Murky- A Locked Tomb Swamp Au Animatic

An animatic I did for @bloodlesssmirk ’s fic “I saw the Dead, Small and Great”.

[Video ID: This is a 53 second animation with 8 animated scenes and additional credits. Read entire transcription below cut.]

[Scene 1: The drawing is of a green, swampy lake with partially submerged trees. The scenery is backlit by a murky yellowish light. The phrase “ I saw the dead small and great” written in yellow rises from the water. A black snake swims between the words and off screen. The scene fades to black with the yellow light source fading last. The song “Murky” by Saint Mesa plays in the background

Scene 2: The background is of another swamp scene, this time showing a partially submerged graveyard, bowing stone statue, and mausoleum. There is a partial view of a headstone in the foreground which the script is partially cut off of the name “ Nonagesimus” so that only the “simus” is visible. The structures are overgrown with moss and a few weeds are growing out of the water surrounding the gravestones. An alligator rests on a concrete outcropping and slides into the water, another second alligator climbs back on top of the outcrop to take the last one’s place. A figure cloaked in black enters the screen from right to left obscuring the background and transitions the screen to scene 3.

:Scene 3. This image is of an American Plantation style mansion that is severely run down and also partially submerged in swamp water. There are more trees in the background and foreground. The biggest in the foreground is covered in moss and has two nooses hanging from a branch covered in moss.The mansion is decrepit with several boarded windows. A window on the second flood of the mansion shows a black silhouette that flickers away leaving an empty backlit window.

Scene 4: This image depicts a drawing of a slightly zoomed out scene similar to the mansion in scene 3 but this time showing an intricate, iron fence with tall concrete, moss stained columns.There is a tall, hand painted sign with a white background and red letters that reads “Is Your Soul Prepared?” turned at an angle. The sign is also moss covered and the paint is dirty and fading. Harrowhark Nonagesimus stands behind the fence, one hand holding onto a bar.. She is a small, brown-skinned woman, dressed in a long black, long-sleeved dress and a black wide brimmed hat. A dark figure rises from the opposite side of the fence and shambles towards Harrowhark.

Scene 5: This image depicts a drawing of the fence from a side view where the bars are not fully visible, except as one solid black line with the concrete column behind them. Harrowhark stands to the right of the fence. Ianthe tridentarius faces her from the left side of the fence, the dirty sign behind her, facing the viewer. She is a tall,extremely pale woman with long blond hair, and a golden skeleton arm. She wears a greyish white sleeveless crop top that cuts off above her navel and a matching grey-ish white floor length skirt. She reaches up towards Harrowhark with the skeleton hand.

Scene 6: This image depicts a close up of Ianthe’s golden skeleton hand reaching through the bars to take Harrowharks’s hand and pull it through to Ianthe’s side of the fence.

Scene 7: This image depicts a drawing of Ianthe, from the bust up,as she leans down and kisses the back of Harrowhark’s knuckles. Ianthe’s eyes are closed and appear quite sunken and bruised purple. Her cheeks are gaunt and her lips are dark greyish blue. She has the appearance of a corpse. As she kisses Harrowhark’s knuckles, a chunk of hair slides from behind her shoulder to her front.

Scene 8: This image depicts a drawing of Ianthe from the bust up, with a view of the sign in the background. The art style is slightly different from the previous animation in that her skin and the shaws that shape it darken and appear to be moving. She is looking up from having just kissed Harrowharks hand and raises her head slowly. Her expression is neutral. Where her face is directly facing the viewer, she opens her eyes and smirks threateningly. Her eyes are a soft purple with cloudy light blue pupils. The screen goes black.

Final Credits: The credits flip through to the beat of the music, with a black screen in between. They are handwritten in a mustard yellow on a black background. The first reads “Based on the fic by BloodlessSmirk on tumblr / link in description”. The seconds reads “animated by Melli4uhbees” . The third credit scene reads “ Characters from The Locked Tomb Trilogy by Tamsyn Muir”. The fourth credits scene reads “ Song used is Murky by Saint Mesa”. The Final Credits read “Created for The TLT Big Band 2021.”]