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Zaia's Castle.

That is a nice castle, though the architect could certainly have improved it (Defensively speaking). .
(The Slope makes siege weapons or even rolled rocks dangerous, the hard to destroy bridge makes the river unusable as a moat, unstable outer tower, no pulley system or the like for food...) .

I'm sure Zaia would say that you're just jealous 'cause you don't have a castle and she does.

I say it should've been a flying castle.

Nice, but it doesn't seem like that good of a location to me. What if a besieging army has miners that dig under the castle, then collapse the tunnels and send the entire castle falling down the mountain? Of course, it would be exceedingly difficult to sap a castle built on rocky terrain.
Artwise, an extremely good drawing, havokeff.

Obviously it's not a war castle. It's positioned there for the view and the cool mountain breeze. 'sides, what if in order to go to that big castle and that whole area in the picture, you had to traverse this horrible rocky narrow zig zagging pathway? And what if there are other defense bastions before that castle?

Shroom Man 777 wrote:Obviously it's not a war castle. It's positioned there for the view and the cool mountain breeze. 'sides, what if in order to go to that big castle and that whole area in the picture, you had to traverse this horrible rocky narrow zig zagging pathway? And what if there are other defense bastions before that castle?

Well in that case, the design and location would be fine.

Yay, it's absolutley BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!! Thank you, havokeff!!! (Don't listen to the squabblers; they're just envious of my lovely new abode!)

I was right!

havokeff, ever tried photomanipulating photoshopping or painting or coloring your works?

Shroom Man 777 wrote:I was right!

havokeff, ever tried photomanipulating photoshopping or painting or coloring your works?

Nope. Don't know how (the photo manipulation and photo shopping). You are right however. The entire base of the mountain is fortified and has several tiers of defenses well before you reach the main castle which I drew.

The castle itself is several thousands of years old, and has been the home of the rulers of the Great Lands for the majority of that time. Over the years the majority of the mountain has been hollowed and made into a great city and an unassailable fortress.

What we see in the drawing is the show piece, and the home of the current ruler Queen Zaia. She has ruled with love and benevolence for over three centuries, kept young and beautiful by the magic of the Lands.

The turret that hangs the farthest out to the left is a beacon that is kept lit at all times and bellows out pure white smoke as long as a ruler of the Great Lands is in good health and only blackens when the ruler passes. It stays black while a new ruler is found. During that time a Stewart, who is chosen by the dying Queen or King, will rule until the Great Lands graces the populace with its new monarch.

Yeah, looking at it more closely I can see the tunnels into the fortified mountain.

Can you do me the Walaistor Militia Lancers? Medieval style light cavalry (carrying lances, obviously), led by a man wearing a WWI German overcoat (like this) and armed with a British cavalry sabre such as the M1796? (It's a long story; suffice to say it has to do with an RPG campaign I'm planning)

havokeff wrote:The entire base of the mountain is fortified and has several tiers of defenses well before you reach the main castle which I drew.

The castle itself is several thousands of years old, and has been the home of the rulers of the Great Lands for the majority of that time. Over the years the majority of the mountain has been hollowed and made into a great city and an unassailable fortress.

What we see in the drawing is the show piece, and the home of the current ruler Queen Zaia. She has ruled with love and benevolence for over three centuries, kept young and beautiful by the magic of the Lands.

The turret that hangs the farthest out to the left is a beacon that is kept lit at all times and bellows out pure white smoke as long as a ruler of the Great Lands is in good health and only blackens when the ruler passes. It stays black while a new ruler is found. During that time a Stewart, who is chosen by the dying Queen or King, will rule until the Great Lands graces the populace with its new monarch.

*sighs wistfully and starts daydreaming*

Thank you again, havokeff. I love the picture and I love the story you built around it. Gorgeous!!

Inspired by Publius and his awesome work. I don't quite have the word skills he has though. Anyway, some of Marvel's royalty.

Is that X on the left? If so, I can only say one thing:

Mein fuhrer, I can walk!

P.S. It's a cool drawing, but I've always wanted to do that Dr. Strangelove line.

Ok, so more on Zaia's castle.

The smaller castle structures above the main castle are where the keepers of the magic and science reside.

To it's left is the dragon pen. The dragons, who long ago swore allegiance to the rulers of the Great Land, make swift transportation and law enforcement possible.

The large waterfall, if you follow it down, leads to the water system that feeds the residents of the mountain. You can make out 4 giant mills that catch the water and then feed it into the irrigation system.

In the foreground is a sentry at post.

A dragon is delivering the Queen's cousin from his realm in the war torn territories for council.

There are several keeps that follow down the path to the bottom of the mountain. You can see two of them.

The building to the right of the larger waterfall is the resting place of the Queen's/King's personal Dragons, who usually is also the ruler of the Dragon Clans.

Down around the base of the mountain, you can see two of the castle cities that are integrated into the Great Wall. 37 castle cities surround the mountain fortress.

Further out the two giant rivers, Phelin, and Sotumour feed and bring life to the Living Valley. Phelin is the river bisecting the forrest Tul. The rivers also serve as swift transportation lanes from merchants and favored travellers from the far off lands.

Great bridges cross the rivers and have giant watch towers erected on either side. On the top of these watch towers, 3 more of which can see be seen out on the plains, are more dragon pens, which in times of war can house a squadron of Dragons and their riders.

Out on the plain is the fabled Black City. It is built entirely of an obsidian rock which gives off an eerie gleam. It is also the home of the Queen's most stalwart and trusted warriors, The Derriton Legions.

Out beyond the plains and the watchtowers is the Hybor Ocean.

EDIT: The road out to the left bisects the ruins of the Fallen City. It is legend that a power over came the populace of the city and they raised an army and attacked the reigning King. The attack was futile as the Dragons and the Derriton easily defeated their offensive. To this day, some 1800 years later, no one knows why the populace revolted, or who controlled the power that caused it.



Sorry if I got carried away there, but it's fun.

Dude, fucking sweet. It's going to take quite the army to get through to that castle, quite the army. There must be mass graves somewhere on the road marking the high water points of various invaders.

no, the mass graves for the former invading army is known as the dragon's latrene....

hav, that is awesome. The design is just generally badass.

Nice work.

That is absolutely fantastic. You have great eye for image composition, especially for wide open scenes, and you tell a couple of paragraphs worth of story in that one scene.

I don't think anybody or anything could attack that, the sheer numbers of troops and logistics needed would be a fucking nightmare, with the impregnable mountain fortress having essentially inexhaustible supplies and fresh water (havokeff, what sort of crops do they grow inside the caverns? Do they use mirrors and lenses to enhance conditions in the underground farms? Ventalation must be sophisticated as well, if this is a Medieval Cheyenne).

I'd also like to see close up drawings of the mountain citidel's outer perimeter with the Great Wall, one of the 37 castle towns and a dragon watchtower...

I love it, I love it, I love it! The story, the picture, everything! It's all just so beautiful, havokeff.

It looks like it has several runways built into the mountains for dragons.

Shroom Man 777 wrote:I'm sure Zaia would say that you're just jealous 'cause you don't have a castle and she does.

... You've never seen My HOUSE, have you. .
Who needs a castle when you already have a Gate, moat and food supplies .

Also, concerning the castle's defensive arrangements - The solution is simple, find a Doohicky of dragon control then laugh as your slaves burn the castle away along with it's helpless smallfolk .

DEATH wrote:

Shroom Man 777 wrote:I'm sure Zaia would say that you're just jealous 'cause you don't have a castle and she does.

... You've never seen My HOUSE, have you. .
Who needs a castle when you already have a Gate, moat and food supplies .

Also, concerning the castle's defensive arrangements - The solution is simple, find a Doohicky of dragon control then laugh as your slaves burn the castle away along with it's helpless smallfolk .

STOP TRYING TO INVADE MY REALM! I'll have the dragons toast you into a cinder at first sighting.

*shrugs* I don't see what the big fuzz is, anyway. All I see in DEATH's thread is a lot of grass