WIP Update – 18 Aug 26
Just archiving the initial renders I’d made of the new additions to the cast took a decent chunk of time. Because I was without Internet access for a while, I didn’t get to posting some pics of Setsuka and only when I was rerendering the series did I realize that I hadn’t archived the pictures that were lost. Dagnabbit. Not the end of the world but annoying. Maybe that one bug will reappear and resurrect my lost backlog.
Anyway, I decided to round out the current set of characters with Medusa. I’d originally envisioned her as having her beauty marred by her transformation into a Gorgon, though I do like interpretations where the only horrific thing about her is the snake hair, which isn’t necessarily a no-go for some people. The system isn’t really designed for making ugly females, but when you use the “plump” setting, you can get renders that fall outside of most conventional views of attractiveness. The render I ran with, however, had a bit of a silent film actress vibe to it, not unattractive but probably not topping most people’s list. Now, if you remember my work with Amrita and Neya, you know how fickle the system can be when rendering Demihumans. Getting it to do one snake well was a nightmare when trying to make images of Happy in his snake form and I choose a design that not only has a snake body but at least a dozen snakes for hair. Needless to say, getting usable shots is quite the uphill battle and you’d be fair to say it’s not the best use of the slot, but there’s 698 yen’s worth, so maybe at least I can build up the profile and get some interesting interactions out of the deal.
As for Medusa’s function in the story, she’ll mostly fill the same role as the original canon as a sort of inspector serving the Monarch Lich, but I really ought to think of some fun way to change things up, Maybe instead of getting killed in a failed invasion of Notos, she escapes to Tash Manash and sets up shop there. Make her Queen of the Lamias (despite not being a Lamia herself) or something like that. There are options.
I did a little work on the map of Valeria as well. In my conversation with Demon!Trillian, I’d said Camp Gladio was at the intersection of the borders of Valeria, the Vale of Dragons and Gorkan Badu, but I’d previously mentioned here the idea of Camp Gladio’s name being a reference to Branstock (Gladius), which would require it to be further east (and also out of the territory of the Cerberus Mages’ Academy). I think the latter idea would have to be scrapped, as I like the idea of setting the focal point at the tri-border region and involving Cerberus more than a little side reference.
Not a whole lot done, but not nothing either, so there we go. We’ll see what’s up next. Stay tuned.
Tags: Alkoresh, If Arc, WIP Update
Alkoresh, If Arc, WIP Update | James Carmack | 19 August 2026 |
