One of the things we’ve been missing out on is a representation of the treasures and artifacts that our characters wield.  Tellest is very much a fantasy world, and as such, we knew it was important to show that magic exists everywhere.

To that effort, we’ve banded together with a new artist named Azot, to show you some awesomely visualized versions of the treasures our characters wield.

First up, let’s show off what I believe is Kaos Kreegan’s most badass piece of equipment.  The Sky Talon is a grappling hook that can root itself magically in the air, allowing Kaos to swing and hover over obstacles and enemies.

Again, these are highly stylized, so they wouldn’t quite look like this in universe, but who wants to see something as mundane as that?

Here you can see the colorized version of it.  This definitely looks like the tool of a treasure hunter!

And what kind of treasure would Kaos be hunting?  Why not the magical sword, Wildfire?

Azot gave us versions of the sword with both the non-ignited and flaming versions.

It pops off the page even more in full color.  That symbol on the sword is the first time we’re seeing Kaos Kreegan’s logo.  In the books, it’s a blue triangle and a black sun, but it looks perfect here.

Throughout the rest of the year, we’ve got much more to show you from Azot.  Keep your eyes peeled for our next update!

The post Concept Art I by Azot appeared first on Tellest.

So, I know Tellest is still pretty much a fledgling little company thus far, but there’s certain things we take very seriously.  April Fools’ Day is at the top of this list.  While we can’t do something as impressive as say, Blizzard or IGN, we’re committing to always doing something a little funny with our property.

This year, we had two gags that we wanted to share.  One of them actually took a very real step toward reality on Tuesday (sometimes jokes become reality here at Tellest), but we also took a trip into the future with Tellest 3000.  We did a bit of a secret collaboration with an artist on DeviantArt, Marwan Islami / Ai Marwan, who is great at these futuristic designs, especially when it comes to mechs, which we knew was going to be a staple of this April Fools’ joke.

Throughout April, we’re going to give you a taste of the characters and mechs he designed for us.  Today, we’re starting with Kaos and his mech, Wildfire.

Let’s start off with Kaos, shall we?  So, first and foremost, we knew that this project was going to involve time travel.  The characters wouldn’t necessarily change who they were, so Kaos had to be true to himself.  As such, we kind of made him a bit of a marine.

Because technology is prevalent, we really decided it was in our characters’ best interests to utilize weaponry of this time.  So you’ll see that Kaos Kreegan, our quintessential Tellest warrior, is utilizing an assault rifle.

We settled on this one to really give us a good look at what Kaos would look like.  This carries his attitude over into the future pretty well.

After that, we had to decide on a coat of paint!

We decided to stick to colors he would have preferred.

Finally, our artist gave us a better look at him with some nice detailing.  Kaos has the assault rifle, sure… but he also has a blade in case of emergencies.  And you can’t tell here, because it’s a static image, but his left arm hides the evolution of the Sky Talon.  There’s a built in grappling hook in that piece of armor.  One thing is certain: we put a lot of work into this joke!

Now let’s move onto Wildfire:

Marwan gave us a couple of different options for how we wanted to proceed with our mech.  We wanted it to feel powerful and sturdy, but we also wanted it to be agile.  The mechs in this world are typically piloted directly (there are some exceptions), so Kaos needed to be able to feel like he could move around a bit, and perform all the necessary actions he could.

We opted for the more slender of the two models.  Here, you can see a bit more details of the Wildfire mech.  True to its name, it has an arm-mounted, industrial strength flamethrower.  It’ll scorch the faces off of any alien menace, that’s for sure.

Now, here we decided to go with the coat of red paint.  It seemed a little more pertinent here, and we didn’t need to make our mech and our pilot look so similar that they used the same palette.

Here, you can see Wildfire with a bit more shine and polish.  But, you don’t really get a good sense for the size until you see pilot and mech together:

So there you have it.  Kaos and his trusty mech, ready to wreck some alien face (or whatever other evils lurk in the future… I’m getting my info directly from Rhys).

We’ll be spending a little bit more time in this offshoot of Tellest for the rest of April.  There’s still a bunch more to show off!

The post April Fools’ Art – Kaos Kreegan and Wildfire appeared first on Tellest.

Mythology

The volcano, Mount Scourge, originally went by a different nomenclature.  In the old days, there was a godlike being named Aestir, who was said to be able to manipulate fire.  Unlike pyromancers, he could create the element from nothingness.  They named the volcano after him during the earliest eruptions.

Entymology

The volcano is called Mount Scourge now because of more recent events.  After one of its later eruptions, black ash coated the mountains and the area nearby.  Nothing was able to grow in that poison, lending name to the place.

Physical Appearance

Mount Scourge stretches high into the sky of northeastern Raleigh.  It is covered by a layer of frost which insulates it, and often sends out a fine mist because of the duality of its nature.  It is one of the more easily traversable volcanoes of Draconis, which led it to be a very popular attraction for cults.

The land around Mount Scourge and the range it belongs to has become somewhat broken over time.  It is said that entire mountains fell in upon themselves, and avalanches have ripped the land asunder.  Long bridges connect various places around Mount Scourge, fighting against the tumultuous weather patterns that frequently assault the area.

History

Early Eruptions

The mighty Aestir was a powerful being that felt scorned by the world around him.  He ravaged towns and ransacked castles and fortresses, and withdrew to his sanctuary somewhere in the vicinity of the volcano.  People began to associate the two, considering the man as the personal manifestation of the giant landmark.

Whenever Aestir felt threatened, it seemed that the volcano erupted.  Historians are skeptical that these events were anything besides coincidental, however.

Major Eruption

Aestir’s vile acts knew no bounds.  Over the course of months, he made his name painfully known to all within Raleigh.  His actions had even become known to Cracius and Daltain, yet always, he seemed to return to the volcano in northeastern Raleigh.

Finally, a group of stalwart adventurers set out to bring him to justice.  The truth has been lost to history, but legend has it that a powerful knight sacrificed his life to cast them both into the caldera.

The magma inside began to churn, and the mightiest explosion of all rocked the surrounding area.  Black ash cast down upon the land, destroying any chances of life finding a foothold there.

War Beneath the Ash

The formidable eruptions of Mount Scourge have not always been completely disadvantageous.  During the latest of Raleigh’s civil wars, one of the armies had access to a mighty diviner.  He correctly predicted the upsurge of an ash cloud, and convinced his leader to equip his men more properly beneath it.  It was a deciding factor in the Raleigh family keeping the country as more than just a namesake.

Winter’s Hammer

Mount Scourge remained a bitter, terrible place for generations.  Blinding ash obscured the sky without refrain, and nothing could grow upon the battered soil.  Breathable air was scarce, and the heat was unbearable.

An orc shaman named Gol’Tarosh was reaching the end of his days.  Knowing that he wanted to give his body back to the land, he made a pilgrimage to Mount Scourge.  With his enchanted hammer, the Crystal Tear, he struck down his energy, invigorating the land once more.

The volcano spat forth hot ash, but when it rained down upon the ground, it had become snow.  Neither Gol’Tarosh or the Crystal Tear have ever been found, but his desires were rewarded.  New life began sprouting upon the mountains and the surrounding area.  Even beneath the blankets of snow, nature has begun to rejuvenate.

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