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AtmaFlare — Ruadan, the fomorian spy

#balor #bres #characterdesign #digitalart #folklore #fomorian #god #ireland #irish #irishmythology #mythology #persona #scotland #scottish #shinmegamitensei #supernatural #tuatha #scottishmythology #tuathadedanann #goibniu #luchta #atmaflare #octriallach #brigid #indech #credne
Published: 2019-09-24 01:44:02 +0000 UTC; Views: 6240; Favourites: 90; Downloads: 10
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Description -Ruadan, the fomorian spy-

In Irish mythology, Ruadan is one of the fomorians, a mysterious race of monstrous sea-raiders who terrorized Ireland during ancient times. They had a complicated relationship with the Tuatha de Danaan, the pantheon of Irish gods, with sometimes the two races being in friendly terms, some even in romantic relationships, and others with both acting as fierce enemies. When the Tuatha Dé arrived in Ireland the fomorians were already in there for a long time, and so were a group of people called the Fir Bolg, who did battle with the gods. The Tuatha Dé emerged victorious, but at the cost of their king, Nuada, losing his arm, and alongside it, his right to rule his people. One of their warriors, Bres is chosen as their new king, but he ends up oppressing the Tuatha Dé, putting them under the rule of the fomorian tribe, humiliating them and asking huge amounts of tributes in their honor. Bres is eventually deposed and alongside with the help of Balor, the great fomorian king, he declares war on the Tuatha de Danaan, starting a long conflict between the two tribes. Ruadan was actually the son of Bres with Brigid, the goddess and queen of the Tuatha de Danaan, making him only 1/4 fomorian. Nevertheless, he joined his father's army and chose to fight on the fomorian side against the gods. During the war, the fomorians realized that after every battle, the Tuatha always seemed to return the following day with their warriors completely healed and equipment restored, while the fomorian were suffering multiple losses. Puzzled by this, they sent Ruadan, who looked human enough to mingle with the gods unnoticed, to spy on their campsite. There he saw three smith gods, Goibniu, Credne and Luchta, fixing all of their broken weapons in seconds with just a swing of their hammers. On the backside, there was also a magical healing spring managed by the gods of medicine, Dian Cecht and his daughter Airmed, capable of returning any wounded warrior back to full health. Ruadan informed his companions of what he saw and they returned the following day planning an attack. Ruadan once again disguised himself and asked for a new spear from one of the smiths, impaling him with it as he got his hands on one.  Meanwhile, a group of fomorians led by Octriallach, son of the fomorian general Indech, attacked the healing fountain by throwing huge stones at it, but not before the Tuatha managed to heal the impaled smith. Ruadan tries to escape, but is captured by the soldiers and then executed in front of his mom, the goddess Brigid. Lamenting for her son's death, she invents the Keening, a sort of vocal lamentation for the dead.

It's finally over. This is the last one I have for now.

Ruadan was designed to bring some sort of variety to the fomorians, looking a bit more like the Tuathan de Danaan design and color-wise and not being, you know, some sort of beastly humanoid. The same black thorns present in a lot of the fomorian designs are still present betraying his true intentions however...
Since he's the grandson of Elatha, he's got the same deer-like horns as him, albeit in a more monstrous form befitting his character.

Well, hope you all liked it, and until next time!   
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Comments: 14

greatwhiteshark1993 [2024-11-14 07:02:17 +0000 UTC]

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

podob [2020-01-12 05:19:36 +0000 UTC]

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AtmaFlare In reply to podob [2020-01-23 05:50:35 +0000 UTC]

Mostly personal preference, really. I did consider making other versions of the basic mook fomorian with the heads of different animals, with fish being the first in line, but in the end I decided to mix elements from both land and aquatic animals. The goat was picked because they already appeared as such in some places in pop culture and looked more menacing. Ruadan/Elatha's deer-like horns only followed suit with the land animal theme and the rest is history.  

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YumeQueen [2019-09-25 13:43:06 +0000 UTC]

Daora

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

AtmaFlare In reply to YumeQueen [2019-09-26 06:51:59 +0000 UTC]

Brigadão   

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Rose-Hunter [2019-09-24 19:00:49 +0000 UTC]

very interesting Irish cryptid


really nice work

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

AtmaFlare In reply to Rose-Hunter [2019-09-25 06:56:46 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a bunch! Glad you liked it!  

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Rose-Hunter In reply to AtmaFlare [2019-09-25 10:28:13 +0000 UTC]

you're welcome

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RattleAndBolt [2019-09-24 12:51:54 +0000 UTC]

Haven't seen you around here for a long time! This looks awesome!

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AtmaFlare In reply to RattleAndBolt [2019-09-25 07:01:10 +0000 UTC]

I blame everything on college, glad to have that taken care of.
And thanks a bunch, glad you liked it!  

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DoctorChevlong [2019-09-24 06:00:57 +0000 UTC]

Didn't know that one, Ruadan is a cool name I like how he has just one horn, like your version of Lugh !

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AtmaFlare In reply to DoctorChevlong [2019-09-24 06:03:46 +0000 UTC]

This whole project was a festival of obscure figures and names
Yup! 
If I had designed Bres I would've made him pretty similar as well with the horn and all. Him, Ruadan and Elatha are all family after all.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

DoctorChevlong In reply to AtmaFlare [2019-09-24 06:08:52 +0000 UTC]

Logic to keep them physically similar ^^


I'm saying this, but my Hypnos will be completely different from my Thanatos XD

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

AtmaFlare In reply to DoctorChevlong [2019-09-25 07:02:08 +0000 UTC]

Well, they represent such different things, I'm not surprised!  

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