#core abyssia

[cmykristyart]

A portrait of my favorite lady! 🖤

#oc #original character #character design #core abyssia #rylie #ramaya

[random-thought-depository]

Tangent to my last post: a possible problematic Vulcan racial attitude toward humans that I think might be interesting to explore is inferiority complex.

Setting aside ENT and probably various bits of fan lore for a moment and imagining that humans and Vulcans were more-or-less a mutual first contact... I think the Vulcan experience meeting humans might be a lot like this. Vulcans had a tremendously traumatic historical experience, and in response they embraced an extremely radical and tremendously costly bargain. Vulcans aren’t naturally emotionless, they’re more emotional than humans, so the Surakist lifestyle must be a huge and radical sacrifice for them. And then they meet people who just ... didn’t do that, and are more-or-less doing fine and are more-or-less good neighbors.

You know what that makes me think of? Chris Wayan’s Aeps and Angels:

“Quite by chance, most Abyssian vertebrates are six- not four-limbed...

Two factors have so far blocked Terran birds from building civilizations, despite high intelligence, sociability, and communications skills.

Hand-feet are awkward; not only must you compromise between two shapes and functions, you have to balance on one leg to free up a hand. Stand firmly, use your beak, and you can't easily see what you're doing. Or what the local predators are doing...

Flight limits absolute size, and thus brainweight. It's true that birdbrains are way more efficient than mammals'--but growing much past the size of the largest parrots starts to make flight difficult. And that's dangerous, most places on Earth.

But not necessarily on Abyssia! The huge flightless birds that tend to evolve on Earth's loneliest islands will also tend to appear on Abyssia's deeply isolated landmasses. They'll lack both the above limitations. Huge birds like our Aepyornis or Andalgalornis, but with small forehands, are the most likely candidates for intelligence on Abyssia...

...

Aristotle teased his contemporaries with this splendidly unhelpful definition of humanity: "What is Man? A biped without feathers." Undeniably true, undeniably not to the point. It teased generations of philosophers to define personhood by attributes of the mind. With my six points above, I've taken an earthier approach: my six, if they chanted in a Greek chorus, would answer Aristotle with "What is Man? A smart, talking, friendly, adept creature who creates--stories, monuments, science, art..."

But our Aep will be able to tease his or her contemporaries--of any species--with a distinctly Aristotelian definition that addresses real evolutionary pressures: "A flightless biped." (Forget the "featherless"; I doubt we'll be seeing any Naked Aeps. Plucked chickens aren't sexy; unsexy birds don't found nations.)

All it takes (in deep time, at least) to rule the Abyssian world, is to renounce the sky--and thus grow brains. So they'll have mythic tales of the Fall on Abyssia; but not from Eden, or innocence. From wings, and grace, and Heaven. And... stupidity.

...

The core Aepish myth will be the Fall from Flight. But there's a faint chance that a winged intelligence will evolve on certain invisible islands. Well, they're visible of course; but you won't have seen them as islands. In the geology section I've described how the islands and seamounts of Earth, inverted on Abyssia, form thousands of pit-lakes. Most of these are merely deep lakes with hotsprings, anoxic sulfurous depths, and a rude habit of farting fatal CO2 clouds when they're in a bad mood. Still, they're just deep volcanic lakes. Sometimes drinkable, sometimes dangerous, sometimes both. Not profoundly alien. Except...

In the deserts of Pacifica and Agassiz, the driest places on Abyssia, a few of these pits yawn three miles deep. Their lakes have receded until the evaporation off their shrunken faces drops to match their scant inflow. Modern Earth's closest equivalent, the Dead Sea, is just a few hundred meters down. These are thousands! Up to five kilometers below sea level.

And in their depths, on the shores of tiny briny seas, along creeks that are more waterfall than stream, life has adapted to what might as well be another planet entirely. Oven-heat, salty and alkaline soils, yet weirdly humid for a desert, with mild sun and little ultraviolet--you slowly bake but never sunburn in that hazy light. Strangest of all, air pressure rises down in these pits--up to twice as dense as at sea level.

Here, and here alone on Abyssia, the size-constraint on bird-intelligence is lifted; if there's social pressure toward larger brains and higher intelligence in the "handed" Abyssian equivalents of parrots or corvids, here the body can indulge it; the maximum flight-weight is double Earth's.

...

But how would such a desert tribe of fliers impact the world?

...

Maritime nations and seaports have always been centers of innovation on Earth; but can mere sailors compete with fliers able to travel and spread news twenty times faster? And the Aeps' whole mythology will be based on their ancient bargain: renounce flight for brains. Soar in the body, or the mind; not both. And then along come some desert savages who rejected the price! Angels who rebelled, were cast into a hellish Pit... and emerged triumphant, with both brains and wings. Aeps versus angels! Or devils.

Hey, it's a desert tribe, I had to go all Judeo-Christian on you. Miltonian at least. Okay, okay. Will Greek myth work better for you? Prometheus comes out of the desert with the fire of mind and an intact liver--and lookin' vulture-ugly. Embarrassing feather loss...

As an Aep, what do you do? Do you welcome these fliers so future Abyssian civilization will be winged, or do you defend your inferior genes? Does "we" mean "intelligence" or just "my tribe?"

I see a cultural crisis brewing here. If a biologically better person comes along, should you and your lineage bow out, stop reproducing? Why limit your chicks so? Let their souls be born to Pitian parents, let them be ugly--but winged. So welcome the Pitians, integrate them into world civilization, and let them take over--right?

Or, of course, you could kill them out of spite. But that's a rather continental attitude. Europeans, Chinese, yes, I can see them responding so. But the Pacific cargo cults were a different response. And the Tasmanians, facing invaders with impossible, magical technology, just gave up in despair. And these were mere cultural differences; the same exact species! On Abyssia, we're considering the shock of meeting a people you can't interbreed with, a new species of people with powers you long for but can't learn... that you'll always lack.

Darwin? Come on, that shock was nothing. So we have crude, embarrassing relatives! What else is new? But imagine the shock for the poor aeps, facing their legendary angels. Finding they're the crippled, defective, primitive ones. And just possibly dying out in shame.”

#Star Trek #Vulcans #Planetocopia #Chris Wayan

[tdino]

*THROWS AT cruelcomedienne AND RUNS AWAY*

#core abyssia #cruelcomedienne #my art #i'm so sorry that it's small #i didn't know until skype told me at midnight pst #;A ; #oh god i'm sorry i used his older outfit #i couldn't find a ref of his all-black outfit #i'm being stupid so ignore me

[cmykristyart]

[ OC ] Perry has a new look!

#original character #oc #character art #character illustration #perry #core abyssia

[cmykristyart]

I bring to you, one(1) edgy Perry.

#digital art #oc #original character #character #black and white #infinite painter #perry #core abyssia

[cmykristyart]

Rylie! ❤ It's been a while.

#oc #original character #original content #illustration #core abyssia #rylie

[cmykristyart]

Woo, fan outfits! It’s always a fun time making suits for Rylie since I can go many ways with her look depending on the atmosphere. The first 3 would be her as a helpful NPC, but her Dark Souls aesthetic is more miniboss battle material.

To be honest... DMC Rylie, sans-weapons, can also be considered the Pokemon Trainer Rylie.

#oc #original character #art challenge #bayonetta #space channel 5 #devil may cry #dark souls #core abyssia #soulsborne

[cmykristyart]

Abyssia's Guardian and his trusted partner.

#oc #original character #artists on tumblr #wyvern #core abyssia

[cmykristyart]

A minor vent session.

#oc #original character #core abyssia

[cmykristyart]

Updated designs for the main 3 of my work in progress story, Core: Abyssia!

The “Goddess” Datura carved Abyssia from memories. She corralled departing mortal souls into her realm that they may exist alongside her for a little longer. As more human spirits rushed into Abyssia, its calm state was disturbed. Factions were split and battles were waged replicating the disputes happening in the waking world. Because of this, Datura searched the mortal world through distant echos, trying to find specials souls that could help her protect Abyssia...

Character summaries under the cut!

----

Silentte: A hyper-sensitive empath attempting to make as many people content as possible. Silentte’s living legacy includes a charming political record as a district senator and accidentally starting a civil war that got him and all his friends killed. He continues his work as Abyssia’s Ambassador, albeit severely depressed and in a constant state of atonement. Silentte can usually be found in Abyssia’s commons with a crowd of acquaintances or alone in his Abyssian Citadel office.

Perry: A socially-inept soldier who only knows how to fight. Perry’s living legacy is his feats as a soldier in the war Silentte caused. He incapacitated almost a hundred enemy soldiers, but killed none until moments before his planned hanging at enemy hands. He died from blood loss while surrounded by the bodies of his attempted executioners. Perry’s skill and tenacity makes many question if Datura chose him as Guardian before birth or after death.

“Rylie”: A tall and joyous knight-in-training. Silentte and Perry found little Rylie stored in a broom closet far into Abyssia’s depths with no family, past, or concept of life. She then proceeded to do one thing Abyssians cannot: age. Her growth slowed and seemed to have stopped. Rylie has an innate ability to alter Abyssia’s environment and therefore is kept close to Datura in Abyssia’s Citadel for further training and research.

#oc #character design #core abyssia

[cmykristyart]

W.I.P. of a small OC/FC MH drawing project...

#WIP #oc #wyvern #core abyssia #Malchior

[cmykristyart]

A lot of my OCs are turning 10 years old this year. I might do little collages for them. For now, though, Perry!! I’d have to dig up an old pic of him to remember what he used to look like, but I think that’s accurate enough.

Perry’s description 10 years ago:

A lanky and roughed-up demon General. Despite how recently he died, he has quickly risen up the ranks in army leadership in Oblivia. He is the good cop to General Silentte’s bad cop. He’s self-conscious about his somewhat undead appearance and covers up the bloody slice across his throat. His bladed canon, the Abandoned, is the size of his body and probably weighs more than him.

Perry’s description now:

The chosen Guardian of Abyssia. At 6′3′’ and over 200lbs, this ex-dancer is an oxymoron of strength and grace. It’s a shame he’s a clutz and can’t sway his way through social conversations. As Guardian, Perry must protect Abyssia from outside invaders. He’s Ambassador Silentte’s life partner and would do anything to ease his stress. He carries a bladed rifle, The Outsider.

#oc #original character #perry #perry silentte and rylie changed the most #core abyssia