Blayze
2009-01-28, 08:44 PM
I've been working on various attempts to convert my "The Chronicles of Estra" project into other formats, most notably pictures (Specifically comics). Having no drawing skill of my own, I'm forced to rely on the skills of other people in this endeavour.
Every previous attempt has failed, for various reasons -- but I'm not the sort to give up, especially not on this baby of mine.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
-Description-
The Chronicles of Estra is a fantasy/science fiction story set on the fictional (Of course) planet of Estra. The complete story spans a time period of roughly one thousand and three hundred years in the planet's history, from the discovery of magic and how it affects a "standard" world -- namely the military, society, economy, production, entertainment and lifestyles in general -- to its "death" (And the obvious effects *that* would have on the above factors) and later return to a world that has grown to rely on technology entirely.
There are several different parts to the saga that can be covered, and each has subtle differences to the others. For example, the first part of the saga is about the discovery and evolution of magic and the organisations and people that spring up to take advantage of what is seen as a resource with potential -- whether for construction, production, travel or warfare. In this bit, the technological emphasis is on a mixture of primitive technology and crudely-applied magic.
The second part deals with the aftermath of a devastating magical conflict (There's always one, right?) and the subsequent drop in public opinion of magic as a whole. Spellcasters are hunted down like beasts and then beaten and killed, and they're the lucky ones -- others just disappear without a trace, and rumours abound of something called Project Spellslayer. Regardless, the emphasis in this part of the story is on the misadventures of a small group of youths who go to take part in an annual bloodsport/combat tournament...
...and fail miserably. The second part has at least some of its roots in satire, what with the protagonists being probably the most rag-tag of all rag-tag groups and their journey best described with the phrase "Out of the frying pan..." They're not the only protagonists in the second part, but the overall luck of everyone involved is pretty much the norm regardless of who the focus is on. Like I said, satire -- but as far as I'm aware, not blatant. For example, where else would you find a hero who dies before the end of the story, then comes back due to a miracle only to die for good thirty seconds later to a combination of system shock and a lightning bolt to the face?
In the third part of the story, over a thousand years have passed (And there's a very good reason for it, unlike almost every other story) and the world has changed. Magic is dead and ever since humanity's dependancy on it was laid bare to the world it sparked a technology revolution of sorts. Here we're talking cyberpunk to some extent, although not quite like Shadowrun. During this point in time, magic is reintroduced to the world -- and technology adapts to take advantage of it.
For example, your standard shower is powered by Elemental magic. A Fire spell heats the water, a Water spell provides said water, an Earth spell removes the dirt and grime from your skin and an Air spell cleanses your body of BO -- and all the spells are held in place and maintained by runic technology and mana batteries. Just like in real life, different companies use different parts (In this case, meaning both the technology and the spells) and so you're going to get different results from shower to show.
A ManaTek shower might be more expensive than one produced by the Val-U-Spell company, but you'd expect higher quality and more effective spells, for instance.
The meat of the third part of the story happens five years later after magic has been reintroduced to the world, and with it more organisations have risen up to take advantage of this "new" resource -- among them a powerful group who have aspirations of becoming the supreme overseeers and defenders of magic, and who operate many separate cells of "magical counter-terrorism" squads.
The third part of the story focuses on the first of those squads, a team of four who were drafted because of their unique traits -- that of being the living embodiments of the four types of Elemental magic. This part of the story has more in common with, say, Exalted or Avatar: The Last Airbender (Or Martian Successor Nadesico or Vandread, if that's your thing) than the second part. The characters are much more powerful, and the stakes much higher.
The entire saga is a mixture of seriousness and minor farce -- for example, the second half of the first chapter of the third major arc contains both a painful description of a man choking to death on his own melted throat (The searing neck-flesh both filling his lungs and sealing up his windpipe) and the introduction of a minor character by the name of Baron Riff -- with, as you might expect, a musical theme.
-Finale-
Any of these parts are available for any artist to draw, and I am as willing to provide the scenes and let you set the pacing and panels how you think works best as I am to try and do the pacing and panels myself. Your drawing style shouldn't matter -- after all, my characters should hopefully stand out enough on their own.
Once again: If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Every previous attempt has failed, for various reasons -- but I'm not the sort to give up, especially not on this baby of mine.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
-Description-
The Chronicles of Estra is a fantasy/science fiction story set on the fictional (Of course) planet of Estra. The complete story spans a time period of roughly one thousand and three hundred years in the planet's history, from the discovery of magic and how it affects a "standard" world -- namely the military, society, economy, production, entertainment and lifestyles in general -- to its "death" (And the obvious effects *that* would have on the above factors) and later return to a world that has grown to rely on technology entirely.
There are several different parts to the saga that can be covered, and each has subtle differences to the others. For example, the first part of the saga is about the discovery and evolution of magic and the organisations and people that spring up to take advantage of what is seen as a resource with potential -- whether for construction, production, travel or warfare. In this bit, the technological emphasis is on a mixture of primitive technology and crudely-applied magic.
The second part deals with the aftermath of a devastating magical conflict (There's always one, right?) and the subsequent drop in public opinion of magic as a whole. Spellcasters are hunted down like beasts and then beaten and killed, and they're the lucky ones -- others just disappear without a trace, and rumours abound of something called Project Spellslayer. Regardless, the emphasis in this part of the story is on the misadventures of a small group of youths who go to take part in an annual bloodsport/combat tournament...
...and fail miserably. The second part has at least some of its roots in satire, what with the protagonists being probably the most rag-tag of all rag-tag groups and their journey best described with the phrase "Out of the frying pan..." They're not the only protagonists in the second part, but the overall luck of everyone involved is pretty much the norm regardless of who the focus is on. Like I said, satire -- but as far as I'm aware, not blatant. For example, where else would you find a hero who dies before the end of the story, then comes back due to a miracle only to die for good thirty seconds later to a combination of system shock and a lightning bolt to the face?
In the third part of the story, over a thousand years have passed (And there's a very good reason for it, unlike almost every other story) and the world has changed. Magic is dead and ever since humanity's dependancy on it was laid bare to the world it sparked a technology revolution of sorts. Here we're talking cyberpunk to some extent, although not quite like Shadowrun. During this point in time, magic is reintroduced to the world -- and technology adapts to take advantage of it.
For example, your standard shower is powered by Elemental magic. A Fire spell heats the water, a Water spell provides said water, an Earth spell removes the dirt and grime from your skin and an Air spell cleanses your body of BO -- and all the spells are held in place and maintained by runic technology and mana batteries. Just like in real life, different companies use different parts (In this case, meaning both the technology and the spells) and so you're going to get different results from shower to show.
A ManaTek shower might be more expensive than one produced by the Val-U-Spell company, but you'd expect higher quality and more effective spells, for instance.
The meat of the third part of the story happens five years later after magic has been reintroduced to the world, and with it more organisations have risen up to take advantage of this "new" resource -- among them a powerful group who have aspirations of becoming the supreme overseeers and defenders of magic, and who operate many separate cells of "magical counter-terrorism" squads.
The third part of the story focuses on the first of those squads, a team of four who were drafted because of their unique traits -- that of being the living embodiments of the four types of Elemental magic. This part of the story has more in common with, say, Exalted or Avatar: The Last Airbender (Or Martian Successor Nadesico or Vandread, if that's your thing) than the second part. The characters are much more powerful, and the stakes much higher.
The entire saga is a mixture of seriousness and minor farce -- for example, the second half of the first chapter of the third major arc contains both a painful description of a man choking to death on his own melted throat (The searing neck-flesh both filling his lungs and sealing up his windpipe) and the introduction of a minor character by the name of Baron Riff -- with, as you might expect, a musical theme.
-Finale-
Any of these parts are available for any artist to draw, and I am as willing to provide the scenes and let you set the pacing and panels how you think works best as I am to try and do the pacing and panels myself. Your drawing style shouldn't matter -- after all, my characters should hopefully stand out enough on their own.
Once again: If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.