Wolf of the Autumn Leaves - my final seasonal wolf spirit! This one is for fall, of course. Orange is my favorite color so I greatly enjoyed drawing this one. Like the others, I used a reference photo from the Voyager Wolf Project.
Image description in alt text, my art made in Procreate.
the wolves/spirits from my dragon age campaign. from left to right; Devotion, and spirit of love and the First of the Knights Guardians. Wrath, and aspect of Devotion and a spirit of vengeance. And a guardian wolf, a spirit possessing a wolf, and what the Knights Guardians were, they serve Devotion until they choose a knight to follow.
i had a lot of fun making my campaign cuz it's technically canon compliant with dragon age lore
specific stuff about them under cut
Devotion is a spirit of love centered around love for and of the elvhen people. Their love for each other. It possessed the body of a wolf to help the elvhen people during the slave rebellion that eventually joined Andraste's forces. It bonded with Shartan due to his love for his people and his drive to fight for a better world for them, acting as his wolf/spirit companion. They died along side him, and they changed from love into devotion. They became the origin for the archetype of a knight and their wolf that evolved into the Emerald Knights and the Knight's Guardians.
Shartan and Devotions bodies were brought to the Dales to be buried. They are later honored with the titles of the First Knight and First Guardian of the Dales. Devotion drew near to their grave site to watch over Shartan "while he sleeps". Eventually the elves of the Dales began a tradition of Emerald Knights making a pilgrimage to visit their grave to prove their oaths to protect the Dales before Devotion. In the forest where the grave is hidden, the elves thin the Veil to allow Devotion to draw closer, and other spirits follow, inspired by Devotion. Some take the bodies of wolves and bond themselves with the knights who make the pilgrimage, becoming the Knight's Guardians. These wolves are called Guardian Wolves.
Wrath is an aspect of Devotion that split off into it's own being, so that Devotion wouldn't be corrupted. But they're still connected to Devotion, and represent the ferocious aspect of love that drives one to fight to protect what they care for. Wrath is like a guard dog that protects the forest and grave. The fall of the Dales caused Wrath to be set loose, for the first time, decimating the Orlesian and Chantry forces that were attacking the region, but falling in the process. The later reformed in the Fade.
With the Venatori invading the region, hoping the Dales hid something of value, Wrath was re-awoken, and began to rampage again.
(Devotion's design is meant to resemble Witherfang, since they're both forest spirits that took wolf bodies, and there's a theory that the Lady of the Forest is also a spirit of love)
Something I did for myself to remiscent about old times when I used to play online rpg. I always dreamt to make illustrations about our adventures. This time I've chosen to draw random characters, but maybe in the future I will draw something based on actual stories written by me and my friends.
Initially I had slightly different idea, but while I was working on it I realised I would ruin everything if I overcomplicate it, so I left it as it is. :)
On another note, I think I'm finally getting more familiar with Krita. It took me some time to adjust after PS and then SAI, but I've been watching some tutorials and it's getting easier. ^^
