The Garden-Gate to Faery

Alphabet

Star-Princess1

Sky Demon

I think this fellow probably has his ultimate inspiration in Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, but along the way he picked up some hints of Guillermo del Toro and (consequently) Lovecraft as well.

Herne the Hunter

I did not invent Herne the Hunter, I am sorry to say. But he's cool, so he gets a place along with everyone else. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herne_the_Hunter

Elf-Warrior

Elf warrior with magic battle pig.

As it happens, I ended up bringing my computer with me, which means I will be posting after all.

There will be no further pictures posted until next Sunday at the earliest. I'm going to be out of town.

Forest Spirits

Cave Demon

Ravings 2

More crazy stuff. This is what the inside of my brain looks like when dumped out on a page.

New Note

Added a few paragraphs regarding magic clockwork to the Notes on the World page.

Forest Spirit 1

Magic Clockwork (and a Sword)

Combination of what we would consider industrialism and enchantment. Typically designed and managed by High Clocksmen (who could be considered a sub-species of Wizard (in the sense of wise-man)), most cities have some form of clockwork, whether powering their mills and looms or used for heavy lifting, but none can compare to the extensive and highly complex clockwork systems of the city of Whitethorn, which are used notably to pump water all over the city.

Magic clockwork is also used to power many airships.

Whitethorn: the Garden City

The city of Whitethorn is located in the dry southern half of the western continent, Vatanavrish, and is one of the chief cities of that land. It is built of brilliant white stone around a natural geyser, which has been harnessed by the leaders of the city to only irrigate the city's innumerable gardens, but also to power the enchanted clockwork systems which keep the city running.

When Whitethorn was built long, long ago, the land was not desert, but green and prosperous. During the Dry Years, when the past became legend and many things were lost, the land became barren. At that time, the leaders of the city had the forethought to acquire every species of vegetation they could, and replant them in the city, where they built ingenious systems of pipes and aqueducts to keep them watered. The great fountain at the center of the city came from deep within the earth and had not dried up, and thus the gardens thrived. Flowering shrubs of all imaginable colors sprawled over every wall and bridge. Gigantic trellises formed the walls of many buildings, overgrown with ancient vines. Mighty trees lined every terrace, surrounded by masses of brilliant flowers. Roofs fell out of fashion and homes more and more often became glorified arbors, with fruit trees dropping their produce right down into the kitchens and bedrooms of the city.

In short, Whitethorn became a glittering white and emerald jewel in the middle of the deserts of Din, a fantastic garden of a city, where human and plant life dwelt alongside each other in perfect harmony.

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I apologize for the first picture. I'd been working on it for a while when I discovered that I begun using perspective about halfway through, and thus the mages' quarter of the city looks as if it's tipping over onto the eastern residential quarter.

The city is circular and consists of 5 districts: the market district, which sits at the center of the city and in which is located the famous and indispensable fountain, the mages' district in the south, the lesser residential district in the east (in which is located the primary gate of the city), the royal district in the north, and the greater residential district in the east. The residents refer to the four quarters which surround the market as "leaves."

Skyland 2

Here's another little Sky-Island, just something to tide us over until tomorrow.

Serpents and an Airship

Star-Creature 2

Here's another look at whatever this is.

Middle Earth 2

More Middle-earth stuff here.

Tree-Wolf

Wolves that live in trees, like packs of giant killer squirrels. Their fur is tinted green by the mossy fungus that grows on their skin. The bushy tail and flexible limbs better suit this species to climbing and jumping than its land-dwelling counterpart.

The Sky-Pillar

Mountain at the center of the world which holds up the sky. According to legend, this is the dwelling place of the shadowy Nameless God. Also, the fabled Phoenix Tree grows on the lower slopes of the mountain, guarded by large nasty serpents (which we will see soon).

Ravings 1

Not entirely sure what's going on here.

City Ship

The vessels of the Sea-People from the east.

Bull-God

Creepy bull-deity with human hands. Probably involved with either the continent of Shwntish in the northeast or Vatanavrish in the west. Not sure.

New Banner

Thanks to Lucien Knotter, we have a new and improved banner with words that you actually read. Plus, it looks several times more terrific than the old one.

P.S. Mr. Knotter has his own art blog here: http://capknott.blogspot.com/

Phoenix Tree

Produces the rare fire-fruit (information on the fire-fruit over in Notes).

Tomb City

I dreamed about this one. I think it's some kind of underground city of the dead of which only the topmost tower is visible above ground. Winding stairs lead lead down into the tower. It's out in the desert, surrounded by dead vegetation and ancient engraved monoliths. In general, heap bad magic.

Magic Street Lamps

Street lamps consisting of globes of crystal that glow in different colors - blue, red, yellow, etc.

Star-Creature

Stars fascinate me and will be a recurring theme here. Stars and trees.

I'm not entirely sure what this is or what it does, but I have an idea that it flies around in the night sky and spins the streaming threads of star-light into...something. Dreams? I'm open to suggestions. Oh yeah, under the cloak, it has spider legs.

Middle Earth 1

Tolkien stuff has a habit of finding its way into my margins. Here's an example.

Unicorn

There's nothing cute about my take on the unicorn. He's a big, hairy, wild, hump-backed cross between a buffalo and a horse, and he'll kill you as soon as look at you. But the horn still cures poison.

An Airship and a Creature with Shrubby Claws

Black Humors and Skylands

Here are some floating sky-islands (skylands?), formed by the coagulation of the vaporous exhalations of the earth, which I am calling "black humors."

I drew heavily on the ancient conception of humors, elements, and temperaments in creating this world, so this sort of thing will show up again.

P.S. I did not get the idea for levitating islands from James Cameron.

Map of the World

I've yet to settle on a name for this world (I'm thinking maybe "Kor"?), but in the meantime here's a map of the world and a description of each of the three major areas of land.

Introductions

This is a fantasy world that, over the past year, has sprung into being in the pages of my school notebooks. It started in the margins, moved on to consume whole pages, and now has two notebooks dedicated to its preservation. On the off-chance that a few people might find these sketches, drawings, and notes (linguistic, anthropological, historical, cultural, etc.) interesting, I am now putting them on the internet.

I'm not happy with the appearance of the blog, but blogspot doesn't give me a lot of options. I will be changing it, hopefully for the better, although probably not for good.

The title is a pun.