From the Mouth of the Eagle

"
I have lived my life to the best of my ability.

But I have not been able to escape
fate,
anger,
or pain.

Bring me the answers, and the road that leads to truth.
Reveal to me once and for all how all of this will end. "

- Words of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, following Alta'ir Ibn La Ahad.

Preview 17: Important People

It was a few minutes before the crack of dawn when it happened. Radars, flight control and a few satellites picked it up too. Anyone who happened to have been looking at the sky just right may have seen it. And it would have been amazing.

But as with all things people fail to see, it was dismissed by the common minds as a firework, and by others as a stray weather balloon; and a few people who did see it, stayed silent in the assumption that no one would believe them. One person did give up cigarettes. One couple making out decided to get married, taking it as a sign.

But the important people did see it, and they marked the date, and they went on to continue tracking the object that fell out of a hole in the sky. Modern science detected mad energy signatures, electromagnetic interference and some radioactivity. The important people followed it, or at least its trail; and it was an amazing trail. For it was not the trail of an object falling under the pull of gravity. Free fall would have been a straight shot to the ground, and if the wind were strong enough to move it, the path would have curved off slightly.

This object had fallen with a speed no earth gravity could cause. And the speed had broken off almost instantly, leaving a huge hot spot of energy output on all the graphs, diagrams, figures, plots, maps and other pictures that the important people had. And then the path had curved, gradually becoming parallel to the ground. Then the object had travelled by itself, becoming faster, moved upward, around the taller buildings, and gradually disappearing into the lower depths of the city’s skyline.

The important people wished they had had a satellite monitoring this part of the world on video. They would get to it soon. Soon, after they dismissed the disturbance as a meteor.

They did search the path that the object had taken. They searched high and low, and all they could get with a very minute radiation count was a black feather. The important people knew that crows went everywhere, but they kept the feather anyway.

They did know one thing. The path taken by the object had been against the wind, against gravity, and against everything nature would have done against an inanimate object that fateful early morning. The important people knew what they were looking for and set their protocols to ‘guest’.

But in order to welcome their ‘guest’, they had to find it.

A New Age

Forgive my long hiatus, my beloved readers...

For reasons I myself am embarrassed by (including an obsession with gaming) I have not written anything for quite a while. Having managed to create some time for myself, I should be back to blogging properly soon.

Stay tuned.

Of Birds and Men

This article is a brief scientific examination from my perspective... and it should serve as an answer to everyone who wants to know why my main character is a Bird-man instead of a Lion-man or whatever.
The answer is simple... pure superiority. Birds have mastered terrain more than any other creature on this earth. Birds understand structure, aerodynamics, and so much more that gives them the edge of sheer versatility, but let's put everything in order, shall we?

As a Muslim, it is my understanding that, according to the texts; after man committed his first murder, it was a crow that taught us how to bury our dead. This is not all that birds have the intelligence to execute. I would explain flight, but that is the bird's natural gift. So are their beak dynamics... (the fact that each species has a specially shaped beak matching the type of food they eat.)
Birds have other talents too... the ability to build nests, for instance. In addition to the average nest, birds like the tailor bird and the weaver bird build specialised nests. While the weaver creates its nest by weaving together individual plant fibres to make a vase-like net, the tailor actually stitches leaves together with fibre, then fills the leaves with more plant debris to make a sort of pocket-cushion nest.
Similarly, parrots and sparrows eat from the clay on cliff walls and build their nests in the holes that they make in these cliffs. (The clay is an aid to digestion.)
Birds have taught us how to streamline our flight and flotation devices to enable the maximum measures against friction. Likewise, their feathers are build to suit every purpose of their lives, be it flight, swimming, diving, sleeping, comfort, cooling or warmth.
Birds have also understood the need to maintain themselves by preening, picking and washing. Something that few other animals do.
What about birds' understanding of rising currents as they fly? This helps them save so much energy. The sharp eyes of the eagle, the strong hearing of the owl, the keen smell of the raven, the deadly dive of the kingfisher, the fast swim of the penguin and the killer kick of the running ostrich.

Even the peck of the chicken is a force to be reckoned with. ;p

My point here is... just think. What if, all of the intelligence and ability of these birds were to be combined with the already maximised prowess of a human? Wouldn't that be one helluva combination?
That combination is the Rion. Accurate, wise and deadly. The Rion (Homo Rius Ubel) is the fictional species that will feature in my upcoming title, "Project: ΛUSPEX". It is the species to which both the protagonist and the villain belong to, and it is the native species of Planet Ubel, thought to be a myth until the sighting of young Blackbird by the reporter, Jeniffer Simson.

It is the species that embodies a level of perfection and rationale far above that of the human, and that explains why such a species is fated to remain in the pages of mythology and none else.

Preview 16: Blackbird II

Green Lantern: Bruce Wayne

My latest costume design for Batman, as requested by my friend Yusuf.

Preview 15: Meeting the Ancestor

973 A.D.: Hijaz Plateau, Planet Gaia...

A solitary caravan of a forty two men and thirty camels crossed the desert as it carried home a few merchants and their wares, fresh off the trade dhows (boats) at the port. The march inland was a dangerous one, thanks to rumours of a new force that had cast its influence over the sands of the desert's open vastness.
The wounded soldier whom they had picked up had told them he had been attacked by creatures who were no doubt demons from some other world. The masked stranger who walked with the caravan spoke precious little. He was a man like any other, but the mask and his dialect of Arabic set him apart from the rest. His attire too, for he showed a slight preference for blackened leather armour over the white steel that the caravan guards and the wounded soldier were wearing.
The merchants were weary. The stranger was wary.
They had seen a single large bird circling overhead in the sky far above them. While the occasional hunting vulture meant little to the caravaneers, the stranger kept looking for the bird.
He had, however, kept secret his knowledge that the creature watching them was no bird at all.
Four days later, they arrived at an oasis where they could rest and restock their rations. On their first night, when the camp was set up and only the guards were awake, the stranger stealthily marched out to a nearby rock formation. He carried with him no light, and only one of the camels saw the masked stranger grow a pair of feathered wings out of his back.
The camel burred with respect. The stranger sent an acknowledging twitter back. He then silently took flight and landed at the very top of the rock formation, which may well have been a mountain eroded thin from the sandstorms it had stood up to.
The masked, winged man cared not for the anatomy of the mountain. He was more interested in another bird-creature like himself, perched atop. A creature that the humans had failed to see.
'If you scout for the enemy you flap too much, Rion.'
'I assure you, I am not with the enemy,' replied the Rion. 'You are Aumar, yes?'
'How did you know that, young bird?' the Rion of the caravan, whose name was indeed Aumar was surprised, but did little to hide his realisation that his addressee was much younger than he.
'If you wish to ascertain my knowledge, observe my armour.'
'It is quite like mine,' replied Aumar. 'But this fabric I know not. They are far too advanced for our time.'
'Precisely,' replied the other. 'Your desecendants in the future will find a way to channel into your memories from the orb of power that you carry with you, and hence meet you and train with you. I am the first of our kind to successfully access this simulation.'
'You mean... you are...'
'I am Auspex,' replied the Rion, 'descended from Aurius the Discoverer, and Aumar the Hunter, and sworn enemy of Aurdon the Corrupt.
'You are Auspex... the Hope.'
'Yes,' replied Auspex with a smile, and extending his right hand.






















'It is my pleasure to meet you... father.'

Preview 14: His Λuspex Burdens

For years he searched the Cosmos, but it was when he chose to stop searching, and start waiting, that the thing he had sought found its way to him. For Λuspex was not one to abuse his access to the Cosmos, and when he ended his hunt, and began his vigil, this treasure sought its way to him.

Sometimes it would seem that he came close to losing it, that in his weakness, his grip became unsteady. But remember, he is Λuspex. He may be one who makes sacrifices, but just because he will give anything, does not mean he will give up. And when he does lose that which he treasures most, he will fight to regain it, he will fight to protect it, and he will treasure it and cherish it for ever and more.

For it was the Λurora, the sunrise of his world that he sought, and upon finding this sunrise, he will rest, and in that sunrise, find happiness. To many, Λurora was merely another sunrise, but to him, Λurora was the truth of all his dreams, the joy of all his moments, the jewel of his heart, and the angel of his spirit.

To
Λuspex & Λurora, Forever.

Preview 13: Beyond Λuspex Customised Armour

Note: This is just a preliminary concept sketch. Finer details, adjustments, inking and colours pending.

Preview 12: Soldier from the Sky

'Tell me, Mudathir,' asked Detective First-Class Tawfeek. 'What kind of reasonable soldier would wear white camouflage?'
'A soldier fighting in the snow?'
'But it does not snow in our corner of the world, and one of those bullets had scratched some of our Justice/Angel's warpaint.'
'What do you mean?' asked the newly-inducted Detective Mudathir.
'I found some white camo fabric at the scene.'
'So, what sort of soldier does that make him?' she asked, returning to the original discussion.
'A soldier that fights from the clouds.'
'WHAT?'

In his hand, Tawfeek also had another object that took Mudathir completely by surprise. It was a feather.
A black feather, blade-like and excessively too large for any bird that could fly.