Speculative Sketches

Speculative Sketches - Snow

 

Speculative Sketches - Red

 

 Speculative Sketches - Gnome(Torque)

 

 

References

References - B.E.A.R

When looking for references on the design for Torque's creation, B.E.A.R, I was searching for pictures that would show both B.E.A.R as a cybernetic bear and/or a fully functional weaponized bear suit of armor. I also had to use a reference of a real bear in order to make sure the anatomy in my final design does indeed look like a bear. I am a lot more fond of the references which depict the bear as a biped, because this seems like the most interesting design aesthetic to me; however, in general... B.E.A.R is going to look heavily armored, ready for battle and has the look that he'l be able to take some heavy damage before falling in combat.

References - Gnome(Torque)

Master Engineer Torque's design is a lot more serious-looking than the traditional lawn gnomes or the Warcraft goofy style gnomes. While I do take some reference to the Warcraft concept art of engineering gnomes, this is because they depict the lightweight armor type that I am looking for while maintaining a serious tone. A very important aesthetic that every master engineer must have are his pair of goggles! I looked up different types of goggles from steam punk, to cybernetic, futuristic and very advanced looking. The bottom left shows an engineer from the game Guild Wars 2, and I chose this picture as reference mainly because of the engineer's attire. This is the sort of look that I am hoping to achieve, a lightweight, yet effective attire for combat readiness.

 References - Rose Red

Rose Red's design is very stoic and intimidating. The references I was looking for were to show her aggressive with a temper not to be messed with. As aforementioned, Rose Red is an android so feeling true human emotion is not part of her overall design; however, to get a sense of what her character design will be it is imperative to know what standard mage-esque characters look like, cocky and fiery. I chose the three shots of the cybernetic woman because mechanical elements will be a very large part of her overall design, and the bottom middle picture's importance lies with the hair style. Since she is an android it would not make sense for her to have real hair, so in my vision, her hairstyle would be much like the one shown, long and wire-like. 

References - Snow White

Snow White's design is in contrast with Rose Red's fiery and intimidating look. I envision her showing the most of her cybernetic body, as her primary function is to empower and heal Torque and Rose Red, which, in my opinion, gives her a more mechanical feel overall. The top left and middle left are depictions of "holy" characters in World of Warcraft, these are the types of archetypes I looked for when envisioning what type of armor( and its color scheme) she would be wearing. The very bottom middle picture is what I feel her hair should somewhat look like, it is not as daunting as Rose Red's it's more fluid and "healer-esque," seemingly threatening. 

Mood boards

 Mood Board - Story

The land of Elan was once a beautiful continent with a marvelous landscape filled with magical energies and a vibrant world. In the southern hemisphere of the continent lived the small, but once extremely powerful gnomish people of Alteri plains. Most of the gnomish people lived in homes created from the very earth with enough space for their families to live happily; however, there was one gnome who wished to reinvent the strength of his people with his masterfully crafted machines and robotic fighting units. His mission: to seek vengeance after the witch, Harbinger Maveala, nearly massacred his people into extinction. In her destructive wake, Harbinger Maveala torched their lands and desecrated their once sacred plains. The wondrous magical energies that once permeated throughout the land had dissipated, and with it... left almost every gnome who had once harnessed its powers defenseless. In the very heart of the Alteri plains, now lifeless and haunted by the thousands of innocents gruesomely and tactically murdered, the dark fortress. Iskandi, stands as Maveala's victory over the gnomish people. 

Mood Board - Gnome and B.E.A.R

Torque, a master engineer who seeks vengeance upon the witch. Maveala, is one of the only gnomes from the Alteri plains who chose to ignore the magical energies that surrounded him and look into a more scientific method to create mechanisms that would lead his people into prosperity and battle. Instead of harnessing the power of the land for himself, he used these energies to power creations of his own design, bringing to life metal machinations who were unburdened by the immense strength a humanoid gnome would have to muster to utilize the Alteri plains power for even just a few minutes. After his wife, the last sorceress of the gnomes, Adella, was slain in battle against Harbinger Maveala, Torque looked to create machinations that would harness the powers within her staff with more devastating and unhindered precision.

Master Engineer Torque

Torque, although small in stature, is an intimidating little man with his grey boisterous beard. Never apart from his prized goggles, his chosen attire is lightweight but sturdy; however, he is never without his machinations and tools. Sometimes overburdened with hardware, he carries enough to an even create new machinery almost instantaneously while in battle.  

B.E.A.R

In the events that lead up to his creation of Rose Red and Snow White, in order to protect his most amazing machinations, he creates a suite of mobile armor for himself which he named,B.E.A.R. Utilized as a quadruped for easy movement, but used as a biped for combat, B.E.A.R, is a versatile suite of armor which can take enemy blows and create strong energy shields to protect Torque, Rose Red and Snow White. B.E.A.R is modeled after a real bear and Torque left its design to reveal all of the intricacy of his mechanical  creation.

Mood Board - Rose Red

Utilizing the Gem of Ascendancy from the staff of his deceased wife, Adella, Torque created an android who would harness her destructive powers unhindered by humanoid restrictions. Created specifically for battle, Rose Red is an intimidating opponent, calculating every motion of her spell sequence and utilizing the power of the Gem of Ascendancy to its fullest potential. Free from human emotion, she had no malicious intent for any life other than the witch, Harbinger Maveala, which was specifically programmed by Torque. Rose Red is often stoic and on the defensive, waiting for her creator, Torque, to give the order of battle. Torque placed one half of Adella's staff's gem on the forehead of her design, permeating the gem's powers throughout her entire design, allowing for a more fluid and controlled use of power. 

Design:

Rose Red's design is very "fire mage-esque." Mainly because of her name, her most utilized power would be fire. So, her design consists of many shades of red used loosely around her model (particularly the eyes and armor). Since he is an android, there will also be a prominence of mechanical design throughout her entire body, with the most important design elements being the gem placed on her forehead.

Mood Board - Snow White

Unlike her twin android, Rose Red, Torque had programmed Snow White to wield his wife's staff, Eteilix the heart of Alteri, with half of Gem of Ascendancy. Snow White's half harnesses the healing and empowering energy that Adella once commanded. Also free from human emotion, Snow White knows no other purpose than to provide Torque and Rose Red with the healing power of Eteilix, while also granting them immense empowerment in combat. While ineffective in combat alone, together with Rose Red and Torque's armor, B.E.A.R, her ability to maintain their mental and physical attributes at their peak of power makes her a fundamental part of their battle system. 

Design:

Snow White's design is very simple in color, taking reference from the idealistic adaptations of healers from an array of sources. Her design will reveal her mechanical body the most, while being protected with soft shades of gold and yellow for armor. She does not possess half of the gem from Eteilix on her person; however, she wields the staff itself as a source of power. 

Rough Storyboard - Snow White and Rose Red

This rough storyboard of my rein-visioning of the fairy tale, Snow and Rose Red, provides a very basic and quick overview of the events that lead to the creation of Rose Red and Snow White in my story. This section of my storyboard depicts the events that plunges the story forward. 

My story: 

In my re-imagining of the story, Snow White and Rose Red, the basic characters of the original are still in place: the gnome, Rose Red, Snow White, and the bear; however, instead of their mother being a prominent character, in my story the Witch, Harbinger Maveala, takes precedence over their mother. 

Sorceress Adella and Harbinger Maveala

Since in this character design class I will only be designing models for Snow White, Rose Red, the gnome and bear, I will give a little insight in the lives of both Torque's wife, Adella, and the witch, Harbinger Maveala. 

Harbinger Maveala

Once a champion of the Iskaldir humans of the Northern hemisphere of Elan, the continent of my story, Maveala was born wielding powerful magic which she had learned to control from the Sage, Metiesh. She utilized her power in defense of her homeland. After learning that the gnomish people of the Alteri plains in the southern hemisphere of Elan harnessed the lands powerful magic as their own, a still a young Maveala, traveled to their land to learn about their power. There she was taught by Grand Sorcerer Theno, the most powerful of the gnomish sorcerer's at the time. Hungry for more power, she began to delve into the darker arts of magic. Maveala wished to be able to harness enough power to fell even the Gods if they ever crossed the humans. 

Descent into Darkness

Maveala soon began to practice the dark arts of magic. Wanting to gain empowerment over life itself. She was approached by the demon, Mithozel, an incredibly powerful magic being who had no intent but to use Maveala as a vessel. Mithozel promised Maveala his vast knowledge over the control of the dead, necromancy and the ability to command them at her will. Maveala accepted, and Mithozel's plan was set into motion. Later, Maveala discovered Mithozel's true plan, and defeated the demon by using his own magic against him. Mithozel's power proved to be too powerful for Maveala to command on her own. Consumed the demonic energies, Maveala no longer wanted to harness all of the power she could., instead she would destroy all of those who practiced magic now and remain as the sole commander of all magical energy on Elan. 

Grand Sorceress Adella

Adella was first introduced to Master Engineer Torque, when he asked for an audience with the Elders of Alteri having to deal with his creation of machinations that would bolster the defenses of the gnomish people. Torque was met with an overwhelming amount of resentment by the Elders of the Alteri gnomes; however, Adella knew that one day, the gnomes might be left with no other choice than having an alternative to battle outside of relying solely on the energies provided to them by the Alteri plains. Adella and Torque worked together to create these machinations, he would design them and she would empower them. After some time, they fell in love and married.

The Rise of Iskandi and the Fall of Alteri

When Harbinger Maveala began to desecrate the Alteri plains and built the dark fortress Iskandi, many of the gnomish sorcerers began to lose contact with the very magical energies that provided them with their power. Grand Sorceress Adella, wife of Master Engineer Torque, was the strongest of all of the gnomish sorcerers. The magical entities of the Alteri plains gifted her unbridled dedication to ensuring the safety of the plains with the great staff, Eteilix the heart of Alteri. This staff would grant her immense power to deal both damage and heal her allies. The staff was empowered by the Gem of Ascendancy, a gem created by the Gods when they infused two very powerful gems into one; however, the Gem of Ascendancy, being a source of two gems cannot place its focus on one or the other at any given time. 

In the battle for Alteri plains, Grand Sorceress Adella, was felled by Harbinger Maveala when the gnomish sorcerers could no longer contact the magical energies of the Alteri plains. Adella was left with a handful of sorcerers who could barely control their power. In a hellish battle between the darkness and light, Adella sacrificed her own life to deal a devastating blow to the witch, Maveala, causing her to be forced into retreat, but also leaving the gnomish people reeling in a very small victory. 

Snow White and Rose Red - 5 Ideas

One - My first idea is to re-create the story of Snow White and Rose Red in the form of an MMORPG, where the mother is a quest giver. Snow white is a healer, Rose Red is damage dealer, the bear is a tank and the gnome is an epic boss. 

Two - My second idea was to create a story where all of the characters of the original fairy tale are dead. Both Snow White and Rose Red are banshees or some other type of undead ghost, the bear is instead the Grim Reaper and the gnome who is stealing the bear's treasure is instead a newly dead ghost who is attempting to return back to life. 

Three - My third idea was to have the gnome of the story be the father of both Snow White and Rose Red, the gnome is also a shapeshifter who is attempting to lure both of the girls away from their mother and kill his children. 

Four - My fourth idea is to have the gnome be the creator of both Snow White and Rose Red. The gnome is a master engineer who creates the girls as robots/droids and enchants them. In order for them to be protected he also creates a mechanical bear who will take damage for them. 

Five - My final idea was to have Snow White and Rose Red be conjoined twins. Snow White is the caring one, while Rose Red is more deviant. Th story is still mostly the same; however, when the gnome offers the bear part of the treasure to kill the girls, he instead offers the treasure to Rose Red, who accepts the bargain and splits with her sister... and they are forever in war.