Queen Evernia's Coronation Gown

This illustration was created with gouache, fine-liners and gold leaf on archival paper stained with blackberry tea.

The final ritual in establishing the reign of the new Queen is the coronation in which she is dressed in the Gifts of the Mountain, symbolizing the generosity of the land. The bodice is made from the ghostly skins of haintfish from the deep dark of the river caves - there’s an opalescent luminosity to the skin after it is shaved into tissue-thin sheets. The effect is quite transparent, wrapping the body in a sheer, shimmering second skin. Spidersilk takes on the quality of golden light when the spiders are fed a steady diet of fireflies, and this silk is then spun into thread used to embellish the cuffs and hems of the Queen’s bodice. Poisonous mushroom epaulettes sit atop the Queen’s shoulders, marking her as the highest ranking warrior on the mountain. Her overskirt is made from thousands of lace-bordered moth wings and though voluminous the skirt is light as air. Last but not least is the coronation ring that has graced the hand of every ruler of Ghost Mountain since time began, hard won as it must be cut by the Queen herself from the hand of her predecessor.