(CW: body horror, god-on-god violence, character death)
WORLD
Setting:
This story takes place in Etras, a modern city with gothic architecture. The buildings are made of black stone. The city's lamps & indoor lighting are usually purple or other unnatural colors.
The climate of Etras is temperate and the city is surrounded by a thick forest.
Terra, the planet Etras is located on, is populated by object heads. (Object head OC cameos are fine.)
The (non-humanoid) fauna of Terra are all magical object creatures - think video game mimics or "object Pokemon". I have no guide to the flora of Etras other than "generic fantasy plants". Both flora & fauna can have any colors.
Story: (multi-paragraph, BUCKLE UP)
The universe is at a standstill. Life is dying on planets faster than it gets created. This creates an issue - for each planet with life, a god is created to supervise it, but when the planet dies, the god doesn't. A god's planet gives them power, so the gods have tried to share, or worse, argue over planets. Resolving these arguments gives the ruler of the gods, Calamitas, a massive fucking headache.
The Devourer, a god, wants more power, so he leaves his old planet to find a planet with more complex lifeforms. He ends up finding a metaphorical gold mine - Terra, a planet with thriving life and nobody to guard it. On Terra, he befriends Pandora, a mortal.
Pandora, your average yet lonely Terran, makes friends with her new neighbor, "The Devourer" (this is a weird name, so she calls him "Dev" instead). Dev's eccentric, sure, but he's the only person that seems as confused by life as she is. Pandora shows Dev around Etras when she can.
A stray cat takes interest in Pandora, and it leads her to increasingly strange places. When Pandora ends up summoning a god named Echdeath, it becomes apparent that the cat was only a vessel for them. When Pandora panics and tells her only friend that she's accidentally summoned a god, "Dev" gets *really fucking pissed* - turns out there will be competition after all.
Calamitas notices there is a planet with two new gods on it, so she goes to do a regular check-up and make sure there are no arguments. She not only finds arguments, but a god she's previously banished (Echdeath) as well. She decides to keep this planet under supervision, and the Devourer sees his newfound proximity to Calamitas as his chance to usurp her and gain even more power.
The arrival of Calamitas comes as a big shock to Pandora. The fact that her best friend is a god, the fact that there's a bunch of stupid god politics going on in the wider universe, and the fact that her friend didn't care about *her* so much as he cared about her *planet* is... upsetting, to say the least. Pandora is left by the sidelines as the Devourer attempts to become more "friendly" towards Calamitas.
Echdeath starts playing double agent - they want to get revenge on Calamitas, but they don't want to look like a real threat. They pull some strings and gift the Devourer the Zenith, a legendary Terran sword said to have slain gods. They don't think anything will come of this - they just want to unnerve Calamitas (and get in the Devourer's good graces if he somehow *does* win).
Calamitas is entertaining the notions of the Devourer, since she knows that he's a desperate god losing power, and she doesn't want to make a cosmic scene. When the Devourer eventually breaks character and challenges Calamitas to a fight, she accepts. The two fight in their humanoid forms as per the Devourer's request, which will restrict the two's power (Calamitas would have *obliterated* the Devourer in her true form).
The Devourer fights aggressively, but Calamitas doesn't seem to break a sweat. After fire & objects are hurled across the empty lot, it's clear the Devourer is starting to lose. Not wanting the Devourer to die, Pandora intervenes & tries to convince them to stop.
She gets caught in Calamitas's crossfire.
This *enrages* the Devourer, as he has never experienced loss before. He pulls out the Zenith, and Calamitas is caught off-guard by his sudden determination, allowing him to land the finishing blow.
The Devourer dies from battle injuries not long after. Echdeath the bystander is the only one left alive.
CHARACTERS
Pandora Box
Pandora (main outfit)
Info:
she/they
cisgender female + pansexual
treasure chest object head
theme song: Town Day by Re-Logic
(author's code, ignore: yellow/rogue/space)
Design Notes:
Pandora is around 5'6" (US average height).
Her eyes are floating two-dimensional shapes. They are one-sided, meaning you can only see them from the front and not the back.
You can close the lid of her head! However, she can't see if you do this.
She is wearing a trenchcoat & a turtleneck sweater in her default outfit.
Her "default expression" is a nervous smile.
Backstory:
Pandora, last name Box, grew up in an average household with average parents and average siblings. She studied (and now lives) in the city of Etras, where she doesn't have any friends outside of work acquaintances. (...that is, before she gets involved in an extraterrestrial conflict).
Personality:
Pandora is a shut-in stuck in her own daydreams. She believes that everyone will get along eventually, but she'sโฆ not exactly sure when.
She has social anxiety, and doesn't leave the house as often as she would like to. Due to her lack of practice socializing, she comes off as socially inept.
She is often stuck in her head and likes to imagine alternate universes & fantasy worlds. She can be oblivious as to what people actually think (about life & about her).
She has pretty low self esteem, blaming herself for problems she didn't create. She feels like she has to fix these problems, but never feels prepared to do anything about them, thus perpetuating her cycle of self-blame.
He is an insectoid dragon, with many features befitting of a typical dragon. However, he doesn't have scales, and his face does not appear reptilian outside of his long snout.
He has a pair of larger, "main" eyes and two pairs of smaller, secondary eyes which aid his vision.
He has no teeth! (He has no bones, either.)
His mouth line is "connected" to his main eyes, as if his eyes were a hinge. This makes it appear as though he is always smiling.
He has 2 spikes on the top and bottom of his snout. Both spikes face outwards.
He has a crest consisting of 2 big spikes on the back of his head. They are somewhat flexible, and can be pushed up and down. (I typically use a blue jay's crest as reference for their silhouette)
He has dark armor plates on the back of his neck, torso, tail, and limbs. He has light armor plates on his underside (neck, stomach, and bottom of tail).
He has small spines on his back (on top of the armor plates). They can move according to his emotions (eg. flare up when surprised), but this is not necessary.
His hands are clawed.
He wears a cable knit sweater.
He is decently buff (mostly top-heavy, with bigger shoulders / arms). (I'm sorry, I don't think this is visible at all in the reference)
His expressions are usually (unconsciously) exaggerated.
Backstory:
The Devourer was the previous god of "Worm Planet" (name pending), which he shared with another god. When he got bored and disillusioned with his current planet, he decided to look for another one, and found Terra. Cue the rest of the story LOL
Personality:
The Devourer is an overconfident dumbass, ready to run into any brick walls necessary.
He never learns things from other people (or from his own mistakes!) because he believes he's experienced enough to do anything (he isn't). He is a serial victim of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
He places great value on aesthetics and appearances. He makes sure to look strong and powerful at all times for the intimidation (& bragging) factor.
He is extremely power-hungry and will let any power given to him immediately go to his head.
Hobbies: fashion & collecting shiny trinkets (they go hand in hand for him), animal husbandry (he bred all the wildlife on worm planet to look like him), "all hobbies" (this is not true, but he thinks it is)
They kind of look like someone's mental approximation of a cat, or, like, a cat figurine. They're not very anatomically accurate is what I'm saying
Their skin is wrinkly, like that of a hairless cat.
Their head is kind of weird. Compared to a cat, they have no nose and a flatter snout.
Their ears are concave, but don't have ear canals, as they don't need ears to hear.
Their eyes are blindingly bright. It's like permanent glare.
*If* you need a location, the tail's mouth is on the top of the tail. I typically don't draw it this way because *cartoon*
They usually have a shit-eating grin, unless they're being mocking or serious (rare).
Backstory:
Echdeath was the former god of Terra for a couple centuries after its previous god was murdered (I wonder how). Due to being a menace to Terra (a quite valuable planet) and the gods around them, they were eventually banished to the void by Calamitas.
...until SOMEONE decided to bring them back
Personality:
Echdeath is the embodiment of a bored chaotic neutral.
They are existentially bored due to their infinite lifespan. They pass the time with whatever small goals or stimulating experiences they can find, which to them usually consists of playing with the mortal residents of Terra like ants.
They see themselves as too smart to get involved in situations. They see everything as a joke and see every*one* as stupid for caring. They're very irreverent and disloyal.
They like pissing people off and starting fights. They often don't follow through with their threats - they just do it to make people angry.
They're a wriggly little bitch who finds solutions (or, more often, temporary ways out of) problems (...that they usually cause).
Hobbies: manipulating the stock market, managing illegal operations, owning penthouses
If you're wondering why they don't have a "humanoid disguise" like the other gods... I dunno either :(
Calamitas / "Cal"
Calamitas's humanoid disguise
Info:
she/her
no gender or orientation (aroace)
god with a stony appearance
theme song: Cycle of Violence by Mr.Kitty
(author's code: ๐/๐งน/โ๏ธ)
Design Notes:
Calamitas is a wee bit shorter than (the US) average, at around 5'3".
Her skin has a stone-like texture.
Her head is made of fire, with her face (a thick "mask" of stone) floating in front. Her neck "connects" to her head inside the fire - it does NOT connect to the mask.
Her eye is vertical. Yes, that includes her facial expressions & eyebrow.
On the topic of eyebrows, realism artists should probably draw her eyebrow as a stone ridge or protrusion.
She has no mouth!
She has pyrokinetic abilities, so you can draw those if you'd like.
Her "default expression" is exhausted / stressed.
Backstory:
Calamitas was the first god to "spawn" into the universe. Seeing as every god is created to look over a planet with life, it was to be assumed that she was meant to look over the *gods*. At this point, she's been alive for billions of years, and most of her old friends & acquaintances (who are also gods) have either moved on or... died. Her former community has become nothing more than a petty fighting ground over the fate of the universe.
Personality:
Calamitas hates her job as de-facto ruler of the universe, but feels that it is necessary.
She is awfully stressed due to the requirements and importance of her job - keeping the universe in line is no easy task. She ignores burnout by any means necessary, because if she won't keep everyone under control, then who will?
She takes no shit and won't listen to anything she deems irrelevant rambling (...which is most things). She is often sarcastic and blunt because of this.
She is very irritable and does not care what people think of her, because at the end of the day, she has enough power to make people do what she wants.
She is a determined problem solver, but incredibly stubborn the same time. She'll take what seems like the best solution at the time and doesn't care to think about alternative methods.
As is probably obvious, she doesn't trust anyone else with her job.
Hobbies: work
HEY WHERE ARE THE RELATIONSHIPS?? UR TELLIMG ME>>> THERES NO RELATIONSHIPS YET!>??? AUGGHHHH IHATE YOU
