-OLD WORLD- Long term work in process, story ideas

Okay, let's dive a bit more into the characters.

ZWEI

While much of her story is being redone, I still have some I can share about her regardless.

She is the first hero to be introduced, and probably has the easiest timeline to keep track of.

Zwei begins where the story as a whole starts out, in Cruenhall. At this time, Zwei is undergoing training for herself to become a better warrior, and while many know how ambitious she is, they were unaware that she was apart of the underground rebellion. The brewing rebellion stirred up mixed feelings, as while some were concerned as whether or not the Cruenhall sisters would succumb to the blood-well, others had possibly sought its power for themselves. Zwei followed the rebellion dutifully, as she held big dreams for herself that she sought to claim through it. Her naturally adventurous side lead her to take on new risks and even discovered how the underground irrigation system worked in her own city.

When Tristan invaded Cruenhall, they were overpowered greatly. The sisters inevitably fell to the blood-well, and amidst the chaos, the people sought protection during the battle. Zwei had lead them through the underground system, and with that, her reputation as a hero began.

Due to her heroic action, she is honored a special position in the Odinburg military, in which there, is where she forms her team. She formed her team with two of her greatest friends, Nowa and Feytin. Nowa was a human environmentalist while Feytin was an aspiring magi. When Zwei sees a struggling new recruit, she allows him to join her team, believing she saw potential in him.

She and the recruit, Rubin, became awfully close. He admired her greatly, and she felt a sense of pride for his improvement. Together, her team made a name for themselves across the lands, even earning an honorary visit to Tristan.

Zwei was the most beloved of the four heroes, being the one who was most ambitious, and one who connected their heart to the people they loved.

Yet, Zwei is met with challenges.

While seen as the most empathetic hero, there is a secret vanity to them. Zwei struggles with her own self image, painting a figure that she wants to become.

When her past catches up with her, an old rebellion member outs her, saying that she was power hungry. In the heat of the moment, when citizens wanted affirmation from her whether or not she was apart of the old Cruenhall rebellion; Zwei denies it.

The old member, is prosecuted by their people, as they thought they were trying to bog down their idol.

Throughout the story, Zwei struggles with the truth of herself, often trying to become more like the image she painted for herself.

Nowa, Zwei's best friend and human environmentalist (this means, a human who follows in ways similar to the Natureborne), argued that Zwei should meet Anies. Anies was also making quite a name for herself with the Natureborne, and with the people of Odinburg, though not particularly idolized.

While Zwei obliges, she and Anies often find themselves butting heads more than anything. Zwei argued that Anies was too desolate from the rest, and Anies argued Zwei was too self-absorbed. While these two often bickered, Anies grew curious about Zwei's team, and noticed a strangeness in the recruit, Rubin. Zwei had heard sketchy rumors about Rubin, but was rather coveted about discussing them, as she developed romantic feelings for him.

It is later discovered by Anies, that Rubin was a Tristan spy. Anies is ambushed by Rubin, as he realizes her knowledge of him, and is killed.

Zwei can no longer keep a traitor on her team; he is ordered to be executed.

Zwei realizes the naiveté of herself and her doings, and becomes withdrawn from her team to lead solo campaigns.

(There is eventually a time skip to her in her forties.)

Zwei, out of the four, is the first and only hero to achieve such a status. She becomes the ruler of Odinburg. While adorned as a rightful ruler by her kingdom, she herself has suffered change. She lives for her people, certainly, but no longer feels for herself. Zwei rode into battle with her people, and was injured with a deep cut on the stomach. When a soldier offers to treat her, she accepts. She soon realizes the soldier can not be one of her own, and is attempting to poison her wound. Yet, she sees the recruit struggling to do so, but assures them that they may. Zwei states that it is penitence for herself, and allows him to carry out his order dutifully, just as she once would have.

While watching the sun set over the cliff; she dies with regret.

While Zwei's arc ends here, her story does not. This is the point where she simply catches up to the rest and meets a common goal. You will soon learn that death is not necessarily the end for many of these characters.

Zwei's story is being redone, so this is subject to change.  

aight! lets tackle these:

1. the four protagonists are of the same gender! I wanted all female leads as when I was little, I didn't have a lot of female characters I felt I could relate to. I also feel like many females in fantasy-world-like settings are thrown under the bus. Whether it be because of their armor design, or actually just how they're treated. Why this world is in an arguably older time when it comes to technology, it still is a fantasy world. I wanted to try and leave out designated real-world sexism that prevented female characters from rising to power or being taken seriously. I feel like many stories and works include a sexism in fantasy as a "real-world" factor when ultimately the work is fantasy and customs can differ. It was a little tiring having to worry everytime my fave fem came onscreen because I worried they would always be subject to rape or a horrible death based on their gender. (While I'm not saying I can't like stories because of this, I'm saying it's exhausting to pass through many with the same thought in mind.)

Not only that, but I wanted it to be reminiscent of an old epic, which usually do not feature female leads.

There are definitely male characters that play important roles in Old World! They just do not happen to be the protagonists. Anies, Aria, and Elsa's arcs all have an important male role. =)

2.  More or less medieval! This is a bit hard to nail, as this setting can be a little tough to compare to the real world. Though yes, I would say medieval with a few technological advances. (Magic helps you out!)

3. Time gaps! The flow of time can be a bit hard to follow, as usually what happens with the story, when you start another character arc, you may find yourself going back in time again. While Zwei's story is played out first... it is arguable that Anies started first. Zwei opens to when she's an adult, but Anies opens to when she is a kid. (About 16 years before Zwei really took off.) So while it is arguable that there isn't a gap between those two, due to the fact they were still both ALIVE when Anies' arc starts; I usually consider it when their character-defining moment happens. If you consider their stories by their age, that's when the "gap" really forms I suppose! The characters from oldest to youngest are: Anies, Zwei, Elsa, and Aria. (That pretty much flips the order.) Usually the hardest part is really just keeping up with the past of Old World, because once the character arcs catch up they are relatively all happening at the same time. Zwei and Anies are probably the easiest arcs to follow through in terms of time. Aria and Elsa are a bit more confusing, as Elsa's story technically takes place before Aria's.

I've considered moving things around in the presentation order to make it less confusing, but otherwise I usually have reasons for leaving them introduced as such. I have been considering changing the order of Aria and Elsa.

4. Economy! The economy isn't dived too well in, truthfully. It shows however, that Natureborne and Orin relatively do not have a hard driven market. It's usually DIY, trade for it, or even have your neighbor do it! They can afford to live like this because of their unity, Natureborne and Orin rarely leave their kind behind. Humans are divided, and greater in numbers, they do not have this luxury. Humans vary, Tristan center mostly uses montetary means, but their outskirts may be lined with traders. Odinburg is more traders, but due to their recent influx in Natureborne, they are a bit more united with their neighbors and less people are getting left behind. Certain villages and off-tribes most likely are traders as well, or DIY. The island Kougu is from is seen to be like this.

Economies can become unstable quickly, mostly due to just the harsh conditions of Old World. If you aren't winning battles, you're draining resources and not earning any. Not to mention, if the season changes rapidly, or a natural disaster occurs, you're going to need a surplus of different goods to compensate.

The economies of Old World haven't really changed in the years because of it. They can't progress and are more in a frozen period. The only one that's changed recently is Odinburg, but that was due to the destruction of Tuurem.

awesome questions!
 

Jun 17, 2015 10:29:21 GMT -6 TheDayAfterYesterday said:

Are all the heroes of the same gender? Does the setting take place in the medieval area? How far of a time gap between each character, will the economy be relatively the same or will you have to reconstruct it each time?

It's alright!!!!!!!!! I often find inspiration in a lot of stuff that I look at, though how I draw their faces especially were inspired by Maya Takamura.

YAUBDASNDASJIDKL ; honestly I'm so glad Zwei's haircut reminds someone of the 80's. I like a lot of the crazy fashion back then. I can't really remember when and why I decided Zwei's haircut, though at a point, I realized it was super similar to Hannes from Zektbach.

Aria? As Inuyasha? That's kind of funny! I could see her looking more like Kagome. In a way, her original character concept was very similar to Kagome as well. Aria's original concept was someone from a universe like ours who is drawn into Old World's separate universe. I thought that was too confusing and out of place, so in the end I just made her apart of Old World.

AS FOR GRIFFITH IM STARTING TO SEE IT. Back when I first designed Elsa I hadn't watched Berserk, and I drew her hair slightly different.

Here is an old sketch from 2012.

  I drew her hair more straight edge, but as my style kind of developed and how I realized how I wanted to present my characters, I drew the edges of her hair more curved. I was actually just working on sketches, and my latest one of Elsa kind of made me realize why you may have thought she was male, because I started thinking that without color, she somewhat looked like Griffith too!

Neat observations haha! I've been working on sketching more pictures to update their profiles with. The reason why I haven't posted Anies' first arc summary yet is because I've been working on her pictures. (Anies is the hardest for me to draw. x( )

I've also been thinking of making a doodle post, in which I may post old and recent doodles that I may not bring up when speaking about their stories. (Sometimes I just like to draw silly pics of them too.)

Hopefully later today, I will have updated this thread with the next story arc and artwork!

Jun 18, 2015 14:03:23 GMT -6 TheDayAfterYesterday said:

Thanks for the very descriptive answers, you probably cleared up more unanswered questions that I hadn't thought of.

What inspired your drawing style, the sketches you made for your characters look amazing? I have no intent of disrespect when I compare your art to someone/something, I just find it fascinating that the style is similar.


Zwei's haircut reminds me of the 80s:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Show 80s haircut}http://bakuland.net/wp-content/uploads/parser/80s-hairstyles-curly-women--4.jpg

Aria's facial features remind me of Inuyasha:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Show Inuyasha}
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120523064438/inuyasha/images/b/b5/Inuyasha.png

Elsa reminds me of Griffin from Berserk:

SPOILER: Click to show

{Show Griffin}http://japanphilly.org/images/Blog/Daniel/Berserk02.jpg

By first glance I was fooled into thinking Griffin, the white-haired person, was a woman when in fact he was a male.


Will there be any more sketches anytime soon? I'm not usually good with questions, so these might be my last, heh. Thanks again.

you're not the first to mix those two up in terms of names, it happens! I could see that more ^^ thank you! I should draw elsa smiling more, but im a mean creator

Jun 18, 2015 16:35:13 GMT -6 TheDayAfterYesterday said:

I got confused when I typed names, I meant to say "Anies" rather then "Aria", when I was comparing her to Inuyasha's facial features. The new Elsa sketch looks great, like the way she expresses such a nonchalant smile.

ANIES

Anies' story is the second to be introduced, and opens to a capitol in flames.

The Natureborne are being slaughtered by the soldiers of Tristan, who is raiding their base with airships.

Amidst the destruction, a child tries to flee alone. The child is Anies, whose parents have been murdered in the siege. While trying to find safety, she is hit in the calf by a stray arrow, and falls to the dirt. Tuurem, who was aligned with outskirts of Odinburg, has human soldiers from nearby villages trying to rescue those they can.

A man, Horus, finds the abandoned Anies, and takes her away from the battle. He brings her to his wife, Martha, and they patch her up.

They bring Anies to the survivors, but unfortunately, due to the genocide, many cannot handle the burden of another child after losing everything. A Natureborne raised by humans is looked down upon, but in this case, it could not be helped.

Martha, who has felt the loss of her son, yearns for another child, and wants to take in Anies. Reluctantly, Horus obliges, seeing his mourning wife and villagers. Both he and Anies are unwilling to accept one another.

Anies is now conflicted with the loss of her parents, and her new human family. After witnessing the near extinction of her people; she is driven to make a change. At seven, she wishes to become a warrior.

Horus, her human father, agrees to be her master, and teaches her the ways of the sword. However, due to her bad calf, she finds she is more suited to be an archer, and while Horus teaches her some of this, she must learn the rest from the remaining Natureborne that wander Odinburg.

Constantly going back and forth between humans and Natureborne, Anies' culture is in question. She wants to be Natureborne, but she lives with humans.

After becoming a skilled archer, she is able to fight alongside both, though tries to remain loyal to the Natureborne.

Nowa becomes aware of Anies' reputation- of an anomaly raised by humans trying to reconnect with her people. Nowa believes she could fight alongside Zwei, and she introduces them. It becomes apparent that these two are a conflict of ideals.

Anies, who is distrustful of humans, becomes suspicious of Rubin's, Zwei's knight, behavior. She investigates to find that he is a spy for Tristan- Anies' worst suspicion. However, when trying to find him herself, she is ambushed, and stabbed in the back, through her stomach, with his blade. She dies.

Horus and Martha hear of the news, and are struck with the loss of another child. They attend the ceremony to return Anies' body to The Earth, with their eyes lowered.

Anies' body is returned to The Earth successfully, but yet, she awakens on the other side, still a spirit. She sees a looming figure who calls out to her.

It is Gambhiri, of Battle.

He tells her, that her journey is not yet over, and that she will rise again.

The 7 Protectors, have chosen Anies, to become a demigod. She is to act upon their will for the better of The Earth. She will do what they cannot, she will go into the physical world for them, as by being half mortal, she can perform this.

She receives their markings as proof of their blessings, and becomes a demigod after ten years. Her first work is to reclaim Tuurem, her-life long goal.

Anies gathers the survivors of the Natureborne, and under the power of a demigod, the forces of Tristan are quickly dispatched. Many fled, surrendering themselves as they realize they stood no chance. Anies had let them, as an act of mercy.

Yet, there was one she did not let go.

Harvey, who was the commander of the forces back when she was small. Though now he has no will to fight, Anies pursues him. Her people look to her, with confused eyes, as Anies is an archer- surely his distance would be beneficial?

Yet, she apprehends him with her bare hands, and while her strength was surely plentiful, she suffocates him for minutes. The Natureborne look to her, with a plea as to stop. She is disgracing herself.

When she regains herself, she quickly snaps his neck, but her people are disillusioned by the spectacle, and certainly view her with less respect.

After the reclamation of Tuurem, Anies' arc catches up to the other's.

Is Anies more human, or is she Natureborne?

I have decided to make a post detailing character flaws later, as these posts currently serve more or less as summaries. Though I will allude to their conflict.