Hey !
I know, this is weird. Two messages from me in the same
week. Unprecedented.
I just wanted to share with you an introduction to the races of Gloomhaven that I'm working on. You can read more about the world-building for Gloomhaven here, so I won't go into that. Let's just get on to the awesome art and some words to go along with it! (You can click on any of the images to see a higher resolution version.) ORCHIDS
Orchids are an ancient, cave-dwelling race that views the happenings of the world through the perspective that their thousand-year lifetimes allow. At times, they can appear slow and meandering, but when something needs to be done, there is no hesitation. For the Orchids, life is about spending the proper amount of time for thought and reflection, so that the right
decision can be made at exactly the right time.
Because of this philosophy, an Orchid can often be lost in thought for years, sitting perfectly still in a meditative state where crystals begin to grow on their skin. Though Orchids have little use for vanity, those with prominent crystal growths are shown great respect, as they have spent countless years of their lives reflecting on
the proper path. Orchids have no need for physical comforts and draw their sustenance from the earth, so they serve little purpose in society. However, they have been known to appear exactly when a society needs their assistance.
INOX
The Inox are a primitive and barbaric race, preferring to live in small nomadic tribes scattered across the wilderness. There they subsist through hunting and gather, scraping together a meager existence while fighting off the more dangerous creatures of the wilds. What they lack in intelligence and sophistication, they make up for with their superior strength and size, always eager to prove themselves in
a challenge. And one should certainly take care in challenging an Inox. Their society does not pay much heed to ethics or morality. For the Inox, it is all about survival - kill or be killed.
QUATRYLS
Because of their diminutive size, Quatryls feel they have
a lot to prove. From an early age, they are encourage to study as much as possible about many different subjects. Though you will find expert Quatryls in any field, they seem to have a particular affinity to engineering and machinery. Their long, delicate fingers allow them to build all manner of intricate contraptions to make life easier and augment their inferior physical strength. Though they are not numerous, Quatryls can easily integrate themselves into any society due their expertise in
critical fields and their charming, graceful demeanor. Only a fool would shun a Quatryl's offer to help.
HUMANS
Humans are by far the most dominant of the races, spreading
across across the world like a plague, erecting bloated cities and disturbing slumbering forces they can never hope to understand.
The human society is one of rules and regulations, but also one of great diversity. Due to their intense curiosity and relentless spirit, humans can find themselves walking almost any path
imaginable - from the obscenely wealthy noble to the scoundrel living in the shadows; from the medic dedicated to the healing arts to the corrupted pursuant of dark magics.
Though human kingdoms will rise and fall throughout the ages, very few things could threaten their continued presence in the world.
AESTHERS
Thought to once be human, Aesthers were an intellectual
society that delved too deeply into their studies of trans-planar travel. Something went horribly wrong.
They now live an eternal existence trapped between the planes, forced to forever witness infinite realities at once.
Aesthers stay out of the mundane goings-on of the other races and interact as little as possible. Their thirst for knowledge, however, is insatiable, and are willing to use their powers of shifting reality to further this pursuit. With the proper concentration, they can summon anything imaginable into existence.
HARROWERS
"Harrower" is only
the name given to this race in the common tongue, as the name in their own language of chitters and hisses cannot be translated. A single Harrower, as typically seen by other races, is actually a swarm of thousands of insects that have formed themselves into a roughly humanoid shape. These insects merge their intelligence to form a hive mind capable of highly intelligent thought. In congregation, the insects can form sounds that roughly mirror human speech to converse with
other sentient races, though among their own kind, Harrowers are more likely to converse by simply merging their forms and exchanging a fraction of their mass and the experiences it possesses.
Though not necessarily evil, Harrowers do have a poor reputation in polite society due to their nightmarish nature and
unique nihilistic perspective. Their lives are at once very fleeting, due to an individual insect's short life span, and eternal, due to the swarm's persistent ever-breeding nature.
VALRATHS
Though a Valrath's demon-like qualities - reddish skin,
pointed ears and nose, claws and a long, spade-tipped tail - make it feared by many, Valraths are actually, for the most part, well-mannered and gentle, preferring to solve problems through diplomacy rather than violence.
Valraths pride themselves on being able to integrate themselves peacefully into human society, often
becoming wealthy merchants or influential politicians. They prefer to live lavish lifestyles and wear extravagant clothing, as it helps to impress those they do dealings with.
Valraths, however, do not shy away from
baser violent instincts when backed into a corner. They come from a dark and bloody heritage of genocide and warfare, and, as they have become more civilized, have simply made concerted efforts to put their past behind them. These efforts are in everyone's best interest, as the last thing anyone wants to see is a Valrath in the midst of a bloodrage.
SAVVAS
The Savvas value power above all else. This
severe has rocky, uneven skin except for their chests, which appear as smooth, transparent glass. Beneath the surface of that glass is the manifestation of their power - energy cores fashioned from the elements they have mastered. Ice, fire, air and earth - before a Savvas masters at least one of these elements and obtains its power as their own, they are nothing.
Thus, from an early age, Savvas children study feverishly to gain mastery over at least one of the elements, typically spending 20 years of devoted effort to do so. Particularly skilled Savvas may even gain mastery of more than one element and feature up to four separate power cores in their chest. Such Savvas are respected above all others and hold the highest positions in Savvas society.
The Savvas look down on the other races of the world, as they have no mastery of the elements and do not treat the Savvas with the respect they think they deserve. They have been known to live among other races, using their elemental mastery in one form or another, but this is largely frowned upon by the majority of Savvas as a base and primitive way to
live.
VERMLINGS
Vermlings are a scavenging, animalistic race. They feed off
the flesh of the dead, and when they can't find any of that, they are more than happy to do the killing themselves. Though primitive, they typically hunt with crude knives and bows. They are small and weak-willed, so can be controlled by more powerful races with the right combination of food and fear. Left to their own devices, Vermlings form hunting packs and spend their short lives fulfilling basic needs.
Some Vermlings do make their way into human society, though they are largely shunned and feared in such settings, forced to live in dark alleys and feed off of scraps.
With all of this, I hope you can share at least some of my enthusiasm for working on this project and getting it out into the world.
For now, though, I'd ask you to not yet disseminate the images on BGG or the vast reaches of the
Internet. Some of them are obviously still sketches or placeholder images from the box cover. I'll be updating the art as I receive it and you can always find the most up-to-date version here.
I'll probably send out some more background on the world of Gloomhaven and the
specific dynamics of the town at some point as well.
Until next time!
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