#Gwiader
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Cael Mac Lochlainn, son of Jarl Steinar Mac Lochlainn, hailed from a tribe of Viking Raiders from the snowswept Lost Peninusla, an inhospitable land of eternal winter. Steinar's numerous adventures and misadventures deep among the Fae had left the warrior with a lifetime of boons and banes from countless friends and enemies. Many of these ere-hud passed along his bloodline, burdening his son with the same, but without the self-chosen path and experience that had bought them.
The pair set out on their longship to raid and trade with peoples beyond the black mirror of the Mor Marv, but they found themselves becalmed in the cursed Feth Fiada, losing themselves in the space between worlds. The father and son were forced to abandon their ship and its crew to the cursed existence of wandering shades, making a desperate attempt and feat of will to break back into reality.
The pair washed up on a remote island in the Sea of Wine, far to the South, where they encountered the Gwiader, the spider-like weavers of Faerie magik. The journey and the weight of the ere-hud brought Cael to his deathbed, and, in desperation, Steinar made a deal with the spiderfolk to save his son, setting out on a desperate quest to complete a risky healing procedure.
Cael was saved, his fate rewritten by the powerful magic of the Gwiader, but forever changed. The sickly young man was transformed into a gwiader herself. With a new lease on life, but a past severed, she travels the lands in search of a new home to come to terms with her new reality.
I was very impressed by the level of detail and commitment of the commissioner in not only crafting Cael's and Steinar's stories, but also how immersed the stories were in Alvez, the world of Kroashent. I've had a concept of Spiderfolk in Kroashent for some time, but spiders are hard to come by in Celtic mythology. To date, I have found a single arachnid-centric folktale from Brittany, and a collection of smaller folk beliefs that helped inform their direction. Special thanks to the commissioner for their assistance in filling out the robust bestiary entry for the Gwiader, the Spiderfolk weavers of magical threads in Alvez. Be sure to check it out here: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/alvez-kroashent/a/gwiader---the-weavers-species.
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Support Valentine's art and the Kroashent project on my Patreon, with great rewards and exclusive content, including an alternate version of this piece for as low as $2!: https://www.patreon.com/Kroashent
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
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Kroashent Commission: Blackwind Spinners
On the prized maps of the Lavigerien Guild, the Forest of Naoned is a wooded area Greyways (NNW) of the city walls, known for its moderate timber production, salmon runs and as the hunting ground of the nobles who keep their manors on the River Islands. Ask anyone in the city itself who isn't in charge of cartography for the Guild or forestry for the Dug, and they will identify something completely different. To the inhabitants of the City of Rivers, the Forest of Naoned refers instead to the strange forest of masts and yardarms that lay at anchor within the city walls, where the muddy Erdre River makes its way to join the wide-flowing Liger. Over the years, ships have long docked at the bustling Port du Vin, the largest market in the city. But ships ran aground, were damaged in storms or simply abandoned and were towed to the low-lying wetlands opposite the port. As the city grew, the Paleward (W) Bank became the thriving Mask District, the walls extending to envelop the old ship graveyard, used for landfill and rubbish by the growing city.
The Forest has become a somewhat permanent fixture in the city, where ships, no longer fit for the river or the sea, are retrofitted into houses, workshops, flophouses and alehouses, buildings popping up on the dryer areas, structures built in and on the hulls. Small ships still dock on its edges, a local economy emerging on the network of boardwalks, catwalks and bridges between the cabins and ramshackle structures. The Forest has become home to all manner of creatures, Bediz and Fae alike, plying their trade and living their lives in the strange community that has risen here.
If one heads deep into the Forest, one may come across an old cog, its fore and aftercastles standing like ruined castles above the rivulets and muddy islands, festooned with dull paint and faded shields of a long-dead Dug. Inside the aftercastle is an oaken door, emblazoned with the symbol of an acorn. A chime plays when you enter, like the cord of a crystal harp being struck. While the ship lies on its side, the floor is even, no small feet, a pristine room, shelves lined with brightly coloured bolts of cloth catching the shimmering light. In the half-floors above and below, one can see looms, wheels and tables, the tools of the tailor's craft. High in the darkness above, one might imagine movement, hundreds of tiny legs crossing shimmering webs of sparkling silk.
You turn to find you are not alone, a tall woman smiles at you, looking you up or down. She wears the livery of La Ligue Briganita, the Tailor's Guild of Naoned, the silver drop-spindle of a journeyman slung around her neck. She leans against the table, pulling out a measuring tape, when you notice her four arms... and six eyes, watching you with bemused interest.
"Welcome to Blackwind Spinners" The Gwiader says cheerfully, a strange accent to her speech that reminds one of the Northern sailors who work the nearby docks. "Clothing for whatever the Twelve Winds bring your way. How may I help you today?"
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A Kroashent-related commission. Cael Mac Lochlainn was once very different from what she is now, a sickly human princeling for a tribe of Northern warriors. Remade as a spiderfolk Gwiader, Cael traveled north to the great port of Naoned, opening Blackwind Spinners, a tailor shop in Naoned's Forest District, specializing in weaving crystalsilk, a rare magical fabric made from spider's webs. While she normally has another form https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/Kroashent-Commission-Cael-of-the-Gwiader-962141932, Cael can take a more humanoid one, making it easier to work in her workshop and less off-putting to arachnophobic clients. She is a respected member of the Tailor's Guild, largely serving the Fae population of the Palewards Bank of Naoned.
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Support Valentine's art and the Kroashent project on my Patreon, with great rewards and exclusive content, including an alternate version of this piece for as low as $2!: www.patreon.com/Kroashent
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
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Kroashent Commission: Cael of the Sea
An Kroashent-related commission featuring Cael Mac Lochlainn https://www.tumblr.com/kroashent/720116782834319360/kroashent-commission-cael-mac-lochlainn-an?source=share transformed into a Marie-Morgane, an alternate fate to her "true" path becoming a spider-like Gwiader. She's a little late for Mermay, because those currents are very strong for a new swimmer!
Cael Mac Lochlainn, son of Jarl Steinar Mac Lochlainn, hailed from a tribe of Viking Raiders from the snowswept Lost Peninusla, an inhospitable land of eternal winter. Steinar's numerous adventures and misadventures deep among the Fae had left the warrior with a lifetime of boons and banes from countless friends and enemies. Many of these ere-hud passed along his bloodline, burdening his son with the same, but without the self-chosen path and experience that had bought them.
The pair set out on their longship to raid and trade with peoples beyond the black mirror of the Mor Marv, but they found themselves becalmed in the cursed Feth Fiada, losing themselves in the space between worlds. The father and son were forced to abandon their ship and its crew to the cursed existence of wandering shades, making a desperate attempt and feat of will to break back into reality.
Even before becoming a Gwiader, Cael was a milliget, a Bediz (human) corrupted by Faerie magic to become something not quite Bediz, not quite Fae. Cael was hit by several magical curses passed along by his father, Steinar, compounded by the magical winter storms of the Lost Peninsula, a realm lost to time.
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Support Valentine's art and the Kroashent project on my Patreon, with great rewards and exclusive content, including an alternate version of this drawing: www.patreon.com/Kroashent
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 (Chapter 4 coming soon!): https://archiveofourown.org/works/42059403?view_full_work=true
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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.
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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
#Kathalia Bisclavret#Gwae#Gwaeron Sulime Dethemir#Cael Mac Lochlainn#Kroashent#Gwaider#Spiderfolk#Lore#fantasy art#commission
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Kroashent Commission: Gargoul in the Guild
A Kroashent-related commission, featuring Cael Mac Lochlainn ( https://www.tumblr.com/kroashent/720116782834319360/kroashent-commission-cael-mac-lochlainn-an?source=share ), transformed into a Gargoul, the impish Korrigan of the Mountains. Typically a spider-like Gwiader, Cael is a Journeyman in La Ligue Brigantia, the Guild of Dyers, Spinners and Weavers in the Northern city of Naoned. As a significantly smaller Gargoul, she still happily takes on the task of a tailor, working out of the Forest, a shantytown maze within the city walls built on the back of grounded ships, floating docks and rickety bridges. She has a small, but busy practice in the neighborhood, cheerfully going about her work!
Cael is wearing two symbols of her Guild. The silver drop spindle that shows her rank as a journeyman and the Goldenrod colours of the guild on her hat.
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Support Valentine's art and the Kroashent project on my Patreon, with great rewards and exclusive content, including an alternate version of this drawing: www.patreon.com/Kroashent
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 (Chapter 4 coming soon!): https://archiveofourown.org/works/42059403?view_full_work=true
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Kroashent Commission: Cael Mac Lochlainn
An Kroashent-related commission from www.deviantart.com/vaatis500, featuring Cael Mac Lochlainn in his original form. Last time you saw Cael, she looked a little different: https://www.deviantart.com/kathalia/art/Kroashent-Commission-Cael-of-the-Gwiader-962141932
This is a pre-transformation image of the same character.
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Cael Mac Lochlainn, son of Jarl Steinar Mac Lochlainn, hailed from a tribe of Viking Raiders from the snowswept Lost Peninusla, an inhospitable land of eternal winter. Steinar's numerous adventures and misadventures deep among the Fae had left the warrior with a lifetime of boons and banes from countless friends and enemies. Many of these ere-hud passed along his bloodline, burdening his son with the same, but without the self-chosen path and experience that had bought them.
The pair set out on their longship to raid and trade with peoples beyond the black mirror of the Mor Marv, but they found themselves becalmed in the cursed Feth Fiada, losing themselves in the space between worlds. The father and son were forced to abandon their ship and its crew to the cursed existence of wandering shades, making a desperate attempt and feat of will to break back into reality.
------------------------
Even before becoming a Gwiader, Cael was a milliget, a Bediz (human) corrupted by Faerie magic to become something not quite Bediz, not quite Fae. Cael was hit by several magical curses passed along by his father, Steinar, compounded by the magical winter storms of the Lost Peninsula, a realm lost to time.
-------------------------
Support Valentine's art and the Kroashent project on my Patreon, with great rewards and exclusive content: www.patreon.com/Kroashent
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 (Chapter 4 coming soon!): https://archiveofourown.org/works/42059403?view_full_work=true
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