Name: Shirley Xu
Email: mirative@gmail.com
Come to the dark side, we have cookies!

Hey there! I’m thinking of trying this out because it looks pretty cool. It’s my first time doing this, and I’m on school break until I go abroad to Germany in February, so I think this would be cool to try out :smile:

Bio (copied here for convenience): Sterborn was originally the royal assassin, hired by king Psemi to protect his kingdom. He was very successful, and while his identity and role were kept secret, he was pivotal to the kingdom’s prosperity, as he was able to stop any rebellion from every taking place and was treated to bountiful rewards from the king.

One day, however, Sterborn heard rumors that the king was about to have him assassinated by a younger assassin-in-training. Sterborn doubted the rumors, saying that there was no way the king had any desire of replacing him; however, one day, on a mission requested by the king, his hiding location had been booby trapped. His legs were tied with rope and pulled upwards from under him, breaking his spine at the waist and rendering him paralyzed.

The following day, Sterborn was notified that he had been replaced with a younger member of the royal court who was previously unknown to him. Furious, he set out to seek those who started the rumors and to thank them and apologize for doubting them. Furthermore, he seeked to avenge the king for his actions. He struggled to move, but with his dexterity, made it into the village.

He searched around the town, wondering where the rumors had originated. His search led him to an old house inhabited by an old woman, whome the village deemed insane, who spent her time brewing potions. She admitted that the prophecy had started as the result of a vision from a soothsaying potion she had brewed, and wanted to prove that she was no longer insane, so she tried as hard as possible to anonymously pass the rumor onto him. She then said that as recompense, she would give Sterborn a potion that would “allow him the harness the powers that could turn life into earth”, so that Sterborn could take his revenge.

Desperate to get back at the king for what he had done, Sterborn quickly drank the potion and gained the powers of decay and decomposition. His body transformed to accomodate his new abilities, and took over his mind. From then on, Sterborn only had one purpose: to reduce life to the ground as life had done to him.

Thumbnails!

I think it might be cool to actually combine #1 and #4 somehow and make something cool out of that... Well, I’ll think about that for a bit more, but I think that gathering some references should help me decide!

Also, I have noticed that I’m a lot better at coming up with dark characters for some reason, so I think I’ll stick with the dark side. (They have cookies, after all!)

Fiiiinally completed the line art for this! Well, except for the feet. I don’t quite know what I want for the feet yet, so if you guys have any suggestions, please chime in! (Also, I still gotta add a sash or belt for the skulls. I just kinda forgot, oops)

Also, I decided to finally give this guys a temporary name. What do you guys think of the design so far?

Bio: Sterborn was originally the royal assassin, hired by king Psemi to protect his kingdom. He was very successful, and while his identity and role were kept secret, he was pivotal to the kingdom’s prosperity, as he was able to stop any rebellion from every taking place and was treated to bountiful rewards from the king.

One day, however, Sterborn heard rumors that the king was about to have him assassinated by a younger assassin-in-training. Sterborn doubted the rumors, saying that there was no way the king had any desire of replacing him; however, one day, on a mission requested by the king, his hiding location had been booby trapped. His legs were tied with rope and pulled upwards from under him, breaking his spine at the waist and rendering him paralyzed.

The following day, Sterborn was notified that he had been replaced with a younger member of the royal court who was previously unknown to him. Furious, he set out to seek those who started the rumors and to thank them and apologize for doubting them. Furthermore, he seeked to avenge the king for his actions. He struggled to move, but with his dexterity, made it into the village.

He searched around the town, wondering where the rumors had originated. His search led him to an old house inhabited by an old woman, whome the village deemed insane, who spent her time brewing potions. She admitted that the prophecy had started as the result of a vision from a soothsaying potion she had brewed, and wanted to prove that she was no longer insane, so she tried as hard as possible to anonymously pass the rumor onto him. She then said that as recompense, she would give Sterborn a potion that would “allow him the harness the powers that could turn life into earth”, so that Sterborn could take his revenge.

Desperate to get back at the king for what he had done, Sterborn quickly drank the potion and gained the powers of decay and decomposition. His body transformed to accomodate his new abilities, and took over his mind. From then on, Sterborn only had one purpose: to reduce life to the ground as life had done to him.

Another rendering WIP. I think he’s looking a bit too much whimsical rather than dark, but I’ll play around with the colors more. I did consider scrapping him for a bit, but I like his backstory. I’d appreciate any feedback, since I’m really on the edge about whether to keep him or not (I know that sometimes I can be really hard on myself but idk)... What do you guys think? I don’t want to continue on this design only to get stuck and unsatisfied in the end, but again, I do tend to be really doubtful of my own work.

I love the mushrooms/fungi as the pauldrons. The skulls on the belt are a great touch too. Looking forward to seeing more... Good luck and have fun! :+1: