HârnQuest Araka-Kalai

Ilvir’s Crib

By Richard Luschek II

A new reprint of Araka Kalai is about to be shipped to customers. It has been expanded and updated.

“Araka-Kalai is, according to legend and the doctrine of the Ilviran church, the dwelling of the god Ilvir. Located in the isolated Misyn region, the site’s dominant feature is a huge limestone sinkhole known as the Pit of Araka-Kalai. An ancient tower stands on a rocky island in the Pit, surrounded by a liquefied, fermenting sludge with a stench that puts to shame all other offensive smells.”

Wading through the Muck, Araka Kalai, Copyright © 2015, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

Hopefully the above image looks like it is a stinky place. The plan was to use much of the old art, but this is such a cool site on Hârn I could not help myself- I ended up redoing most of the art. I did a sketch of the tower with a guide presenting the tower, but it looked a bit goofy and touristy. I decided for a view in the pit of some pilgrims carrying a ladder to the tower so they can enter the holy site. I did do a SketchUp model since the old article had some scale issues if you compared the art to the maps. The stout scaling would make the tower look too stubby. Here is a video walk-thru I did of the model.

YouTube Video of Araka Kalai

We did an updated version of the cross section Eric Hotz did for the original article in 1987, but it ended up getting cut due to it not being “useful or accurate”. Showing the cave complex in any realistic way would be very tough to do. I like the image anyway and was sad to see it go, so I thought I would post it here.

Araka Kalai Cave Complex, Copyright © 2014, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

The other illustration that I was glad to tackle was a old one I had done for the Tave, an unique Ivashu. I did it over 12 years ago and was never very happy with it. A few obvious issues are that it is not long enough as per the description and the scene is more comical than frightening. It also needed to be colored and shown in a cave setting.

Tave, Copyright © 2002, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

As this creature is an Ilvirian priest that turns into a snake (spoiler alert!) I wanted the face to have a bit more personality. I made the soldier look terrified and added a bit more action to the image.

Tave updated, Copyright © 2015, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek

Here is the final version colored.

Tave Attack, Copyright © 2015, Columbia Games, Inc. and Richard Luschek