@ResonanseMask



My point is that I believe you should have posted your faction when you felt it was ready not when It will get no. 1 on voting list.



I'm on nos here that users should restrain from posting anything copyrighted here as nothing will really come close to those professional arts (unless we have graphic designer hiding here )

Wredniak2003 wrote:
@ResonanseMask



My point is that I believe you should have posted your faction when you felt it was ready not when It will get no. 1 on voting list.



I'm on nos here that users should restrain from posting anything copyrighted here as nothing will really come close to those professional arts (unless we have graphic designer hiding here )

And my point was that I find it insulting that you assume that I did it to get no. 1 voting on list(my drawings fricking suck so what does it matter if they are on no. 1 assuming that voting order isn't randomized this time? And my art teacher isn't here to convince me otherwise) Though to be fair, I can't prove otherwise. Though, I want to say "Thanks". 'cause your insulting wording is great motivator for doing mouse drawing which is good since I hate mouse drawing. So once I post embarrassing pics, I'll have tomorrow to replace them with better ones once I figure out way to do that. I have weird and far too convoluted method of motivating myself to work <_< Besides, seems like I'm first one who gets around doing this anyway since I'm first one awake at this time.

ResonanceMask wrote:
And my point was that I find it insulting that you assume that I did it to get no. 1 voting on list(my drawings fricking suck so what does it matter if they are on no. 1 assuming that voting order isn't randomized this time? And my art teacher isn't here to convince me otherwise) Though to be fair, I can't prove otherwise. Though, I want to say "Thanks". 'cause your insulting wording is great motivator for doing mouse drawing which is good since I hate mouse drawing. So once I post embarrassing pics, I'll have tomorrow to replace them with better ones once I figure out way to do that. I have weird and far too convoluted method of motivating myself to work <_< Besides, seems like I'm first one who gets around doing this anyway since I'm first one awake at this time.

lo l

randomized pool wouldnt make it any better still

somone would be on place 1 and the last place. The people shouldnt be forced to join a party of russian roulette if the participate here.



i think its just fine if a "bad" drawer gets the first place (and mask says he is one) further more i didnt think that in Quest 2 there will be nearly as much proposals as in the last one...it will only be a fraction so isent that big of a deal anymore.



Edit: also Nos or the person who will list the proposals can still decide if he sees his proposals as already valid at this moment or not.

So just to prove that I AM crappy drawer... I'll post the crappy place holder mouse drawing images.







Bonus points if you can tell which one is which from picture alone Also, I tried to draw a centipede with dangling arm thingies and somehow made something that looks like a grasshopper. Huh. Also, drawing skulls with mouse is kinda hard for me <_< Need more practice with mouse.



...I should probably post one of my hand drawn works I actually like <_< I have really great(by my standards at least) from school two years back somewhere.

Nosferatiel wrote:
Aren't these pictures Magic: The Gathering(tm) card-pictures? I do believe that's against the rules Steph'nie set up:







As far as I understand this contest, any participant should post his/her original and self-created artwork.

That's true, but I'm not participating in this stage, I'm just responding to what I've seen posted thus far, which is ResonanceMask's design document and a bunch of complaining



Since it's your suggestion that won the first vote, are you going to post any concept art yourself? I'd like to see it, if you have any

Buzzkillington1990 wrote:
That's true, but I'm not participating in this stage, I'm just responding to what I've seen posted thus far, which is ResonanceMask's design document and a bunch of complaining



Since it's your suggestion that won the first vote, are you going to post any concept art yourself? I'd like to see it, if you have any

No problem then. It might just end up being confusing if everyone does that. XD



And no, I'm definitely no artist. Beyond drawing complicated feynman diagrams, you shouldn't hand me a pencil.

i like the first and the third in a way (no kidding)

Sovereign wrote:
i like the first and the third in a way (no kidding)

Thanks, I guess? Failed to give executioner hell knight look or at least blade arms... And yeah, preachers' arms look... Wonky... At least the sword looks like a sword <_<



Anyway, just to prove I'm not 100% hack... Here is crappy photo taken with crappy camera of one of my works I'm actually proud of(for personal reasons, your mileage may vary )







Yeah, the weird black line art thing isn't actually because I suck with mouse, its because I suck(yes, I get very self deprecative when I start talking about my art. I dunno why), my motoristic skills are lacking and I just like weird things. Meaning that my style justlooks like that Should still be able to draw better with pen than mouse

Cultists of the Eternal End ~ Purgers of the Unworthy



Hero ~ Horus Blackheart



Edges of winter had always crept onto his breath, their cold claws digging into his soul as he ravaged the lands. It had been a painful reminder that the world around him had become heartless, desolate of the caring and kind hearted individual that he used to be. There had only been rumors that said that Horus had once been called Erich Rhinehart, a simple farmer that lived in the green pastures beyond the mountains, with his wife and two little girls. They say that the Broken Lords had appeared in the dead of night, and stole them from their beds before kneeling them before their terrifying knights. He had watched them rip their eternal souls from their bodies, leaving behind the empty and fragile shells that laid before him and in that moment the man that had been Erich Rhinehart had died.



Rumors turned to speculations as no one knew how Horus had escaped that farmstead, some say that he had snapped and killed every Broken Lord that came for him. Others say that he had lost his soul to them but that he still continued to live without the humanity the he used to have. Nothing had been for certain except that his warband, a motley band of rogues and barbarians, had appeared in great expanses of the north, burning and pillaging all those who didn’t accept their terms. Soon all those who crossed their path learned it’s better to accept their terms than see all that they cherished burned to the ground and their families slaughtered with steel. Fortresses had been erected in the snowy mountains and their strength had become innumerable as no force could dislodge him and his men from their perch, until the Cult of the Eternal End came.



His legend had spread across the southern lands, their tales speaking of a great warlord that held the snowy world at its knees. These rumors found their way into the right ears as members of the Eternal End had begun hearing about this man. Intrigue spread with the tales; Warbands and entire armies of mercenaries had assembled to uproot the Renegade of the North from his perch atop the mountains. Hundreds tried but none of them succeeded, until a rogue from the Eternal End had gotten curious enough to venture north and confront the warlord within his own palace. There he had been convinced that service to the Cult would serve to exact his revenge against the world that forsaken him all those decades ago. Uniting the tribes of the north under a new banner, the Blackheart rode down from the mountains converting the unsuspecting villages to the cult and destroying those that didn’t submit.



(Will create short story about him shortly)



•Renegade of the North – Years of pillaging and killing had given his more experience than any other man. When at war with another faction, all unit under his command receive +15% to their attack damage.



•Snow Walker – Endless trekking across the winter wastes has given him the ability to maneuver his men better than any other commander, the movement penalty during winter is removed.



•Greed and Envy - These units under the command of Horus Blackheart have attained a considerable hunger for Dust from raiding and pillaging. These units have 10% added to their upkeep costs.







Units ~ Cultists and Marauders



Neophytes – Basic Melee/Ranged Unit



Rogues and Assassins, Thugs and Murderers. The undesirables that have been cast out, thrown away like the garbage of society, are all welcome among the ranks of the Eternal End. Their skills at deception and destruction are welcomed with open arms as their talents are put to good use against those who would oppose the Cult. However with such large varieties joining the ranks of the Eternal End, the cult had begun tailoring units to suit their specific needs.



(These units are the very versatile and cheap units with powerful attack potential, however they aren't very strong defenders so they have to be used very strategically.)



•Rogues – Those who serve the Eternal end have learned to become discrete and hide from the enemies until the time is right. When attacking an enemy army, Neophytes may deploy on enemy tiles.



•Flexible – Jack of all trades, but Masters of none. People from all over the continents of Auriga come to join the ranks of the Cult, ranging from simple fisherman to renegade knights, these men and women can use any melee or ranged weapon.



•Shadow Strike - From the shadows they can strike, removing the enemy from existence without a sound. These units have the ability to critically strike the opponent on the first round and receive a +10% boost to both their attack.



•Mob Rule - Large numbers of people join the cult and thus leave many of them without sufficient armor or defenses and thus the Neophytes have to rely upon pure numbers to rally a defense against enemies. Neophyte units suffer from a -20% defense penalty that decreases with every other Neophyte unit that is adjacent to it.







Shadowmancer – Support Unit



Hundreds join the ranks of the Cult of the Eternal End, and among those there are few that have been born with the ability to manipulate the magical winds upon the Aurigan plains. These initiates are chosen to become Shadowmancers, mysterious mages that wield the ability to mold the shadows around them to their will. Among those dozens that are chosen there are even fewer that become Shadowmancers, those who survive the trials and tribulations throughout their training take part in a sacred ritual known as the Culling of Shadows. This ritual requires the remaining initiates to descend beneath the surface where they will learn the final lesson, those that return from this ritual are rarely considered human by other members of the cult. Their faces become concealed beneath horrifying masks that conceal their faces and from beneath their robes the darkness seem to seep freely into the world.



(These units are the very powerful and expensive to produce, they are also very squishy and can be easy killed if not guarded well.)



•Shadow-Meld – Shadows hide those that respect their subtlety, understand their longing to remain hidden from the world without lamination. Shadowmancers can usher in these shadows to help conceal their fellow brethren. Whenever an army containing a Shadowmancer doesn't move for a turn, they become invisible and only become revealed again when they move or attack an enemy. However when an enemy unit moves onto a tile where a unit has been concealed, they will be ambushed and treated as though they had been attacked even though it may be their turn.



•Shadow-Sight – Their eyes are the shadows that hide in the corners of the world, their ears are the darkness that whispers in the night. These units can see the actions of other armies, even when concealed by the fog of war. However they can't reveal the troop compositions or the faction that the army belongs to.



•Blinding Spirits - Whispers and hisses are all they hear as the shadows fill their eyes with darkness. Shadowmancers can choose one unit to blind, that unit can’t use ranged attacks and melee attacks have a +25% chance of missing. This ability can be canceled when an enemy unit attacks the Shadowmancer and releases the grip on them.







Eternal Guardian – Advanced Melee Unit



There are many heroes among the Eternal End, some still live among their brethren while others have perished defending the faith. These fallen heroes are honored with funeral pyres, their bodies returned to ashes while from within the Eternal Citadel the solemn lamentations of the Queen can be heard filling the world with sadness. However among those that have fallen there are those who are honored with an even greater role within the Eternal End. Their lifeless bodies are attached to the Endless machines that fill the Eternal Citadel and there they are rebuilt, their bodies are reconstructed and their veins filled a black ichor until they are reawakened from the world beyond to continue their service to the Cult. These men and women are no longer their former selves as their bodies have been turned into living weapons that serve the queen to their dying breath. Veins pulse with darkness under their placid skin, muscles as dense as stone are transfixed with weapons that skewer and deflect the enemy. They have become Eternal Guardians to the Eternal End.



•Lumbering Behemoth – While they are huge creatures are attached to any army, they cause the entire army to move at -1 movement on the over-world map.



•Land-bound – There are no ships large enough to carry these massive creatures across oceans.



•Restless Defender – While they may move slowly, they make up for it with pure might. This creature can attack twice, and receive +20% defense when defending against ranged attacks.







Cities ~ The Eternal Palace



Unearthed from beneath the soils of Auriga and restored to its former glory, the Eternal Citadel has become the central power for the entire Cult of the Eternal End and houses their Queen within the glittering halls, where she waits for the final days when she shall break free from he shackles to aid her children in bringing an end to the world of tyranny and oppression. Perched at the center of the Eternal Citadel stands the Endless Spire, looming over the entire city this structure had been constructed from white metals of purity and fitted with purple windows of obscurity. Nestled upon the peak of the Endless Spire lies the revered Everstone, shining in the light of the sun and moon this crystal serves as a beacon to those pilgrims that venture from the farthest corners of the continents to visit the Holy City. Bringing with them offerings of food and Dust, they venture within the Endless Spire to the halls that are lined with fluttering banners and warm blazers with the queen perched upon her throne and surround by those Eternal Guardians that have served her loyally.

Surrounding the central spire are the walls and exterior towers, these towers lean towards the central tower and reach upwards as though they wished to take the Everstone for themselves. These towers are interconnected by massive walls that separate the Eternal Citadel from the city that has grown to surround the entire palace with shining houses and temples. Floating aimlessly above these outer spires are smaller crystals that seem suspended in mid-air as magical forces seem to pulse from within their crystalline structures that send subtle vibrations throughout the entire city.







(Please leave comments and things you think I should adjust to make this submission the best possible. Thanks)

Umm... First post just said stuff about visuals and that you can't use other people's art <_< All of those pics are by different people, their artists are in the pic names.

I had written all of this and scoured up the pictures long before the rules were stated so that I could just Copy + Paste it. Sorry that I didn't see that I had to do my own artwork and I'll make my own in a little while.

ResonanceMask wrote:




@Stealth Hawk: Wasn't queen supposed to be this really abomination thing? Why does her tomb look like a vampire's coffin? Seriously though, you don't get visual ideas from my post and saw only gameplay? What. I guess I just have weird ass way of thinking then since in my case I thought my post made perfect sense ._.

I actually made that picture under the guidance of Nos himself ^^ I'm not sure if she was supposed to be big or not, but extremely heavy and dense.



And I'm just not sure if implying visuals cuts it. At any rate, all I am trying to do is remind people that there are rules and they need to be followed.



Seriously, No one wants to put in the hard work of creating their own art just to be upstaged by someone who went to google images and took some sweet art.



Yes theres nothing against making your art later, but realize that posting early without art just looks like you are trying to get a top poll spot. Whether or not that is anyone's intention (probably not, but...) just realize that that is what it looks like.

I was just really excited about taking part in quest 2 <_< Buuuut I haven't actually finished my marker drawings x-x; Not really happy with them. So I figured I'd post descriptions and add pictures later when I'm happy with them.. Just wanted to people to hear and comment on my ideas. Would of course like comments on pictures too, buuuuuuut yeah I only have place holders and one old work.



Anyway, positive thing is that since people need to actually draw in this, we won't probably have 100 entries meaning less convoluted polls

@ResonanceMask



I;m sorry I did offend you, I have overstated the voting "spot" bit. It still is a little strange for me you decided to post a half complete entry but the fact that you want some feedback early explains a lot. I will wait with comments until I fill I can grasp your concept better. That said it is best to abandon that discussion.

So here is my idea for what the faction aesthetics could be:







I believe the capital city (and as it is now their only city) should be a "lair" of both the Queen and the Unspoken and as a result should be rather high tech. I imagine it as clean and pristine consisting of simple forms and shapes. What would dominate in the landscape would be a tower like buildings looking like huge black monoliths. The main shape persistent through the city would be rectangles, cubes and cuboids. Think flat lines and a lots of contrasts, especially light and darkness mixing together. The natives of auriga would view the city as created and "powered" by unimaginative force allowing the cult leaders to dazzle and influence less advanced folk. Only the chosen few would know all this is possible through dust.



Some examples of how the buildings could look (keep in mind I can't drew a straight line on a good day so this is just very basic use of Photoshop):







For the layout I was thinking something like that:



With a cold light feel, maybe even neon blue in some parts. The idea is few really cool high tech buildings surrounded by primitive dwellings for the minor factions and less prominent cultist as only the leaders have access to the technology they either can't or are unwilling to share.

HERO

The main hero of the cultist in my mind must be a high priest. There is no other way he will be a human like being with no technological knowledge. He started as the lowest priest awed by the might of the cult leaders only to become disillusioned and jaded seeing how Ethernal End is using their followers for yet unknown purpose. He was about to leave the cult but Unspoken introduced him to Dust. His mind became corrupted and drunk on the power Dust gave him he changed himself. Now he is nothing but a willing accomplice in turning the masses to the one true calling and if they were unwilling then well just more fun that way. High priest have learned one more thing during his long service for the Queen, fear is powerful weapon so he learned how to use dust to seem like magic in the most terrifying ways he could imagine. It have earned him the new name: "The Crimson Thunder"

As for his appearance I'm quite pleased whit that I managed to do in Photoshop so I will not describe it in detail (couldn't settle on eyes tho):





UNITS



I believe their units should not be high tech but more medieval. Due to my limited artistic skills I have yet to produce a single piece that wouldn't be immediately deleted and I am afraid it will remain so through competition so here sadly only description will have to do.



Cultist initiate: Half starved humanoids as their gave all they had for the glory of the cult, often missing limb or two lost due to the poor training and not sub par equipment. Only thing of quality they posses is black robe and a mask, which even further dehumanizes them and allow their commanders to treat them as expendable toys more than anything else.



Black Monks: Heavily tattooed half naked men (yup cult is sexist here deal with that :P) who forfeit their lives in the name of the cult. They are already dead and they know it, only the place is yet to be decided by their queen. Although all they have are pants, sandals and the sword you can't see their skin through intricate web of tattoos which covers them from tips of their those to the top of their shaven heads.



Crimson Templar: The only units cult is unwilling to simply throw away to advance their cause yet no one knows how they really look under their amours and those are both beautiful and terrifying. Once a cultist is chosen as a Templar he is sealed inside their pitch black Armour only thing marring it's perfect lines is crimson cult symbol (to be determined in quest 3 ^^).



I will admit Templar may seem familiar to the BL but I feel there is no avoiding some similarities between both vaulters and BL as it is a heavily armored unit. However; what makes it unique is their "demonic" feel and the aura of pure dread that accompanies them. Keep it mind it is only truly "offensive" unit cult has so they need to be absolutely terrifying.

Everybody's taking a pretty dark interpretation of the cult. After all, isn't it possible that the cult could be the good guys? Maybe?



At least, in my opinion they should be a bit less pure evil. Makes it more interesting if the sinister doomsday cult has, along with the psycho mass murders, some perfectly nice, decent people that honestly believe that the Endless are manipulators who should be overthrown.



I'm not really an artist, so that's really all I got. But for the cities...roman architecture...

Hello. First, I would like to apologize for the quality. I'll have to go utilize a scanner. This was a photo taken of my sketch pad. Second, I think a few explanations should be given.



What you're seeing is an aerial view of the city core, and then a view of its skyline. There's a few things at work here. The city is known as a throne, so I wanted it to have a royal appearance. Hence, its profile grants the impression of a crown. The city itself is aligned with the sun so that when it sets you can perfectly see the setting sun in the cut-out sections of the walls and tower itself - sort of a nod to a higher, alien, mind designing it. From a top-down perspective the city looks like an eye, a generally accepted symbol of knowledge. The tower itself is the heart of the city. The walls contain many apartments and neglected spaces. At first I thought it would be best to design it spiky, or with drainage pipes that leak sewage and stuff into a sort of moat of toxic miasma. But I decided to go with simple and elegant. Although the construction could be cobbled, with uneven sized stones similar to cyclopean ruins of Lovecraftian inspiration. The city itself is built in districts that radiate outwards in concentric layers from the nexus of the tower. To be closer to the tower is to be closer to the Queen. As the player expands the city, sprawl will appears outside of the "crown". These being immigrants and newer members who are furthest removed from the Queen. The walls themselves create a natural amphitheater, and the tenants of the cult are often blared from the diamond hole in the tower, which actually has walkways and lofts for the church elite and offers a nice view worthy of their status. The tower and city itself is honeycombed with hidden thoroughfares that serve as maintenance tunnels for the mindless servitors. The points where the two high walls of the crown begin to overlap are the two main gates that grant access into the city's core.



I also did a little bit of imagining that may conflict with the lore of the faction. I figure most people join a cult out of a desire for power. It wasn't clear whether the Queen uses deception or not to lure in her numbers. Like whether it starts out with a ceremony here and there and then over the course of indoctrination the person finds themselves in a power mad cult... so I figured that it was best to give the city sort of a grand look rather than a forbidding appearance. Much easier to get cultists if you don't have the gloom and doom upfront and introduce them to it layer by layer until they don't even realize they've been herded. So that's sort of the thought that kept me from making it look like some spiky necropolis.



These are just some rough ideas, and will probably require greater illustrative detail which I fear I may be incapable of. I'm still working on concepts for units, and was mostly only inspired to do the city.



A lot of the lines are for perspective rather than actually there.







EDIT: I'm completely scrapping this concept. I've come up with a much better idea that's more influenced by Lovecraft / Egyptian culture. Basically the buildings will feature strange asymmetrical geometry, and many of the priests will be abominations of half man half machine. I feel like an Egyptianesque background ties in well with the theme of ending, as much of their culture was essentially a death cult obsessed with the afterlife. Lovecraft inspiration does well to reflect ancient, alien, minds that churn on through the era. I've got some rough sketches that I'll upload later. So far I've got a basic building, a priest, and a crude system of writing sketched out. More to come.

Wredniak2003 wrote:
@ResonanceMask



I;m sorry I did offend you, I have overstated the voting "spot" bit. It still is a little strange for me you decided to post a half complete entry but the fact that you want some feedback early explains a lot. I will wait with comments until I fill I can grasp your concept better. That said it is best to abandon that discussion.

Hmm, yeah, sorry for being touchy. I suppose it is bit hard to get feedback without complete pictures, but I thought it would save time if I got that before I draw them <_< Since that is probably going to take a while unless I get lucky. I probably should have thought about that before or at least post half complete pictures instead of quick mouse drawings in an attempt to show what I had in mind. Plus still need to figure out city design since thats something I keep forgetting to do.

Before getting started, there is a last point I would like to check. About the city look, I suppose it'd be better to have it thematically appropriate and distinct from other factions, issue is we don't have any idea of the "theme" of the missing factions cities.



So far we have "elven"+ antic cities, Metallic curvy, nest/biological like, medieval/fortress looks. It would be a shame to accidentaly step on an existing concept.

Sovereign wrote:
I think you mean Tuesday Steph ; )

Hi everyone,



The deadline is Tuesday 27th, and it's been fixed in the brief!



Thanks for pointing that out.