[Dolmen 2.0]

I think we should just go with that scene tbh.

but then again we are a democracy, maybe just a show of comments if people like this and we can go ahead?

[Coltaine -]

Dolmen 2.0, on 21 January 2017 - 11:54 AM, said:

I think we should just go with that scene tbh.

but then again we are a democracy, maybe just a show of comments if people like this and we can go ahead?

I thought the forum is benevolent dictatorship

I'm okay with this scene. Time to search for my english version of MoI.

[Itwæs Nom]

Dolmen 2.0, on 21 January 2017 - 11:54 AM, said:

I think we should just go with that scene tbh.

I agree, the scene seems perfect for this to me

[Dolmen 2.0]

- Coltaine -, on 21 January 2017 - 01:32 PM, said:

Dolmen 2.0, on 21 January 2017 - 11:54 AM, said:

I think we should just go with that scene tbh.

but then again we are a democracy, maybe just a show of comments if people like this and we can go ahead?

I thought the forum is benevolent dictatorship

I'm okay with this scene. Time to search for my english version of MoI.

I sit benevolently corrected.

Memories of ice gets better for me with part one of the trilogy in my mind. Sort of like Rake in his early years vs Rake in that moment. I like how everything he says has tons of history behind it.

[PLUGO]

How Exciting.
So here's a list of characters involved. I figure we can determine, based on the number of artists interested, whether each contributor is in charge of a single character or perhaps group of characters . . . non-speaking background characters will be italicized.

The Tiste Andii

• Anomander Rake
• Korlat
• background Andii (Orphantal?)
  

The Malazans

• Dujek Onearm
• Whiskeyjack
• Artanthos
• Quick Ben
• Capt. Parren
• Other Bridgeburners (Picker? Detoran?)
  

The Warlord's Host

• Caladan Brood
• Kallor
• Mhybe
• Silver Fox

Characters mentioned who may or may not need to be illustrated

• Nightchill
• Tattersail
• Bellurdan

Singular Characters

• Kruppe
• The underside of a flying table

The Setting
The military encampment perhaps in the darkness of pre-dawn leading to dawn's morning light as the scene progresses.

Did I miss anything?

[MTS]

No I think that about does it.

So where do we begin? Would getting some descriptions of characters be helpful?

[Coltaine -]

Itwæs Nom, on 18 January 2017 - 09:45 PM, said:

The quote

Spoiler

"The Tiste Andii had gathered into a silent ring around the central clearing, awaiting the arrival of their master.

The black, silver-maned dragon emerged from the darkness overhead like a piece of night torn loose, flowing down to settle with a soft crunch of talons in the plain's stony soil. The huge, terrible beast blurred even as it landed, with a warm flow of spice-laden air swirling out to all sides as the sembling drew the dragon's shape inward. A moment later the Son of Darkness stood, cloaked, framed by the gouged tracks of the dragon's front talons, his slightly epicanthic eyes glimmering dull bronze as he surveyed his kin.

The Mhybe watched as Korlat strode to meet her master. She had seen Anomander Rake but once before, just south of Blackdog Forest, and then from a distance as the Son of Darkness spoke with Caladan Brood. She remembered Moon's Spawn, filling the sky above the Rhivi Plain. Rake had been about to ascend to that floating fortress. A pact with the wizards of Pale had been achieved, and the city was about to be besieged by Onearm's Host. He had stood then as he did now: tall, implacable, a sword emanating sheer terror hanging down the length of his back, his long, silver hair drifting in the breeze.

A slight turn of his head was his only acknowledgement of Korlat's approach.

Off to their right appeared Caladan Brood, Kallor, Dujek and the others.

Tension bristled in the air, yet one that the Mhybe recalled as being present at that last meeting, years before. Anomander Rake was an ascendant as unlike Caladan Brood as to make them seem the opposite ends of power's vast spectrum. Rake was an atmosphere, a heart-thudding, terror-threaded presence no-one could ignore, much less escape. Violence, antiquity, sombre pathos, and darkest horror –the Son of Darkness was a gelid eddy in immortality's current, and the Mhybe could feel, crawling beneath her very skin, every Rhivi spirit awakened in desperation.

The sword, yet more than the sword. Dragnipur in the hands of cold justice, cold and unhuman. Anomander Rake, the only one among us whose presence sparks fear in Kallor's eyes . . . the only one . . . except, it seems, for Silverfox –for my daughter. What might Kallor fear most, if not an alliance between the Son of Darkness and Silverfox?

All traces of exhaustion torn away by the thought, the Mhybe stepped forward.

Kallor's voice boomed. 'Anomander Rake! I seek your clearest vision –I seek the justice of your sword –allow none to sway you with sentiment, and that includes Korlat, who would now whisper urgent in your ear!'

The Son of Darkness, a lone brow raised, slowly turned to regard the High King. 'What else, Kallor,' he said in a low, calm voice, 'keeps my blade from your black heart. . . if not sentiment?'

With the light of the dawn finally stealing into the sky, the ancient warrior's weathered, lean face assumed a paler shade. 'I speak of a child,' he rumbled. 'No doubt you sense her power, the foulest of blossoms—'

'Power? It abounds in this place, Kallor. This camp has become a lodestone. You are right to fear.' His gaze swung to the Mhybe, who had stopped but a few paces from him.

Her steps ceased. His attention was a fierce pressure, power and threat, enough to make her softly gasp, her limbs weakening.

'Forces of nature, Mother,' he said, 'are indifferent to justice, would you not agree?'

It was a struggle to reply. 'I would, Lord of Moon's Spawn.'

'Thus it falls to us sentient beings, no matter how unworthy, to impose the moral divide.'

Her eyes flashed. 'Does it now?'

'She has spawned the abomination, Rake,' Kallor said, striding closer, his expression twisted with anger as he glared at the Mhybe. 'Her vision is stained. Understandably, granted, but even that does not exculpate.'

'Kallor,' the Son of Darkness murmured, his eyes still on the Mhybe, 'approach further at your peril.'

The High King halted.

'It would appear,' Rake continued, 'that my arrival has been anticipated, with the collective desire that I adjudicate what is clearly a complex situation—'

'Appearances deceive,' Caladan Brood said from where he stood outside the command tent –and the Mhybe now saw that Silverfox was at the warlord's side. 'Decide what you will, Rake, but I will not countenance Dragnipur's unsheathing in my camp.'

There was silence, as explosive as any the Rhivi woman had ever felt. By the Abyss, this could go very, very wrong. . . She glanced over at the Malazans. Dujek had drawn his soldier's expressionless mask over his features, but his taut stance revealed his alarm. The standard-bearer Artanthos was a step behind and slightly to the right of Onearm, a marine's rain cape drawn about him, hiding his hands. The young man's eyes glittered. Is that power swirling from the man? No, I am mistaken –I see nothing now ...

Anomander Rake slowly faced the warlord. 'I see that the lines have been drawn,' he said quietly. 'Korlat?'

'I side with Caladan Brood in this, Master.'

Rake eyed Kallor. 'It seems you stand alone.'

'It was ever thus.'

Oh, a sharp reply, that.

Anomander Rake's expression tightened momentarily. 'I am not unfamiliar with that position, High King.'

Kallor simply nodded.

Horse hooves sounded then, and the Tiste Andii lining the southeast side of the ring parted. Whiskeyjack rode into the clearing, slowing his mount to a walk, then to a perfect square-stanced halt. It was unclear what the commander had heard, yet he acted none the less. Dismounting, he strode towards Silverfox, stopping directly before her. His sword slid smoothly from its scabbard. Whiskeyjack faced Rake, Kallor and the others in the centre of the clearing, then planted his sword in the ground before him.

Caladan Brood stepped to the Malazan's side. 'With what you might face, Whiskeyjack, it would be best if you—'
'I stand here,' the commander growled.
Sorcery flowed from Anomander Rake, grainy grey, rolling in a slow wave across the clearing, passing through Whiskeyjack effortlessly, then swallowing Silverfox in an opaque, swirling embrace.
The Mhybe cried out, lurched forward, but Korlat's hand closed on her arm. 'Fear not,' she said, 'he but seeks to understand her –understand what she is . . .'
The sorcery frayed suddenly, flung away in tattered fragments to all sides. The Mhybe hissed. She knew enough of her daughter to see, in her reappearance, that she was furious. Power, twisting like taut ropes, rose around her, knotting, bunching.

Oh, spirits below, I see Nightchill and Tattersail both . . . a shared rage. And, by the Abyss, another! A stolid will, a sentience slow to anger . . . so much like Brood –who? Is this –oh! –is this Bellurdan? Gods! We are moments from tearing ourselves apart. Please . . .

'Well,' Rake drawled, 'I have never before had my hand slapped in such a fashion. Impressive, though perilously impertinent. What is it, then, that the child does not wish me to discover?' He reached over his left shoulder for Dragnipur's leather-wrapped handle.

Grunting a savage curse, Brood unlimbered his hammer.

Whiskeyjack shifted his stance, raising his own blade.

Gods no, this is wrong—

'Rake,' Kallor rasped, 'do you wish me on your left or right?'

Snapping tent poles startled everyone. A loud yelp from the command tent was followed by a massive, awkward, flying shape exploding out from the tent's entrance. Cavorting, spinning wildly in the air, the huge wooden table the Mhybe had last seen emerging from the Shroud now rose above the clearing, and from one leg dangled Kruppe, sweetcakes fluttering away from him. He yelped again, kicking the air with his slippered feet. 'Aai! Help! Kruppe hates flying!'"

If we are working only with this quote we wouldn't need Paran and other Bridgeburners, aside from Whiskeyjack. Or are are we extending it with Paran getting summoned, Quick Ben comes to save the situation, Parans visits Raest?

But starting with some descriptions for everyone is a good idea.

[Dolmen 2.0]

- Coltaine -, on 22 January 2017 - 01:35 AM, said:

Itwæs Nom, on 18 January 2017 - 09:45 PM, said:

The quote

Spoiler

"The Tiste Andii had gathered into a silent ring around the central clearing, awaiting the arrival of their master.

The black, silver-maned dragon emerged from the darkness overhead like a piece of night torn loose, flowing down to settle with a soft crunch of talons in the plain's stony soil. The huge, terrible beast blurred even as it landed, with a warm flow of spice-laden air swirling out to all sides as the sembling drew the dragon's shape inward. A moment later the Son of Darkness stood, cloaked, framed by the gouged tracks of the dragon's front talons, his slightly epicanthic eyes glimmering dull bronze as he surveyed his kin.

The Mhybe watched as Korlat strode to meet her master. She had seen Anomander Rake but once before, just south of Blackdog Forest, and then from a distance as the Son of Darkness spoke with Caladan Brood. She remembered Moon's Spawn, filling the sky above the Rhivi Plain. Rake had been about to ascend to that floating fortress. A pact with the wizards of Pale had been achieved, and the city was about to be besieged by Onearm's Host. He had stood then as he did now: tall, implacable, a sword emanating sheer terror hanging down the length of his back, his long, silver hair drifting in the breeze.

A slight turn of his head was his only acknowledgement of Korlat's approach.

Off to their right appeared Caladan Brood, Kallor, Dujek and the others.

Tension bristled in the air, yet one that the Mhybe recalled as being present at that last meeting, years before. Anomander Rake was an ascendant as unlike Caladan Brood as to make them seem the opposite ends of power's vast spectrum. Rake was an atmosphere, a heart-thudding, terror-threaded presence no-one could ignore, much less escape. Violence, antiquity, sombre pathos, and darkest horror –the Son of Darkness was a gelid eddy in immortality's current, and the Mhybe could feel, crawling beneath her very skin, every Rhivi spirit awakened in desperation.

The sword, yet more than the sword. Dragnipur in the hands of cold justice, cold and unhuman. Anomander Rake, the only one among us whose presence sparks fear in Kallor's eyes . . . the only one . . . except, it seems, for Silverfox –for my daughter. What might Kallor fear most, if not an alliance between the Son of Darkness and Silverfox?

All traces of exhaustion torn away by the thought, the Mhybe stepped forward.

Kallor's voice boomed. 'Anomander Rake! I seek your clearest vision –I seek the justice of your sword –allow none to sway you with sentiment, and that includes Korlat, who would now whisper urgent in your ear!'

The Son of Darkness, a lone brow raised, slowly turned to regard the High King. 'What else, Kallor,' he said in a low, calm voice, 'keeps my blade from your black heart. . . if not sentiment?'

With the light of the dawn finally stealing into the sky, the ancient warrior's weathered, lean face assumed a paler shade. 'I speak of a child,' he rumbled. 'No doubt you sense her power, the foulest of blossoms—'

'Power? It abounds in this place, Kallor. This camp has become a lodestone. You are right to fear.' His gaze swung to the Mhybe, who had stopped but a few paces from him.

Her steps ceased. His attention was a fierce pressure, power and threat, enough to make her softly gasp, her limbs weakening.

'Forces of nature, Mother,' he said, 'are indifferent to justice, would you not agree?'

It was a struggle to reply. 'I would, Lord of Moon's Spawn.'

'Thus it falls to us sentient beings, no matter how unworthy, to impose the moral divide.'

Her eyes flashed. 'Does it now?'

'She has spawned the abomination, Rake,' Kallor said, striding closer, his expression twisted with anger as he glared at the Mhybe. 'Her vision is stained. Understandably, granted, but even that does not exculpate.'

'Kallor,' the Son of Darkness murmured, his eyes still on the Mhybe, 'approach further at your peril.'

The High King halted.

'It would appear,' Rake continued, 'that my arrival has been anticipated, with the collective desire that I adjudicate what is clearly a complex situation—'

'Appearances deceive,' Caladan Brood said from where he stood outside the command tent –and the Mhybe now saw that Silverfox was at the warlord's side. 'Decide what you will, Rake, but I will not countenance Dragnipur's unsheathing in my camp.'

There was silence, as explosive as any the Rhivi woman had ever felt. By the Abyss, this could go very, very wrong. . . She glanced over at the Malazans. Dujek had drawn his soldier's expressionless mask over his features, but his taut stance revealed his alarm. The standard-bearer Artanthos was a step behind and slightly to the right of Onearm, a marine's rain cape drawn about him, hiding his hands. The young man's eyes glittered. Is that power swirling from the man? No, I am mistaken –I see nothing now ...

Anomander Rake slowly faced the warlord. 'I see that the lines have been drawn,' he said quietly. 'Korlat?'

'I side with Caladan Brood in this, Master.'

Rake eyed Kallor. 'It seems you stand alone.'

'It was ever thus.'

Oh, a sharp reply, that.

Anomander Rake's expression tightened momentarily. 'I am not unfamiliar with that position, High King.'

Kallor simply nodded.

Horse hooves sounded then, and the Tiste Andii lining the southeast side of the ring parted. Whiskeyjack rode into the clearing, slowing his mount to a walk, then to a perfect square-stanced halt. It was unclear what the commander had heard, yet he acted none the less. Dismounting, he strode towards Silverfox, stopping directly before her. His sword slid smoothly from its scabbard. Whiskeyjack faced Rake, Kallor and the others in the centre of the clearing, then planted his sword in the ground before him.

Caladan Brood stepped to the Malazan's side. 'With what you might face, Whiskeyjack, it would be best if you—'
'I stand here,' the commander growled.
Sorcery flowed from Anomander Rake, grainy grey, rolling in a slow wave across the clearing, passing through Whiskeyjack effortlessly, then swallowing Silverfox in an opaque, swirling embrace.
The Mhybe cried out, lurched forward, but Korlat's hand closed on her arm. 'Fear not,' she said, 'he but seeks to understand her –understand what she is . . .'
The sorcery frayed suddenly, flung away in tattered fragments to all sides. The Mhybe hissed. She knew enough of her daughter to see, in her reappearance, that she was furious. Power, twisting like taut ropes, rose around her, knotting, bunching.

Oh, spirits below, I see Nightchill and Tattersail both . . . a shared rage. And, by the Abyss, another! A stolid will, a sentience slow to anger . . . so much like Brood –who? Is this –oh! –is this Bellurdan? Gods! We are moments from tearing ourselves apart. Please . . .

'Well,' Rake drawled, 'I have never before had my hand slapped in such a fashion. Impressive, though perilously impertinent. What is it, then, that the child does not wish me to discover?' He reached over his left shoulder for Dragnipur's leather-wrapped handle.

Grunting a savage curse, Brood unlimbered his hammer.

Whiskeyjack shifted his stance, raising his own blade.

Gods no, this is wrong—

'Rake,' Kallor rasped, 'do you wish me on your left or right?'

Snapping tent poles startled everyone. A loud yelp from the command tent was followed by a massive, awkward, flying shape exploding out from the tent's entrance. Cavorting, spinning wildly in the air, the huge wooden table the Mhybe had last seen emerging from the Shroud now rose above the clearing, and from one leg dangled Kruppe, sweetcakes fluttering away from him. He yelped again, kicking the air with his slippered feet. 'Aai! Help! Kruppe hates flying!'"

If we are working only with this quote we wouldn't need Paran and other Bridgeburners, aside from Whiskeyjack. Or are are we extending it with Paran getting summoned, Quick Ben comes to save the situation, Parans visits Raest?

But starting with some descriptions for everyone is a good idea.

Yes to descriptions, that would be most helpful. Not sure we can extend it if we're keeping it to 12 panels.

I'm thinking we also need to script the text first, convert it to theatre script with exit left, enter right, head shot, paning, list of panels etc. get it all fully described in visual instruction. This should give us an exact idea of how many panels each character features in, what they'd be doing, how we want to fit them together. 12 panels may end up looking a bit more like 16 to 18. Depends on how we set it out.

We can probably assign onlookers as one artists job in its entirely. Background is important, the artist dealing with setting should probably also deal with onlookers or work closely with whomever is working on the mid ground. Depends on participation.

With more panels We can also grandise certain scenes beyond the text. A scene like Rake veering from draconic form is expensive, dedicating pages to heads turning or looking up, the dragons arrival and landing will take a few cuts. Similarly Caladan Brood needs to have an equally dramatic entrance to indicate his size aswell as his strength. There's not much physical conflict here, lots of magic though and I think it's the arrivals that will catch the eye, and give the dialogue flavor.

I can start drafting a script today, could take me a couple of days to work up a draft. You guys can crit it and we can maybe start sketching out a storyboard?

Plugo do you envision everyone sketching drafts of each panel involving the character they've chosen? If the panel has several characters do the artists send PSDs to each other?

Edit: adjusted to specific meaning

This post has been edited by Dolmen 2.0: 22 January 2017 - 07:21 AM

[Coltaine -]

PLUGO, on 21 January 2017 - 09:00 PM, said:

How Exciting.
So here's a list of characters involved. I figure we can determine, based on the number of artists interested, whether each contributor is in charge of a single character or perhaps group of characters . . . non-speaking background characters will be italicized.

The Tiste Andii

• Anomander Rake -> jet-black skin, long white/silver hair sharp features, eyes -> slight upward tilt, large vertical pupils, changing colour <- His eyecolour should change during the scene.
• Dragon Rake -> Huge, black, silver-maned
• Dragnipur -> Two-handed sword with an archaic silver crosshilt and a dragonhead pommel. Inky-black blade and a six and a half feet long wooden scabard
• Korlat -> black skin, almond shaped eyes +
• background Andii (Orphantal?) +
  

The Malazans

• Dujek Onearm -> left arm severed below the shoulder, looks as if he were fifty. Tanned lean face, scarred features, grey eyes. Five foot six inches. Hairy, chalk white calves. He wore Napan sharkskin strp sandals and a pommeled longsword
• Whiskeyjack -> Grey eyes, scarred face, large burn on his chin and left cheek. Haircolour: Grey (? just something I vaguely remember). Age: 40-50 (A bit of speculation form my side. Young commander, friend with Fiddler during their time in Malaz, saved Dunsparrow together, Fiddler roughly 30-35 at the beginning of GotM (Speculations from Fiddlers history))
• Artanthos
• Quick Ben
• Capt. Parren
• Other Bridgeburners (Picker? Detoran?)
  

The Warlord's Host

• Caladan Brood
• Kallor
• Mhybe
• Silver Fox

Characters mentioned who may or may not need to be illustrated

• Nightchill
• Tattersail
• Bellurdan

Singular Characters

• Kruppe
• The underside of a flying table

The Setting
The military encampment perhaps in the darkness of pre-dawn leading to dawn's morning light as the scene progresses.

Did I miss anything?

I will have a look at the rest later. Korlat and Orpfantal need a bit more research.

[PLUGO]

Dolmen 2.0, on 22 January 2017 - 07:17 AM, said:

- Coltaine -, on 22 January 2017 - 01:35 AM, said:

Itwæs Nom, on 18 January 2017 - 09:45 PM, said:

The quote

Spoiler

"The Tiste Andii had gathered into a silent ring around the central clearing, awaiting the arrival of their master.

The black, silver-maned dragon emerged from the darkness overhead like a piece of night torn loose, flowing down to settle with a soft crunch of talons in the plain's stony soil. The huge, terrible beast blurred even as it landed, with a warm flow of spice-laden air swirling out to all sides as the sembling drew the dragon's shape inward. A moment later the Son of Darkness stood, cloaked, framed by the gouged tracks of the dragon's front talons, his slightly epicanthic eyes glimmering dull bronze as he surveyed his kin.

The Mhybe watched as Korlat strode to meet her master. She had seen Anomander Rake but once before, just south of Blackdog Forest, and then from a distance as the Son of Darkness spoke with Caladan Brood. She remembered Moon's Spawn, filling the sky above the Rhivi Plain. Rake had been about to ascend to that floating fortress. A pact with the wizards of Pale had been achieved, and the city was about to be besieged by Onearm's Host. He had stood then as he did now: tall, implacable, a sword emanating sheer terror hanging down the length of his back, his long, silver hair drifting in the breeze.

A slight turn of his head was his only acknowledgement of Korlat's approach.

Off to their right appeared Caladan Brood, Kallor, Dujek and the others.

Tension bristled in the air, yet one that the Mhybe recalled as being present at that last meeting, years before. Anomander Rake was an ascendant as unlike Caladan Brood as to make them seem the opposite ends of power's vast spectrum. Rake was an atmosphere, a heart-thudding, terror-threaded presence no-one could ignore, much less escape. Violence, antiquity, sombre pathos, and darkest horror –the Son of Darkness was a gelid eddy in immortality's current, and the Mhybe could feel, crawling beneath her very skin, every Rhivi spirit awakened in desperation.

The sword, yet more than the sword. Dragnipur in the hands of cold justice, cold and unhuman. Anomander Rake, the only one among us whose presence sparks fear in Kallor's eyes . . . the only one . . . except, it seems, for Silverfox –for my daughter. What might Kallor fear most, if not an alliance between the Son of Darkness and Silverfox?

All traces of exhaustion torn away by the thought, the Mhybe stepped forward.

Kallor's voice boomed. 'Anomander Rake! I seek your clearest vision –I seek the justice of your sword –allow none to sway you with sentiment, and that includes Korlat, who would now whisper urgent in your ear!'

The Son of Darkness, a lone brow raised, slowly turned to regard the High King. 'What else, Kallor,' he said in a low, calm voice, 'keeps my blade from your black heart. . . if not sentiment?'

With the light of the dawn finally stealing into the sky, the ancient warrior's weathered, lean face assumed a paler shade. 'I speak of a child,' he rumbled. 'No doubt you sense her power, the foulest of blossoms—'

'Power? It abounds in this place, Kallor. This camp has become a lodestone. You are right to fear.' His gaze swung to the Mhybe, who had stopped but a few paces from him.

Her steps ceased. His attention was a fierce pressure, power and threat, enough to make her softly gasp, her limbs weakening.

'Forces of nature, Mother,' he said, 'are indifferent to justice, would you not agree?'

It was a struggle to reply. 'I would, Lord of Moon's Spawn.'

'Thus it falls to us sentient beings, no matter how unworthy, to impose the moral divide.'

Her eyes flashed. 'Does it now?'

'She has spawned the abomination, Rake,' Kallor said, striding closer, his expression twisted with anger as he glared at the Mhybe. 'Her vision is stained. Understandably, granted, but even that does not exculpate.'

'Kallor,' the Son of Darkness murmured, his eyes still on the Mhybe, 'approach further at your peril.'

The High King halted.

'It would appear,' Rake continued, 'that my arrival has been anticipated, with the collective desire that I adjudicate what is clearly a complex situation—'

'Appearances deceive,' Caladan Brood said from where he stood outside the command tent –and the Mhybe now saw that Silverfox was at the warlord's side. 'Decide what you will, Rake, but I will not countenance Dragnipur's unsheathing in my camp.'

There was silence, as explosive as any the Rhivi woman had ever felt. By the Abyss, this could go very, very wrong. . . She glanced over at the Malazans. Dujek had drawn his soldier's expressionless mask over his features, but his taut stance revealed his alarm. The standard-bearer Artanthos was a step behind and slightly to the right of Onearm, a marine's rain cape drawn about him, hiding his hands. The young man's eyes glittered. Is that power swirling from the man? No, I am mistaken –I see nothing now ...

Anomander Rake slowly faced the warlord. 'I see that the lines have been drawn,' he said quietly. 'Korlat?'

'I side with Caladan Brood in this, Master.'

Rake eyed Kallor. 'It seems you stand alone.'

'It was ever thus.'

Oh, a sharp reply, that.

Anomander Rake's expression tightened momentarily. 'I am not unfamiliar with that position, High King.'

Kallor simply nodded.

Horse hooves sounded then, and the Tiste Andii lining the southeast side of the ring parted. Whiskeyjack rode into the clearing, slowing his mount to a walk, then to a perfect square-stanced halt. It was unclear what the commander had heard, yet he acted none the less. Dismounting, he strode towards Silverfox, stopping directly before her. His sword slid smoothly from its scabbard. Whiskeyjack faced Rake, Kallor and the others in the centre of the clearing, then planted his sword in the ground before him.

Caladan Brood stepped to the Malazan's side. 'With what you might face, Whiskeyjack, it would be best if you—'
'I stand here,' the commander growled.
Sorcery flowed from Anomander Rake, grainy grey, rolling in a slow wave across the clearing, passing through Whiskeyjack effortlessly, then swallowing Silverfox in an opaque, swirling embrace.
The Mhybe cried out, lurched forward, but Korlat's hand closed on her arm. 'Fear not,' she said, 'he but seeks to understand her –understand what she is . . .'
The sorcery frayed suddenly, flung away in tattered fragments to all sides. The Mhybe hissed. She knew enough of her daughter to see, in her reappearance, that she was furious. Power, twisting like taut ropes, rose around her, knotting, bunching.

Oh, spirits below, I see Nightchill and Tattersail both . . . a shared rage. And, by the Abyss, another! A stolid will, a sentience slow to anger . . . so much like Brood –who? Is this –oh! –is this Bellurdan? Gods! We are moments from tearing ourselves apart. Please . . .

'Well,' Rake drawled, 'I have never before had my hand slapped in such a fashion. Impressive, though perilously impertinent. What is it, then, that the child does not wish me to discover?' He reached over his left shoulder for Dragnipur's leather-wrapped handle.

Grunting a savage curse, Brood unlimbered his hammer.

Whiskeyjack shifted his stance, raising his own blade.

Gods no, this is wrong—

'Rake,' Kallor rasped, 'do you wish me on your left or right?'

Snapping tent poles startled everyone. A loud yelp from the command tent was followed by a massive, awkward, flying shape exploding out from the tent's entrance. Cavorting, spinning wildly in the air, the huge wooden table the Mhybe had last seen emerging from the Shroud now rose above the clearing, and from one leg dangled Kruppe, sweetcakes fluttering away from him. He yelped again, kicking the air with his slippered feet. 'Aai! Help! Kruppe hates flying!'"

If we are working only with this quote we wouldn't need Paran and other Bridgeburners, aside from Whiskeyjack. Or are are we extending it with Paran getting summoned, Quick Ben comes to save the situation, Parans visits Raest?

But starting with some descriptions for everyone is a good idea.

Yes to descriptions, that would be most helpful. Not sure we can extend it if we're keeping it to 12 panels.

I'm thinking we also need to script the text first, convert it to theatre script with exit left, enter right, head shot, paning, list of panels etc. get it all fully described in visual instruction. This should give us an exact idea of how many panels each character features in, what they'd be doing, how we want to fit them together. 12 panels may end up looking a bit more like 16 to 18. Depends on how we set it out.

We can probably assign onlookers as one artists job in its entirely. Background is important, the artist dealing with setting should probably also deal with onlookers or work closely with whomever is working on the mid ground. Depends on participation.

With more panels We can also grandise certain scenes beyond the text. A scene like Rake veering from draconic form is expensive, dedicating pages to heads turning or looking up, the dragons arrival and landing will take a few cuts. Similarly Caladan Brood needs to have an equally dramatic entrance to indicate his size aswell as his strength. There's not much physical conflict here, lots of magic though and I think it's the arrivals that will catch the eye, and give the dialogue flavor.

I can start drafting a script today, could take me a couple of days to work up a draft. You guys can crit it and we can maybe start sketching out a storyboard?

Plugo do you envision everyone sketching drafts of each panel involving the character they've chosen? If the panel has several characters do the artists send PSDs to each other?

Edit: adjusted to specific meaning

The magic FX can be a task onto itself as well and would probably have a significant effect on lighting etc. I imagine folks could work off of the rough layout to create their character that could then be layered into a unifying PSD, where color and lighting could be applied. This sort of production process will probably take some tweeking. I've already lost track of how many artists are game.

I imagine the 10-16 pages as part of a nonexistent larger piece. That's what got me thinking about placing certain characters (I'm looking at you Quick Ben!) in the background though they aren't explicitly mentioned. But that's certainly in the realm of artistic license.

I can see Anomander's arrival working as a whole splash page, with perhaps the table's reveal functioning as another. But we should definitely bounce break-downs (story boards) around to distill proper pacing. Descriptions would certainly help, we've also got some solid image on the wiki that I image could be a great resource. Ton's of Anomandor interpretations, but also some other really good one out there as well. Though of course a given artist would be free to generate their own.

[Puck]

I think Dolmen's got the right approach here. Go though the scene proper and decide what dialogue you want to keep, what to leave out, and which extra stuff you want to include. Decide what format you want to go for, and which part goes on which 'page' (though it may actually be worth it to consider korean style webcomic pages, if it're going to be viewed on the screen only). Only then will you actually know whose description you actually need. THEN you can go about making a story board. Oh, and you should decide before getting to the story board stage whether you want to use a grid for your panels or go freestyle.

Of course, that's just my experience, and you may have a different approach. I once turned an entire book into a graphic novel of 100+ pages for uni, you kind of turn to a set order of steps after that.

Speaking of which, so has AT, and we're both liking the idea a bunch, BUT we've thought it over and don't really see our styles, which are somewhat similar, working well with say, that of Dolmen (which, btw., is not meant as a quality assessment, I LOVE Dolmen's art), so we're considering doing something similar but with a smaller scene and just two people. Actually, I had the idea when PLUGO suggested the Cursing of Kallor as a scene, because AT's illustrated the Edda before, and the themes are kind of similar in that they're both mythic/historical stuff. Sooo, yeah... Now to find the time for that..

[Dolmen 2.0]

Puck, on 22 January 2017 - 09:24 PM, said:

I think Dolmen's got the right approach here. Go though the scene proper and decide what dialogue you want to keep, what to leave out, and which extra stuff you want to include. Decide what format you want to go for, and which part goes on which 'page' (though it may actually be worth it to consider korean style webcomic pages, if it're going to be viewed on the screen only). Only then will you actually know whose description you actually need. THEN you can go about making a story board. Oh, and you should decide before getting to the story board stage whether you want to use a grid for your panels or go freestyle.

Of course, that's just my experience, and you may have a different approach. I once turned an entire book into a graphic novel of 100+ pages for uni, you kind of turn to a set order of steps after that.

Speaking of which, so has AT, and we're both liking the idea a bunch, BUT we've thought it over and don't really see our styles, which are somewhat similar, working well with say, that of Dolmen (which, btw., is not meant as a quality assessment, I LOVE Dolmen's art), so we're considering doing something similar but with a smaller scene and just two people. Actually, I had the idea when PLUGO suggested the Cursing of Kallor as a scene, because AT's illustrated the Edda before, and the themes are kind of similar in that they're both mythic/historical stuff. Sooo, yeah... Now to find the time for that..

Well that's unfortunate, Would have been fun to actualy work together but I do understand your point. It also works out nicely to have more scenes put together in the format of sequential art.

100+ pages! that's intense Puck! My brother did something similar for Uni, in fact I think he's still doing it and he started a few years ago...

I've only done light comedy here on the forums, remember the Seguleh 1337 series?
Those sketches were tons of fun and I'd just gotten free access to my tablet by ep.3 I think.

ah yeah, good times.

Puck do you and AT mind still being involved in brainstorming layout? would be good to have as many eyes on the project as possible.


I've always wanted to do something serious.

This post has been edited by Dolmen 2.0: 23 January 2017 - 06:04 AM

[Coltaine -]

The Tiste Andii
1. Anomander Rake

Apperance: jet-black skin, long white/silver hair sharp features, eyes -> slight upward tilt, large vertical pupils, changing colour <- His eyecolour should change during the scene.
Eleint-form: Huge, black, silver-maned
Dragnipur : Two-handed sword with an archaic silver crosshilt and a dragonhead pommel. Inky-black blade and a six and a half feet long wooden scabard

2. Korlat

Apperance: black skin, almond shaped eyes, long black hair
Clothing: Fine scaled armor beneath a black-dyed rawhide shirt

3. background Andii (Orphantal?)

The Malazans
1. Dujek Onearm

Apperance: left arm severed below the shoulder, looks as if he were fifty. Tanned lean face, scarred features, grey eyes. Five foot six inches/Average height/. Hairy, chalk white calves.
Clothing: He wore (Napan sharkskin strp sandals and a pommeled longsword)/ long grey cape with silver-wrought fastening, no helmet, plain armor, standart-issue short-sword. <- GotM

2. Whiskeyjack

Apperance: Grey eyes, scarred face, large burn on his chin and left cheek. Grey hair, grey beard. Solidly build. Age: 40-50 (A bit of speculation form my side. Young commander, friend with Fiddler during their time in Malaz, saved Dunsparrow together, Fiddler roughly 30-35 at the beginning of GotM (Speculations from Fiddlers history))
and his left leg. -> rides akwardly. Boot not in the stirrup

Clothing: visored helm with a chain camail (chin visible). The chain of his calf-length hauberk was batterd and ribboned with leather stitches

3. Artanthos

Apperance: Young, nondescript, restless eyes

Clothing: Leather gloves

4. Quick Ben

Apperance: Dark skinned. Tall. Fine ascetic features. He had a row of neat, smallish, white teeth. Long, thin hands

5. Capt. Paran

Apperance: Black hair, broad back, good-looking

6. Other Bridgeburners (Picker? Detoran?)


The Warlord's Host

1. Caladan Brood

Apperance: Tall, hulking form, all muscles and bones, wide, flat face, hairless eyebrows and filed teeths. Looks not quite human

Burn's Hammer: Strapped on his back. Iron. Either looks fitting or even small on his back.

2. Kallor

Apperance: tall, gaunt, grey. Face ravaged by time.

Clothing: full-lenght surcoat of chain. Plain Bastard Sword hang from the iron rings of his harness.

3. Mhybe

Apperance: Dark round face, now an old woman, dark eyes, thin, bony shoulders
Clothing: Antelope hides

4. Silverfox

Apperance: Looks roughly ten years old. Resemblance with Tattersail. Sleepy, knowing gaze, round faced
Clothing: Antelope hides, barefoot

5. Outrider Hurlochel

6. Rhivi

Apperance: small, brown-skinned people, dark eyes, black haired, red and black lines of face-painting
Clothing: wore tanned hides, bhederin and antelope,


Characters mentioned who may or may not need to be illustrated

1. Nightchill

Apperance: Raven-heart, tall impervious

2. Tattersail

Apperance: Oval, fleshy face with heavy-lidded eyes. A heavy-set woman with round shoulders.

3. Bellurdan

Apperance: Very tall.

Singular Characters

1. Kruppe

Apperance: Short round man, pudgy hands, round, flushed face

Clothing: Silks of every colour, a clashing discord

2. The underside of a flying table

The Setting
The military encampment perhaps in the darkness of pre-dawn leading to dawn's morning light as the scene progresses.

Composition of the camp: Precisely organized. Mercenaries to the west, Tiste Andii in the centre and the Rhivi with their bhederin herds to the east.


Updated version. Still not complete.

This post has been edited by - Coltaine -: 02 February 2017 - 10:53 AM

[KarsaOolong]

Dolmen 2.0, on 23 January 2017 - 06:03 AM, said:

Puck, on 22 January 2017 - 09:24 PM, said:

snip

Well that's unfortunate, Would have been fun to actualy work together but I do understand your point. It also works out nicely to have more scenes put together in the format of sequential art.

100+ pages! that's intense Puck! My brother did something similar for Uni, in fact I think he's still doing it and he started a few years ago...

I've only done light comedy here on the forums, remember the Seguleh 1337 series?
Those sketches were tons of fun and I'd just gotten free access to my tablet by ep.3 I think.

ah yeah, good times.

Puck do you and AT mind still being involved in brainstorming layout? would be good to have as many eyes on the project as possible.


I've always wanted to do something serious.

Can't speak for Puck here, but I would be up for brainstorming layout, if you would have me. Speaking from experience, the more people are in the planning, the harder it will be to actually get results, but just throwing in some brainstorming will probably work out. If anything, working on the Edda has cured me of any illusions about layouting and its pitfalls.

Also seconding Puck's suggestion to optimize the layout for screens, if printing is out of the question. In any case it should be clear what the end format will be before the artists start working on it (actually also before the layout/storyboard process begins), since changing the page format later can easily multiply the amount of work and is generally just a pain in the ass even in the planning stages.

I'm looking forward to see how this project moves along

[Puck]

Dolmen 2.0, on 23 January 2017 - 06:03 AM, said:

Well that's unfortunate, Would have been fun to actualy work together but I do understand your point. It also works out nicely to have more scenes put together in the format of sequential art.

Yeah, wasn|t an easy decision, but as already said, the style difference is quite big.

Dolmen 2.0, on 23 January 2017 - 06:03 AM, said:

100+ pages! that's intense Puck! My brother did something similar for Uni, in fact I think he's still doing it and he started a few years ago...

Haha, yeah, it's a bit more work than one thinks at first. I can now say that the planning phase took me longer than the actual drawing, and it was a lot of work, and after a certain amount of pages you just can't see that sh*t anymore but you have to keep going, because deadline. Having a fast approaching deadline did the trick.

That's also the reason both AT and me are talking so much about planning first. Different approaches generally work for different people.. For example, we were three people doing what passed as graphic novels for graduation, but one of us would just draw random shit from his story, then piece it all together into something like a layout. I, on the opposite end, would go through my text, pick out what speech to keep and write down character descriptions and assign scenes to panels, and so on, and then, when I was done, all I had to do was draw away. I think (could be wrong here, though) that AT had a similar approach. As should be abvious, the 'draw random shit, then piece it together' makes for pretty pictures, but when you have several people working on the same thing, I'd argue that a systematic approach works better. And that means starting with the most seemingly random stuff, like choosing format and deciding whether to go with a grid, or even use panels at all (to exeplify this, I went with a grid back then, but AT hates panels with a passion).

Dolmen 2.0, on 23 January 2017 - 06:03 AM, said:

I've only done light comedy here on the forums, remember the Seguleh 1337 series?
Those sketches were tons of fun and I'd just gotten free access to my tablet by ep.3 I think.

Yeah, I remember those! They were fun

Dolmen 2.0, on 23 January 2017 - 06:03 AM, said:

Puck do you and AT mind still being involved in brainstorming layout? would be good to have as many eyes on the project as possible.

Same as what AT said: if you would have me, I'll continue chiming in here

I've beenw anting to do something malazan-y in comic style for several years now, but never could find the guts to go at it on my own, this just reminded me of that wish.

KarsaOolong, on 23 January 2017 - 02:05 PM, said:

snip

Dat user name... Still.. *goes to make Oolong tea*

[PLUGO]

Considering the nature of this endeavor, I wouldn't think a "clash of styles" to be a bad thing. Hell, there's room for some very dynamic interest if the Tisti Andii were illustrated in style so Alien to other characters... but that's just me, I'm not precious about such things in this arena, I just want to find the fun in creative collaboration.


On a paid gig, or professional comics project that's a different story . . . while I never actually pulled a check from the Big Few, I've had my hand one just about every level of print production at one point or another (comics, newspapers & magazines) including correcting films before press (back when nobody knew what a PDF was), talk about grueling. Here's a thing I worked on up until the funding fell through, and the NDA expired.

Formatting for screen rather than print would indeed change a lot of the feel for the project - splash pages function differently, there's no equivalent to a left page reveal, etc. But once a script of some sort is in hand, there's no rule against experimenting with both vertical or horizontal aspect ratios until satisfied.

Sorry to see some of you go, but also glad to see you inspired.

About of the Table's underside - can someone post the passage where the painting is described?

I recall it as a something like "A Soldier with a hound's head bursting from his chest."

This post has been edited by PLUGO: 24 January 2017 - 01:55 AM

[Dolmen 2.0]

Puck, on 24 January 2017 - 12:02 AM, said:

That's also the reason both AT and me are talking so much about planning first. Different approaches generally work for different people.. For example, we were three people doing what passed as graphic novels for graduation, but one of us would just draw random shit from his story, then piece it all together into something like a layout. I, on the opposite end, would go through my text, pick out what speech to keep and write down character descriptions and assign scenes to panels, and so on, and then, when I was done, all I had to do was draw away. I think (could be wrong here, though) that AT had a similar approach. As should be abvious, the 'draw random shit, then piece it together' makes for pretty pictures, but when you have several people working on the same thing, I'd argue that a systematic approach works better. And that means starting with the most seemingly random stuff, like choosing format and deciding whether to go with a grid, or even use panels at all (to exeplify this, I went with a grid back then, but AT hates panels with a passion).

heh, So I realize now after doing a lot of catch-up research that its a really big thing we agree on Page format early.

It'd also clarify my ideas on scripting scenes.

I really dont want to stick to a particular grid but a 9 panel grid page format can help us standardize the spatial arrangements. make it easier for everyone to work together.

I'm writing with an average of 3-4 panels per page in mind. We can try alot of fun things like having the top 3 of the 9 panel format plus a 6 panel splash image like this.

That seems ideal. Better opportunity for page structure.

But then I saw this yesterday. It got me thinking.

We're working on the web, posting on the web to fellow fans of the series via Web explorers. Should we not adopt something like this that only the web can do?

I mean eventually Erikson will commission something traditional by professional and amazing artists.

Rather than try do what they'll do, perhaps we go for the opposite?

[Coltaine -]

The Table Part 1

‘No, you fool. There’s an image painted onto the underside … one big card, it looks like – only I don’t recognize it’

Scowling, Hedge joined the mage. ‘What are you talking about? We didn’t paint no image underneath – Hood’s mouldering moccasins, what is that?’

‘Red ochre, is my guess. Like something a Barghast would paint—’

‘Or a Rhivi,’ Hedge muttered. ‘Who’s that figure in the middle – the one with the dog-head on his chest?’

‘How should I know? Anyway, I’d say the whole thing is pretty fresh. Recent, I mean.’

‘Well, rub it off, dammit.’

Spindle crawled back out. ‘Not a chance – the thing’s webbed with wards, and a whole lot else besides.’ He straightened, met Picker’s eyes, then shrugged. ‘It’s a new card. Unaligned, without an aspect. I’d like to make a copy of it, Deck-sized, then try it out with a reading—’




Part 2

The captain spun at that plaintive cry, then looked up. An enormous wooden table twisted silently in the air, Kruppe’s round, silk-flowing form hanging beneath it. On the underside of the table, painted in bright, now glowing colours, was the image of a man. Slowly blinking in and out of Paran’s view, it was a few moments before he recognized the figure’s face. That’s me …

Not really a detailed description

[Puck]

Dolmen 2.0, on 25 January 2017 - 12:01 PM, said:

I really dont want to stick to a particular grid but a 9 panel grid page format can help us standardize the spatial arrangements. make it easier for everyone to work together.

I'm writing with an average of 3-4 panels per page in mind. We can try alot of fun things like having the top 3 of the 9 panel format plus a 6 panel splash image like this.

That seems ideal. Better opportunity for page structure.

That's pretty much what a grid is there for, anyway. You kind of have a rough layout that allows you to vary stuff without having to reinvent it on every other page. I like that example

Dolmen 2.0, on 25 January 2017 - 12:01 PM, said:

But then I saw this yesterday. It got me thinking.

We're working on the web, posting on the web to fellow fans of the series via Web explorers. Should we not adopt something like this that only the web can do?

I'm with you there, that's why I've already mentioned korean webcomics. They've been doing this particular format for a while now, optimising comics for being read on a screen, both mobile and desktop. Here's one example. And here's one with background music. I also remember reading a horror comic on that site and shit jumping at me when I was scrolling down. I'm not saying that we can do that with out limited resources, just that thinking in terms of what the web format can offer opens some fancy new ways to do things. You can use the space between panels to create suspense, while you couldn't simply leave a double page blank in a printed format. On the other hand, the traditional comic format is much better suited for spreads and landscape-y stuff. It really comes down to format in so many ways.

Dolmen 2.0, on 25 January 2017 - 12:01 PM, said:

I mean eventually Erikson will commission something traditional by professional and amazing artists.

Rather than try do what they'll do, perhaps we go for the opposite?

But that's the point of this, isn't it? To do something new and have fun

[Dolmen 2.0]

Ok so I'm still typing the script up, working directly from the passage Iwaes brought in for us to use.

Here's the draft I've covered this afternoon.

How am I doing so far?

FORMAT:
I've scripted with the allocation of 9 Panels to a page, I'd imagine if we went over to a web format, we could still keep a 3 panel width with blank space between pages where necessary. we'd also fit the art into the panel to flow downward with detail, similar to the Korean format in girls of the Wild or The breaker.

I had a few fun ideas for animation here and there but that might overly complicate this further than it needs to be. A Motion book this is not.

COLOUR:
I've mentioned colour in the script here and there but I'd imagine we reserve the use of colour, using a monochrome or analogous colour scheme as much as possible in the early stages.
atleast up until storyboarding.

we can choose to go full colour once we have it all lined and valued.

It's a night setting even at its most vibrant we will need to be a bit reserved with our hues.

BACKGROUND and descriptions:

I will add Coltaines detailed descriptions in the final draft.

I'm being a bit blase' about everything happening in the background, on my second pass I might preface each page with lighting and setting overviews.

This post has been edited by Dolmen 2.0: 30 January 2017 - 03:28 PM