I love the tidal 'khor volcano' idea! When you're building up your own solar system like this, you've gotta include these fun creative aspects that are rooted in science.
Sorry for the über late read! This is definitely inspired! “Whimsical” works! The Pirate Captain looks like he’ll be a fan favorite. His image gives off a great sense of humor and a fun loving demeanor. The idea that it could be “beard” 😎 for a tortured soul & hardened bad ass is FIRE! He looks AMAZING! Call him Blue Beard for the giant Blue Crab he killed to earn his legend! The Drift is spectacular. I need to see this in a movie at some point with a Children Of Men/Extraction action sequence. The Khor mining is brilliant. Can Khor be more volatile in its crystalline form? This could explain the various dangers of mining it in the ocean because a rock size piece of Khor would be like an underwater landmine, while the liquid form would be easier to handle but harder to keep in liquid form because it crystallizes when mixes with Hydrogen and/or Oxygen (see oxidation). It could also give off a unique form of energy (not radiation per se) in the liquid form which turns into a traditional sense of radiation when it crystallizes. A dope foil could also be that the priests hold an ancient ritual that turns Khor crystals back into liquid! Congratulations to the Mikes. You guys gave the Pirating World unique character! I love the Priesthood of 3W3M and now the pirates!
SUCH a big fan of the squid ink and squid attached to the tattoo gun! It's wonderfully weird and hilariously practical all at the same time. Is there a mythos to their tattoos? Do some tattoos signify distances travelled, charms for good fortune/superstition, or ones denoting rank?
Do they have to personally kill the crab they wear? If not, can they? I love the idea of pirates fighting giant crabs for the "honor" of wearing it's shell.
Yeah, I would say crab wear is a symbol of how bad ass they are so I think purchasing a crab piece would be looked down upon. But who knows these pirates could lie about their undersea adventures as well wearing knockoff shelltoes.
Out of curiosity, and stupidly I didn’t even connect that this would take place where on water, wondering if Waterworld with K Costner is something to lookupon or avoid?
I think you nailed it with the dichotomy between the Captain and First Mate (it’s great to be king). I’m sold on the floating city and especially the balloon lookouts.
Do you guys have a preference between being inspired by other fiction and being inspired by IRL stuff? I've seen ship cities in other SF works (SNOW CRASH and Rich Larson's 'How Quini the Squid Misplaced His Klobucar' come to mind), but yours looks so different cuz of the sea creature pirate ships, which is cool.
I might also just wanna talk about Snow Crash with y'all, fingers crossed for the book club lol!
I think it's always better to go to real life for inspiration. Other fiction is useful as a shorthand when you're describing a general look "is this more Flash Gordon or Star Trek?" but you want to fill in that design space with your own references and taste.
I also love The Past is Red where the remnants of humankind eek out an existence on that giant floating island of plastic that is even now growing larger & larger in the Pacific.
Mike, these are awesome!! My first artist collab too. More to come!
Thanks man!
I love the tidal 'khor volcano' idea! When you're building up your own solar system like this, you've gotta include these fun creative aspects that are rooted in science.
Great I love the designs and the diferentes processes of khor extraction
Sorry for the über late read! This is definitely inspired! “Whimsical” works! The Pirate Captain looks like he’ll be a fan favorite. His image gives off a great sense of humor and a fun loving demeanor. The idea that it could be “beard” 😎 for a tortured soul & hardened bad ass is FIRE! He looks AMAZING! Call him Blue Beard for the giant Blue Crab he killed to earn his legend! The Drift is spectacular. I need to see this in a movie at some point with a Children Of Men/Extraction action sequence. The Khor mining is brilliant. Can Khor be more volatile in its crystalline form? This could explain the various dangers of mining it in the ocean because a rock size piece of Khor would be like an underwater landmine, while the liquid form would be easier to handle but harder to keep in liquid form because it crystallizes when mixes with Hydrogen and/or Oxygen (see oxidation). It could also give off a unique form of energy (not radiation per se) in the liquid form which turns into a traditional sense of radiation when it crystallizes. A dope foil could also be that the priests hold an ancient ritual that turns Khor crystals back into liquid! Congratulations to the Mikes. You guys gave the Pirating World unique character! I love the Priesthood of 3W3M and now the pirates!
This is awesome.
The first officer looks fierce, as both a pirate and style icon.
SUCH a big fan of the squid ink and squid attached to the tattoo gun! It's wonderfully weird and hilariously practical all at the same time. Is there a mythos to their tattoos? Do some tattoos signify distances travelled, charms for good fortune/superstition, or ones denoting rank?
All good questions! Mike del Mundo will have to let us know.
I haven't thought of that but that's a good question to look into. I like the idea of it. Gonna take note of this.
Do they have to personally kill the crab they wear? If not, can they? I love the idea of pirates fighting giant crabs for the "honor" of wearing it's shell.
Yeah, I would say crab wear is a symbol of how bad ass they are so I think purchasing a crab piece would be looked down upon. But who knows these pirates could lie about their undersea adventures as well wearing knockoff shelltoes.
I love it. Like all fishermen, they stretch the truth for the sake of an entertaining story.
Haha! Like a black market in fibreglass replicas?
Exactly.
I'm gonna say yes, they have to personally kill the creatures they use as armor. Could be a rite of passage for the pirates.
Hand to hand, er... Hand to claw obviously
Out of curiosity, and stupidly I didn’t even connect that this would take place where on water, wondering if Waterworld with K Costner is something to lookupon or avoid?
I think you nailed it with the dichotomy between the Captain and First Mate (it’s great to be king). I’m sold on the floating city and especially the balloon lookouts.
Do you guys have a preference between being inspired by other fiction and being inspired by IRL stuff? I've seen ship cities in other SF works (SNOW CRASH and Rich Larson's 'How Quini the Squid Misplaced His Klobucar' come to mind), but yours looks so different cuz of the sea creature pirate ships, which is cool.
I might also just wanna talk about Snow Crash with y'all, fingers crossed for the book club lol!
I think it's always better to go to real life for inspiration. Other fiction is useful as a shorthand when you're describing a general look "is this more Flash Gordon or Star Trek?" but you want to fill in that design space with your own references and taste.
I also love The Past is Red where the remnants of humankind eek out an existence on that giant floating island of plastic that is even now growing larger & larger in the Pacific.