It’s been a long time since I made an update on this location. I decided having the dragon head faucet vomit out the water was a bit much, so I added on to it to have it holding a pot where the water now flows from. The new wings also act as the levers to turn on the water and to open the drain. Some definite improvement to materials since last time I posted an update of the bath back in… 2012, wow.
The last image:
Within the Golden Pyramid is a hollow sphere that contains a memorial to the first iteration of Sha Rephart, which failed catastrophically. At the center of this shrine is a collection of books that chronicle the progress and ultimate demise of that nation. The council lords visit this place occasionally, helping them remember the tragedy and guide their effort on making sure the current nation does not suffer a similar fate.
Located off of the northwestern circle of Sha Rephart’s core island, the Golden Pyramid was created as a memorial to a failed predecessor to the current nation. It serves as a reminder of those that were lost, and the determination to ensure that this iteration of civilization both survives and flourishes. The structure remains the tallest in the realm, though most of the upper area is just decorative, containing empty space. Inside the triangular shell is a hollow sphere that contains a shrine to collapsed nations and other historical artifacts.
The previous render of Sha Rephart island had three golden pyramids, but as I added a lot of detail I realized just how big this structure is and reverted back to just the one. My original concept sketch of the island dating back to at least 2011 included the Golden Pyramid, though it was located on a piece of land instead of free-floating in the Voidplane.
The library at night. Made some improvements to the dragon statues and added some lighting to the center tower. Also slapped some stars into the background.
This vessel is Lady Obmunjalae’s personal craft. It happens to be one of the most compact Voidplane vessels in use, contrasting greatly with her main vessel (the Obmunjalae), which is the largest. In this picture, the craft is docked at its personalized spot in the Obmunjalae vessel’s hangar bay. You can also see the Lady inviting Yezukh’ay to board, though the Suyen woman looks a little nervous about it. It’s not exactly a ‘canon’ scene, as Yezu was much younger when she first took a trip on this craft.
I did some experimenting on the vessel and I think it turned out pretty nice. The most obvious change is the new fin design on the back. There’s also a fancy emblem mounted near the back. The vessel now has doors that rotate up and can put the vessel in a locked up state or enclose the cockpit during travel. It also has the same paint job as the Obmunjalae.
For reference, here is the previous design:
The North Circle is the largest expansion of Sha Rephart island. Its central feature – literally and figuratively – is the Generator. This device absorbs large amounts of potential magical energy from the Voidplane and transfers it to an array of storage crystals enclosed in two rings of spheres. That energy can then be transferred into nodes within the island’s core or into vessels. There is a element of instability with this mass absorption of magic, which is why there is a large gap surrounding the Generator.
Outside of that gap is the largest park in the nation. It includes national botanical gardens as well as community gardens that citizens can apply to get a personal growing plot in. There are a trio of triangular bipyramids off to one side of the circle. These may be purely decorative.
And because it’s available, here is another shot of the entire island.
Well, it’s been over ten years since the last time I made a post about Sha Rephart’s main island, though I have been working on it here and there.
The island is the core of Sha Rephart (“The Nation”). The structure bathed in golden light at the center is the national capital. It is surrounded by a fortress. The six lighter blue hexagons and the three-pointed areas between them make up the Social Districts. Adjoining those are the Residential Districts, made up of numerous rows of stock housing and four apartment complexes. Two Industrial Districts occupy the trapezoidal areas between the four gaps (and right now don’t really have anything in them), with the city docks attached to them on the east and west ends. A transport rail circuit and the city wall loop around the other areas.
Some expansions have been added to the island over time. To the northeast is a fountain (which needs a lot of further development). To the southeast is the Night District, a nocturnally themed sister to the main social districts.To the southwest is Beach Island, a massive attraction due to the rarity of large bodies of water on the Voidplane. To the northwest is crescent park and a large walled circle of void (its purpose to be determined).
Expect more details on areas of the island soon.
The Voidplane is a place saturated with magic. The most common applications of the power to defy the physical rules of the universe are based on manipulating elementary components of reality. The most commonly mastered types of these are thermal energy, light, electromagnetism, object manifestation, and kinetic energy. Specific applications of these are often classified into elements such fire, lightning, water, blade, and wind, especially when they are used in combat.
So a random thought crossed my mind last night. Why do the Obmunjalae’s engines use air propulsion like an Earthly jet plane instead of utilizing direct kinetic magic?
The twin nacelles attached to the back of the vessel are its main propulsion. In the picture you can see that I changed them to be symmetrical on the front and back, removing the previous air outlet nozzle. The engines work by inducing magical kinetic energy directly into a material that is highly sensitive to that kind of magic. One added benefit of changing how the engines function is that they could be capable of reverse movement now.
I’ll have to consider if the openings for the lateral engines still serve a purpose. Perhaps the kinetic impulse generates waste heat that has to be vented. This also means I’ll probably have to update the Voidskimmer vessel again. I made complicated air inlet/outlet ducts on the sides, and now I have to consider if they are unnecessary.