Purple Frost Au - Tumblr Posts
Purple Frost Layton AU
I've had this AU on my mind for quite a while so hear me out guys.
The premise is this:
There's an old Kingdom in the mountains of Askalia called Purple Frost (due to the very unique hue of the ice of the mountains).
(there’s a typo in the image - *Northern)
This Kingdom is divided into two courts the Azures and the Crimsons. The two courts are divided by a really high mountain called Frostbite that basically works like a frontier to avoid anybody from the opposite court to enter the other court's territory.
These two courts are not enemies but they do prefer to keep their distances from each other and there is some slight Cold-War-like tension between them.
- the rest is under the cut -
The Crimsons have a very solid system based on a King, three Viceroys and a dozen of Magistrates and Councillors all the way down to Commoners and Servants that lay at the bottom of the hierarchy.
Nobody really know the identity of the Crimson King for he passes all of his days in the highest tower of the Crimson Castle and nobody can tell who he is.
So basically the Viceroys do all the work aside from some rare times when they receive letters from up high.
The Azure Court is different tho, all this hierarchy stuff is not there and their system is quite simpler.
They have a King, that interacts directly with the population, and an Army directly under the King.
What the King says they do and that's pretty much it.
Now, before I further analyse the courts let me set some characters in place.
In the Crimson Court we have:
• Clark Triton as the Third Viceroy
• Desmond Sycamore as the Second Viceroy
• And Henry Ledore as the First Viceroy
• Clive, Luke and Flora work as assistants for the Third Viceroy
• Angela does the same but for the First one
And of course Raymond is Sycamore's assistant
(If you are wondering were Randall is I can basically tell you that he is the only one that actually knew the king and one day he just disappeared after going in the mountains and is presumed dead, infact if he was still alive he would be the First Viceroy)
The Azure Court is mainly based around Targent so the King is obviously Leon Bronev and Emmy is a member of the army and is quite close to the King.
Now back to the plot!
In these world there are not only the humans that live in the courts and, well, there are not only humans in general
Another race that lives in Purple Frost in the race of the Witches
Why am I calling it a race tho?
Well cause being a Witch is not simply connected to being able to use magic, these Witches are a species of mutants that basically behaves like butterflies/moths.
There are two kind of Witches:
• Northern Witches
• Southern Witches
Northern Witches are basically humanoid moths
They usually transform into their insectoid forms during the night and fly around the Crimson Court (in the CC there is a set of rules that dictates a Curfew after a certain hour to allow the witches to go freely around. The CC is in fact quite respectful of the witches and does its best to allow them inside the city at night without hurting any civillian. Going around during the Curfew can result in well... first of all death, if a witch decides to feast on you, but it mainly results in a very serious arrest and, if the violation is repeated, it can result in a death penalty)
Southern Witches are just like Northern ones but instead of moths they take the shape of the butterflies
They only move during summer and spring because they live near a river on the side of the Frostbite
Said river is what gives them their magic powers but since they have to bathe within it to recieve them they freeze themselves up during autumn and winter to only come out when the ice melts
Some of them tho actually live in the courts but undercover without taking their insectoid forms
• Descole's a Northen Witch but he never takes his insectoid form for... well... gotta say obvious reasons considering he is Sycamore and he has to work as the Second Viceroy
But, as I said before the people in the courts are not the only ones in the Kingdom
Outside the courts there are:
• Witch Hunters
• Thieves
• Mercenaries
Not much to say about the Witch Hunters
the name speaks for itself
They are an illegal faction tho, the guards of the Crimson Court condemn their actions and nobody really knows when or where they were first assembled and where their hideout is
• Clive Dove is secretly a Witch Hunter
• Descole fakes himself to be a Witch Hunter only to spy on them and avoid attacks (that is, of course, when he is not busy being the Viceroy)
The Thieves are a weird faction
They do not work under anybody and nobody really know anything about them
They are said to be a legend but some say they have actually been seen
They come at night and steal from the shops only leaving their symbol behind, another reason why the Curfew is extremely important
And finally the Mercenaries
Not much to say about them either
They are third parties that do not work for neither court but are usually hired to spy or infiltrate the opposite court
And now the last piece of information about this AU
The final piece of the puzzle
• M a s k s
Both in and outside the Crimson and Azure court everybody wears a mask
But what kind of masks?
Well, the Masks are created from the purple stained stones of the mountains and cut into similar shaped plates that once applide to someone's face take appearance and colour based on who wears them
Those who wear a mask cannot fake their emotions for the mask will show them anyways (but wait! There's a catch! This only applies if the mask is fully worn, meaning it fully covers the face, but not all masks are like that and I will explain it later)
They can only be blu, red or purple for these are the only colours the pigment of the original stone has
In the Azure Court they become blue and, except for the king, they always almost fully cover the face of the wearer
For the King it's different tho
The King's mask only covers his eyes (a bit like Descole's mask)
The Crimson Court is a lot more complicated
Depending on your status in the hierarchy the mask covers more or less of your face and takes a brighter or more pastel shade of red (see the picture)^
Meaning the Viceroy will have a small red mask and the Servants will have a full mask probably around a really soft shade of pink
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For now this is all the basic info I have written about this AU
I will post something about the way the characters dress and maybe drop some designs in the future
P.S.
Here’s a really dumb edit I did of a screenshot of Clive Dove
Forgive any typos or grammatical mistakes, sadly English is not my first language ‘:)
Here's the design for PurpleFrost!Sycamore
This is one of the first designs I've thought about sooo yep!
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Edit:
I thought that maybe it'd be a good idea to link the AU explanation here to clear things up
I was gonna make a serious digital design sheet like I did for Sycamore but I couldn't wait to draw msjdkdkfk
Have this doodle for now ahaha
The general appearance is inspired to @winter-soltis 's design because I just love it :")
P.S.
The moth is an Eulithis Prunata
The way the wings are reminds me of Descole's cape so... yep
That's our moth
P.P.S.
The outfit is not by any means definitive cause I have to figure out how to make it work with the "moth-fur" on his shoulders
Also
The needle he is holding is a reference to an animation I'm working on where there's a guy made of ice that uses this big ass needle as a weapon and I thought it'd be cool to give needles as weapons to Northern Witches
Don't mind the blue sketch in the upper left, that's a scrap of Clive's design - oops
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Purple Frost AU
I've been thinking...
What if I started a comic about the PurpleFrostAU?
If I find a way to make this work...
Mh...
Mhh...
Fun Facts about Witches:
• They can eat humans even though it is not necessary to their survival. Imagine humans as an extremely tasty food you almost constantly crave but that you can live without (I will be calling their craving "Humger")
• Depending on their level of self-control witches can spend more or less time in their insectoid for and control (or not) their Humger
• Northern Witches are more agressive than Southern ones but lack the use of magic so they are way less dangerous (claws aside)
• Southern Witches tend to isolate from the courts and interact less with humans, they also are way better at controlling Humger than Northern ones
• Even the most self-controlled Witches have trouble keeping their cool in front of blood, they tend to run away in order to avoid loosing their cool or they straight up go feral on the spot
• Northern Witches use ice needles as weapons while Southern ones purely relay on their magic
Thanks for coming to my TEDTalk
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Purple Frost AU
Purple frost! anon here. Thanks for the facts about witches; they're one of the most interesting parts of the au. Have another question if you're up for it - why on earth would the crimson court ever welcome witches if they can just randomly go on a murder spree? (Even if unintentional...) Also, stamp of approval on Des for the notebook inauguration. (Personal fave, and you draw him *mighty nice*)
Aaa thank you so much :") !
Also, the question you ask is quite tricky because I cannot fully answer without spoiling some things
Let's just say that many of the people within the Court itself wonder why but nobody truly knows
There are some stories going around about how the Court is secretly controlled by Witches or some other conspiracy about an old contract stipulated with them but nobody knows the truth (aside from the King that is)
Thank you so much for the question!
I should be sleeping but I have some news to deliver.
I am currently writing the first chapters of the Purple Frost AU but I am not entirely sure if the way I am planning to present the story can actually work so I will be posting two small chapters to see if they work.
I will still generally keep the chapters quite short for now cause I need to figure out how to progress
I have never actually done anything like this before so...
A scrap of the very first panel of the Purple Frost AU
I changed the format so this didn't work anymore but I like it as a drawing so I'll just leave it here
~ PURPLE FROST ~
• Prologue •
The night has already fallen deep down.
The wind howls silently between the mountains as a dark figure stands still, looming over the nightlights of the Crimson Court.
Their antennas twich slightly as a subtle vibration quivers trough the freezing air of the night.
So soflty that probably nobody else has even noticed it.
"The moon is almost full..."
Thinks the figure.
"Something bad is about to happen."
xxx | Chapter 1 -> (coming soon... hopefully)
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Purple Frost AU
- Author Note -
First things first, I want to apologise for the mess these panels are but I'm still getting used to drawing with charcoal ":)
Also, this chapter is extremely short and more of a way for me to figure out if this format works so if you want to let me know your opinion I am more than glad to listen
English is not my first language but considering the shortness of this chapter I trust my 10 years of English study to have proven useful and I doubt I've made any bad mistake but as the chapters get longer I might screw things up so if you find any grammatical mistakes please let me know
Anyway I hope I manage to actually continue this and thank you so much for reading!
CLIVE DOVE
And there it is ;)
I would have liked to make a digital sheet like I did for Sycamore but I am away from home and I can't draw digitally...
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Purple Frost AU
PF!anon again (figured might as well stop being anonymous) if I kept planning to ask questions as long as you'd tolerate them. Saw the Clive - love the Clive; terrified of the Clive? How'd you come up with the "feathers and thorns" theme? Works surprisingly well, I think. (Also I'll be damned if that cane isn't a sword). Also love the prologue so far! Didn't know you could make charcoal look like that...
Thank you so much and don't worry, I love answering ask so it's fine!
About the feathers and thorns I started by taking inspiration from his surname
So I wanted his design to resemble the white feathers of a dove and along with the cape I put feathers on his mask too
But Clive is haunted by his past and has quite a contorted mindset so just making everything feathers couldn't work; too soft
That's why I decided to put thorns in his mask kind of like a symbol of his past slowly stinging him like an invisible string full of thorns
About that; one interesting fact I can lay down is that the more nervous he gets the more the thorns cling onto the feathers almost damaging them at times
P.S. Charcoal is hellish matter ahahah I have no idea how I even manage to work with it but thank you so much!
P.P.S. ohhh that cane... that cane... 👀
The first Viceroy
Henry Ledore
More about Purple Frost
The Third Viceroy
Clark Triton
More about Purple Frost
The Southern Witches's King
Anton Herzen
More about Purple Frost
The Azure King
Leon Bronev
More about Purple Frost
Okay but what if
what if I picked Purple Frost back up?
witches
Bonus
Picking Purple Frost back up is like being handed a century old paper full of holes and trying to make sense of it
Felix 2020 made some very poor narrative choices when it came to the worldbuilding and now it's up to me to fix them
Nevertheless the concept stays fire
