Vartija concept

Vartija was a respected warrior in the mountain tribes. His people had always been safe up the mountain, avoiding most of the power wars happening at its base. But soon, along with many others, he was called to fight off not other wayfarers, but deadly Machines that threatened to advance up his beloved mountain beyond the reaches of the desert. The Machines had already taken over the lands below and his mountain was one of the last safe havens left.
They could not stop all the Machines. Eventually troops were ordered to return to their lands to aid their survival. By then, the last Machines that had not broken down in the bitter cold had flown towards the mountain colonies and destroyed them all. Vartija returned home to a land of snowy ruins and ice...

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Introducing a new Journey OC of mine, Vartija (VAR-tee-ya). His name means 'guard(ian)' or 'watchman' in Finnish. I picked this name because of what he does (fights Machines) and also because the Machines are sometimes called the Guardians by the fandom.
He's the incarnation of my 4th full run. I did a solo run to show off the game to my dad and also to celebrate our new HD TV and can I just tell you it was so gorgeous on a large screen lksjfds He's born out of the sadness I felt running through the mountain stage. And also for a fact that I didn't feel so scared running through Machine territory on the mountain too haha

I had seen comments in places about how creepy it is that the War Machines look like the cloth people! Since reading them I've always had this thought that the Machines were decorated and designed after the clothing of actual warriors, so Vartija's design was supposed to reflect the Wayfarer warrior heritage. He's also in part based on some of the Wayfarer designs that didn't make it, as well as the Ancestors.

It was odd to make a Wayfarer that wasn't red! I'm not too used to seeing that sort of thing.
His clothes are sort of camouflage, if you will. It works on the idea of counter-illumination on fish, where both sides of a fish reflect a different colour so they are invisible from top and bottom.
Vartija's hood, body and cloak underside are dark coloured to blend in with the rocks found in the mountain. The topside of the cloak is white to blend in with the snow. Used effectively, and Vartija can appear and disappear in the snow as he pleases.

He has two large strips attached to either side of his cloak which act a little like hands. I haven't really figured out what kind of power he has with those but I figured a warrior character needs more ability to move and interact with things.

Enjoy! It was just some WIP design I whipped up between assignments.


Time taken: 30min
Vartija is (C) by me
Journey is (C) by thatgamecompany