In the darkness of eternity, something moves.
In the silence of space, there is an echo.
She walks- there is nothing to walk on, nowhere to walk to, but none-the-less, she walks.
Ahead of her, there is only darkness, stretching into the superblack of pure nothingness. There is darkness ahead of her, but around her, points of light flicker, and in her footsteps, nebulae churn into life.
Behind her, stars begin to burn.
With her every step, static electricity dances on her skin, urging the elements that will be her children to dance together, to create themselves.

She is the Mother of the Stars, and with open eyes she sees everything that her children will ever be.

She is Nirn'an'aq, Mother of Stars, Heart of the Universe, and she will walk forever so that her children can Be.

This version of our design looks so neat on a male, but we already decided on the Mother of Stars being her name-theme hhhh

They say that anyone foolish enough to venture into the howling blizzard of the north has a death wish. However that has never stopped the youth of nearby villages from trying. Most never come back, but those that do speak of a terrifying creature that chased them out of the frozen, pelting rain. Wanting to see if the legend was true, one reckless youth wandered into the never ending blizzard in search of the evil creature.

It took him 3 days to catch his first glimpse of the creature and even then he was sure his mind was playing tricks on him. Standing calmly amongst the raging blizzard was the creature hed been searching for. It had soft blue-white fur and a pure white mane that trailed down its back to form a bushy tail. The teen tensed, waiting for an attack, but all the creature did was stare at him with its captivating dark blue eyes. When he blinked the creature was gone, leaving him to question if it had ever been real in the first place.

By the end of the week, the weary teen hadnt seen another glimpse of the creature and was beginning to question the existence of it in the first place. Fatigue was beginning to settle deep in his bones and the reckless boy realized just how foolish he had been to trek into such unforgiving lands. When he could go no farther, the teen fell face first into the deep, frost-covered snow, ready to welcome the sweet embrace of death. However instead of slipping into oblivion, he is surprised to find that the storm has finally calmed.

Why do you pursue me, child? A feminine voice, like the sound of wind chimes in a gentle breeze, asks as dark blue, frost covered paws appear in his line of sight. Looking up the youth is shocked to find the creature hed been searching for standing before him, keeping the snow from touching him. Now that he is literally face to face with the creature he can see the dark blue frost markings dancing across her entire body and the swirls of blue throughout her mane.

Amam I dead? The teen whispers, thinking for sure the creature before him is an angel. The glowing clothe draped over her body certainly looked otherworldly.

No, you are not, now follow me. The boy finds the strength to rise to his feet once more and follow the creature. The creature keeps moving at a steady pace, never too fast for him to follow, and he is grateful. He knows that if the creature gets too far out of his vision he will lose her in the snow she blends in so well with. After a while the creature stops and the boy looks at her in confusion.

Why have we stopped? He whispers as he tries to see through the blizzard to see where they are.

This is as far as I take you, the creature tells him as she turns and starts to leave.

Wait, what is your name? The teen calls after her, freezing the creature in her tracks. For a second even time seems to stand still before a melodic laugh can be heard.

I am called Yukiko, the creature says before a gust of wind forces him to close his eyes. When he opens them again Yukiko is gone, not even a footprint left behind to prove she was ever there. Smiling to himself the teen turns back around and finds he is right outside his home. Its at that second he realizes what Yukiko had done, not just for him but for all those foolish youths before him. With a soft laugh the teen returns home to share his story, no longer a boy, but a man.

Sorry this got kinda long, but when I got the idea, I ran with it :D

Xiao Ai, Keeper of the Flame



Within every body there is a mind; within every mind there is a soul and within every soul there is a flame. This flame is the heart of that being and burns brightly from the day they enter the world. Light attracts darkness, though, and darkness easily corrupts. When the Sylestis realized that darkness was trying to put out the flames of all the beings in Sylestia, they decided a guardian was needed to keep that flame alive, bright a pure, thus protecting the being it resided within. That's how the Keeper of Flame came to be. The Keeper of the flame is a breed of Sylesti bred specifically to protect the flames of all those in Sylestia.

Xiao Ai is one of those Sylesti, but in a way she is more important. Many people don't realize that a planet itself is a being with a body, mind and soul. It, too has a flame, and Xiao Ai is the one who guards that Flame, keeping all Sylestia from falling prey to the darkness.

This is Smoothie, she's inspired by frozen yogurt with strawberry and orange sauce. She's very sweet and chill, but not to be underestimated ;)

Has the contest ended now, or was it extended when the Festival was extended?

This is Blarsnelfur, based off of/inspired by the vorpa I colored for the coloring page game. I absolutely adore creatures with red and black color schemes, and that works so well with most of the sylvorpa genes. Sylvorpa are supposed to be one of the most docile species, but probably not all of them are. Blarsnelfur certainly isn't. :)

Astraea, Celestial Guide


There is a legend of a creature that has appeared on starry nights to guide travellers who have lost their way. This creature armour which glows with the light of the moon. It also has wings that sparkle like all the stars of the sky. Its skin is covered in diamonds which appear to glow in the moonlight.

Due to her appearance, those who saw the creature began to call her Astraea. All those who become lost on their journey and are bound to encounter Astraea. She guides the lost travellers until they are on the path they seek before disappearing into the night.

Name: Phyca



She is inspired by the leafy sea dragon, with somewhat more fantastic coloring than those that are commonly found in nature. I like to imagine that the dappled look the Leaf Vines give her imitate the patterns of sunlight diffused upon the seaweed she hides among, and that the hint of teal in her coloring suggests the possibility that she may be poisonous and would be a poor meal for any prospective predators.

Introducing Astora the Summer Sonata:



As for her origins.... time for a (brief) music history lesson!

A well known Baroque composer, Antonio Vivaldi, wrote a series of four concertos based on the four seasons, which were published around 1725. As you would expect, one of these concertos, L'estate, was based on summer. It includes three movements, one slow and two fast. Several aspects of summer are characterized in this concerto, particularly languor caused by the heat, and a fierce thunderstorm. If you're curious, you can listen to it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY1p-FmjT1M

Now, Vivaldi's Summer Concerto is not the only (or even primary) source of inspiration for Astora. A 20th century Argentinian composer, Astor Piazzolla, also wrote a set of four pieces inspired by the seasons. These pieces, The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, depict the seasons with feisty Latin rhythms and a seductive Tango setting.
The modern form of the piece, based on an arrangement by Leonid Desyatnikov, takes Piazzolla's compositions and adds a solo violin part along with several insertions of Vivaldi's original themes to emphasize the parallels between the two composers, different as they may seem. Because the seasons in Piazzolla's home in Argentina would have been inverted from those of Vivaldi (who lived in Europe, very much in the northern hemisphere), the themes of the music are inverted as well, i.e. the Summer movement of Piazzolla's work borrows themes from Vivaldi's Winter Concerto.

Have a listen to it here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8hJES6q0YQ

Astora is obviously named after Astor Piazzolla, who wrote some really cool music with tango and folk music inspirations and was an excellent performer in his own right. I tried to convey the sweltering heat depicted in Vivaldi's works in Astora's coloration, with a wing mutation and some bright, sky blue thrown in to spice things up a bit. I've never been to Argentina in the summer, but I'd like to go some day, and until then, I can just imagine what it would be like and turn those daydreams into pet designs!