From left to right - Raw, Fishbone, Jango, Melchior, Vladislav

I have been working on this for the past few days, I spent a lot of time developing these characters and gave them a lot thought, because they are here to announce a new beginning for me. As of now, my story featuring Akuma, Sakeboo, Marmalade, etc. and all my past creatures is retired (on hold).

The story of Akuma and co. just didn't inspire me anymore and it hasn't been going anywhere for years. I also felt so limited by all the asian/japanese influences that that world had and while I still love the japanese elements, I would rather create a world that is not based around that. With that, I decided to go with a pirate theme for my new world. Not only have I always had a deep respect and love for pirates, but I think a world on the open sea about exploring different islands and locations is a great way to finally experiment drawing environments and scenes.

Some creatures and monsters from my older works will be brought into this story, like Zalmon for example. Or as can be seen in the picture, my Sasakori species.

Anyway, so that this doesn't get to long, a quick sum up as to what is going on in this world.
The world is called Ydra, which has one giant continent, where all of the citizens of that world are located. Throughout the world tousands of islands are spread around and all have created their own ecological system and they haven't come in contact with other islands flora or fauna.
One of the most important features of Ydra is how many monster are living on these islands and in the sea, the latter being the most dangerous. Which brings me back to the main continent. Because of these monsters the continent is split into different region circles, the further you are the edge of the island the more dangerous you live. So, of course, this is where the outlaws and poor citizens live and where our main heroes started, except Vladislav, but I'll get to that in another picture.

Not only were my protagonists born in the worst area, but they also all have a mutation called the devil's mark (their horns, which the species of Vladislav always have, it's complicated with his species), which by a superstitious law makes them outlaws. So, most of their lives they have been avoided, mistreated and punished just for living.
To wrap things up, after they all were old enough, they said fuck it, became pirates and are now setting sail to the different islands to go out and hunt monsters, so that they can become strong enough to take on the government and crush their stupid system and also learn more about the world they live in. Piracy is strictly forbidden in this world, as the government doesn't want anybody to live the island. Anybody who becomes a pirate will be punished by death. Why do they need to train so hard to destroy the government and why does the government want to keep all people from leaving the island? We'll have to wait and see.

Oh god, hope that wasn't to confusing, it is still rough in some areas but I think the basic idea comes across!

Characters and art are mine.