Fantasy Festival 2022

Outfit | Food | Dance | Fight | Conclusion

After last year’s Summer Festival 2021, this year the Arcryla City Discord server hosted another festival. This time under the topic „A Festival in the Fantasy Realm!„. Our Arcryla City OCs basically were transferred into a fantasu AU.

Apart from some DnD game nights, there again were prompt lists, twelve general prompts, five main challenge prompts and bi-weekly showcases.

The Fayth Awakens
(Arrival story)

Precondition of the Arcryla City Fantasy Festival is that our Arcryla City (steampunk) OC’s went to sleep but awoke in a fantasy Arcryla City kingdom while remembering everything from their steampunk citizens life. They are clueless what happened but they are excited to explore this new kingdom.

This said, I took the opportunity to write a … err … short entry text to depict Crissy’s arrival in the Kingdom of Arcryla City.

When Crissy woke up, there were no worries, no disturbances, everything felt so normal, like as if it always had been this way. This was strange since she exactly remembered her life in the flying Arcryla City. Now it appeared to be a kingdom of older ages and still, it appeared to be so similar. Even the windows in her apartment where those big, glassy windows she was acquainted with. Their frames were wooden but still she recognised all the small mechaninisms that helped to open, tilt or shut them down, although not driven by steam power, obviously.

Same applied to her workshop as she approached it, curious what it may look like. Strangely enough there was not that much of a difference. Again, there was more wood around than metal, although not that much since she also spotted a lot of cogwheels, levers, tiles and plates. Here like there the workshop had a big oven as well as a forge and all the necessary equipment to actually get craftswoman’s work done. On top of all even the time schedule on the wall reminded her of „Repairing blewn up city parts“ – whatever had happened in this realm.

One major difference were the presence of a crossbow plus quiver and arrows, though. She clearly recognised her own work, the sophisticated mechanisms to cock the crossbow with virtually no muscle effort and how easily she managed to mount the weapon on her arm as it appeared to be intended. She was just going to examine the accompanying tool bag as she heard a clear „Thud“ from outside the customer’s windows of the workshop, followed by an announcing „Croak!“.

„So, here you are, Sweethead.“
„Paula!“
Crissy hurried to get outside on the street but stopped immediately as she saw her girlfriend – still her girlfriend in this realm or in any other.
„Knew, I would find you here. Woke up in a shiny forest and look what I found sitting next to me?“
A big, impressive bird with a dangerous looking beak and big threatening wings stood next to her. Saddle and bridle added to the threat.
„I call her Sparrow. If she lays eggs, we can sell them, they surely will make good omelettes.“

Now that Crissy’s eyes got accostumated to the bright morning light outside, she got the feeling they were going to popping out of their sockets, if she wouldn’t have rubbed them back in because of the view she got of her girlfriend.
„These ears go all tingly when you touch them, and …“
Paula’s outfits regularly made Crissy longing for cold showers, but this one in particular. On the by now well-established Crissy Blushing Scale, she surely was only one pigment short of point „Coralhead“ again.
„What do you say about this, eh?“, Paula added, showing off the garment.
„Don’t twirl!“, Crissy croaked.
„Croak!“, Sparrow answered.

Bi-weekly art prompts (Main challenges)

1) A Fantastical Outfit
2) Magical Foodie
3) A Familiar Face
4) Battle with the Kingdom’s Mage Knight
5) Concluding the Festival

1) Try and reimagine what your Arcryla City OC would look like/what their lives would be like if an alternate version of themselves existed in a fantasy world.

Cristaly Coralya „Crissy“ Fayth

Crissy doing Crissy things, creating, fixing and crippling devices whenever required – but keeping away from people as much as possible.

2) What sort of fantastical food would you find in a world like this one? Show us what tasty (or horrendous) food and drink you got to try! You can either choose to draw the food and drink alone or draw your OC eating/drinking and reacting to it! How does it taste? Do they like it?

Wyrd’s Fruits & Vegetables

Hungrily approaching and strolling over the festival place, Crissy remembered the mangoes back in her Arcryla City and how much she loved them. She wondered, if this place may have something similar. Discovering „Wyrd’s Fruits & Vegetables Stall“ she found the so-called „mangogoes“. You could cut off the tips of their … err … whatever those sticks were … and drink the sweet juice inside the fruit like with a naturally grown attached drinking straw. Still, looking into those little big mangogo eyes indeed gave her a weird feeling, so she simply stuck with the pastry she bought two stalls earlier.

Digital painting, comic style: Crissy in her fantasy design in the foreground (young woman, short purple hair, big round glasses, bellyfree leather top, blue cape, braces, fingerfree gloves, girdle, bags, knife and pocket watch attached to it), holding a pastry in the right hand and some kind of mango in the left hand, long, thin natural grown sticks attached to it, one resembling a nose, dark spots giving the impression of two eyes, the tip of the "nose" is cut, a drop of yellow juice dropping from it, Crissy is looking at this "mangogo" with disbelief; two more of them in different shapes (some kind of devil and some kind of water brear) standing in front of her on a customer's board of a stall, to her left a whole basket with them, to her right one labelled "TomaToes", containing big tomatoes with tiny red toes; in the background several stalls (1. bakery, 2. "Joe's Wineyard", 3. pottery, 4. "Catch the Frog" game stall, 5. "Hex'R'us") with 1. cake, bread, 2. wine barrels, bottles 3. pottery ware 4. prices 5. magical items; Paula and Sparrow sitting in front ofr "Joe's Wineyard", Paula pointing to the salesman, hiding to bottles behind her back; in front of the game stall two young woman, one brown-red hair, one white hair, the brown haired one catching a wooden frog with a fishing-rod, splashing water; several girlands and pennants on poles and lines above the stalls.

3) Collaboration time! Draw your OC dancing with whoever you’ve been randomly selected to be partnered with! – Collab with _Ghostbam00zled_ and his OC Raven.

A Familiar Face

Crissy’s POV (extended version): After the encounter with the mangogoes (and after she took the water bear shaped one with her), Crissy arrived at some kind of dancing area. Before she could retreat – and despite her lack of dancing abilities – she felt dragged into the crowd. Suddenly, she realised that the guy she was dancing with was Raven. She’d seen him one time or the other back in Arcryla City and had been fascinated by the mechanism of his mechanical wings. She didn’t dare to tell Paula, though, fearing she’d wanted to try them out by herself. The wings didn’t seem to be around today, instead there was another threat: She had to dance in public!

Raven’s POV: From dealing with customers all day Raven heads out and ends up with a crowd dancing! He is pulled to the center realizing Chrissy is right next to him feeling a bit embarrassed. To lighten the mood Raven dances and encourages Crissy to join along!

4) Battle with the Kingdom’s Mage Knight: Create a dynamic manga/comic page of your duel with Sir Alexander, the kingdom’s most powerful protector!

This one wasn’t supposed to conclude the fight. However, I did it – sort of – with the Spell general prompt.

A Mayoral Fight

To (assumingly) leave the Fantasy realm AU, Crissy has to face the Mage Knight Mayor Alexander and his incredible mayical powers.

5) Concluding the Festival: Keeping it simple and allow anyone who didn’t finish the previous prompts to catch up and to draw their Fantasy AU OCs enjoying one of the festival activities by using one of the general prompt list. Bonus if someone else’s OC, Sir Alexander and/or Lynette is included.

I managed to do even three more prompts til the end of the festival, the ones corresponding to 1) Potion, 2) Spell and 10) Tavern. I’m going to share them here one after the other, so stay tuned!

General prompts (1 out of 12)

The 12 general prompts are:

1) Potions
2) Spell
3) Jewels
4) Weapon Shop
5) Lanterns
6) Archery
7) Cottage
8) Song/Music
9) Magic Shop
10) Tavern
11) Wishing Well
12) Carriage Ride

2) Rise of the Mamangogo (The Mother of all Mangogoes)

A callback to the second main challenge prompt, inspired by joking around with my best friend via Whatsapp.

To tend her carnivorous plants back home more effectively, Paula bought a growth potion at one of the stalls of the ongoing Summer Festival (she would’ve nicked one, but … well … never mess with someone who creates potions). She didn’t waste time and tried it out with one of the Mangogoes that she has nicked from „Wyrd’s Fruits and Vegetables“ stall.

It actually worked.

Well, she must have remembered the dose wrong, but it worked …

Digital painting, comic style: Paula (front, young woman, young woman, short turqoise hair in sidecut, short turqoise hair, toe nails painted in rainbow colour, finger nails in lesbian Pride flag colour; she's wearing some kind of green leaf-like loincloth that only covers breasts, lap and butt, green braces, turqoise wrist bands, a pink shell band at her left ankle, as green leaf band at her right, golden neck band, pointed ears) sitting in front of Crissy (young woman, short purple hair, big round glasses, bellyfree leather armor, braces, striped trousers, cape) on in the saddle of her giant bird mount Sparrow, front view, seen from slightly above; Paula is trying to catch a flask with a purple, foaming substance, Crissy is looking backwards towards a giant mangogo (mangoes with sticklike legs, arms and noses) raising from the woods and following them, the eyes of the mangogo gleaming purple; pink blossoms in the foregrpund and scaried birds in the background in the air.

2) Spelling Backwards

This one refers to the story given by the fifth main challenge prompt:

The Fight against Sir Alexander went better than expected but worse than desired. But before every hope of returning home flew away (literally, Paula was just about to carry Crissy away on her giant bird mount Sparrow), Lynette intervened.

With the words „Please, travelers. Close your eyes“ and with the power of the apple of friendship she reversed the spell that brought them here in the first place.

5) Sparrow on Fire
(General prompt Lanterns)

Paula never has been the most punctual person of Arcryla City or, this said, even the most reliable one. This applied for the time before she made out with Crissy, this still applied right after the legendary Zepppelin Night Ride and this even applied in an alternative fantasy realm into which both of them had been transferred due to unknown reasons.

This particular evening, a lantern feast had been announced and Paula had promised to pick Crissy up (who had to do a lot of work in her workshop). Not surprisingly, Paula was late. Crissy had thought of something along the lines of riding on Sparrow on the ground to get to the festival place. Paula, however, had other plans.

Although they got to the festival a lot faster by air travel, they still were late, late like late late. They arrived above the place just the moment the main bunch of sky lanterns hovered through the air. Thanks to whoever was in charge of the universe, Sparrow had a sharp beak, robust plumage and it turned out that the protections sigils on Paula’s braces didn’t have their name for nothing.

Digital painting, comic style: 1) Crissy and 2) Paula (fantasy versions) in the saddle of sparrow, a big brown-orange bird with a sharp beak; 1) young woman, short purple hair, big round glasses, bellyfree leather top, leather skirt, purse and quiver with arrows on her girdle, orange-brown striped trousers, toefree boots, blue cape, 2) young woman, short turqoise hair; toe nails painted in rainbow colour, finger nails in lesbian Pride flag colour; she's wearing some kind of green leaf-like loincloth that only covers breasts, lap and butt, green braces, a knife in a sheath of leaf optic, a bag also in leaf optic, turqoise wrist bands, a pink shell band at her left ankle and a golden neck band; Sparrow is nosediving fast into a school of sky lanterns, fending them off with her wings and the beak; 2) is holding her reins with the left hand, raising the right arm into the air, her braces a illuminated green, creating a green shield-like light in front of her wrist, bashing a sky lantern into pieces; 1) is sitting behind her, holding fast on her belly, eyes closed, screaming; more sky lanterns and blossoms in foreground and background, washy in their movements, a likewise washy night sky with stars in the background.

6) Archery

General prompt + Paula’s character sheet

„Paula, having the attention span not of a young kitten but of a full-grown lioness, reconsidering her target when distracted by her girlfriend Crissy.“

Digital Painting, comic style, simple beige background, light shadows: 1) Crissy and 2) Paula in fantasy versions; 1) young woman, short purple hair, big round glasses, bellyfree leather top, leather skirt, a hook, a bag, a pocket watch, a purse and a quiver with arrows on her girdle, orange-brown striped trousers, toefree boots, blue cape, a small crossbow mounted on her right lower arm, she is putting an arrow in it with her left hand; 2) young woman, short turqoise hair; toe nails painted in rainbow colour, finger nails in lesbian Pride flag colour; she's wearing some kind of green leaf-like loincloth that only covers breasts, lap and butt, green braces, a knive in a sheath of leaf optic, a bag also in leaf optic, turqoise wrist bands, a green leaf band at her right ankle, a pink shell band at her left one and a golden neck band; she is holding a wooden bow and arrow; in the background the outline of a flying big bird with a strong beak.

Deep in the forest, Paula found herself race swapped into a wood elf. Not that she did mind, after all, cool bow and arrows went with it and she even got a flying mount.

Digital Painting, comic style, simple beige background, light shadows: Paula in fantasy version; young woman, short turqoise hair; toe nails painted in rainbow colour, finger nails in lesbian Pride flag colour; she's wearing some kind of green leaf-like loincloth that only covers breasts, lap and butt, green braces, a knive in a sheath of leaf optic, a bag also in leaf optic, turqoise wrist bands, a green leaf band at her right ankle, a pink shell band at her left one and a golden neck band; she is holding a wooden bow and arrow; in the background the outline of a flying big bird with a strong beak; text: "Paula Lûce".

8) Song/Music

Little is known that Paula was a passionate harpist (well, string instrument player to be honest – but a harp isn’t little more than a bow with a few more strings after all, so it has its very own appeal). However, she didn’t bother to read manuals. So, she didn’t know that this one was supposed to summon a love-crazed and very hungry harpy woman Crissy had to deal with to prevent greater damage.

Digital painting, comic style: Paula (young woman, short turqoise hair in sidecut, wearing a green loincloth dress covering breasts and genitals, green braces, turqoise wristbands, a pink shell foot chain and a golden neckband), sitting in the center of the painting, looking surprised and holding a harp with a bird's beak, musical notes and a deep purpley shimmer hovering through the air; next to Paula the hull ("Instructions") of a scroll, on the scroll you can read "Harp[]'s Call", but the scrolll is ripped and torched, there is a space and you only can guess an illegible "y" in the writing; there is a big shadow of a winged and talon-armed birdlike creature above Paula; further above, there is an action line and the sound word "Ziiiiiiiing!!!" leading towards three feathers falling down, accompanied bei a big "Caw!"; a pale orange and yellow background, red and deep shimmer around the edges of the painting.

10) Rider’s Talk

This painting refers to a corresponding painting of vitranas_art (Instagram) who drew the preceding scene likewise with her OC Archie and my OCs Crissy and Paula.

After an exhausting day at the Summer Festival in this weird fantasy realm, Paula found a tavern and talked Crissy into stopping by to finish the day. They both got something to drink and they met Archibald Featherstone, a Wyvern Rider of the Kingdom’s Wyvern Riders Guild. Paula asked a lot about Fortuna and in turn was eager to talk about Sparrow. However, as the evening continued, Crissy slowly dozed off.

Digital painting, comic style: A tavern scene, a bar counter and a blurry, dimly lit background; the people only depicted to belly level; to the right side Crissy (young woman, big round glasses, short purple har, brown breast armor and brown braces) and Paula (young woman, short turqoise hair in sidecut, green neckholder bellyfree loin dress, green braces), to the left side Archie (huge man, moustache, black hair, pony tail, goggles on his head, brown leather armor, a turquoise shirt with the emblem of the Wyvern Riders Guild, light blue scarf around the neck); Crissy is leaning at Paula's shoulder, eyes closed, dozing off, Paulas' left hand holding her; Archie is drinking from a cup, laughing and is doing finger guns with the free hand, Paula is returning this gesture and has nicked one of the wine bottles that are standing around on the counter; there are more cups too, one is tilted and had spilled wine over the counter, a water bear shaped mangogo (mangoes with leg, nose and ears like sticks) is lying with its nose in the puddle.

11) Secrets in the Garden

After entering a hidden garden, they discovered an old wishing well. While Crissy – a strong believer solely in physics and stuff – still being skeptical about whishing wells at all, Paula had her very own approach to it.

Digital painting, comic style: Crissy (young woman, short purple hair, big round glasses, bellyfree leather armor, braces, cape) and Paula (young woman, short turqoise hair, short turqoise hair, toe nails painted in rainbow colour, finger nails in lesbian Pride flag colour; she's wearing some kind of green leaf-like loincloth that only covers breasts, lap and butt, green braces, turqoise wrist bands, a pink shell band at her left ankle, golden neck band, pointed ears) in a wildly grown garden with an old well in the center and a sign "Wishing Well; 1 Coin)"; Paula is sitting on its edge, tossing a coin on a string over her shoulder, Crissy in the foreground, skeptically looking at a coin; blue day sky with birds and petals in the background.

Aftermath

As the Festival was over, our OCs got send back to their own realm but they weren’t be able to remember anything but dreamlike feelings at the most. Enter: The next morning.
All in all I did four versions of this painting.
The first one is the most genuine one, the version I had in mind when thinking of this scene. Since not all platforms allow even implied nudity to be shared publicly, I also painted the second one. The fourth and fifth ones are artistic nudity. Still, WordPress doesn’t allow those on a public website, so you will have to wait for the approbiate channel as soon as I’ll announce it.

Birds in the Garden

„Chirp, chirp, chirp …“, the birds outside the windows awakened Paula.

Still dozy she left the bed to look after her plants on the balcony. She felt like she’d had a weird dreams but couldn’t recall anything. She stepped on the balcony and gave herself a good stretch when she heard some flapping sounds.

Opening one eye, the second one still half closed, sleep in the eyes, behind a wall of blurry dream dust, she noticed a big, long-legged, talon-armed and sharp-beaked grey and white bird. She immediately got the feeling of familiarity, although she couldn’t say where this came from and the bird appeared to be docile enough.

Paula didn’t read a lot – in fact she didn’t read at all -, so she didn’t know what a secretary bird is or where they usually live, so she didn’t question it. She also didn’t remember the adventures in some weird fantasy realm, but she knew that she got a new but somehow familiar friend.

She called her „Sparrow“.