[FCG] Dres Architectural functional sketches 2

[Rats]

Wow, well that was too obvious for me to find thanks!

[Mwgek]

I still have most of the assets on a hard drive as well. I don't mind you guys changing the whole thing, had fun with making them.

[EJRS]

hey guys, check this out, it's pretty neat

http://www.deviantart.com/art/TES-Tear-building-concepts-02-448384063

http://www.deviantart.com/art/TES-Tear-building-concepts-01-448163831

I think these are absolutely fantastic. Much more in line with what I had imagined for the Dres, and very much in line with the more interesting parts of TES3 art design.

[Theminimanx]

They look a bit too much like a mix between Redoran and Telvanni for my tastes. Then again, I don't have a better idea.

[st.Veloth, The Repenting]

i don't like the idea of velothi being a dres thing. it should be the indoril thing. house dres needs something new, and inspired.

[EJRS]

They look a bit too much like a mix between Redoran and Telvanni for my tastes. Then again, I don't have a better idea.

If you ask me, that is one of the strengths of these concepts: ties the sack together nicely as far as architecture goes. It'd be ridiculous to expect the architectural styles of the dunmer houses to be totally unrelated. The Hlaalu-style is explicitly mentioned in the game as being influenced by the straight lines of Imperial architecture, while still retaining stylistic ties with the Velothi-style, which is implied to be a more ur-chimer style of building, while Redoran and Telvanni styles are adaptations to the limitations and strengths of the Morrowind environment and thus a more purely Dunmer style. If Dres makes the connection between Redoran and Telvanni architecture, it all comes together perfectly.

The exception here being Indoril-architecture, which, although nice in itself, along with almost everything Tribunal doesn't really mesh too well with anything of the original game. With the history of Mournhold, it could be argued to also be an imperial-influenced style. More likely it is simply thought-out by entirely different minds than those responsible for the TES3 design.

[Theminimanx]

It'd be ridiculous to expect the architectural styles of the dunmer houses to be totally unrelated.

You're completely correct. I just don't think that Redoran and Telvanni should be the main influences on Dres architecture. The Dres have a heavy focus on ancestor worship, so I'd expect their architecture to resemble Necrom, rather than the Tribunal-worshipping Redoran. Not to mention that the Redoran tileset is based heavily around the idea of barren (ash)lands, which the saltrice fields are not.

Thinking about it more though, I can see the logic in adding a small amount of Telvanni influence. They're both Houses that are perfectly content to just do their own thing.

EDIT: Veloth's idea of adding Daedric influences is also a good one, if the Dres still worship them (which I think they should.)

EDIT THE SECOND: Sasquatch2o also makes some good points.

[st.Veloth, The Repenting]

i think we should also embrace the daedric ties of the region and allow more daedric architecture to be present within theirs

[sasquatch2o]

I disliked relevant architecture because it was too cramped in the interiors even if the outside s interesting to look st. I like redoran for its uniqueness. The combination of them is very poor though for a number of reasonSS.

Most are a very clear com bikini of the two. Dres should be more unique and fitted to their environment. Why should they live in both giant bug husks and large swamp plants when neither of these things are likely to be in the plains. This would be such poor re implementation of common themes. All previous architectural styles had distinctive features that complimented the character of each faction and used local resources.

Hlaalu architecture resembles empirical because it fits their locality. They are georaphically, economically and politically closer to empirials. So if course their architecture reflects this.

Dres architecture should be unique. More fantastic than the walls of redoran more impressive and modular. Most exterior buildings don't mesh together right for a large city. I'd like this to be different. Should be more well established, hostile and proud looking.

Don't reimplement old ideas in ways that don't make sense. I'd like to see Mwgek's buildings used, modified and added to. If those don't work why not. Use your intellect to create something new that fits. Don't standardize old ideas without reason. The architecture of each IS largely unrelated. Ya herd me?

[Saltrice]

I'm sure I would feel a bit sad if Tamriel Rebuilt decided not to use things seen in that previously linked dres claim topic, like dark glowing signs on grayish buildings and those delicious looking turquoise larvae. The atmosphere in Túrelio's artwork (like this one http://tamriel-rebuilt.deviantart.com/art/Tear-118680155) is really what I have imagined dres lands to appear for a long time. Or the one at the background of this forum.
Various wall murals, which just might have an inspiration originating from centuries of dunmer ancestral worship, or from daedric influences, would really add that character being sought after. It should be also noted that the nighttime blue hue around these buildings could be interpreted as a feature not unlike what the telvanni buildings feel like.

[Ironed Maidens]

I still think we can take a lot of inspiration from The Dark Crystal as well for the more obscure/fantasy routes of any architectural set.

http://greatconjunction.tumblr.com/

[EJRS]

Can't really remember any special architecture from The Dark Crystal, but I agree that it has some very nice design elements that fit well in with the art style of TES3. Other examples of good inspirational stuff, beyond the obvious Star Wars and Dune, would be Jean Giraud/Moebius and Philippe Druillet.

But on the topic of Dres architecture: there is an alternative route to go down in this beyond the either/or. Mwgeks set could be used for the ancient, monumental cores of the urban centers of southern Morrowind, while another, more organic-looking set might be developed to complement this, and to be used for rural Dres.
Personally, I think that while the Mwgek set does have some nice qualities, it is too much just straight lines and ordered shapes. While less out of the ordinary and way more familiar, it is the style of building that has been most explored on in TES3 modding so far, and relied on simply by default in almost every other game out there. Redoran, Dwemer, Daedric and Telvanni styles stake out an entirely different and, to me, more interesting route. One could go as far as to call it an interesting implementation of post-modern architectural ideas within a game environment. I understand that it is less easy to process, since it's unfamiliar and different, but isn't that part of what lends TES3 its charm?

[Mwgek]

The first presentation of the dres ext. set by Turelio was meant to be looking unwelcoming to outlanders. While the ancestral worshiping was a big thing inside the villages. With the niches, pillars and alpha planes it doesn't need to look as dull in the inside as you might think. I like the original plan for this set-up. But feel free to change it the way you guys like.

[url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/morrowindgek/media/Tamriel%20Rebuilt/tumblr_msint35qSq1sh39nro1_1280.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/morrowindgek/Tamriel%20Rebuilt/th_tumblr_msint35qSq1sh39nro1_1280.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/morrowindgek/media/Tamriel%20Rebuilt/tumblr_msint35qSq1sh39nro1_1280.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/morrowindgek/Tamriel%20Rebuilt/th_tumblr_msint35qSq1sh39nro1_1280.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/morrowindgek/media/Tamriel%20Rebuilt/tumblr_msf3tiTsCF1sh39nro2_1280.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/morrowindgek/Tamriel%20Rebuilt/th_tumblr_msf3tiTsCF1sh39nro2_1280.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/morrowindgek/media/Tamriel%20Rebuilt/tumblr_msf3tiTsCF1sh39nro3_1280.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/morrowindgek/Tamriel%20Rebuilt/th_tumblr_msf3tiTsCF1sh39nro3_1280.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://s2.photobucket.com/user/morrowindgek/media/Tamriel%20Rebuilt/tumblr_msf3tiTsCF1sh39nro1_1280.jpg.html][img]http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12/morrowindgek/Tamriel%20Rebuilt/th_tumblr_msf3tiTsCF1sh39nro1_1280.jpg[/img][/url]

The Daedric writing would be displaying the memorable deeds done by the ancestors of the family-name. Written with the larva-glue which lights up at night on alpha planes. It is a hassle to set it up and it would require a great variation of unique planes, so maybe reserve it for special homes/families. When I stopped working I was busy with creating all this niches in the building at different spots for worshiping and again displaying Daedric texts behind the urn. So not so good looking and interesting from the outside, but lots of cool quirks for insiders.

Again, I'm not really involved here anymore. I just liked the original thought behind the whole stuff.

[Ironed Maidens]

I honestly think that this tile set would be better if it was re-purposed for Indoril purposes, and instead of mixing the Indoril estates and Velothian buildings, these would look far better and asthetically make more sense and still add more variety. I do see the concern with them looking very 'linear' from an architectural standpoint so all that would need to be done is a slight rework of the model to give a slight curve to the corners; and of course some retexturing. But all-in-all I think it would be worth it and then we can rethink the direction or angle we want to take with the Dres. It's really a blank canvas so there's no real right or wrong.

[sasquatch2o]

I think listing defining charicteristics for each faction would help with the process of deciding on a fitting set of architecture. When I think domination and slavery, order, outwardly hostile, but inwardly proud and cultured. I think a focus on infrastructure and altering the landscape through awesome feats of engineer ing. I don't see very organic forms working well to portray this. For the city industrious areas, I'd like to see its underbelly opened to the exterior so caravans and small boats can bring goods in and out with ease. Everything should be part of an orderly system, not sprawling. For this reason I think a fairly utilitarian modular exterior set would work best. Multi-layered cities made possible by a new set of assets intended for infrastructure. Canals, levy, and terraced hillsides. For more interest murals and hubbies can be set into the walls, scaffolds might stand precariously where slaves work on repairs or artisans create a mural. Where dres lands meet swamp the environment should not be incorporated into their architecture either. Dres is about domination, order and industry.

Slave quarters I imagine would be like warehouses workers. They could be fed and housed much more easily in bulk. The poor shouldn't have single homes rather live in small apartments of a larger buildings unless they live outside of town. In this case they should be the middle management in industrial areas, like quarries, salt rice fields, or cargo areas. The poor in the areas would be those who directly manage and monitor labor. A job important enough to earn a small residence but not a larger residence befitting someone who oversees such an operation for an owner who might reside in a wealthy or politically connected area in major city or on site but removed from the rabble.

Now as a side thought. If Ashlanders are inside dres lands it'd be nice to see grass huts used here.

http://habitatio000.blogspot.com/2012/07/afar-kunyho.html?m=1
http://habitatio000.blogspot.com/2012/07/wichita-fukunyho.html?m=1

But none of this is overly important because at thise rate it will be many, many years, if ever, before these things are implemented. We still need several new people who are dedicated and willing to do necessary things consistently, like interiors and questing. But the most dire problem is that still no one is has the time or desire to review or implement the stuff we already have.

[st.Veloth, The Repenting]

mwgek, i like those buildings there, if only they had sharper features, like that of daedric architecture, plus, don't the dres worship the three good daedra?

[10Kaziem]

The exception here being Indoril-architecture, which, although nice in itself, along with almost everything Tribunal doesn't really mesh too well with anything of the original game. With the history of Mournhold, it could be argued to also be an imperial-influenced style. More likely it is simply thought-out by entirely different minds than those responsible for the TES3 design.

If I had to point towards the influence of another culture in the Mournhold architecture, I would point to Akavir. All the "Asian" inspired stuff in the Elder Scrolls tends to originate there.

[Rats]

I find the uninviting, brutalistic look of mwgek's models with the neon writing very Dres-y, and would prefer seeing them used and being developed even further. Also, his houses are really modular which is always a plus.

Much like sasquatch, I'd like to see the Dres cities be multilayered, with tall pseudo-skyscraper cantons/towers in stark contrast with deep and multileveled, Dante-esque slave pits. The Dres are absolutely about domination and industry. Think East Germany meets ancient Aztecs meets cyber-punk.

The Dres should have hexagonal cantons / shrines / motifs to denote the Tribunal and the Good Daedra.

[Mwgek]

Much like sasquatch, I'd like to see the Dres cities be multilayered, with tall pseudo-skyscraper cantons/towers in stark contrast with deep and multileveled, Dante-esque slave pits. The Dres are absolutely about domination and industry. Think East Germany meets ancient Aztecs meets cyber-punk.

The Dres should have hexagonal cantons / shrines / motifs to denote the Tribunal and the Good Daedra.

When I stopped working on the Dres set I was trying my hand at some cantons and here it comes on handy to have a modular set of houses, they need to extend downwards to remove any clipping issues, which can be glued to the side of the canton to give it a village-like look. Had some ideas for this, but to little time.

[st.Veloth, The Repenting]

i like that idea

[Gnomey]

I've finally taken a proper look at Mwgek's work in the CS, and as such am more willing to give my (belated) opinion on this topic. In particular, I feel as though the wording of my last post was a little ambiguous and extreme, and as such gave the wrong impression.
I think the set we have is an excellent basis to work off of, and see no point or advantage in starting from square one, but it is a basis. Currently, I'd call it a solidly lower-class set and, though its modularity allows for a lot of variety in its usage, I think it will need a lot of padding out before it becomes a complete lower-class exterior set. My main concern was with the disappearance of upper-class concepts, as I remember there being quite a few of them but I'm having trouble finding any now.

As far as stylistic criticism is concerned, my main issue with the current set remains the colour palette, which I think is too drab. I know it's supposed to look unwelcoming, but I think the current colour scheme makes it look boring, which isn't the sort of unwelcoming we should be aiming for. It is hard to say, though; maybe it would look better in its native habitat, so to speak. An additional concern I have is that it's too lacking in curves and -- in short -- organic forms. The former is the main change I would want to make to the current set. As for the latter, I think expanding the set should solve those issues.
I think the current set is already a pretty good start as far as Daedric influences are concerned; one can do some fun stuff with it, as I stated above, though a few additional models would facilitate matters and wouldn't hurt either way. As such, Dunmer Stronghold and bug-form influences are the main aspects I'd want to work on.
Another matter to consider, naturally, will be interiors; in general, I think Dres interiors -- but mainly upper-class interiors -- should be fairly ornate and colourful, as befits the general Dunmer attitude: harsh, practical exterior; lavish, ornate interior. (To an extent).

Going through some points made earlier in the thread, particularly Sasquatch's second post:

As far as giant bugs in the Deshaan plain are concerned, why would they be out of place? It's the largest plain in Morrowind; I'd think giant bugs, and consequently bug architecture, [url=http://www.imperial-library.info/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/gallery_files/origin_cyrus_page_14.jpg]would fit right in[/url]. (Not the best representation of bug architecture, I know; I was just establishing the precedent). I do think the bug elements of Dres architecture should be kept distinct from those of House Redoran, but in general bug architecture was not supposed to be unique to House Redoran, rather being a Dunmer thing, (Holamayan and some other hints here and there in Velothi architecture perhaps show that best, along with some out-of-place dialogue), and I think we've been neglecting it for the rest of the province. Telvanni and Hlaalu were architectural outliers, while the MH set was probably never intended to be used as a general Indoril set, though we decided to use it as such in the end anyway. I think House Dres consequently provides us with an opportunity to balance the scales.

As for the suggestion that Mwgek's set be used as the/an Indoril set instead, we simply no longer have a need for that sort of set for House Indoril; we decided on a portrayal of the House which renders a standard lower-class exterior set unnecessary. Even if that weren't the case, I personally don't think the design of the Dres set would work for House Indoril.

I think listing defining charicteristics for each faction would help with the process of deciding on a fitting set of architecture. When I think domination and slavery, order, outwardly hostile, but inwardly proud and cultured. I think a focus on infrastructure and altering the landscape through awesome feats of engineer ing.

I completely agree there.

I don't see very organic forms working well to portray this.

Not sure if I agree there; Dunmer have a different attitude to infrastructure than we do. They do appreciate geometry, but I also think they appreciate organic forms, and they have a certain mixture of rigidity and flexibility in their culture; whether in attitude, dress, etc.

I completely agree with the rest of that paragraph.

Slave quarters I imagine would be like warehouses workers. They could be fed and housed much more easily in bulk.

Slave pits or pens have typically been mentioned for Dres.

The poor shouldn't have single homes rather live in small apartments of a larger buildings unless they live outside of town.

This, however, I disagree with. I think the Dunmer population in Dres lands should be kept relatively low to underline the importance of and reliance on slaves. Not that I've completely made up my mind on the matter, of course, especially when it comes to non-standard settlement types like clansteads.

Most of the rest of that paragraph I agree with, but I think the owners, or clan heads, should operate from clansteads that dot the Deshaan.

I don't think Ashlanders would have much of a place in the Deshaan, but might consider a similar group. That being said, at the moment I prefer the idea that, in Dres lands, the Great House/Ashlander cultural split didn't happen, as such, with Dres moving past the nomadic stage but stopping a little short of the other Great Houses.

I'm all for hexagonal cantons; I think clansteads should be a single canton while Tear should have several, and that most Dres cantons should be landlocked; a link between Vivec cantons and Dunmer strongholds.

[EJRS]

They do appreciate geometry

I'm interested in this assumption. Most of what we have to go on from the original game, as far as architecure goes, tells us differently: Redoran and Telvanni architecture, Daedric architecture, the use of the Velothi-set outside of Vivec (the OM-set could be included here). Not only the shapes of the buildings themselves but the layout of cities, the disregard for axiality etc. The main exception being the Hlaalu architecture, which is explicitly noted as being different due to being strongly influenced by the straight lines of imperial architecture.

For me, the lack of adherence to symmetry and geometry is one of the defining things of Dunmer architecture (which carries through to other parts of their culture), and part of what lends it its alien character. I think it's also something gloriously fun to play on and play with.

[Gnomey]

As I say, their geometry is not strict and absolute, but they do play with it a lot; first you have Temple geometry and [url=http://www.imperial-library.info/content/thirty-six-lessons-vivec-sermon-twenty-nine]numerology[/url], with the Four Corners of the House of Troubles, the Tribunal represented as an upturned triangle, the sort of central symmetry of the Tribunal and Anticipations: man/woman hermaphrodite woman/man, etc.
While arguably a technical restriction due to how tilesets work, a lot of their architecture is trapezoidal or rectangular, though often with smoother edges.
Then you have the axial -- though due to the foreign quarter not quite symmetric -- arrangement of [url=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:MW_Map_Vivec.jpg]Vivec[/url], with the view down from the east side of the foreign quarter to the High Fane and -- perhaps -- the palace itself through the High Fane tunnel.

That being said, having written all of that, I now realize those geometric influences might not be a typical Dunmer thing, but rather could specifically reflect the attempts of the Temple and Tribunal to bring order to Dunmer society. So I'm not sure if all of that should apply to the Dres.

[klep]

I'd say most of the visual geometry is simply because video game.

[Gnomey]

You might be right, but I think it's intentional in Vivec, at least, and my point was that it would fit with Temple symbolism. As I said, (Temple?) Dunmer do seem to appreciate geometry, but that doesn't mean they're obsessed with it, or arrange every single settlement in a grid.

[EJRS]

Here is my general breakdown of how I imagine the Dres:

-House Dres is based around a coalition of smaller, largely autonomous Clans.

-The territory of House Dres consists mainly of plains, stretching out across the vast valleys between steep mesas and spire-like peaks. The plains are made fertile thanks to ash blown up into the atmosphere from the volcano of Vvardenfel and carried down by the (red, could be achived by scripting?) rains that fall over Deshaan(currently Red Mountain is the only volcano, but I know there was a suggestion around to expand volcanic activity in TRs Morrowind, which does seem proper and logical).

-Dotting the landscape are numerous great plantations, manned by legions of slaves, making use of the unique circumstances to grow native food-crops such as saltrice and marshmerrow.

-Gazing out across the landscape form atop the peaks are the great spire-complexes of the Dres clans, standing atop fortified platforms built into the rock, great banners proclaiming ancestry and wealth flapping in the wind. From platforms built into the sides of the towers and carved out from the cliffsides, swarms of Dres - dignitaries, overseers and couriers - take flight, mounted on the backs of the signature creature of the House, the skyrender. Occasionally one can see a fleet of sloadships docked at the Dres skyports.

-Honeycombing the peaks beneath the spires are systems of tunnels and pits, housing great rearing pits and slave-manned manufactories within their bowels. At the foot of each peak, huge gates open up into undergound bazaars, from where caravans of silt striders venture forth under the watchful eye of their airborne masters.

-Inhabiting the plains between the peaks are clans of savage tribal Dunmer, living symbiotically with the skyrenders native to the landscape. Each family follows the movements of their symbiote swarm, carving out dwellings in the huge, bulbous hives spun by the renders, caring for the queen of the swarm and rearing the young. These tribes maintain frequent trade relationships with the Dres, who trade crops and commodieties in return for expertly trained riding-beasts. Occasionally, the savage fighters of the tribes find employment with the Dres Clans as mercenaries.

In response to the symmetry-question: the examples mentioned by Gnomey is at the core entirely monumental and/or sacred architecture, which puts them in a different category than profane arhcitecture.

[klep]

I very much share these views with you, EJRS.

How I would like to see the honeycombing is somewhat like the (already mentioned by someone else somewhere on the forums) Nepali honey hunting: http://www.theguardian.com/travel/gallery/2014/feb/27/honey-hunters-nepal-in-pictures

[SACarrow]

Hi there,

After doing my bit to get the Skyrender game-ready, I thought I might try to add to the Dres set as developed by Nalin, The Warder and Mwgek. I've downloaded all the archives associated with that claim thread and I have also read through Mwgek's showcase thread. Having looked through Mwgek's set in particular, I thought to start with interiors to go with the existing exteriors to enable people to start playing with the set. I of course have many questions:

• Does anyone have any concept art or ideas for the interiors? If there were any originally, they were lost in the Sack of ImageShack.
  If there are any texture artists out there who'd like to make alternative ones for either the exteriors or interiors, I'd love 'em. My GIMP abilities are minimal at best.
  Any ideas for further additions to the set would be of course welcome. My preliminary attempts will concentrate on making the set fully if minimally usable.

I have a preliminary idea for a Dres canton rattling in my head. For any American sports fans, think a hexagonal Superdome. If I do this, I would try to add some curvature to the basic hexagonal idea.

All for now,
Steve

[10Kaziem]

I can do textures.

[SACarrow]

Thanks 10Kaziem,

I'm still trying to get Mwgek's Max scenes working with my setup. But if you like, feel free to take his two RAR files and look at his test cells (xxxx_drestest) in his DresTest.esp file. Any of your textural thoughts would be appreciated; in particular, any ideas about interior walls, floors or ceilings would be the great.

On a distantly related topic, I had a thought that the larvae used in the lamps could be Skyrender offspring. After all that is how wasps start out IRL.

[ihavefivehat]

I was thinking that it might be cool if Dres towns were built on top of/into skyrender nests. Drew a quick concept for it:

[url]http://i.imgur.com/K9QGO7c.png[/url]

[Ironed Maidens]

My 2 cents:

I do have an idea about how the settlements would probably be set up; I think the idea of layered cantons works well personally, with an open-air top that would serve the purpose of lookouts for watching over slaves, martial training areas, or even ceremonial areas. I think that the most interesting way to approach the idea of Dres is almost a Native American or Inca/Aztec warrior-like nature, with the same fire-fueled sacramental mindset, while being also a bit cold and calculating. I imagine they would be a bit more...exotic as well, but the general idea of them being of some type of native/Mexican warrior samurai Mongolian alien hybrids seems to stick with me pretty well. They they are always trying to be 3 steps ahead of the competition or even themselves. I also think they would utilize some type of vine-like ladders to be able to get to different levels of the layered cantons and that would be an interesting idea to implement for the players as well. It would give a use to the glowing signs too, each different layer of the cantons can be signified with a different mark to identify what kind of services/people are found there, so the player can easily know what to expect as they start climbing up the cantons. Maybe even a type of canvas system that connects some of the cantons together with some vine-like bridges or roots.

[st.Veloth, The Repenting]

incorporating skyrender nests is a neat concept, i you could come up with a more detailed concept to better illustrate the idea that would be great (i'm not saying the one before is bad i'm just saying I WANT MORE AND I LOVE IT) we could implement something like in gnisis, with the kwama mine, except with giant honeycombs.

[10Kaziem]

There has been some discussion on geometry. I want to point out that "geometry" does not have to mean triangles and squares. It is the mathematics of shapes and lines and how they relate to each other, and that allows for some very strange and interesting forms to occur.

I've always been interested in the interplay between nature and math. Geometry shows up everywhere in nature, from the spacing of branches on trees to snail shells. Dunmer could easily be inspired by the geometry of organic forms. The "geometry" that dunmer see and appreciate from nature may be something more like this:

http://kaziem.deviantart.com/art/Diamond-and-Kite-104534962
http://kaziem.deviantart.com/art/Spore-72747517
http://kaziem.deviantart.com/art/Mandelbrot-II-138250013
http://kaziem.deviantart.com/art/Mosaic-Tile-90656745

[10Kaziem]

So I was thinking today, that dunmer use insect shells for housing and all sorts of stuff. Cool, but...

Why just insects, and why just land insects? Let's open this up to all arthropods, and in fact, let's toss in some gastropods as well.

Photographs for inspiration:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Murex_carbonnieri_01.JPG
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Murex_pecten_001.JPG
http://www.ultimatechase.com/chase_accounts/Images/Conch_Shell_Photo_Shoot/091607_Conch_Shoot_307.jpg
https://repeatingislands.files.wordpres ... =500&h=333
https://www.mitchellspublications.com/g ... -image.jpg
http://www.oikonos.org/apfieldguide/album/Mollusca/Gastropoda%20-%20snails%20and%20slugs/Neogastropoda/whelk%20-%20Clanidota%20signeyana/slides/whelk%20-%20Clanidota%20signeyana%20004.jpg

And I drew a sketch of how these shells could be used:
http://kaziem.deviantart.com/art/Murex-Concepts-537733763