Magiontology is an ongoing project of fantasy art and stories, planned to become a book (or books). It’s an alternative reality that adds magic to our world, mostly in the form of magical beings, or as I call them: magions.
The project began as a type of bestiary, with a scholarly twist. That is how I came up with the name: magiontology means ‘the study of magical beings’. Visually, I was inspired mostly by naturalist illustrations, which fit the idea of scientific records of magical being. But I do delve into other styles when it fits thematically.
I began playing around with making up fantastical critters and imagining how they can be fitted into our world (secretly, of course). It raised all kind of questions: Where do they live? How do they keep hidden? How are they built? What cultures and habits do they have? What is their history?And also - who makes all these records?
And that’s when the stories were born.
At the center of most of these stories is a secret society, The Magiontology Society, with the mission to protect and study magical life in our world. It connects scholars of magic life (magiontologists), holds a great archive and engages agents for missions of observance, data collecting and when needed - rescue of magions, or of the occasional human that got into the wrong place in the wrong time. They each have their own story, as does the Society, but the core of magiontology is the magions - each with their own taxonomy, biological notes, culture and history.
Take for example the Spectans canis (Eying hound): basically big shaggy dogs with four eye stokes.
Are they adorable? Yes. Are they friendly? Yes (and love playing fetch). Are they great watch dogs? Sure! Would people generally freak out seeing one? Probably also yes.
After figuring out how a Spectans canis skull would accommodate the retracting eye stokes, and how would that affect their physiology (hint: their ear canals are relatively short), I delved into their history.
It seemed sensible that magical dogs would have magical owners, and well, witches don’t have the happiest history, so it figured that Spectans canis too would be persecuted and hunted. This was one case when I veered with the visual inspiration: I decided to use medieval hunting imagery and create my version, depicting a hunting of Spectans canis. The Spectans canis had a happy ending, though it did not look like that for a while.
They became extinct on our world, sometime in the 16th century. Luckily, some of the Fae that left our world during The Departure, kept Spectans canis pets and took them along. In the 1990s a few Spectans canis were reintroduced into our world, and and seemingly thriving in their loving (and hidden) homes. The Magiontology Society keeps a close eye on their development.
Magiontology is my dream project, it combines pretty much everything that I love and I spend every moment I can spare on it. I am currently working on the first book for this project, which will include stories, magion files, some general info and, of course, lots of paintings and illustrations!
If you’d like to get updates about the book (and project in general), the best way is to follow the Patreon. Following for free will already get you the updates. If you choose to pledge to any of the membership tiers you’ll be officially welcomed to the Society, gain entrance to the member’s website and, depending on your pledge, some other goodies, along with my eternal thanks for your support.
