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Atrieisan — Ishia - Hive Queen -
Published: 2013-10-12 03:04:56 +0000 UTC; Views: 7716; Favourites: 200; Downloads: 14
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Finally!!! I give you the Hive Queen in all over her glory!!!!It's still technically a draft as the concept is still being developed and make change dramatically over time. But I can say that I am quite pleased with how this came out. Especially after months of trial and error with designing her form. I was trying to go for something that appeared a little less modern and human in appearance, considering that unlike the guard and other members of her hive, she tends to remain within its depths rather than running about in the outside world.... I still don't think I've completely caught the concept of what I'm looking for.... and she's prettier than I want her to be... but..... at least she doesn't appear mary-sueish...
She actually doesn't wear much in the form of clothing considering that most of the clothes you see the males in are from human design. A fine example is Tyler and his orange converse.... Only her skirt is actual fabric, the rest is actually part of her, like an exoskeleton of sorts. I'm still debating on a color scheme as far as to what color to make it or the skirt.... So I'm actually leaving this one open to permission for people to color it if they chose. If anyone gets a color scheme I like, I'm willing to draw them something of their request. (Think of this as a coloring book contest. <<) Those interested can send me a note and I'll get a copy of the line art posted for use. I will not accept any alterations to this image except for color, that stands as my one rule for this work.
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Comments: 82
I know that it's one queen per hive...but how many hives are scattered about?
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Its highly dependent on region and food supply. But probably around 20 nests worldwide
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The design is very interesting. I do like the exoskeleton bit, but I find myself asking, she does have an internal bone structure, right? The armor is just that; armor. I suppose this is a silly question as by looking at her face and hands and whatnot that it is supported by other things then the exoskeleton. On another note, what is Ishia as a person like? Just by looking at this picture, she strikes me as a hard woman, naturally, being a female phantasm and all. However, I don't see her being cruel-at least, not to her own. That being said, you've mentioned on multiple occasions how Tyler has to prove himself to the rest, not being phantasmogorum yet, and I'm wondering f Ishia's opinion on him has anything o do with this-making him fight to keep his place instead of just having him as he is.
I have no idea if I'm even shooting in the right direction here, as it were, but like you said, phantasms are not just instinctual, giving room for a personality to grow, and I find myself very interested in who Ishia is and what she's been through. On a note to self, I'm most likely read FAR to much into this.....
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The exoskeleton is indeed more of an armor plating than it is skeleton.
Ishia is one of my more... under-developed characters. Overall yes, she is definitively a hard woman. She tends to have a harsh outlook on things and gives off a sort of cold, unyielding nature. In the sense that she is cruel, indeed lies more with lower subordinates and outsiders than it does with her guards and her young. In some sense you could think of her rule like that of a tyrant.
Female phantasms in general live harsh lives; as most of them are chased off from their familial group at a young age. Those that survive into adolescence and adulthood tend to find themselves victims of rogues, due to them not being protected by their own hive, or hunters as they tend to require more food than their male counterparts and become increasingly territorial as they become older. It is only when they reach maturity that they have the strength in both their will power and the aura to gather a following, or throw an existing queen from their perch. As to what Ishia did, I've yet to decide, but she seems like the type that probably overpowered a previous queen.
As to her opinion of Tyler; phantasms follow a pecking order society. It is incredibly common for fights to break out amongst the ranks when disagreements or squabbles occur. The stronger you are, the less arguments you tend to lose, and the bigger share you tend to get. It almost sounds like it would end up in chaos, but in fact the fighting is what keeps them a stable society. If one wants a position of power, they have to prove themselves worthy of having it and maintaining it when challengers come around wanting their claim. Others will usually fall into line behind certain figures depending on who's actions they agree with or if they simply have no strength to overcome the leader and change the course of actions. In some sense it's almost like the hive is a large collaboration of gangs under a single leader. Each faction serves under their respective guard, and each guard falls under the alpha whom is the direct voice for the queen.
The fact that Ishia simply lets the situation continue on as it does has to do with him proving his worth and maintaining that position. The fact that he was able to claim it at such a young age is impressive in its own right, but the real strength of an alpha comes from maintaining that position for years to come and upholding the loyalty of his followers. Its almost like a challenge that is used by a queen to her alpha, that if he wishes to continue being in her favor he must continue showing that he has potential.
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She looks beautiful...
In your story, between the Queen and the Alpha, which one holds the higher position? (Sorry if somehow I missed reading the information or anything of the sort)...
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The queen holds the highest position of power. The alpha is the only breeding male, whom was either chosen by the queen or won his position. He is the general if the army, and controls the hive, but he takes his orders from her
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So, I guess in your story, the Phantasm hive concept is pretty much similar to that of a bee hive, right?
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somewhat. Though I guess it's more relative to a wasps nest. They tend to make vast homes underground, consisting of confusing tunnels.
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Sounds like a wasp nest, sure enough...
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Um...Hi! I also made a colored version of this if you're interested...
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hmm, maybe various shades of blue and gray would work, with the shirt and her hair being a very deep indigo?
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I've always invisioned her hair being a mossy silver.
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that would work really well, and as I was saying indigo dark blues, maybe some deep bronze; they would all provide good contrast
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She looks amazing! It's weird but I almost like it monochrome as it is now. I'm curious to see what you come up with in terms of the color sceme.
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-head/desk- I'm still at a loss as of what to do with her color wise..
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Have you seen work by *BrianKesinger ? He does a lot of steampunk work that has somehwat of a sepia tone to it. His gallery of his characters "Otto and Victoria" briankesinger.deviantart.com/g… are very nice and I'm sure you could find some coloring inspiration. He does quite a bit of "tea" painting. Like this one for example:
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Oooh~ That is pretty. I'll have to give the gallery a walk through.
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Finally and wicked concept. I enjoy the design. But with the pups nearby, it makes me wonder how big she may be.
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Those pups are rather small. all things considering, they're not humans. And aren't the size of human children. If anything, pups are like half the size of human toddlers until they reach about two years.
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I love it! Sounds like a fun coloring idea to play with...
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I really like the details, and the anatomy is wonderful. One thing though- I feel the parts that are fabric should have more fluidity, look like theyre actually moving, they seem to stiff. BUt other then that, I congragulate you on a job well done
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I have to admit that clothing is not my strong suit.... I'm better at faces and eyes than I am things like clothing or backgrounds.
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I like it all the same, and practice makes perfect! :3
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Your coloring is so sloppy. Why didn't I complain about that? LOLJK
I like this a lot, and I still stand by the idea that the horns are the same color as the exoskeleton. o3o
But yeah, whatever.
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LOL dork. XDD
And yeah, I'm thinking along the same lines. Now it's just a matter of figuring out the color. ._.
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This is a very fun picture. I like how she's talking with one pup and the other is begging for attention.
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They're always begging for food or attention. Children are demanding little things.. especially when they fly around, and bite. ._.;
The irony of this picture is that the queen herself almost never spends any time with her young.
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I suppose that even if there was one demanding pup, the others would need to just as demanding to get the same amount of food, especially if there are large litters.
Maybe that is why the one to her left is so demanding and the one on her right looks so happy.
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That makes sense. -amused- And considering they are an aggressive species with a pecking order, the pups have to be demanding in order to survive. They also are in decent sized liters most of the time thus they have a pecking order amongst themselves and the more demanding one usually gets more of what he wants.
As for being happy, it's more the fact that they're receiving attention of any sort. Usually they don't differentiate their mother from the other hive members, considering that they're hardly around her as it is, and most of the time she holds a rather intimidating aura, so they usually just scamper off towards anyone willing to feed them.
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heheh. At least they aren't crossed with beetles as well. Some beetles kill off the most demanding of their offspring. It is thought that they do this to make sure that an evolutionary standard of fair-play is achieved. All the offspring get an equal amount and more survive. Then again, the hive has got to be huge, or the pups slow to age and breeding far apart. With the massive reduction of the population(genocide) there would be more territory per hive and a reduced conflict betwixt hives, due to the separation, so unless there was famine, there would be a high-survival rate for the pups, and the population would boom. Unless they're still actively hunted of course. Which they might be considering the tone of your fic.
It's still nice to see healthy, happy pups.
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Glad to see someone else who thinks of these things on a biological science standard. XD
True, there is less competition with the genocide that wiped out a good portion of their population. However, they are still being hunted, and their naturally aggressive nature usually ends up getting them killed within a few years of reaching adulthood. ._.; Hives are considered large as well when they start pushing about fifty members. If their numbers get too large, it puts a rather large demand on the hive for food, and their hunting patterns become easily noticed by hunters and the council alike as a result. Which puts them at more risk for getting wiped out. (Tis another reason hives move about frequently rather than settle in one place for too long. )
Considering pups reach adulthood in seven years, I dunno if this would affect breeding populations, considering it's usually only a single breeding pair per hive. The only time it's more than that is around mid summer season when a number of hives intermingle and swap pups or start up competitions for new alphas. ._. (This is also the only time you'll find more than one hive in close proximity with one another without war breaking out.)
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Heck yes! I love taking myths through a more scientific approach. It always makes them seem so much more...realistic.
Huh, so do they seek out natural cave systems, or do they have a very efficient digging method, as they are human shaped, the hive must be pretty huge, especially if it's to hold about fifty members.
Oh, I was just thinking that as they seem to be a highly hunted species(at least at the moment) they would only be raising on litter(clutch?) at a time. As they are aggressive, it would likely be the norm that the younger litters would be picked off if there were multiple litters raised in the same area. Also, with gestation rates unknown, there could be a boom of litters which e very detrimental to the hive, as the pups are members that eat but do not work for the hive, and with a lot of pups compared to the adult members, there could be a lot of pressure put on the hive to feed them.
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They tend to seek out natural cave systems and then flesh them out and dig them deeper. Hives in the human world are known for residing in old abandoned mines and subway stations, etc. The larger a hive is, the more members they obtain to produce working parties. In a hive like the one in T.A. and Phantasia, they have a digging crew that specializes their strengths towards developing the internal structure of the hive. They're more attuned to the earth than say the hunting crew, etc. They are humanoid, yes, though it's how they manipulate the aura compared to normal spirits that gives them an edge for such things.
They tend to call them litters or clutches, yes. (Depends on their mood, and I haven't figured out the specification yet..) An it can vary from one to three litters, usually about two to three months apart in age. This usually gives enough time to move them about an prevent the older pups from overbearing on the younger ones. And you are also right about pressure on feeding them, the more mouths to feed, the more hunting is required, and the more likely they'll be noticed. Spirits tend to flee from the area leaving a giant bull's-eye where the hive is nested.
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Huh, so the hunting parties are either really good, very large, or the Phantasms don't eat very much. With a hive of fifty, it would take quite the workforce to feed the pups and specialists as well. Most hunter-gatherer cultures couldn't afford specialists until they started agriculture. But, if phantasms ate less often than humans, they could get by with that extra expense.
Ouch, that's tough. But, hey, lot's of cute pups to show up everywhere in the den. You could hide them in the backgrounds.
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On average a hive of fifty or so has about three to five active litters to deal with. Pup's themselves eat constantly, but don't actually have a huge stomach. lol Overall Phantasms can push their eating limits to a few weeks to month if necessary. But that's when they're in the spirit world in an energy rich environment. In the living world, they usually can't push it past two weeks. This leads to them hunting wildlife and sometimes livestock in order to feed their numbers. Hunting parties are usually ambush related, and tend to have decent results when there are a number of them involved, however it's not so much as large hunting parties so much as it is they are constantly hunting. When one party is in, another is out. The primary purpose of the hunting party itself is actually to build up store houses of food/ energy, individuals usually go out and hunt for themselves in their own time and leave the hunting groups to gather surplus.
Hunts are more frequent in the fall before the winter solstice as they have to build up enough stores to handle a winter without hunting. This plays into the Ghost zone's canon holiday peace treaty. Phantasms have learned to hold a wary respect for the treaty and festivities, mainly because most spirits tend to take attacks during this time seriously and will openly retaliate with usually fatal force. Thus they've learned to work a way around it; the hunting parties. Stocking up surplus to survive times of 'famine' as well as supply the queen and her young with food. The rest of them otherwise are expected to hunt for themselves.
As for hiding pups in bgs..... Maybe. Usually they create a bit of a ruckus wherever they are in the hive, so hiding them in the background means they'll quickly be in the foreground. ._.; Considering that they are so demanding and loud as a result it's hard to ignore them. I intend on sketching up something on Rono in particular as he's the oldest and most boisterous of the litter. The little guy has a tendency to try and openly challenge Danny whenever he shows up around the hive, which ends up with a laugh for the Phantasms at least. .__.
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Oh, that makes much more sense. Then again, one can't expect an ethereal entity to need as much food energy to fuel their bodies as they don't have a bunch of cells to feed, only the barrier between their cores.
I can see the pups ambushing the den entrance and pestering all of those that come back after one of those individual hunts to see if they had anything for them. Oh, do the pups have specific 'babysitters' or do they just wander the den at random and whoever feels like making sure they don't get into trouble or hurt themselves does so?
Oh, that's fun. Do Phantasms have any celebrations of their own. I know that many warrior cultures had their games of sport and strength, do Phantasms have anything like this?
Ah, that would make sense. hehehe I can see the reasoning there, as Danny has the 'feel' of a pup, is an outsider and is 'huge' compared to the other pups and especially this Rono, so Rono would definitely feel his position as alpha-pup was being threatened.
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Actually yes, They do tend to ambush the hunting parties when they return in search of scraps or whatever they can get away with. Though mostly the ambushes are around the 'kitchens' as the hive members won't let the pups have access to the outside world until they can defend themselves. (Thus leading into the whole underground maze of caverns in the first place. It's all to defend the young and queen from invaders.)
As for babysitters, Pups tend to follow after those that will generally tolerate them/ feed them, though they generally just run about the hive and everyone keeps a general eye on them. Some males more than others are better at watching over them, or the pups are just particularly fond of. Yachu, one of the males in Tyler's hive, is the head of the hunting crews and tends to have a soft spot for young, so he ends up being a usual caretaker for them. Essentially it's a mix of both. The younger the pups are, the more likely they will have more eyes watching over them.
For hurting themselves or getting in trouble... that's expected behavior. Phantasms are aggressive by nature, and thus the pups have their own pecking order and pick fights amongst themselves, whether the results are serious depends on if an adult nearby cares enough to break it up, or if the pups involved can settle the matter amongst themselves or not. Getting into trouble is usually a learn the hard way method. Usually resulting in an adult chasing them off with an angry snarl.
Celebrations, hmm.... there are a few things they get involved in now and then. The three year mark for Phantasms is a time when they go from being pups into adolescents. Usually it involves some form of fighting tournament resulting in finding out what their special types are and what ranking they'll fall into within the hive society as adults. It's usually quite a ruckus and lively matter to them. The summer solstice is an active time as well, as it's the time of 'The Gathering' which is one of the few instances where multiple hives with converge in an almost reunion like manner. They'll gain and lose members during this time, challenge one another in sport, etc. An overall species moral booster. It's also an active breeding season when the queen can accept more than one suitor for the duration of the event. (I'm still working on the overall idea of the whole thing.)
And lol, yes. Rono usually squawks up a storm whenever Danny is too close for comfort. He'll also openly try and steal Danny's food.
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I've noticed that there are no displayed female Phantasms (other than the queen), so are there no other females in the hive? The females seem to be very different than the males, unless they have the armour thingy going on too, just under their clothes.
Ah, that makes more sense.
So, they are more like large, predatory mammals in this aspect.
Ah, so like a more festive 'coming of age' that the whole hive takes part in? Where would this gathering take place? Is it respected by ghosts?
Ah, asserting dominance through the stealing of food. I can see the pups treating him just like an overgrown pup and not a big and scary adult.
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Hive queen females are very different in appearance from the males, like regular bees and queen bees are noticeably different. Females that are not queens don't differ much from the males (except for the obvious female part), as it has to do with whether or not their core has taken up the queen's influential aura, which results in a sort of metamorphosis. The physical change such as the wings, etc., show a sort of status which is induced by the change in aura and hormones of a fully capable queen. I believe I mentioned in some of my notes that female pups are usually killed off in hives, as when they reach adulthood, become a threat to the hive queen's status. And depending on the queen, usually result in them either being killed off or chased off at young ages to prevent possible competition.
As for ghosts respecting their festivities, they generally fear them. Any time a large number of phantasms are on the move it's a sign to hit the road or hide. As their auras in large numbers are like a beacon light to large mass of predators. ._.; The council tends to leave them be during these times, considering that the phantasms are more interested in their own matters rather than stirring up trouble. Location wise, The Gathering tends to take place in the Borderlands, as it is the home ground to their heritage. That and most hives tend to remain connected to, or live along the border.
Yes, the coming of age tends to be a whole hive festivity. Usually in hive, and not amongst others like the Gathering is. It usually acts as an unveiling of the new adolescents after they tear themselves out of 'cocoons' that they've been in for a few weeks; A feast, and then a large amount of rough housing. .__. (My mind kind of runs towards the whole orcs being 'born' in LOTR, except with more festive drinking, laughter and overall beating the crap out of each other... )
And pretty much. Danny is considered an overgrown pup by most of the hive. The adults, respond to him with mixed messages, from treating him like a pup on some matters, and then as a keepers pet on others. The pups just see him as an overgrown competition for food. .__.
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Ah, so like young male lions in a pride? Do hive queens live longer than the males, like with queen bees as well?
I can see that happening, especially with the festivities going on in the borderlands. With all the queens in one spot, there would be some fierce defensive responses to any threat.
Oh, I can see that. Welcoming the new adults, feeding everyone, then letting the newly emerged adults test their strength.
That would be equally frustrating and helpful to Danny.
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Sort of... As for living longer, that's a definite yes. Hive queens are among the most protected members within the hive, thus having to avoid most open conflicts, she's at less risk for injury, and therefore death. Phantasms in themselves can live for very long periods of time; since they are spectral entities and most spirits do tend to exist for centuries. The only real reason they die so young is due to their aggressive nature. Queens are usually spared such violent tendencies, considering they have more subtle matters to deal with instead of fighting.
A very fierce defensive response. The first few days it starts tensions are actually rather high, and the hives are wary and snippy towards one another. Primarily it falls as a lack of trust and unfamiliarity which leaves them wary of the safety of their queen and kin. Once they have time to settle for the festivities it tends to muddle down, especially if alcohol gets involved.
Mhm. It's essentially a coming of age ceremony with a bunch of rowdy and aggressive males. ._.;
And it's a mix of both. At time's Danny finds himself irritated by the behavior, wanting to be treated what he considers normal, a human teenager. Of which he hasn't come to terms with no longer really being human, as well as the fact that phantasms don't 'do' human very well. Thus is where he ends up getting mixed reactions, especially with how their alpha acts around him. As Tyler, having been closer to humans than most, tends to take on a sort of older, jerk of a brother attitude with Danny. Which only continues to confuse them further and think their alpha is acting like a pup.
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Ah, I see.
A bunch of drunk and slightly aggressive Phantasms...No wonder the gathering is avoided like the plague.
Ah, Danny. He's a bringer of chaos he is. hehehe
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