Redraw Challenge: Kroashent - The Rescue

April's Redraw Challenge, selected by my wonderful patrons, is one that I have a special connection to, a redraw a drawing from May 2019, my 1000th drawing posted to this website! Its especially fitting that this one is ready just in time for Lesbian Visibility Week, celebrating women loving women in Alvez and our own world.

[b]Original Text: [i]An early encounter between Kathalia and Gwae from Kroashent.

When Gwae falls into a trap and is captured by an evil nobleman, Kathalia rushes in to save her with crossbow, sword and unnecessary action stunts, happy to play the swashbuckling hero. As Kathalia holds Gwae close for a daring escape, the silver-haired mage has a startling realization that she may have feelings for her rescuer. But the moment is quickly overshadowed when the pair suddenly swings off the balcony, Gwae screaming and hanging on for dear life as they sail over an army of very angry guards.

Val's Notes: I really love how this one came out, and the original is one I have a lot of love for. I wanted to keep the concept and general vibe of this piece, but upgrade it both artistically and in terms of Kroashent's ongoing lore as the story gets written (Check out Kroashent: Bal des Loups for the first ongoing published Kroashent story!

This scene is envisioned to take place in the Kroashent story that precedes Bal Des Loups. I changed Kathalia's outfit to that of her highwaywoman persona, La Louve de Frehel, and changed the scene to be more mid-swing, rather than before it, as the pair make a daring escape via a passing windship.

If you want to support Kathalia, Gwae and Kroashent, helping bring more scenes like this to life, consider supporting me on Patreon for exclusives, voting privileges and drawing rewards! Every bit of support helps: www.patreon.com/Kroashent Alvez and the World of Kroashent is owned by me.

Interested in getting your own idea drawn by me? Commissions are open: https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/Commission-Sheet-2024-1014668898

Are there any examples of people abusing hospitality to destroy nobles they didn't like?

Gwae tells the tale of King Bres, the beautiful, but cruel half-Fomorian king of the Tuatha de Danaan.

Gwae Was Maid For This

Apparently, it is "Maid Day" in Japan today, May 10th. Seemed like a good excuse to draw some cute Gwae art!

Happy St. Patrick's "Gwae" from Kroashent!

To Gwae

What’s one of the strangest creatures you’ve seen since coming to Bedouai?

Gwae: This is a laer-avaloù, or as ye may better know it, an applethief! They are a creature of Summer, and sleep during Winterrule, so I never saw one until I came to Letha! It’s mad pointy and rolls up into a wee ball when it’s scared. They eat all sorts of bugs. Isn’t it class?!

Val's notes: In the Breton language, Hedgehogs really are called avalaouaer/laer-avaloù, or literally "apples thieves". Apparently, hedgehogs carrying fruit on their quills is a recurring motif in medieval bestiaries, not just in Brittany, but as far away as Poland and Czechia! Amusingly enough, they are often used as allegories for "the fruits of labour being stolen from the unwary by the forces of evil." In Middle Ages Europe, apparently the minions of the Devil are adorable little criminals!

Gwae is very impressed by non-magical creatures, and takes a liking to the little creatures.

@askmitchelltf asked: To [Gwae], what is the weirdest hobby of your companions?

Gwae: Humans can have very strange habits. Kathalia, for instance, keeps hiding a Telenn Harp in places around the Apartments… but I always find it and put it in the library rotunda! It is a strange game, but Kathalia keeps playing, so so will I! Kathalia: Wait, is someone there? I thought it was just me today… better wrap this up. If anyone knew I was trying to learn how to play this thing, I’d never hear the end of it. I’d better hide it again, just to be safe… The magic Gwae has on this place like moving it to the library. I barely was able to get to it before Gwae got back.

Gwaepril - Fighting Frostmaiden

It's time again for "Gwaepril", a celebration of Gwaeron Sulime Dethemir, Sidhe Sorceress and master merchant.  I felt inspired to try and find a good "action pose" for her this time.

Hoping to take a bit more advantage of April this year to get out a few more Gwae drawings for people to enjoy!

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Want to support Gwae and the Kroashent project?  Check out my patreon page, for exclusive bonus sketches with this drawing and other great rewards!  All your support means a lot to me and helps bring the world of Kroashent to life!  Check it out here:  www.patreon.com/Kroashent

St. Patrick's Gwae '24

Its that time of year again!  Happy St. Patrick's Gwae!  For the past couple years, I've started a little annual tradition of "Saint Patrick's Gwaes", celebrating the Emerald Isle with it's spiritual daughter, Gwaeron Sulime Dethemir of the Tuatha de Danaan.  Gwae is from the Isle of Emain Ablach, the Isle of Apples, a fantastic land of magic and mist, inspired by Irish mythology.  A little thank you from me and Gwae for all the support over the past year!

An alternate version is available on Patreon!

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Previous "Saint Patrick's Gwaes":

https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/Happy-St-Patrick-s-Day-360024943 (2013)

https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/St-Patrick-s-Day-Seven-Blessings-789989621 (2019)

https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/St-Patrick-s-Gwae-2020-834138379 (2020)

https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/St-Patrick-s-Gwae-Gwaeron-of-the-Nathair-873638619 (2021)

https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/St-Patrick-s-Gwae-22-910179599 (2022)

https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/St-Patrick-s-Gwae-23-954030844 (2023)

Kroashent Q & A: Time Madness

Q: How is your relationship with other Sidhe now, and how were they before you became Time- Maddened

A: To be honest, it’s a handlin’ sometimes. Many of me kith and kin see the time-maddened as dossers or as mad as a box of frogs, unfit for polite society, like there’s somethin’ wrong with us. Sometimes, ye even think tha’ yerself, and that’s when things get bad. Sometimes ye want to leg it or go about lettin’ on that all is fine. But it’s not a bad dose, and I’m not an oinseach, it’s part of who I am now. It makes it a handlin’ to deal with the Sidhe sometimes, but the Korrigan are more understanding at times. Ye bediz are still a rag order though, no offense.

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Val's Notes:

Ok, so this one I feel is important enough to give a proper author's note on, not only for lore, but for important context as well. While Time Madness is a fictional condition in Kroashent, it is still meant to be similar to mental health conditions found in our own world, and should be treated with full respect and understanding that such topics deserve. Mental Health is an important, nuanced and sensitive topic, with plenty of cultural baggage.

In Kroashent, time moves at two different "speeds." Chronos, the measured passing of time, and Kairos, experienced time. While Chronos is constant, Kairos is not, instead existing upon the more elastic feelings of a given moment. For the most part, Bediz (humans) and other people of Bedouar (the mundane world) experience Chronos, while creatures of Faerie (the magical world) experience Kairos.

For the most part, a minute of Chronos lasts the same amount of time to anyone in the world at any point in time. A moment of Kairos lasts as long or passes as quickly as the individual experiences it. This disconnect is a major difference between Bediz and Fae.

When a Sidhe becomes time-maddened, they are acutely aware of the passage of Chronos. This may lead to serious mental health complications. The seriousness and specifics of these vary wildly across the Sidhe, ranging from neurodivergence in the processing of information to more serious mental health complications, such as disassociation, obsessive compulsion and panic attacks.

Time maddened individuals process information differently from their neurotypical kin and social stigma exists in some populations of the Fair Folk, while others are more open and understanding.

Fulenn a Loarwenn - The Lost Village

Happy "Howlween" from Alvez, the world of Kroashent, where some lycanthropic mischief is underway! After their Windship is forced down in the mysterious forests of the interior, the Forthaves and their ally Haizea are forced to take shelter in a crumbling abandoned village, long reclaimed by the forest.  When a pair of rivals track them down, a tense standoff takes an unexpected turn, as the magical energies of the cursed place transform all within into a garwaf fangpack.  Rivalries and agendas tossed aside when tail and fur sprouts, and howls fill the cold autumn night!

From Left to Right: Enora de Chinon, Marie deCygne (In Tree), Kathalia Bisclavret, Gwaeron Sulime Dethemir, Morgiana (in Tree), Antoinette Beaumoulin and Haizea Gacería!

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A while back, I received permission from the wonderful https://www.furaffinity.net/user/abluedeer/ to adapt one of their old YCHs to a Kroashent scene, in what may be my largest single picture I've ever drawn!!!  ABlueDeer did an amazing job with the poses and composition, and I wanted to try my hand at replicating it to improve my own skill at those aspects of art.  Patrons will recognize this piece, as I did a long series of step-by-step process pictures as each character, their clothing and the background got added in, bit-by-bit.  It was certainly a great challenge, taking me an entire month of work, and now, I am happy to finally share the results!  Seemed like a great one to close out October.  Happy Halloween and Kalan-Goanv Laouen!

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Special thanks again to ABlueDeer and to all my patrons!  I put a lot of work into this one, so I'd love to hear what people think! 

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You can check out a ton of in-process pictures, individual character sketches and an exclusive patreon-only nude version, available to all tiers!

Kroashent Commission - Another Visit to the Shop

A Kroashent-themed commission for www.deviantart.com/vaatis500, with another visit by Gwae to Blackwind Spinners to find a new outfit, this time without her loyal bodyguard, searching for something special to catch someone's attention.  Taking a queue from Morgiana, Gwae tries on an outfit inspired by the dancing girls of the Shifting Sands, far to the South.  Cael seems to think it suits her well, but one must wonder if there is someone else that Gwae wants to get a different reaction from. 

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This one is a spiritual sequel to https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/Kroashent-Commission-A-Visit-to-the-Shop-983437498, a cute little followup of Gwae trying on some clothes she would be a little to embarrassed or self-conscious to try normally on her own.  Plus, its a fun excuse to give Gwae a new outfit!

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Kroashent Commission - A Visit to the Shop

A Kroashent-themed commission for www.deviantart.com/vaatis500, showing a visit of Kathalia and Gwae to the shop of the Gwiader seamstress, Cael Mac Lochlainn.  I've drawn Cael a few times before, so it was nice to finally put her in a scene with some other characters (https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/gallery?q=cael).  Designing new outfits for Kathalia and Gwae was a real challenge, but I am pretty happy with the results.  I also took the time to try and work on my backgrounds a little more to give the characters a sense of place withing the space.

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The boards creaked as Kathalia ducked beneath the horizontal pole blocking the path, the spar of a long abandoned rivercraft, overtaken by The Forest.  It was impossible to tell how long anything had been caught in the tangled mass of ship decks, rigging and ramshackle bridges that made up Naoned's strangest neighborhood, a collection of muddy islands, pontoons and grounded boats crammed so tightly together that one could imagine walking down a street in one of the drier districts.  Of course, with one's senses active, there was no mistaking the winding pathways of The Forest with the wide streets of cobblestone or even the tight alleyways of packed earth that cut through the town within the thick stone walls.  Unlike terrestrial paths, here, all one had to do was look down and see the muddy waters of the Erzh River centimeters below the crooked planks, or, if one was feeling adventurous during the heavy rains of Winterrule, several centimeters above them.

Nor was there truly a path.  It was more a collection of bridges, catwalks and decks, sometimes cutting through a hollowed out hull down a ship's hallway, or climbing a rickety spiral staircase around a thick mainmast to ascend to the upper levels built in the rigging itself.  Kathalia imagined, that the strange organic growth of the region had pulled it, ever so slightly, into Faerie, time and space stretching and bending beyond possibility.  It certainly seemed that way, with far more and far larger spaces within the jumble that should have fit into the small collection of detritus moored next to the Mask District.

Blackwind Spinners was one such locale, built inside a badly slanted aftercastle of an old hulk, the bow completely missing, reclaimed for some other ship.  The large ship, grounded on one of the larger muddy islands, and the pontoons and overturned hulls around it, was colloquially known as Brigantina's Lifeboat, made up mostly of smaller weavers and clothiers who all hung the sing of the drop spindle, the icon of la Ligue Briganita, Naoned's largest and most influential textiles guild, outside of their shops.  A set of planks led up to the door, hammered together at an angle to the slanted deck to provide a flat platform to enter the structure.  The door was not original, a circular oak disc much larger than the ship would have supported, the opening cut wide to compensate for the steep angle.  The door was covered in the intricate knotwork of raised, reddish wood, all entwined around a two-coloured acorn, polished to an almost mirror sheen.  Gwae ascended the stairs, shifting gracefully between the angle of the deck and stairs without any slowing of her graceful movement.  Kathalia followed her inside.

The interior of the Clothier's shop was far wider and taller than it should have been, the deck and walls conspicuously missing the slightest hint of a slope or slant.  An impressive carpentry undertaking, combined with the telltale energy of glamour, went far to dispel the uncanniness of the shift between the deck and the interior.  One wall was full of different bolts of shimmering cloth, stacked high in individual cubbies, providing the space a splash of rainbow colours.  A skittering of noise above was followed by the sudden appearance of a blue-skinned woman, tall and thin, wearing the yellow livery of la Ligue Briganita.  She approached, with a pair of her hand on her hips, another raised to her chin in contemplating appraisal as three pairs of eyes looked them up and down. 

"Cael.  How's the craic?" Gwae wasted no time in addressing the Gwiader tailor, breaking her out of her design calculations.

"Splendidly, Mlle Dethemir!" Cael brightened as she was brought back into the moment from her designer's daydream.  "The new crystalsilk spiders just arrived from Montbazon and already they are proving worth the investment.  I thought that when the Rivers flooded and swept the old ones away, I would be ruined, but thanks to your aid, Blackwind Spinners is back up to our full potential.  Of course, one good turn deserves another.  I think you'll enjoy the new items I've made for you."

"That was fast." Kathalia interjected from the side of the room as she looked over the impressive wall of vibrant crystalsilk bolts, shimmering with magical glamour in dozens of shades and hues.  "We only placed the order a few days ago."

"The benefits of knowing how my spiders weave.  A Bediz couldn't work nearly this fast or well, without the assistance of the Hud, of course." Cael said, using her free pair of hands for effect as she produced two sets of clothing from a tall cabinet.  "You said you needed them for the Fest-Foll, so I put a rush on them."

Gwae inspected her dress, a dark blue gown with silver thread woven throughout "Its stunning.  You've outdone yourself Cael."

The seamstress made a graceful curtsy on the points of her long legs.  "Why don't you try them on, see if we need to make any adjustments.

----------------- Learn more about Alvez on the official Kroashent Wiki!: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/alvez-kroashent Read the ongoing full-length story in Kroashent - Bal Des Loups: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42059403?view_full_work=true

Kroashent Colour Wheel Challenge

I saw this challenge/meme making its rounds through several of the artists I follow and thought it would be fun to give the Colour Wheel Challenge a Kroashent spin.

Green: Kathalia Bisclavret, cursed sellsword.

Light Blue: Gwaeron "Gwae" Sulime Dethemir, magical merchant

Dark Blue: Muldumarec Artegall, legendary hero

Purple: Morgiana the Clever, intrepid illusionist

Pink: Marie deCygne, wandering bard

Red: Enora de Chinon, the Golden Tower of Anjev

Orange: Aisha min Iram, mermaid defender

Yellow: Rozera Gwelevus, Dragon of Dreger

Pride of Alvez '23 - Gwaethalia

Kroashent is intended to explore the themes of acceptance, identity and love that Pride represents, and I hope that you come to love these characters as much as I do. I plan on doing a few for this set over the next month, sharing the different identities of Alvez, and of course, our own world. 

Happy Pride from Gwae, Kathalia and the rest of the Kroashent cast (and of course from Val as well!)  Stay proud, stay strong and stay seen!

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More Kroashent Pride:

Alptraum: https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/Pride-of-Alvez-23-Ace-Inventor-966074746

Marie deCygne and Morgiana: https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/Pride-of-Alvez-23-Song-and-Dance-966406480

Support Kroashent on Patreon: www.patreon.com/Kroashent

Has Gwae ever seen a stage magician, and what did she think?

Gwae: Stage Magicians? Aye, they can be grand craic. We 'ave them in the Isles and 'ere in Letha, so I've seen quite a few. Compared to real Huderezh though, it's biscuits to a bear. Plus a lot of them are Sleveens and cute hoors who will sell ya the eye of of yer head.

Morgiana: MORGIANA IS RIGHT HERE, YOU KNOW!!!

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Val's Notes: Its so rare I get to show Gwae being snarky.

For the Eladan, including Gwae, there are individuals and troupes that perform magical feats as entertainment. These are often highly skilled Similherez (Spellcasters), focusing on the aspect of Amainsecht (Eloquence). Displays of Huderezh (cast magic) are closer to acting or dramatic readings, with the participants providing their own special effects and visual aids through the manipulation of glamour. Other displays are highly technical and impressive castings, pushing the magical ability of the Eldan to their limits. Gwae, like many of her Tuath, consider Huderezh as an art form, bordering on sacred.

Morgiana, meanwhile performs acts of spectacle as a stage magician. While Morgiana is a Boermerzh (A human who can interact with glamour and potentially perform Huderezh), most of her craft is aided by outside gimmicks, like pyrotechnics and trap doors, as well as a healthy amount of slight of hand. Morgiana's "stage magic" is considered lowbrow by the Eladan, a pale imitation of the "real thing". Gwae is mostly being a snob here.

Slight of hand has a poor reputation among the Eladan, who consider it cheating. Many Sidhe stories revolve around wicked Bediz trying to trick an honest Fae out of a contract using such insincere methods, only for the hero to win in the end through their cleverness "within the rules."

To the cast, what is the weirdest hobby of your companions?

Kathalia: It’s sometimes easy to forget that Gwae isn’t Bediz…. Then she goes and does something very… Gwae…

Gwae: Kathalia, Kathalia, Kathalia… the new fishmonger in the Forest?! I bought some mussels from him and guess what?! All the coins he gave back? Counterfeit! Fake as a finfolk’s smile! Isn’t that class?! If we hurry, we can get some more before the Watch throws him in the gaol! C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!!!