Suppression

My entry for the ModDB Concept Art Competition. If you have the time, please head over to their site and vote for me. Thanks

Concept Art Competition

Done solely with a mouse and GIMP 2.4, with minor perspective correction done in 3dsMax 8

"Suppression"

High technology post-apocalyptic civilization with a tribal culture. Set in one of the moons orbiting a massive gas giant. The scene depicts the execution of the elders of the small fishing village Batala. Some weeks ago, a young boy (son of one of the elders being executed here), discovered the wreckage of an old starship beneath the sea. On its sides were emblazoned mysterious symbols (later discovered to be ancient script for "Colony Ship 14"). Exploring it, the boy reawakens the ship's artificial intelligence (The Core)- Navigator 14 - who had been trapped inside the ship with the deaths of the crew and the damage to the ship. The boy frees the core and gains a highly intelligent - though a bit mad from centuries of being buried underwater - friend in the AI.

The news of the discovery spread to the central empire, a vast feudal government with ancient roots. Controlled by a mysterious "god", the empire had only one unbreakable law: "The stars are forbidden". For centuries it enforced this rule, effectively ending any sciences with relation to space and space travel. Why? The reason remains unknown. With the discovery of a functioning starship core, the Empire lashes out to protect its secrets. They send out assassins to destroy the wreckage and recover Navigator 14, only to find out that the boy had been sent away by the village elders to protect his life - along with the core. Infuriated, the Empire burns the village and brings back the elders to be executed in the capital as "blasphemers".

So begins the journey of a young boy and his quirky metallic friend for justice. And perhaps, to discover the secrets of why the Empire had forbidden space technology for so long.

EDIT: Contest is over. I lost *sob* I learned a lot about 2d though.