#c:zahne

[mistercrowbar]

Relationships between Vhaeraun and his worshippers may be a little more belligerent than most, but the big guy is always looking out for his little guys.

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[mistercrowbar]

Nothing Left to Lose

Aldiirn finds one of his lost mates tadpoled and working for the Absolute and has to get them out of Moonrise, in spite the Dream Guardian's warnings that this may not go well...

9 pages! Read on site here.

What a great day for Aldiirn, getting trolled by his god, nearly getting his arm taken off, finding out one of his friends is dead, the other has a death wish, and there's blood caking to his hair. It's fine he's fine he's got a sunmelon.

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The starting prompt I ran with for Zahne was, what if someone wanted to stay with the Absolute? Maybe they didn't believe in the Guardian's protection or the viability of a real cure or couldn't stand being without the sense of fulfillment the Absolute drowns True Souls in. But I had also decided they were Aldiirn's Vhaeraunite buddy and that was it. The Absolute keeps finding itself in opposition to Lolthites and comes out on top, they could very well do enough damage to destabilize the matriarchy so that surviving Vhaeraunites can stomp out whatever's left.

Aldiirn could try to force Zahne to camp, but if the guardian isn't gonna play ball it's pretty risky keeping around someone's who suspicious of eveeryytthiinnngg. Baldur's Gate seems safer than Moonrise at least. All goes well, the party will destroy the elder brain at the towers and Zahne can be mad at Aldiirn for it when their tadpole shrivels up or w/e. But we all know it won't go as planned. :^)

[mistercrowbar]

Oh. Hi, Zahne. One of Aldiirn's friends he's been looking for. And they're working for the Absolute. This is sure to be Fine.

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this is also based on gameplay where I flawlessly did all the things in Moonrise and went to the docks, saw the sunmelon, and immediately blew everything by stealing it. IT WAS RIGHT THERE, IN THE OPEN! And look, Aldiirn was already having a bad day, he deserved a treat. I did manage to talk out of arrest but it was so silly and stupid, I had to make it canon. And tie it into a serious moment. :')

[mistercrowbar]

I feel like there would have been a touch of hilarity to the Zahne scene if it had been in colour. Aldiirn why do you keep adopting the same breed of cat.

[mistercrowbar]

i never finished these refs of aldiirn's mates' camp outfits (and i want to revise cally's anywho) but here's a dumb thing i did for bluesky

left to right caelryn (he/him) - aldiirn (he/him) - zahne (N/A)

i could get more nitty gritty on aldiirn's labels but he's never forthright about them himself and i didnt wanna be there forever he's just a little guy who likes guys but not that way unless?

[mistercrowbar]

It's personal quest time for Aldiirn! Just gotta get this cheese hurdle out of the way. Wizards, always asking for handouts.

I figured I should introduce Cally and Zahne more so it's less "who the heck is this guy" when Aldiirn runs into them again. It's gotta suck to have to face a mind-controlled friend knowing you might be forced into combat. And then having to tell your new friends how to fight them! Aldiirn's team is small, stealth-based, and relies on surprise and bluffs, you know he hates having to out their tactics but it's gotta be done. Also so I can draw Cally with that cool cloaked action shot.

Thanks to my friend Kobold for letting Cally try to feed their Tav poison with their stew! You take it mild or medium?

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Bonus: what if you asked Zahne and Cally how to fight Aldiirn:

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The half-drow dream delivery team, Aldiirn, Caelryn, and Zahne! Caelryn warns the others of a hook horror interrupting their discussion of delivery details, and, well, the others only need to know that if Cally's excited it means some sort of dangerous critter is on the way. He just thinks they're neat!

I've been wanting to introduce Cally and Zahne for so long I had to turn their introductory piece from Reintroductions into a full illustration and I'm soooo happy with the result. The underdark is such a fun environment! I finally got a hang on how the modified drow courier armour looks, too.

[mistercrowbar]

Some backgounds for the Exposition Mode part of Reintroductions, as Aldiirn recounts his abduction, the distribution outpost he was meant to ascertain the fate of, and discovering a clan crest on one of the dead drow at Waukeen's Rest. All of these are on the rougher side for the sake of time constraints but got spruced up with some transition effects.

Architecture is my enemy and I struggled a bit to design the Iaurrhen Distribution Outpost. I knew I wanted something blocky and abstract in the way that the Death Stranding distros vaguely look like going into the belly of a while. I ended up finding an image of a trapdoor spider perched at the entrance of its den and was inspired by that. It may be revised later but for now, good enough!