WIP Jonathan Hamaoui - Environment
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David stands on a platform bordering a vast cavern that spreads for miles in all directions but to his back. At his feet extends a seemingly unsupported walkway, red glowing energy visible underneath and in unrecognizable patterns along it's floor; metallic railings border each side, cut from the same patterns that adorn the floor. Some distance away, the walkway forks in two. On the left path, the patterns become free-flowing, swirling in great and small loops and curves, as if drawn by some giant brush; On the right, they become a series of clean, intertwined geometric forms.
At the end of each walkway stands a tower. Each one is built from what looks like dozens of distinct buildings heaped up one over the other as high as the rock ceiling, helping to keep it from collapsing. On both, some hundred feet above mid-height, hangs a gigantic banner, each one ornamented as are the walkways. Despite their curious engineering, each building has clearly been designed after an earthly fashion and now serves as a cruel reminder to David of how out of place he feels.
Many walkways start from the towers, running all over the cavern like a massive web, but only one travels through the center of the room, only breaking it's course to slide past a towering structure that stands there. A great pyramidal construction arises from the depths of the cave, it's top meeting the central walkway before opening into three large metallic claws. Inside the claws is something much like a spherical rock egg, if the bird that laid it was planet-size. The egg is cracked diagonally and missing half its shell, revealing in the center a translucent orb shone on directly by great shafts of light coming from a vast hole in the ceiling of the cavern.
The only sound reaching David is that of sand falling through the hole, forming a slow-building dune in a corner of the city.
"So," David thought "That's what he meant by 'Star seed'. "
I'm really enlarging the story here, as I don't have the drawing skills *yet* to illustrate what goes on in my head.
The hidden conversation between David and the being is one where he learns that the civilization living in that world was forced underground through natural disasters. What they call the "Star seed" is a naturally occurring phenomenon proper to their planet which absorbs cosmic rays and solar energy and compresses it to the point where it can no longer be, at which point it will start expanding and occasionally form a new star if released into space. It is the inhabitants of that particular planet that have the task of releasing those seeds when the time comes.
As all (and they are very few) of them are focused on their task, they have not had time to develop an innate sens of aesthetics and must rely on copying other civilizations. This particular city's members have (obviously) focused on one period of humanity to ornate their home. As half the population focused on the organic forms of art nouveau and the other half the strong geometric shapes of art deco, a great debate started, ran for a hundred years and turned into some sort of civil "decoration" war. As none of these aliens (to us) have much artistic sens, they can't break free of this stand-off and are slowly losing focus on their real work. So, they call upon us (David, mainly) to solve this debate.
I hope to find the time to work on the whole scene, but I will probably end up focusing on one main structure.
Any input or advice is more than welcome, especially regarding modelling the cavern as I am not sure what my workflow will be; I don't have a lot of time on my hands and am still a rookie here!
Sorry for the wall of text and thanks for anyone who reads through!
Six-hundred-sixty-six words is worth at least an image, right?
TL;DR Underground aliens fighting an art war..
At the end of each walkway stands a tower. Each one is built from what looks like dozens of distinct buildings heaped up one over the other as high as the rock ceiling, helping to keep it from collapsing. On both, some hundred feet above mid-height, hangs a gigantic banner, each one ornamented as are the walkways. Despite their curious engineering, each building has clearly been designed after an earthly fashion and now serves as a cruel reminder to David of how out of place he feels.
Many walkways start from the towers, running all over the cavern like a massive web, but only one travels through the center of the room, only breaking it's course to slide past a towering structure that stands there. A great pyramidal construction arises from the depths of the cave, it's top meeting the central walkway before opening into three large metallic claws. Inside the claws is something much like a spherical rock egg, if the bird that laid it was planet-size. The egg is cracked diagonally and missing half its shell, revealing in the center a translucent orb shone on directly by great shafts of light coming from a vast hole in the ceiling of the cavern.
The only sound reaching David is that of sand falling through the hole, forming a slow-building dune in a corner of the city.
"So," David thought "That's what he meant by 'Star seed'. "
I'm really enlarging the story here, as I don't have the drawing skills *yet* to illustrate what goes on in my head.
The hidden conversation between David and the being is one where he learns that the civilization living in that world was forced underground through natural disasters. What they call the "Star seed" is a naturally occurring phenomenon proper to their planet which absorbs cosmic rays and solar energy and compresses it to the point where it can no longer be, at which point it will start expanding and occasionally form a new star if released into space. It is the inhabitants of that particular planet that have the task of releasing those seeds when the time comes.
As all (and they are very few) of them are focused on their task, they have not had time to develop an innate sens of aesthetics and must rely on copying other civilizations. This particular city's members have (obviously) focused on one period of humanity to ornate their home. As half the population focused on the organic forms of art nouveau and the other half the strong geometric shapes of art deco, a great debate started, ran for a hundred years and turned into some sort of civil "decoration" war. As none of these aliens (to us) have much artistic sens, they can't break free of this stand-off and are slowly losing focus on their real work. So, they call upon us (David, mainly) to solve this debate.
I hope to find the time to work on the whole scene, but I will probably end up focusing on one main structure.
Any input or advice is more than welcome, especially regarding modelling the cavern as I am not sure what my workflow will be; I don't have a lot of time on my hands and am still a rookie here!
Sorry for the wall of text and thanks for anyone who reads through!
Six-hundred-sixty-six words is worth at least an image, right?
TL;DR Underground aliens fighting an art war..
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