Strange Delvers

I finished these, and then I completely forgot to post the patron versions outside of the Discord server. Terribly sorry!

Here's my "latest" batch from character designs for a project I started poking around in my spare time midway through last year. I managed to finish the designs sketched out in April during a stream (although the base designs are from last year, they lacked a proper reference). In no particular order of importance:

Kamal (arab horse), Ella (nanulak), Shana (cheetah), Setu (cashmere goat), T.J. (ferret).

Creating and designing characters is always a fun exercise for me, even though I usually have to apply a bit of restraint immediately afterwards for my brain to not go into full writing mode, since I feel like my amount of stories in progress is quite enough at the moment. Still, the best question one can ask their creations is, in my humble opinion, very simple: "Who are you?" And I am lucky (or cursed) enough that answers tend to come of their own volition.

It's been a while since I picked apart my character choices in public, so for those of you curious enough, here we go...

Kamal Almasi – Collector of Curiosities

Those of you sticking with me longer than dirt may remember Kamal as the one-eyed wealthy art collector whom Ginny tries to charm out of a very specific statue in the third chapter of Semper Fidelis. I originally coopted him into this lineup as an in-joke, since while he was quite fleshed out in my personal log, the comics were never supposed to give him any larger role. (Until they did, so this is gonna be a bit awkward... I'm still thinking whether to replace him here or keep it as is.)

Kamal's SF design carried over pretty much intact. He is a kind, cultured man, yet at the same time someone with power, wealth and confidence to get what he wants regardless of anyone else's opionions or objections. While he always seeks to know the bigger picture, his pride tends to blind him when things get less than optimal.

When making an anthro equivalent of a petroleum prince, few species are more perfectly suitable for the job than an arab horse. Just that one choice alone makes a very practical shorthand for almost everything I want the character to convey: a symbol of wealth, pedigree and power.  At the same time, his facial scar and visibly blind left eye are sure to give his peers a pause and prevent him from being "too perfect" right at the first glance.

Ella Thoresen – Vigilant Ranger

Ella is a former miner forewoman who later turned to the much quiter profession of a rescue scout. Despite her mostly solitary job, she remains hospitable and will share food and shelter without much of a second thought. She also loves blueberries, because honestly everyone should.

Ella is the first design of this set that I had down and finalized. Those of you who know me longer are probably aware that I love animal hybrids, both real and unreal, as they make a fascinating study in various animal features blended in striking ways, and nanulak (or pizzly bear, if you want to feel silly saying that out loud) had been on my radar for quite a few years. Going bear was also a good excuse to have a tankier-built character on the roster.

It was also fun going back and double-checking I did not create a Sara 2.0 (as they both seem at first glance as "action girl with a gun"), but there's thankfully very little connecting them besides that. The more I think about it, the more I feel like I probably subconsciously drew inspiration from my grandmother. Except for the miner part.

Setu Durrell – Kindly Curator

Setu originally worked as a museum curator; the kind who has to constantly go "... no, that is very much not what that is..." every time people mislabel a Roman dodecahedron, yet somehow manages to maintain the kind of saintly patience known to kindergarten teachers. Quite diminutive (compared to the others), Setu is neither the brawn nor the brains of the outfit, but more of a quiet presence offering often surprisingly observant input.

When it comes to physical design, the animal that always had me throw up my arms and give up trying to understand it is, somehow, a goat. I can handle the weirdest and most obscure creatures from all over, but my brain somehow considers goats to be a step too far (not sure too far where exactly, but I digress). Which means it was a bit of a self-challenge to design one. It ended up being a very tight contest between cashmere and jamnapari. Cashmere won that argument (just because there's something funny about a goat in a sweater as long as you don't ask too much where the wool comes from), but the more I look at Setu, the more I feel like some weird jamnapari genes made it in, too. I swear this is more complicated than actual animal husbandry.

Shana Latsky – Scholar of Fine Arts

Shana holds a degree in arts and kunsthistory and is quite an accomplished scholar. While she does not carry an entire database of trivia in her head like Setu does, she is a quick study and a very firm proponent of "This belongs in a museum!". She tends to hyperfocus on things, however, and has some issues with multitasking or changing subjects too quickly.

When I turned to South Africa for inspiration, I knew two things: I want the person to be a scholar, and I want them to have some interesting coat pattern, since African fauna gravitates towards being very fancy in the fur fashion department. I've wanted to design a nyala for quite some time now, I have also a few ideas for a hyena, but cheetah ended up closely winning the race in the end, mostly because I was looking for a lithe counterbalance to Ella / counterpart to Kamal. Not to mention, color pattern mutations are always, always fun to play with in designing a unique face.

Her last name is a bit of a tribute to Lulu Latsky, the first woman to earn doctorate in South Africa and an accomplished zoologist.

T.J. Bramley – Earnest Delver

T.J. is the "handyman next door"; the average guy who's  not exactly an expert in anything, but can put together a comb and a string to create a makeshift ropehook and somehow always ends up having spare duct tape whenever you need some. He's also the kind of man to whom any professional repair crews should give immediate priority, because if they will not come and fix his leaky pipe right now this instant, they will inevitably come to a "well I didn't like the sounds it made so I made a hotfix" horror on a level that would have M.C. Escherr exclaim that this is some twisted shit.

I am a bit biased towards ferrets in general, since I spent almost a decade keeping a flock of the little buggers. Which leaves me basing quite a few of my characters off them. TJ in particular is basically my last kit, Magnus, who was my PR ferret – lovable, plump, friendly, almost constantly in good mood and very affectionate. Basically the only thing I "had to" change when turning him into TJ was the color, since I felt like the roster could go with some nice shades of brown instead of silvery dapple.

I hope this was at least a bit interesting delve into my character-building brain. Next up, I'll have some comics news (which lately hit a bit of... well, unfortunality).

That is it for tonight. I hope you're staying well and safe, all things considered, and thank you for your time. See you in the next one.