Lineup

Finally got around to a body comparison reference page for the four biggest players in the Heathen Gods story! In order, from eldest to youngest: Dyreth the earth god, Namka the sea goddess, Jaiya the wind goddess, and finally Vetalga the god of fire. Their totems are the golden lion, emerald leviathan, white crane, and black dragon respectively. Dyreth and Namka are the children of the moon goddess Elo'e while Jaiya and Vetalga are the children of the sun goddess Hizba, Elo'e's sister, so technically they're all related. Of course they look nothing alike but that's the fun of godly genetics I suppose!

All in all I wanted each of them to represent certain ethnic regions without relying too much on cultures that already exist, since they are, according to the mythos of the story, where many of said cultures originated. Clothing-wise, Dyreth is most similar to the Zulu, with a hint of the Omo River Valley people to give him more of a greenery vibe, but overall he's meant to represent sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. Namka was a little trickier because while I knew I wanted her to read as Native North American, I had trouble deciding whether she would most resemble people from the mainland like the Powhatan or more so indigenous Caribbeans, so I went with a little of both along with the obvious creative freedoms such as her seashells and pearls. Jaiya is very representative of the Indian subcontinent and I referenced some ancient paintings from the region for her wardrobe, which I wanted to be just a little more practical to reflect her personality. I'm really used to putting warm colors against dark skin so finding a palette for her was a challenge and I'll probably tweak it later. And finally, Vetalga... a flamboyant and vain character, whose wardrobe was inspired by warriors of dynastic China with a scale pattern on his (impractical) armor to resemble a dragon. However, I tried to make him ethnically resemble a mixture of iconic southeast and east Asian peoples, which is why his complexion is a bit more bronze with strong Mongolian cheekbones. Also moved the roots of his horns from the top of his head to his forehead because I've been playing too much Dragon Age. :>

So, not a bad starting point I think! I'm looking forward to developing their designs more~