Itâs been quite some time since I last posted portraits I made for our D&D characters from our Eldraine Wildsâinspired campaign â a setting based on Magic: The Gatheringâs Eldraine, but developed with our own twists and original lore. It feels like the right moment to return to it.
Iâm still a bit immersed in thesis work and taking care of my mental health, but today I want to talk about my character.
Here is a small lore recap for context:
Think of a high-fantasy world deeply rooted in Arthurian legends and Grimms' Fairy Tales. The world is split into two distinct realms: The Kingdoms (five courts representing civilization, chivalry, and order) and The Wilds (an untamed, magical forest where logic bends and fae rule).
It has been 400 years since a bloody war between humans and the Fae put an end to Fae dominance in the world. Back then, humans cut down and burned half of the magical forests that covered the entire globe. This divided the world into two parts: the untamed Wilds, where space, time, and magic work completely differently, and the human world we are more used to.
Sir Cassian Arkenwild â though, in truth, that is not his real name.
In the Wilds, letting others know your true name can invite misfortune, and from the very beginning he took great care to protect himself from that â or perhaps from something else entirely.
Unfortunately, I canât say too much about him or his deeper motivations just yet, at least not until certain things are revealed in-game, as some of my friends follow this page. The essentials, however:
He hails from Locthwain, a kingdom whose fae relic is the floating Castle Locthwain, where Queen Ayara has ruled for four hundred years since the end of the war, without aging a single day. Knights there are chosen by the queen herself, for deeds performed in the realm of perseverance. Because of this, there are many different paths to becoming a Knight of Locthwain â unlike in Garenbrig or Embereth.
There are three branches of knighthood:
the Knights of Lightning, Locthwainâs primary striking force,
the Knights of the Veil, scouts and, at times, spies,
and the Knights of the Word, whose deeds fall outside the previous two categories â too singular to be neatly classified.
Clad in blackened armor and a copper mask he has never once removed, Cassian is a complex and deeply impulsive individual, a bundle of contradictions. He is rash, yet intelligent. Cunning and slippery, yet utterly incapable of hiding his emotions. A humanist who believes in civilization and collective effort â and at the same time firmly convinced of his own uniqueness. From a very young age, he perceived the world in a peculiar way, drawing a sharp line between himself and others.
Some of this has already been revealed to the party: he is capable of glimpsing fragments of the immediate future without the use of any specific spells. Though a divination wizard by class, training, and skill set, he often comes across more like a sorcerer. As an arcane focus, he uses eight sets of steel needles with copper cores, each topped with a different finial â the eight designs corresponding to the known schools of arcane magic.
Loyal only to himself and to what he perceives as the interests of Locthwain â embodied, in his eyes, by its queen â he sets out for the North to uncover the origins of the Sleeping Curse.
Sigrid, Ranger from our Wilds of Eldraine campaign
Not too long ago, I posted the first illustration featuring a portrait of one of the characters from our party, based on the MTG "Wilds of Eldraine" settingâSomna. Now, the time has come for Sigrid.
Somna is the only representative of the Borderlands in our game. The other characters belong to the Kingdoms (or Courts, for those who know the lore): Ardenvale, Garenbrig, Embereth, Vantress, and Locthwain. Here is a small lore recap for context:
Think of a high-fantasy world deeply rooted in Arthurian legends and Grimms' Fairy Tales. The world is split into two distinct realms: The Kingdoms (five courts representing civilization, chivalry, and order) and The Wilds (an untamed, magical forest where logic bends and fae rule).
It has been 400 years since a bloody war between humans and the Fae put an end to Fae dominance in the world. Back then, humans cut down and burned half of the magical forests that covered the entire globe. This divided the world into two parts: the untamed Wilds, where space, time, and magic work completely differently, and the human world we are more used to.
So, back to Sigrid.
Even though she mostly looks like an elf, the blood of the Yotuns (as the Giant folk are called here) flows within her. Giants are magical creatures. Whatâs the difference? Magical creatures obey their own laws, distinct from the ones we are used to. For instance, the Fae are associated with certain conceptual aspects; they cast magic as naturally as breathing and are incapable of lying. Giants, on the other hand, possess an innate reverence for Strength in its purest and most direct form. They are also capable of passing down something akin to "ancestral experience"âcollectively accumulated knowledge about dangers and how to overcome them. This instinct awakens in them during critical situations, allowing them to survive where even a miracle wouldn't save someone else.
During the Fae War, some of the giants defected to the side of the Kingdoms. Only the Storm and Cloud giants remained with the Fae, while the Hill, Stone, and Fire giants, together with a faction of elves, founded the Kingdom of Garenbrig. There, Strength is cultivated as the very thing that finally allowed the Giants to gain freedom from Fae dominance.
So what about Sigrid?
Eldraine is a magical world, and fairy tale laws apply here. The third son or daughter will always be incredibly talented, smart, or lucky. The seventh son is an exceptional person with no equal. The seventh son of a seventh son... That was Parsif, the first King of Garenbrig, who challenged the Giant leaders during the war and managed to unite a faction of giants on the side of humanity.
Sigrid's family was obsessed with the idea of birthing a great warrior. Her ancestors â elves who admired strength â intermingled with Giants, trying to harness these fairy tale laws to raise someone who could bring glory to their lineage and perhaps even eclipse Parsif himself.
Unfortunately, playing with magic is just like making a deal with the Fae â even though they cannot lie, they will always find a way to deceive you.
The seventh son managed to conceive six sons, and when the whole family was in anticipation, instead of the seventh son of a seventh son, they got... a daughter.
Thus, Sigrid became her family's greatest disappointment.
She lived under this stigma until she moved to Embereth â far away from her relatives, who always looked down on her with pity, disappointment, or confusion. After all, by a mockery of fate, she didn't shine with raw physical strength either.
However, she made up for it with sheer persistence and skill. She managed to master 12 types of bladed weapons, honing her craft for years in the Embereth lists, becoming a dangerous and capable warrior, and making a foreign kingdom her home.
And then, war began again.
The Sleeping Curse is spreading across the Kingdoms, and everyone capable of holding a weapon is heading to the Borderlands, and from there, some find their way North. However, the further North she goes, the stronger the wild magic running in her blood becomes. The part tied to her Yotun heritage begins to awaken, revealing traits she didn't even suspect she had.
Will she be able to remain herself? Was she ever truly herself while her ancestors' legacy slumbered peacefully within her?
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