Katerina Concept Art 2 (Lotsa pictures today, huh?)

Here is a better picture of Katerina for you to enjoy. It's basically a remake. Marvel at my amazing Photoshop skillz! Ah well, I'll get better with time.

In case you were wondering (which I doubt), that black bit at the bottom is her always-present obsidian necklace. Actually it's probably whatchamacallit-- those black magnetic stones you get at most of the 'Pay $5 for a baggie of stones' kiosks at tourist places? Those. Obsidian = verr verr sharp.

Time: about 1.5 hours, Medium: All in Photoshop (CS3)

Calendar

The Hourglass Kingdom’s calendar has exactly 400 days, for obvious reasons. (If I had to create a world, I would at least give them a calendar that makes sense, wouldn’t you?) Each month has 20 days, and the starsigns affect life more than the zodiac affects our life.


For the next few sections, assume anything before a semicolon (;) are positive attributes and anything afterwards are negative ones.

SPRING — change, growth; excess, greed
SUMMER— freedom, dreams, confidence; pride, fancy
AUTUMN— settling, warmth, comfort; burnout, overwork
WINTER­— preparation, inner peace; stagnancy, rot

The starsigns both affect (minorly) a person’s personality and the two months that are spent under that sign. So people born under the [starsign] will be [qualities] and the [starsign] months are times of [qualities] and being [qualities]. Simple, right?

The Starsigns

Wolf: social, intelligent; obsessive, close-knit
Giraffe: foresight, intuitive, planning; lethargic, overly cautious
Bee: Hardworking, creative; overwork, mania
Snake: change, growth, individuality; overconfidence, lack of caution
Crocodile: sense of self, skill; bad luck, close-mindedness
Elephant: travel, strength, memory; clinging to the past, holding grudges
Eagle: joy, fierceness, aggression, confidence; destructiveness, elitism
Pig: inner growth, passive resistance, perseverance; anger, passiveness, reactive
Monkey: adaptive, clever, tricky; lack of sense of self, reliance on others
Deer: caution, speed, peaceful; panic, hiding from problems

I think I might be putting too much effort into this...

Also: some of the month names actually have a meaning, which I would be happy to explain to anybody who asks... *stares pointedly at comment button* Judging by pennames, there might actually people who I actually don't know from school! ^__^

Concept Art

All right: As I believe H. E. You has mentioned, I have been making concept art for the main series. This is a character that won't come in till books two or three, assuming we get that far.

Her name is Katerina, though only her sister calls her that. To everybody else she is Kate, to her annoyance. She has a fire jiiai. Enjoy!

Map of the Hourgalss Kingdom

My very first post! Alright, here is a basic map of the Hourglass Kingdom (we haven't come up with a name for it yet, so the HK works until we either change it, or of course we might decide to keep it). The Firelands is ALL of the red area, the Forests is ALL the green place, etc. The white part's the Mountain, and is the fifth country. It is impossible to reach by ordinary means (hint hint). The regions that cross the fat borders are still one region, are very alike socially and economically, and can be considered a mini-country. No more details for you!