These drawings and character designs are for the Torth series, by Abby Goldsmith.
click the thumbnail images to view them at full size.
A view of a slave colony on the planet Umdalkdul,
for the cover of City of Slaves, where my characters spend much of the first novel.
Thomas is a mind reader who contains thousands of lifetimes of knowledge, due to his inability to forget.
He's also handicapped, eleven years old, and very bitter.
He wants to know why his unknown mother abandoned him to freeze to death.
Alex has no idea why the Torth want to kill him. His strange family history might have something to do with it, or perhaps his
friendship with Thomas. He would also like to know why he's a giant with a unique growth disorder, and why his mother is so paranoid.
Rhianna is Alex's mother.
Kehsa is an ummin slave who has survived to old age; a rare feat among slaves to the Torth.
Despite the veneration she's earned, she longs for freedom without even being aware of her
longing. She worries that her life is empty and meaningless.
Ummins work on slave farms and factories, or personally serve their
Torth masters. Many of them lose their sense of reality and hope and enter a state of catalepsy
which earns them the name "dreamer".
Commander of All Living Things is the title of the acting ruler of the Torth Empire, and hence the known universe. Despite Her vast power--limitless knowledge, telepathy, slaves, space armadas, advanced technology, and the ability to kill with a thought-- She serves the Torth Majority. They will decapitate Her and elect a new Commander if She fails to please them.
The Indigo Governess is a super-genius Torth who governs a city colony on the planet Umdalkdul.
She absorbs knowledge and owns hundreds of slaves.
She either wants to mentor Thomas, or ruin his life.
Nussians are armored giants used as slave guards and bodyguards by the Torth.
Mer Nerctans are aliens that have an ability to
grow and discard bodies, similar to the way snakes shed and re-grow skin.
They don't generally go about naked, but these are early concept sketches.
They are intelligent and may live as long as 500 years, but they are
slaves to the Torth.
Govid can use their limbs as both hands and feet.
Although their planet of origin was destroyed by the Torth, they've managed to survive as useful slaves.
Umdalkdul world map: This planet is located approximately 53 light-years from our solar system. Older than Earth, it has only a single ocean and a single super-continent (like Pangaea). This map shows provinces, major cities, and features of interest. Much of the action in my saga is based on a city near the center of the map.
Alashani language: During the conception of my project, I came up with several alien languages, and a writing system for one of them. This language key was written on parchment. You may see some similarity to Hebrew cursive and Japanese Katakana; I based it on the characters of those languages, and added my own twistiness. Unlike any human language, Alashani can be written diagonally as well as horizontally. The pretzel letters are silly, I admit, but I was running out of loops and curves.
I tend to do better writing male protagonists, so I was pleasantly surprised by Evenjos, a mentally unstable, half-telepathic seductress. She'll play a major role during the middle and end of the series.
The Alashani are hunted by their distant cousins, the Torth, so they tend to be war-like and defensive.
They invite slaves to live among them in their cave cities.
Early concept sketches of Thomas and Cherise, amidst other character sketches.
Various non-sentient alien animals and beasts.
Magic power chart for Yeresunsa.
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