CAP - Death Dealer Research - Part 2

As it would transpire, I was wrong in thinking that I was to base my imagining of the characters off of the Death Dealer series of paintings.

Instead, there is to be found a series of books, written by James Silke, that tell the story of the Death Dealer.

This makes far more sense when it comes to the part about designing 2 characters; in other words, it is 2 different characters that I have to design based on their descriptions within the book, not 1 character reimagined.

In this case, I read the first of the Death Dealer books, 'Prisoner of the Horned Helmet', which I found to be a most enjoyable read. There are a number of interesting characters that I feel I would like to design. I know for certain I will be using the character of Brown John as one of my choices, however, at this point in time, the 2nd character is a toss-up between Cobra, Queen of Serpents, or a Kitzakk soldier. I feel Cobra will offer up a challenge, being, as descirbed in the book, a woman with "A lush body, ripe with curves." I generally try never to over sexualise my female characters, so much so to the extent that they are often mistaken for males, or the viewer is unsure as to which gender the are. I think it could be interesting to attempt to design a character who would need to be viewed in outwardly sexual manner, given that she is the temptress character within the story. The Kitzakk, on the otherhand, have very detailed descriptions of their armour and a wide variety of warriors from which to choose from. I am particularly keen on the fact that theses brutal warriors use a lot of ornate butterfly imagery within their armour designs. 

Even though I have done a lot of research for this project already, and although some of it is slightly defunct now, I believe I can still use it to my advantage and still take inspiration from it so that it wasn't a complete waste of time for me. I have new research in the form of pages and notes from the book, as well as looking at the work of  Paul Kidby, who did the artwork for the Discworld franchise and who I believe will be of great inspiration, due to his excellently portrayed characters.


Having decided on Brown John as my first character, I have created 3 moodboards to coincide with the character based upon the following descriptions of him and his accessories from the book:


"the wagon had not intended it to be a shy vehicle. It's flatbed, sode boards, driver's box and shaft were as red as a harlot's lips and trimmed in a pink and orange so bright they would have made the same harlot blush."

"a clan of outcast and outlawed entertainers."

"wagon was designed to serve as a travelling stage"

"Old Brown John sprawled in the bed of the wagon, and despite the clattering wheels and bouncing boards, dozed comfortably on a pile of ragged blankets beside a clutter of coiled ropes."

"He wore a ragged brown tunic with large patches which, in addition to covering holes, were the clan's sign. He was short, wiry and bany-legged. At first glance he appeared no more impressive than his patches, but on closer examination, even in his prone and snoring position, he had a surprisingly alert, in-charge and genial manner."

"wore leather belts hung with pouches and short swords."

"His white hair fell in smooth silky slopes down over his large ears and bristled with tufts at his neck. His tangled white eyebrows, rising at sharp angles, gave his face a slightly satanic expression. It was deeply cut with all varieties of wrinkles, but they only gave a vague indication of the complexity of his wrinkled mind."

"traded our wine for his meat"

Terry Pratchett's Discworld artwork by Paul Kidby

Brown John outfit and character reference

Wagons

With these moodboards for Brown John, I can now move on to silhouetting character ideas for him.

I have decided that my second character will be a Kitzakk soldier, as I think it will make a good contrast to Brown John. I will simply design the character based upon the descriptions of all the Kitzakk soldiers throughout the book, including the named characters, as none of them last long enough to make them key characters. I think it will be good to get an over-all image for the Kitzakks, which could then be taken on to developing different versions of the soldiers, depending on their duties and rank.

Again, like Brown John, I have created moodboards for the Kitzakk soldiers based upon the various descriptions of them in the first book:


"riders with crossbows in their saddle holsters and sheathed swords, quivers and daggers riding their belts. Scouts."

"Their horses were small, scarred, with braided manes and tails. Durable. The riders were more so, leather-skinned veterans of the desert campaigns. They were Hunters"

"Helmets, arm bands and breastplates were black-laquered bamboo striped with steel bands. Skirts were wide leather thongs mounted with steel studs. Crescent moons of precious silver glittered on the tops of wide-brimmed helmets shaped like overturned shallow bowls. Their weapons were carved with the figures of butterflies and inlaid with a patina of gore and grime gathered from uncounted battlefields. There were the inevitable dents and stains, but each carried a story of violent, painful victory. Their flat brown faces carried similar stories"

"a trail marker, a red flag embroidered with a rising sun, the sign of the Butterfly Goddess."

"a map, bamboo pen and ink from a metal cylinder"

"the iron chains and slave collars dangling from their saddles . . . these instruments were beatifully made, hand carved with images of entwined flowers."

"covered their faces with their neck cloths"

"light-horse Skull soldiers armed with crossbows and scimitars. Their faces were painted black to resemble skulls. They were raiders, not invaders, equipped to spread terror and take revenge."

"commanders, mounted on heavy black stallions, led the regiment. Working soldiers. Metal clad. Cluttered with the totems of dead enemies. Wearing enough grime and sweat to between them to fill a wine pitcher."

"The commanders' names were Trang and Chornbott . . . Trand was short and thick, with a jaw big enough to eat table legs. He wore battered pieced of armour and a red helmet with heavy steel bars caging his face. An axe rode on his back; it was big enough to be his brother. Vhornbott was a head-and-a-half taller, encased in a suit of polished steel chain mail, and arrogantly bareheaded. He carried a sheathed sword in his right hand; it was as tall as Trang."

"a huge yellow and black butterfly flag mounted on a long black pole."

"The Hammer Regiment"

"The Spear Regiment"

"The Black Hand Regiment"

"Each soldier wore a regimental flag in the old style, mounted on the back of his armour."


As can be seen from these quotes, there are a number of Kitzakk types, as it were, and so, based on the character silhouettes I do, will depend on which type I choose to take forward.