Mikonese Saga Open Submission Art (Main Protags)

[JasonPratt]

Right then, on to more particular character/art descriptions. Please refer to prior threads and comments for larger-scale issues, relating to the business aspect and the general plot aspect. (I especially recommend the general plot thread, as it begins making reference to the characters mentioned here.)

Business things thread: http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=41642

General plot thread: http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=41649

Secondary protag info thread: http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=41695

Main Antagonist info thread: http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=41718

This thread will be dedicated to discussing main protagonists. To help keep potentially different discussions separate, each of the three main protags discussed here will get a different post--except for two special-case situations, which I'll discuss briefly in this opening post.


The Preface Author -- don't bother trying to illustrate him. No visual cues are given in the first book.


Portunista (as Empress) -- while some visual cues are given in this first book, they're a bit sparse. Mainly enough to hint at some _differences_ in how she looks seven years further ahead from the main story. You can try some sketches here and there, if you want, as practice for later, but be aware that no matter how accurate they are, I _probably_ won't use them _until_ later. (Unless you somehow come up with a sketch that doesn't involve visual spoilers. {g} Actually not impossible, but it could be difficult to do.)

It isn't a spoiler that she becomes Empress, since this is how I introduce her early in the novel. I _can_ see an artist wanting to try sketching or painting her in her brief scenes as such in this book; it would be good to see some work along this line eventually, and heck _she herself_ writes from the first about how artists are always making paintings and statues of her. So thematically it's quite appropriate, which is why I'm not ruling it out altogether. Don't be attempting cover material for the first couple of books from this, however.


That covers the two special case situations. Main artistic targeting commences with Post #2! {g!}

[JasonPratt]

Portunista (as Dama) -- 'ista is one of the main protagonists, and is an excellent target for art. I'm leaning toward waiting until Book 3 before putting her on a cover; but insofar as website sketches go, I will _DEFINITELY_ be looking to buy art concerning her, asap!

Back in the day of the main story of the first few books, Portunista is an ambitious young ex-apprentice of the sorcerous Cadre. (Not to be confused with the internet Christian Cadre, whom I comment with occasionally. {g} I wrote the story long before meeting them.) The Cadrists set off a civilization-wide war between each other (right after the klerosa simultaneously vanished during the Culling); with the upshot that most of the apprentices were killed off as cannon fodder. (The surviving Cadrists also began to progressively disappear, about a year after they started their civil war.) Portunista survived, partly due to having gone into hiding until the fighting died down. Now she and other surviving former apprentices are coming out of the woodwork, hoping to collect enough power, magical and mundane, to carve out a place for themselves in the nations. 'ista has managed to build a small brigade at the start of the story (about 250 soldiers); enough to feasibly start competing, if she knew where to start. Her troops are cautiously in favor of her--nobody exactly trusts a mage anymore, but most people want to have some meaning and trust restored in their lives; so if she would just behave like a Dama (female leader of an army) worth following, then...

Unfortunately, 'ista is a bit too self-centered to figure this out.

Portunista has a sharp mind, although she isn't specially experienced in combat operations. She has attracted four reasonably competent subcommanders to lead her companies, though. As a maga, she can jott magical effects; but as an apprentice, she doesn't really know many jottings. Then again, how a maga uses what she knows, often counts a lot more than the mere knowledge--and 'ista is _very_ good at improvisation and application, especially during a fight. (And she intends to find as much 'more knowledge' as possible.)

Visual cues: like most inhabitants of Mikon (Jian and Seifas being notable exceptions), Portunista has dark hair and (ripe) olivish complexion skin. Maybe 'overripe' olive would be a better description (two of the villains like to mock normal Mikonese skin tones as being that of 'rotten olives'.) If you think some types of (Asian) Indian or Pakistani, you'll be in the right area. For any scene in Section One, 'ista's hair will be shorter than for any scene in the other sections (she's let it grow out a bit, by several weeks); but in any case it tends to go backward from the edge of her face and forehead, rather than down. Though an attractive woman, her features might be called severe. So if you think in terms of, say, the actress Maureen O'Hara (except Pakistani {g}, and with much shorter hair than she usually wore in roles), you'll probably be in good shape. If you need animal references, feline, hawkish and foxish will do. (Her features are explicitly described by one character's thoughts, late in the story, as vulpine; references to the other two types are occasional as well.) I expect her eyes tend to be a bit squinty, mainly because of her moods. Her eyes are dark green. (But please keep in mind that during the main storyline Portunista's hair IS NOT RED!) Portunista is a bit taller than the average woman, as tall as the average man at least. (She will be taller still, and more 'willowy' incidentally {g}, later in life, during her Empress scenes.)

Clothes: her clothes get a bit more description than most characters. Again, if you think of Maureen O'Hara rigged up for pirate or highwayman (um, -woman) work, you'll be in the ball park. She prefers clothes tailored close enough to flatter her figure--enough so that one character quips that she doesn't look like she's got many places to hide a weapon--but she is _not_ going to wear anything that would make her look trampy or trashy. Think practical, as well as flattering. {g} She does wear a bit of makeup (this is mentioned in the text), especially for meetings. Her boots are soft doeskin, and grey if I recall correctly. The thread of her clothes tends to be pine green mixed with a close weave secondary black thread, but the brown trim will be more evident I expect for this kind of art. Her eyes are much the same shade of green.

Special case clothing: a robe comes into play about halfway through the story, and she has some scenes in it. No description is given other than 'royal', but it originally belonged to a fairly well-to-do man who was significantly taller and heavier (even portly) than the average man. If you decide to take a shot at it, keep in mind that it would normally be something a man would wear (i.e. it shouldn't have a feminine design), and will also be significantly oversized on her.

Weapons: Portunista uses no weapons or other tools generally. She _does_ have beltpouches like most characters, though, and the pouches are of different sizes. (A small one, large enough only for a finger or two, comes into play during an important action scene mid-book.)

Portunista factors directly (sometimes soley) into almost every action sequence in the book, though when the action is spread out she may not be in a particular visual 'shot'. The moment before her final climactic act against her enemies in this book, will likely be _very_ popular art fodder!

[JasonPratt]

Seifas -- one of the main protagonists, and arguably the most striking visually. Seifas is excellent art fodder, including for covers (maybe especially the first book, as he is also the first character actually 'seen'. The book's title frequently ties in with him, too. The current edition of Book 1 only features his weapon, though. More on this later.)

A young fighting man (early 20s), Seifas is one of the juacuara--a night-skinned race of men born among Mikonese humans at the rate of a few every year. Juacuara are taller, stronger, smarter, faster and more agile than the average Mikonese man; and they _are_ always men, for some reason. (They can marry regular Mikonese women, whose descendants may bear more juacuara after a generation or two. So no juacuaran women in the art please. Yet anyway. {g}) The name of Seifas' people comes from the Guacu-ara (or Hunting Cry; hard 'g' when saying the organization name, soft 'j' otherwise), a combat/religious organization led by Matrons (regular female humans serving as priestesses) under the guidance of a special Agent (Macumza).

Seifas is deadly, even by the standards of the Guacu-ara. Early in his studies, he found an obscure weapon, abandoned as an improbably difficult design, called a death-stick (or aasagai); and devised a lethal fighting style around this one-of-a-kind spearsword. He is a good stalker, too, and prefers to operate at night, especially in forests. Although the corps were normally trained to operate as a team, no one else outside the corps is especially keen on teaming with a juacuar--and Seifas prefers to work alone anyway in a fight. (If you're wondering why he isn't in the corps anymore--that's general plot info. {g})

Visual cues: if you think in terms of a Zulu Spiderman, that'll be a good start. Juacuaran skin is _black_ black, not just black the way we think of human skin; in fact, odds are good you might not even notice the thin scruff of hair on his head. (On the other hand, you might notice it later in winter--when juacuara tend to grow moderately long hair all over their bodies! The first book is set in midsummer and early autumn, though.) His facial features will be somewhat angular and patrician; his face is long, and his skull would count as oval shaped, I suppose. His teeth, when he bothers to show them, are large and white but otherwise normal for Mikonese humans. (Aside from fluorescing in the dark!) Juacuaran eyes are white, including irises, though pupils are normally a bit dilated. When a juacuar is about to strike he will instinctively contract his irises and bare his teeth, all of which fluoresce slightly in the dark. This tends to shock opponents for a split second or even longer--though juacuara only need that first split second. {g} All Mikonese humans will look a bit alien compared to our normal expectations, and Seifas looks alien and menacing even to other Mikonese humans. His moods, while humanly normal in most regards, trend toward 'intense'; which makes him somewhat standoffish, even when he doesn't mean to be. Seifas was taught in the Hunting Cry to have a plan to kill everyone he meets; and to have a backup plan; and to never need the backup plan--ever. (But have it anyway.) That's reflected in his facial and bodily stances and in his attitudes. Since the Guacu-ara were always going to be outnumbered in a fight, intimidation is the first protection, and (for other reasons, too) that's what he naturally radiates.

Clothes: juacuara don't usually wear much clothing, and Seifas is no exception. He wears short trousers, dyed black to match his skin. No shoes or boots (much less sandals.) He does have the usual belt and belt pouches, also dyed black. His trousers have pockets in the back; and he keeps his latest writing journal in one of those.

Weapons: the aasagai. Think chinese sai with a two-handed sharp-ended pommel and very long thin pointed shaft along its whole length. It's at least five feet from tip to tip, maybe longer, but not as tall as Seifas himself. The aasagai, like many juacuaran weapons, is made from collapsed carbon and so is virtually indestructable. Seifas doesn't use other weapons, but frankly isn't the sort of person someone would want to challenge barehanded either. {g}

For purposes of combat stances and action shots, it's important to keep in mind that Seifas is rarely going to hit with the leading point of the aasagai. He's usually going to hit with one of the two sharpened quillions, or maybe with the sharpened pommel. A side-effect of this, is that if he's crouching and holding the weapon at any angle other than parallel with the ground, he'll likely put the quillions up high and pointing downward--giving the weapon, incidentally, a stylized cross-shaped effect. {g} (This is clearly shown on the current production cover, given below.) The weapon would be impractical to holster, so Seifas simply keeps it at hand at all times. He has been known to balance it along his back when creeping close to the ground, though; and (not mentioned in the first book) the waistband of his short trousers includes a twine of elongrass (like a thin elastic strap) which he can pull over one shoulder, creating a place to slide the swordspear under across his back, if he needs both hands free for something.

(Note: this weapon is not the same as the common 19th century Zulu weapon, reputedly designed by Chaka, normally spelled in Latin letters as 'assegai'. I did borrow the word from that term, though.)

Seifas reaches a lot when fighting, and prefers plenty of stabs--the aasagai has no cutting edges anyway, only points. Seifas is very fast (and can go to near miraculous speeds for brief actions when necessary). He does not _ever_ jump around during a fight. Someone at his skill level knows this only makes a person a ballistic object with a predictable arc of travel.

The photo below is a pdf of the current production cover and spine art. I never could get a contractor to do well enough with Seifas to use him (I'll upload some failed attempts with comments later), so with a time crunch looming I just went with the aasagai. The proportions and layout of the weapon are _almost_ correct in this drawing. (Good enough for production though. )

The second pdf is the scaled line drawing I made myself. Please use this for your reference purposes.

[JasonPratt]

Jian -- one of the main protagonists; far from striking looking, but a nice-enough looking fellow and highly important to the plot, so he makes good art fodder.

Most Mikonese humans (as far as anyone knows) have dark hair and olivish-complexion skin (except for the Guacu-ara who are more like Zulu or Masai.) Jian is someone no one has ever seen before--paler skin, sandy hair, blue eyes, a bit shorter than the average fellow. His attitude is very 'fair', too. No one knows where he comes from (he isn't telling), or why he's here. He just showed up one day, and more-or-less adopted a rag-bag band of mercenaries out meandering in the back-end of nowhere. He's very popular with the troops, who have adopted him in turn as a sort of mascot or totem. He likes playing with the children of the camp followers, and gets along well with animals. Plus he's willing to volunteer to do things like be an expendable trap-tester. {g}

Frankly, he's such a goody two-shoes that he gives some people (like Commander Portunista and sub-Commander Dagon) the hives. But he treats them as well as he can, too.

Visual cues: as noted, Jian has fair skin and hair, and blue eyes. He wears a full beard and moustache, curly like his hair but kept trimmed pretty short. His skull is probably rectangular in general shape. Also as noted, he'll be a bit shorter than the average man. He tends to smile a lot, and looks really friendly, kind and good-natured. Consequently, when he stops smiling it tends to be a bit unnerving. (There are also times in the story when his eyes, which are more deeply set than most people's, look shadowed. This is not at all normal for him, however.) His physique is basically average for a normally active man; not specially strong or limber. When he isn't wearing a shirt, his chest can be seen to feature plenty of the same curly sandy hair as on his head.

A silhouette of Jian holding a Piece Of Plot {g} over his head, can be found on the current back cover, incidentally; a pdf of this is available below.

Clothes: in Section One, Jian shows up wearing simple peasant garb--though Portunista thinks it looks suspicious, as it is abnormally clean, completely unstained by rain or mud. From Section Two onward, he can be found wearing the normal clothes of Portunista's brigade: trousers, boots, a pullover shirt. Different shirts worn by Jian once the crew arrives in the vicinity of Qarfax Tower include red, green and blue (in that order). Be careful for chronology sake as to which one he's wearing in a given shot. Also be careful for when he _isn't_ wearing a shirt! {g}

Weapons: Jian mostly wields a simple single-edged shortsword, the former weapon of a hundred faceless soldiers (as Portunista puts it). Usually he'll be wearing the sword's sheath, too (though not in his final action sequence.) The sheath is soft leather with a rod running its length inside for the edge to rest against when sheathed. (Be aware that this factors into Portunista's own climactic action scene! When 'ista is pounding her palm she's hammering the sheath she's still holding as well. I've left the descriptions of this a bit open, as there are several possibilities for how that might be happening, and I'm not sure what works best. 'ista does end up fracturing the bones in one of her hands while doing this, though.)

The weapon Jian wields in his first appearance (and is still holding until he sets it aside for the sword-and-sheath given to him by Portunista late in the first Section), is a 'flutewood staff'. i.e. it's thin but tough bamboo. Another character ends up with this after Jian sets it aside, btw.

Jian is a very clever fighter, but not a specially aggressive one--instead of depending on mad combat skilz, he gets by on pluck, wit and timing. (Think: a more cheerful version of Flash Gordon. He simply refuses to give up. _Ever._)


That covers the main protags. In the next thread I'll give art info on secondary protags.

[rii namuras]

(Okay, the business thread said to post submissions in the appropriate topic, and that's what I'm doing. Submission from the art team of Iris Faerie, composing of myself and Miss Mollie Cline.)

('ishta concept drawing - inked. Will color it as soon as I get the chance.)

(Second submission. Seifas, a sillouette emphasizing his black skin and white teeth and eyes. I wasn't entirely sure what his teeth were like, or what hairstyle he had, so I gave him what I did for dramatic effect in the sillouette.)

[JasonPratt]

(Okay, the business thread said to post submissions in the appropriate topic, and that's what I'm doing. Submission from the art team of Iris Faerie, composing of myself and Miss Mollie Cline.)

Thanks! Nothing informed me there had been any post, or I'd've been here sooner! (It didn't even show up in bold font as a newly posted entry in the listing!)

('ishta concept drawing - inked. Will color it as soon as I get the chance.)

Actually, that's not bad! Hair needs to be shorter (it wouldn't come down over her ears). But I like her expression](Second submission. Seifas, a sillouette emphasizing his black skin and white teeth and eyes. I wasn't entirely sure what his teeth were like, or what hairstyle he had, so I gave him what I did for dramatic effect in the sillouette.)[/QUOTE]

_Much_ shorter hair needed--in fact given the tint of his skin, in some lights you might think he was bald. His teeth are a little large (all of them, not just the canines), but otherwise normal by our standards. (Aside from the flurorescing slightly in the dark thing. {g}) The eyes might be good. I have a notion that the whites fluoresce slightly, not just the irises, but this is one way to do them, too.

As it happens, this might not be a bad first rendering of a furia, one of the (female) bodyguards and elite butt-kickers of Atroza (first seen in Book 2). At least in the dark, I could imagine one looking a lot like this. The teeth might not even be off mark in that case--they have spines growing out of their bodies due to their submission to Atroza's transformations, and I've always figured that the teeth would be about the _first_ thing affected! (Especially since they always begin their submission to her by cannibalism.) In _that_ regard, the teeth might be too tame! {lol!}

So, save this one, too, before doing any alterations; and flag it for a later date. It wouldn't take much tweaking to be a fun early look at a Book 2 threat.

Again, sorry for the lateness of the reply! Now I should go look around at the other posts, to see if anything showed up there! And good work on the first attempts! (As noted, I tend to look for a home for everything, one way or another, if possible.)

Jason Pratt
Bittersea Publications

[rii namuras]

(No problem. And thanks for commenting on it, it's nice for me to know what needs to be changed and what doesn't, especially with 'ista, since I didn't get much visual clues as to her clothes in what you posted.)

(I'll have some more things for you next week - debate tournaments are wonderful for getting art projects done (inbetween rounds, mind you ~_^).)

(edit: My mind had been working and I drew another picture of 'ista, based on what you said. The criss-crossed bands were visual ties to the belt - I still gave her them, but they weren't as prelevant as last time. She has a blouse now (I hadn't picked that up in what you wrote before). My experience with "woman's boots" are tall boots, at least here in Tampa, so I gave her a pair that I actually own that I got because they'd be neat fantasish cosplay boots. They're a worn brown leather, and you can't tell at this angle, but the bands are made of the same material and have buckles on the other side.)

[JasonPratt]

Rii!

(I just realized this name is probably a word in Japanese or some other language. I hope it isn't a verb like "Attack", or something... {g})

Anyway--my main computer is down with the creeping crud at the moment (bad video card likely, but I'm doing volume defragmentation on it just in case virtual memory was the problem. Very doubtful, btw...) My older computer, on which fortunately I do my emailing, doesn't read pnp or php or whichever format the thumbnails are in. Consequently, all I can do right now is squint at the revision. {g}

That being said, what I _can_ squint does look like an improvement in the hair and blouse and boots! (And yes, I understood women's boots to be normally tall; the previous shoes weren't tall enough to register as 'boots' in my mind. Good shoes for doing work around a Cadretower and its grounds, though. {g})

Beyond that, if you tweaked her face any, I can't comment because I can't see close enough yet. Once I can get my other computer working again, though, I'll drop in more detailed comments where applicable!

Do good at the debate tournaments! And scribble freely! {G!} (I'll be looking for Mollie's entries, too.)

Jason

[rii namuras]

(Seifas sillouette try two!)

[JasonPratt]

Sorry for the delay--once again the system didn't alert me there had been an addition for this thread. It am weird...

That's actually a rather novel look for a juacuar. Though Seifas wouldn't be the sort to smile evil-ly. He's more of a moody sort. It does look intriuging for Bomas, though! (See main antagonist thread.) I especially love the eye--very juacuaran.

This is going to sound even weirder and more disturbing, but the mouth might actually be too _small!_ {lol!} Head shape looks good. Chin shape looks good. I mentioned the eye completely rules, right? {g!} Part of me thinks the nose is tipped up a bit much, _BUT_ on the other hand it fits a manga-variant art style representation. So I'm not inclined to complain about it. {g}

It's quite a good try! {bow!} I'll be paying attention to any development of it. (And may req it for Bomas if not for Seifas, eventually.)

Jason Pratt
Bittersea Publications