Starting with the male, you can already see certain things that weren’t written into my book.  I definitely am okay with this though… Tellest is a huge world, after all, and variety makes the world that much more interesting.  These naga are definitely more aquatic than the ones introduced in Lord of Thunder.  The gills, the face, and the fins on the head all kind of give them an ocean-y kind of feel.

Now that we have a color scheme overlaid as well, it lends credence to the idea of them being aquatic even more. The mountain/snow naga from Lord of Thunder were kind of half and half: Their top half was definitely more human in appearance, while their bottom was more snakelike. This naga here looks almost all the way through snake or eel-like. Definitely two different paths of evolution.

A little bit more color and shading really brings our male naga to life.  I feel like those wrist guards probably pack a mean punch, and the fins on his elbows make for a good weapon if loses hold of his spear.  Plus, can you imagine getting whipped by that tail?

Moving onto the female, you can see she too has the fins that kind of makes her appear more aquatic.  Her weapon isn’t present here, but she is holding onto a small serpent here.

The line art does a better job of showing you the character. She’s got some real presence—she would definitely catch your attention, I’m sure you’d agree.  Luigi changed the orientation of the tail a little bit, and gave her a nice priestess staff, as well as adding some jewelry to her repertoire.

Just as with the male, the color and shading adds a whole new level of character to the piece.  I like to think of the darker purple as armor, and you might not notice it at first, but she also has hair running down behind her shoulders.  Pretty interesting!

Here you’ll see both of our naga together.  This was the last race concept that we commissioned Luigiix for in quite a while, but we’re going to begin on another collaboration very soon.  Keep your eyes peeled!

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Paul started us off with some poses that we could choose from.  This was important in the long run, because we wanted to balance them against the other concept pieces we’ve had done.

We found the pose we liked best for our little guy, and Paul set to work.  One of the reasons we have the gremlins is because in Tellest, goblins got bumped up to a taller race.  This gave them a good opportunity to butt heads with orcs as another pseudo-tribal race.  Gremlins, on the other hand, pick up the slack of a diminutive race for the “evil” side of things.  Most of the time though, they’re nothing if not fun and quirky.

Paul slapped on some color and made our little gremlin look quite impish.  I liked the idea of making him a rogue, because gremlins are supposed to be pretty mischievous.  He looked a little too dark here, though, so we tweaked things a little bit.

The different color scheme worked out a little better for us.  We didn’t want our gremlin to look like a ninja, so this made him look more like a highwayman.

The final version of the gremlin concept art was just so spectacular.  I really like the way this turned out, and I can’t wait for more opportunities to do concept pieces with Paul in the future.  What race do you want to see Paul tackle?

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We wanted to show that the avarians were tough, able to use weapons in the air that even people on land have trouble with.  Our female avarian wields a hefty halberd with ease.

With a little more detail, we opened up a bit more of her armor, specifically the helmet.  Luigi had some trepidation with opening up that visor because he was worried he wouldn’t be able to put together the beak so well, but I think you’ll see in this next shot that he did a pretty decent job.

She’s got very similar features to the male avarian, but we gave her the more interesting attire, for sure.  The texture of her plumage is a little bit more apparent as well.

And here we have both of our airborne warriors together.  Hope you liked this look at one of the races we hope to show you more of in the future!

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Since we’ve stuck pretty close to the prime races in the Tales of Tellest series of novellas (with the exception of the goblins involvement in Awake), we knew that we were going to be moving away from the races that made the most sense logistically.  The gnolls aren’t necessarily that involved in the Tellest lore just yet (but that’ll change soon enough).  Still, since our focus has been on those prime races, that gave us freedom to move around quite a bit.

We’re showing you, today, the version of the gnoll that we really loved, and that means we were going with something dynamic, as we’re ought to do:

This was still considered the sketch phase, but it gave us a good indication of what the final version of our snarling, mean gnoll was going to look like.  After that initial anatomy was laid out, we had to consider what he was going to wear.

This version of the character took us one step closer to the concept that we really liked.  He has a little more clothing, some better markings, and hair that looked more complete.  But it still paled in comparison to the armored look we had next.

We liked this version for a couple of different reasons.  For one, it gives him a little more character.  Sure, he’s savage, but he’s not an idiot.  He know’s that a little bit of armor can go a long way.  Those shoulder pads also help to rein him in a bit and make him look a little less imposing overall, but just barely.

And then of course we had the beautiful colored version of our snarling savage.  Paul did a great job with this, to the point where we want to make this character into someone permanent.

And though we don’t have a dedicated backdrop to dump this gnoll on, we did manage to cobble together a variation with one of Dena Helmi’s backgrounds.

That’s it for the gnolls, but word on the street is we have a formidable foe for them coming within a few weeks.  Stay tuned for the new race soon!

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While our last two pieces had some solid footing in logic – we wanted to post orcs and goblins to highlight their differences, and give a good look at the enemies in Awake – our next pair is going to be of a more animalistic nature.

Today, we’re bringing to you the concept pieces for the gnolls.  Very much a trope of classic fantasy, the hyena-like race doesn’t change too much in Tellest.  The big differences come from more recent fantasy adventures, like World of Warcraft.  In that title, the gnolls are minuscule little buggers who are easily dispatched.  You wouldn’t want to run into a gnoll (or worse, a pack of them) in the middle of the night.

The first thing that we wanted to do was establish their physical presence.  Gnolls are tough as nails, and they’re easily one of the stronger races on Tellest.

Still, we thought we could go stronger… darker.

This version of our gnoll has a little more personality.  That whole not being naked thing definitely works out for him.  He’s a little more jovial, too, yet that somehow doesn’t make him seem any less sinister.  Plus, this one has a mean ol’ bushy tail.

Since we knew we had what we liked, it was time to move onto the pose selection.  This was the one that we decided against:

I always regret saying no to any piece of art I get, but I know this one would have looked absolutely fantastic.  We simply decided that we wanted to stick with the dynamic look of the other more savage races that we had presented thus far.

You’ll see the pose we chose, along with the rest of the process in a few weeks.  It’ll be a Thanksgiving treat!

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Physical Appearance

There are very few races on Tellest that can take to the air.  Among them are the harpies, a people who appear to be women with bird-like features.  They have feathers that sprout from their arms, typically from just beneath their shoulders to the wrist, where human hands are.  Many of them have tail feathers as well.  Their shapely legs will turn into talons at just beneath the knees.  Most harpies have very angular features.  Regardless, their torso’s and faces are very similar to that of a human’s.  There are some subtle nuances, however.  Irises are wider; ears can be slightly longer and pointed, sometimes feathered.

Though most encounters with harpies seem to imply that there are only females, there are, in fact, males of the race.  They just appear in smaller numbers.

Clothing and Adornment

Because of their anatomy, most harpies prefer to wear very little clothing.  This makes them a very perplexing social entity, because they appear to have no shame.  Even in battle, harpies will typically wear the bare minimum.  Oftentimes this appears as miniscule smallclothes or a think draping.  Most harpies need to be sewn or laced into their garments.

On the other hand, harpies tend to wear jewelry, or pierce their bodies in many ways.  Colder climate harpies typically tend to paint their bodies or attach jewelry with special adhesive, while others will pierce anything from their ears, to their navels to their nipples.

Conversely, there is a subgroup of harpies that identify themselves as the Kyrie that finds it almost sacrilegious to defile their flesh.  Yet, these harpies take great strides to enter battle with full suits of armor.  Due to their heavier, wider wingspan, they can accommodate the extra weight.  They also conform slightly to human norms, attempting to fit their clawed, bird-like feet into greaves and boots.

Relations to Other Races

The harpies did not appear to Tellest until after the return of humans.  Thus, it is widely assumed that the two are somehow connected.  Because their features are so strikingly similar, many scholars believe that the strain somehow led to the facilitation of a bird-winged woman, who went on to spawn many more like her.

General Personality

Personal

Harpies are extremely territorial.  While they often encounter members of the other races during their travels, they rarely pursue any kind of confrontation.  Many times, the landlocked journeyers below won’t even know they’re in the sights of the winged women above.  When someone is deemed to be intruding on their roost or even anywhere near it, harpies can become violent beyond all reason.

Despite their furious appearance in those moments of aggression, they are quite devoted within their communities.  Helpful to one another and nurturing, harpies are very tightly knit.  This of course leads to more propensity for violence, for their thirst for vengeance also happens to run high.

Relationship

Due to the high volume of females within harpy culture, the winged women are typically in control.  Males are not to pick their mates, and often are given as gifts.  Even with that in mind, harpies typically retain a monogamous relationship with their mates.

Because male harpies are so rare, however, it is said that females will often kidnap humans to become their consorts.  The human traits are more recessive, leading to an ongoing line of harpies.

Family

Among the races of Tellest, harpies are one of the few that lay eggs to birth their young.  Despite a very human-like anatomy, their biology still has some strange traits.  Harpies lay eggs about every six months.  A male will have to fertilize it while it is still in the female’s reproductive system, however.  It cannot be fertilized after it has been expelled.

Harpy young mature at an alarming rate.  Though the egg that a harpy mother will produce is typically about half the size of a human baby, it is surprisingly sturdy.  After birth, the harpy young will only take about twelve years to reach adolescence.

For unknown reasons, more females are born than males, which have helped to shape their society in a matriarchal pattern.  While females typically rule over their groups, males will stay at home to protect the roost and their young.

Society

Despite their fury and their propensity for violence, wisdom is a widely respected trait among the winged women.  Typically, the oldest harpies become the most influential.  There are some that are known to commune with nature in some ways, and are declared matrons, regardless of their age.  These harpies typically choose their own flock and are usually awarded with one or more of the rare males as part of a ritual.

Harpies are also known to mourn for their dead.  It is said that the haunting winds that people hear are the cries of harpies in the skies.

Behavior toward Other Races

The harpies are not on good terms with several clans of dwarves that they’ve encountered that lived within mountain ranges.  It has also been said that due to a shared home in Minoa, they do not get along very well with minotaurs.

There is a complicated relationship that the harpies have with avarians.  Because both races fly, they are bound to encounter each other from time to time.  Because avarians police the skies, sometimes some of the questionable actions the harpies endorse, like stealing food and livestock, they’ve come to blows with the other bird-like race.

Despite many of the conflicts with the goodly races of Tellest, there is one variant of the race that will oft protect them.  Kyrie watch after their human neighbors, and will often fight alongside them in order to keep them safe.  They often travel alongside raven familiars, and are one of very few groups of harpies that do not roost in high up places.  Instead, they typically dwell in the trees around lakes and rivers.  Often, they are seen living beside swans.

Language

Speech

Harpies are well-spoken and intelligent.  They speak common fluently, but are keen enough to pick up on neighboring races’ languages as well.

Penmanship

Harpies tend to pass down their tales aurally.  Beyond crude drawings near their roosts, almost nothing is written down.

Religion

Personal Beliefs

The harpies are one of the races of Tellest that, curiously, do not believe in any of the common gods.  Rather, they believe in various spirits that they invoke in their rituals, including spirits of the storm, rain and wind.

History

Myths and Legends

Known to many of the races of Tellest is the tale of Babayan.  She was apparently a monster of a harpy that hid in the shadows, or high in a thundercloud and would snatch those foolish children who didn’t give reverence to the skies.  She preyed on the foolish.  Even the harpies were frightened of her, and told the stories to their fearful young.

Technology

General Technology

Thanks to the ability of flight, many harpies do not need technological advancements.  Their weapons and tools are very rudimentary, mostly because they can utilize their talons to great effect.

Magic

The harpies typically don’t express much interest in magic.  Rather, a select few are “chosen” by the air spirits, and are bestowed uncanny powers.  These chosen harpies are then called Matrons.  It is not unheard of to have several matrons within the same flock.  An example would be both a Matron of the Storm and a Matron of the Wind.

The Kyrie, thanks to their exposure to humans, are a little more exposed to the arcane arts.  They primarily rely upon clerical magic, but some are known to dabble in offensive spell casting.

Military/Combat

Military Structure

Harpies will very rarely meet enemies head on because of their flight capabilities.  Still, when they need to meet a foe in battle, they tend to swarm and surround.  In the air, harpies are excellent warriors and hunters.

Wars and Enemies

Over time, the avarians and the harpies have become intense rivals.  Avarians are the watchers of the skies, and they work tirelessly to protect their groundborne friends.  Because of the actions of the harpies, wars have broken out multiple times, where the avarians have tried to cull the other flying race in an effort to curb their crimes.

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