Slowly but surely...

Know we've posted this fella before, but just wanted you guys to get a good look of 'im before sending him over to the 3D department. To be continued...

Christmas time

And finally some peace and quiet... Or not.

Several months of graduations, trips and other time consuming activities has stalled our progress, but with that now behind us we aim for new horizons.

So, in the spirit of a jolly, hard-working, bearded fellow, who I'm sure you're all familiar with, the Tales of Melunar crew are back in business, working hard and preparing/planning poster photoshoots, story ideas, costume designs, 3D designs, motion comics and hundreds of other yumyums.

If you're smart, hang tight and Santa just might bring you some goodies too!

Ho Ho!

Tales of Melunar Crew at Vancouver Zombie Walk 2011

All photography by Marcela Pocaro Rausch.

Zombie Joakim in the making

Uncle Sam wants you for the Tales of Melunar Crew

This Bus was completely smeared in blood.

Yummy intestines.

This guy had a real running chainsaw.

All photography by Marcela Pocaro Rausch.

Lunaran Dictionary

Greetings,

To help you better understand the Necromancer and what the world of Melunar is all about, we decided to post a few paragraphs from the Lunaran Dictionary. Have a read, and don't forget to suggest the Necromancer's special powers at our facebook page. No ideas are too broad, small or stupid, so give it a go and you could win a kick-ass Tales of Melunar-package. For more information; see previous post!

1. Aidon, also known as “The Queen’s Bracelet”, a huge golden bracelet which sits locked around the Necromancer’s wrist and is chain-linked to Barkh (the Orb of Life). Once attached by Mora (The Queen of Melunar), it filled Norfir with Smorthar and turned him into The Necromancer. Whenever Barkh is activated, one of Aidons two facial adornments lets out a black poisonous Smorthar-fume.

2. Barkh is a powerful orb, controlled by The Necromancer, which sits directly connected to Aidon (The Queen’s Bracelet), around his wrist. Barkh is, apart from Mora (The Queen of Melunar), the only component with power to convert stored souls to new life. All elements (or creatures) under Barkh’s influence is enslaved by either The Necromancer or Mora.

3. Smorthar, “the liquid force of death”, is a tar-like matter drained from the deepest Melunaran bedrock, commonly used as a power-charge in The Necromancer’s process to obtain and preserve human souls. Once stored, these souls serve as fertilizers which, combined with Smorthar and Barkh (the Orb of Life), grants its user the ability to perform Visk – to conjure underlings (examples; see Narrghind, Necrominions, Visk.)

4. Visk is a ritual in which The Necromancer of Melunar utilizes human souls, stored by Mora, to summon elements of nature to serve as his underlings. For example, by channelling souls through Barkh (the Orb of Life) into pools of Smorthar (the Liquid Force of Death) he is able to build Narrghinds (Necrominions) who serve as his slaves.

5. Ilsk is a half-faced bone mask worn by The Necromancer (Norfir, Northern Fire, Che’borbam Norfir) and was originally part of a helmet that Norfir wore to veil his hideous battle scars. During the necromanian transformation, Smorthar boiled beneath his skin, releasing the cells from bone, and his face was forced to the ground. As he lashed back, half his face tore off. Mora (The Queen of Melunar), then hinted mercy by turning part of Norfir’s helmet into Ilsk, to conceal his horrendous appearance.

6. Narrg is Lunaran for “The Necromancer” (for more information see: The Necromancer, Norfir and Che’borbam Norfir.)

7. Narrghind is Lunaran for “Necrominion”; a scout serving under Narrg, conjured in the ritual of Visk. (for more information see Necrominion, Visk)

Lunaran is the common tongue of Melunar, once derived from Latin and the early branches of Germanic languages. Universally recognized as “the tongue of the underworld”, it is spoken only by the undying and most terrible forms of life in Melunar. Lunaran is unique in its strong focus on consonantal and guttural sounds, with an intention to intimidate trespassers of foreign origins.

Competition & Facebook Page started

In order to celebrate our new facebook page, we have launched a competition. We are giving you the opportunity to decide on part of the story. This is the first of many competitions to come.

Story Competition

Decide the Necromancer's special power

We are giving fans a chance to be part of the film making process.

You could win 2 x VIP tickets to the premiere of our short film in Vancouver, Canada and earn a "special thanks" in the ending credits.
The winner will be announced on both our blog and our facebook page. There are 3 easy steps to enter:

1. Read up on the Necromancer at this link
2. Suggest a special power for the Necromancer on our facebook page 
3. Wait for our decision !

A new storyboard teaser...

The Necromancer of Melunar

Around the turn of the 10th century surviving forces of the Burkheim giants and barbarian hordes plundered the defenseless cities of the north. Men were slaughtered by the hundreds, boys mutilated and women raped and killed at best. Though defeat was now merely a matter of time, some provinces persisted. One of these, Tranlum , a peaceful settlement in the heart of Manheim and home to many warrior families, hosted a man known as the mightiest warrior alive. Norfir they called him, "the flame of the North" - a fearless warlord who swore to protect his village against any harm. But as alliances broke and cities fell, Norfir was eventually forced to break his oath. He decided to gather a posse of townsmen and marched to war for the northern wall.

As some battles were won in the north, the Burkheims advanced in the south, soon invading Tranlum. The village fell hard under the hammer. A summer and a winter passed before Norfir finally returned back home, scarred and weary. A truly agonized sight met his eye: flipped carts, broken homes and severed body parts. His son, 15 year old Truvald, had followed his fathers advice and stood up to his enemies, but at the cost of his life. Being the man he was, Norfir refused to accept his son's death. He would bring him back at any cost.

With the help of a Shaman Norfir opened a portal to Melunar, the underworld, where Truvald's soul was held captive. He began his descent, crouching through a damp tunnel and emerging into the moonlight of Melunar. A black night sky arched with a colossal moon over a dead forest that lay ahead. Surviving a series deathtraps and overcoming hundreds of obstacles he finally reached the inner most cave, the throne room. He now stood face to face with Mora, the Queen of Melunar herself, just one swing of his sword away from completing his mission. However it should not be. Before he could strike, a blue smoke slithered through the air, seeping from Mora's sleeves and swirling up around him, draining his physical powers. But before falling he gathered all his remaining strength and pulled at the amulet around Mora's neck, tearing it off.

The sky of Melunar rumbled and cracked open with light. The heavenly gods reached down and accepted the pendulum, in return for Truvald's life. Truvald was to walk amongst men once more.

Mora let out a tremendous cry, furious over her loss. As punishment she decided, instead of slaying Norfir she was to enslave his mind, snapping a golden bracelet around his wrist. A morbid transformation began as he violently shook under her diabolical chanting:

"Kormad dom, satsa di filiur. Kormad vorm, ratsa di hala! Fortsa furm ae Mora, Drott il suborra... DROTT L’UNIVAERE!"

A shockwave pulsed outwards from underneath his defeated body, leaving Norfir in a wretched pile on the floor. As he slowly rose the skin on his face began to peel. His eyes filled with liquid as dark as the night. He was no longer Norfir, the warlord of Tranlum...

He was now the enslaved and undying Necromancer of Melunar.

Building costumes - moving forward

We started off early today, working on production packages and character bio's. With that behind us we wrapped and visited our talented Costume designer Megan Leson to record some behind-the-scenes footage of her starting the process of building costumes. In a couple of weeks we'll be able to provide you guys with some sneak-peak material of costumes, makeup/prosthetics, motion comics of our storyboard, samples of Smirks (our 3D spider) etc. Until then, stay updated and hang tight!

Joakim

Poster

I've moved ahead far enough with my designs of the Poster that I feel like I can share the current look. It also reveals a fair bit about the overall feel of Melunar. The poster is based on an original painting by Mike Bergland, which you can find HERE.

Blog Redesign & Donations Button

We have finally gotten around to redesigning the blog to better suit our colour scheme and mood on Tales of Melunar. You'll also find a few nifty other additions in the menu bar to the right.