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"Ascension" by chrisgoodwin

"Ascension"

chrisgoodwin

ink, digital. 2007.

A martyred jackalope amazonian warrior.
To explain:

The various matriarchal clans of jackalopes were all part of the Dreamers army that helped to defeat the Vicarial robotic forces and ultimately ended his reign. They were unnatural creatures in that none were born, but all spawned from sown dragon's teeth) (dragons themselves were another typically short-sighted Dreamer creation (something for another upload)).

As the war waned and victory seemed inevitable, they turned on the Dreamers, battling for their freedom and the right to manage the remaining teeth. Though all women, as constructed creatures without the ability to bear children, the limited number of teeth represented the very finite future of their kind. They divided the teeth among the warlord matriarchs, to be safeguarded and entrusted to only the best among them as rewards for great valor and prowess.

It would not be uncommon to see a renowned warrior wearing a single dragon's tooth; and if she fell in battle another warrior would spring up from the ground instantly to keep fighting. Chieftans might wear two teeth as a sign of community trust and power, but keeping more than that would be the responsibility of high generals, and of course the individual warlords themselves. The teeth also served as a deterrent against intrigue; backstabbing a warlord laded with a thousand teeth would mean terrible retribution when slain. This mutually assured destruction helped keep the peace between clans, more or less.

The rare meetings between rival leaders became awesome spectacles of bluster and tooth rattling, featuring warrior queens each encrusted with bristling fangs all over.

As an aside: the ram horns are intentional and would have been a common feature. The more traditional antlered jackalopes were rare spawns, and they were considered marked for important destiny.

Submission Information

Views:
442
Comments:
8
Favorites:
37
Rating:
General
Category:
Visual / Other

Comments

  • Link

    Fascinating history. It brings to mind those skeleton guys from Jason and the Argonauts what with the "rise again" mentality. She's rather ravishing in an honorable warrior sort of way.

  • Link

    The individual that dies -- does she have an afterlife?

  • Link

    Fascinating series and really gorgeous piece and background information.

  • Link

    Aaagh I love your worldbuilding so much.

  • Link

    Actually, the name reminds me that your art style on the Jackalope pieces kind of reminds me of some of the art from a card game called Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer. It's not exactly the same or anything, but the sort of etching-type feel (especially on the Heroine) just kinda made me think of some of the cards in the game (like this and this) with a similar feel to them.

  • Link

    Another amazing one.....such a powerful, stocky physique, and the muzzle shape almost reminds me of a wombat or beaver, or something else much less graceful than a rabbit. And I did not realize that they fought in a war against the Vicarial robots, very interesting! Yes, we need more Goodwin worldbuilding infodumps on here.....

  • Link

    That's a fascinating concept. The image itself is fantastic and interesting as heck. Curious as to how life would progress outside of war for such a race.

  • Link

    Gorgeous design and ink work!