family and turns it down. She wears armor showing that she has been everywhere, she is from every place... yet her conversation at the start of the episode with Amangeaux betrays that she's been everywhere, yet has no one. She is no daughter; she is and always has been an orphan. Yet her connection to Deli betrays one last spark of humanity (humanity in food? you know what I mean) in the form of a crush that began as a sixteen year-old girl. She may have grown up rotting, but there is some heart in there, for him.

Colin Provolone is finally revealed to be just some guy. He is some guy's son who was some other guy's son and he's been running his whole life because of it. So, when he sees Pamela Rocks killed not for anything she did, but because she is of House Rocks, he can't sit idly by anymore. He trades the most he's ever had in life; a position, a title, a true friend- for his morals. He goes from supporting a person he liked to protecting someone he doesn't for his morals. He gives away a life he could have loved for one he can feel okay living.

Woof, guys. It's a lot.

[dawnarts]

id: a drawing of Thane Delissandro Katzon from the ravening war pointing at Karna Solara, who is pointing at Deli. There is a cropped screencap from One Punch Man saying "What's with this sassy...lost child." end id

this was all i could think about watching ravening war ep 1.

[thepringlesofblood]

The Ravening War Heroforges

so I’ve made over 100 guys in Heroforge, and dimension 20 uses Heroforge as a tool when making their minis. this means that I’ll be going along watching and see our boy Raphaniel and go “oh shit that’s my favorite Tunica Skirt from the ancient Roman update!”

i decided to put this weird talent to (good??) use for any folks out there looking to make their own minis/fanart/whatever, and made Heroforge builds of our PCs, using all the pieces I recognized, or their closest equivalent. where I couldn’t find footage of certain angles, I went off the character art.

disclaimer: dimension 20 uses a LOT of resources other than Heroforge to make their spectacular minis (e.g. paint!). this isn’t a ‘aha i’m bootlegging the minis 1:1’ situation - there’s a lot of cool stuff on these gorgeous lil guys that isn’t in Heroforge, which I’ll try to note next to each one. these are approximations of potential base models, not exact copies - all kudos and respect to Shane Brockaway and the other amazing miniature artists on dimension 20 for their exceptional work on the minis this season!

let’s rock n roll!

a few things that are different on every build

color (obvs) - I still colored in each guy, mostly based on character art, but obviously the minis are painted (beautifully!)

food stuff - generally, any sort of food-y features (Deli’s toasty Leia buns, Raphaniel’s big ol radish head) are going to not be in Heroforge, for obvious reasons - I still tried to approximate the vibe, but our radish man is simply not going to be as wrinkly as we want him to be

poses - I put each guy in what I think the base pose was, but advanced posing is not an exact science. also, it takes a really really long time. mad props to the crew for some of these excellent poses!

faces - it’s really really hard to tell what face base they might’ve used on the minis. I chose primarily based on vibes and my best guesses. this means sometimes the face changes b/w different versions of the same character. it is what it is baby! also obvs the minis don’t have specific eye color so I went off the art.

Let’s start with the first battle!

Bishop Raphaniel Charlock (link)

Main differences

his big wrinkly radish head. he’s rocking the zuko season 1 haircut for now, and I tried to give him some subtle decal wrinkles. I tried just making his head bigger, but it made the face bigger too - think bobblehead, not megamind - so not the look we’re going for.

his crozier (the only hoe on Heroforge is me *badum tssssh*)

whatever is going around his neck on his chest - it’s all round and pretty and I do not recognize it. used a cowl instead.

the end of his beard - it looks all like roots and is very cool. I put what I think the starting beard was, but I can’t recreate those spindly lil roots w/out some serious clipping

Skald Colin Provolone (link)

Main difference

I’m not 100% certain those are his gloves. the ones on the mini are so much thicker! hmmmmm

I’m sorry about the beard situation. the mini itself has painted-on scruff so I just did a decal, but I’m aware it is. not necessarily as good a look up close.

Thane Delissandro Katzon (link)

Main differences

those gorgeous slices of rye. the crown thing on top of em isn’t in HF either. I used some swirly horns to approximate, though i was considering earmuffs. they looked too silly for me tho lol.

the toothpick - Detriter, as we now know it is called. I used a javelin and put a lil blue decal at the end to represent the frillies.

the shield - couldn’t find one with those random spikes of bone (nice one d20 crew!), so I used a scutum, a Roman shield of about the same size and shape, bc hey, he’s also Ceresian, which is based on Rome.

Lady Amangeaux Epiceé du Peche (link)

Main differences

the d20 crew has hair magic that I do not. also some sort of cute flower behind her ear, which I approximated with a broken off horn posed weird to look like a rose.

Karna Solara (link)

Main differences

the chili pepper hood w stem. I finagled a horn up there but it just aint the same.

the hair. idk what the d20 crew does to make HF show hair after a hood has been equipped but they crushed it.

2nd battle!

Archdeacon Raphaniel Charlock (link)

(i have this pic on my computer named “poor little meow meow raphaniel”)

this pose is a work of art unto itself. I can only hope to get in the vague aura of it.

same as before mostly - the hoe, the beard, and the big ol radish head. you can’t really see the mystery chestpiece anymore.

his head got so much bigger and saggier I felt like I had to give him something, so I upped the head size a few notches and gave him a little flesh beret with a couple of limp “leaves” coming out of it

you don’t really see it from the front, but there’s a shot where you can see the back of the mini and he has a lil book on his shoulders. iconic.

Sir Colin Provolone (link)

Main differences

I probably could’ve made him grimier, but I prioritized face scars. I figure since becoming a knight maybe he’s cleaned up a bit

it is surprisingly hard to get a heroforge person to frown or look sad

shhhhh dont look at the shoulder pauldrons too closely they’re fine its fine

fun fact: the undershirt that looked most mini-accurate was the pajama shirt. colin out here wearing PJs under his armor, who is doing it like him?

update: relistening to ep 1, I forgot we actually get a description of the Fontina banner (”a dotted mountain atop an island”)! so for funsies I gave him a lil banner on his back and attempted to recreate it, using the Dairy Islands banner as a background. go thru the link to check it out, I don’t want to attach yet another image to this monster of a post.

Warlord Delissandro Katzon (link)

Main differences

still those toasty slices o rye.

that glove. folks, that glove dealt me psychic damage, because it was on the very edge of my memory but I couldn’t quite grasp it, until I realized they probably added the spikes afterwards. also, I used the ol’ robot hand trick to make it look like he has like a metal gauntlet attached to it. (you replace one hand with an artificial robot hand in the prosthetics/amputation menu)

the decals I used to give him rye bread arms continue onto his chest more that they should (which you couldn’t see when he was wearing a breastplate) c’est la vie.

I couldn’t embed spiky things on the frilly part of Detriter like Lou said in the episode :/ they weren’t on the mini anyway at least

this pose is wild. I think I found the original pose they based it on, but I could very well be wrong. applause to the d20 crew for the sick look!

Amangeaux (link)

Main differences

she still has the flower in her mini, but now it’s on top of her bun - a good look! Alas, no hat options matched, and my mediocre posing-a-horn-weird-until-it-clips-through-the-head skills were not up to the task, so for the moment this HF build remains flowerless.

In her opening shot of the battle (which I included) you can see a big ol’ crossbow on her back, but it is removed in other shots (presumably, it is a separate piece they moved out of the way when she wasn’t using it). so, I did not include it.

fun fact: the rapier the mini is using is much thicker that how the rapier looks on HF. why? Bc most of the older HF sword designs are thicker, so I think they spliced the basket handle of the new rapier with the blade of an older sword, to make it more sturdy for play. or maybe I’m just misjudging blade-to-handle ratio - I’ve never actually 3d-printed any of my HF guys ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Skald Karna Solara (link)

Main differences

the scar - in the character art it’s one straight streak, but on the mini it looks like there might be more (it’s hard to get zoomed in enough to tell). I compromised with one main dark one, and then a lighter, more subtle one going the other way.

the way her burning hand is blackened as the fire rages around it...poetic cinema. transcendent. I used a splatter decal to approximate but seriously it looks so dope on the mini - look!

that’s all for now, lmk if any of the links dont work or anything. can’t wait for the finale this week!

[wilderebellion]

Me being a Plot Hound during TRW

"..a little over two decades from now, it’s not a Katzen leading the Meatlanders - it’s Basha Myaso. And Princess Sapphria of House Rocks died from Carnish assassins after working on a campaign for Basha’s leadership.

Bishop Charlrock could be a descent into madness, or religious fanaticism of a different nature. He seems like a devout Bulbian, but that weird little mental flash he had - I’m not sure if that’s because he was seeing magic of The Hungry One in action, or if it made him flash back to a memory of his own.

The herbs the Bishop recognized are probably secret Cause of Death of Arthur Cardoon, though I did see someone else posit the possibility of sabotaging Amangeux’s ability for an heir." Full Post

"Bishop Raphaniel Charlrock eventually introduces Belizabeth Brassica to the Ramsian Doctrine, after embellishing the actions of Citrina Rocks to appear as if she is purposely undermining Belizabeth.

Karna Solara kills Sapphria Rocks in Carn in the guise of a Carnish assassin. (Maybe Delissandro has a hand in it, or maybe his demise is part of the cause)" Full post

[dawnarts]

id: digital drawing of two versions of karna solara from ravening war. the left is a young green karna standing, facing forward holding a knife with red blood dripping. her eyes are closed and she is outlined in white. the right is an older red karna, back facing the viewer, with her hand reaching toward the younger karna. she is outlined in black. red karna is standing inside the maw of a mouth covered in sharp teeth. the green karna is standing on top of a sharp bone/tooth. in the background the words 'the hungry one must feed' are repeated in yellows and reds. it is signed dawnarts. end id

There's something about the ripening rotting child and feeding yourself to your doom that Karna brings to the table

textless version under the cut!

id: digital drawing of two versions of karna solara from ravening war. the left is a young green karna standing, facing forward holding a knife with red blood dripping. her eyes are closed and she is outlined in white. the right is an older red karna, back facing the viewer, with her hand reaching toward the younger karna. she is outlined in black. red karna is standing inside the maw of a mouth covered in sharp teeth. the green karna is standing on top of a sharp bone/tooth. the background is blue it is signed dawnarts. end id