The flying merchants of Gth'yr are a common sight in most of the cities of the world. An ancient guild of peddlers, they grew from small beginnings in the aviary-towns of the southern mountains, trading wares from settlement to settlement, and have since steadily increased their reach over several hundred years to cover most of the world. As their name implies, the merchants ferry their goods by air, having for many years employed the services of the great Yrthaks - enormous, sightless, crocodilian flying creatures- to aid them. The merchants have tamed the beasts through use of certain combinations of wind chimes and bells (to which the Yrthaks are, of course, highly sensitive), which also serve as a distinctive herald for the traders' arrival!
Wow! This one took a while, but I'm quite happy with it. I'm almost afraid to post the old Yrthak drawing I hate it so much, but for the sake of posterity (and reassuring myself I've gotten better)
here it is. Don't laugh.
The creature is modeled a bit off
those weird Pteranodons that sort of look like giraffes. It's sort of inspired by the
Dinotopia series of books, which I liked a lot as a kid and rediscovered recently.
- Joe
What a neat idea. I really like the design of the market stall and the way you've made its horn porous. That U-shape on the front of its saddle, is that where the merchant would sit when air-born? Or does he steer from inside the stall, which appears to be slatted?
ReplyDeleteAnd that's a blast from the past; Dinotopia was one of my favorite books as a kid. I'm curious though if Beetle's air shop from Skyward Sword or Spirit Tracks also played a part in sculpting the whole 'flying merchant' idea.
Either way I've got to say this might be my favorite thing I've seen you do. It's right up there with your Lich.
Thanks, man!
DeleteThose U-shaped things are decorative I guess, although I imagine you could hitch the ropes that hang from them to some sort of post or a walkway so people can access the shop. I'm kind of fond of the idea that most of the time the merchant just sits inside his little gondola thing, those reins that go down and around the hoop are supposed to go directly inside the "cabin" though holes in the floor. With INT 7, I imagine once an agreement has been communicated/reached with the human the Yrthak probably doesn't need much steering, the reins are probably there just for simple "two-tugs-means-land-right-now" commands.
Inspiration I think I can consciously cite the flying chinese restaurant in the Fifth Element, I always thought that was a neat idea!
awsome
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