December 2023 Challenge: Solstice Well

[Kisachik the Wanderer]

Well, well well! It's been days since the challenge posted and it's just Redrobes' work thread sitting there, intimidating us by how much progress he's made, but fear not, I shall be adding my own scrawlings here soon. Doodlings. Why do both these words get a red underline? They don't exist? Well, now they do.

Today I give you this abysmal sketch, to encourage you to join in. Look how bad it is! As it should be at the doodlings stage.

In this fantasy land of Whiterock Tundra, a mysterious Solstice Well exists. Nobody knows who built it, but modern druids of southern villages claim it is the ancient druids of old, whose traditions they are continuing. Which is a bunch of lies, or, you could call it wishful thinking, if you're generous. The truth is, nobody knows what that artifact is or who built it, or how it works.

Situated in the northern part of the Tundra, the Well is a circular structure with a very deep hole in the middle. It probably is a well, I mean, there has to be water down there, it's so deep. Nobody ever brings a bucket and rope to verify that, though. They just assume. They say you're not supposed to put anything down there. The druids, that is, they act like the well is their thing. They make pilgrimage there every summer and winter solstice. If they could, they'd probably set up a whole entire village up there to keep strangers out. But the well is in the middle of empty, icy desert. The sea is difficult to fish here, and the nearest forest is far away. The worst thing is, of course, that the well is on the bear migration trail. Polar bears make the journeys to the well much more dangerous.

Every solstice, a mysterious light appears to be emanating from the well. In winter, it's a cold, white pillar of light shooting up into the sky for several minutes up to several hours in the days leading up to, during and after the solstice. In summer, a mysterious orange glow appears around the well for several days, and on the day of the solstice, mysterious lights can be seen in the sky. These lights are not seen in the absence of sunlight, and their colour depends on weather conditions.

That's it for today on this map. Stay tuned for more about the druids and their rituals, and, what is that thing in the sky there? Well, I did mention, and now have to deliver flying saucers, so there will be a story about them too, coming up.

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[ChickPea]

Hehe, this is a most excellent start! Excited to see the polar bears and flying saucers in there. I didn't seriously think you could pull this off, but I bow to your imagination!

The sketch is a nice start, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

[Kisachik the Wanderer]

Main line work is done, next I'll be adding some texture or ornaments.

Since the map looks so boring right now, let me tell you about these local druids.

The well, as mentioned, is located on polar bear migration trail. The druids venerate these animals. Out of fear, of course. But they pretend like it's part of their rituals and that they have the powers to shapeshift into these creatures. In reality though this whole shapeshifting business is more theatrics than magic. Each year, those that cannot shapeshift into polar bear (that is, likely, all druids) dress up in hilarious, pantomime bear costumes, which require two people to go into one costume, and in such form they go visit the well for solstice rituals.

This tradition was established out of caution; bears might attack humans, however if they see other bears, perhaps they will mind their own business. But nowadays it's all about pretense, politics, gossip and petty rivalries. If you don't want to dress up as bear, well, what kind of a druid are you then, without fancy forest magic? You'll be snubbed and kicked out of your druid circle.

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[ChickPea]

Hehe I am enjoying the lore behind this map!

It's looking nice and I'm interested to see where you go next with it.

[Kisachik the Wanderer]

I started colouring, it is such a lengthy process. But it's time for an update.

The tundra is a harsh environment. But even harsher is the Sea Beyond Which There is Nothing, and the mountains in the north, called White Peaks. The sea is named after an incorrect assumption, but, of course, since druidism is a thing here, we have a civilization on this planet that is focused on spirituality rather than conquest. Exploration is done on foot, or boat, or donkey, or what have you, but we don't do have any sophisticated machinery here. Or do we?

Somewhere on the planet, baby flying saucers are nesting. Left here by a group of fellow space faring creatures of their own kind, they are growing up in their own way. Flying saucers are curious things, focused on exploration of the vast expanses of the galaxies, that are just too difficult to comprehend, so we're not even going to try. Part of this process is finding habitable planets to create new explorers on, leaving what you could call mechanical eggs. These robotic gizmos develop into new flying saucers over several decades.

But they don't just fly off into space one day, oh no. Space is very dangerous, you can't just explore it before developing proper structure. That is why, at some point, they are picked up by another flying saucer that has at least the ability to traverse the void. Their space adventure begins. If they are picked up by a mature or elder flying saucer, they quickly develop their space faring abilities, and within just a few more years may be ready to explore space on their own. If they're picked up by a juvenile flying saucer, that process may go a bit slower.

This is just the beginning, of course, and I'll tell you what happens next another time. But for now, let's just say the baby flying saucers need a lift off the planet. How do you signal to be picked up, since the ones who left you here decades ago are no longer around? Maybe it is a lucky coincidence that that the Solstice Well produces such a beacon of light. Or maybe this well wasn't built by any "druids of old" at all.

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[Kisachik the Wanderer]

This is finished, although I might do a bit of post processing tomorrow, but right now it's past bedtime and I can't see it properly.

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[Kisachik the Wanderer]

Final version, large size.

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