Gills, if you will

 Back! More art and more updates for my marshy old blog. (Ah, yes, marshy is an expression in Rumontia.) It's been a while, but I've managed to fish up some time and a couple of drawings, and I'll give you my next post!

Here’s a drawing of a Thelbian mermaid. They live in the underwater islands of Thelbia Bay, on the southern coast of Vytra. Their skin is pale and rough, and there are scales up their backbone, under their upper arms, and often around the edges of their face. They have fins on their forearms that help them swim, as well as webbed fingers.

            Merfolk would consider a human’s skin to be ugly, and cherry red lips and flushed cheeks to be very unhealthy-looking. They would find black hair to be rather odd, and though the occasional merfolk are born with darker hair, their hair color is usually sandy-blonde. (I must observe that hair tends to be darker in male merfolk, and it is not wholly unusual to see a male with black hair)

            One reason merfolk live near the surface because it is closer to the sun, providing more light and warmth. Also, the water pressure is lower there, and there is more air. For merfolk do breathe air. They have large gills in the back of their neck that extract oxygen from the water, and they breathe out through their nostrils, which can open and close. They can go out of water, for short whiles, but if their fin dries up, they obviously do not grow legs; instead, they would die. Which is why they must stay at least half-submerged as much as possible. When out of water, they breathe through their mouths, and can eat dry food. (It is interesting to note that in general, merfolk do not like dry foods, or most dry things, for that matter. Mainly they enjoy their foods cold and wet, though they usually boil their fish underwater before eating it.) 

Ti etro, Vytra!

           

Naiads

In one of my worlds there is a major character who is a sort of water nymph. She is slender, fair, and beautiful. Water nymphs, or naiads, have lovely blue makings on their face and arms, and blue-tipped ears with two points. Anyway, here's a drawing of a nymph named Rimstone from "The Woods of FairaNoran", one of my in-progress books. It's not as clear as the original, but that's because it changed when I tried to scan it.

 

Ti Etro, Vytra and beyond! This next post introduces a creature which lives mainly in Eastern Vytra woodlands. The boquim (boe-quimm) is a furry critter with (yes, unlikely as it may seem), six feet. It has sort, small legs and a round body, a furry tail, strawberry-shaped face, and tufted ears. Their paws are usually concealed under the body as shown in the upper right diagrams above. When they want to run or walk quickly, their paws come out and can be seen. 

Also, their fur extraordinarily changes color according to their moods. 

Grey = Sleeping

Red = Angry

Green = Sick

Blue = Sad
Yellow = Confused or curios

Black = Bitter, grumpy, or gruding

White = Frightened or afraid

Pink = Embarrassed or shy

Purple = In love

Brown = Cheerful or pleased

Orange = Begging, pouting, or whining

Gold = Content and at rest

Silver = Tense or anxios

Turquoise = Blissful or wonderfully joyful

Tan = Surprised or shocked

Those are all the basic boquim colors, even though when going through more than one emotion their fur can become dappled or start changing colors confusingly. Boquims are talking creatures and have often said how annoying it is to hardly ever be able to hide your feelings. 

Some older and very experienced boquims can change color with difficulty to hide emotions or camouflage from predators. Predators which hunt the boquim include weasels, martins, stoats and ferrets, ilkrass and snakes, bobcats and eagles. 

Boquim live in shady, fertile woodlands or fields and make their nests in tall grass, hidden from view.  Their diet consists of plants, leaves, and bark, and sometimes insects. These six-legged mammals make great pets and are friendly and unafraid of any who do not plan to eat them.

Yay! My mom helped me scan some drawings onto the computer, so I've finally got my first picture on my blog!
        Like I promised in my last post, I've got a sketch of a Thelbian Mermaid by Bronze the Sling. In this species of mermaid, the scales actually extend up the back bone, and there are two patches of soft scales under the arms. The mermaid's forearms have a small, wide-span fin for steering and propelling through the water, and the fingers are webbed. Just below the backbone, the tailbone extends into a thin fin, which works as a rudder and is also useful for steering.
        The two large fins on the upper sides of her tail are flexible and fan-like, and ripple like the fins of and eel, making in easier to glide along and maintain balance when floating upright in the water. The strong, streamlined flipper is the main propeller for moving swiftly underwater.
        The silly fable of merpeople growing legs if they become dry is complete fur and feathers (or nonsense).

This an image of a sky wisp, a cloudy creature that lives up in the sky. Sky wisps can vanish in to thin air, quite literally. They are usually sky blue or cloudy white, but if they want to can become visible. They are very solemn and should be respected, because powerful ones can make fearsome storms. Whole cities rest in the clouds, wispy cities of white, and sky wisps darting to and fro are often mistaken for puffs of cloud being blown in the wind.