translunaryanimus

[translunaryanimus]

Crying (not really) because a majority of the people I wanted to attack (other specbio folks) are on team fossil with me. Friendly fire heavy artfight rip

Also! I'm on artfight this year! (Under a different username, it's my toyhouse username so it's also my artfight) I've joined Team Fossils. Come stop by!

No guarantee i'll be able to keep up with every attack or revenge because I've also got a job irl to tend to, but i'll try my best!

[translunaryanimus]

Also! I'm on artfight this year! (Under a different username, it's my toyhouse username so it's also my artfight) I've joined Team Fossils. Come stop by!

No guarantee i'll be able to keep up with every attack or revenge because I've also got a job irl to tend to, but i'll try my best!

[translunaryanimus]

Sacred Estuaries 'Main Cast'

Official Ref Sheets for every Sacred Estuaries character I consider to be the 'Main Cast'. Tem (Chenesht), Kot-aa (Bonkey), Alex (Human), Reeva (Human, Modified) and Dex (Human, Modified). Bonus sizing chart because I think it's hilarious to see them all lined up

[translunaryanimus]

Are chenesht usually just born with their complex markings or do they develop over time? (Like toucans for an example)

Chenesht markings do develop overtime, they're also born with a layer of fluffy down that they slowly lose over time, replacing it with the much shorter, sleeker, and very difficult to see fuzz that they have as an adult.

Patterns for Tem ft their Child-Proof glasses

And a clothes-less version for the sake of clarity

[translunaryanimus]

I updated this map to make it a little cleaner btw. I'll add the text back in later, this was for a digital design class.

CHENESHT HOMEPLANET - ÂCHLANHTE Star: K-Class, Main Sequence 'Phetchâ' [Petkaa] - Comes from the word for white [Phe] and a contraction of Tlechâ [T'châ - Halo or Radiance. Has godly connotations] Position from Star: Second Axial Tilt: 15 degrees Gravity: .83g Vegetation: Dark Greenish Teal Supercontinent Name: Eshtmhêt [esht-meet] - People Path/People Track Planet Name Meaning: Âchlanhte [Aaklante] - Usually roughly translated as 'All Our Egg'. The name spawns from a Têphecha religious belief that the planet they live on was the first egg laid by one of their gods. Each culture has their own version of this story, but the Têphecha version is the most commonly told to other sophonts.

ETHNICITY NAMES AND MEANINGS

Llalâphe [Lalaape] - Fisher Fenhêalch [Feneelt] - Derived from an old word for Soil [Fenhach] Têphecha [Teepeka] - Stilt or Pole Lhbore [L'bore or Labore] - Large or Tall, sometimes translated as 'Giants' Ôernh [Oorn] - Derived from an old word for Water [Ôrnha] Chlâsle [Tlaasle] - Beader Nhâchchech [Naak'kek] - Weaver

More information under the cut

Âchlanhte's lower axial tilt and lesser gravity cause seasonal patterns to be far more mild than those of earths. The poles barely freeze or melt, the swamps stay wet and humid, and the haze of airborne algae stays easily suspended in the sky, turning it a foggy mint color. The predictable and mild seasons also allowed for easy, early chenesht settling across a vast majority of the Supercontinent's surface which led them to becoming the dominant species, and eventually, the only sapient one.

Some of you may remember This Earlier Post in which I touched a little on natural color variants within Chenesht, consider this the expanded version. Chenesht have 7 distinct ethnic groups which, for the most part, are also their cultural groups. I've covered the Chlâsle and the Nhâchchech briefly before in other posts and plan to eventually go more in depth on the other 5. In terms of cross referencing with the older post, the Chlâsle are the 'standard' coloration, the Nhâchchech are the 'polar' coloration, and the Têphecha are the 'central' coloration. While the colors in this post are still canon, Chlâsle are no longer considered the standard coloration as they're one of 7 ethnicities.

Âchlanhte's supercontinent Eshtmhêt has experienced very little tectonic drift since merging several million years before the dawn of civilization, allowing the various Chenesht cultures to stay socially and technologically connected and up to date with one another throughout their development. It's because of this that all Chenesht largerly speak the same language, with the only differences being slang terms and the occasional differing words between cultures. Each dialect is rougly 90% mutually intelligable with any other, with the Llalâphe and the Ôernh having the most linguistic drift. The 'correct' names for each ethnicity are sometimes debated due to variations on what they're called by themselves vs by others, ie. the Nhâchchech also being called the Eshtchchonh (pattern people) by the Chlâsle. The ones listed here are the popularly accepted proper names.

[translunaryanimus]

Chenesht Blue Patches and Modesty

aka. I fucked up a little and never properly explained these. If you have spent any amount of time on my blog you may have noticed that I draw all Cob Chenesht with these vibrant blue patches on their faces and necks (and sometimes bodies). Unfortunately I never really explained what these were beyond a 'sexed display structure' and also, I haven't been drawing them correctly! Here to help me out as a demonstration is Temiraan, a Chlâsle ethnicity Cob (depicted here in barbie doll nude format). Even though I always draw them with their blue patches flushed when in color, Tem looks like this a vast majority of the time!

The only visual indicators that they're a Cob are the prominent ankle spurs, smaller size, longer whiskers, and more complex facial patterning.

However, when Temiraan is flustered, all of these patches on their body flush and turn bright blue. The patches are informally referred to as 'blush spots' but have different names in different dialects.

The blue patches on Cobs are areas of high bloodflow that flush when one is excited, aroused, flustered, or even overheated/sweaty (think how some humans turn pink when they're really hot). Realistically they wouldn't show in 90% of scenarios unless a character is an easy blusher, I just tend to draw them so people know they're there. Reeves have them too, but they lack the characteristic patch of blue on the neck and typically only have them on the face. They also flush less brightly, as evolutionarily Reeves were never selected for their bright colors, they were selected for size and strength.

The prominence and semi-sex related nature of these blue patches is also why Tem's culture (Chlâsle) places an emphasis on modesty and covering up, they view it as crude and inappropriate to expose large patches of blue. This is why you'll see Tem wearing loose, thick clothes and some form of head and neck covering in every situation where they're depicted in public. This emphasis on modesty is not blanket across all Chenesht cultures.

[translunaryanimus]

Ask courtesty of @th3ali3nn3rd who's entire post got eaten by tumblr glitches (rip) th3ali3nn3rd asks: "What has their evolution up to the point been like? Including how much do they differ from their ancestors and what evolutionary pressures drove them to gain sapience?" TA Answers: Ok this is gonna be a really long answer (hence why it took me a few days to get around to this ask) and I will do my best to shorten it to a non-exhausting length. Strap in! Answer under the cut to prevent this from getting out of hand.

Skipping past the long long period where every life on planet was just single celled organisms that slowly developed into multicellular critters, the Chenesht evolutionary line can be traced all the way back to a lobe-finned, four eyed, whiskered 'proto fish'. This 'proto fish' along with other members of its clade are the basis for every single four-limbed creature on the surface and in the skies of Âchlanhte (the chenesht home planet). The first push of creatures to land were the prey species of fish using the muddy banks to hide from their in-water predators. Fast forward about 50-60 million years or so, and the predators have started chasing their prey out of the water and onto land. The species of proto fish have evolved into walking fish, which flop around a little bit like seals on land, but can move out of the water regardless. This is where we also see the very beginnings of the chenesht parted airway system and sealable nostrils, as well as the beginnings of flexible lips. Fast forwarding again. The prey animals get faster, and so do the predators. The walking fish flippers eventually develop into toed limbs, their necks get longer, and their tails grow to match to help them balance. The quadrupedal four-toed long-necked predator plan of critter would eventually become the proto chenesht, which were these silly looking fat smooth lizards that ran around on land, but still relied on the water to hatch their eggs. These lizards still have scales but they eventually develop into very fine fur due to a need for more warmth on land than in the very warm waters.

Proto Chenesht were eaten by bigger land predators and the early ancestors of flying predators quite a bit in the early days, but very slowly, the biggest members of the species began to survive better. Instead of being eaten whole, they'd come back with bite marks or scars but alive, and so 'the bigger ones live' became the primary driving force for Chenesht development. This is also around the time ankle spurs begin to be selected for, as the primary method of getting predators off one's ass was to kick them really hard. Omnivorous diet developed next to support the slowly increasing mass of the chenesht ancestors. If you're bigger, you need more food, and it's harder to constantly chase after food when you require more energy just to support and maintain your bulk, so they begin to root around and forage for plantlife they could consume. This would eventually become a staple portion of their diet (modern chenesht are actually Hypocarnivorous, meaning that non-meat items of food make up a majority of their diet but not all of it.) This is also around the time they begin 'trapping' behavior for prey rather than chasing. They grab fish that have gotten themselves tangled, scare prey animals into holes instead of chasing after them, etc. It's pretty rudimentary, but these behaviors eventually lead to tool use. Chenesht are getting bigger and bigger, less things start actively hunting them down, and they start to need more efficient ways of getting food. They find out that if you put stuff over a hole, or if you intentionally lay down strands of tangling plants in the water, prey animals are more likely to get caught. Also turns out intentionally dropping seeds works way better than just letting them pass as waste. Chenesht eggs still rely on water at this point, but they're developing tougher and tougher outsides and are able to be laid in mud instead of staight up water. Chenesht eggs not developing shells until relatively late in their evolutionary cycle is also why they retain so many aquatic traits, and are still considered a semi-aquatic species. The babies spend most of their lives around water, and the adults do too out of necessity. Tool use eventually graduates to weapons use when Chenesht figure out they can throw long sharp sticks at the skyjellies (airborne cnidarian esque critters) to pop them and take sharp stones into the water to stab fish. They develop sapience proper shortly after this, and then develop a society! Bonus: Chenesht's closest modern relatives are these little furry guys called Ghelâ (Gelaa/Gilea) that they hunt for food and fur. Bonus Bonus: The horrible quality pen doodle I did while trying to figure this out.

[translunaryanimus]

Hi tumblr is fucking nuking my ability to answer asks or make long posts rn. @th3ali3nn3rd I DID see your ask about chenesht evolution and I have an answer, but every single time I attempt to post it, it refuses to work, apologies! I'll be able to answer you when things are working again.

[translunaryanimus]

Do your dragons have fast wingbeats like a dragonfly or slow wingbeats like a bird?

Assuming you mean the bug dragons, they'd be slow by necessity. A beast that big with wings that large couldn't effectively beat them nearly as fast as a standard insect's without expending a ridiculous amount of energy. They do 'buzz' (beat up and down in a very small stroke quickly, so much so that they're more vibrating their wings than actually beating them) if they need to gently coast up or down in the air.

[translunaryanimus]

SCREAMING they look so tired I love them

Recently been working on a new alien sona from @translunaryanimus 's species and feeling proud of how it looks- albeit being one of my few attempts drawing these guys so it'll likely look better with more practice

Likely gonna color this digitally once I figure out what would be best fitting for them.

[translunaryanimus]

B.A.D (Big Ass Dude)

I'm finally done with this semester. Celebratory alien. B.A.D is a burrower, but it'd also like a swim, I think. Tardigrade style swimmer. If tardigrades were enormous.

[translunaryanimus]

Hello there, I was scrolling around and came across your post about cheneshts and I really like your species and their design, never seen anything like them before!

If you don't mind me asking these two questions- idk if you already have been asked these before

1: can people make ocs or sonas of your creations and 2: can they have moles, freckles, etc?

Hello! Thank you very much, i'm glad you like them! And I haven't received either of those questions before so congrats on being the first asker! 1: Absolutely! Feel free to tag me if you post them too, I'd LOVE to see ocs made of my work! 2: Chenesht can, bonkeys and beastbirds can't, gmh can. Chenesht only typically get freckles off-planet though, their planet's atmosphere is thick and hazy and has a layer of aero planket flying about that blocks out a good portion of the UV that'd cause the freckle reaction. Their freckles will typically match the darkest color of their patterning. Bonkeys and Beastbirds don't because their body just doesn't have the programming to cause freckles. And GMH can! Cause they're humans.

[translunaryanimus]

Salutations, it’s me once again!

You may remember me from a few months ago when I asked about your Chenesht language. I just wanted to say thank you so much for the advice! It helped me kick start incorporating my own languages with my aliens! 

Anyway, I come again with another question, although it’s not exactly related to SE so it’s perfectly fine if you don’t want to answer. I was looking at your website (by the way, IT’S beautiful, I love the moon cycles!) and I was wondering how you got started with art? You have absolutely stunning work and I was actually surprised when it said you were self taught!

Please keep up the good work, I really love the world you've been building up!

Hello! Glad to hear the advice helped kickstart your language-adding! And that's a somewhat long answer, but very long history short, I started drawing dinosaurs as a very young child (about 5 years old) and through the sheer power of determination and years and years of drawing and watching art tutorials I've gotten to where I am! I never received a formal art education, and the art classes I took in college were really more to refresh the basics rather than teach me new skills, so every new skill i've picked up has been self taught. [I'm actually going for an english degree and a teaching certificate, art is not my career, but I do love it.] And thank you! I'll doubtless be right back to business come summer, which means a lot more Sacred Estuaries (and skyfall) content to follow!

[translunaryanimus]

Chenesht Muscle Study

I wanted to practice some forms so I could draw these guys a little more consistently. They're not the strangest anatomically but their muscles have always been vaguely defined and hard for me to draw the same every time.

[translunaryanimus]

Insectoid Dragons - Various

Wanted to draw my earwig dragons again. Did you know they come in different colors? I'm still figuring out exactly how many colors they come in, and if those colors can mix, but so far it's looking like they just come in solid colors with varying patterns. Also yes, that is a dragon rider! I'll figure out their outfits properly in a bit when I get a break from college but so far i'm attempting to mix fantasy with old aviation outfits. At least in the padded inner-suit and the more structured leather outerwear. Once I've got all that figured out then I can draw the Dragon/Harpy/Rider dynamic trio.

[translunaryanimus]

'The dragons they ride are far from the image typically conjured when one is asked to call to mind the visage of those grandiose beasts. While some do bear that familiar greenish hue, their scales are large and plated, and their posturing strikingly buggish. Their limbs, of which they posess six in addition to their wings, are three-toed and segmented, lending to an exoskeletal appearance. The beasts faces are split asunder by snapping, symmetrical mandibles, globular eyes, and long whisker-like antennae. Their tails are thick and fat, not long and graceful, and their multi-segmented shimmering wings fold like paper to quickly snap in and out of their deceptively small elytron. And yet, despite their fearful countenance, they posess great intellect and emotional awareness, and their riders often speak fondly of them as if they were a friend, not a mount" - Researcher Orane, describing the insectoid dragons often ridden for aerial combat.

More Images and World Lore under the cut

Closeup of their Lovely Faces

Lineart

Rehashed the general design of Skyfall dragons somewhat. The huge feral varieties do still exist but now we have rideable ones. Some suitably large kingdoms will keep a small wearle of dragonriders to serve as both airborne cavalry for combat against large monsters and other flying threats, and will often have them double as harpy falconers. The combination of a flying mount and a trained harpy in the air frequently leads to a deadly efficient, dynamic partnership, and the trio of Rider, Dragon, and Harpy often form an unbreakable bond that lasts for life. Outside of kingdoms where the practices of dragonriding and harpy falconry are common, spotting this trio is often considered a sign of bad luck, or an omen of war to come. On the funnier side, the 'thumbs up' gesture of an attacking dragon has been adapted by dragonriders to be a sort of insult. Starting off as a rather harsh 'I'd like to gut you', and eventually settling into the more playful but still offensive gesture widely used among whers today (especially among the younger dragonfolk). In our world, the closest equivalent would be sticking up your middle finger at someone.

[translunaryanimus]

Various displays of affectionate behavior from various chenesht couples.

Fun fact! Chenesht 'kissing' doesn't involve the lips nearly as much as it looks like it does. The lips are pressed against the face of the receiver, and then the kisser's whiskers flit about the receiver's face in an affectionate manner to both give and receive pleasent sensory input. The lips are just an anchor point.