The Vision of the Magical School

The object of the quest proposed: The Vision of the Magical School.

First Meetings: Varnik, Moq, and Jeffid

Scene from Episode One of The Wizard, the Prince, the Warrior, and His Son. Seriously, I need to come up with a shorter title.

The Mountain Commonly Called the 'Ivran Temple'

Let Sleeping Ogres Lie

An illustration from Episode Eight: Ravenglast, a script for my proposed series, The Wizard, the Prince, the Warrior, and His Son. Hakul and Lem try to kidnap Kwee.

Getting a Move On

Koppa and Moq Enjoy Thirty Year Stew

Master Bodge of Ravenglast

Yad at Fifty

Yad, Koppa's foster-brother, at the time of the events of The Wizard, the Prince, the Warrior, and His Son.

 

Another (Imaginary) Country Heard From

Roth and Hannu, Morg City's favorite power couple.

Breklir:

Barda:

Zin:

Rotha and Hannu are from The Peculiar Wooing of General Roth (which see on this blog). Breklir, Barda, and Zin are all characters in my proposed series, The Wizard the Prince, the Warrior, and His Son. And now, for a bit of whimsy, A. I. Al unexpectedly pops into Ortha:

Is This A Kissing Book?

Daniv is a character I have introduced into the Episode Six script of The Wizard, the Prince, the Warrior, and His Son. A bit of tension between her and Varnik. She is a little older, a little taller, and probably much tougher than the Prince.

Daniv

Several views of Daniv, a character I will soon be introducing in Episode Six of The Wizard, The Prince, The Warrior and his Son. Right now, over the weekend, I'm just mulling things over.

Introducing Kwee

Lately I've introduced a new character into The Wizard, the Prince, the Warrior, and His Son, a young Ogre that the healer Ketta by necessity adopts from the moment of his hatching. By necessity, but she is also a very generous and loving person, so it fits right into her character. So I'm exploring the concept (as I did in my essay 'Good, Evil, and Free Will on Ortha,' published here on NOT) of whether a member of a 'mook' fantasy race can be habilitated into a good person. His full given name (rarely spoken) is Gurrankwee (not an Ogrish name), but his baby name is Kwee-kwee, often shortened to Kwee by those not inclined to be so twee. What his 'education' would mean to those who know Ogres only as ruthless murdering marauders, or what it would mean to Ogres who despise friendliness and to whom violence is a social way of life, makes for some interesting speculation. My brother John made a very good picture of Kwee, perhaps the best picture of an Ogre we've made so far. Out of interest I developed it, speculating that if he was three feet tall and the equivalent of  five years old, how would he look at thirty years old and six feet tall? I was only able to make these two animations, as Grok is running slow. Not exactly satisfied with the animation of the young version, but couldn't develop it any more. I set it at six feet, as Kwee is a Lesser Ogre; if he had developed into a Great Ogre, he'd be at least ten feet.

The Phantom Member

Breklir? Guess again.

Aged Up

Just a little peek into the future: Koppa at 1000 (because of the life extension and slow aging caused by magic); Varnik at 21; Ketta at 18; Moq at 150 (prime for a Morg; it has been noticed that Morgs don't age so much as weather); and then Roth at 275 (a little past his prime). Still a lot of fun, though.

Set a Course for Adventure

I realized that in the last picture Jeffid had been holding the camera. We had to get one with him in there.

He Speaks! He Moves! He Goes Down With The Ship?

Our Crew, Brave and True

Pretty good, but not perfect. I'd like Moq closer to the rest. Varnik (Varnyk?) should be noticeably taller than Ketta. This picture is better in appreciable ways than other efforts, though the composition was better in others. At least Moq does not look like some sort of demented leprechaun.

My Name is Moq; Thanks a Lot

I finally charmed AI into making an acceptable version of Moq, Roth's son. Come to that, finagled a better picture of Roth, though he should be more of a tan brown. Moq is 5 feet tall; Roth is 5 1/2 feet tall, which is a little taller than most Morgs.

I finally have acceptable version of all five members of the Crew, and can make an action line-up. Coming soon, I hope!

Moq Mark 3

Still not perfect, but getting closer. For comparison, I include a Grok enhancement that John made of an old drawing I drew of a Morg, King Thron.

And as a bonus here is a portrait of Breklir, not a regular but appearing in one episode.

WPWS: Cast and Crew

KOPPA is a young wizard, the last pupil of Dunwolf, and the last full-fledged wizard on Ortha. Now that the war is over and Barek can neither co-opt nor kill those with magical potential, Koppa wishes to travel the land and find recruits for proposed magical training.

VARNIK is a prince, sixteen, the younger son of King Taryn. As something of a spare, he has been allowed to go on this mission to represent the king’s authority. Although he projects a haughty and regal demeanor, inside he is insecure; he is in a position he hasn’t earned.

ROTH is the High General of the Forlan Army (Emeritus); he is on the downswing of middle age (for a Morg, say one hundred and seventy).  He is the Quest’s muscle. His experience and skill make up for any aging he might be facing, and he is ready to go on one last adventure while he still can.

MOQ is Roth’s son, only ten years old but stronger than any human twice his age. He has one dream, to learn magic, a talent thought impossible for a Morg. He has stowed away on the quest in the hopes that somehow Koppa can teach him. He now serves as helmsman and cabin boy.

KETTA is eleven years old, and Koppa’s very first magical recruit. Besides having a talent for magical healing, she is well-versed in the ordinary skills of health care. An orphan, she now travels with the quest rather than journeying back to the City. Well-balanced, commonsensical, and compassionate.

JEFFID is a Munkoon, an unusual, mischievous little creature, like a cross between a monkey and raccoon. He is thievish and greedy but clever beyond most beasts.  Once rescued and protected by Varnik, he considers the prince his master and follows wherever he goes.

ZIN is one of the last Wolf-Shades left, evil sorcerers, lieutenants of Barek. Though he does not feel up to challenging Koppa yet, he is shadowing the quest, doing what he can to hinder them and biding his time to strike, recruiting his own forces. His Wolf is a deadly magical minion, tied to him by spells. Zin wants to set himself up as the new Dark Power. 

Since I started using Grok, I began using it to produce working sketches of characters for the series, The Wizard, the Prince, the Warrior, and his Son. Though they aren't all perfectly accurate to my vision, I find them to be a useful tool and an amusement as I try to hone in on concepts. Grok seems to have a peculiar difficulty with Morgs; try as I might to explain them, we keep getting fat gorillas in armor. Moq is the least satisfactory image here, but the closest I could get just yet.

They may look like a batch of fantasy cliches, but that's how I like'em. Their peculiarity is in their characters and the stories. Cliche? Nay, archtype!