So… I haven’t posted anything for a while, and honestly, I probably don’t want to get into deep explanations as to why. I guess there just wasn’t the desire or the impulse to do it, even though this blog and the audience it has gathered mean a very, very great deal to me.
I am still very interested in Ancient Rome, and stories still live in my head that I would love to capture in pictures and comics.
I still have thoughts about my game, and there was a period where I was actively writing for it. I want to get back into that mood, and I hope I can. Just like getting back to active blogging.
My main problem right now is my style. I like it, but the issue is that bringing an illustration to a level where I’m satisfied takes a huge amount of time, which clashes badly with how I want to work. When I work on one image for too long, I burn out quickly, and I lose the feeling that it brings me pleasure or that it’s worth all the time spent. How to deal with this? Hell if I know…
But I don't want to abandon my plans. I hope to return to them.
Also, besides Rome, lately I’ve immersed myself deeper into D&D. I had already been playing in a campaign run by a very close friend of mine for—what, 5 years? God, has it really been that long? Hahaha! And that is all one long-running story. Not long ago, I convinced her to start a second one—she had ideas, she just needed a push, a spark. And god! I’m so glad she did.
It’s an incredibly different mood from the other game, and I am insanely in love with my character. Basically, the stars have aligned for this to become my new fixation, so a certain amount of art on this topic will appear soon, too.
Honestly, I don’t know what’s best. Maybe start a second blog? Although I don’t really want to split things up, to be honest; I like having all my work in one place.
Next, a little bit about the game, since it’s important for the context of the picture.
There are 4 players, and we are playing an original plot set in a pre-made (or rather, very abstractly "pre-made," more inspired by) MTG world called Eldraine.
For those not familiar with the setting, 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.
Now, a sleeping curse is spreading. The Kingdoms are uniting in the face of this calamity, strengthening their borders with the Wilds and launching a massive offensive into the heart of the Fae forests to find the source of the curse.
Our group consists of very different representatives of this world, which creates a whole spectrum of dynamics.
This is Somna, a Circle of Dreams druid (faun) from the Borderlands.
Not everyone was able to pick a side after the war ended. Far from all magical creatures—a separate category in this world, mostly fairytale beings like fauns, gnomes, and giants—can live in the heart of the Wilds where the Fae rule. However, life in the Kingdoms doesn't suit them well either. They inhabit the Borderlands, a special area where the magic of the Wilds hasn't run dry yet, forming a boundary between savagery and the Kingdom, trying to find their path in this complex, dual world.
Somna is an unusual druid because she wears metal on her body. Why? We are still in the process of revealing that, but the foundation of this philosophy lies in the views of her father.
He believed that there is life in stone, too, and that things cultivated and processed by humans do not lose their life and do not exit the general natural cycle.
Somna's entire clan fell asleep from the curse. Her father went deep into the Wilds, as did her grandmother who went to search for him—the most important figures in her life.
Forced to make an alliance with the Kingdoms in exchange for help with those asleep from the curse and care for them, Somna becomes the squad's guide on this journey to the North. Sensitively attuned to the wild magic that permeates the forests, she is one of the few capable of navigating there, because the Wilds never remain constant—they are always changing.
In this difficult situation, she hopes to find balance, fearing the consequences of a new war, as it promises to be destructive, and the very essence of magic is in danger. After all, if the last tree is burned, it will run dry forever.
I am not the one playing this wonderful character. The girl playing her is doing an amazing job, and I am so interested to see how her story turns out...
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