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Mara999 β€” Voormis

#apeman #monster #yeti #voormis #cthulhumythos #hyperborea #clarkashtonsmith
Published: 2017-01-17 18:58:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 5787; Favourites: 116; Downloads: 0
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Description The bestial Voormis appear often in Clark Ashton Smith's Hyperborean Cycle, worshiping Tsathoggua under Mount Voormithadreth. Compared to the gnophkeh they are a more generic sort of ape-man, being basically red-furred yeti with the only described oddity being three toes. They are portrayed very differently in the various stories, ranging from degenerate cavemen to near-sapient animals, but they are always described as having an inhuman blood-lust.

This variation in how primitive or animal-like the Voormis appear is partly because the stories can take centuries or millennia apart, during periods when the Voormis are either advanced enough to fight off human invaders, or having an extended degenerate period of living stunted in caves. Compare that to the portrayal of Picts in Howard's stories, where that people goes through multiple periods of advancement or barbarianism, all the way from their civilization's peak during King Kull's lifetime in 100,000 BC to post-Roman Britain, long after their last great king Bran Mak Morn has died. With the Voormis there is also the point that they are usually talked about in unflattering accounts written from the in-universe perspective of humans, except for the story "The Scroll of Morloc" which focuses on a shaman of their ranks.
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Comments: 20

Libra1010 [2020-06-24 15:23:32 +0000 UTC]

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grazatt [2017-05-04 04:26:49 +0000 UTC]

Does the one with the skull belt have pierced niplets or are those bone thingies tied into his fun?

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Mara999 In reply to grazatt [2017-05-04 04:55:46 +0000 UTC]

I intended for the bones to just be tied into knots in his fur. It would be really painful otherwise.

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grazatt In reply to Mara999 [2017-05-23 05:14:54 +0000 UTC]

That would not necessarily be an obstacle, just check out the Folsom Street Fair

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grazatt [2017-04-15 08:18:09 +0000 UTC]

Cool pic, there are far to few representations of the voormisΒ 

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dlambeaut [2017-01-18 16:20:19 +0000 UTC]

Pretty cool! I didn't knew the had reddish fur... They remind me of Beastman from MOTU...
And now... the tcho-tcho?

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Mara999 In reply to dlambeaut [2017-01-18 16:55:47 +0000 UTC]

Maybe, if I can figure out how to draw them looking both monstrously unique, yet still close enough to Southeast Asian humans so that arrogant whites would conceivably be able to confuse the Tcho-Tcho for a native ethnicity. Their non-human ancestors the Miri Nigri sound more interesting to me, because they are uplifted toads created to serve Chaugnar Faugn and I imagine them as very frog-like goblins, which would allow me more freedom.

But the more I think about what the Tcho-Tcho might look like, the more I'm leaning towards something similar to the more human-like hybrids in Genestealer Cults in Warhammer 40K. The artists and sculptors have managed to do a great job with making the hybrids have the right balance between human and inhuman. warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Ge…

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dlambeaut In reply to Mara999 [2017-01-18 20:27:22 +0000 UTC]

I forgot the miri nigri! Both tcho-tcho and miri nigri would make a nice couple, specially if the design is able to suggest their kinship.
BTW, gotta tell you are making a valuable work on these lovecraft-ashtonian races. Every H.P.L fan wants rto draw Cthulhu, deep ones or Yithians... but it's difficult to find images/designs of this "lessesr" races... Thank you!
Gotta try drawing them myself...Β Β 

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Mara999 In reply to dlambeaut [2017-01-18 20:44:02 +0000 UTC]

Thank you kindly! There are so many weird creatures that make it fun to explore the mythos, especially as the descriptions are often so vague that these offer a big challenge to figure out what any given creature looks like. So it'd feel a bit like a waste to just stick with the few entities and species that are already well-known in the popular consciousness. I'm not ambitious or crazy enough to do like Mike Bukowski at the Yog-Blogsoth and try to draw every creature in the mythos, even the most vague ones that are mentioned in one sentence. Instead I like to pick and choose, to see which creature I feel inspired to draw at that specific moment.

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dlambeaut In reply to Mara999 [2017-01-19 09:48:42 +0000 UTC]

Well, yes: Descriptions vagueness is a challenge, but gives you freedom at the same time, doesn't it?
The fact I wanted to point is that more known designs are yet fixed in the media, and are repeated over and over, but, on the other hand, is difficult to see not-fashionable concepts brought to life by artists. I'm afraid the first use mainly their memory, and the later their imagination, as there's not previous inspiring art to resort to. So, thank you and congratulations for doing what you do.
...I'll wait patiently for those miri nigri, tcho tcho, or whatever...

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OmarSzkarr [2017-01-18 03:08:08 +0000 UTC]

I'm the only one that think that this monsters look like ALF?

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dlambeaut In reply to OmarSzkarr [2017-01-18 10:04:05 +0000 UTC]

They look more like Beastman from MOTU to me...

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Mara999 In reply to OmarSzkarr [2017-01-18 09:30:26 +0000 UTC]

The gnophkeh I drew earlier might look even more so, since their description sounds strangely similar:Β  mara999.deviantart.com/art/Gno…

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OmarSzkarr In reply to Mara999 [2017-01-18 17:44:17 +0000 UTC]

actually yes, maybe the gnophkeh were the neanderthals from melmak!

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Mara999 In reply to OmarSzkarr [2017-01-18 18:00:06 +0000 UTC]

I imagine that they could possibly be the descendants of a single ship that crashed on Earth in the very distant past. Over the millennia the Melmacians became inbred and brutish ogre-like savages, that try to eat everything living that they can get their paws on.

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OmarSzkarr In reply to Mara999 [2017-01-19 04:30:38 +0000 UTC]

wow that's an amazing idea! And also adds complexity at something as simple as ALF

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MoArtProductions [2017-01-18 00:30:48 +0000 UTC]

They almost remind me of Gigantopithecus, or those legends of ape-like wildman in Southern Asia, particularly in Indonesia.

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Mara999 In reply to MoArtProductions [2017-01-18 09:38:51 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, that's true. From the very vague description I imagined something that would look like a carnivorous mutated orangutan.

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adam-ant2 [2017-01-18 00:26:40 +0000 UTC]

These guys are grizzly.
You sure have a talent at drawing Frazetta men.

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Mara999 In reply to adam-ant2 [2017-01-18 09:41:11 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! I've found that I naturally gravitate towards drawing things that are hairy, which is why I like drawing hairy mammals. This also has the side-effect that my orcs and many other monsters also tend to be much hairier than how they usually are depicted.

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