This is where I'll upload progress points on my WIP webtoon. I'll be uploading the story points, sketches, full art pieces, and music I've created for the comic I've decided to title:
Nyafari and the Lost Runes
The Story
"Nyafari and the Lost Runes -- WIP storyline
These are notes that I've written in a physical book but have decided to share here so you can follow the progress of this comic/webtoon. When you see in parentheses "here plays ____" scroll to the bottom of this page and play the music file that coordinates! You can also scroll to see images of the characters as I mean for them to be eventually drawn in the webtoon.
Last updated: March, 25, 2022
Story begins at our main character's rite of passage. (here plays Nyafari's Rite)
We see our main character, Nyafari, cloaked in a ceremonial robe tied with a bow around her neck, her face hidden in the shadow of the cloak. We see a glimpse of her leg and bare feet as she walks down a foresty background.
We then see her uncloaked, drenched, sitting under a waterfall.
She picks up a strand of her hair, examining its vibrant periwinkle and lavender hues.
We see her back in the cloak, her hood now is off her head so we can see her bare face in profile. Just off panel we see 2 hands, one holding a bowl and the other painting Nyafari's forehead.
Close up to her now painted forehead and cheeks.
A crowd of all-female Farei, her people, cheer and chat, speaking of Nyafari's rite and congratulating her.
Nyafari sits on her knees, looking up to an off-panel figure holding a book labeled Rune Keeper Rites. The figure says, "You may now journey on, child. As Rune-Keeper Nyafari."
"Welcome to the Matisyti*"
*Nyafari's path (or 'major' if you will) roughly means magical girl.
"Good luck on your journey, young Matisyti."
(here plays Fareik'ati Day Theme)
We see Nyafari going in at her hair with a knife, cutting her bangs short.
Then we see her tying her hair into two pigtails.
Then a panned out image of her in her new look, holding a pencil.
A close up of her hand, holding a pencil.
And another close up of the same hand but in place of the pencil is a wand, which is a stick with leaves, a tulip and charms attached.
Then we see Nyafari holding a small kitten with a splitting tail. She brushes her nose on his and smiles.
Rite Trial #1
We see the cover of the book from the beginning Rune Keeper Rites, and then we see the same book opened. One page is titled:
"Matisyti
Rune Keeper Path Trials"
(with unintelligible filler text)
The other page is titled:
"Trial #1
Securing your first rune"
With text that reads:
"Caves and Mountains are the sleeping place of all runes.
Journey to Kazeti Mountain for your first rune, the seizing rune (we see a picture of the rune in the corner)
Use the unlocking incantation to clear the words at the trial site"
We then see multiple shots of Nyafari throughout parts of the world, reading the book as she goes along.
In her home, getting ready to leave "When the rune guardian appears, use the rune keeper's incantation to secure the rune"
In her village, walking past huts and scenery "Once secured, the guardian will allow you to grab a chunk of the mountain that he scribes with the seizing rune symbol"
Out the front gate of her village, into the wilds "Reminder: to activate a rune, hold the stone and recite the name of the corresponding rune. Stone will suspend itself until called back by the Rune Keeper, and the spell ceases."
And into the Kazeti mountain, we see her walk inside and immediately come across a stone door (here plays The Enchanted Door). The door is covered in vines and bound by a floral staff and ropes. On the door is a crescent shaped carved into a window and light shines through.
"The Unlocking Incantation, Nyafari" she thinks to herself. Nyafari closes her eyes and starts to glow as she speaks, "Vines unwind, this runestone of mine, a Matisyti, Rune-Keeper Nyafari."
We see the vines move away from the door and the ropes break from the staff. It then opens on its own.
Nyafari, now past the door and inside the cave sees a figure against the cave walls. It doesn't speak, it just sits ominously and in waiting. She then recites the Rune-Keeper's incantation, "We, Matisyti, promise to protect thee." The figure then spun and a rock detached from the cave wall and suspended in the air. It disappeared as the rock fell to the ground. Nyafari went to pick it up and the symbol for the Seizing rune appeared on it before her eyes.
Nyafari immediately opened her book again and moved on to:
Rite Trial #2
The left page of the book is unintelligible filler again with the right stating:
Trial #2
Obtaining your weapon
Trial #3 will test your physical strength. It is time to get your first weapon.
Visit the fae forest.
Follow the vines.
You will come across another enchanted door.
Here we see a different but similar enchanted door and Nyafari recites the unlocking rune once more.
This time we see the instructions from the book playing out as she does it (book shaped thought bubble).
'Unlock the door
Be prepared to defend yourself' (close up of Nyafari's eyes narrowed, looking around)
Nyafari is quickly met by a swarm of bats surrounding her and blocking her from the wall. It takes her no time to realize she must use SEIZE.
She grabs the Seizing rune and holds it out, closing her eyes, she calls out, "SEIZE!!!!"
She opens her eyes to find the SEIZE rune suspended above her hand and the bats frozen in place in the air.
After sighing out (in a small panel done in chibi style), she continues to remember the book's instructions:
'There is an incantations scribed in a crack in the stone wall;
Peer in and recite the incantation'
"We, Matisyti, promise to protect thee."
'If successful, the hidden village will be opened'
We see Nyafari walk into the village in awe.
'Find the weapon forger, tell him you're a new Matisyti and he will guide you through obtaining your weapon."
The village is filled with adult male Farei, a rare site in Nyafari's village. Male Farei stay with their mothers until around the age of 100 moons (~8 years old) and move to villages with other male Farei to take on different roles and responsibilities than female Farei.
She eventually finds the weapon forger's quarters with the help of an elderly Fareik'yl (the name of their tribe).
As soon as she enters the building, a man sitting with his back facing Nyafari spoke, "Word travels fast in Fareik'ylti. You're the new Matisyti from Fareik'ati, then?"
Nyafari initially chooses the lance because she looks up to a legendary Matisyti named Freysiza Naiyala who is known for her skills with a lance and her ambitious journey to become one of the strongest Matisyti, defying and surpassing traditions.
However, Nyafari is very soon met with her fear of her own weakness as she is very easily defeated while wielding a lance. Her physical weakness is one of the main reasons it took so long for her to get where she is. She nearly gave up until...
Weapon forger is impressed at how fast Nyafari is while she wielded the lance. She wasn't strong but she could run and dodge amazingly fast. He knew the perfect weapon for her.
Weapon forger gives Nyafari a choice of weapon and challenges her to a duel. She initially chooses the lance, but after the duel, weapon forger evaluates her, stating she's not strong but agile and says she would be a great archer.
Nyafari receives a specially forged bow, quiver and arrows from the weapon forger and heads back to Fareik'ati as it is starting to get dark.
(here plays Fareik'ati Night Theme)
Nyafari walks into her village wiped out and meets her mom. She shows her mom the rune she acquired and the bow and practices shooting arrows at a nearby tree. Mom couldn't be any prouder. She eventually eggs on Nyafari, as she hears starsingers echoing through the night, to get to bed and we see Nyafari return to regular Nyafari with black hair and normal village clothes, as she hops into bed and mom kisses her forehead. The next trial would be a strenuous one.
Rite Trial #3
We see Nyafari getting back into her True Form while the book rests in front of her and she reads it.
On the left page is some unintelligible filler and some text that reads:
'Trial #3
First weapon test & physical strength test
Is recommended you practice with weapon beforehand.
Head to the nesting cave.'
On the right page reads:
'Here, you will secure the WARD rune, only after defeating the beast that guards the rune.'
Nyafari struggles with this trial. This is the big fight--where we properly see Nyafari's struggles with strength and anxiety. She heads to the site, unlocking the enchanted door and coming face to face with the trial beast. She tries her best to fight using her bow and by heeding the words of the weapon forger, leaning into her agility and dexterity. However, Nyafari's anxiety takes over and the beast manages to push her outside of the bounds of the trial area, behind the enchanted door, and it seals once again. She has to get over her anxieties to work up the courage to enter the trial area again. Her cat, Inidreati, has hidden in her backpack and comes out to help her the second time around. With the help of Ini, Nyafari is able to defeat the trial .
The beast stands on its hind legs and runs in a circle as a piece of the cave wall suspends in the air above it. It roars as it disappears and the rock falls to the ground. Nyafari picks up the Warding rune. She looks at Ini and says, "Thank you, Ini. But... I should've done it alone."
On the way out of the cave, Nyafari recognized the area and decided to visit a nearby shrine of a very famous Matisyti which she idolized, Freysiza Naiyala. "After that, I could use a little break. Right, Ini?" The cat simply meowed.
The shrine was built for Freysiza after she went missing a few years ago. Nyafari prayed at the shrine, taking a drink from the pond that was made and wished she could reach the same levels as Freysiza.
With Nyafari all rested up, she decides to continue to the next trial..
Rite Trial #4--When things go wrong
On the way to Trial #4's destination, Nyafari stumbles upon unrecognizable symbols that looks like runes hidden in a nearby cave when she stopped to rest. Being the scholar she is, she was able to pronounce the symbols even though she couldn't know what they meant. Without having studied ancient text and Farei linguistics, most Matisyti would not be able to decipher it. Especially not a young budding Matisyti. But Nyafari was special. She overcompensated for her lack of physicality with knowledge when she was growing up.
Now her life is about to change forever because of it. Reciting the runes activated a portal to a different dimension...
...And Nyafari was sucked in.
Isekai Time!!!
As Nyafari was sucked into this portal, she was surrounded by falling rock. Though terrified, she was quick-witted enough to yell out "WARD" as her scraped, bruised body free fell through space. A force field appeared around her as she heard loud crashing all around her.
We see Nyafari hunched over in a bubble, falling and surrounded by rubble as the runestone suspends itself and glows within the bubble.
As it quieted, she opened her eyes to find the ward rune suspended inside of a bubble, which she was within. Around the bubble was covered in rubble. Without the ward rune, she'd probably be dead.
We see a close up of Nyafari's face looking down, scraped and bruised.
She timidly walked forward as the force-field and runestone followed her. Rubble crashed around her until she finally saw a light. Once she cleared the rubble she called out "Ward, back" and the force-field disappeared. She looked around. Nothing around her was familiar. "What is this place?" In front of her was an old beat-up castle, covered in vines.
She felt rustling in her bag and opened it. "Ini! How'd you get in there?"
We see a tiny Ini stick his head out if Nyafari'd bag and meow "Grrreow"
Inidreati meows and immediately runs out of the bag into the structure before them. Nyafari chases after him to find him sniffing & pawing through rubble.
Out came a very small burst of light that flew across the corridor and hid behind a cracked door. Nyafari approached the door and heard whimpering.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Where is this place?" a very small frightened voice spoke.
"I don't know... I'm from Fareik'ati. I have no idea how I got here."
"You're a Farei? Are you... a Matisyti?"
"Yes! You're from there too?"
The small light came out. "I'm a guardian of one of the 13 runestones. The guardian of thee healing stone. Please show me your collected runestones?"
Nyafari showed the SEIZE and WARD stones.
"Oh... you're just starting your journey. Normally, a Matisyti doesn't qualify for the healing stone until she's obtained the 2nd element stone, Water. But... I suppose this isn't a normal case. Please, Matisyti... call out your incantation. Nyafari nodded.
"We Matisyti promise to protect thee."
Nyafari watched as the guardian glowed even brighter and flew into a nearby stone. She picked up the stone and heard the guardian speak, as if in her head.
"Matisyti, the other 10 stobes are lost in this strange land. I've heard their cries. Some are terrified and some... are angry. I fear for this land. You must find them. I will help all I can but only a Matisyti has the ability to see and capture the other runestones."
"How will I know where to look? I've no idea where to even begin."
"I'm unsure, myself. There are other beings in this land, I can sense them. I will lead you to them and we can find out from there."
'Other beings... I should put on my glamour to keep my identity...'
⭐🌙With a flick of her wand, Nyafari turned to "normal"
(black hair, no markings, black eyes, takes down hair from pigtails)
And so it continues...
The healing guardian literally lights the way towards a small town...
We see glowing footprints along a forest floor, fading as they go in the distance.
Then we see the gated archway entrance to a place with a lit sign that says "Ferrytown Mall"
LANGUAGE BARRIER
Nyafari tries to communicate with the first person she sees. She is met with confusion as they speak an unrecognizable language (English!). The healing guardian then explains and says they'll ask the universe for a translation. They do... but tbe translation is always a little broken.
Enter, love interest...
He approaches her in this situation, noticing that she's battered and bruise and obviously lost. He asked if she was ok and if she needed help.
His words: "Oh my god, are you ok? You look hurt."
Guardian's: "He asks his deities to approve of you. You appear harmed."
Nyafari forgot what the guardian said and tried to speak in her language. (we see a speech bubble with varying stars and crescent moons, written like speech)
His words: "Oh you must not be from here. Here, I can help you."
Guardian's: "You do not originate from this location. I can assist you in this location."
He then just offered his hand, beckoning Nyafari.
Nyafari asked what he was doing; the guardian responded, "The universe is telling me it's a sign he wants to help and you should only grab his hand if you trust him."
She looked up and he smiled, an odd sight for Nyafari. The Farei don't smile with their teeth.
She then asked the guardian if he could be useful. Without a beat, they simply responded, "Yes."
So Nyafari hesitantly presented her hand. He said, "it's OK" not taking her hand until she made the first touch. She finally did and his hand enveloped hers in a warmth Nyafari has never felt before. Not just physically but emotionally as well. Even looking into his smiling eyes gave Nyafari the same warm feeling.
He smiled again and pointed to his chest. "Dylan." Nyafari asked, "Dylan?"
"Yes!" Dylan replied.
The guardian said, "His name."
So, Nyafari mimicked, pointing at herself, "Nyafari."
"Pretty!" he said.
The guardian translated without being asked this time, "He thinks you're attractive." Her eyes widened as the strange man started leading her, holding hands.
Notes:
Doesn't get her glasses until the interdimensional incident. Her vision is part of the reason why she struggled with her studies (they don't have glasses).
Using the sigil making steps (taking the word used minus vowels, minus repeats), each runestone has a symbol to differentiate it from the others
List of 13 Runes:
Sieze
Ward
Heal
Fire
Water
Air
Earth
Knight
Darkness
Light
...
...
...
(last 3 should be super mahou shoujo-y.)
Stars off storing runes in her pinafore pocket but starts wearing them like pins later on.
They calculate age in months or MOONS
Mom kisses her forehead as she goes to sleep in her childhood bed for the last time--This is later mirrored in the other dimension when Dylan kisses her forehead and she gets teary-eyed.
Little did she know, Nyafari would be seeing Freysiza very soon, even fighting at her side
We later learn that Freysiza was the one who created this portal.
Scribed in the wall (Freysiza's runes recited by Nyafari). THE ANSWER LIES WITHIN DIMENSION CREATION
TH NSWR LS WTHN DMNS CRTN
(pronounced: Thi Neswir Lez Hwithn Dimins-Critin)
We later see guardians create makeshift enchanted doors to protect their territories and Nyafari has to use the unlocking incantation once again.
WE INTERRUPT THIS REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM... to go over how Nyafari will be drawn in the comic. (see picture below under 'Characters')
Cherubic face, chubby cheeks, round chin.
"Bindi" goes from between eyebrows to middle of nose.
Bottom eyelashes are 3, 2, 2
Eyebrows are straight with slight arch at tail
Rounded almond eye
Iris takes half of sclera
Eyelids have epicanthic fold & hood
Upper lid flicks up, bottom is droopy
Slightly cross-eyed
Slight aegyo sal
Low cheekbones
Upper lip and bottom lip same size (soft M shape)
Darker upper lip
The bangs, god, um, just don't touch the eyebrows?
Rounded nose, slightly defined bridge.
Cheek markings go diagonally from inner edge of iris (start with 1 long line on each cheek that makes 'A' shape then intersect 2 triangles with that one line--on each cheek)
Inidreati has 4 phases and 2 forms.
Phase 1: Normal smol kitten
Phase 2: Tail splits
Phase 3: Wings start to grow in (poor baby always wants back rubs)
Phase 4: 2 tails (that sometimes have flames on the ends), wings, still smol... EXCEPT
His 1st form is the size of a young kitten but...
His 2nd form is as big as an adult tiger (he's drawn with panther-like qualities)
DYLAN WILLIAM
The love interest for NatLR
Physical traits:
Eye smiles
Round glasses
Rosy cheeks
Duck lips
Stubble
Almond, hazel eyes
Dirty blond hair
Short round face
Dimple on left cheek
Story and personality traits:
Tribute character to my late boyfriend, Dylan Hamilton Smith
The character that introduces Fari to the new world, leads her, and helps in her quest.
Sympathizes with Fari's feelings of being behind in life and has similar social anxieties as hers.
Has a cat, Cadillac, that befriends Inidreati. "Her name is Caddy. It's short for Cadil--nevermind." (his cat is also a tribute to my boyfriend's childhood cat, Portia, whom he nicknamed Porsche, I assume because of his love for (luxury) cars. She died just a few months before Dylan, at the age if 21, so I like to think they're kicking it in heaven together right now)
To say he's a goofball is an understatement. Hides his fear with jokes and a heart with too much love to give.
Smoking habit
Nyafari's Bow fights beside Dylan's gun
Introduces Nyafari to the concept of glasses.
Nyafari thinks he is beautiful because his hair looks brown, blonde, and red in different lighting (in her tribe, multicolor hair means you're specifically chosen by the universe as beautiful and special)
Sometimes drawn with eyes closed, sometimes open (Naruto reference! Loves Ramen!)
These are notes that I've written in a physical book but have decided to share here so you can follow the progress of this comic/webtoon. When you see in parentheses "here plays ____" scroll to the bottom of this page and play the music file that coordinates! You can also scroll to see images of the characters as I mean for them to be eventually drawn in the webtoon.
Last updated: March, 25, 2022
Story begins at our main character's rite of passage. (here plays Nyafari's Rite)
We see our main character, Nyafari, cloaked in a ceremonial robe tied with a bow around her neck, her face hidden in the shadow of the cloak. We see a glimpse of her leg and bare feet as she walks down a foresty background.
We then see her uncloaked, drenched, sitting under a waterfall.
She picks up a strand of her hair, examining its vibrant periwinkle and lavender hues.
We see her back in the cloak, her hood now is off her head so we can see her bare face in profile. Just off panel we see 2 hands, one holding a bowl and the other painting Nyafari's forehead.
Close up to her now painted forehead and cheeks.
A crowd of all-female Farei, her people, cheer and chat, speaking of Nyafari's rite and congratulating her.
Nyafari sits on her knees, looking up to an off-panel figure holding a book labeled Rune Keeper Rites. The figure says, "You may now journey on, child. As Rune-Keeper Nyafari."
"Welcome to the Matisyti*"
*Nyafari's path (or 'major' if you will) roughly means magical girl.
"Good luck on your journey, young Matisyti."
(here plays Fareik'ati Day Theme)
We see Nyafari going in at her hair with a knife, cutting her bangs short.
Then we see her tying her hair into two pigtails.
Then a panned out image of her in her new look, holding a pencil.
A close up of her hand, holding a pencil.
And another close up of the same hand but in place of the pencil is a wand, which is a stick with leaves, a tulip and charms attached.
Then we see Nyafari holding a small kitten with a splitting tail. She brushes her nose on his and smiles.
Rite Trial #1
We see the cover of the book from the beginning Rune Keeper Rites, and then we see the same book opened. One page is titled:
"Matisyti
Rune Keeper Path Trials"
(with unintelligible filler text)
The other page is titled:
"Trial #1
Securing your first rune"
With text that reads:
"Caves and Mountains are the sleeping place of all runes.
Journey to Kazeti Mountain for your first rune, the seizing rune (we see a picture of the rune in the corner)
Use the unlocking incantation to clear the words at the trial site"
We then see multiple shots of Nyafari throughout parts of the world, reading the book as she goes along.
In her home, getting ready to leave "When the rune guardian appears, use the rune keeper's incantation to secure the rune"
In her village, walking past huts and scenery "Once secured, the guardian will allow you to grab a chunk of the mountain that he scribes with the seizing rune symbol"
Out the front gate of her village, into the wilds "Reminder: to activate a rune, hold the stone and recite the name of the corresponding rune. Stone will suspend itself until called back by the Rune Keeper, and the spell ceases."
And into the Kazeti mountain, we see her walk inside and immediately come across a stone door (here plays The Enchanted Door). The door is covered in vines and bound by a floral staff and ropes. On the door is a crescent shaped carved into a window and light shines through.
"The Unlocking Incantation, Nyafari" she thinks to herself. Nyafari closes her eyes and starts to glow as she speaks, "Vines unwind, this runestone of mine, a Matisyti, Rune-Keeper Nyafari."
We see the vines move away from the door and the ropes break from the staff. It then opens on its own.
Nyafari, now past the door and inside the cave sees a figure against the cave walls. It doesn't speak, it just sits ominously and in waiting. She then recites the Rune-Keeper's incantation, "We, Matisyti, promise to protect thee." The figure then spun and a rock detached from the cave wall and suspended in the air. It disappeared as the rock fell to the ground. Nyafari went to pick it up and the symbol for the Seizing rune appeared on it before her eyes.
Nyafari immediately opened her book again and moved on to:
Rite Trial #2
The left page of the book is unintelligible filler again with the right stating:
Trial #2
Obtaining your weapon
Trial #3 will test your physical strength. It is time to get your first weapon.
Visit the fae forest.
Follow the vines.
You will come across another enchanted door.
Here we see a different but similar enchanted door and Nyafari recites the unlocking rune once more.
This time we see the instructions from the book playing out as she does it (book shaped thought bubble).
'Unlock the door
Be prepared to defend yourself' (close up of Nyafari's eyes narrowed, looking around)
Nyafari is quickly met by a swarm of bats surrounding her and blocking her from the wall. It takes her no time to realize she must use SEIZE.
She grabs the Seizing rune and holds it out, closing her eyes, she calls out, "SEIZE!!!!"
She opens her eyes to find the SEIZE rune suspended above her hand and the bats frozen in place in the air.
After sighing out (in a small panel done in chibi style), she continues to remember the book's instructions:
'There is an incantations scribed in a crack in the stone wall;
Peer in and recite the incantation'
"We, Matisyti, promise to protect thee."
'If successful, the hidden village will be opened'
We see Nyafari walk into the village in awe.
'Find the weapon forger, tell him you're a new Matisyti and he will guide you through obtaining your weapon."
The village is filled with adult male Farei, a rare site in Nyafari's village. Male Farei stay with their mothers until around the age of 100 moons (~8 years old) and move to villages with other male Farei to take on different roles and responsibilities than female Farei.
She eventually finds the weapon forger's quarters with the help of an elderly Fareik'yl (the name of their tribe).
As soon as she enters the building, a man sitting with his back facing Nyafari spoke, "Word travels fast in Fareik'ylti. You're the new Matisyti from Fareik'ati, then?"
Nyafari initially chooses the lance because she looks up to a legendary Matisyti named Freysiza Naiyala who is known for her skills with a lance and her ambitious journey to become one of the strongest Matisyti, defying and surpassing traditions.
However, Nyafari is very soon met with her fear of her own weakness as she is very easily defeated while wielding a lance. Her physical weakness is one of the main reasons it took so long for her to get where she is. She nearly gave up until...
Weapon forger is impressed at how fast Nyafari is while she wielded the lance. She wasn't strong but she could run and dodge amazingly fast. He knew the perfect weapon for her.
Weapon forger gives Nyafari a choice of weapon and challenges her to a duel. She initially chooses the lance, but after the duel, weapon forger evaluates her, stating she's not strong but agile and says she would be a great archer.
Nyafari receives a specially forged bow, quiver and arrows from the weapon forger and heads back to Fareik'ati as it is starting to get dark.
(here plays Fareik'ati Night Theme)
Nyafari walks into her village wiped out and meets her mom. She shows her mom the rune she acquired and the bow and practices shooting arrows at a nearby tree. Mom couldn't be any prouder. She eventually eggs on Nyafari, as she hears starsingers echoing through the night, to get to bed and we see Nyafari return to regular Nyafari with black hair and normal village clothes, as she hops into bed and mom kisses her forehead. The next trial would be a strenuous one.
Rite Trial #3
We see Nyafari getting back into her True Form while the book rests in front of her and she reads it.
On the left page is some unintelligible filler and some text that reads:
'Trial #3
First weapon test & physical strength test
Is recommended you practice with weapon beforehand.
Head to the nesting cave.'
On the right page reads:
'Here, you will secure the WARD rune, only after defeating the beast that guards the rune.'
Nyafari struggles with this trial. This is the big fight--where we properly see Nyafari's struggles with strength and anxiety. She heads to the site, unlocking the enchanted door and coming face to face with the trial beast. She tries her best to fight using her bow and by heeding the words of the weapon forger, leaning into her agility and dexterity. However, Nyafari's anxiety takes over and the beast manages to push her outside of the bounds of the trial area, behind the enchanted door, and it seals once again. She has to get over her anxieties to work up the courage to enter the trial area again. Her cat, Inidreati, has hidden in her backpack and comes out to help her the second time around. With the help of Ini, Nyafari is able to defeat the trial .
The beast stands on its hind legs and runs in a circle as a piece of the cave wall suspends in the air above it. It roars as it disappears and the rock falls to the ground. Nyafari picks up the Warding rune. She looks at Ini and says, "Thank you, Ini. But... I should've done it alone."
On the way out of the cave, Nyafari recognized the area and decided to visit a nearby shrine of a very famous Matisyti which she idolized, Freysiza Naiyala. "After that, I could use a little break. Right, Ini?" The cat simply meowed.
The shrine was built for Freysiza after she went missing a few years ago. Nyafari prayed at the shrine, taking a drink from the pond that was made and wished she could reach the same levels as Freysiza.
With Nyafari all rested up, she decides to continue to the next trial..
Rite Trial #4--When things go wrong
On the way to Trial #4's destination, Nyafari stumbles upon unrecognizable symbols that looks like runes hidden in a nearby cave when she stopped to rest. Being the scholar she is, she was able to pronounce the symbols even though she couldn't know what they meant. Without having studied ancient text and Farei linguistics, most Matisyti would not be able to decipher it. Especially not a young budding Matisyti. But Nyafari was special. She overcompensated for her lack of physicality with knowledge when she was growing up.
Now her life is about to change forever because of it. Reciting the runes activated a portal to a different dimension...
...And Nyafari was sucked in.
Isekai Time!!!
As Nyafari was sucked into this portal, she was surrounded by falling rock. Though terrified, she was quick-witted enough to yell out "WARD" as her scraped, bruised body free fell through space. A force field appeared around her as she heard loud crashing all around her.
We see Nyafari hunched over in a bubble, falling and surrounded by rubble as the runestone suspends itself and glows within the bubble.
As it quieted, she opened her eyes to find the ward rune suspended inside of a bubble, which she was within. Around the bubble was covered in rubble. Without the ward rune, she'd probably be dead.
We see a close up of Nyafari's face looking down, scraped and bruised.
She timidly walked forward as the force-field and runestone followed her. Rubble crashed around her until she finally saw a light. Once she cleared the rubble she called out "Ward, back" and the force-field disappeared. She looked around. Nothing around her was familiar. "What is this place?" In front of her was an old beat-up castle, covered in vines.
She felt rustling in her bag and opened it. "Ini! How'd you get in there?"
We see a tiny Ini stick his head out if Nyafari'd bag and meow "Grrreow"
Inidreati meows and immediately runs out of the bag into the structure before them. Nyafari chases after him to find him sniffing & pawing through rubble.
Out came a very small burst of light that flew across the corridor and hid behind a cracked door. Nyafari approached the door and heard whimpering.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Where is this place?" a very small frightened voice spoke.
"I don't know... I'm from Fareik'ati. I have no idea how I got here."
"You're a Farei? Are you... a Matisyti?"
"Yes! You're from there too?"
The small light came out. "I'm a guardian of one of the 13 runestones. The guardian of thee healing stone. Please show me your collected runestones?"
Nyafari showed the SEIZE and WARD stones.
"Oh... you're just starting your journey. Normally, a Matisyti doesn't qualify for the healing stone until she's obtained the 2nd element stone, Water. But... I suppose this isn't a normal case. Please, Matisyti... call out your incantation. Nyafari nodded.
"We Matisyti promise to protect thee."
Nyafari watched as the guardian glowed even brighter and flew into a nearby stone. She picked up the stone and heard the guardian speak, as if in her head.
"Matisyti, the other 10 stobes are lost in this strange land. I've heard their cries. Some are terrified and some... are angry. I fear for this land. You must find them. I will help all I can but only a Matisyti has the ability to see and capture the other runestones."
"How will I know where to look? I've no idea where to even begin."
"I'm unsure, myself. There are other beings in this land, I can sense them. I will lead you to them and we can find out from there."
'Other beings... I should put on my glamour to keep my identity...'
⭐🌙With a flick of her wand, Nyafari turned to "normal"
(black hair, no markings, black eyes, takes down hair from pigtails)
And so it continues...
The healing guardian literally lights the way towards a small town...
We see glowing footprints along a forest floor, fading as they go in the distance.
Then we see the gated archway entrance to a place with a lit sign that says "Ferrytown Mall"
LANGUAGE BARRIER
Nyafari tries to communicate with the first person she sees. She is met with confusion as they speak an unrecognizable language (English!). The healing guardian then explains and says they'll ask the universe for a translation. They do... but tbe translation is always a little broken.
Enter, love interest...
He approaches her in this situation, noticing that she's battered and bruise and obviously lost. He asked if she was ok and if she needed help.
His words: "Oh my god, are you ok? You look hurt."
Guardian's: "He asks his deities to approve of you. You appear harmed."
Nyafari forgot what the guardian said and tried to speak in her language. (we see a speech bubble with varying stars and crescent moons, written like speech)
His words: "Oh you must not be from here. Here, I can help you."
Guardian's: "You do not originate from this location. I can assist you in this location."
He then just offered his hand, beckoning Nyafari.
Nyafari asked what he was doing; the guardian responded, "The universe is telling me it's a sign he wants to help and you should only grab his hand if you trust him."
She looked up and he smiled, an odd sight for Nyafari. The Farei don't smile with their teeth.
She then asked the guardian if he could be useful. Without a beat, they simply responded, "Yes."
So Nyafari hesitantly presented her hand. He said, "it's OK" not taking her hand until she made the first touch. She finally did and his hand enveloped hers in a warmth Nyafari has never felt before. Not just physically but emotionally as well. Even looking into his smiling eyes gave Nyafari the same warm feeling.
He smiled again and pointed to his chest. "Dylan." Nyafari asked, "Dylan?"
"Yes!" Dylan replied.
The guardian said, "His name."
So, Nyafari mimicked, pointing at herself, "Nyafari."
"Pretty!" he said.
The guardian translated without being asked this time, "He thinks you're attractive." Her eyes widened as the strange man started leading her, holding hands.
Notes:
Doesn't get her glasses until the interdimensional incident. Her vision is part of the reason why she struggled with her studies (they don't have glasses).
Using the sigil making steps (taking the word used minus vowels, minus repeats), each runestone has a symbol to differentiate it from the others
List of 13 Runes:
Sieze
Ward
Heal
Fire
Water
Air
Earth
Knight
Darkness
Light
...
...
...
(last 3 should be super mahou shoujo-y.)
Stars off storing runes in her pinafore pocket but starts wearing them like pins later on.
They calculate age in months or MOONS
Mom kisses her forehead as she goes to sleep in her childhood bed for the last time--This is later mirrored in the other dimension when Dylan kisses her forehead and she gets teary-eyed.
Little did she know, Nyafari would be seeing Freysiza very soon, even fighting at her side
We later learn that Freysiza was the one who created this portal.
Scribed in the wall (Freysiza's runes recited by Nyafari). THE ANSWER LIES WITHIN DIMENSION CREATION
TH NSWR LS WTHN DMNS CRTN
(pronounced: Thi Neswir Lez Hwithn Dimins-Critin)
We later see guardians create makeshift enchanted doors to protect their territories and Nyafari has to use the unlocking incantation once again.
WE INTERRUPT THIS REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAM... to go over how Nyafari will be drawn in the comic. (see picture below under 'Characters')
Cherubic face, chubby cheeks, round chin.
"Bindi" goes from between eyebrows to middle of nose.
Bottom eyelashes are 3, 2, 2
Eyebrows are straight with slight arch at tail
Rounded almond eye
Iris takes half of sclera
Eyelids have epicanthic fold & hood
Upper lid flicks up, bottom is droopy
Slightly cross-eyed
Slight aegyo sal
Low cheekbones
Upper lip and bottom lip same size (soft M shape)
Darker upper lip
The bangs, god, um, just don't touch the eyebrows?
Rounded nose, slightly defined bridge.
Cheek markings go diagonally from inner edge of iris (start with 1 long line on each cheek that makes 'A' shape then intersect 2 triangles with that one line--on each cheek)
Inidreati has 4 phases and 2 forms.
Phase 1: Normal smol kitten
Phase 2: Tail splits
Phase 3: Wings start to grow in (poor baby always wants back rubs)
Phase 4: 2 tails (that sometimes have flames on the ends), wings, still smol... EXCEPT
His 1st form is the size of a young kitten but...
His 2nd form is as big as an adult tiger (he's drawn with panther-like qualities)
DYLAN WILLIAM
The love interest for NatLR
Physical traits:
Eye smiles
Round glasses
Rosy cheeks
Duck lips
Stubble
Almond, hazel eyes
Dirty blond hair
Short round face
Dimple on left cheek
Story and personality traits:
Tribute character to my late boyfriend, Dylan Hamilton Smith
The character that introduces Fari to the new world, leads her, and helps in her quest.
Sympathizes with Fari's feelings of being behind in life and has similar social anxieties as hers.
Has a cat, Cadillac, that befriends Inidreati. "Her name is Caddy. It's short for Cadil--nevermind." (his cat is also a tribute to my boyfriend's childhood cat, Portia, whom he nicknamed Porsche, I assume because of his love for (luxury) cars. She died just a few months before Dylan, at the age if 21, so I like to think they're kicking it in heaven together right now)
To say he's a goofball is an understatement. Hides his fear with jokes and a heart with too much love to give.
Smoking habit
Nyafari's Bow fights beside Dylan's gun
Introduces Nyafari to the concept of glasses.
Nyafari thinks he is beautiful because his hair looks brown, blonde, and red in different lighting (in her tribe, multicolor hair means you're specifically chosen by the universe as beautiful and special)
Sometimes drawn with eyes closed, sometimes open (Naruto reference! Loves Ramen!)
Characters
Music
nyafaris_rite.mp3 | |
File Size: | 951 kb |
File Type: | mp3 |
fareikati_day_theme.mp3 | |
File Size: | 2651 kb |
File Type: | mp3 |
the_enchanted_door.mp3 | |
File Size: | 730 kb |
File Type: | mp3 |
fareikati_night_theme__piano_.mp3 | |
File Size: | 884 kb |
File Type: | mp3 |
fareikati_night_theme.mp3 | |
File Size: | 3792 kb |
File Type: | mp3 |
the_fall.mp3 | |
File Size: | 850 kb |
File Type: | mp3 |
majestic_forest_2021_.mp3 | |
File Size: | 593 kb |
File Type: | mp3 |