(Thread contains a cool centipede and some centipede design elements, but nothing gross!)
So I've got this little side project I'm working on in between commissions, and I've taken a break from the species guide in favor of fleshing out the world/lore more since it's very centered around magic derived from the four in-universe gods.
Currently, I'm working on the death god, and I've hit a bit of a roadblock.
 | This was my initial prototype (right), and second prototype (left), but I ended up not liking the mantis style of arms I went with there. I worked out the colors to a degree I'm content with, but it's the actual anatomy of the design I'm having some trouble with at this point....
Frignilfyr is one of the terrestrial gods, and governs the element of earth (alongside death/decay), therefore it makes sense for them to have some kind of burrower look. At the same time, I want to maintain some amount of gangly/skeletal appearance to them since they are a death god.
Mostly, the mantid arms were an aesthetic choice because I wanted to have the sort of pseudo dual-hip appearance that mirrors the stacking of arms/shoulders. So I kind of want to maintain that pelvic shoulderblade that you tend to see on centaur/centaur-like designs, but just ended up scrapping the mantid arms because I didn't like them. |
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Essentially, I know for sure I want to have the centipede legs at least in the very back (forgive the ugly sketched ones in the first two pictures, it's... a lot of segments, it's very time consuming)... but I'm not sure what to put up front, or even if I should carry the centipede legs all the way up the torso along to the pelvic-shoulder area.
Maybe they should be more like a Scolipede and have 4 legs, then a longer tail with all the centipede appendages?
 | But I'm primarily drawing reference (particularly for color choices) from the Flag-tail Centipede! it caught my eye when I was looking up centipede leg references, since it has that funky little flag butt and already kind of matched with the color scheme I had in mind for the death domain as a whole.
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As a final note, I'll copy over the little blurb I have for the ceremony associated with choosing to follow this particular god, just to give a little bit of context for the design as well. Not sure if this might give you any ideas as to what direction the design should go in, but I'll drop this here just in case it's useful:
“I choose the path of Frignilfyr…
In so doing, I shall better understand the deaths of my fellow Ulivari; I shall better reflect upon our existence, and how time flows around us.”
By forging a bond with Frignilfyr, one gains the elemental power of earth, and the esoteric power of decay; outside of being able to shape and control the earth, this means that one may draw on entropy and the natural and necessary destabilization of all matter to either hasten or slow the process, dematerialize that which exists in the physical world, draw physical pain and suffering out from the body of another, and potentially manipulate the flow of time around a particular space. In its most dangerous form, the power of death can be used to destroy to excess, or eternally preserve that which demands destruction.
Any feedback or help would be greatly appreciated!! c: In the meantime, I think I'll probably step away from this design for a bit and go work on concepts for the other three gods.