Thursday, December 15, 2016

Designs for Wild Tribes

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been posting, but I've been busy. I have been working hard at the world of Dymos, and one of the things I've been doing is developing the Wild Tribes. I even commissioned an artist on DeviantArt to do these pictures.

Yes, there are people in my world who live in the wilderness. I thought it would be a good way to nod the stories written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I know often that when it comes to crafting worlds with prehistoric animals that people stereotypically dress people who are supposed to be primitive in fur bikinis and loincloths. However, there are several reasons why I chose not to do that.
1. Those outfits are impractical. In my world, there are still massive ice caps akin to those that were supposed to have existed during the Ice Ages. That means that the winters in my world will be cold, and a person running around in furry underwear would freeze to death. The outfits here are more for spring and summer, but they also have outfits for the fall and winter. 
2. Historical accuracy. I like to try to make things as scientifically accurate as possible, with the exception of fantasy creatures, and when I came up with ideas for people who live in the wilds of my world I thought that it would be best to model them after the people of the Stone Age and the legends of the Wild Man. According to the artist I commissioned online, these outfits do resemble what people wore during the time, even though I added the blue markings. 
3. Desire to be different. One of the important things an author must remember is that they must find their own way to be unique. Even when people use mystical races like centaurs or elves, each story uses them differently from one another. I decided if I was going to have people who live in the wilds, that I would be different, and go more with what science would say they looked like rather than what people stereotype. 

No comments:

Post a Comment