June 2021 Challenge: The Eshan Gate
It's been way too long since I last jumped in a Guild Challenge ! Not sure if it's reasonable to start this one as I'm having a terribly busy Summer, but this map needs to be done and there's something I need to learn while drawing it
The Eshan Gate is one of the magic wonders in my own fantasy world. I already mapped some parts of it here and there on the Guild, and of course, the amazing J.Edward mapped the whole continent for me here.
We're here in the realm of Ar'Thard, and most precisely in its capital, Danedir. Thard is the seat of a very specific magic based on the Darkness. Don't get me wrong : there's noting bleak, mean or dangerous here. Darkness often has a bad reputation for us, but it's not how it's considered in Thard. Darkness is only the lack of senses : without seeing, smelling, earing, in pure Darkness, you can sense the reality beyond the world, and touch the Gods' essense. Darkness is an old, old thardian philosophy, which became more over centuries, mostly thanks to a genius scholar named Eshkor. By learning things beyond the physical reality of the actual world, the Darkness priests, with Eshkor as a leader, discovered the geography is not exactly what you can think, and (among other things), they could use the Darkness rules to 'fold' the universe and connect two distant points. Don't push me to go in the details : Eshkor mathematics are a nightmare and I'm a map maker, not a mathematician. All what I know is if you pass through the Darkness veil of an Eshkor gate, you exit in a distant point. Enter in the ground floor, and exit in the highest room of the highest tower. Easy, and very useful ! Well... of course, there's painful rules : the biggest is the distance between the two gates, the taller the gates have to be. That's why you'll often find Eshkor gates within an unique building.
Thardians are well-known in Oneira for their architecture : the tallest, the most impressive, all done with their sacred black stone, the kahrok, which is the most solid and stable when it's about linking it to Magic or Darkness.
Now, to help you have the complete context, we'll have to talk about something which happened 9000 years ago, while the terrible War of the Keepers teared the world in two parts : the realm of Luvao, in North, and the realm of Thard, in South. Needing to federate his huge empire, Dar, King of Thard, who also was the disciple of Eshkor, proceeded to a magic miracle, catching the attention of everyone, instilling fear in his ennemies' heart. He basically... wrenched half of its capital to the ground, and made it fly in the sky, showing he was the most powerful king among all, etc. Yeah, yeah. Subtle.
Long story made short, Thard survived the war. We can't say it actually won it, but well, survived, with most of its lands, half of its people, and this damn flying city. Classy, but also... do you know what's annoying with a flying city ? Go to the market in the low city if your in the flying one. Or visit your old mother in the flying one when you're on the ground. Do you have your personal dragon ? I don't.
So. The new king asked the dear old Eshkor to solve this problem, and Eshkor created... this monster : the Eshan Gate (Isekën Eshan in old Thardian). The biggest, tallest Darkness gate ever. Remember ? The further is the destination, the taller is the Gate. It needed 8 years for the masonry, and 383 priests to create the Darkness veil, but the Eshan Gate now safely carries thardians from the low Danedir to the high Thardälm every day since the end of the War of the Keepers, and probably will continue until the end of times.
The upcoming map is new for me but an old one for Thard, drawn centuries ago, as you can see from the primitive perspective (and that is what I need to practice : imperfect things -_-).
Just a warning : the flying city on top is from an unreleased project I made a few years ago, but is just here for the sketch, I'll redraw it completely from a different angle probably, to fit the challenge rules ^^). As always, blue lines are the sketch and will be redrawn of course
Hope you'll enjoy !
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Last edited by MistyBeee; 06-11-2021 at 03:49 AM.
Brilliant concept, the history is rich in flavor.
This is sure to be masterful when it's done, I'm sure the perspective will be perfect.
IR
PS Side note of irony: I just made the connection the other day, that I work with a 'Misty B.', and I find that amusing.
Great map, great history, great everything!!!! :-)
Toujours aussi beau, j'ai vraiment hâte de voir le résultat!!
Awwww yeah, another top-notch piece of art from the Beee!
Haha, I do hope I won't disappoint ! ^^'Originally Posted by Diamond
Thanks so much, Fol' !!
Naaah ! All the purpose is to not be perfect ! I do want this perspective to be a total mess.
(Say hi to the mysterious Misty B. for me ! ^^)
New progress on the map with the bottom part city all done, including the Gate itself, with its Darkness veil. Now, I'll start working on the big version ! ^^
Hope you'll enjoy !
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I think the most amazing thing about your stuff is the sheer amount of detail you can pack in, and somehow it doesn't look cluttered or cramped.
Details, details... both my joy and nightmare ^_^
Hey Guild !
New update, with the lineart done on the main part, and first base for the color. Or.. almost done. There's details I'm not 100% happy with, but I had to make compromises or I won't be able to finish in time. I just can't believe we're the 18th already o_o
It's now time to start thinking about the ornamental border... I'll maybe try something I always wanted to explore, inspired from 15th century illuminations, but it's not set in stone yet. Anyway, I do hope you'll like this new update ^^
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New version after a lot of work, with a first shading on the main part, some updates on the big Gate, and a first version of the ornamental border on the bottom part, with the addition of a key for main buildings. There's still a lot of work on the upper part, shading, light, color... not sure I'll be able to do all of this in time
### Latest WIP ###
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