Gooday everyone,
Welcome to the Deacon Corner. If you’re new here, this space dives into the inspirations behind the images you’ll find throughout the books on these pages. What began as a place to share commission breakdowns has grown into something more. In addition to detailing how each piece came to life, you’ll now find expanded chapter notes, lore entries, and my own black-and-white concept illustrations which are raw glimpses into the ideas that shaped this world before they fully took form.
Before we begin, it’s important to say that none of the beautiful stylized images found in the hard and soft copies of these books would exist without the incredible talent of Sickjoe who is quite literally the heart and soul of this visual world. If you appreciate his work as much as I do, I highly encourage you to visit his gallery and explore more of his creations.
Now, without further ado, let’s take a look at the featured image and learn a bit more about the lore hidden in this chapter.
Forged from the hardened deposits of an engineer’s soul, the blades of Kath’le Kal are born within the vibriatus, sharpened by suffering and sacrifice. Each is unique, an extension of the engineer’s psyche, a weapon beyond compare.
Following the fall of the dragons, Icarus and Persephone face one another with these terrible relics.
Icarus draws his blade from his own chest, the hilt biting into his wrist as if feeding on his resolve. Persephone’s weapon emerges more violently—her final Id, Rage, bursts forth from the base of her spine like a scorpion’s tail, curling forward with a shriek. The blade juts from Rage’s throat, a serrated shard of fury erupting from her maw.
Though often described as singing steel, these weapons are more akin to the mandibles of a foreign insect, forged not just to cut, but to puncture, tear, and disembowel. Each blade reflects the engineer who commands it:
- Velbrava’s is a dagger, small but merciless.
- Persephone’s is a monstrous greatblade embedded in the throat of her skull-headed Id.
- And Icarus’s is a long, rusted sword whose hilt bears teeth, clenching his wrist in a steely grip.
To wield these blades is to bare their very souls, their most lethal weapons of all.