--------------------------------------------------------------------------- [hold click to zoom!] hey its been a hot minute since i've done a tides dtae!!! i wanna bring it back so here's the beginning of a possible tides return woowoo i especially wanna expand on the mythos and legends with deities!!! i gotta whole notepad file with ideas. and this design just absolutely gives off those powerful vibes ALSO i've expanded the tides roster so now it aint just canines and felines, i think its uhhh basically anything in carnivora (except pinnipeds n stuff) so now we have including but not limited to: bears! otters! civets! raccoons! and most relevantly, hyenas!! lotsa variety!! cant wait to work with so many different animals also i have lots of worldbuilding ready to go :] just all around v excited for tides. the notepad file is like 10kb its great anyway anyway time to meet auros!!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- in mountains rich with fortune lives a myth. it follows on the heels of prospectors that take to the rivers below, searching for gold- and for pawprints. it's unclear where the rumors began, but tales tell of a deity, a striped hyena, gilded features giving away his godhood. known as auros, a deity of fortune. auros striped hyena they/he deity of fortune, gold, wealth gold blesses their eyes, fur, paws, antlers, and runs in their blood. according to the myth, they were born out of a lake of molten gold, which they return to each day. tracing back their footsteps would lead adventurers to this legendary find. many have tried, but none have found it. they believe auros's pawprints leave behind trace amounts of the metal- perhaps washing into streams and mixing with the gritty mountain dirt. it seems untrackable, yet still, prospectors keep an eye to the ground for a trail of glittering steps. as charms of good luck, many smiths craft small triangular medallions to represent the hollow mountain that hides the gold oasis. these are popular among explorers who wear them as earrings and hook them to satchels, hoping gold attracts gold, fortune attracts fortune. it seems silly, but it's become an integral symbol for them; triangles may be found carved on tree trunks or chiseled into milestones as a symbol of hope for other travelers who seek the same riches. some of the more superstitious animals even treat them as a last-resort pathfinder, spinning the medallion and heading whichever way the peak points. auros is definitely one of the lesser-known figures, especially obscure among townsfolk and citygoers who aren't keen on trailblazing- but for weary prospectors, he lives strong in poems and sonnets and prayers, and in quiet whispers and superstition that, on surface level, is often laughed off- but deep down, many explorers do dream of that shimmering, glinting lake of gold, hushed up in layers of centuries-old stone, just waiting to be discovered. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- woooo another dtae bites the dust let's go gah this design was such a treat to draw!! i've never shaded metal like this before, it was a bit intimidating at first but it was actually really fun :0 this is actually the last drawing i made with a mouse pff i got my first art tablet for xmas so goodbye mouse art era, auros has given you a wonderful sendoff o7 im rlly rlly excited about expanding the tides pantheon!! the only other deity i have right now is isla, a goddess of greed, its actually really interesting to think about how isla and auros would interact, being like, sort of opposites? i feel like they would actually get along pretty well. maybe they r buddies who knows!! mayhaps we will find out in the future :] that's the thing i love abt worldbuilding, you can just skip around and connect the dots in any order you like also auros could be the first non-canine-feline member of tides and methinks that is swag :eye: also also cause auros has gold blood and i think it would be very interesting if there was like a cautionary tale that explorers tell about how if you ever find the lake of gold you have to not attack auros even though he's basically walking money because he could just smite you,, folktale ideas go brrrrrrr anyways i do hope you enjoyed!! seeya next time!! :D --------------------------------------------------------------------------- design/dta by easyaspie12345678 !! music by lord huron [ps don't reference my art/worldbuilding, thank u <3] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------