Apr 5
judgement. tarot card of npc for my calimshan dnd campaign! also, some playing with concept art earlier before making this pieces!
seen from Georgia
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judgement. tarot card of npc for my calimshan dnd campaign! also, some playing with concept art earlier before making this pieces!
I haven't posted in a month so here you go, my new dnd character from calimshan
he's the only drawing I finished lately, but I'm planning to finish some oc art I started weeks ago.
⸻ஆ࿔• ✧ “the scent of life”
“(…) Calimport. Always loud and restless, always alive — life here never just slips into silence. The chatter of voices, the air is rich with spices; sweets whose honeyed taste you can almost feel with a single glance; bright bolts of fabric that catch the sun. Crowds gather at every corner. Everyone knows everyone. One shares lahmacun, never the same in any home; another hides beneath a painted awning, cradling freshly brewed coffee. Voices rise from the stalls. The scent of warm simits drifts through the streets…”
Would be interesting to trace Entreri becoming more whitewashed in official art when he became less of a villain and more complex character. Due to these tropes
If there’s character description for ttrpg books with him , i’m curious if they treat him as friend or foe or any of his complexities in character in any way also
MENA people in this context are not treated as complex human beings, instead serving as storytelling devices that stand in the way or remain in the background of a white lead’s self-actualization. More often than not, they are villains. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen TV shows and movies sink to the classically racist “Arab terrorist” villain storyline. “Ghosts of Beirut,” “American Sniper,” “Liaison” and many others use MENA people as de-facto scapegoats. Visual media have always been the most effective vehicle of modern ideology, so for this to be the most pervasive form of Arab depiction in Western media propagates the harmful painting of MENA individuals as violent and heartless.
It’s no wonder that I can’t think of a single Arab woman role model I had on-screen growing up. The closest I ever got was Evie, and I’m not sure if the movie saying she’s half-Egyptian makes it any more believable. Western audiences can see themselves a million times over as strong and good, as clever and kind; MENA viewers don’t get to see themselves at all, and if they do, they are portrayed as terrorists, cowards, liars or props. If we want to see accurate, nuanced depictions of ourselves on screen, the onus falls on us to tell those stories and claw our way to get them shown. But it shouldn’t.
Appropriation and repacking of Arab culture in Hollywood is starting to feel like some sick conspiracy, and it's time for it to be undone.
Next, I drew Zahira, a tiefling entertainer who specialises in summoning snakes by playing the flute. She’s also part of our D&D group, which is starting in Calimshan. This character belongs to blackhoneymilktea over on instagram
I am the opposite of surprised at White Boy Artemis. It’s so clear to me from how Calimshan is written about that the very purpose of it is to both have cool characters with French sounding names who are the focal (white) characters there while also being orientalist toward the culture.
Artemis is Cool and Smart and named a white sounding name. But there’s also harems full of vaguely oppressed over sexualized women in a complicated guild system run by pashas. There’s swathes of poor masses enraptured by a false religion but Artemis doesn’t Care About Religion.
I love Artemis Entreri and quite obviously many books are clear he should be real world middle eastern coded. This isn’t an attack on specific authors and I think fans tend to really improve it. But wizards of the coast obviously wants Cool Guy Artemis to be a white man living as the best swordsman and top guy in a orientalist fantasy Middle East.
Public service announcement!
From now on people commissioning me art (few as those blessed souls are, for I see ye are resolved to keep me impecunious) will be required to play Almraiven. It is a Neverwinter Nights detective noir module about a necromancer (you) investigating a series of brutal murders in Calimshan city of Almraiven. Yes, it is as cool as it sounds.
Adventures in Faerun - People of Calimshan by Iqnatius Budi
