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September 4th, 2008 Photoshop and drawingtablet My entry for Akeli's concept art contest, for her comic 'Guardians' (a comic about felines, jay!). I had so much fun doing this, I'm probably going to make more entries. I designed the frontgate for a city called Ganoamer in Syrullia. This is where it finally pays off to be an art historian! ^__^ Ganoamer, a city built for and - some might say - by giants. Majestic buildings, raised by Hryan's best building masters mark our city. The great bronze rooftops reflect the sun's rays. From a distance, they make the city seem to stand ablaze. Whoever wanders through the ancient, but crowded and lively streets, alleys and walkways, will surely agree. Ganoamer, or Gan'omer as is used to be called in the old tongue, is truly a grand citadel. However, if one were to learn the city's history, I am sure one would also agree that today's Ganoamer is but a far cry, a mere shadow in fact, of its former self. Ganoamer, which lies in the middle of the Hryan region, south of the Great Mountain Range, was built by Tir-yan the First, the visionary third king of the Gan-dynasty. It was well over eight centuries ago. At that time, the land was in great turmoil, brought upon our people by the barbarian raiders from the southern mountains. After a lifetime of war, Tir-yan finally brought us peace, but the mountain raiders were not to be trusted. The great king knew well enough, that they would strike out at him and his underlings at the first sign of weakness. In the second year of peace, Tir-yan selected the location for what would later become his new great city. Our king planted his paws on the rocks, tested their strength and wisely decided they would be strong enough to form the foundations of Ganoamer. Tir-yan then proclaimed to the world: 'A lifetime of war has worn out my people and myself. A few years of peace is but too little to secure our future. We must build ourselves a safe haven, so the world will see And know to take heed of us, for we are no longer small... Now we are giants...' Our great king spoke these words, - and one must truly be familiar with the time's history to know and understand this - because the raiding hordes which had plagued the people of Hryan for so long, would judge a nation's strength and military might before attacking, and would refer to this strength in terms of size. A 'small' opponent would be an easy target with little to no significant defences, while a 'big' foe was better left alone. Wise king Tir-yan, adopting the barbarians' own form of expression, wanted to show his former enemies that he was not just big, but that he was in fact a giant. And so he set out to build Ganoamer on a truly giant scale. Our city was thus built by arguably the most grand monarch our people have ever known. In its current state however, Ganoamer - and it pains me to say this - does not resemble the glorious city built by Tir-yan. The great statue of Tir-yan himself still stands, watching over the Great Entranceway, as it always has. However, the rest of the city has changed significantly. The ancient defence works, the great walls and the mighty gates either stand unused and neglected or have already come tumbling down ages ago. The power of our empire has grown significantly since the old days and our borders expanded. The need for defensive structures on our capital itself diminished and eventually disappeared completely. This can be seen clearly in the - formerly - Great Entranceway. This mighty structure, which was the major entrance to Ganoamer, is now a great marketplace. The six large gates, which used to be located along the Entranceway have long since disappeared. The large slots, in which the gates would slide when they were opened can still be seen, for now they function as back alleys in which the beggars seek shelter. The deterioration of our defences does not appear to trouble most of our citizens. They assume Ganoamer to be the centre of the world, the beating heart of a mighty empire, backed up by an unbeatable army. They sleep so easy. However, the barbarians once again march upon our borders. I am afraid our current governs, the senators who have replaced the kings of old so very long ago, underestimate their resolve, their lust for plunder. The senators still believe that we are giants, but I fear we may not appear so intimidating to our neighbours anymore. If the raiders cross our borders and manage to bypass our armed outposts, Ganoamer will lay before them like a helpless cub. Even great king Tir-yan would not be able to stop them. I fear we are giants, no more... - Grejuub, Hryan chronicler 859 P.T-y |
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