Category: Characters

Inktober 18: Belanqah Levanah

Posted on October 18, 2021 by eczarnik

Levanah rules the moon, and the tides.

INKTOBER DAY 18 (MOON): Belanqah Levanah is a disgraceful, high-ranking official on the Bavel Macrostructure’s Linguistic Imperialism Division, where she represents the moon. She supervises lunar mining and selects the best bricks to build the Tower of Bavel.

Levanah hates dirt and wishes to “make everything white” in her incandescent glow. Because she is so obsessed with cleanliness, she burns frankincense to purify the air and takes constant baths. Her baths are her favorite time to play the harp and eat leben sponge cake with citrus zest.

While she prefers to bathe in bleach, her Nefil heritage keeps her durable skin undamaged and pale ivory. She hates wearing clothes out of fear that she’ll stain them.

For all her whitewashed cleanliness, Levanah’s inner being hosts a villainous spirit. She fears neither men nor gods, and her haughtiness makes her the most undignified among Bavel’s dignitaries. Her only friends are the corpses of bonefish who fell victim to her bleach powers.

Besides that, her moon abilities empower her to reduce her gravity, strike people with lunacy and control tidal floods.

Levanah’s powers come from the לבן shoresh root and broader family, governing the moon, whiteness, bricks, frankincense, cleanliness, pollution, floods, baths, foolishness, harps and more.

Inktober 14: Dough Tick

Posted on October 14, 2021 by eczarnik

The Dough Tick gorges on batter.

INKTOBER DAY 14 (TICK): The Dough Tick’s philosophy is: Fake it till you bake it!

This bitty bug gorges herself on batter, not blood. She aspires to be a baker but always comes short, mostly because no one wants to buy bread from a diseased parasite.

Regardless, she defies depression every day at sunrise to reap wheat with her malfunctioning electric reaper scythe. While holding a digest of baking recipes, she prepares a batch of dough. But when she cuts out the pieces with her pincers, she infects the batch, turning it into a shambling zombie effigy.

Since she only communicates through winking, blinking and gestures, any attempt to command them to “rise up” have so far been half-baked.

The Dough tick is powered by the קרץ shoresh root and family, which governs ticks, dough, winking, shortness, reaping, annotated digests and more.

Inktober Day 5: Wagerin’ Raven

Posted on October 5, 2021 by eczarnik

The Wagerin' Raven has luck on his side.

INKTOBER DAY 5 (RAVEN): When the sun goes down, the Wagerin’ Raven lives for the nightlife!

You can bet on seeing this bird gambling with ruffians and sinners in the Wild West plains of ‘Aravot. While some Holy Tongue Society members despise these birds for polluting their pristine Promised Land, the territory’s leader, ‘Aravah ‘Ivrit, is more lenient, letting them stick around for good luck.

But beware: While these ravens are friendly enough during a winning streak, they get ferocious when they lose!

The Wagerin’ Raven is based on the ערב shoresh root and its broader family, which govern ravens, the wilderness, the west, sundown and evening, betting, transgression, contamination, pleasantness and fury!

Inktober Day 3: Kelilah Kilyah

Posted on October 3, 2021 by eczarnik

This kidney cultist will kill ya.

Kelilah Kilyah represents the Kidney among the Souls Division of the Bavel Macrostructure’s Yetzer Ra’ cult. She handles battlefield logistics and supplies the troops.

Kilyah is a knavish careerist who works herself to death to achieve the End of History. On the surface she reins in her emotions, but her innermost thoughts, feelings and morals all steer toward annihilation.

She also is a hoarder who always wants to collect the complete set of everything: weapons, clothing, accessories, tools, consumables — you name it. Her powerful strength lets her carry a massive lacquered Provision Pot, which boasts a near-infinite storage capacity. And in a pinch, her bean-shaped ocarina is a sonic weapon too.

Kilyah was inspired by the כלי shoesh root and related family, which has to do with completion, kidneys, vessels, tools, instruments and potential. It also fulfills Inktober’s Day 3 theme of “Vessel.”

Inktober #1: Exalted Crystal

Posted on October 1, 2021 by eczarnik

The Exalted Crystal demands your praise.

Beware: The Exalted Crystal wants to crystallize its brilliance into your consciousness!

This enemy idol, who lives in the hills, is a massive chunk of crystal and condensed gravel rubble. Due to years of self-worship, It views itself as a tall wall and an invincibly strong fortress, and it demands that passersby praise its shininess. But the Holy Tongue Society refuses to comply!

The Exalted Crystal is based on the shoresh root גבש and its broader family, calling upon themes of crystals, rubble and exaltation.

Inktober is starting up again, and that means I’m working hard on a new batch of characters, monsters, items and more for the Milhamah: Fighting Words video game/RPG series. I’m looking forward to running at least 31 concept sketches this month, and I already have several spare ones I hope to additionally send out. The Exalted Crystal is based on the month’s first theme: crystal.

I’ll write up some stats and abilities for this character soon. If you like what you see, check out some of the progress I’ve made on the Milhamah tabletop RPG I’ve been working on!