Text box one: Here we see two of the most common forms of Thomza. One is humanoid in nature, but a lack of ears, big hands, short, similar to that of a male in physiology, but their face has a layer of paint for eyes and a mouth. Underneath their armor would reveal pasty skin and many cracks as if they were a puppet. Beside them, however, is their true form or "True Maskless". Long, tall and slender- made of primordial ooze with a form that forever shifts and breaks. Although some features remain consistent, such as their four arms and their mask.

Text box two: Thomza is skilled with both sword and shield, and his fighting style is closer to that of a "defender", most likely based off his knight-like nature. Despite being trained in multiple forms of weaponry he would prefer to solve all problems with a non-violent solution. However, he also knows such dreams are wishful thinking and you can always find him prepared and ready for battle at a moment's notice. This of course can lead to many casual moments becoming increasingly awkward. You will never find him in any form of casual clothing unless it is forced upon him.

"The town elder warned us, that one day the stars will go out and there will be nothing left, but the ceaseless void..."

Our story begins with Nepron, a draconic entity known for being the very essence of the warrior. For he was a tyrant and wished to create a weapon that could rival and bring down the gods themselves. Armed with sacred knowledge he formed a bond with a Primordial Being known as "Patchyella", The two would create something unlike this universe has ever seen before. This creature would be known as a "Maskless Entity", as it could shapeshift into anything it wanted, and its power was absolutely overwhelming. Patchyella would decide to name them "Thomza", but... As soon as Thomza was created, Nepron would take him and abandon Patchyella in some unknown and crumbling dimension. Nepron would disguise himself as human and ensured Thomza would shift into the same disguise. Nepron seeing how things are would have to wait several years to begin Thomza's training as he was a mere infant. However, it would not take long for the gods of this realm to learn what he was doing. Whence found out, the entire village he was hiding in was destroyed by the gods and Nepron seemingly vanished. Thomza would be about 6 years old at this point and would be the only known survivor of the attack. While King Midas was surveying the damages, he found the young humanoid boy holding a sword and wanting to find the monsters responsible for the torching of his village. The gods seemingly missed him entirely by some divine luck, and King Midas would adopt him as his own son and at the time, Thomza would be extremely bent on the idea of revenge. Kind Midas would make him take the Oath of a Knight and begin his training as a proper squire. Being raised alongside the King's true son, Dudley, the two would form a brotherly bond. Not to mention making best friends with a young and monstrous Tiamat he aptly named "Tia", the village being torched is long in the past, and instead of wanting revenge, Thomza would make it his duty to protect and save others. Feeling as if he was stronger, he could've somehow saved everyone.

Whence he became an adult, he would be chosen by the gods as well as many others, to become their champions. To fight back against the dreaded “Queen of Demons” as he would be destined to save the world from her grasp. Unfortunately, things never go as planned and Thomza would find himself turning his blade on the gods and the kingdoms he once flew a banner for. The spark that ignited this raging fire was the death of King Midas by the hands of the gods, and the demand to slay the innocent. His title stripped, pinned for the death of his father, he would be on the run for quite a few years. Meeting back up with Tia and going on adventures under a new disguise. Doing small skirmishes against the Gods, saving innocent folk who are torn apart by a senseless war, and even having to face his own stepbrother on multiple occasions. Thomza would even go so far to even make allies with the Demon Queen after learning she was mind controlled and forced to be a puppet for the god's own amusement. He would then learn their plans to create a "story for entertaining other gods in the grand multiverse", and toying with mortal lives as if they were mere pawns. With this new knowledge Thomza found himself leading various charges into enemy territory. Having to fight both friend and foe, and even making unexpected allies along the way. Let it be slaying one of the tyrant kings, making friends with pirates, and going on adventures where he had to fall into the very pits of the underworld itself... It would always seem he stoodfast against any opponents and refused to stray from the path he walked as it led him straight to the gods of this universe.

The final battle was here as Thomza and his allies struck down many of the gods and forced the rest into retreat. With this final fight he would learn about his true Maskless origins and the idea that he was never human to begin with. With this revelation he was horrified and decided that it would be best to fade into obscurity, as well as find his long-lost mother. With Dudley and Thomza being on good terms once again, Thomza would allow his stepbrother Dudley to take credit for slaying the gods and uniting both humans and monsters under one banner. Thomza states that the universe needs a leader, and not a vagabond hero like himself. With that, both humans and monsters would fall under one banner and begin to rebuild in a universe that is torn apart, but finally free. However, this peace would only last for a few years or so before the sky fell. Beings known as faceless would start to appear and feast upon the universe and its denizens, turning them into monstrous puppets. Thomza would swiftly return from hiding and join once again to fight off this new evil threat that is destroying this realm. However, in the last push, a being known as Maxwell would appear and fight Thomza and his allies directly. Annihilating them in combat and banishing Thomza across dimensions. Only for Tia, his wife, to retreat and to go look for him as Dudley made his final stand against the beast.

Thomza would be without a voice, weakened and stuck in a state between his maskless form and his disguise, would be stranded in a brand-new dying universe on its last legs. Here he would meet two very powerful cosmic entities known as UBiL and Ballos and with no way back home. He would learn in this new universe there are gods known as "The Pillars", who've seemingly grown corrupt and have gone at war with one another, hoping to take over to restart the brand new "cycle", Thomza believes he must fight his way through and go on his most dangerous adventure yet and see if there's any way to escape. Even while being assisted by two gods, there would be an immense number of dangerous obstacles in his way. If being deleted from existence from one wrong step in this realm wasn't scary enough, the gods of this realm made his previous battles against the gods of his own realm a literal joke. It would take about a week for Tia to reunite with him towards the end of his journey to learn that there is nothing left of his previous realm. During this the final pillar falls, as Maxwell and his minions followed her as he would arrive to create a universe in his own image. Being an extremely warped version of the universe that Thomza and Tia once resided in.

One final push and into this new dangerous realm, heartbreak after another, he and his new allies would finally wound Maxwell. Maxwell would swear revenge on Thomza and would vanish, as the thrones now lay empty, and the universe awaits to be reset. Thomza, his voice returning to him decides to sit upon the throne of the Pillar of Order. UBiL would take the Pillar of Death, Ballos would take Indulgence, and Tia would take Chaos. Thomza is not a god by birth, or in nature, but wishes to create a new realm and to begin the cycles of this universe once again. They would become the new gods and hopefully not repeat the same mistakes of the past. However, there are many complications of creating a universe, but that is a story for another time...

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This, I'm going to be honest, is probably my most ambitious piece of writing yet that I'm super proud of. Completely explaining the deep past of the setting of Skin to Scales, how Cycle 1-10 got started, the origin of Thomza and many others, and making it really seem like a grand epic. This was... A lot of work, and to properly refine this into the product it is? Took many, many, many hours of tireless writing, many years of world building, and I thank you all for the support you've all given me. I have done my best to elaborate everything there is at least on the deep past of the setting, before... Everything got started, and I'll be more than willing to continue to write everything down that's needed.

Thank you once again, you are all truly wonderful.

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Disclaimer and Copyright: These characters involved, and the artwork belongs to me, TwistedHensley. The Skin to Scales Universe also belongs to me there, TwistedHensley... You get the drill. I want to point out that this is an Epic Dark Fantasy setting with a lot of mythological and religious tones and that there is no real-life connection to any of these events, religions, characters and it is fully, grounded, in fantasy. There is no copyright infringement also intended to other forms of media as Skin to Scales is meant to be its own thing and something I've been working on for a very long time. This is the same setting where faith is a massive part of the magic system, and it is usually meant to have a very bright and colorful art style to help balance the tone.

Other Disclaimer: You are allowed to share my artwork as long as I am credited, but do not upload it anywhere else, edit it and or mark it as your own if that wasn't common sense.

Fun Fact: Thomza despite being humanoid in nature with his most common disguise, many will consider himself a dwarf. This is not thanks to him being short, but some claiming he is made out of rock and stone.

Fun Fact 2: The multi-headed dragon silhouette in the background is of course, Tia and you can find her in the original reference posted on my FA page