all right! So. I’m over putzing around in Dragon Valley between trying to figure out how to fit sims and story and pictures together for my Escape sims ficlit and while I’m having a lovely time, let’s face it, DV is SO far behind the times. So I decided to update the absolutely useless pub next to the house my sim is living in so it can be an actual bar. Aaaaaand I got a little carried away. Let me introduce you to the Last Homely House the Dragon Tavern Redux. The elves got tired of the tacky decor, bought the place and upgraded. Like - really upgraded. I’m not kidding, even the toilets are fancy now. I made it the local watering hole but it could very easily become an exclusive lounge - you know, to keep out all those pesky humans and their ilk.
Anyway, I’m going to share it because I really am pleased with how it turned out but I did not make this. All I did was spruce the old place up and update it so its an actual bar now. So this is not a bunyip original. It’s just a little remake in case anyone wants to bulldoze and replace the old Dragon Tavern (or use this one elsewhere).
download Dragon Valley Tavern remake
cc used: awesims, ung999, majik, pyszny, canelline, 4sims.net, camarossz28, aroundthesims3, thesimspiration, astrasims, severinka, juliana, murfeelee and SIMcredibles! - all of which you can find links to on my dreamwidth page.
I totally didn't realize I didn't post these guys after they were done almost a year ago, but we're back on the 100 OC Challenge train!
As always, new designs up top, old below, and character info below the cut.
#61: Sirno
Idea: Queen of the BONE ZONE
Story: Dragon Tavern
Sirno is easily the least developed of the Seekers, and quite possibly the least developed out of all of the Dragon Tavern characters period. Seriously, I never got her beyond "She's a Bone Lord," even with the 2016 redesigns. Luckily, the Idea Machine got chugging while I was working on this sketch.
Growing up, Sirno was a military brat; both of her parents were enlisted in the Deadlands military, and her father became a recruiter after his first tour through the swamps. Thanks to them moving between garrisons every few years, Sirno was frequently a new kid in town, so it was difficult for her to make friends and nearly impossible to keep them. On top of that, thanks to her permanent new-kid status, her offbeat looks, her imposing height even at a young age and her quiet nature, she was frequently the target of bullying; she particularly remembers kids either asking her out or trying to set up their friends with her as a joke. Eventually, once she reached adolescence, if anyone approached and asked her to "say something funny" or if she wanted to go to the ball that weekend, she'd cut the bullshit herself and whip the asker's ass.
Of course, all this did was turn the direct bullying into exclusion and get her kicked out of more than a few academies. But at the time, it made her feel a little better that she could kick the ass of anyone and anything.
By the time she was sixteen, she decided school was for losers and she wanted to join the military like her parents; she enlisted and soon went on a few tours through the swamps. About five years into service, it was determined she'd be a perfect candidate for Bone Lord training.
Bone Lords pilot ten-or-so foot tall constructs of bone and alchemically-treated gore, their bodies ensconced in the torso and connected to the construct via magical wire. This connection allows the pilot to control the construct through conscious thought alone, as though they are one organism.
Sirno took to the program with flying colors; when she was first interred into her armor, she felt as though she had finally become what she was always meant to be. When she wore her armor, she was no longer some lanky, awkward walking target for people to start shit with, a fragile creature of blood and meat and feeling; she was a towering, terrifying monstrosity, and any dumb enough not to treat her with the respect she was due would feel her might. The more time she spent in the suit, the more she wished she never had to take it off.
When the search for the Champions kicked into high gear, she jumped at the opportunity to see the world outside of the Deadlands and show new people she was not to be fucked with.
#62: Vermire
Idea: Transing Your Gender Through Superior Alchemy™
Story: Dragon Tavern
19yo Nost wanted her own version of Gren from Cowboy Bebop and had no notion of transgender issues, so cut her a little slack on this one.
Vermire is the first of the Seekers of the Steel Empire, and was built around the fact that I accidentally set his gender to "female" when I meant to make him "male". Vermire is a sanctioned alchemist - in short, he can craft potions without getting branded as a heretic and put to the sword because what he's doing is definitely not magic, it's science. One day, he was trying to craft a potion to improve his eyesight so that he wouldn't need glasses anymore. He succeeded, but there was a serious side effect - the potion acted as a massive dose of estrogen and gave him curves. He was already a fairly androgynous looking man, and he didn't want to have to explain his downstairs mix-up, so he started presenting as sexually ambiguous, female leaning.
Over the years, as the Dragon Tavern characters sat in the box, I kept revisiting his character; in his first major revision, I got rid of the silly "comedic gender bender" aspects and turned his story into more of a commentary on male privilege and sexism. Vermire adopted a female presentation to protect himself while he searched for a cure, taking on the role of his own sister as his sudden development of a more feminine form would very likely be seen as heretical magic. However, while the quality of his alchemical work didn't change, the perception from his peers absolutely did; colleagues were far more harsh to his "sister", critiquing "her" work far more than they ever did his and overall treating "her" with much less respect.
Between his work being severely hamstringed by his sexist colleagues and the danger of his physical situation being potentially found out, Vermire was quite eager to take up the hunt for the Champions of the Steel Empire; it would be much easier to hide his body with heavy coats and field wear, and besides that, even in the rare chance some foreigner was to see his body, they probably wouldn't try to immediately execute him for it...right?
Overall, the gender story will need quite a bit more workshopping, especially to make it interesting, but not exploitative.
#63: Maer
Idea: a very big steam powered giraffe what smokes The Steamest Punk
Story: Dragon Tavern
Maer only slightly ranks above Sirno as least developed of the Seekers, and the worst part is I didn't have the big flash of inspiration to retool him like I did her. Thus, poor Maer's stuck in development hell at the moment.
What I do know about the fellow is he's a Steam Crafter, an engineer that builds steam-powered machinery. Steamworks are seen as the more reliable scientific field in the Steel Empire compared to Vermire's sanctioned alchemy and the "mad science" of the Outcast Engineers, being responsible for the Empire's rapid industrialization. In recent years, the reach of steam power has expanded to the military, and a subsect of crafters have gone to work building various walking suits and automata in the hopes of supplementing - and possibly replacing - the likes of the Cavaliers as defenders of the homeland.
Maer is part of that subsect, having been inspired to take up the sciences after learning about Paz's success as a young teen, though he wasn't fast-tracked to academy like she was. When he learns about the reward for Paz's capture, though he's still enrolled at the time, he packs up his primary automaton, Twiggy, and heads into the field, hoping to meet her for the first time and learn what the hell she's been up to.
And unfortunately, that's all I know about the man at present. We'll get there.
#NINTENDO64: Terinelle
Idea: Badass old knight woman
Story: Dragon Tavern
Terinelle, much like Arlein, was the subject of a massive overhaul back when I first redesigned these characters back in 2017; she was originally a much younger woman, like most of the other characters. But during the redesigns, I became much more interested in representing older characters, and in particular, older women; badass old men, after all, are pretty common, but badass old women, much less so. She also underwent an ethnic update, being changed from vague "anime" ethnicity to specifically inspired by Armenian women.
Terinelle is a Cavalier, the classic knight in shining armor atop a noble steed. When she first began her career fifty years prior, she was the lone knighted woman, fighting doubly hard as her compatriots to rise in the ranks; now, she stands among the upper echelon, and has inspired other young women to join the knighthood. Unfortunately, even now, she and those who joined in her wake still face discrimination from their male peers and superiors, and on top of that, younger knights tend to question her competency due to her age.
Of course, those brazen enough to attempt to duel her to increase their prestige or "put her in her place" quickly learn their lessons. See, among Cavaliers, rather than displaying their rank and prestige through medals or armor decoration, they display it through their hair; a Cavalier only cuts their hair if they are defeated in battle, with the cut-off locks becoming a trophy for the winner.
Terinelle has not cut her hair in fifty years.
After putting her boots to another whippersnapper's throat and it still doing little to shut up her detractors, Terinelle had finally had enough of Imperial society. She had pretty much everything she could possibly want - a rich estate, a loving husband, children she adored and a litter of grandchildren on the way - but she wanted to seek glory in new lands. So, when the call went out for people to seek out the Champions of the Steel Empire, she jumped at the opportunity. Sure, she would miss her family dearly, but surely, she wouldn't be gone for that long. There were only so many places those kids could be, right?
I started making group images of characters done for my 100 OC Challenge and figured I'd post this one here, as well, even if I haven't quite gotten to the individual images of everyone in this image except Arlein, lol. Open in a new tab to see deets!
