Another image added only after all my other illustrations, for all three books, were complete, this shows what is undoubtedly the most important animal in the story, Jaral’s pet bird Ilasa. Earlier attempts to include her, in the illustrations of flight on the monton and the very first illustration, proved too burdensome to do well. Feathers proved too challenging. When modeled as flat surfaces, they looked plasticky and unrealistic, and adding deeper levels of detail, including the veins and even barbs and down, proved too time-consuming, both to model and to render. Eventually, I developed a new plan somewhere between the two. Using textures and some modeling, including a new style of fluff and a few splits in the feathers’ barbs, I managed to reach a point where I was satisfied. Some hand-painting on the final render, and lighting that hides some of the unsavory areas, and I feel I’ve produced an image that must be difficult for many to imagine on their own, a feathered dinosaur that’s really a bird with teeth.

Ilasa is modeled on the archaeopteryx, which was for a century or more considered to be the first bird. Since then, many more feathered dromaeosaurids have been found, filling in the evolutionary chain between dinosaur and bird. Ilasa is not realistic, however, in her presentation. The archaeopteryx and all other feathered dinosaurs were about the size of a modern robin, or were smaller. Ilasa is much larger, the same of a modern eagle or turkey, with a large wingspan and shockingly large talons. Without giving away any of the plot to come, I can tell you that she is not simply an animal, and certainly not just a pet.