"Quaestor Valdemar Wasnt Interested In People In General. But Suddenly A Young Man Came Into Their Dungeons,

"Quaestor Valdemar wasn’t interested in people in general. But suddenly a young man came into their dungeons, barehanded, with an armful of deadly aconites and a desperate look in his eyes. They couldn’t resist. Doctor № 069 became their favorite – object of studies, of course – and, oh, he was so willing to assist them."

Art: Lunatic Sun

Text: Apostle Jay

(Part 1 of 3)

Death and The Hanged Man

I just recently started playing The Arcana and just fell in love with the brilliant story and art! So this piece is dedicated to my two favorites from my first playthrough

The old sketch of human (or not?) Valdemar.

Because of their antiquity, I came up a headcanon about their origin. So, what about a country near the great river and with the great pyramids? Many lands of the Arcana world have references from India, Arabic region or Mongolia – so, Ancient Egypt? Why not? I can't decide, maybe this is ancient Zadith? There is nothing about Zadith in the canon, just a note in the ArcanaWiki:

"The homeland of Asra's parents, Zadith lies across the Malvent Strait from Vesuvia. This is a country where both science and magic are highly respected. Those who combine both disciplines are known as alchemists."

I think this short description is suitable for the heritage of such civilization as Egyptian.

I’m sad that the history of the world is so poorly developed, but I still love the lore so much. And I’d be happy to read (only from the original writers), say, a brief history of the world. But since there's no any history, I'm taking the liberty (and, a bit, my history degree) to assume: Zadith is the inheritor of some ancient civilization like the Ancient Egypt.

I'm not good at naming, so I will provisionally call it "Deshret" – Egyptian word for "red land, desert". Valdemar spoke about "millennia of existence", describing their antiquity, so I'm pretty sure: they have been born as a human in the ancient kingdom, like the Ancient Egypt. Also, note that red beetle brooch at the neck: similar motives were common in the Ancient Egypt. And, I think, Valdemar had this beetle brooch long before the Plague.

Okay, maybe developers in Portia's route (flashback scene with Prospero and foundation of Vesuvia) just showed Valdemar to us as we know them, because of developing another (kinda "more ancient") sprite and costume for the short scene is not viable. But anyway: we have what we have. What if we imagine that "red beetle brooch" of the Courtiers is rooted not only in the Red Plague? What about a, merely my headcanon, the Egyptian "scarab" motif?

So, there's the old traditional sketch I have. When I drew this pic, I imagined Valdemar just after their first deals with the Devil. Just look at their eyes.🫀

And – of course, they are in the tomb. Maybe as a priest? Who knows, fellow humans.

Just look how beautiful Portia is, sweet girl. ♥️

(love this pairing so much)

Gals being pals

Nobody:

Literally nobody:

Praetor Vlastomil out of the blue:

Source of original pic: WeirdMedieval (twitter/X) – link below:

the m e m e

pretty old one, but I still like it