Manalodia's Gallery of Arte

[Manalodia]

An older concept of Dusk, when the theme more focused on a Victorian theme. I messed up on the
split image as you can see. It wasn't going to be a that at first because of the angle, but I went for it
anyway and the proportions are of. Ha!

The image on the right is when Alastor is in control.

 

[Manalodia]

Taken captive as a slave during one of Surlvhal's attacks on the tribes of Resila, Dinah grew up in the servitude of a chieftain. The son of her master took an eye for her, and she for him and he eventually took her as his own upon establishing his own name. Eventually giving him two sons, what joy Dinah found in her circumstance did not last.

Some years had gone by and Surlvhal and Resila went to war again. It was not uncommon for a high-born to take a slave as concubine, but it was the favour showed Dinah that earned the young noble unwarranted suspicion of abandoning his people or betraying them. In cowardice, he gave in to pressure and sent Dinah away right before Ira was born, keeping their eldest, Matteniah with him. A servant sent to tend Dinah per chance overheard the young lord hiring mercenaries to kill Dinah and bring back the newborn. With this warning, Dinah fled back to her homeland, coming close to the battlefields many a time.

By a miracle she and baby Ira found the tribe of Adjura and her family, reuniting amidst the conflict. When Resila was overcome, it came time to flee again when the mercenaries, disguised as soldiers, were just at her doorstep. With Ira still young, they braved the desert of Obolos, traveling with at times with deserters, gypsy caravans and merchants fleeing the conflict until they arrive in regions of Isalme. A foreigner once again in a new land, Dinah was again fortunate enough to be taken in by a widowed farmer taking pity on the woman and child.

There they stayed until Ira was nine years old, growing up alongside farmer Mulkivitch's children and adopted daughter, Mila, who had been left at his gates. When an outbreak many feared to be a second plague broke across the southwestern reaches of Catheel, where Dusk was fortunate to escape its grasp, Dinah was not so fortunate. Holding on longer than the local physician expected, it would not be long before she eventually succumb. The mercenaries that had been tracking them for years under her former master's contract, finally located them and set fire to the farm. A group of trainees under Transient Maj. Rema Merloci were close by and headed towards the cloud of smoke.

Dinah was bedridden in the barn-house, having been moved their with Ira to prevent the disease from spreading. With only the two children left and the mercenaries setting flame to the last refuge, Ira would not leave her side. Desperate to save him, she gave him the choice to leave her to the flames or take what was left of her life. Only Mila and Ira know what took place in those final moments and neither ever speak of it...

 

[Manalodia]

Rema's second adopted child under unusual circumstances once again. Originally found by Mila and Miriam crying in a bush not far from their picnic area. As with Rema and Mila, a Penumbra cannot adopt a huema either, so the abandoned baby was taken in. However, Rema knew there was more to the child from the emblem on his swaddle.

At five years old, Lauro's origins become clear as they were hidden in part for his safety and his family becoming attached to him. After Dusk and Rema defeat the Transients and are forced to flee Isalme, they take Lauro with them to return him to his home, the royal palace of Nuefrost.

 

[Manalodia]

This was from some months ago when I was trying out something more realistic than usual. Anyway, though I'm not at all happy with how Rema turned out, but am pleased with Maribella, her grandmother. I should have drawn Magnolia in this, but I wasn't really thinking about it at the time. If I go back on this at some point, I'll make some changes and add Mag.

 

[Manalodia]

Older drawing of Miriam when solidifying her concept. I've stuck pretty close to this over the years
aside from changing her hair design depending on her attire (I try and make them believable as possible
by not having characters stick to one look, like in real life, but not so much they aren't recognizable). One
thing about hand drawings is that I always had to "get it right" as much as possible because I didn't have
a steady supply of paper and lead.
Though the story started off somewhat modern, Miriam always had a classic vintage look to her. Thinking
back, she might have stood out among all the leather and 90s Goth look.

 

[Manalodia]

Drew this one at random one day, but tried to mold it into something partway. It was meant
to reflect how Dusk and Mila both end up drawn into the abyss at some point due to circumstances
of their past.

An older work in trying to figure out a concept for Dusk's Eye of Abaron glyph.
This was around the time I played with Photoshop effects, too so that explains the background.

 

[Manalodia]

Something non-Eternity related this time.

This is from another story I plan on working on once Eternity is finished. It's called ALTER, an abstract
story about a boy named Genin and his multiple personalities: Nanashi, Senza and Mute.

Genin under the influence of Senza

 

[Manalodia]

The Path

 

[Manalodia]

I'm not sure if my two posts above are appearing for anyone else, but I can't see them. Let me know and I'll repost them.

Out of all my attempts at Dusk and changing his concept design, this is the most recent in which
his outfit has a classical look while being more subtle than the fashion of his time. Part of that
reason is because I combined his first concept with the late Medieval setting in mind.

 

[Manalodia]

Dark Goddess, Charon

 

[Manalodia]

It's been too long since I last drew anything, so here is a recent piece that I hope will continue into more now that I'm back in the mood.

Ilinca Ortensia Arcturus Cardinal

Ilinca is the second child of Adriana Arcturus, former Viennrosette (princess) of Lithavania. Raised in their mountain hermitage away from Kolonia, they were taught of their lineage, its betrayal, downfall contrary to what the rest of their people believe. Having a wit and way with words from a young age, Adriana nurtured it into speechcraft alongside schooling in polity and diplomacy. Aside this, Ilinca inherited her mother's gift for the black artes as well as a personal interest in the sciences.

Sent to Kolonia as a young woman, she acted as her brother's adviser until she married a loyalist to House Arcturus, Costach Cardinal. Eventually the two men gained a foothold with a handful of allies in the Red Council, allowing Ilinca to begin her own initiative of exploring the mystery of how the Penumbra lost their inherent forms and abilities. She also provided some knowledge when the Gravuzie outbreaks began. This research was halted by her becoming a mother to three of her own, Varen, Vetrise and Cachusa.

Hardships came when it seemed the Arcturus numbers were growing with their influence. Cachusa was born with an unstable mind, causing violent fits and emotional swings most of her young life. Varen and his fiance were killed by Gravuzie, something she believed was planned by enemies among the council, including Ser Vladmir Blair. With Vetrise being close to her brother and finding a mentor in Blair, she chose to leave Kolonia altogether while continuing her mother's research and her own. It was only after these events did Cachusa's behavior vanish altogether, a mystery staying with Ilinca until some time later when Cachusa gave birth to her own daughter.

Unable to accept the child's unisexuality and added distance between she and Cachusa, it would not be until years later after Miriam's possession and Cachusa's awakening that Ilinca began putting the puzzle together with aide from her mother. Through Vetrise's letters linking the gravuzie to the Red Council, Ilinca would slowly begin to unravel a chain events from the far past and those that followed the Arcturus to present day.

 

[Manalodia]

Engel Arial Arcturus

Firstborn of Adriana Arcturus and currently only male of the surviving Arcturus line. This places him as the head of his clan on which all responsibility and success of their reinstatement rest. Prepared specially from a young age, his mother was more strict with him (in part due to his nonchalant personality). Though masterful in the magic artes, his skill with the blade has yet to be bested.

Taking his sisters with him into Kolonia under instruction of their mother, their dependency on him matured him greatly and he quickly made a name for himself among the aristocracy, though womanizing became a new bad habit. He became a new voice within the Red Council, Kolonia's governing voice, and a figure loyalists to the old monarchy could rely their hopes. Where support was garnered, enemies of the Arcturus while those dispassioned from the past watched the outcome.
Currently in a power struggle with the senior members of the council, Engel has made the gravuzie crisis his primary focus despite a sliding grip, reinforced by his brother-in-law, Costach Cardinal. The impact of the virus strikes home when he learns his niece Cachusa's home has been destroyed by what appears to be the work of someone within transformed, with only mangled bodies as evidence of victims.

Aside from his role within Kolonia, Engel secretly is a patron of the Penumbra Underground, a group harboring those seeking life outside the settlement's confines for the outside world. Feared and despised by the Huema and thin relations with the Aerolite, the Underground shelters and supplies Penumbra through the western reaches of Catheel while slowly expanding.

 

[Manalodia]

Rema Cetrine DiBesto

Rema had many influences that effected her upbringing alongside a vivid imagination. Growing up hearing her grandfather's war stories and grandmother's folklore of mythical creatures, Rema found herself dreaming more becoming the heroic knight rather than his lady in waiting. Despite her father discouraging her hoyden ways, it did little to stop it or from scuffling with local boys for their teasing.

It was the one thing that could take her mind off of the hard times that beset them because of the current war's effects. The grape vineyard and other crops once serving them well no longer yielded enough to keep up with demand, their only option seeming to be servitude under the land's lord. Her father's pride would not allow this nor for his wife to help their crisis, he joined Rema's grandfather and uncle into the next major battle in hopes of looting wealth enough to sustain them.
While the men were away, Rema's grandmother taught her to hunt as their gypsy descendants did for food and income, and the girl was easily able to adapt it into an adventure. Ill tidings continued when her uncle returned alone, informing them her grandfather fell on the field and father was imprisoned for egregious conduct.

It was around this time that Rema first met Miriam Gavrielle during the snowy season, the girl and her mother moving into the outskirts of Notte's countryside. Rema became enamored with her vast experience of the world, lavishness and feminine appeal Rema felt she lacked. Their friendship would become a bond tying them once her father was released a year later and many evils come to pass and secrets revealed.

 

[Manalodia]

Miriam Louisa Arcturus Gavrielle (50)

9th generation of House Arcturus, Miriam's young life began with strife and division. Born epicene, her mother, Cachusa was the only one to accept her without exception. Talented like the rest of her family in the arte of magic artes, she carried her own gift for music and singing early on. Much too early yet attributed to her body, Miriam entered male adolescence and after her first night visiting the opera house, flowered into womanhood as well, followed by surreal, vivid nightmares.

With these events occurring abruptly, forces within Kolonia saw the ripe opportunity to seize the girl's mind for a dark ritual of possession. Sheltered from the reality of the gravuzie, she and her mother experienced their brutality at the hands of none of than her infected father and grandfather. For nearly a week they endured various abuses to break their mind, to which Miriam succumbed. Cachusa regained her Penumbran form and freed them, fleeing into the wilderness before returning to her estranged family.

For a short time they were under the protection of Adriana Arcturus before the Red Council, the one's behind the ritual discovered them. This led them into the world beyond Wes Mountains and learning how to live in hiding from both their enemies and Penumbra hunters employed throughout the land by the Huema kingdoms. Off and on through this time Miriam switched between her own persona and the one created due to trauma, Viktoria.

Managing through various trials and hardships over the decades, gaining and losing allies among the Penumbra Underground, House Dianisia, betrayal and friendship among the other races, Miriam and Cachusa adapted with cunning, moving around constantly, eventually settling in one Isalme's countrysides. Here Miriam met Rema DiBesto, a Huema peasant in which she would finally find a friend and companion with their destinies (and blood) entwined over the following centuries...

 

[Manalodia]

Cachusa Saphrene Arcturus Gavrielle

Third child of Costach and Ilinca Cardinal, she and her elder sister survive their older brother, a victim of the Gravuzie virus overshadowing the Penumbra of Kolonia. Suffering from uncontrollable fits growing up, her behavior earned her a reputation as extremely troubled and dangerous, seeing as she had tendency to use her magic unhindered on whatever occasion. Attributing this to her huge insecurities compared to her siblings, Cachusa's temperament dwindled somewhat as a young woman, but vanished the moment she gave birth to Miriam.

Motherhood matured her drastically as she devoted herself entirely to raising the girl, if not at times spoiling her and being overprotective. Due to Miriam's condition at birth, it alienated the child from both sides of her family, to which Cachusa was quick to cut them off as she and Elyot worked to further his political career. Still close with her aunt and uncle, Cachusa remained conscious that aside from this, her own introverted personality would become apart of her daughter, recognizing she desired this dependency for her own comfort.

Unaware of the danger she protected Miriam from, the gravuzie virus would soon come to her home in a way unimagined. Noticing very little of Elyot's condition as it varied from all other cases, she and her daughter were not prepared for the horrors that awaited them and would last many days. Enduring the sado-masochism of her changed husband and father-in-law, Cachusa only thought of somehow saving Miriam up until her body finally gave in. It was then under inexplicable circumstances that her Penumbra blood "awakened", allowing her to take a form lost to her people centuries ago and killed both Stromber and Elyot.

Fleeing with Miriam into the wilderness to heal and collect herself after the trauma, the only thing she had left was her family. Through this tragedy the past was of no effect and she learned all that had happened was of a dark design by Vladmir Blair, the oldest of the Penumbra surviving Lithavania and hidden hand behind the Red Council. Under her eldermother, Adriana Arcturus, she learned how to harness her abilities and eventually, she and Miriam were sent away from Kolonia, away from Vladmir's influence. It was also part of Cachusa's mission to find a way to help Miriam, now fractured from what she endured and forced to carry an unknown spirit within her, one that grows in influence with the passing of time.

 

[Manalodia]

Adriana Stella Arcturus

The last Viennrosette of Lithavania, Adriana witnessed the destruction of her home and kingdom, said to be at her father's hands during her uncle's rebellion for the throne. With only her great uncle Germaine, they took refuge in Gale and the Gardens of Rayne. Still young, Germaine tried to gather loyalists to reistablish their royal house, but Vladmir Blair and other elders of the Penumbra branded House Arcturus traitors, cutting them off from much support.

Germaine left to find a means to regain their place and truth behind Lithavania's fall, but he never returned. Adriana remained in the Gardens for a time until meeting Daemona, one of the last Salbaticci (feral) of their people. Hiding away in the mountain heights of Wes Border Mountains, they watched the progression of Kolonia as Adriana planned to take back what was hers.

Adriana continued her lineage through Engel, Ilinca and Rochel, raising them in preparation to enter Kolonia and reinstate their family name. Like Daemona, Adriana still retained her Penumbra form where all in the settlement were no longer able, not even her children.

Over the many decades and after Daemona's final rest, Adriana watched over her family from the mountains. She watched the mysterious Gravuzie virus surface among her people and Varen's death at the creature's hands; both suspecting Vladmir and the Red Council to be behind. With what befell Cachusa and Miriam, Adriana decides it is time for her to step from the shadows and take an active role. With Cachusa awakening, she leaves to follow the vague trail her great uncle left behind.

 

[Storm Wolf]

Nice work, very gothic. Love the stories with each picture. It looks like you have a lot of good material for a great book series.

 

[Fyle]

Great thread, love the way the eyes stand out in the OP!

 

[Manalodia]

Oh wow, sorry for the huge delay in responding! Haven't been on here in some time as I'm busy with so much, but I appreciate the comment Since creating a series is my goal, that's VERY encouraging. I have some drafts of my story here, but haven't uploaded anything for a month or two.

 

[Manalodia]

Nice work, very gothic. Love the stories with each picture. It looks like you have a lot of good material for a great book series.

Oh wow, sorry for the huge delay in responding! Haven't been on here in some time as I'm busy with so much, but I appreciate the comment Since creating a series is my goal, that's VERY encouraging. I have some drafts of my story here, but haven't uploaded anything for a month or two.

Great thread, love the way the eyes stand out in the OP!

Thank you very much, Fyle~ I wanted to create a antiquity mood with the sepia, but the eyes were the one thing I think needed to stand out.