Welcome to the Mirage

[ZTheNecromancer]

Yup, I'm trying this again. This time with my own universe of stuff.

Characters are what I do best, backgrounds not so much. Most of my ideas come from when I'm in bed, Mostly as a distraction 'till I fall asleep. Some are easier to put into words than others, Harder because I can't word very well at all. All of that aside, let's kick back and see where this goes.  (Sorry for the lighting and capture quality on all of these; my hands can be shaky at times & my room isn't very well-lit)

Lazy doodles/early concepts

Edit 7/16/2021: This is all old as hell, VIEW AT YOUR OWN RISK!

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I only had the notebook paper to do this and these were very early Sketches (Also before I knew how to draw wings). Anyway, meet Plushies; a race of sentient creatures I based off of my early childhood imaginations. As you can very clearly see that there are 4 different variants, none of which are officially named yet. So I just call them Normal, Axolotl, Bird and Bat for the time being.

One thing they all have in common though-they all require sugar to live. (Yup, this is what 3 year-old me came up with & I'm stickin' with it) However, this makes any form of alcohol extremely toxic to them (Rotting fruits also count), not that they want to drink it anyway.

Average Height 5'2 (1.5 m)

Average weight; 120 lbs (54 kg)

All of these were also early; and the previous name & outfit for Shi (Top left) were placeholders. Most characters stayed the same but some were changed.

Finally-this was the first character I tried to draw. An old man, yup.

Canned stuff

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I hated how this one turned out so I canned it-Both of the characters present are Scuro (Left) and Shi (Right).

Character drawings

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These are all basically one character I really liked. With a couple others sprinkled in. 

The one character I really liked;

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Meet Jonas. -A snotty brat that deep down, has a good heart. He's a big edgelord too, later gaining a Bolt Staff (Thunder Stick as he calls it). He really hates stereotypes but won't hesitate to use them against others, unfortunately no-one's done anything to manage his behavior, not even his parents. Except one-and Jonas really hates her.

 

Meet Shi (Japanese for death). They're pretty much Grim Reaper Jr. without ever there being a Grim Reaper Senior. Somewhat naive but very powerful and very loyal to those he cares about. (Mr Saturn is his & a couple others adoptive parent, I haven't posted anything about him yet. But he's a Plushie)

This was a quick turnaround I never finished and also messed up on- I'm a big procrastinator. Scuro is Italian for Dark. Scuro, a soul wrapped in shadow goo. Is a bold shade.

This one looks weird because I put my hand on pencil and it smeared everywhere. I'll explain some of these...later.

Finished stuff/better stuff but didn't quite finish a couple.

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I'll have to fly through these quickly, I'm running out of time!

I accidentally smeared pencil everywhere with this one, it's why it looks so bad.

The top I never finished but both were background tests.

1: Be careful or you'll be sent to a rest camp with a meat ticket! (This is basically saying be careful or you'll die)

2:What's that supposed to mean!?

Getting back to unfinished stuff, this one I never quite finished inking.

Finally, this is my newest one. Which I actually went and got done. Edit; Holy hell I just realized I inked in the wrong name.

     I'd gladly take any constructive criticism; I'm still workshopping a lot of these.

[ZTheNecromancer]

No I didn't forget about this I just procrastinated about 2 days.

 

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Interaction between these two (Jonas and Iris) Remember how I mentioned someone while talking about Jonas? Yea, that's her. Iris is Witty but terrible at spotting details. (I forgot the word) Just moved to where Jonas lives and frequently teases him on his flaws. Yet she does indeed care about Jonas, even if they're just "Frenemies". She gains two things later on called "Pyromancers Cloak" & "Ablazing Spurs"

No context here, just wanted to draw some birds.

Ominous name? Check.

Character doodles, don't mind the scribble in the corner. 

Crappy Tavern concept.

Remember how I mentioned a "Mr. Saturn" earlier? (No I am not talking about the one from Earthbound, this is completely different and I didn't know this until someone pointed it out) This is a quick sketch for him, a couple Austin doodles and a mockup of how Jonas might use his Thunder Stick (Bolt Staff). Yes, I'm aware that it's blurry and cutoff. Thank you very much.

Plushie variant concepts excluding Axolotl but including a new one called Wild. 

[ZTheNecromancer]

Forgot to put this hear but yeah it's finished. Now I have to watch children smash the work of 6 days in 20 minutes

[ZTheNecromancer]

9 hours ago, rabbleborum said:

This is valiantly cute, but still a great effort you made! I wonder, what is your main inspiration

It's a big vat of things, I get some from childhood lego abominations. A bit from various games and cartoons (Cartoons like Niko and the Sword of light and Hilda), stuff I find on Youtube . But the biggest inspiration for someone is their 

[ZTheNecromancer]

Putting this here before I forget again.

[ZTheNecromancer]

 

So I know I haven't posted anything in awhile...So have a sketch Dump.

 

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Here have some more characters! Pianeese was born into a family of musicians who wanted her to grow up as a, well. Musician, which is why they named her "Pianeese" (Altered Pianissimo). Without realising she was deaf, when this came to light. Not only were they disappointed they outright put her into the orphanage, luckily adopted by a lady (Who worked as an accountant, familiar with deaf people). Nowadays she hangs around Tumbleweed's library, reading and writing. She's not lonely, people sign to her quite often.

Dan (Age 14-15) spends his days roleplaying as a stereotypical cowboy along with a few other kids. Sometimes we think he suffers from hallucinations, given the fact that he sometimes points and nothing and speaks to himself. He's a pretty sane person otherwise.

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These are some Psychonauts-art style inspired characters. (Excluding Dan, those were early sketches).

Frog is Austin's playmate (Both are very little kids, not quite toddlers. 4-6 in terms of age). Supposedly he can talk, but all we've heard him say is "Ribbit". Wilterhelm speculates that he's a robot spy working for the government (But we all know not to listen to the old hermit, right?). 

Elken is a red-headed technician, who just kinda showed up at some point. Merciful and gullible, he's vulnerable to manipulation. But the residents of Tumbleweed have been left to wonder; Where does Elken's chin end and neck begin?

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It's a sketch of some hills, go figure.

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As you can very clearly see, I'm not good at coloring due to the fact I rarely color my drawings.

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Shi got a redesign, I'm very sorry about my chicken-scratch handwriting. Here, I'll translate it for y'all, from top to bottom:

Shi

Wielder of Death

1. Throw the scythe

2. Teleport

The "Rope" can get longer.

Kinda looks like a sugar skull 

The rope lets him do a lotta things (With the scythe), Including teleportation

"Death"

Shi is the Wielder of Death, of therefore the scythe is called Death because it's death itself. (Not Shi himself) And Shi has it.

*Has a habit of switching from English to Spanish and back again all in 1 sentence

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It's a tree, with some symbols.

 

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A few objects and some creature concepts

Cloaking Owls are Birds and disguise themselves as various everyday things, their feathers can be used to make a mask named after the same bird.

Finally, Porkunamel is basically the fusion between a porcupine and a mouth overfilled with teeth. Various tooth-like structures jut of out various parts of their bodies, mostly their back. Hence the name, saliva has been know to ooze out of every part of Porkunamel bodies. Even after death.

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Quick size comparison between Jonas, Iris and a Normal Plushie . Yeah Iris is really Tall, (Iris's 13-15, Jonas is 10-ish in terms of age).

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Gulper Eel (But Different) is pretty self-explanatory. This monstrous cousin of real-life Gulper Eels live at the surface and sometimes slightly deeper than that. They can leap out of the water and have been known to live in lakes, rivers and the ocean. Basically wherever they can fit. They're a lot bigger than their real-life cousins too.

Burton Terrors are nocturnal creatures that hunt in packs. Deadly, swift and agile. These things will leap through trees and over cliffs to tear its prey apart.

Bear Skulls are shy animals that look just like little arms and legs coming out of a head that looks like a bear skull. Mostly herbivorous and live in trees or underground. Crushing them with a big boot is quite satisfying.

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Another background, this area is called The Cranium Cliffsides. For the large mountain that resembles a skull in the heart of this place. 

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Finally, here's some sentient beings called Onion-O's. Peaceful and goofy.

[ZTheNecromancer]

Y'know whenever you do something just for fun and you kinda stumble backwards into doing the whole thing?

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Not a huge fan of this one but I tried. Yes I know I spelt terror wrong don't correct me.

Oh and if you wanna know why it's called the "Burton Terror", check the file name of the original (Not-colored) sketch. (All the other sketches in my previous post have either commentary or trivia

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And here's a mockup of what Jonas's head would look like if i ever decided to color him. In retrospect I should've made the hair color a little less dull

[ZTheNecromancer]

I made this 2 days ago and I put off posting it but here we are anyway.

[ZTheNecromancer]

This is a quick thing I came up with whilst messing with the fill option, nothing more.

Also, after 4 months of thinking I set up a discord server. It's kinda barebones right now but I'm working on it.

The Hollow Mirage

[ZTheNecromancer]

I got a tablet, a board game called Stupid Deaths and a new pair of shoes that I really needed.

1st doodle with a drawing tablet that wasn't scribbles, if you're one of the few people who's familiar with this gal. Then yes this is that thing, but I completely redid everything about them. Only most of her personality made it out without being changed in some way. So, this is Tempest. A Hollowlantern, (A creature I'll explain when I get around to it) that's pretty emotionless and distrustful. Along with some mildly murderous tendencies. They're a good thing that just acts bad. Wields bows and has a cousin/sister that could be considered a polar opposite to Tempest. Original, I know.

If you're familiar with Tempest, then you'll more than likely be familiar with the other one. Wavel's coming back too, if you're wondering when. Well:

Roses are red

I'll do it later

These are the words 

Of a procrastinator. 

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Okay I lied about that being the first drawing that wasn't scribbles, this was the actual first one. A stupid sign, I had way more fun doing it then you think I did.

 

[ZTheNecromancer]

I kinda gave up in the end and then after saving it I realized I forgot a part of his hair, and the arms are rough.

Alternative: 

[ZTheNecromancer]

I accidently gave him 5 fingers instead of 4 but that's ok.

[ZTheNecromancer]

My motivation to draw is starting to pick up again so have another 2 doodles before I crash 

BB, this is what (secretly) has to happen when a character's eyes show through their hair.

(There's actually snowflakes here, but they're invisible for obvious reasons. You can see them if you look hard enough.)

       These are Snow Scones, Whether or not they're actually Jelly-glazed scones is a debate we'll discuss in a bit. These treats are described as "Chilly and sweet with a minty finish. The Jelly is a cross between Red plums and raspberries. Slightly tart.". On a side note they were invented by a Plushie named Snew

      One day an Anonymous Plushon (Plush-on? Like "Person" but for Plushie's?) got bored and started a debate on whether or not Snow Scones were Scones or actually cookies. One side argued they were cookies because they had way more sugar than a real scone and texture being more akin to a cookie. The other side argues that they're scones because they have more leavening than cookies, and they have milk in them (?).

      But there's a small minority out there that agree that they're some unholy hybrid of the two, chances are they're probably right. But that just leaves us with the question "How the hell did they achieve this?".

        The other mystery surrounding Snow Scones is the jelly, which tastes like a cross between Red plums and raspberries. At first they assumed the flavors were artificial. But trying to replicate the jelly resulted in the replication not tasting remotely the same and more artificial. Which has led Plushies to believe that there's a fruit out there that tastes just like Snow Scone Jelly that we don't know about and the manufacturers/bakers have managed to keep secret for centuries. Only telling a select few sworn to secrecy.

[ZTheNecromancer]

I lied about that being the crash, I'm still drawing.

This was the Wip.

This was the finished drawing,

Jonas (Left) has a lighting staff called "The Levin Cloudburst" and Iris (Right) has a cloak called "Bloodwaltz". It controls whatever the blood of a living thing is. Which means Iris can give her enemies heart attacks at will.

This is the finished drawing without the color layer.

Also if you check the file names for some of what I post there's sometimes commentary or trivia.

[ZTheNecromancer]

I made this for my memory's sake. Anyway, here's some fungi.

Here's some characters with lighting that needs work.

Shi's got a talking scythe now, no one hears what it says but him.

Scuro got some minor design change, the aesthetic is pretty much NE's version of The Black Tezcatlipoca. Needs work.

Wavel's...Wavel. Cloak based off Oona's Dragon Costume (CQ)

Haven't decided What I'll do Tempest yet. 

[ZTheNecromancer]

Most of this isn't related to Mirage, more along the lines of screwing around for the heck of it.

This is a doodle page from a Art stream I did in BB's Server (You can find the link to theirs in their signature somewhere, and here's mine if y'all are interested.) . One of @Blue Moth's characters, Thalin, is also in there.

 

This happened farther back, insulting BB's alter ego (PB&B) and some more shenanigans led to this being created as a manurepost. 

[ZTheNecromancer]

Didn't pick up the tablet for a week nor have I actually put any effort into drawing more than just sketches. So Here is a Reynold with no shading.

But I do have something from before that happened.

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This is Sihiri, wielder of Magic. They're in fact, 7 souls sharing one body. You'd think it'd be super chaotic, but lifetimes of experience has mellowed it out quite a bit. How 7 souls came to share a body is mostly unknown, but it was indeed a freak accident that involved some jars.

As expected, their personalities differ depending on who's in control. But not always complete control over their body. Some souls actually end up taking over limbs or their mouth. But it mostly depends on who is currently in charge of most of their body. They're definitely all good people so that's reassuring.

 

[ZTheNecromancer]

Did this late last night (Zee did something other than pointless doodles? Impossible!).

   

       Burton Terrors are a pack-mentality carnivore in the Mirage, they’ve been known to take down creatures about 8 times larger than itself. Females have shorter claws, males have longer claws. You can see where this is going.

        The longest (safely) recorded Jumping distance is about 8 ft (2.4 meters) in the air and a 15 ft (4.5 meters) jumping length. Their bite strength is 3577 PSI, just a few points short of a Mosasaurus. On average it’s full Standing height is 5”8’ feet, or 1.7 meters. Quite thin, in short it’s quite lanky. With on average 3”7’ft long arms (1.1 meters) and the average 7’ in long claws, this thing is not to be trifled with. Live on the average about 30 years.

          They obviously thrive on a diet of meat, but have been seen sucking out the marrow from bones and cannibalizing dead terrors. The most used strategy for hunting that has been observed is quite simple: 1. Climb a tree, 2. Wait for something to pass by, 3. Pounce, 4. Try to skewer lethal holes into the prey, 5: Hold on and keep stabbing more holes? 6. Profit.

         Burton Terrors are seasonally Heterothermic, in summer they remain cold-blooded. In winter however, Terrors become warm-blooded and the hunt goes on.

         Males fight to death over mates, then eat the losing male ‘cause it’s dead. If a baby is deformed, weak, or just sickly looking in general. They’re killed and eaten by other siblings or it’s former pack. Burton Terror females typically have 3 children. Which are all raised by the mother for about 3 years, like lions and bears. Males might try to kill the children and eat so the female will mate with them. Brutal, but that’s just life for them.

         Terrors seem to have some instinctive burial customs. If a Burton dies during a hunt, it’s left on a tree. If the pack leader dies it’s brought back to where it was born and then buried. But if a Terror died any other way that wasn’t sickness or parasites, it’s eaten. BT’s have very keen senses, and can usually tell if it had a parasite or was ill even if it’s not shown. Those that did die to illness or parasites are usually thrown off a cliff or into a bog.

       They live everywhere except mountains and short grass plains. Or just places without tall trees.

[ZTheNecromancer]

        Alicantos (Plural Alicante or just Alicantos) are, according to legend. Glowing nocturnal birds that eat minerals and can either lead miners to gemstones and treasure or six feet under. In other words, pure mineral deposits or off a cliff.

 

         In Mirage, Alicante are on average 6-8 ft. tall and 3-4 feet in length (Standing upright), weighing about 180 lbs - 220 on average having not eaten prior to being measured. Alicante Newborns are typically 6’-to 1 foot tall. 

 

           Normally, the color of Alicanto’s depends on what they eat. In Mirage however, they’re usually colored reddish-orange to yellow. Alicanto’s don’t fly due to the ore it eats, if a miner can follow an Alicanto without being noticed by the bird. It will lead the miner to riches galore, but if the miner is noticed the bird will stop glowing and run off. But if a miner isn’t of “a good heart” the Alicanto will lead them off a cliff.

 

         As said before, Alicanto are (checks paper) Mineralvores. Mostly gems and ore. Alicante eat nothing else. 

 

       Female Alicanto usually have 2 offspring and raise them for about 2 years. At which point they leave and go on to live the average 40 year lifespan, males are usually more yellowish in color while females remain orange and red.

           Bluecaps are small mining fairies (Not really, we just call things like them fairies for the lack of a better word.) found in Mirage, they work at mines for a price. They live in candles (Preferably scented ones), and jars.
          In English Folklore Bluecaps are small mining spirits that will not only help miners but can also lead them to a rich deposit of gems and stuff, in return their payment is left in an isolated corner. They will take no more and no less to what they’re owed. Also they can predict cave-ins.

            In the Mirage, Bluecaps are no more and no less than 6 inches tall and 4 inches in width and length. Bluecaps can form in two ways: 1. If You leave a polished blue gem out in a bowl of ashes on a new moon. A Bluecap will be born and the gem and ashes are consumed. 2: A enchanted Bluecap wick is set on fire at dusk, these wicks are created by grinding Aquamarine and sprinkling it over a black wick, if the resulting flame is blue. It worked, if it’s not then there’s not enough aquamarine. This is usually practiced by still-learning necromancers.

          Bluecaps live as long as their first accepted payment, (ex: Giving a Bluecap the Mirage Equivalent of 20 Us dollars means it will live 20 years.) However if the one who made it dies, the Bluecap will also pass on. Despite the fact they’re taking the form of a blue flame they don’t actually burn everything they touch but can do so if it pleases. There’s also no real way to tell a Bluecap apart from another, but their names are burned onto their pickaxe when they first receive it. FYI their names come from who made it.

             Bluecaps can do basic magic, such as levitation and setting things on fire and not much else. Their extensive knowledge about rocks and the ground has also made them common assistants for geologists, etc. Pretty much anything involving ground. 

                 However Bluecaps have many weaknesses, they can be easily put out by strong winds or just a drop of liquid besides wax. Which is why a lot of Bluecap staple foods are dried or jerkyfied things. On another note, they’re limited to telepathic communication

[ZTheNecromancer]

Introducing to the Mirage a creature I made up: Nashers/Nashlings!

              Nashers are a slug-like creature in the forests of Mirage, their heads have a chitin shell. But are also related to sea cucumbers.

            Nashlings are generally a foot long and 8 inches wide, with a crest and the very back that can be mistaken for a tail. They’re Frugivores, meaning they elusively eat fruits or nuts. With teeth designed to break nutshells. They’re farmed for their chitin and waste which makes good fertilizer and the chitin for bottles as it’s harder and lighter than plastic. Also good for eating leftover fruit cores and nutshells. They don’t harm anything, as they’re passive and will do something similar to a sea cucumber. In which they drop some of their organs and flee. Don’t feel too bad as they grow back almost overnight.

            Nashers mate and dig burrows in soft dirt. And then lay generally 5-10 eggs, after 3 weeks their young are born. The mother actually leaves them right before they hatch, with just a piece of fruit or a couple of pecans. She’s got places to be, y’know?

          Nashlings typically shed their chitin crests at the start of winter. This chitin is very difficult to break, lightweight, and cleaner than plastic. However it has one weakness: Boysenberry juice. Something about it makes the chitin go from solid to clay-like. This is how bottles and other appliances are made. This is also used by hunters to successfully kill these slugs.
            Unlike some creatures in Mirage, they do see color and are even Trichromatic. Meaning they see the three primary colors, Red, Blue and Green. You’re taught in art school that it’s red, blue and yellow. But that’s a big misconception, I’m not kidding. Look it up.

This is some Flora I also made up, Hueberries!

              Hueberries are, if not the most widely used food in the Mirage. Their hardy trees are found almost anywhere. Well, except underwater...and volcanos. They’re easy to grow for a tree. Not only that but are used in Alchemy, spells, and cooking.

              Hueberry Trees get around 5-25 feet tall throughout their 60 year lifespan. They start producing fruit at 5 years old. Which is oddly early for a tree, unripe berries are typically white in color.
 

            Blue Hueberries are the sweetest of the bunch and seem to possess no flesh inside of it. It’s more like a natural juicebox(Juice Sphere). They’re the one with the longest left leaf from the position it was first picked. Kinda like, y’know. A blueberry
          Green Hueberries are the second sweetest of the bunch, the texture of the fruit is more comparable to a grape. It’s left leaf from the position it was first picked is also longer than the right.

       Yellow Hueberries are tart, with their texture being more akin to an orange. Their leaves are always the same length - no matter what. Unless you cut one part of the leaf off then....Why would you do that?

            Orange Hueberries are more sour but not unpleasantly sour, this is where their texture becomes more like a banana. And where the left leaf to which it was first picked is shorter than the right.

           Red Hueberries are horrifically sour, and both the right and left leaves are seemingly shrunken and shriveled. The texture being akin to a bone dry apple, as it has no juice. If you hear someone say “I like red Hueberries the most.” They’re insane. 

        But, legends say there’s a microscopic chance that a light-blue Hueberry could be grown. A berry that could regrow limbs and cure otherwise lethal diseases...

 

(Friendly annoying reminder: I usually post these on my Discord server some time before posting them here so you can look at this stuff early. If you like and if you're actually interested in this stuff. Link here, to The Hollow Mirage)

[ZTheNecromancer]

These are Mutism Daisies, one of the entities on the far darker side of Mirage

 

   Mutism Daisies are...strange. One of the many things in the far darker side of the Mirage. It’s also another “It’s called this but isn’t actually that thing”.

       It’s a mystery on whether Mutism Daisies are even plants, as they seem to be made of the same gooey substance. That and they survive off of NOTHING AT ALL. This has also given it the names “Phantom Flower” or “The entities of Silent Sorrow.”. There’s no average measurement of how tall or big they get or how many petals they have  - it’s just a case to case basis. Predictably, eating the flower of one of these causes things to become temporarily muted. But prolonged consumption or exposure can cause things to become mute - permanently. 

How they came about is another big mystery, but they came up sometime after the Black Xiilune of Lorre. Where Indabyo (Among others who traded different things.)(In-the-bayou or In-da-by-you also works.), traded her voice to stall the shattering and unwinding or the Mirage. It’s speculated that these entities symbolize this, especially when you consider their 3 colors. And how they smell, oddly enough.

 

            The first (The middle one ‘cause yes that’s where we’re starting), with an almost-white color.  And the smell of a White Rose, Which is a sign for silence. Hear the sledges with the bells, silver bells. What a world of merriment their monody compels.

            The Second (Left) has the colors and smell of Rhododendron. Which are known to represent danger, here the loud alarum bells. Brazen bells, what a tale of terror now their turbulency tells.

          Finally, the third (Right), has the colors and smell of Hyacinth. A flower for sorrow, hear the tolling of the bells. Iron bells, what a world of solemn thought their monody compels.

     All in all, this flower just whispers “I don’t like this place, I see bad things happening here.”.

This one's name's a mouthful It's Gulper Eel But Different, or G.E.B.D for short

          G.E.B.D is an aquatic creature found in the Mirage, related to Gulper Eels although they’re a few differences between the two which makes the Pelican Eels on Earth look very tame in comparison.

 

          Unlike its relatives, G.E.B.D gets around 11 ft. (Approx. 3.3 meters) in length. It’s mouth is about a foot and a half long on average. 6-finned and with small ornaments on its tail. Weighs about 180 pounds on average.
 

          Also unlike its relatives, G.e.b.d cannot swim between freshwater and saltwater at its leisure. However, it can descend and ascend the suffocating lakes of The Mirage. When it descends its body turns red and it's swim bladder stops keeping the G.e.b.d afloat among other things to help these things adapt to their migration. Interestingly, G.E.B.D’s eggs fall into the bottom of those lakes. Which is where they spend their childhood. Another thing is that they have much larger teeth compared to their Earth cousins. Fit for shredding stuff apart rather than swallowing it whole. They hunt many things. Whether big or small, fish or crustacean. You name it, it probably eats it. As long as it’s meat, that is.

        The ornaments on G.e.b.d’s tail are quite decorative and are used in Alchemy. It’s some sort of shiny bioluminescent organic glass, and it’s used in Alchemy and Arcane stuff. Like something to light up dark areas or A Gulper Lock, which takes a Gulper Bauble to unlock it. It’s scales are also used for Arcane and Alchemy purposes. And finally it makes a really darn good meuniere. Just use telekinesis to get them in the air, wait for it to suffocate. And boom, done. You now have free fish.

      All in all, it’s a terrifying fish with really useful stuff. 

[ZTheNecromancer]

Onto #8 of the "Get 10 things out" List, these are Agony Wisps!

          Agony Wisps are another “fae” in the Mirage, they feed off of blood/a lifeforce from their victims. 

 

         Agony Wisps are born when a grave/tomb is destroyed, the older the grave. The more likely one will be born and the more likely more than one will be born. 

       These Ghosts of ghosts “possess” a victim. Making them more withdrawn, less cautious and more likely to harm themselves. Along with an ever-throbbing pain (Mostly in the limbs) is what prompts confused victims to harm themselves in an attempt to make it stop. Not unlike the Gympie-Gympie. A plant in Australia that makes its victims commit “sudoku” from pain. Afterwards, they feed on any blood/lifeforce like blood that’s shed. The brighter it glows, the more frequent it has fed. When a victim is possessed, only those related to the victim can actually see the Wisp, with the exception of Wielders and Overseers. Who can see them either way.

 

      Curiously, Agony Wisps seem to possess (Pun intended)a natural fear of Kalmeer (A blossom that’s really good at easing anxieties and calming people down along with reducing pain. Also also used to knock things out of a delusion.). So don’t be surprised if you find Kalmeer blossoms strewn about, especially during the Mirage equivalent of October.

          Another thing to note is that they can’t seem to possess those who have Waarheids (A disc that could allow blind things to see). Perhaps because truth is already obscured for them?

      Even more oddly is that Agony Wisps feed off of chlorophyll, so don’t be surprised either if you happen to find bits of plant matter with various cuts in it. 

Never mind the tombstone - These are Furu-utsubo, a entity of Japanese origin.

    

        Furu-utsubo are essentially animated objects of Japanese origin. In Mirage, however. It’s limited to possessed bottles and containers.

 

       In the original Japanese folklore, Furu-utsubo were tools that came to life after being used for 100 years. Which is why they were usually thrown out before then. It’s thought that once things become of old age they become more spiritual (Or something, don’t ask me why ‘cause I dunno.), and thus the ability to change themselves.

       Oddly and unfaithfully, Furu-utsubo are limited to jars, bottles and other containers not made of plastic in Mirage. And letting a jar be used for 100 years isn’t the whole thing either, instead. One fills the container with Pyrausta Hearts (A bloom that comes from a plant that grows on either ashes or mounds of dead Pyrausta, hence the name of the resulting flower.) and two clear Waarheids before the night of the container's 100th birthday. When night falls, add in a bit of Rosesanthemum Hip tea. And leave it out for the night. The next day a Furu-utsubo should have taken its place. Usually waiting for its owner.

    Furu-utsubo are usually social workers, servants, assistants, and even babysitters and guards of fields and livestock. With their pay being left inside their respective containers, when their shift or work is done. They usually head off to pubs and other entertainment centers, just like those who they work for. However, Furu-utsubo must always return to their jars at sunrise or they fade away. Having left their homes for too long. Every 100 years the container has to be refilled with Pyrausta hearts or the Furu-utsubo will become weaker and weaker and eventually, wither away.

[ZTheNecromancer]

Jonas Creuller Jackson

 

            Jonas is a resident in Tumbleweed, who can see the Mirage. And accompanies Iris through the twisted and ridiculous lands of the Mirage. While Iris sees the Mirage because she has the “Potential to do something great.”, Jonas seeks fate. Both can allow oneself to see the Mirage.

            Jonas hasn’t had it easy, so to speak. His mother’s pretty much a Karen with diabetes, and his father’s always drunk and also has diabetes. Heck, after his mom was out of the hospital he dropped him off at his Grandma’s and went to a night at the pub. By a “Night” I mean three weeks, leaving his Grandma to raise him for the first 3 weeks of his life. Hence the funny name. 

           As of now he’s about 4”10’, and about 10 years of age. Because of his parents not doing any work and spending their days flipping between drunk and hungover, he’s left to do everything himself. Get groceries, manage bills, set his own appointments. But where does he get the money from? His Grandma, who’s nearly 80 and still works an office job. Making Jonas more resentful to everyone else than he already is, especially his own parents. Not to add on how guilty he feels from his Grandma having to spend the rest of her days in an office. He’s pretty good at hiding it under lots of hate.

           If it wasn’t already obvious, Jonas spends a lot of his time alienated from society. Being resentful, slightly snobbish (Due to how everyone else doesn’t have to deal with what he does.), withdrawn, and absolutely loathing everyone around him. He suffers from no mental “disorders”, or anything really. Just really hates the people around him. Yet perhaps, maybe someone can get to him if they’re stubborn enough.

        Upon entering the Mirage, Jonas gets the Levin Cloudburst from the Overseer himself. Which shoots lighting and makes a good drumstick on the go. Because Jonas can play drums and he’s fairly decent at it. Despite his hatred of everything, every Plushie, Every Kittkitsune, and every Hollowlantern he meets tolerates him, yet he doesn’t know why. But he doesn’t not appreciate it, so good on him. 

        He’s grown quite fond of Nebulae, an icy, blue, sparkly, frothy drink that’s about as thick as a smoothie. So also good on him for being open-minded when it comes to food. 

(This one's a bit weird, her arms need work bigtime)

Iris Tinuviel Cyrene

 

         Iris Cyrene is a half-Scottish, half English girl that had recently moved to Tumbleweed, TX. Why? Her house was partially burnt down.

         She does occasionally retell stories from her past but we don’t have a solid timeline, but there’s a gap that she never says anything about. It’s about a year long, particularly the year before moving to Tumbleweed. When asked she just adopts a more zoned off, melancholic look and just says “Nothing much.”. Otherwise she’s cheerful, stubborn, witty, quick-thinking as ever. Perfectly matching the hero stereotype, which she is well aware of. But never saying a whole lot about it. Just like the stereotypes about Sassenachs and Scots that she is also well aware of. 

       As of now, she’s 13-15 and somewhere between 5”4’ and 5”8’ feet high, about 1.6 and 1.73 meters. Making her tower over Jonas and older than him as well. 

      Despite looking like she’s wielding fire, this is far from the truth. She actually has control over blood. With a fitting cloak to go along with it, the Bloodwaltz Cloak. This gives her the ability to create blood, steal it. Or use her own to heal stuff, being able to do blood magic is really rare. Which means theoretically, Iris can give her enemies heart attacks at will.    

      Iris is quite curious about the Mirage, it’s customs, its creatures, its magic etc. After all finding an Overseer, a being that knows a ton of stuff about the universe does open a floodgate of curiosity. 

     “When I get angry, it’s going to be more than my blood that’ll boil.”

Alternate one for Iris (Comes from messing with hues in Color Correction layers)

Spoiler

 

[ZTheNecromancer]

Couple big things: 1. Mirage has a tumblr now (Link here), thinking back I'm not sure why I did it but I did. 2. I've written a bit more about The Mirage, the town it takes place in, and some concepts like Wielders.

Spoiler

(Copy pasted from the Tumblr)

          Mirage follows the story of Jonas and Iris, two humans who’re not the first to have stumbled into the Mirage. Portals come and go every few years. These two screwballs aren’t prepared for this Crestfallen land, nor are they prepared for The Purple and Teal Xiilunes. Two forces that are neither light nor dark, good nor bad. They only want to envelop and shatter dimensions. Welcome, Fate-seekers. To the Mirage, Remember. Look beyond the Doorbell! 

Tumbleweed:

Tumbleweed is a fictional town in Texas, where our characters access to The Mirage. 

Tumbleweed was founded in the 1930′s by a guy named Mark (Or Markus), it’s been known for being a generally quiet suburb except for the fact that it’s also been home to “crazy people”. Crazy people who’ve said to have seen a “phantom forest” where a Crestfallen land awaits the Fate-seekers who dare to enter it. Population: about 117 people.

But we all know that a Phantom world can’t just appear out of nowhere, right?

The Mirage World, and Earth.

The universe in this story isn’t just one thing, rather. It’s several planes of existence stacked on top of eachother. The Mirage and Earth are approximately in the same position but not quite. However, every 5 years or so. The line up in the exact same position. Causing wormholes to open up between Mirage and Earth. But not all of the Wormholes are stable (Well, as stable as a wormhole gets), sometimes they’ll send oneself to a completely different part of the opposing world and vice versa every single time. These unstable portals can also take oneself back just a few years in the other world up to several million.

The particular wormhole this story focuses on is the one in Tumbleweed; A town in the middle of Texas. This wormhole is one of the most stable around, and it lands oneself near the Overseer’s cabin. Which brings us on to the next topic, Overseers!

Overseers are like gods, but don’t call them that. In every world outside of Earth, god is a slur (Like a racial type slur). They don’t control every little thing in the world either, but rather they shape it as it goes along. Kinda like pruning a tree, but Overseers are just like regular people in the end. They do the same things, like sleeping, playing, etc. So when it becomes too much work to manage their worlds as a whole, that’s where Wielders come in.

Wielders are like demigods (But don’t call them that.), they wield one thing in their own world and are semi-immortal. They live forever but can still be killed, but then they’re reborn without memory of their past life. These memories can be triggered by traumatic events. Wielders can be created by the Overseer or be chosen by Zoturas, an embodiment of a certain force/element. (E.x Zotura of Water.) . Most of the time Wielders appear as children for reasons even Overseers don’t know.

Redid Iris's design, it just felt better.

Introducing the Therizino-Flytrap! Think of it as one of the Sauropods of The Mirage

          The Therizino-Flytraps are practically the Sauropods of The Mirage, lumbering blind omnivorous giants always searching for friends or a bite to eat.

          The name is quite self-explanatory, (Like most non-scientific names people give animals and plants). It’s an animal that resembles a fusion between a Therizinosaurus and a Venus Flytrap. Albeit more upright. Adult Therizino-Flytraps are about 45 feet tall on average, and weighing about 800 pounds on average MINIMUM! Their claws are normally 4-5 feet long, with teeth about 3 feet long. Despite this, they’re omnivorous. Eating much larger and meatier things rather than humans, plushies and other bony creatures. Excluding G.E.B.D’s, they seem to enjoy those. In short they’re more likely to pick an entire fruit tree up and eat that than eat you. 

         It’s quite intelligent for a (Supposedly) non-sentient creature, and is sometimes speculated to maybe have a little bit of self awareness. Which is why they’re often respected and it’s heavily punishable to intentionally harm one or agitate it. They’re comparable to elephants but better. Despite being blind, these creatures can be seen hunting large animals like itself and often seen winning when this happens. Owing it to phonomenal senses, however. This is The Mirage, so some have thought that it can see the living things around it's souls. Seeing each and every animal and plant in their Forest-y/High vegetation habitats.

         Therizino-Flytraps aren’t used for anything, however. Mirage archaeologists have found an absolutely massive cannon made of Therizino-Flytrap femur found buried in ash from an ancient eruption. The bone had been mummified and hollowed out to be used as a cannon, and judging by the few cracks it has and traces of gunpowder shown it had been used quite a lot. Therizino-Flytrap bones must be really tough to break…

This was a test for better and more complicated background, here's Shi! He got a slight redesign, also I'm gonna say that Shi (Spelled as such) is a he. Don't get that confused.

         One of the 16 Wielders of The Mirage, Shi is the Wielder of Death. Wielding death itself both metaphorically and literally. Unlike other Wielders, Shi’s Scythe is sapient. FYI Shi’s a he and Shi confuses the hell outta everyone because of this. 

        On one hand, Shi is merciful, reasonable, ruthless to his own enemies, and a good source of deadpan humor, shrewd, generally good in his behavior when his Pa ain’t around. 

         On the other hand, his scythe is judgemental, bossy, mocking, and just the tool embodiment of an a-hole. It can talk and communicate with both regularly and telepathically to Shi but only Shi can actually hear what he’s saying. And his Pa (The Overseer), also hears them but usually tones it out. Like Shi, it's also quite shrewd.

        Shi’s story begins in Mexico around the 1940’s-1960’s, living in poverty and by himself (And often doing yard work to get by, handy with a scythe.). Shi chases a small, rodent-like creature back to its habitat. However this particular portal was unstable and sent him back thousands of years into the Mirage. as much as Shi wanted to leave. There was a pull that was keeping him there, something was calling him.
          So he followed that pull to an old, crumbling crypt. There was where Shi would meet his soon-to-be best friend, Scuro. The Wielder of Shadows, was guarding the crypt. Despite that there’s a sapient thing looking like a completely different species, and speaking English (Which Shi didn’t understand) Shi continued on almost robotically. With Scuro threatening to use his shadows to throw him back where he came from, but never actually doing so because he doesn’t have the heart to. Quote: “Hay una mariachi allá abajo, y quiere bailar.” “I’ll throw you right out of this crypt! I will! I’m not kidding! I will!” 

        Reaching the crypt, there’s a looming ominous scythe standing by itself upon a pile of rubble. Scuro, quite tired of seeing things die from this darn scythe. Tackles Shi as Shi grabs it. Sending off an explosion threatening to collapse the crypt and sending Scuro into a wall. This was Death itself, the Last Trial Scythe. Accomplishing the impossible by not being turned to bones the moment he touched the scythe unlike those who came before him. However it was coming up on him, being called reckless by this angry scythe. Shi becomes something of a verbal dagger and starts sassing an ancient object until the object asks him to “Take responsibility”. To which Shi, not understanding what this actually meant, said yes (Kinda not having a choice because his skin and flesh was being vaporized so…). So, Shi got up from this whole ordeal. Becoming the Wielder of death, accomplishing what even Saturn (The Overseer) thought was to be hopeless. It just kinda follows on from there.

 

               (Shi) “...El mariachi loco quiere bailar, El mariachi loco quiere bailaaarrrr…”
              (Scythe) “It is not my purpose to cast reason, only to cast JUDGEMENT!!!”
                  (Shi)  “You’re generous to call it a joke, Compañero.”

                (Scythe) “You have unlimited POWER! You can go out and change the world yet you choose to sit here and eat COOKIES!?!?”

[minespatch]

On 3/23/2021 at 5:18 PM, ZeeDragon said:

I'm sorry I'll be only focusing on your latest post but you put a lot of time and effort and I want to catch up with your work.

I appreciate you reposting the summary of your world, it'll help me catch up with your vision.

The backgrounds are wonderful! I bet you look up color palette sites for idea on how to make everything complementary.