Of Knives & War (Patreon)

So, confession: I 110% meant to put a post up on Wednesday reminding you guys this was a partial admin week. I forgot. This has been SUCH a week, my productivity has been minimal. So, um, please accept my felinest apologies for that!

Onto the fun!

First, Ranthia's (potentially) final knives, made from adamantium and shaped by iterating her designs:

As always, credit goes to Sarah "Neila" Elkins for the design commission!

You might recognize the hilts/grips of the knives, they're copied from the pugio-inspired knives she was gifted back when she was a young Adventurer!

The curve is something Ranthia introduced as she started testing designs. It better suits her dancing combat style (and there's a reason longer modern knives are usually curved). The "blood groove" (fuller) is an artifact of Ranthia trying to maximize the amount of material she had access to at that stage of [Adamantium Symbiosis] rather than weight reduction—a little more material for the length and width of the blades. What will she do once she finishes bonding with the adamantium she has left? RAFO my friends!

Now that you've seen Ranthia's final knives, it's time to see the full size L3 paragraph divider (marginalia) I commissioned (again, kudos to Neila)!

This one is my favorite, unsurprisingly.

Ranthia's curved slashers are there in the background. The whatsit is more elaborate than ever and interconnected. We also see that it stems from the bottom point of the symbol of the five gods (the point that represents Xaoc!). And yes, that's the canonical symbol of the five gods, I worked with Selkie to design it! This also introduces the third circle. The light silvery grey of Mirror, the pitch black of Void, and the dark grey of adamantium (representing Magic Metal). That's the same shade Neila used for the base for the knives too!

But that's not all for this behind the scenes, I also have... easter eggs!

When I commissioned cover #2 I asked Nozomi to try to hide a couple of subtle details, and I'm curious to know if any of you noticed them beforehand!

First up...

Hello White Dove. Black Crow's perched there, but his counterpart is revealed in the Unbreakable Image's reflective shield!

Next...

Adamantium bracers crumbling to adamantium sand! This ended up a bit more noticeable than I wanted, though the lettered cover nicely conceals it. I know at least one of you was concerned that Ranthia was unarmed on the cover when I unveiled it, but nope—she's got her knives! They'll be in her hands momentarily.

This one wasn't really an easter egg, but...

Ranthia's hair being immaculate despite the state of her gear was also meant as a hint! Albeit one that's probably hard to appreciate, given the usual glamour of cover art.

And the last item definitely isn't an easter egg.

The symbol of the five gods, once again! Set over the laurel wreath, representing the Rangers.

So how many of these details did you see? I love the cover just as much as I love the first one (seriously, I can't recommend Nozomi highly enough if you want gorgeous art commissions) and I'm excited to finally share some of the details and their meanings!

That's all for this post, I'll see you Monday for Chapter 21!