u/OutrageousLock7443

SLOTS ARE FULL! I will still be reading submissions, maybe even drawing them for a "second round" later down the line. But right now all slots are full.

I'll draw any of your world's organisms for the price of nothin'. I've been meaning to do something like this for a while, but it wasn't until KARYA gave this a shot that I finally got the courage to try this out myself. I do this because I've been feeling burnt-out somewhat with my own project, so I figure that in the meantime while I take a break, I'll exercise my artistic muscles by drawing for other people. I've listed some of my own stuff above to give you an idea of my skill level.

I'll do 3 minimum, 1 per person, depending on how I'm feeling past that I may still do more. Maybe a some rough sketches past that point, so even if all 3 submissions are full, make sure to submit your animals anyway. They'll be 2360px by 2360px, unless otherwise requested. Expect about 2-3 days wait. Each drawing will be done in the style of the above picture, the first one. I should clarify, "creature" here means literally anything that moves around, it could be golem people and I'll still draw it, so don't skip out because your creatures are inorganic or made from mushrooms. Races are also included in this definition.

Make sure to be in depth, colouration, proportions, if it's a weird shape that's hard to describe tell me about similarly proportioned animals. Don't forget smaller things like teeth, eyes, fur texture etc, give me something to bite on. I'll need details.

This should still abide by the sub's rules, specifically rule 3, as this is technically a contribution to other's work. Hope I haven't done anything wrong there (Sorry mods if I have). Anyway, can't wait to see what you guys have to offer!

Fairly long post, I’ve put it into sections so it’s easier to go through, two main sections for each image, plus the meta. Took a break from the Corae to focus on fleshing out the world some more. Anyway, here it is:

Appearance & Biology:

In the southern reaches of the Cozina Lesser, you can find these creatures, Hornikere. They're large, bipedal animals with a shaggy coat. Their forelimbs are short and muscular, used to aid in digging and in defense Their legs however, are incredibly dense, with large thighs and powerful leathery forelegs.

Their bodies are shorter length-ways to aid this build, with a wide tail that can fluff up to communicate. They have a single, large hump on the back that stores fat. Their heads are their most unusual characteristic, they're long, beak-like structures with a large crest jutting from the back, giving them the likeness of a pickaxe.

This unusual skull allows Hornikere to repeatedly and powerfully strike the ground, breaking into the firm bio-crusts of the Cozina, letting their long tongues slurp up the crustivores that dwell down there. As depicted as above, their tongues are long and have small brush like extensions, that cover as much area as possible.

Despite their appearance, they're not birds, in fact they're not mammals either, they belong to a 3rd class that shares characteristics of both. Their "feathers" are more like branching pieces of fur, and much larger. This unusual origin has been subject of much debate amongst scholars. Characteristics such as their live births, or mandible that indicate a mammalian origin, they even have teeth. Despite that, their unusual "fur" that's more comparable to feathers and avian-like lungs lead others to believe they're birds.

Behaviour:

Often move in small hierarchical groups of 5-10. The largest and strongest Hornikere being positioned as leader. When disputes in these groups need settling, Hornikere will align themselves to be parallel, then repeatedly wack the blunt crest on their heads into the body of their rival. While painful, their necks aren't built to swing backwards with much force, so this only causes superficial harm.

Typically they're quite docile, if not skittish. Though they can be highly dangerous if threatened, their feet are knives. And their hands. And their faces. Regardless, they can be highly loyal once trained. The differences between domesticated and wild Hornikere are stark, never assume passivity from a wild Hornikere.

Domestication:

They're commonly found in the Great Flats as well as in the Cozina. They're hardy animals, so they're built for the long journeys these regions are known for. Their humps contain fat that let them wander for weeks on weeks.

Often used as beasts of burden, typically in long Hornikere trains, carrying large loads on their backs. Most breeds are too small to be ridden by the larger races, though some have been bred to be much larger, often peaking at around 9ft tall.

Tephram uses them the most, often carrying ore from lucrative veins back to the furnace cities, though many civilians make use of them. They're very playful, and most have been domesticated to the point of negligible aggression, allowing them to walk roads without risking passers-bys.

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Some Details on the Cozina

It’s a huge interior desert, it’s core having shifting white sands. It’s fairly undeveloped, but this exercise in creature creation has been very useful. It’s southern reaches, the Cozina lesser (Which this post concerns), is comprised of massive flats, with mesas, buttes and other large structures amongst it’s surface. It’s incredibly resource rich. since it's in the dead center of the continent trade usually occurs straight through it, often in the form of airships or bergs. Because of this, it's become a sort of dry ocean.

This region is incredibly volcanically active, and highly unusual. Hot springs and geysers will burst form the surface before vanishing again within the weak. This strange phenomena has lead scholars to ponder if there’s some great source of water beneath the Cozina, one that’s turmoil replenishes the surface. Beyond that, it gives the Cozina the appearance of a steaming pan.

Besides that, this region has pretty drastic seasons. The summer through to autumn is arid, but in winter, massive monsoons sweep through the region. Breathing new life into it yearly. The Cozina is the breathing heart of Somikaea, it's fitting it has a pulse too.

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META:

I'm very happy with this design. It feels weird and fantastical without seeming implausible irl. It's a balance that's hard to strike but I think I hit it here. Plus the pickaxe heads felt right for the wild west esque environment they dwell in. There's a lot of work to do for the Cozina, it's undergone a tonne of changes, but I'm getting there. I need to get more weird with my nature, so far it feels too much like real life.

The inspiration for this came from my need of some kind of herbivore in the Cozina, my first thought was kangaroo-pachycephalasuarus hybrids that traveled in herds, but I also wanted them to have an insectivorous diet, rather than herbivorous. this iteration of them felt disconnected from their diet though, so I wasn't satisfied.

Then, I found an image of an anteater, and it felt like the perfect animal, had the diet I was looking for an lived looked sick. From that point I combined them with emus for because the large bushy tails of both matched.

Later on I plan on making Silky ant eater versions of these, top 10 animals of all time btw, they're so cute. Will probably combine them with humming birds.

The whole "neither bird nor mammal" bit came from my indecisiveness of which these guys should be, but having some animals be some 3rd class that's a mix of both sounds really fun. Monotremes would be a great source of inspiration. Maybe like alligator platypuses (platypi?) with hydrophic feather-fur or smth. actually macropods could be good too, in fact Australian biology in general.

Also, a group of Hornikere is scientifically called a "crew", I derived their name from the Czech word for miner, felt fitting.

Final note

I plan on making a rudimentary food cycle for Cozina, A producer, and 3 consumers. I want there to be a canid that has a cheetah hunting strategy, as well as to develop the crustivores that live the biocrusts of the Cozina some more. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them. I've learnt so much from peoples suggestions.

Also, what do we think about the background? Hopefully feels more ambient and less dead than the monochrome gradients from before. It’s a blurred version of the second image.

Hopefully this meta stuff wasn't too long, or boring. But I find them fun to write

Oh, and some context on the wider world: The world takes place in Somikaea, a massive continent home to a variety of peoples, environments, and unusual phenomena. One such occurrence being daemons, beings of Near-pure magic that Warp aspects of the earth they walk on. Be it manifestations of continent sized dungeons, ravenous flower plagues. I want it to be pretty whimsical, but also explore some more grounded elements as well. It's just an excuse to draw more, and develop my ideas further. Hopefully it's interesting.

I'm wondering how other people have tackled their unusual hand configurations? be it aliens, speculative creatures, whatever, I'm curious on how other's have dealt with atypical layouts.

I ask this because I've been struggling with the ergonomics of Corae, lore wise they're meant to be fairly dexterous and skilled, in the vast majority of them are ambidextrous. But I'm finding it difficult to comprehend all the subtle ways having different hands could effect someones daily life. For some lore on them they're ungiligate in origin, so they have unusual 4 fingered hands, With 2 thumbs, they tip of each finger is padded in a small hoof, they are symmetric laterally, with a rough ratio of 60-40 in terms of grip strength from finger-thumb. They're individual fingers are stronger than a humans, but since the only have 2 and they're more adapted to using their thumbs, overall a Corae's hand is weaker, especially in pulling. (As pictured above, it's my drawing). My main concern is all the things I'm not noticing, Since I'm human, I live in a world tailor made to my hands so I'm finding it hard to imagine what would change, so I worry about all the things I'm missing.

For some context regarding the world of these guys, It's called Somikaea, a land infested with Daemons, magic phenomena that alter the world in mysterious ways, be it roaming flower plagues, continent sized dungeons, or physical manifestations of sapience. It's worldbuilding for the sake of worldbuilding, mostly to develop my ideas and drawing skills.

The most colourful of the races. They’re most prevalent throughout the heart sea, and the regions bordering it. Their bodies adapted to the harsh and arid conditions present. They're scales are slick and interlocking, designed to slide and slip past brush and sand. They’re 5’4”, for both males and females, in fact Kobolds possess extremely little sexual dimorphism, to most people they’re indistinguishable. They have a digitigrade stance and 4-fingered hands. Similar to Goblins, they have a large prehensile tail, which can function as a fifth limb. This tail also functions as fat storage, aiding their resilience. In fact, kobolds are able to go months without nourishment, often only eating one large meal per day.

Their hides are their iconic trait. Each Kobold usually has a bright, saturated palette of colours across their body, some kobolds have earthier tones, greens and browns. Other’s have incredibly bright and contrasting coats. These colours are hereditary, the specific hues and patterns present can tell you where they’re from

As a reptile, they possess a highly specialized parietal eye. typically this organ can only sense light and dark, but in the case of kobolds, it allows them to detect high concretions of mana. This sense is rudimentary, only allowing them to sense intensity, and not direction, but this ability is invaluable to them. It acts as an early warning system against the raging sandstorms of their home, as well as the presence of highly magical beings.

Their feathers are important for communication, their orientation and rigidity conveying emotion. They’re usually dark colours, evolved that way to contrast the brighter tones of Kobold scales. Often this is the only way other sapients can tell what a Kobolds is feeling, besides the eyes. They do have 3rd eyelids as well, which are transparent and dark grey, like organic sunglasses.

Many kobold past times are more “practical” often taking pride in their ability to craft and create. Most hobbies include pottery, blacksmithing, and other tactile arts. They’re very resourceful, a trait they had to evolved in the barren sands of the heart sea.

They’re usually curious and inquisitive. Often reserved however, only showing their enthusiasm only with those they’re comfortable with, at which point you see how excitable they can be. They live in more communal, egalitarian society's, though much more transactional in nature. They don’t even rear their young most the time, often having a dedicated brood, where the children are raised by dedicated teachers.

Meta: After the crippling and agonizing reception of the last post (Valid and reasonable feedback) I’ve gone back to to filling out the races. This should be the last race post, excluding the summary I’ll do later. unless I decide I do want to have unusual humans. But for the foreseeable future this is the last Major race, highly unlikely that there will be a 7th, I feel like 6 is a good roster, though I dislike the over representation of mammals. At least the Orcan look distinct enough to not read as explicitly mammalian.

But yeah, for these guys I was inspired by poison dart frogs, dinosaurs, and specifically the secretary bird. I like the red conventional kobolds that are so common, but I feel like their physical appearance doesn’t vary enough to be justify being restricted to only 1/2 colours.

Part of the dinosaur inspiration wasn’t necessarily specific species, but those older cartoony depictions of them in media where they’re scaly and extremely colourful. It’s really endearing and I think I’ve honed that in a bit for these guys. I did take direct inspiration from therapods for the legs though, felt fitting.

I;m still finding the balance between feathered and scaled, I like the head and tail feathers, but feel like they look a little “tacked on”, though too much feathers will undermine the colourful scales. Plus, they’re reptiles, I don’t want to go full bird and have them look like parrots. typing that I’m imaging these guys as rainbow raptors. Maybe there’s more merit to it than I thought.

Anyway, I hope this is an interesting spin on Kobolds. As always, feedback, ideas etc are welcome.

Because of the variety of different shapes a Corae's horns can take, it's inevitable that some will become more harmful than beneficial.

As Corae grows, they naturally accumulate mana, which crystalises within the Horn. This process can be accelerated by vigorous or intensive casting, but still occurs naturally. Because of this, Corae with this condition are effectively barred from any form of magic, lest they accelerate and worsen their ailment. It's not all bad though, in some cases, the horn pierces the eye in just the right way to connect to the optical nerve, effectively funneling the horns magic back into the brain. This interaction allows the affected corae to see mana, in a manner similiar to Kobolds, though far more potent.

Usually the horns can't just be removed, they're in tune with the Corae's mana, so their removal may have drastic and permanent affects on their health. Their horns are what make a Corae a Corae. So as little as possible is removed from one horn, and the other is allowed to run it's course.

In paumo, this was seen as an omen, and a result of the horn negatively impacting the brain. There are many accounts of affected Corae seeing "mana where there shouldn't be" but being promptly ignored.

Lot's of comments pointing out that there are other methods to dealing with an ingrown horn, such as molds or filing it down. I should clarify that these aren't really options, since the nature of a Corae's horns is magic, you can't use conventional methods to slow or stop their growth. Trying to redirect the horn away will only cause more mana to follow it's intended path. When a Corae's born their horns are on rails pretty much, you can't affect their course.

Meta: Last post was a stinker lol. I'll recycle the main drawing here. Completely crossed my mind that not everyone has the same brightness. Also a little worried that this comes of too dark, I imagine the contrast between this and the last few posts might be a little jarring, though I'm probably overthinking it.

Meta 2: Two stinkers in a row :( But the comments have actually been super helpful. I'm going to keep the concept of the "6th sense" but make it so a Corae CAN actually mold their horns, this way, when a Corae is blinded, it's more a testament to what that person is willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of power. That's way more interesting than this, which is just a sad condition effectively. Consider the lore here defunct

This is only really iteration 1. Of these guys designs. They were somewhat worked backwards from another concept but they still function well as one of the major races. At least I hope.

The Corae are one of the 6 major races of Somikaea, they're common across all the continent, though especially in the temperate east, right along the great flats. They're physically quite meek, usually standing at 5'4" for females and 5'7" for males. They're digitigrade, in spite of their ungiligrade ancestry, the two dew claws at the rear of each foot now function as additional toes for stability, on account of the shorter foot. This unusual anatomy extends to their hands, as you can see, Corae possess symmetrical, 4-fingered hooves rather than a typical sapient configuration (3-4 fingers and a thumb). These strange hands, while disconcerting, are still very dexterous, all of the fingers having a wide range of movement that allow for object manipulation.

Their second most unusual trait is their fur. They have thicker, coarser fur that covers similiar regions as a human's terminal hair would. This fur is always curly, in fact, straight hair is a bad omen, usually indicative of a condition like the Fae Touch. Similar to both Vikeds and Goblins, the Corae do get a winter coat, though unlike these other races, their coats are far more prominent.

During the winter months, a Corae's fur will take on the qualities of their head hair, growing thicker and more woolly. The extent of this growth depends on the severity of the winter, a warmer winter usually only causing the forearms, shoulders, and legs to thicken, but a frigid and harsh winter can result in an entire Corae's body being covered, save for the face and hands. This process relies on temperature, and a Corae from the hot north may never get their winter coats. (The blonde Corae on the right has his cold coat, for a small visual)

The horns of a Corae are their most unique quality, exclusive to their race, Corae horns contain small amounts of magically conductive material, acting as a completely organic conduit. This however comes at a cost, this high amount of innate mana taking much longer to cultivate than in other races. The horns of a Corae vary heavily from individual to individual, the number of ridges, twists, thickness and even position can change wildly between even Corae of the same family. These horns are not influenced by the sex of an individual, in fact it's incredibly hard to predict how a Corae's horns will develop at all.

They're benevolent and usually quite chill, due to their lack of athleticism, they typically take more interest in artistic and creative subjects. Many especially enjoy cosmetics. Jewellery, adornment of the horns, makeup, use of dyes to decorate the fur, etc. Braids, and other hairstyles are common amongst Corea during the warm months, though the fur is left curly in the end of autumn and throughout winter.

Because of their unusual anatomy, many Corae social cues are quite unique. Stomping of the foot, such that the hooves will create a loud "clack" sound, is usually done to convey anger. Clicking of the hands however is usually a good sign, though can be irritating to non-Corae.

There are many beliefs regarding the Horns of a Corae. That they bring luck, that a Corae's horns can tell you about their personality, that contra rotating horns are a bad omen.

Of course, if anyone has any criticisms, ideas, etc, feel free to tell me. Especially on this one, I'm happy with the design but there's lot's of room for improvement. Oh and sorry, forgot to add the gradient to the background. Can't be bothered to fix it.

Small summary of the larger world:

The world takes place in Somikaea, a massive continent home to a variety of peoples, environments, and unusual phenomena. One such occurrence being daemons, beings of Near-pure magic that Warp aspects of the earth they walk on. Be it manifestations of continent sized dungeons, ravenous flower plagues. I want it to be pretty whimsical, but also explore some more grounded elements as well. It's just an excuse to draw more, and develop my ideas further. Hopefully it's interesting.

Meta sidenote, What do I name these things? They're my worlds orc analogues, but I don't know if they're Orcish enough to warrant "Orc" Being 3/5's of their name, but I really like it, fits with the cetacean theme they have, though instead it may be too on the nose. Also what do we think about the background? Hopefully it's easier on the eyes than the other two Species posts. Anyway, here's an overview of them.

Orcan are a gigantic race of sapients found in the southernmost regions of Temperos, comprised of lands dominated by Tundras and ice sheets. They typically stand at 7ft and weigh 130kg, for both males and females. Their thick stocky frames are made up of a dense muscular core, with a blubbery and rough exterior. Because of this build, they're incredibly resistant to blunt force trauma, able to withstand attacks that would be fatal to other races. They possess a large Melon, adapted to the different acoustics of air, and far more firmer. This gives them a strong sense of hearing, able to pick up on incredibly low frequency sounds.

While imposing, they are a benevolent and generally soft-natured (At least to other races). On account of their cetacean voice-box though, they struggle to speak many common languages. Because of this, miscommunication is common, falsely leading many to believe that Orcans are stupid or dumb. Regardless of this, they are highly valued for their strength, able to life loads inconceivable to other races. Orcan Languages usually consist of a sequence of high pitched beeps and low, prolonged moans, with little to no consonants, they struggle with longer words with lots of syllables, so they avoid them entirely.

Typically Orcans live in small, matriarchal groups. Usually families of about 8 members. Most Orcan Tribes are Nomadic, roaming around a set territory in search for food. Should you meet some out in the wastes, they'll be happy enough to share.

Due to their resilience and highly active lifestyles, a common Orcan past time is sparring with each other, typically wrestling and boxing in the snow. This doesn't hurt them of course, and allows them to exercise and have fun. This is because they have the unusual hunting strategy of beating prey to death, usually placing Air-breathing Barnacles on the knuckles to compensate lack of claws. Every member of the family participates, cooperating to kill a target, via grappling, incapacitation, and assault.

This is such a favorite activity, that Urban Orcans will turn it into a business, setting up dedicated duels, charging other races to watch and allowing Orcans to vent of some steam.

Speaking of which, they do have blowholes, and when they exert themselves they shoot vapor from it, it also happens when they're really excited (Typically the two coincide, they enjoy physical labor). Often a group of Orcans will compound of eachother, causing a a chain reaction, Especially when drunk. Barkeeps don't find it as fun though.

And of course, if anyone has any criticisms, ideas, etc, feel free to tell me.

Oh and small summary of the larger world:

My world, (It's currently unnamed) takes place on two main continents, Temperos and Pacia. There's a phenomenon that influences the world known as "Daemons", A kind of magic being which warps aspects of the very earth, this can vary from manifestations of continent sized dungeons to infectious flower plagues. The vibe is pretty high fantasy in concept, and more whimsical, but I still want to explore some more grounded elements as well. It's mostly just an excuse to draw more and develop my ideas further. Hopefully it's interesting.

A unique trait of Vikeds compared to other race's is there deep symbiosis with another non-sapient species, Orus. This species of bird has immense intelligence, able to communicate with verbal language (At the level of a 1 year old kid). These birds have made their way into every aspect of Viked culture, be it as pets, messengers, or even hunting companions.

A trait of both Vikeds and Orus is that they possess magnetoreception, via an organ in the brain called the "Magnabellum" A small, highly magical sphere of concentrated and enchanted blood. symbiosis between Vikeds and Crows has caused these magnabellums to develop and specialize. Repeated and consistent interactions with another’s magnabellum will cause the organ to shift, matching mana and allowing “Linking”. As a result of this, Linked Vikeds will be able to “sense” each other over immense distances.

Fig 1. A Viked, Piero, and his good friend, Tem. The two have been linked for close to a decade now. Tem is a Common Oru, the most prevalent breed, distinguishable by their Bright Blue hues and tomial teeth.

Fig 2. A comparison of a Vikeds and an Oru's brain, Note the similiarity in appearance despite the difference in species.

Fig 3. An extracted Oru Magnabellum, this one is especially smooth, and still has some of it's Magic energy.

Me when I'm asked to count Figs (My favourite fruit)

My world, (It's currently unnamed) takes place on two main continents, Temperos and Pacia. There's a phenomenon that influences the world known as "Daemons", A kind of magic being which warps aspects of the very earth, this can vary from manifestations of continent sized dungeons to infectious flower plagues. The vibe is pretty high fantasy in concept but I want to explore some more grounded elements as well. It's mostly just an excuse to draw more and develop my ideas further. For this post, I'll be covering Noctism, One of the dominant religions of the world.

If you have any questions, please ask them, there a ton of details I haven't gone over to keep this more concise, It'll help me find gaps in my worldbuilding too.

Meta

Cetus, the nation in which Noctism first developed, is incredibly advanced regarding astronomy. As magic is visible under the right conditions, and planets, being large concentrated pools of magic, they were able to be found much earlier and studied to a greater degree than in real life, hence why they're aware of all 8 bodies, In spite of lacking the mathematical knowledge we used to find the Ice giants.

Overview

The Religion of Noctism surrounds the 8 planets, each representing different domains of life. While similiar to real life, they each have slight differences that make them distinct. In order of distance to the sun, they are:

1. Chrys, God of messengers, youth, innocence and travel.

2. Sumeret, God of binaries, extremes, Justice and Morality.

3. Earth, God of magic, Balance and life.

4. Vitri, God of conflict, strife and war.

5. Okan, God of Wealth, craftsmanship and art.

6. Krome, God of Diligence, toil and the seasons.

7, Juron, God of Calm, leisure and the sky.

8, Rainin, God of Fear, Dread and the sea.

All of these Gods however, are subject to the will of the Sun, our creator. Believed to be overwhelmingly more powerful than the rest. In spite of this however, the sun is not praised or revered, rather viewed as a blight on the planets, who are respected.

I've completed the designs for half the planets so far, but there's still the moons and their domains I need to cover.

Creation myths

In the beginning, the sun was cast out from the court of the stars, deemed too arrogant and selfish to be worthy of its position in the heavens The Sun, now isolated, created it's own children, the seven planets, to rule over. Now, while the sun created the planets, it was not a kind God, it would often lash out, scarring it's subjects in fits of rage. This is why chrys bears a grand scar on it's day side. In response to this, the Gods formed a coup, each gifting a part of themselves to create a new God, capable of usurping the sun. This God, would be earth, destined to kill the Sun, and returning the planets to their rightful place amongst the stars.

Praying and how to do it.

To pray, one must kneel, face the direction of the desired god, and bow, should the Moon be misaligned with said planet, it is believed the prayer will be less likely to succeed. The time in which a planet and the moon are most aligned is called the "Syzygy", and is tracked by Priests with the express intent of prayer.

The Cardinals

As Cetus is a theocracy, it's heads of state are believed to be persona's of the gods themselves, each destined to fulfill a certain task within the Church. Pictured above is Laius, Patron of Vitri, who specializes in warfare and combat. While they do focus on their respective deitie's domains, they still cooperate regarding most matters as a group. They wear thick dark robes designed to cover as much of their skin as possible, in fear the sun's light will corrupt them.

Now, beyond just their positions, they are physically abnormal as well. All of them are massive, none standing below 2.5 meters. This is due to Stelferrium. A material harvested from falling meteorites from Som. If used in a specific way, it has drastic effects on ones biology, paling their skin, causing them to atrophy and stretch, however, in turn one will gain immense magical potential, allowing the cardinals to do typically immensely straining magics unaffected.

The Scalding

An event which catalyzed the growth of Noctism. The sun, in a fury, lashed out at the earth, blasting it with a whip of fire and energy. For days on end the sky burned and glowed, people were "sunblighted", an ailment that would burn and cripple it's victims. This event left a scar on the moon, which can be seen as it's golden streaks.

Notes

This post is a bit of a mess, not really used to structuring my ideas in a way, Not to mention I'm writing this waaaay too early in the morning. Advice is appreciated. Also, There will probably be a part 2, half the planets aren't designed yet, and I still have to create unique outfits for the other 7 Cardinals, it's gonna be a ton of work.

My world, (It's currently unnamed) takes place on two main continents, Temperos and Pacia. There's a phenomenon that influences the world known as "Daemons", A kind of magic being which warps aspects of the very earth, this can vary from manifestations of continent sized dungeons to infectious flower plagues. The vibe is pretty high fantasy in concept but I want to explore some more grounded elements as well. It's mostly just an excuse to draw more and develop my ideas further.

This time around I'm showing some of my developments for a Race, important material, and some details on one of the main nation, Rustova.

Suggestions are welcome, as well as criticism

Vikeds

Second race I've developed so far, they're a slim, athletic race of canids, most prevalent on the west end of Temperos, in the sub-tropical bush and temperate forests. They're built for speed, being the fastest race by a mile, though what they have in speed they lack in strength.

They're usually an inch shorter than the average human, but this varies significantly. Their coats are the most variable aspect of them, coming in a massive range of both textures and colours. The Vikeds of the south have thick, white coats that can stave of the cold, or Northern Vikeds have orange, rusty coats that act as camouflage against prey species. The coat of a Viked is one of their most defining aspects, and can clue you in to their origin.

Their digitigrade stance and lean frames are perfect for running, with both high acceleration and top speed. Where an average humans top speed in short bursts is ~20km/h, an average Viked's is ~30. They're also very stealthy, the only point of contact being the padded ball of their foot, which has Semi-retractable claws comparable to a fox's. They of course possess the smell and hearing exemplary of canids, able to identify anybody entirely with smell.

Socially, they're incredibly friendly and loyal, though take time to warm up. Most of the strongest friendships one can have is with a Viked, given enough time. People who haven't lived amongst them often think of them as cold and distant due to this.

They're a highly monogamous species, marriage is one of the rites of passage for a Viked adult, and many who take too long to wed are looked down upon. In Rustova, this behavior has incorporated into the nation's autumn festivals, where many Vikeds will marry.

Viked Knights

In Rustova many Vikeds take the position of Knight, serving under King Mariposa, and assisting in the war effort against Cetus. They're armor is specially designed to suit the longer snouts of Vikeds, with a crest down the center of the helmet, which is to deflect impacts. Due to their high top speeds, most knights will be armed with a lance, which they will charge directly into enemy soldiers with. This hit and run tactic is further aided by Vitachor, which can be first formed into a spear/lance, then shifted into a sword once they've first entered the fight. The one depicted above is wearing a fresh set of armor, showing of the unique helmet.

Vitachor

A substance produced solely in Rustova, it's a highly versatile fluid capable of storing and dispelling mana, changing it between solid and fluid states respectively. Because of this, a trained Mage can shift and manipulate large quantities into a wide range of applications, such as weaponry or any matter of tools. It's used by all Rustovan mages, as it's capable of storing large quantities of mana idly.

It's especially useful to Mage-knights (Placeholder name), where it's stored in a container mounted on the lower back of the mage-knight. Which they can open to quickly retrieve more Vitachor.

The issue arises in the production of Vitachor, it requires sap from the Puroi trees of Rustova, which is then treated and mixed with other unknown materials to create a suitable base.

For functional Vitachor, one must add their own blood to this base. It must be the intended user's blood, as the connection of ones own body to the Vitachor is what allows it to be so effective. And voila, Vitachor ready for use.