Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School Art Reference: Qiv Ratom

Hey everyone! I’m back at it again, coming to you once more with yet another art reference!! :D 

As I hinted at last time, you didn’t think I’d stop at just the main cast did you? :D 

With Auris Ping squared away, the next logical character on the chopping block is of course the original student ‘antagonist’ himself, Qiv’Ratom! 

Now… where do I even start with Qiv?

While he was at first poised to be the gang’s primary adversary, he’s mostly taken a backseat position to that role now, what with Ping’s vastly more bombastic and confrontational approach to Emma and the gang! Though whether or not this is due to Qiv’s own design, an opportunistic move to simply wait things out, or simply a growth of disinterest in the newrealmer is currently unknown! What is known however, is that the Baralonrealmer’s schemes aren’t over yet. Especially when considering certain members of his group, and their proactive plans within plans! :D 

As I mentioned before in both the comments and author’s notes, Qiv is very much representative of a more tame and reserved player in the grand games of Nexian and Adjacent nobility.

Whereas Ping devotes his entire sense of self, his identity, and his personal being to the core tenets of the Nexus and His Eternal Truths, Qiv internalizes such matters much more pragmatically. He doesn’t confine himself to the rigid truths as gospel, but rather, he sees them as reasonable, decent, and practical frameworks through which to play politics. He understands that these rules, these beliefs, and these sentiments of divinity are in many ways necessary in maintaining the best form civilization he knows of, and especially one that benefits him and his family. However, he is not beyond bending said rules for practical concessions. 

He understands how adhering to the letter of these beliefs can be as detrimental as it is useful. Moreover, he understands that in order to advance upwards, he at least needs to be capable of tolerating and considering other potential avenues that Nexian fundamentalists like Ping never would. He sees that flexibility, at least to a certain point, is necessary in determining whether other options or extraneous circumstances are a detriment, benefit, or a threat to his own standing. 

This is not to say he doesn’t believe in certain elements, or the entirety of His Eternal Truths of course.

However, just how far Qiv believes, and just how far Qiv is willing to be flexible within his framework of beliefs, is largely left vague for reasons beneficial to him and his plans.

Whatever the case is, Qiv is something of a foil to Ping, representing yet another type of noble in the vastly diverse forms of noble and royal personalities. I wouldn’t say they’re the extremes on this sliding scale of personas, but they are quite close to opposites of a sort.

Also I just realized I just rambled about Qiv’s character rather than his outfit, so let me quickly get back to that! 

Qiv’s outfit, as expected, strikes a balance between local customs, Nexian fealty, and of course, an adherence to His Eternal Truths. The inclusion of the helical rings representing said truths can be seen all across his outfit, from his necklace to his chatelaines! His rings also represent elements of this! However, his outfit pays homage to both his home culture, and Nexian fashion conventions, once again attempting to entertain all parties relevant to his ambitions!

Now, you might also notice a little something interesting when it comes to his tail! Qiv’s tail is indeed quite a bit shorter than it should be. Why this is the case is a matter that may be touched upon later! Suffice it to say though, it certainly is one of the elements of his character that has been most heavily influenced by Nexian beauty standards — i.e. Elven standards.

Aside from that, Qiv’s design itself has been quite a joy to visualize! I know I’ve always described him more as ‘gorn-like’, but upon some heavy consideration, I wanted to strike more of a balance between the traditional lizard-person aesthetic, along with some inspirations from other lizard species too! The artist responsible for this really caught my eye with his fan interpretation of Qiv, and from then on I really wanted to lean more towards that visual interpretation, whilst also balancing it out with my original gorn-like descriptions of Qiv! 

Suffice it to say, I’m super happy with how all of this turned out! And I can’t thank the artist enough for his creativity, skills, and his endless pool of utterly stunning creative visuals! :D 

It has been a joy to work with him, and I hope to continue working with him on more characters in the near future! :D 

Thank you so much to MalMyrth0! :D 

Artist Reference: MalMyrth0 on Twitter