Oath, Honor & Aegis
Reimagining a series of ancient Albanian ballads through illustration and storytelling.
Illustration & storytelling
A series of illustrated stories inspired by some of Albania’s oldest surviving ballads; tales shaped by Besa (the sacred oath), honor, brotherhood, sacrifice, and the supernatural.
Dark, haunting, and often otherworldly, the stories inspired an equally stark visual language: minimalist black-and-white illustrations that distill each tale to its most elemental moments.
A song of Oath:
Konstantin’s promise.
“Have you ever heard?! Have you ever seen?! A dead man goes riding with the living!”
synopsis
When the only daughter of the family is married to a prince in a distant land, Konstantin—the youngest of twelve brothers—promises his mother that he will bring his sister home whenever she wishes to see her.
But Konstantin and his brothers soon die in battle. Grieving and angry, she curses him at his grave for the promise he failed to keep.
In the chill of the night, Konstantin rises from the dead to fulfill his oath.
Detail
A song of Honor:
George Elez Alia
Family honor is sacred.
synopsis
Once a great warrior, Gjergj Elez Alia has spent nine years confined to his tower, suffering from nine battle wounds. His sister has cared for him day and night, sacrificing her own life for his.
One day, Gjergj feels drops of water on his face. His sister tells him it isn’t rain, but her tears.Â
A Baloz (an evil warrior come from the sea) has been burning through villages and taking their daughters, and she feels he will soon come for her.
Faced with the threat to his sister and his family’s honor, Gjergj rises to fight once more.
Detail
A song of Aegis:
The brothers Mujo & Halil
“Forlorn will the one be, bereft of a brother.”
synopsis
Harambash (evil warlord) sets out to challenge the great warrior Mujo with his army. Searching for him in the mountains, he encounters the three white Oras (mythical mountain creatures and protectors of Mujo), and torments them.
Sworn to avenge them, Mujo rides out for battle with his thirty warriors, leaving his younger brother Halil behind.
Determined to prove himself, Halil secretly takes another path through the Cursed Mountains to face Harambash on his own. Along the way, the Oras come to his aid, appearing through the mountains and speaking to him in the wind and in the songs of birds.
