T. K. Arispe

 This took quite a bit of time and effort, but finally it's done! This is concept art for a novel I've been working on. The Quo Qu are a desert-dwelling species who love numbers and mathematics almost to a point of obsession; a common farewell benediction among them is "May the numbers calculate in your favor". Because of their strong mathematical bent, they are also keen businesscreatures, and their coastal city of Toba is one of the largest commerce hubs in the world. However, their love of watching numbers can sometimes make them a bit conniving and willing to take advantage of others to get the sums to come out just right.

This particular Quo Qu is Jawwad, a prominent businessman in Toba and old friend of some of the protagonists. While always looking to swing a business deal in his favor, deep down he is a kindhearted person who regrets that his kind's avarice has put the Plainsmen in a difficult position, and tries his best to make up for it.

The Quo Qu are derived from an idea I originally had for the Plainsmen back in high school--the idea was that the Plainsmen lacked the cognitive capacity for mathematics, and had a mutually beneficial commensal relationship with the Quo Qu, who lived alongside the Plainsmen, because the Quo Qu did all their math for them, and in return were provided for and protected by the Plainsmen. When I got around to writing this novel, I decided that wasn't really what I wanted for the Plainsmen (they have a rustic and nomadic way of living, but are really highly intelligent), but the Quo Qu worked perfectly as the denizens of Toba. In their original design, the Quo Qu had flat faces and large ears, but since moving to Idaho and becoming the one-woman fan club of the Idaho Museum of Natural History, I just kept picturing the Quo Qu as resembling Oryctodromeus, so I went with it. They were really fun to write.