Production art for an indie rpg Euphoria: the Lost Isles by Aetherian Studios

When the waters of the Flood covered the world, the People despaired. They went to Tortoise and said, ‘How will we survive in the world to come? We do not have fins or flippers, as do you and all the other creatures of the sea.’ Tortoise sympathized, and knowing them to be just and earnest People, made them an offer.

‘As you People are endangered by the coming Flood, so are the many beasts and growing things that live on the land. I charge you to take all of those that you can find, and on my shell create a garden paradise. You must tend that garden well, as must your children, and all of their descendants after. For none know when the land will rise from the waters again.’

On his shell they planted the great Tree, and there lived the People, their beasts and all of the other green and growing things. The roots of Tree grew deep within the body of Tortoise, becoming the very veins in its flesh, and life coursed between the two great bodies. The People dutifully tended their garden, and from it drew their lives as well.

Fish were attracted to the refuse of the People’s lifestyle, and to these were attracted dolphins, whales, sharks and great titans of the sea, known to Tortoise as fellows, with names as long as the tales of their ancient lives. For many ages of the World, all was peaceful, and the People all but forgot the lives they had led on land. But as the wheel of time turned, a great Storm appeared on the horizon, the likes of which the People had never known.

Album artwork for the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra’s Down a Rabbit Hole