Root and Soil

Amos the Fool

Amos is the main character of the story, originally he was intended to be a radish but I rather just went with root as a clumsy metaphor for somebody who is a direct product of their environment.

Honey the Guide

Honey is the most knowledgeable about the world outside of the village as he is connected to every mushroom in the area in a sort of hivemind. He was inspired by an article I read about the honey nut mushroom in the Amazon rain forest. I also had the idea that he does not communicate with words, instead he lets you inhale his spores and in turn you hear his 'voice'.

Fairies and Matriarch

I wanted to have fairies in the world but I didn't like the old design that kept being used so I looked for an alternative. I was inspired naked mole rats (strangely), after looking them up and reading a bit about them I fell love with the idea of them being fairies and are cared for by a matriarch of sorts.

Scrib the Historian

Scrib is unique as he connects the story to the old world having lived long enough to have obtained quite a lot of knowledge. Sensing he wont live forever he has his assistants record his knowledge and teachings on his scales, after they fall off they are stored to act as a library for future generations.

The Jeweler

The Jeweler is a counter to Scrib as his only interest in the old world are the material objects scattered throughout.

The Rat King and his subjects

The rats are an entire society that exists alongside the village. I didn't want to portray them like savages, I wanted to be more accurate to their real life counter parts so I designed to be intelligent and much more technologically advanced than the other characters.

The king, like Scrib, has lived in the old world but his life as a lab rat was not one he would have wanted, note the tag on his ear.

When designing buildings I like to start with general shapes and then turn them into functioning structures.