Mother Dragon Foundry


Mother Dragon Foundry 1

Located on the north hill of Agwilcress, the Mother Dragon Foundry (che ya-keen ag-wil bak-e-tone) is the prime facility of the Ayra Katrin Engineers. Its two large furnaces are used to forge metal and the product known as stormstone, the chief construction material used in the Agwilikan and Akelikan cities.

Mother Dragon Foundry 3

The foundry got its name because it produced almost all of the metal and stormstone that makes up the buildings and infrastucture of Agwilcress (which translates literally to Dragon City), so it came to be thought of as the city’s mother. The molds used to make stormstone pieces even picked up the nickname “eggshells”.

Recently the foundry expanded and added a second furnace higher up on the hill. The two furnaces are connected by a ramped tunnel, which in itself was an over-the-top engineering feat. The tunnel’s lower entrance is located under the arch seen on the left side of the first image.

Mother Dragon Foundry 2

“The Cube” is located at the foundry entrance, which was created as a test of the furnace’s maximum capacity. After its forging, the engineers weren’t sure where to put the monstrosity. They ultimately wound up dumping it off to the side of the entrance. An artist was commissioned to turn it into the foundry’s official sign. The sign depicts Salmandano, the legendary Prerart that was immune to fire, who also happens to be the foundry’s mascot. It also bears the insigia of the engineers and the words “The Mother Dragon Foundry / Ayra Katrin Engineers”.

The Agwil-Naryn word for engineer is “Otamajale”, which essentially means “machines master”.

Raeja Update

Raeja 9

Actually got back around to 3d modeling, and updated Raeja’s look a bit. Made the front of her face a little broader, changed her spots up a bit, tweaked the model’s materials, and added a more intricate design to her breastplate. The previous version is below:

Raeja

PiTri lives again

After almost a year of neglect, work has resumed on the PiTri game/engine.

Some new sprites and some simple enemies.

Some new sprites and some simple stationary enemies that shoot lightning balls. Please excuse the temporary player sprite.

PiTri1402-B

Dialog boxes for info and conversations.

PiTri1402-C

Packager, now integrated into WorldBuilder, sports a new icon layout for displaying package contents.

PiTri1402-D

Grid Textures now can be created and edited directly in Packager.

PiTri1402-E

A big advance in sprite animation. Images automatically update according to which direction the sprite is facing. Sprite Animation Sets can be edited right in Packager.

Other significant updates:

A Cinematic system that can manipulate the camera, dialog boxes, and entities to create narrative scenes using a basic scripting syntax.
A major issue with the sound system has been fixed, so it’s now officially functional.
Got ramps to behave well.
Text Blocks can be used to easily make multi-line text. Though the dialog box picture above doesn’t show off this functionality, it is capable of being much wordier.
Some window tweaks, like allowing maximize and minimize and remembering window positions for WorldBuilder.

Civic Hill

Civic HillSitting just east of the Ayra Katrin Library is this set of buildings known as Civic Hill. Just across the street at the bottom of the image is the related Civic Square. (Haven’t quite got that area set up yet). The two areas contain offices for various civic functions like record-keeping and land management.

Military Square

Military Square 1 Military Square 2 Military Square 3Military Square is the oldest of the “Squares” (the others being National, Academic, Civic, and Market) and was part of the original construction of Agwilcress. The entire city used to be a military complex, but after the fall of the original capital of Cresselecapera, the area was converted to be the heart of the Seven-Star Nation. This one block of barracks and training spaces was left intact and became the headquarters of the Seven-Star Army. The only other major structures remaining from those early years are the City Walls and the Residential Block. They all share the same reddish coloring scheme.

The design of Military Square evolved from an early version of the Kylal Palace. Over time, the palace changed to the point it no longer resembled its former self. About the only thing the buildings now share is the design of the arched roof and use of arched pillars. Here’s a view of that early version:
Military Square OLDYeah, those are Quake-era graphics.

Agwilcress Garden

AgwilcressGarden2So… already an update on the Garden.

The three outer rings now house pavilions, available to rent for various activities. Similar structures exist on Lucan Hill, the other major “nature” area of Agwilcress. Much of the garden now has a ground cover of sandy soil instead of grass; planters of various flora will eventually make their way on there. At the center of the garden is a sculpture incorporating a waterfall fountain and light fixtures shaped like berry plants.

The outer grassy track is often used for exercise and racing, and every year there’s the “Bisuwiki’s Run”, in which Prerarts dart around the track in recognition of legendarily swift Prerart, Bisuwiki. (There’s also going to be a statue of her here eventually.)

Ayra Katrin Library of Agwilcress

AKL - New Emblems

Some new additions, including some hexagonal designs on the entrance’s floor, some railings and more hexagon designs around the underground residence openings, and some basic foliage. Not pictured are some additions the side walls of the building.

Also new are the four different symbols in the arches of the front face of the library. They represent the four primary divisions of the Ayra Katrin: Engineers, Enchanters, Spellcasters, and Scholars.

For reference, a picture from last time I posted about the library:

 

AKL 4-7 Front, high angleGuess I turned the lights way up this time.

Ky of the Naryyd

Ky of the NaryydKy is the leader of the seven beings known as the Naryyd. The Naryyd possessed incredible magical and spiritual power, and lived for centuries without any signs of growing old. They befriended the Agwils and Prerarts, and ushered in a revival of culture for these races.

Through dream visions, Ky realized that the Naryyd were not immortal and would eventually die. The Naryyd did not have the capability to produce direct offspring, but Ky formulated a way to extend their legacy. Enlisting an Agwil as a surrogate parent, Ky created two children named Dominesa (the green-skinned baby Agwilikan in the picture) and Palades (the gray-skinned Akelikan). They had the body structure of the Naryyd, but many features resembling the Agwil.

Eventually, the other Naryyd created their own half-children, and the Agwilikan and Akelikan races were established. Ky only had the two children, and they were designated as the leaders of the new races. Until their passing, the Naryyd served as the spiritual, inspirational, and civic leaders of all four of the other races.

Slyvette

Slyvette, 3D Model

Slyvette is a long existing character of mine, originally part of the storyline called “Silver and Gray” (which was originally “The Gate War” because I was probably a middle schooler and terrible at naming things). Lately it looks like that project is going to be canceled. Well, more like consumed by another. At one point, Elehura was set to take place in Silver and Gray’s past. Now, elements of S&G being integrated into Elehura, including Slyvette here.

The latest 2D design of Slyvette, drawn in Inkscape.

The latest 2D design of Slyvette, drawn in Inkscape.

Slyvette is renowned for her fighting skill and her ability with lightning magic. She belongs to a holy order of soldiers based in Elehura. Like other members of her order, she’s become suspicious of the people now leading the city, and things got so tense that she and and a clan of her fellow Pritar fled to the wilderness. Now the clan’s leader, she has recently set up camp in the forests of the western region of Elehura.

Sorry you’re not an immortal angel anymore, Sly. It’ll probably make you a more compelling character, though.