Dawn of the Age of Chaos and its Dusk
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D remember very vividly tf>e last day father and U ment to visit my <3odm other We mere invited to see tt>e nerv temple complex. f ✓ — X X/ • * f ij. . • • ' • • i | % ^ % ' ' f, • • JifY f n '■/ rft\ V l4J& Vv J wllj* J * #, # V £ | . % «4 i) Uiy r/# * / /' / / ✓ £)omn belorv our beloved capital, a patf) leads through tf>e Flealm of Chaos, i , ✓ v 1 *' r* i \ ^ f • ^ • / / * • Jki # X rvf)ere l>er reign once began and, ever since tl>e tf)ick air mas set ablaze, her most grotesque spamn mandered aimlessly. tTl)en, from ti>e dark tf>e mortals came cramling out of the moodmork in tf)e search for ligF>t ftnd although most of tF>e giant creatures mere barely able to subsist, they quickened the most primordial fears of tF>e mortals. ftnd out of fear they morsl)ipped tf)em. Cacf) one beared tf>e name of another fear, but there mas one name that mould title ti>eir entirety... demons. throughout their coexistence tl>e mildest architecture emerged, built rvithout order, one upon ti>e other, never lasting, ever changing. 3 stayed close to father's garb, for \)z mas my guiding light through this maze of absurdity ftnd for every step that echoed through the hallrvays' ceilings, stretching fyigfy as the sky's vault, another thousand eyes stared back from the dark. D could tell by their dazzled glance, that they had never seen the sun rise upon their dusty land, ftnd although they mere not fortunate enough to knom the order of an everyday life they all seemed to share a common goal. From afar mhispered a promise to end their miserable frailty, ftnd so the nem temple too becomes the destination of their pilgrimage
3nner Sanctum Ho one understood tf>e nature of ti)e flame as well as my <3odmotl)er did. When we climbed tf>e world sf)e stayed behind, so she could conduct research where fire first sprout. Wit!) her bare l>ands she digged deep down all tf)e way to ti>e tips of tb>e arc!) trees' root system, where she believed to find tf>e spark of life, ftnd so it was l)ere that she built her kingdom, to become one wit!) it. Over time, \)zx cult of followers grew abyssmally for they all strove godhood. Sl)e taught her wealth of knowledge to her scholars and thus, her academy of fire arts became one of the three great schools of power We entered tf)e new temple that was still under construction. I3ut already an uncountable amount of kneeling aspirants gathered before tf>e structure to solicit tf>eir favors, all seeking 0je flame like motf)s, ready to burn themselves in the process Cheir soft murmur was interrupted by the welcoming ceremonies. We were received in audience by the first \)ig\) priest to ever learn the eloquence of chaos 3n honor of our arrival, we were to witness a play of tribal fire arts. With tye understanding of their most primal emotions they wove flamelets to firestorms and back again in most rhythmic fervor. Dt almost looked like they ardently fought one another. With my yet young eyes D did not see the most obvious demonstration of power that took place right before me. Che priests guided us. We descended further and entered a chamber they called the womb
H\my years had passed and word of her work preceded her. p 3 was eager to see the kingdom sl>e built, but soon D would find ail my fantasies of lustrous banquets with new cousins to make friends with dwindle, for si>e would never be tf>e same after sf>e dared looking behind tF>e curtain of our existence but for tf>e first time 3 got to see her infamous son. Re was a cripple, but nowhere close to tl>e malformed abomination X ^ I • » ,\ \ * '"'*■* * •' ■ y \ • • the rumors of badmoutf)ed uncles l>ad it. Rer face was set and grim. She must l>ave known father did not come in good faith- Re stood before her, l)is bright presence unveiling all her darkest deeds. Re pointed F>is finger, starting on f)is left, swaying across tb>e whole room to l)is right questioning everything in its patf). Why did the archpriests' skin bear scales? Why would she bestow the gift of fire upon the mortals? ftnd how did she not see the impurity of her son- Suddenly, her voice rose and burned like fire, bystanders who did not yet ascend to immortality inflamed just through the sheer impact of her insensate fury over what she just witnessed Rer words seared the air and the hall turned torrid. Tor a moment, father's light looked like a spark swallowed by a sea of wildfire. She prompted us to leave at once. Father stood silent for a moment. Only once did someone dare question \)\m Dover did someone dare question hi™. Re left, not saying another word. 3t didn't matter haw misfigured and atrocious her son was, she loved hi™ nonetheless. Re was proof of the resilient miracle that life is. Co her, he was perfect. Dever in her dreams would she abandon her child, ftnd this my father did not understand
We rvent outside. Cf)e air still trembled from tF>e uproar and tf>e ashfall got stronger Still addled mitt) a ringing in my ear 3 tried keeping Up mitt) father's pace. until suddenly strange lights caught my attention. ft>y curiosity led me off track to a fern scorched souls. I Sn'v- y\ y, ‘ ' .•* «• H ^ V ■. r, • ' V 3 remember one of them approached me carefully A * * * s ^ * •. * #V ^ VV ^ * ‘ rvith an oddly familiar stare as if fyc recognized me. Re lifted a strange creature from f>is head and called it \)i& sun Ctjese people mere tf>e proof of rvljat mould eventually amait those rvt)o play mitt) the fire. On the receiving end of the experiments mas a morld of searing pain and darkness. Che only soothing glimmer mas an illusion of the sun induced by those fireflies, local drug to those mho sacrificed their humanity in vain to keep the nem fire from fading 3t masn't until 3 looked into his hollorv eyes that 3 realized that those maggots are a parasite, yet to find their h°st, to use their frail body as a vessel so they can hatch- Suddenly, my curiosity mas disturbed by a ghastly noise from belom the temple's surface that ment right through me 3t sounded like a tormented groml. ftnd rvith it came a rotten stench of intestines. When 3 flinched 3 fell into the ash and burned my hands. 3t truly mas an eerie place. 3 minced and hastily caught up rvith father. ; 1
Cf)e mortals rv\)o throve from the rebirth on the other t)and became an autonomous polity, n?ho smore to spend their eternity in alliegance to tf>eir mother as sentinels of her realm. Chey didn't just buiid malls to fend off outsiders. Cf>ey built labyrinth upon labyrinth so ti>e unfamiliar mould lose themselves in tf>e spiraling babel We mere guided all the may up to their outer trade posts n?here their land converges rnith ours. Dt mas the path mV kin took so many years ago mhen they first learned to malk upright. Che upper districts served to provide the undermorld rnith water . * . /j - in exchange for liquid fire to heat their forges. / .jR E* Ww Chey supplied the outer morld rnith their most precious titanite our royal blacksmith values so much D remember hearing the clinking of prospecting and clanking of smithery from all around the cave. Chey must h<we gromn so big that they mere able to forge rvhole archmays just like horseshoes on their anvils. Che sun set. / 3t mas here that father decided a church must be built to bless these lands rnith h*& faith ftnd mhen mhatever slumbers beneath amakens, ready to feast, and hell breaks loose again, only then the bell mould be rung. ftt this sombrest day, as D mrite these notes, that time has non? come, ftnd father heeds the call. Our legions, prepared ever since, hove mobilized and mill march off, not knoming n?hat mill amait them ftlas, my 0odmother. Do matter n?hat father hopes to find domn there... Do god deserves to he consumed
• V. Have you ever compared Lordran to Lost Izalith and wondered why the latter seems so much smaller? That never telt right to me. I imagine that what we get to see ingame is the core of Izalith‘s realm, but there must be so much more beyond those overgrown corridors: That is where I imagined the Realm of Chaos to be, which spans over all the underground of Lordran. I think, in a design interview Miyazaki said he chose the architecture of Angkor Wat, as it was a good fit to visualize chaos. But other than that, Lost Izalith is actually rather symmetrical and tidy. In my mind this served to finally stabilze the Chaos Flame and, the further you leave this central hub, the more out of control things get, where chaos took it‘s entropic course with time. A world inspired by the nightmares I used to have as a child of high arched cave systems and architecture so grand they are swallowed by its shadows. I used a lot of soft brushes here to convey a dreamy aesthetic as best as I could. This is how I imagine the early days of men to have looked like. Everything feels huge, obscure and scary, just like through an infant's eyes. ... This also gave me a great excuse to not only recreate an already known place but to also have an „unseen" land to show, heh. For the demon designs, of who Ceaseless was the first, I set the rule that they all had to have some anthropomorphic remnants to show that they have been shaped that way. I also studied the demons of Berserk a lot, because well... that’s what fromSoft would do. Fans might recognize some resemblance!
This is shown by the fact that Chaos weapons ingame are augmented by humanity and even The Fair Lady has you offer Humanity to her to rebirth her race. There also are these engravings all over Izalith that imply these rituals. So men traded their souls for immortality. On a second note, I wanted to show an earlier version of the Demon Firesage, before he bloated to the disproportionate crossover of a human and a dragon Maybe Izalith and her followers were fascinated by dragons, because they actually were able to create fire themselves and so they tried to become one! But with Fire arts they weren‘t there just yet, so their fire artists couldn’t draw fire from thin air like the later pyromancers and they had to use torches as a starting point. Or catalysts like the one the Firesage is holding and the smaller ones his scholars have. v Btw: Is the demon prince an evolution of those guys? They have a really similiar design... look at their foreheads Dragon dragon____________/ Dragon feet Dragon wings Spitting fire like dragon . , - ^ In this one I wanted to explore the relationship between mere men and their goddess Izalith. The humans most likely offered themselves to kindle the Chaos Flame long before Gwyn created Bonfires to prolong his reign. In DS, humanity’s journey is always described as this path from absolute darkness to absolute light and chaos feeds off of humanity to sustain its fire.
i The confrontation: It's better to burn out than to fade away For the fashion of Izalith's population I took inspiration from King Jeremiah, a nod to some very interesting theories. I wanted to show Izalith as a very potential threat to Gwyn's regime, which is why I painted her bigger. She must have been that big, considering the size of her throne Gwyn might have, at this point, already split his lord soul too (?). / f ' ) v- I imagine the chosen humans having walked in circles here until they were engulfed by the great ritual to then be reborn from Izalith‘s lava secretion and crawl out of the vaginal-tract-looking structure we slide down ingame. In my little story, Gwyn came to confront Izalith and addressed three charges This serves to see how the position of Izalith‘s nation was in the world. 1 .Gwyn ended the Age of Ancients and the dragons for his Age of Fire. What does Izalith do? Raise demons who inherited dragon looks and fire power 2.Gwyn’s Age of Fire is threatened by Flumanity and its potential Age of Dark. What does Izalith do? Give humans power and immortality. There is a lot of inspiration of greek mythology in Dark Souls, this one very much reminds me of Prometheus. We see this fear of Gwyn manifest ingame when we go to Lost Izalith and see that all humans are wiped out, while the demons who cannot breed were just left there to rot 3.Gwyn tries to have this perfect Age of Fire where everything is clear and in order. What does Izalith do? Create chaos, an eyesore to Gwyn’s ideology. So in this, scene he questions Izalith, pointing at her son, the chaos-prototype. Gwyn, who banished his own firstborn for sympathizing with dragons, now encounters a mother who would never do the same to her blood. With this irony, I tried to create a tension between these figures. This third piece is the climax of the story, where the sun is at the zenith, so I decided on a centric composition with the two big players aligned like stars, fighting for the center. It’s the clash of two wholly different philosophies: Gwyn who seeks perfection, which is reflected in the organized and sterile architecture of Anor Londo. And Izalith, witch I associate with the Japanese idea of Wabi-Sabi, a philosophy that embraces imperfection.
I always found there is a certain resemblance between Gwyndolin’s helmet and the Sunlight maggot. Not only in design, but also the way both Gwyndolin and the Maggot are known for creating an illusionary sun. I liked the idea, so I thought I'd create this scene to show this key moment •fy'MOJIH in his life...while also showing the skeletons Izalith has in her closet, as every society has its shady sides. ...But there are some even darker secrets. If you look around the sewer you might notice a dragon head or two, as one of the temple’s purposes might have been to breed dragons, the strongest armory a nation could have. Who with time become the crag spider demons One of the biggest local problems Bearers of the parasite are not able to reproduce / And that might be why in image 1 the humans are digging out dragon remains to gift them to their queen to higher their chances of being ascended. As we know, Izalith's attempts to create new dragons failed and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Chaos Eaters are demons who were born from the dragons intestines after the second outbreak of chaos that engulfed all of Izalith, hence them being portrayed as these gluttonous manifestations of chaos. Smelling these, in this scene, Gwyndolin almost finds out about these decomposing dragons Izalith is hiding, which would result in a war Izalith is not ready to win yet. Quelaag and The Fair Lady, tending to the burned lowlifes, realize this, and in their reaction we not only see their different personalities, but also a reflection of this land's government. The good and the evil. Warmth / [A The one showing apprehension, the other getting ready to smack.
14 ¿TT : nr ^ There most likely was a certain hierarchy within this culture. In my interpretation, the mere humans were rock bottom, thousands of them, but also the only ones able to breed and so they became the fundament of this society. The few with great potential who became dragon-like demons were the highest ranking ones, as they studied the flame alongside the witches. . • •• ■T k / Another inspiration from greek mythology in DS are obviously Capra and Taurus. Inpired by the legend of King Minos, I had the Taurus demons build themselves labyrinths. This is also the most chaotic architecture I can think of, so transforming the demon ruins into such I thought would be a good fit. Miyazaki associates the capras with ceremony and so I put them in a more spiritual spot, partaking in the rebirth ritual. I like the idea of animal offerings being required for a successful transformation, another reason why the humans gather dragon bones. And I think, considering their similarities, in DS3 the Ghru carry on their torch, so they might even have been clerics below the ranks of the sage‘s scholars at some point or another. Same with demon ruins, before they were amalgamated with magma The predecessors of Batwing demons, the first demons able to fly, building the dome before the whole cave system collapsed from the second cataclysm.) J"' Sacrificial lambs .. ... or well. Goats. Little goat. What‘s little goat in English? urgh At last there are the first hollows, like seen in image 4. The flame of chaos was fickle after all, so its often too intense outbursts were too much for human's fragile nature. The result were Insectoids, residue of creation. With this last piece, I once again wanted to have this contrast, with a giant gap between the two nations, almost like a line that dissects the whole piece into two different parts. • • •
Dark Souls,фэндомы,izalith,artist,Ricardo Emig,witch of izalith,Lord of Cinder Gwyn,DS персонажи,DS art
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