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Description
By the time of the Third Great Conjunction, a mere 8 Skeksis were still in existence, a far cry from what they once were. Over the centuries since the crystal cracked, they and the Mystics had gradually dwindled as one by one, their kinds withered away. One of those who fell in the intervening years was SkekUl, the engineer.

At the dawn of the empire, SkekUl was vibrant, filled with life and colour as with all of the Skeksis in that early era. With burning coppery skin, the lithe and agile SkekUl of those days created a myriad intricate mechanisms of clockwork, as beautiful as they were brilliant. From small mechanical beasts to delicate watches to stranger things skill, his talent and imagination seemed limitless. Some such creations were traded and given away as gifts, for in those days the Skeksis were not yet the cruel and tyrannical things they would yet become, but far more were kept by the vulture-like creatures for themselves, symbols of their own brilliance.

When the empire's golden era came, SkekUl's ambition only increased. His old creations, beautiful as they were, had been little more than toys. Now though, they took on a more functional aspect: lifts and cranes to transport his creations throughout the castle, moving carts driven by wood and charcoal, great mills that operated without the need for a single worker or slave. To the Skeksis, these were all simply more signs of their own superiority, things they used as proof that it was they, not the Gelflings, not the Mystics, who were truly the greatest race Thra had ever seen.

Yet things were not to last. SkekUl had been always amongst the oldest of the Skeksis, and even at the very beginning of the golden era he was already beginning to slow. Whilst the others were at their peak he was withering, his decline a dark reminder of a future that awaited all of them. But as his body decayed, so too did his morals. He began to grow erratic, violent, antisocial, locking himself away for weeks at a time, for woe betide anyone who disturbed him. The land was scoured to fuel his ever more ambitious creations, which only grew ever more complex and elaborate in his vain attempts to continue proving his brilliance, to the point of even beginning to attempt to harness the power of the crystal itself (The research would prove vital to SkekTek's later studies)

563 trine after the crystal cracked, SkekUl was found dead in his laboratory, his crumbled remains lying in front of an unfinished device. He had vanished several months previously, but only now had anyone thought to check on him, and even that was merely to request his service in repairing a moving cart which had broken. He was hardly the first of the Skeksis to die of course, but his death was one far more shocking than any that had come before. For it had come by all accounts not from poison, not from injury, but from simple old age. Thus marked the beginning of the end of the golden age of the empire.

It was a grim portent of things to come.

---

I've been a fan of the Dark Crystal ever since I first watched it as a kid, and so I finally decided to get around to making a Skeksis OC: SkekUl the engineer. Hope you guys like him, I'll probably be featuring him in a lot more art from now on.

---

Character and artwork belongs to

All publically recognizeable canon The Dark Crystal characters, settings and situations © Jim Henson / Brian Froud/Universal studios
(No commercial use or copyright infringement are intended)

Description
By the time of the Third Great Conjunction, a mere 8 Skeksis were still in existence, a far cry from what they once were. Over the centuries since the crystal cracked, they and the Mystics had gradually dwindled as one by one, their kinds withered away. One of those who fell in the intervening years was SkekUl, the engineer.

At the dawn of the empire, SkekUl was vibrant, filled with life and colour as with all of the Skeksis in that early era. With burning coppery skin, the lithe and agile SkekUl of those days created a myriad intricate mechanisms of clockwork, as beautiful as they were brilliant. From small mechanical beasts to delicate watches to stranger things skill, his talent and imagination seemed limitless. Some such creations were traded and given away as gifts, for in those days the Skeksis were not yet the cruel and tyrannical things they would yet become, but far more were kept by the vulture-like creatures for themselves, symbols of their own brilliance.

When the empire's golden era came, SkekUl's ambition only increased. His old creations, beautiful as they were, had been little more than toys. Now though, they took on a more functional aspect: lifts and cranes to transport his creations throughout the castle, moving carts driven by wood and charcoal, great mills that operated without the need for a single worker or slave. To the Skeksis, these were all simply more signs of their own superiority, things they used as proof that it was they, not the Gelflings, not the Mystics, who were truly the greatest race Thra had ever seen.

Yet things were not to last. SkekUl had been always amongst the oldest of the Skeksis, and even at the very beginning of the golden era he was already beginning to slow. Whilst the others were at their peak he was withering, his decline a dark reminder of a future that awaited all of them. But as his body decayed, so too did his morals. He began to grow erratic, violent, antisocial, locking himself away for weeks at a time, for woe betide anyone who disturbed him. The land was scoured to fuel his ever more ambitious creations, which only grew ever more complex and elaborate in his vain attempts to continue proving his brilliance, to the point of even beginning to attempt to harness the power of the crystal itself (The research would prove vital to SkekTek's later studies)

563 trine after the crystal cracked, SkekUl was found dead in his laboratory, his crumbled remains lying in front of an unfinished device. He had vanished several months previously, but only now had anyone thought to check on him, and even that was merely to request his service in repairing a moving cart which had broken. He was hardly the first of the Skeksis to die of course, but his death was one far more shocking than any that had come before. For it had come by all accounts not from poison, not from injury, but from simple old age. Thus marked the beginning of the end of the golden age of the empire.

It was a grim portent of things to come.

---

I've been a fan of the Dark Crystal ever since I first watched it as a kid, and so I finally decided to get around to making a Skeksis OC: SkekUl the engineer. Hope you guys like him, I'll probably be featuring him in a lot more art from now on.

---

Character and artwork belongs to

All publically recognizeable canon The Dark Crystal characters, settings and situations © Jim Henson / Brian Froud/Universal studios
(No commercial use or copyright infringement are intended)