I'd Meditate With Keralis

I'd meditate with Keralis

Hermit a Day May: Day 4, Keralis, God of Relaxation!

Here's his full portrait :D

I LOVE the inclusion of the brown paper. Using multiple materials like this is so cool!

papa k.... keralis..... big eyes boy.... i originally did the doodle of him on brown paper just as a sketch idea but then. i couldn't be bothered to redraw the entire thing so i just stuck it in my sketchbook!!!!

this is his season 9 skin dreaming about his season 10 base heheheh

Oh no! I have inadvertently caused obfuscation!

Entry 27

Day 204

Guess who was heading NORTH instead of SOUTH. How could one mess up this bad? Well, apparently the sun's direction has flipped! It rises in the west, and sets in the east! The earth has done a full turnaround on how it works! That asteroid really screwed us over.

Although I only learned that fact with the help of a man named Keralis. I just happened to see the smoke billowing out through a forest of Evergreens (Still shocked that those trees are even alive) and followed it to a rather lovely wooden cabin.

I would love to say I turned tail right there and left while I still could! (-Random buildings with smoke means people and I would rather not want to find out if they are deadly-) But my plans were foiled when my foot got caught in a snare trap and left me dangling like a pinta!

And just to make matters worse, guess who happened to walk out at that time!

(Spoilers, the owner of the cabin!)

"Are you alright? No broken bones?"

"A slight head rush! But nothing too awful!"

Now, one may think the most sensible way to untie somebody hanging upside down is to undo the rope around their ankle and lower them down. That would be a perfectly sane, reasonable option.

Not taking an axe and slashing just a few centimeters above your foot and sending you falling head first into the ground.

(My neck still hurts as of writing this.)

"You really need to watch out for those traps! Scavengers and bandits love to use those sorts of things to rob people blind!" The best way to describe his voice was Swedish. (I think. I've only ever heard Swedish accents in old TV shows in the G.U.I.D.Es)

"I'll definitely try harder in the future?"

After I had managed to collect myself from that little mishap, the man explained to me what he was doing out there. Apparently Keralis had been living in the woods for a few years now and had rigged it full of traps in case any wanderers (like me) or Stranglers got a bit too close to home.

He seems like a nice enough man. Brought me inside, got me a couple glasses of water and was overall very hospitable. Asked a few questions about where I was going and... Well.

"I'm trying to find the Demon and Heavy-Body Builder. I should get there tomorrow but I haven't really seen... Anything, really."

Keralis had fallen silent at the mention of the names. However... Back then he just sounded like he was holding in his laughter the more I think about it. "And are you sure you're going the right way?"

"Yes? The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Work off of that and you're fine."

"Switch those two around."

"... What do you mean, switch those two around?"

And thus began a minute of the loudest, heartiest belly laughter I've ever heard. This poor man may have died from his laughter if he had not collected himself!

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry! But goodness-" A wheeze and another laugh. "-I haven't met anyone who didn't know that! Of course you haven't found them, you're going the wrong way! Come, come, I'll show you something that should help!"

Keralis showed me a room that would have been any mapmaker's dream come true. There were so many maps pinned up on the walls, feather quills laying about on a cluttered desk, and a huge window that just made the room feel SAFE.

I hadn't realized I had been staring at everything for so long when he set a compass in my hand. "This, my dear friend, will get you where you need to go." He had said with a twinkle in his eyes. (His HUGE eyes, mind you.)

"I... Are you sure? These things seem hard to find."

"Oh nonsense! Nonsense! I can make another one if I really need it. But you, mister, are running around like a dog trying to catch its own tail! In circles!" His hand had fallen on my shoulder at that point and something about it... Just seemed off. His hand was unnaturally firm and felt colder than a normal hand? "Where you need to go is Comparator City! I have a map just for it as well- I know a few people there myself!"

The man kept rambling about something (I can't tell you what) because I had seen something off with his neck. Why was it darker on one side than the other? And what was up with those lines? They looked so much like...

"Sweet face? You are staring!"

"I-I'm sorry, who?" That shocked the ever loving stars out of me. Even now, I have never met anyone who calls a stranger 'Sweet Face.'

"You silly! Sweet Face! Since I still don't know your name after all!" He dropped a rather heavy roll into my arms while I was still in my state of shock. "Those are for you! One map straight to Comparator City, and a few slips of blank paper to make your own maps." Before I could even thank him for his kindness, Keralis was pushing me out of the room. "I have a spare room you can stay in for the night. It's the least I can do for you getting strung up like that! There is also a river nearby, if you need to take a plunge. I've already tested, no flesh eating bacteria in it! Just... Don't drink the water. To be safe."

And... That leads us to now. Me writing in this journal after being able to actually soak in water for once (No more ten minute rushes) and a soft bed for the night. It's really nice here. But unfortunately I can't stay. I need to find The Doctor. And now...

Now I'm just one step closer to finding him.

-MLW

-G.U.I.D.E 67

I love how you used the blur effect around the edges of the figure

hermit a day may day 2 - xisuma 🪰

The detail in that vest is spectacular!

sashwammyvoid !!!! with alcohol marker and fineliners in my sketchbook :D i'm so so pleased w how this turned out n i had so much fun drawing all the little details

Aww he was just looking for someone to help out with his Zedvancements! I'm sure it'd be fine. :)

This whole series is so fun, I want more people to see it.

Entry 25

Day 200

I think I nearly avoided death by not sticking around this guy.

While I was busy clearing out a gas station today, this guy popped out of nowhere! I swear on it! That gas station was as dead as dust and then he just shows up out of the blue! (Or brown? The sky doesn't exactly look blue really.)

He seemed decently friendly while I spoke to him. Rambling on about how he's completing these "Zedvancements" (I still haven't figured out what qualifies for one of those things) and that he needed help on this next one.

Then came the change in attitude.

"You know you could be a really useful person! It's just a second." It started off casual.

"No thank you."

"Come on man! I haven't seen anyone in what? Five, six days? My Zedvancements are boring without anyone to complete them with!" He got a bit louder around here.

"I am sorry but I really can't! I have to go speak to a man about a horse, you know? Can't dilly dally!"

That eye of his... He didn't seem all too happy when I told him no at that time.

(As I'm writing this down, I feel so stupid! He probably just wanted my head on a spike or something!)

"Who are you trying to meet with?" He had started to walk a circle around me then. Like I was prey (AND I SOMEHOW DIDN'T REALIZE. WAY TO GO PAST ME WHAT THE FUCK! WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE NUMBER ONE DUMBASS OF THE YEAR) "There can't be anyone that important that you can't stay a day or two!"

"Well, actually there is. I'm trying to find the Doctor!" And I had turned. Away. Just turned away and walked to the door like there wasn't a single damn in the world. "My arm here needs work to be done. Keeps glitching out!"

I distinctly remember just how shocked he was when I looked back at him. How that golden-yellow eye was fixed on me. How his weird pupil dilated several times over in just the span of seconds. He was getting angry and I hadn't known it at the time.

"You can't be serious! THE Doctor?? The madman?! Are you insane?"

"I am!" I had to of been stupid to keep talking to him, let alone to just crack open one of the last pop bottles that lingered on the shelves (I'm still fine as of writing this. I'm not hurting or sick because of that drink.) "He's the only one who can fix my arm. It's Watcher Tec and Admins were never trained on how to fix that kind of stuff."

"YOU'RE FROM A G.U.I.D.E?!" I swear to you his scream could have scared off a Night Stalker. "That's genuine Watcher Tec?? You have Old Metal??"

"I wouldn't call it that." I had let him see the complex steam system wiring up my arm to my stub. "It's titanium, not the stuff that the G.U.I.D.E.s were made from. And even then, good luck trying to pry that stuff off the walls. Once it's molded, it's stuck for good!"

I hadn't realized he had been staring at me like I was a fool. No, I was too busy chugging my soda. (Still really good by the way!)

"I know a couple of people that could melt it down." He had said oh so casually. (No I did not do a spit take here, shush.) "One's a few days South from here. The other, West. Find one of those guys and they'll help melt down some G.U.I.D.E. metal."

"I'll see what I can do for you. No promises though. Do you have a number or however these things work?"

Annnnd that's how I suddenly have three new contacts in my wrist thingy. (From here on out I'll just call it a Comm, since it's a Communication Device of a sorts, but not exactly like how those old phones worked back in the day.)

Person one (South) is called "The Demon" in my phone. I don't think that's a very trustworthy name, but it could be worse. The second one, however, is called "Heavy-Body Builder." What's a Heavy-Body Builder? Is it important? Dangerous?

And the third...

"Zedaph"

I'll have to make sure to contact that number as little as possible. Leave it alone unless absolutely necessary. That guy was NOT safe. But at least he showed me how to take photos on this thing. Got a reference for the journal though, so it was kind of worth almost dying.

Just got to find The Doctor.

-MLW

-G.U.I.D.E 67