DevLog #10: Ralamians

Base idea for Ralamians was "chocolate elf-girl with blonde hair" and it was certainly not inspired by various cultured animations where evil dark elf queens get surrounded by big muscular orcs and then get... educated about friendship and love...

At first they of course had basic look, thus "four arms" trait was given to them, though I was thinking to give it to Ardem sometimes as they are insect-alike. During sketching I elongated Ralamians to make them look more Elf-ish, but when I finished doing that I forgot to adjust their height on measuring lines, though I liked this result and kept them tall as they are now (second tallest tribe).

It was also not long after I did Princess Luna Artwork, which inspired me to shift Ralamian hair coloration into more unnatural, and luminescent. Still they were too normal even after this, but I t was as well not long after I finished Outriders game, and local aliens there had a gaping split in the middle of their chests, so I was sketching around with this idea to see if anything interesting happen... and it did.

Ralamian Final Sketch:

Then of course I tried to explain why Ralamians have these gems for biological reasons. Making them closer to minerals and be full of metals was the simplest path. Considering that almost every rock on Earth is made of Silica I checked that element first, and stopped there because it is already considered one of the best possible elements to produce life after Carbon, but also there were already many fictional aliens made of Silica (like Xenomorph). Though the main problem of pure Silica organisms is the byproduct of breathing: it would be SiO2 - which is just sand... And thus Ralamians are mix of Carbon and Silica biology, but as well I found solution to my first problem of explaining why Ralamians have these chest Gems by turning them into external organs which remove SiO2 from their bodies (otherwise they would cough with sand).

Later I expanded their biological abilities with bioelectrical field they can use for mind-sharing based on the idea of Silica being a starting material for computer chips, which also helped to expand on their individualism, selfishness, logic and other stuff. Though, as there is a tribe with exceptional long lifespan, there should be a tribe with an exceptionally short one... being elf-alike it would be too stereotypical for them to live long, and I used too many elf stereotypes already, as well I have a good explanation for a short lifespan which also expands into gem and crystallization theme.

Clothing design was more specific this time. As being the second Major Tribe for the Feet Faction, I decided to hide curve and lines of Ralamian legs as little as possible no matter faction/affinity, which does mean upper body attire can be baggy and casual. Too I'm trying to involve vertical lines as often as needed to compliment their long slim bodies. The best combination became a mix of modern sport/urban clothes (including hoodies) with lingerie and Victorian attires. Too I employ hairstyles exclusively with very long bangs/fringes to make Ralamians look either haughty or shy.