In the burgeoning megacity of Kota Kalimantan, some are defined by their craft and their creations above all else. These are the artists, the designers, the ones who have imagined the foundations of the Makota Langit and the ones who will tear away the corporate masks feigning that all is well.
I’m pleased to introduce our two new Shaper runners: Dewi Subrotoputri and Magdalene Keino-Chemutai! As part of NSG’s Visual team, I wrote the art brief for Magdalene and contributed to the fine-tuning of Dewi’s brief, so my focus will be on their visual designs and the corresponding narrative elements. The art featured here is by the talented artists Zefanya Langkan Maega (for Dewi) and Marlon Ruiz (for Magdalene). Without further ado, let’s dive in!
Dewi Subrotoputri
Dewi (she/her) is the first double-sided runner since Hoshiko Shiro came out in the Ashes Cycle. She is a Javanese dhalang, a shadow puppeteer of traditional wayang kulit performance in Indonesia. Zefanya, as an artist based in Indonesia, knowledgeable about wayang kulit and with a keen eye for character design, was the perfect fit to bring her to life.
Dewi Subrotoputri: Pedagogical Dhalang
Shaper Identity: Natural
Pronouns: She/Her
Minimum Deck Size: 45 – Influence: 15 – limit: 4 – Base : 0
Whenever you make a successful run, if your is full, you may flip this identity and gain 1.
Who else will teach the stories of good and evil?
Illustrated by Zefanya Langkan Maega
Dewi Subrotoputri: Shadow Guide
Shaper Identity: Natural
Pronouns: She/Her
limit: 4 – Base : 0
Whenever you make a successful run, if you have at least 1 unused , you may flip this identity and draw 1 card.
We can’t leave the corps’ dirty deeds in the shadows.
Illustrated by Zefanya Langkan Maega
Dewi Subrotoputri: Pedagogical Dhalang
Pronouns: She/Her
Everyone knew Dewi was destined to be a performer. But what sort? A Shortstok influencer? Holo artist? Sensie streamer? She tried them all; none felt right. Finally, she found her calling in Solo’s 1000-year-old style of wayang kulit.
The clear morality and timeless characters allow her to pass judgment on current events. When the audience has her back, she can improvise, splice in some corp secrets.
Traditions that can adapt are traditions that survive, and through Dewi, they might even thrive.
Illustrated by Zefanya Langkan Maega
Dewi’s visual design brings forth the dichotomy of a historical craft in a cyberpunk future. Using traditional styles and talents, combined with futuristic holo-projections and other technology, each of Dewi’s hacking exploits is both info-hunting and performance. She is practiced at playfully satirizing powerful organizations, from local governments to international mega corporations.
While her role as a performer is an important part of her identity, she has another, equally important one: that of a parent and teacher. Thus, Dewi’s identity art features another person: her three year-old son, Iskandar.
On Dewi’s front side, she’s about to take on her performance persona, with Iskandar seated on her lap. As both a working parent and practitioner of wayang kulit, Dewi continues the tradition of often taking Iskandar to her shows. It’s both a form of childcare and an opportunity for him to learn of the craft and traditions behind shadow puppetry, passing that knowledge on to the next generation.
Her outfit is partially inspired by traditional Javanese kebaya–a kind of lightweight embroidered top garment–with cyberpunk aesthetics. It has a higher collar than a regular kebaya, and is primarily solid where today’s kebayas are often made of lace or other embroidery. She’s kneeling in a manner common to dhalangs, who perform their shadow puppetry behind a screen.
Dewi is holding up a wayang kulit puppet: Dyah Kunthi. Dyah Kunthi is Dewi’s preferred puppet, one whom Dewi resonates with strongly and even views as a representation of herself. Dyah Kunthi’s characterization in wayang is that of a protective parent and role model with strong ties to the mystical and spiritual. Her story is all about being a mother and doing everything she can for her kids, even though she is widowed. Her design here is a traditional representation. If you look up Dyah Kunthi you may see two different stylings: tan and black. We chose tan here as that styling indicates that Dyah Kunthi is younger, in line with how she would be presented at the beginning of Dewi’s show.
Iskandar is also dressed traditionally, in a striped batik shirt and a blangkon hat. His clothing doesn’t have the cyberpunk elements that his mother’s does.
Dewi’s reverse side, meanwhile, is a netspace representation of her meatspace image. She, her son, and the Dyah Kunthi puppet are rendered as shadow versions of themselves in the wayang style. The intent is for them to seem like they are the projections on the wayang kulit screen, with the digital glow of netspace bringing forth their forms rather than the traditional lamp.
To emphasize this feeling of a wayang performance, the characters’ designs have details similar to those you would find in puppets, with cut-out lines and swirls and exaggerated visages. The silhouettes are also reversed from the front side.
Magdalene Keino-Chemutai
Our second Shaper runner is Magdalene (they/she), a world-famous Kenyan architect known for their successful work on the space elevator at Lake Victoria. After being ousted from the current Mahkota Langit project in Kali, they’re continuing to work on it from the shadows. Only they have the creative vision and skills necessary to see the project to its completion and it will happen as they planned it.
Magdalene Keino-Chemutai: Cryptarchitect
Shaper Identity: Cyborg
Pronouns: They/She
Minimum Deck Size: 45 – Influence: 15 – limit: 4 – Base : 0
Whenever you discard cards to reach your maximum hand size, you may install 1 program or piece of hardware from among those cards.
Good design is invisible—but I’ll never settle for ‘good’.
Illustrated by Marlon Ruiz
Magdalene Keino-Chemutai: Cryptarchitect
Pronouns: They/She
Magdalene was an architect on the Nalubaale elevator, which earned them the top spot for OSEAN’s own Mahkota Langit. But when Mag’s hacktivist past was revealed, they were ousted. Now, she uses her old hacking skills to maintain control of the project. Adjusting blueprints by night; manipulating workers by day. Magdalene will see her vision realized.
And when it’s finished? If an engineering project like that was easy, what’s to stop Mag from slowly, secretly reshaping a megacity in their own image? Or a continent? Or a planet?
Illustrated by Marlon Ruiz
Magdalene is Dewi’s opposite in many ways: they are from an older generation than Dewi, upper city class rather than lower city, more patronizing than pedagogical in personality, and fashion-forward in their style compared to Dewi’s traditional wear. They are a strong personality and force to be reckoned with, which comes forward in their visuals.
With Magdalene’s design, I took cues from some modern-day trendsetting Black women. The first is Tarriona “Tank” Ball, the lead vocalist for New Orleans group Tank and the Bangas. Ball has worn some absolutely incredible hairstyles that are both stylistically impressive and visually stunning, projecting both confidence and joy. She was the inspiration for Magdalene’s complicated hairstyle.
The other source of inspiration is Janelle Monáe, an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is a daring fashion icon that defies gender norms and fashion expectations, pushing the boundary of what clothing can do and be. Magdalene’s pantsuit is inspired by one of Monáe’s outfits, in a similar orange hue but with stylistic elements that are purely KK. The penrose pattern is emblematic of one of Kali’s home-grown luxury fashion houses: Poétrï Brands.
Magdalene is pictured with their pride and joy, a holoprojected architectural rendering of their beloved Mahkota Langit. Other indications of their position as a celebrated architect are the drafting compass in their hand and drafting tube slung over their shoulder. While Magdalene may not consider themself a traditional person, they do hold on to some of these old-fashioned indicators of an architect, as they’re an immediate visual identifier for who they are and what they have accomplished.
It’s a joy and an honor to introduce these two runners to you. I hope that knowing some more about the visuals has given some insight into both the characters and the care that myself and the entire visual and narrative team takes to bring them to life. I can’t wait to see these two (and all of our other runners) in real life in the near future!
Join us in Kota Kalimantan when Elevation releases on April 24th 2025!
