Illustration

Luudrin Amnestia

Bryan He

See it On Campus: Level 2

“Before the Equinox of Severed Light, this used to be a glorious kingdom. Now, the leaves of Eiliflig fall upon the land like volcanic ash, its once luminous foliage blackened by the night. It is a constant reminder of the limited time we have.”

Artbook

Sketchbook

Other works

INTRODUCTION

Luudrin Amnestia is an ongoing worldbuilding project intended to exist within the context of a game. Players would explore the crumbling kingdom of Astrlux as Lyris in a world full of wolf-esque creatures and characters, all struggling to survive following the collapse of Eiliflig, the starlight tree.

Luudrin’s unique world is built around wolves and is inspired by astrology, Norse mythology, and various folklore. It explores the ephemeral qualities of life with themes of hope and joy in a sea of despair, ruin, and death with memory playing a core role. Luudrin tells a saga of perseverance, a ballad of grief, and a tale of its people, where nothing is as black and white as it may seem.

Up until this point, I have never attempted to create a cast of characters all existing within a universe by myself, let alone an entire world. However, as this project progressed, I found that I really liked creating and designing the various aspects of a world. And although I specialize in drawing characters, I plan to continue this project into the future and develop the environment and systems in more depth.

Eiliflig, the Starlight Tree

What began as a fallen star, a small but bright seed, grew into a large tree worshipped by the wolves of Astrlux. The history of Eiliflig seems to be unclear, with most stories coming from oral tradition. What is certain, however, is that Eiliflig undoubtedly is the origin of light.

As Eiliflig grew, it began producing sap, better known as liquid starlight. It is the basis for the entire kingdom’s technology and is the sole source of life essence. The sap is characterized by its light blue-purplish color, luminous glow, and slight viscosity. To preserve it and distribute it, several wells were built all over the kingdom to serve as reservoirs. However, many of these wells were built during the Age of Light and are now mostly worn down from years of neglect, especially those that are far from the capital.

Lyris wakes up in a field of bodies dazed. Memories and thoughts seem to escape her, yet she is filled with sorrow. It feels as though something of grave importance was forgotten. And so she wanders.

Luudrin Amnestia: Memoirs of Astrlux is a prototype for a book detailing the world and characters of Luudrin Amnestia.

Wide format key art. Intended for the purposes of a cover or banner.

Lightwielding is one of the main components of Luudrin Amnestia’s magic system, drawing from the life essence within one’s luudrin. There are five forms of lightwielding: starlight, moonlight, sunlight, lightning, and darkness. Although there are some basic skills within each branch of lightwielding, the output and result can vary from one wolf to another. It is a skill where the possibilities are only limited by the user’s proficiency, and while not all are born with the innate gift of lightwielding, most are naturally able to learn it. With that being said, however, there does exist a small number of wolves who are completely unable to manipulate the light, no matter how hard they try.

Cetacharms, or valblesadren, are items that are also important the the magic system. Each carving was unique, and no two designs were the same. Some were used to ward off evil spirits, some were made as keepsakes, and others were believed to bring good fortune. While they used to be commonplace in the past, especially during the kingdom’s peak, it is quite rare to have one made in the current age, let alone own one. Most of the carvers seemed to have vanished, and little to no records of the craft remain.

Starforgers, or stersmiden, are the gods in this world; they are transcendent beings, the very will of which stars are created. Not everyone believes in their existence, but those who do also believe there to be hundreds, some even thousands, of these beings.

The story follows Lyris, the protagonist and playable character of Luudrin Amnestia. Her initial design consisted of a character with more realistic proportions and a sense of maturity, but this didn’t feel right. The look of the character just didn’t seem like a good fit. She was then simplified and redesigned to be much younger and smaller with slightly more exaggerated proportions, all while retaining most of the same features and clothing. The wolven visage Lyris wears preserves memories and essences, but through a mysterious force, she has the ability to integrate them into herself, allowing her to use skills as though she were the person.

Similar to Lyris, Priscilla was also partially redesigned. Although I liked the colors of the original design on the left side, I wanted a stronger sense of royalty and power. The original design felt too mysterious and lackluster for a character of her standing. Her elaborate garb, along with the color changes, brings her visual design to be more in line with her character. Priscilla’s dress was originally designed based on Victorian mourning dresses.

Among the six children of the monarch, Skoll and Hati are the only two considered fit for the throne. However, this does not make them the only candidates. While some are waiting for a decision to be reached, others have long given up on relying on the royal family to lead them out of the current crisis. Instead, they opt to take things into their own hands or unite under another leader. The Thunderhounds, for example, have long separated themselves from the kingdom.

The profaned goddess is the head of the Archwolf Covenant. As such, she has many duties to perform, yet many of these are done by her assistants in her stead. Because the entirety of the shrouded city is kept running and afloat solely by her, she is unable to personally do many things. In fact, Notte spends the majority of her time within her chambers in order to preserve her strength.

Notte’s wardrobe consists of nearly identical articles of clothing; she always dawns on a jet-black dress, almost as if she is in a constant state of mourning. The inspiration for the veil came from the attire of 18th-century nuns while the dress is more gothic in design.

I wanted to keep the designs of the characters within the shrouded city thematically and visually similar. For that reason, the Archwolf Covenant leverages religious elements, both in the visuals and in their role in the world. Similar to Notte, Vehrung’s design was also inspired by the attire of nuns. However, in this case, it is a much more prominent part of the design. This is evident in the usage of similarly designed pieces corresponding to the scapular, coif, and mantle of a nun’s habit.

Armure was from the Spirit Tribe, a tribe believed to have gone extinct. Despite this, Armure does not talk about their people, nor their past, but not by choice. It seems as though he is physically incapable of doing so. How strange. Alongside some medieval flair, Armure’s design was inspired by crusade armor, especially in the case of the tabard.