wetbloodworm

[wetbloodworm]

creative thursday gotta create SOMETHING

#art tag #cathan tag #dnd ariknauts #they look so fucking off-model in the colored piece. because they're smiling. literally just because they're smiling #smiling. eyes open wide. shoulders relaxed.

[wetbloodworm]

mik family lore for u

mik marries a dwarf named bharsem rulvir! he's a ranger that follows kezdall. they meet after a Hound attack while mik is going around offering heals and general assistance to those with less severe injuries, and bharsem is someone he helps. they talk a little bit, during which mik gives a Fun Fact about how the injury bharsem received could've been fatal and bharsem actually thinks it IS Fun. they get talking more and mik gets to infodump some because bharsem isn't uncomfy with death and also just likes hearing mik talk lol. gay.

at their meeting, bharsem has newly taken in an orphaned half-elf girl named sylmae. i imagine there's lots of orphans during the war, and her bio parents were bharsem's friends. she sees him as a dad eventually, and same for mik some time after the two get together. that's their daughter!! by the time we hit c4 sylmae's an adult with kids of her own, and one of those kids is a new parent themself. so mik and bharsem are new great-grandpas :)

by c4, mik is in his 80s and bharsem is... let's say in his 140s. barring any tragedies, they know bharsem is going to significantly outlive mik since he's a dwarf, but they're both at peace with that. we already know how mik feels about death, and while bharsem doesn't have the same kind of love for it he does have his own kind of respect for the natural order of things. they're both just happy enjoying the time they do have together. they're a good match on that front. which is good, because mik continues to be very blasé about death in general and about his eventual own death specifically lmao

finally, for the rest of mik's family: at the start of the war after they reuinited, mik tried hard to encourage them to escape to the feywilds. that's where his moms were from so the transition wouldn't be too hard, and war wasn't happening there. that ended up being a non-starter because mik wasn't going to join them. also his brother had a bit of the 'the material plane is MY home no upstart gods are going to scare me out of it' mindset. so they all ended up settling in tragal since uhhh going back to cerulea wasn't an option.

so! mik and his family and his extended family are in tragal and they're doing alright considering the hellscape that is living through a divine war. life goes on. i'm so fucking glad mik survived c3

#mik tag #dnd ariknauts

[wetbloodworm]

This Is A Post About Cathan

#but it applies to many #looking at anya and ivan #zephyr. eva. i know there's more #cathan tag

[wetbloodworm]

i'm so excited about the c4 lore session last night and the new and exciting ways cathan is gonna be fucked up. max has already promised another secret trauma coming up for them. i am gnawing on the bars of my enclosure

also mik being head monk!!! i hadn't expected that for him but i LOVE that! he's got a family and he's leading a monastery in jericho's footsteps! got to work with one of his heroes!! bailey we need to talk about how those two got along sometime

im SO EXCITED ABOUT DND.... ARGH

#dnd ariknauts #mik tag #cathan tag

[wetbloodworm]

talked with max about what the Aphdos Follower Experience is like, notably like what is expected of his followers. dropping them here for reference:

protect those who can't protect themselves, fight back against injustice, if someone starts an unjust fight *fuck them up*, protect yourself/those you love/your kingdom (also, if you see nimdos, fuck her up too lmao)

first, if you see nimdos it's on fucking sight lmao love that

second, using this to reexamine cathan's attitude a little bit. i think they do STRONGLY prioritize the war/fighting against the Hounds and demons etc above all else. that is the Greatest Evil, that's where their attention is focused. other problems are labeled Not Their Responsibility, not out of callousness but because they're... c'mon, they're just one person. i think they've stretched themself too thin in the past trying to fight every injustice, so narrowing their focus down to the hounds was actually a healthy decision for once, at least somewhat. other people can handle other problems. and when the hounds and nimdos and mamus are all dead, THEN cathan can redirect their focus.

however, they don't ignore people that need help that they directly encounter, as long as they're not actively dealing with a hound situation or something. if someone is in need of some righteous ass-kicking services, cathan will help. not with the same pouring-their-all-into-it energy they give to their main quest, but if they can help it they're not gonna just let lesser bad guys get away with starting shit. if someone else is available to help, yeah, go right ahead, but otherwise if cathan can spare the time and energy they'll help. just hope they don't hear about a hound sighting before they're done.

they'll heal people who need it, but tend to be somewhat conservative on that front. they need enough emergency healing in the tank to keep themself going and to at least stabilize people who'll die otherwise, and they don't want to go down because they brought someone up to full health who would've been fine at half. it's fine if you're sore, go home and sleep it off.

i will also note that you don't want to ask cathan for help if you want them to talk nicely to someone. you ask cathan for help if you need someone hit very hard. MAYBE if you want cathan to THREATEN to hit someone very hard as long as you understand there's a good chance the hitting will happen regardless. aphdos says fight violence with violence and cathan agrees wholeheartedly. if someone is causing unjust harm to others, you harm them back worse.

not too much changing here from my original concept, just that cathan is willing to branch out to non-hound violence if they have the time rather than solely preserving their energy when these situations come up.

#cathan tag #dnd ariknauts

[wetbloodworm]

i didnt know what to put in the empty space and hale said a star so there we go

this is saved as leglegleg.png

#cathan tag #art tag #dnd ariknauts

[wetbloodworm]

it's fun how little mechanical decisions building a character's sheet can result in like. actual character building stuff. like i had to pick a proficiency for cathan for their background, and originally picked smith's tools with the rationalization that they fix their own armor. but then i decided that was boring and while it COULD contribute something - are they frugal? do they not trust others with their armor? - it wasn't anything i was interested in examining. so i switched it to the dulcimer, and that's much more interesting to me! cathan is so wrapped up in the war, they don't make time for hobbies, but now i know they can play a musical instrument. that's something they DID make time for.

this has evolved into cathan having a soft spot for music, and enjoying playing the dulcimer. they mostly enjoy freestyling or writing their own music vs learning existing songs. they find it relaxing, and it helps keep their mind busy on stuff that isn't stressing about the state of the world. having a creative outlet is an actual healthy coping mechanism for once! i think their parents got them started playing and Strongly Encouraged them. also they've always been a bit Intense and áedán often worried about them, and one way he'd try to get them to just. fucking unwind for half a second lmao would be to get cathan to sit down for jam sessions. i looked up dulcimer duets and found one with a fiddle player so áedán played the fiddle. i'm on the fence whether cathan still plays since the Incident; they didn't ONLY play with their brother but y’know how grief be. they might be avoiding it despite really needing some hobbies because of the association, or they might still play out of a stubborn desire not to lose their music to this. first one feels more IC but we'll see, i'm thinking about it.

#cathan tag #dnd ariknauts

[wetbloodworm]

don't mind how quick and messy this is, this mental image popped into my head and i had to rush to get it out immediately. pov the kid you were picking on tattled on you to their older sibling

#art tag #cathan tag #áedán tag #dnd ariknauts #cathan has been filled with righteous anger. always.

[wetbloodworm]

casual.... relaxin......

#art tag #cathan tag #dnd ariknauts

[wetbloodworm]

armor is hard but i did my best... nothing fancy, just working out an outfit

#art tag #cathan tag #dnd ariknauts #no face bc thats not the point of this and i was getting bogged down trying to make that look fine #so. no face

[wetbloodworm]

faces!

#cathan tag #art tag #dnd ariknauts

[wetbloodworm]

fuck it, post old zenith art

one of my first attempts at designing him! he's just down as 'dhampir boy' in the save file name. didn't have the skirt yet, irises were much bigger.

first attempt at an outfit. he used to be much scruffier lmao

lyrics from community gardens, which is still on his playlist. i should redraw this sometime.

the posing on this isn't terrible

i think i was drink while doing these lmao the one with his hair in a bun is kinda cute actually! i should draw him with his hair up more

reworking the original outfit, added the braids to his hair, establishing that his irises/pupils gotta be tiny.

first attempt at a true form design! he used to have legs. hooves.

and then a rework of the true form design! the clouds used to be more opaque and also more jewel toned than pastel-ish

this pic was entirely an excuse to draw sharp teeth lmao i had the vamp fangs vs shark teeth debate early on and went with the fangs for a while because i was a coward. i'm smarter and sexier now

rework of his default strahd outfit to what it is now! he's still looking off-model to me here, he also used to have two braids on each side instead of just the one but that was a pain to draw

figuring out how true form works

his hair started getting bigger here

from the first session of strahd where he dug up a grave. still got the double-braids but looking closer

close-up design of his symbol, which you can sometimes see on his amulet. it's a loose representation of his eyes. i remember before i revealed his true form someone joked that it was a self-portrait and, like, yeah actually, got it in one

considered giving him scythe arms but that didn't last long. also first considerations of the hybrid form/eye effect in the bottom corner

and finally we get to the ones that i think have been posted to this blog. the first time i really got his design down! it's my boy. there he is.

#art tag #zenith tag

[wetbloodworm]

if i'm rotating zenith in a new universe i gotta put him in a new outfit, as is tradition. this is his ariknauts outfit, and here's a link to his others. not married to the full Look yet but i do love the skirt. he'd have the usual black boots and purple socks but i struggled with his legs so, no legs, don't worry about it

#art tag #zenith tag

[wetbloodworm]

this is fine

#art tag #cathan tag #dnd ariknauts

[wetbloodworm]

don't worry about áedán don't worry about him it's fine

#art tag #áedán tag #cathan tag #dnd ariknauts

[wetbloodworm]

misskhep: I kiss and I kiss and I kiss and I kiss and I kiss and I smooch and I kiss and I kiss kiss kiss smooch and I kiss and I *I am forcibly removed from the stage by a comically large cane hooking around my neck*

SMOOCH ATTACK!!!!!

#art tag #cathan tag #how do gauntlets work. no one knows for sure

[wetbloodworm]

still figuring them out

#cathan tag #art tag #dnd ariknauts #considering the little patches of gold feathers on the back #pondering