#mazelord (oc)

[windmill-ghost]

Cringetober Day 11: Yandere Day 12: Niche Interest

I think it's just niche enough for me to have an excuse for drawing ISM fanart.

#wg creates #cringetober #original character #mazelord (oc) #in sound mind #gore // #body horror // #holes // #eye contact //

[windmill-ghost]

Rubus and Steward. Never mentioned Steward before, basically it's like if Clippy was also prone to throwing you unwanted surprise parties and dismembering you as a time-out.

#in a homoerotic way. #wg creates #original character #mazelord (oc) #not sold on this design for Steward esp the pastel colors #the red/green it trying to match rubus but its hard to not have those colors sit directly next to each other and not. hurt my eyes #it DOES look more like an uncanny clown doll when smiling which is the default #and i want it to be more like. unnatural than i think i got here

[windmill-ghost]

Steward sketches. It changes its look to copy the current Mazelord.

#pink and green to match rubus' red and green #with flowery motifs to match his thorny vines #obv. the last mazelord had an astral theme... thats actually his weapon its holding. it takes this to fight rubus' party #when they initially try to take him back. it hadn't changed its outfit yet because rubus' aesthetic hadn't solidified #wg creates #mazelord (oc) #original character

[windmill-ghost]

I'm intrigued by your Rubus and Steward guys. Can you tell more about their setting and what a mazelord is? (or if youve already talked about them somewhere else you can link where to find that)

Thanks! I've been talking about them here and on discord, but not in a particularly organized way, so I'll try to summarize.

These two are from a high fantasy dungeon-crawler type of setting. One feature is the presumed-extinct civilization of "elves," mysterious beings of unfathomable power, and the living arcane facilities they left behind. These require a person to be bound to them as an operator, essentially becoming the consciousness of the structure. The operator is stuck there until death, and also eventually mutates into a big monster. The "Mazelord" is what people call the operators of the particular facility the story is focused on, the Maze.

Rubus was a monster-hunter turned adventurer, hired by a state-religion-based organization that seeks to eliminate the remnants of elven technology. He's nearly killed in the fight with the previous Mazelord, and presumed dead by the party-- which, as you might have guessed, allows him to be scooped up by the Maze and converted into its new operator.

Steward is the arcane equivalent of an AI, made to assist and advise the operator. Its body is a light projection, so it can't really interact with anything, but it can physically manipulate the facility like the operator can and creates the illusion of physicality that way. Unlike Rubus, it can leave the Maze, though it can't really do anything out there and doesn't like to.

#wg speaks #mazelord (oc) #i'll hunt down and update my posts with that #i am SO happy to talk about them i love talking about my ocs

[windmill-ghost]

Rubus has a plant theme (hence the name), specifically brambles, because he's tsundere.

#the vibes are like. edgy and aloof but also down-to-earth #the sweet and nourishing fruit of the brambleberry #its like a rose theme but for a guy whos less dramatic and more outdoorsy #wg speaks #mazelord (oc)

[windmill-ghost]

Other things related to dungeon death...

Killing a dungeon comes in two phases: killing the current operator, and then keeping watch outside of the dungeon to keep everyone out. Most people who become operators, unlike Rubus, set out to do it intentionally for the power, so the second part is usually easier to survive but is by no means an assured success, especially since the closer a dungeon is to death, the closer the core (where the interloper would need to reach) gets to the entrance.

The thing about how dungeon death looks different from how an abandoned building would typically look was noteworthy in Rubus' case-- since he has a plant theme, when he's in control of the maze it's very overgrown. It was a very ominous sight for the people who thought they'd done everything right to destroy the dungeon.

#wg speaks #mazelord (oc)

[windmill-ghost]

#wg speaks #mazelord (oc)

[windmill-ghost]

Also, re: Steward's gender, it's a thing that looks like a man who looks feminine.

#a lot of people in-universe call it “him” especially if they haven't yet pinned it as some kind of Entity. male passing i guess #wg speaks #mazelord (oc)

[windmill-ghost]

I keep giving more titles to Rubus. I might cut down on some of them.

Elfling: the colloquial term for his kind in general

Operator: the technical term for his kind in general

Maze Lord/Mazelord: the colloquial term for his particular series of operators

Faegaoler: the antiquated term/original role of his particular series of operators.

I was wondering what purpose the Maze would have actually served when it was in use, and realized… it might be one dungeon that is actually, literally a dungeon.

#wg speaks #mazelord (oc) #I don’t know if the elves themselves ever operated these facilities or if they always used humans for operators #possibly the latter because I can’t see them as being work-minded enough to do that willingly

[windmill-ghost]

I had a hard time trying to figure out a Fantasy Fighter outfit for pre-Maze Rubus, and then I realized... I could just do some doll dress-up.

#ive never bought a herofoge figure in my life its a doll dress up site to me #wg speaks #mazelord (oc)

[windmill-ghost]

“Elves” are present in this setting, in that they were the creators of the Maze and other such facilities, though most of the have been destroyed by killing their operators. The elves themselves haven’t actually been seen since the time of legend, and are either dead or gone… but not both. People are terrified to learn which it is.

The typical “androgynously cute pointy-eared humanoid” elf look that Steward was designed to have (and Rubus had, when he was losing his human appearance but hadn’t been turned into a worm yet) is actually the look of one of their human thralls. Exactly what the elves looked like is unknown, but presumably something much worse.

#wg speaks #mazelord (oc)

[windmill-ghost]

Also, Rubus’ monster form is based on a velvet worm, and has a similar coat of short, soft hairs. It’s most apparent on his red areas, but even his normal skin does have a layer of peach fuzz.

#wg speaks #mazelord (oc)

[windmill-ghost]

As might have been gleaned from the transformation sequence I drew, Rubus was unhealthily thin when he was human. He was not well-off, foraging what he could for sustenance while selling most of what he hunted. He’s heavyset now because that’s how his body equalizes once he can actually eat when he wants to. Rubus is a big fan of not starving, but also does have trouble mentally decoupling the weight gain from the monsterfication.

#wg speaks #mazelord (oc)

[windmill-ghost]

Despite looking quite bestial, Rubus isn’t really contending with any animalistic instincts based on his new form. Rather, he’s become the sentient personification of the Maze itself, and so is imbued with the instincts… of a building. So, most of his behavior (and that of other operators) is just him under the influence of his torture/unlimited power combination, but with a subtle, nagging sense to conform to the facility’s purpose. Even if they don’t consciously know the meaning of their role, it means designated Faegaolers have a tendency to demand human offerings, ill at ease if the rooms of the dungeon sit empty.

While the previous Mazelord was an arcane researcher who experienced this as a brilliant idea to start incorporating human experimentation into his work, for Rubus it attached to his isolation and manifests as a gnawing desire for company.

#wg speaks #mazelord (oc)

[windmill-ghost]

The heroes of Mazelord are frankly lucky that the power of love has little metaphysical power in their universe because it means Steward would mop the floor with them even harder than it already is.

It's a shock for them, since that makes it seem pretty unlikely that they would've been able to defeat the previous Mazelord if it had fought alongside him. It's not necessarily supposed to fight the battles of those its subservient to, for one-- it does so for Rubus because he's so new and weak. And, despite having a sense of deep unconditional love for its masters being programmed into it, it didn't necessarily... get along with the last guy, who found Steward beneath notice and himself beyond needing its help. With these incredibly conflicting feelings, it resolved to obey its master's orders to the letter, letting him be killed with his dignity as its final act of love.

Fortunately, it wasn't created with feelings of grief that are proportional to its sense of love, and was flooded with an inconsolable storm of sorrow and guilt for about a minute before noticing Rubus was alive and falling madly in love again.

#wg speaks #mazelord (oc) #if it remembers its old masters it doesnt get sad it sees these memories with warmth

[windmill-ghost]

Steward is programmed to love every Mazelord, but it does like Rubus more than some of the previous ones. It had a particular… lack of liking for the last one, who’d been basically ignoring it for decade. Despite Rubus’ animosity, it actually enjoys the challenge of pleasing him. Being incredibly new to the role means Steward has a ton of opportunities to “help,” and he doesn’t really know how to flex his authority well enough to stop it. It sees him a bit like an adorable kitten struggling to climb stairs or failing to drink water— and it does think his elfling body is adorable.

#wg speaks #mazelord (oc)