Lore Bits: Of Samurai And Bees

Lore Bits: Of samurai and bees

Have had some thoughts lately about two different characters and wish to now share with ya'll what I have crafted for Cryas Darkstalkers lore within this installment of Lore Bits. Today's focus will be on the cursed samurai, Bishamon and the demon bee, Q-Bee.

Bishamon:

Born on January 18th, 1673, during the Edo Period of Japan in the northern region of what would become the Aomori Prefecture.

'Bishamon' is actually not his name. This samurai's true name is Zenbē (善兵衛).

Being a samurai, he was part of a clan. His clan was know as the Tsugaru Clan (津軽氏)

Thus, his full name would be Zenbē Tsugaru (津軽 善兵衛, Tsugaru Zenbē).

He would eventually marry a woman who went by the name, Orin (オリン).

An accomplished and skillful warrior, he was well respected as a force of nature on the battlefield with his tactics, keen eyes, and mastery of his arsenal. Despite many battles, he had managed to live quite a long life by the standards of Japanese at the time. However, a life-changing event would occur in 1722 when he was age 49.

The enemy of his clan, the Nanbu Clan, were making their way into Tsugaru territory, seeking to conquer.

Initially, Zenbē's clan had sent the younger blood to fight. Despite some initial success, the tides were turning in favor for the Nanbu. As word of the ever-snowballing losses for the Tsugaru kept coming in, Zenbē grew worried for not only his people, but especially Orin.

One night, he had a dream where the voice of two spirits sought to provide him with the answer he needed. Upon waking up, he went to the location without telling anyone where he was heading.

Trekking up a mountain, Zenbē happened on the ruins of a monastery. Within, as told by the spirits in his dream, he came upon an armor and blade. While the armor looked intimidating and something within him felt uneasy, the promise of becoming an unstoppable warrior who could save his clan from ruin clouded his judgement. Aware of his age and too worried for his wife and people, he donned the armor and blade.

Immediately, the demonic influence of the pair, Hannya and Kien, began taking hold of Zenbē. With the promise of battle, they initially allowed Zenbē to keep control. Going into a battle that was going on, the Nanbu forces were slaughtered by Zenbē as their arrows couldn't stop him and their weapons bounced off him.

However, after the battle was won, Hannya and Kien would take control. Turning on his fellow Tsugaru kin, the demonic kinnies began a murderous rampage to quench their thirst for blood and souls. Seeing what he was doing, Zenbē desperately tried to regain control, but was powerless.

In time as they slowly began their spree of terror, Zenbē would begin to have his mind be clouded by the kinnies. However, one key moment would allow him to almost regain control.

When Zenbē came across a familiar building, he happened upon his wife. In the fog of his mind, he realized what was going on and tried to stop as his memories of Orin were coming to the forefront of his mind. However, he would kill his wife. As the pair were about to consume her soul, Zenbē's sheer rage and grief allowed him to regain control. However, it would not last as the kinnies, in a last-ditch effort for survival, sought to quell their host. Promising him that they would keep her safe within, allowing the two to stay together. This allowed them to regain control. Hannya and Kien would not seek to double cross on their word, only to make sure that an outburst like that would not happen again.

Upon coming across a temple and seeing inscriptions about the deity, Bishamon, the kinnies sought to rename their host to Bishamon. Their idea was to strike fear into the mortals with the idea that this god of war now walks among them, seeking only for their blood and souls.

This rampage would go on across Japan and eventually make way into China from 1722 till 1807.

After an intense battle with the demon of the east, Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling unknowingly freed Zenbē and Orin from their imprisonment after defeating 'Bishamon'.

Despite effort by Hsien-Ko to break the kinnies by sheer force and Mei-Ling using her Xiānshù arts to banish them, nothing either sister did worked.

Hannya and Kien, per an idea by Zenbē, would be sealed in a tomb among the eerie, volcanic landscape of Mount Osore. With the idea in place, Mei-Ling was able to at least place many talismans upon the kinnies to quell their ability to seek a new host.

Upon making way to Japan and traveling to Mount Osore, a tomb at the highest, most dangerous peak was dug up. The sealed Hannya and Kien were placed deep within and the tomb was promptly sealed

From then on, Zenbē sought to dedicate the rest of his time to seeking a way to permanently destroy the pair as a way to redeem his soul from the horrors he committed upon the innocent. Orin would stick by him to aid in his goal.

While his wife and the sisters would call him by his true name of Zenbē. he decided that as penance, he would keep the mantle of Bishamon as to not tarnish his clan, nor name, any further that he already did with his foolish decision he made all those years ago.

Before I explain about Q-Bee, I must first explain more about Soul Bees as a species/race in Cryas Darkstalkers.

Soul Bees are a race of lifeforms that evolved from a species of Makaiin bees many eons ago. Makaiin bees were a parasitic, solitary species that sought to infect hosts in order to reproduce. However, a mutation occurred that paved the way for the evolution of Soul Bees of the current day.

Soul Bees are a eusocial race that work together for the good of the hive. Among their structure are three sub-species: D-Bees, P-Bees, and the Q-Bee.

D-Bees:

D-Bees, ranging in heights of 1ft to 2ft play the role of scout, hunter, and gatherer of the hive. They scour the territory in order to gain information to inform the hive. Information is not the only thing they seek as they also hunt down a valuable resource: souls.

If a suitable prey is found, the D-Bee will use their speed, venom, stingers, and claws to kill their prey. They do not seek to confront above their weight class as they must manage their energy output properly.

Once victorious, the D-Bee consumes the body and then gathers the soul to keep safe for transportation to the hive. The soul is kept in a specialized organ in their abdomen.

In the time between scouting and hunting, D-Bees will also seek flowers in order to gain nutrients to help fuel their bodies. This allows them to be pollinators in Makai, allowing for a large variety of flora to grow.

Can live for about a few years.

P-Bees:

P-Bees, standing around 3ft to 4ft, take on a number of roles in the hive, from maintenance, caretakers of the brood, defenders of the hive, and distributors of food supplies.

In their role of maintenance, P-Bees will make repairs and improvements to the hive. They make sure everything is sturdy enough for food storage, a 'nursery' for the brood, and for the Q-Bee. The hive is constructed from a specialized mixture of saliva, pollen resin, natural wax produced by D-Bees, and sediment from the surrounding area. While the outside primarily uses sediment for a tougher structure, the inside for the comb structures used to store the brood and food supplies use the other listed materials to allow for some flexibility, while being strong enough to withstand their weight.

The eggs, larvae, and pupae make up what are known as the brood. These are cared for by the P-Bees as to ensure the population is maintained for the good of the hive. When the Q-Bee has laid her batch of eggs, the P-Bees will gather them and place them in special combs so they can be kept safe till they hatch. From there, they are cleaned and fed by the P-Bees till they eventually become new D-Bees and P-Bees.

Built stronger and sturdier than D-Bees, the P-Bees are capable of defending the hive should a curiously hungry predator seek a meal. They have stingers and claws, but unlike D-Bees, fully have the support of the hive close-by, along with food supplies to keep them energized. P-Bees seek to kill when the hive is threatened. When victorious, the prey, along with fallen P-Bees, are consumed for nourishment. Any souls are given to the Q-Bee.

Gathering the honey produced by the Q-Bee, this substance is stored in specialized combs around the hive. The P-Bees are tasked with feeding the entire hive, making sure everyone gets their share of this highly nutritious substance.

Lifespan of about a few decades.

Q-Bee:

Standing at a titan 8ft to 9ft tall, the Q-Bee is the heart of the hive. She plays an important role in the repopulation of the hive and the reason the species are known as 'Soul Bees'.

When D-Bees comeback with souls or P-Bees manage to defend the hive and get souls out of the endeavor, all souls are given to the Q-Bee. Ingesting the souls, Q-Bees begin a specialized process in breaking down the soul in order to get at the unfathomable energy within.

While D-Bees and P-Bees can process stray spiritual energy for nourishment, their bodies are not capable of digesting a soul. Any attempt to do so would prove catastrophically fatal. However, the Q-Bee has evolved to not only do this safely, but efficiently.

The vast energy is used to feed the Q-Bee's ravenous need for energy to do several things: produce eggs, fuel her body so she can digest more souls, and create a viscous substance used to feed the hive known as honey. The honey of Soul Bees is packed with an immense of energy and the nutrients P-Bees, D-Bees, and the brood need to survive and thrive.

While the rest of the hive will put their lives on the line, should a powerful threat start to prove too much, the Q-Bee will step in as the final line of defense. Despite her immense size, she is fully capable of flying with great speed and maneuverability.

Beyond her speed, she is equipped with claws, stingers, and venom like her fellow D-Bees and P-Bees. However, these are far more deadly with her sheer size and speed, allowing her to impale and tear with ferocity.

Another trait she has are specialized toxic scales that can be emitted from her wings. These scales can irritate the skin and lungs of victims.

The Q-Bee exoskeleton evolved to be extremely tough.

Using specialized signals via vibrations and pheromones, the Q-Bee can rally and fully control her hive to fight more effectively beyond their instincts.

Unlike the rest of her hive, the Q-Bee is the only one with a fully-fledged soul and thus the capability to think at an intellectual level beyond instinct. This allows her to plan and strategize.

The Q-Bee is the only one capable of speech and thus has the ability to talk with other lifeforms. In general, she can speak the Makaiin tongue to some degree.

Jedah managed to make contact with a Soul Bee hive millenia ago. He was curious about the ability of the Q-Bee to so easily reduced souls to tangible sources of nourishment. In studying her, he gained a better understanding of souls and thus his own being and ability to manipulate spiritual energy.

In return for allowing his studies, he granted them protection and a steady source of 'food' to maintain the hive.

When the time comes for the end of the Q-Bee's life, a signal is given to D-Bees to seek a suitable host. Prepping them with more honey than usual, D-Bees seek to find a competent host and bring them back to the hive alive. Once one is brought back, the host is paralyzed via a special venom. From there, the Q-Bee emerges to pierce the host and insert a special larva inside their still living body of the victim. From there, the Q-Bee dies. The body of the victim serves as an incubator and food source of the quickly growing larva. Once ready, the still growing Q-Bee will emerge from her incubator. The hive will then seek to care for the new Q-Bee till she has fully reached maturity within a few days of rapid growth and change. From there, she will then care for her hive and assume her role.

The soul of the past Q-Bee is used as the first soul to be consumed by the new Q-Bee to begin her role in creating a new brood and food for her hive.

In the chance a Q-Bee dies in combat, the soul of the Q-Bee will influence a P-Bee, likely the strongest, to undergo an extremely quick metamorphosis. While this will cause some of the food supply and fellow P-Bees and D-Bees to be consumed to fuel the transformation, once the P-Bee has transformed enough to become the new Q-Bee, the soul of the deceased Q-Bee will then feed herself to the new Q-Bee to allow for the extreme hunger to be quenched and to quickly get the hive back into healthy order.

Due to her role, the life span of the Q-Bee can be for around a century.

That should do it for this installment. If ya got questions, feel free to ask and I'd be happy to elaborate on some Cryas Darkstalker lore regarding what I talked about. 😎😙

Is BB Hood in this universe? If so, what's her deal?

First of all, thank you for your question and being the first one to ask!😆🙌

Next, allow me to answer this question. BB Hood is in this mythos as an antagonist. In a sense, not only is she the whole idea of 'humans being monsters' or 'wolf in sheep's skin' ideas, but she is also a high-functioning sociopath. She only cares about her desires and sees everyone else as a tool for her to use for her own gain. There are at least two exceptions to this: her grandmother and her dog Harry. Granted, while the dog is part of her tactics of deceit, she does care for the dog to keep it healthy and cared for.

As for when she shows up, she is active during the events of the mythos when Jedah is doing his whole thing of getting worthy souls. In the Majigen, she basically serves to be a persistent antagonistic force to the group of characters who have banded together to go confront Jedah and get out of this new realm. While only human, her vast arsenal of weaponry and combat tactics make her a danger to everyone involved.

The only other thing I can add is that I personally see that she doesn't have a real name and it is never known. BB Hood and Bulletta are aliases she has gone by. I personally like Bulletta, but either name works in Cryas Darkstalkers. As for her age, I don't have one fully in mind, but she is intended to not be an adult. Probably teenager years. As for her country of origin, while I don't have one in mind, I'd probably go for her being European, specifically from the areas of the Nordic regions or even Russia.

While it isn't her current design as of yet, have this old sketch of Bulletta I made some years ago:

Mei-Ling Design Notes and Inspiration 2/2

If you stumbled on this randomly, please go read part 1 first before engaging any further. Please and thank you.😊🙏

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Mei-Ling Design Notes and Inspiration 1/2

Unlike her younger twin, Mei-Ling actually went through a large degree of changes compared to both versions of her design in the main timeli

With that disclaimer said, now we gotta talk about the Dark Embrace Burst for Mei-Ling. To be frank, most of the origins of how I came to give it to her and Hsien-Ko is basically already stated in Hsien-Ko's design notes, so you can go there to get an idea.

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Hsien-Ko Design Notes and Inspiration

One thing about Cryas Darkstalkers is my desire to not only write and think of the characters differently based on official information and

However, I would like to talk about some aspects of Mei-Ling's design in this form. The first time I drew her, it was super simple.

The first big note of change was with @capyguava rendition of Mei-Ling.

The additional markings on Mei-Ling's face were honestly beautiful, so I reworked her face to incorporate some of those ideas. Later on, made a render that fully showed of some other details.

The markings at her legs and feet and the mirror on her back. Having the mirror on her back was not only a call back to how the mirror was on her in her main timeline design, but also just really love the idea of how all that Qi and Corriyami in her body just sprouts out from there. This shot from her ref sheet shows off how there are some changes to the mirror as the story progresses.

The latest full render of her Dark Embrace steps up to show how her shadow can really look.

However, I want to give special notes to these two commissions made by O_C_o_r_v_o and aamiraglia.

I love the ideas they gave with the way her shadow can look. Like a flame or like water. It is sublime and I want to keep these in mind for future illustrations. Last note about the shadow: the shadow dragon. While the form her shadow can take is only limited by Mei-Ling's imagination, I really want to note the dragon. In a way, it is a form of catharsis for Mei-Ling. Utilizing the form of a dragon to bring down those who oppose her and Hsien-Ko. But also, it makes her feel connected to her mother as the shape of the dragon is similar to their mother's dragon form. The memory of that night is still quite strong. Makes it feel like her mother is aiding her in battle. It is ferocious in appearance, like Mei-Ling in this burst. But it is still eerily beautiful in a way with its majesty, like Mei-Ling.

Now to talk about Mei-Ling when she was human.

Off the bat, she doesn't really look that different compared to the major changes Hsien-Ko underwent when she became a jiangshi. However, I still wanted there to be some kind of difference. The biggest thing would be her hair. This is where Murai Shinobu comes back into the picture. I cannot say enough my love for her designs of Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling and how much her 'Share' doujin means to me and helped to influence some aspects of the sisters for me. In a way of tribute, I wanted Mei-Ling's hair as a human to have the same general style that Murai draws for Mei-Ling: a straight bob cut.

Overall, rather normal and nice for this young mystic warrior. Her hair color was also different. While Hsien-Ko as a human had cool shades of black hair, I wanted Mei-Ling to have more warm shades of black for her hair. Not too drastic a change in hair color when she becomes a jiangshi. Her eyes were also changed. Again, kind like what Murai did, I went for some shade of brown for Mei-Ling's eyes. As for her clothes, once again a bianfu. As a twist, the colors of this bianfu are the reverse of her later beizi's color scheme. Also gave her red trousers as to keep her whole color scheme being very warm and vibrant.

In Darkstalkers, some crossover games they have appeared in, and even a number of anthology stories, Mei-Ling has been shown to be able to move and talk. To represent herself, she has a simple cartoon face of a pair of eyes and a mouth.

That is all well and good, but I wanted to go further. I got inspiration from this very funny random sprite of a card of the sisters doing a costume swap.

With that swap, Hsien-Ko became the ofuda. However, her ofuda form has her hair and a hat. I wanted to do the same for Mei-Ling. My first time drawing that is shown in the 'Jiangshi Tongue' piece I made.

Expressive and cute. However, when going about making the ref sheet, I stumbled upon this picture made by the wonderful artist skm_nnm.

I adore the idea of Mei-Ling being able to fly like a little paper spirit! Which… to be fair she is. So that detail is now part of her ofuda form for Cryas Darkstalkers. Some tweaks here and there, namely making her still feel like she is paper being and thus flat but giving enough details to her hair and hat in this form.

That should wrap things up with this very long two-part blog. I hope you can understand my sheer love and adoration for both sisters, especially showing a lot of love for Mei-Ling as she really deserves it. 😊💛

Lot of searching and thinking with an end result I am super proud of. I hope you take care and have a good day!

Happy Birthday!!

In Cryas Darkstalkers, Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling were both born on February 17th, 1730. Today now marks their 294th birthday! Wish both of these wonderful women a Happy Birthday!🥹🥳💙💛

If you'll pardon me for asking, regarding your Darkstalkers AU, why make Felicia a wrestler instead of a pop star? Is there any special reason why, or was it just for fun?

Oh no worries, I am happy to answer. 😄 In Cryas Darkstalkers, Felicia is fully intended to be Mexican: both her biological parents being of Mexican descent, but importantly her adopted mother, Ramona Rose, is a Mexican living in America. Thus, Felicia grew up with such a culture. As she grew up, she was an avid fan of the luchador, El Santo.

en.wikipedia.org

El Santo - Wikipedia

Collecting comics when she could afford to buy them with allowance and watching any film she could of him. He was basically her idol and hero, as he was for basically the country of Mexico. Dude was crazy famous. Through him, she gained a love for acting and the sport of lucha libre.

(Art by Mastermaindd) While she hoped to maybe one day meet the legendary luchador, he would pass away before she could reach adulthood. Into adulthood, she is primarily an actress. Not only for her passion to entertain, but as a way to eventually catch the hearts of all to show how the unity of humans and non-humans was possible considering the loving mother she has and the people of Taos, New Mexico that grew to accept her. However, her love for lucha libre still burned fiercely in her. Once she built the foundation of her career as an actress, she would also pursue her passion of lucha libre on the side for fun. That would catch the eyes of people in Mexico in time. As a luchadora, she goes by the name of La Santa, in honor of El Santo.

(Art by Alm) In the end, just wanted to give some further depth to my interpretation of her. Considering I myself am Mexican American, wanted to do a bit more for her other than just saying she is Mexican in my mythos. So, the luchador angle was a fun one to give to her. Plus, like wrestlers, they entertain. And actors/actresses entertain, so why not have El Santo, one of the most famous individuals in Mexican history, be the reason she was inspired to go down the path she went. I hope this answers your question. 🫡 Have this bonus art advertising a charity match between La Santa and a fellow luchdor from the motherland:

Art is made by my friend Tori.

Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling Lore Bits 2

Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling are polylingual. Both sisters are fluent in Manchu (their first language), Mandarin, Cantonese, and English.🗺️

Mei-Ling can also understand well enough Burmese, German, Spanish, and Japanese. This comes down to mostly because of allies and friends over the years who speak these languages.

Both sisters can read the writings of the Crylesh and Ech Tung languages.

Both sisters have an accent to the way they speak outside of their native Manchu. However, due to being alive for so many decades and exposed to many cultures in their travels, they are fully capable of masking their accents when needed.

When speaking with each other, Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling will default to Manchu.

During their travels, Hsien-Ko likes to wind down by doing a bit of artistic hobbies. From ink sketches to wood carving, Mei-Ling likes to see her sister find a way to express herself and encourages her.🎨

Yes, Hsien-Ko will have her big sis be a model for her when she wants to practice painting people. As her skills and techniques developed, her paintings of her sister got more and more beautiful. This makes Mei-Ling very bashful of seeing herself being painted in such a way. 😊

The coffin that Hsien-Ko and Mei-Ling use can fly relatively quicky. However, it is limited by the energy that Mei-Ling can put into it via her Qi. To combat this, Mei-Ling goes through exercises of a mental and physical nature to help her.

Via training, she is able to further efficiently channel her Qi to help fly the coffin for longer periods of time. Of course, there are nights where Hsien-Ko will let Mei-ling rest so she can build up energy for when it is needed.

Also, Hsien-Ko pulling the coffin still helps her build up strength and stamina as the bed/storage unit of the Shao Sisters is still heavy. Plus, she wants to help her sister out whenever possible plus see the sights of the world as they explore.

There are the rare times when Mei-Ling will pull the coffin herself by hand. While not able to pull it physically for the long distances that Hsien-Ko can, it is needed when going through a settlement. Plus, further helps her build stamina and strength.💪

Sometimes, Mei-Ling will do it purely to help her train when she and Hsien-Ko are already far out of the range of human settlements. Hsien-Ko will cheer on her big sister, which Mei-Ling appreciates.😆🙌