Competition time!

I am officially starting a contest to design a new Harkovast character!
The contest will run for two weeks (though I might extend it if people are having trouble getting their work done.)
All you have to do is design a new character to appear in the Harkovast comic.
It really is just that simple.
Draw a picture of the character and send it to me and my favourite one will be declared the winner when the contest ends!

Prizes
The winning character will earn their creator a cool Sir Muir Mug from the DD store, but more importantly the character will appear IN THE COMIC!
That's right, they will actually get a part in the story. Not just a walk on part either! They will have a minor role, but they wont be stood in the background or wandering passed, they will be involved in the story!
They wont appear in the story for a while, as I have to wait for a good opportunity to include them, but the mug will be sent out ASAP.

What I am looking for in a character?
You don't need to be a master artist to win this contest. As long as you can draw reasonably well you are in with a chance.
What I am really looking for is cool character concepts and designs, so if your art isn't amazing but you have a good idea you can still win. The character will be redrawn by me and coloured by Julie anyway, so how perfectly you draw it wont mean much when the character appears.
If you want you can give your character a name and a back story, but be careful. Don't give the character a huge amount of back story, as this will be hard to fit into the story and might make the character difficult for me to include. A short description could be useful though, like “A cunning merchant” or “a berserk warrior who serves the West”.

Most importantly, make sure your character fits into Harkovast!
If the character is a human or comes from outer space or something, you aren't going to stand much chance!
The character should be anthropomorphic and come from one of the races and cultures of Harkovast (remember, you can also make them a half caste, if you want.)
And PLEASE don't invent your own races! If you do you will just make it impossible for you to win! If you want to use an animal that has not yet featured, drop me a message and ask if there is a race like that and I can give you some info on them to help you out.

What I really want to see is someone who has paid attention to the comic, been inspired by its contents and wants to add to it. The more smoothly the character fits in and the more they show that you have paid attention to Harkovast the more chance you have of winning.

You could make the character a villain or a good guy, or just a civilian that the characters can run into. Anything from an evil agent of The Enemy to a friendly Junlock Bard is possible, so just let your imaginations run wild.

Any questions, please let me know!

So get those entries in before the 17th of May 2010 and GOOD LUCK!

AWESOME! I get to draw furries!
On a more serious note, I'm tempted to do a Junlock, since it seems that they're nothing but fodder/pincushions/low level mobs at the moment, and all that wonderful tribal stuff in their race description is being overshadowed by their playing lackey to the Nameless.
I'm curious about the yet to be unveiled races as well. But without their making a solid appearance in the comic thus far, I can't feel for them enough to want to draw them. (I can't even imagine what an Ivos is at the moment).

Ivos are a race of militant wild boar people whose culture resembles ancient Rome.
So now you know, and according to some people that is half the battle (according to the Ivos staying in formation is half the battle, stabbing barbarians being the other half.)

I still need to work out exactly how their helmets will look….

On the first few pages, there's a panda. I might want to do a character with that race. Can I?

I am guessing you are refering to Quinn-Tain, whose race are known as the Wiards of Eldex (or just wizards for short.)
If you think you've seen enough of them to be able to draw one, then go for it.
The only problem you may have is that not much of their culture or style of dress has been revealed so far, so you might make something that doesn't fit with the story.
It could be Panda-monium! (Damn, I'm good at puns!)

harkovast
I am guessing you are refering to Quinn-Tain, whose race are known as the Wiards of Eldex (or just wizards for short.)
If you think you've seen enough of them to be able to draw one, then go for it.
The only problem you may have is that not much of their culture or style of dress has been revealed so far, so you might make something that doesn't fit with the story.
It could be Panda-monium! (Damn, I'm good at puns!)

Even if it wouldn't fit in, I could easily just title it a renegade, or outcast.

I cant really comment too much, but you might want to leave wizards alone.
While technically you could make it work, there is a much higher chance of it not fitting into the background (which has yet to be revealed).
But go for it if you are truly inspired, maybe you can win me over with something awesome?

My Ideas so far are:
- Muir's little brother.
- Another Nymus, an old crippled assassin that can't fly anymore, still attempting to fullfill his duties but due to his weakness is no longer able to.
- A young junlock, once living in a village that Muir visited. Muir promised to help it's citizens but soon after that forgot to actually do anything. Because of this the young junlock's parents died, making the young one swear to kill Muir.

If anyone comes up with anything that even remotely sounds like any of this it was MY idea. :)

The image is coming up once I've decided which one I'm going for.

Interesting concepts.
The contest is hotting up…

Well, since i draw considerably well (I'll even try adapting your style of anthrophomorphic, so it isn't so hard to transfer it artwise) I might as well try for this contest…

Are there any second place prizes? third? etc…

And i only have one idea… Some man (still deciding on species) who was once a Nameless but after seeing more blood than he can handle (let's say he's just afraid of blood), he leaves the nameless and perhaps has some of their secrets to share with the others…

and i think if i won the mug… it'd be a hassle to send it all the way to my house in south america, anyway >.>

There is only a first prize, but if there are several characters I really like I might include more then one in the story.
But only one will drink from the sweet mug of victory!

Another question: Seeing as the Nameless has 14? subordinates (One of them being the Speaker) could I possibly make a Junlock character to fill one of those roles or do you already have them planned out?

The 14 Evils are planned out, however The Enemy has many other powerful servants so if you wanted to make an evil Junlock who works for The West, then by all means go for it.

Awesome sauce! I'll make a Junlock to be remembered >:)

I just hope all these people that are thinking of entering make good on the idea!

An awesome contest for an awesome comic!

I have to ask tough: how do we get you our characters? Do we put them in this topic, PQ you, what?
Tried to find out from the contest info, but with no luck.

Sorry jesde94, I should have clarified that!
Send them to me in a PQ (that way no one else can see your entry and nick ideas!)


It is always the most obvious things that get forgotten in these types of things!

Only two more days, how many entries do you have so far?

4 so far, but there are a few other people who said they plan to enter, so we will have to wait and see.
Also, some people may need extra time to finish, so I may extend the deadline. We will have to see how it goes….

make that 5 (just sent my own)

Its is currently at 6!
How many more will enter I wonder?

I am officially extending the contest another week, due to a couple of requests, so you have until the 24th.
When I update next, the contest will officially extend.
There will be NO more extensions, so if you haven't got it done by then, you've missed your chance at Harko-glory!

also wondering, if someone were in like… Russia, would you still send the mug?

Well its only one mug, so I am sure I can manage.
So get your entries in, all you Russian Harko-fans!

doubtfull i won, anyways… XD I made the character almost on the fly!

Tomorrow we will find out….