Comments: I don't know if any of you remembers the year when I drew a "dwarf mine" and two girls standing before it for the "Cavern" theme, but this is from the same universe. It's a ruined castle about an hour's walk from the second big city in Clouds of Xeen, and it is known as Newcastle. It's ruined when you first see it, anyway. There's a guy hanging out there who asks if you "want to buy the land upon which this lovely castle rests," for "only 50,000 gold." You eventually do buy it, but can't do much with it until you visit the king and pay his engineers to rebuild it. Thus, it eventually becomes your party's home.
If interested in the castle's backstory, and why it was destroyed, check this:
Lord Xeen, an evil dude in a cloudtop castle, got word of some scientists who were developing a weapon that could kill him, so he sent several bolts of lightning that annihilated both the castle and everyone in it. That's the short version. Long version involves the king's brother leaving several years back, on a quest to find Shangri-La. He *supposedly* returned when the story starts, but the king's advisor had his doubts about this person who claimed to be the long-lost brother. Sure enough, the advisor catches the man exposing his true self in his room, where he'd thought no one would see him. He noticed the advisor, though, and ultimately banished him (magically, I guess?) to exile in a tower on some island. Then Mr. Evil Undead Man took over the world, starting by getting the king ridiculously interested in a teleportation device that he'll never get, but that he severely wants. Then he somehow got all the creatures to turn against humans and humanoids? Anyway, he goes up to the clouds and builds himself a nice little castle, and settles there.. Effectively becoming the new ruler of Cloudside. (The world is flat, y'all. The other side is "Darkside," and your final quest is to reunite the sides of the world, so that it's once more a globe.) Anyway, some time passes, and a team of scientists in Newcastle have a "secret" laboratory where they are developing the weapon to kill Lord Xeen, as he is otherwise untouchable by regular weapons. The king's advisor, at this point exiled, is a bit of a magician, of sorts. He has been sending messages in dreams to the Newcastle scientists, asking them to develop such a weapon, as they are the only people in the would with the knowledge and resources to make it. He tells them to make haste, though, as Lord Xeen will undoubtedly kill them all if he finds out. He found out. Newcastle is destroyed, along with everyone in it, though the sword they were creating was indeed almost finished. It actually survives, and when you finally rebuild the castle, you find it down in the dungeon, on a pedestal. Also, you totally do find Shangri-La. It's "the land below the land,: and is reached via a hellish dragon cave. Once you're there, if you turn around, you'll see stairs or a pathway leading back up. Go straight forward to the other side, and you'll see a path leading down. This lands you in the OTHER baddie's dungeon, where you will find the king's brother. OOF THAT WAS LENGTHY
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:54 pm
Day # 5 Theme: Shadows
Comments: A heartless from Kingdom Hearts. Wasn't feeling it today, but still spent enough time on it.
Comments: She's a young girl who gets stranded on some uninhabited island. This would presumably be one or two days after washing up onto the shore, during a rainstorm. Here, the rain is finally clearing up.
Chiyo! She tends to wear pink/lavender/purple, but sometimes it's more matching to the song she's covering. She's a bubbly girl who represents springtime and Easter.
Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2019 8:07 pm
Day # 13 Theme: Spirit Challenge Part Two
Comments: I really enjoyed making all of these, and really wish I could have done more! crying
Comments: Not feeling so great today. I had this looking a lot better in my head, but I always struggle with profile views. Also, sickness doesn't help!