What started as a gesture study of a male belly dancer turned into an involved doodle of my Lunar, Laughing Fox, who keeps going through design changes every time I draw him. How fitting for a Lunar!
The dancer look is very fitting for him as someone who, in his mortal life, served a goddess of opium of a sacred field of white poppies as spy and devotee.
Is this his final look? Probably not! I wanted to see how 'fox tail' ponytails looked on him and make a serious attempt at his complicated white poppy and moonsilver tattoos.
His animal form is a cross fox. 🦊
His old design for reference. Which do you prefer?
What's this? Finally a new journal for the Exalted Secret Santa event?? Praise the Unconquered Sun! Check out the full rambling details about my characters, plus a brand new Abyssal character option for this year behind the cut!
Kalara Vadras, The Uncrucified Solar Exalted, Eclipse Caste, Righteous Devil
Mood Music: Meet me at the Top by Unsecret & Unbreakable by Fireflight
A passionate Merchant Prince (though most people refer to her as a 'Merchant Queen'), Kalara can often be found traveling Creation using her charm and wit towards the cause of achieving a more equitable economy and the abolishment of slave labor throughout the threshold.
While she has a friendly public face, her enemies whisper of her spy network, Kalara's "Tongues", who work quietly throughout Creation eliminating threats to her ambitions for Creation.
For more reference, see Kalara's full bio for more pics, etc.
Art Notes
She has a scar from a failed crucifixion on her left hand only, not both hands
NSFW art is ok! She's quite famous for being a free spirit with multiple unattached partners, but please nothing too hardcore into chains. This lady likes luxury. Tis silk or nothing!
Fashion
Feel free to play with her hair and clothing style without sticking too close to the ref. Kalara mixes things up a lot to either blend in on her travels OR to make a big impression, depending on the occasion. She's quite the fashionista!
Note that in her art she's dressed in everything from a Chiaroscuro glass gown to more casual wear with her green shirt. The look with the teal and gold with the jacket resting on her shoulders is her signature look, however.
Iconic Anima
Her totemic anima involves chains of sunlight wrapping around her arms and ankles as the links fall off one by one. Spikes of sunlight, which do not harm her, appear in her hands and melt away. Behind her, a phoenix with a long, trailing tail rises up behind her.
Weapons & Combat Style
Kalara prefers not to let others onto the fact that she's as powerful as she is and has created a whole other persona named Koh to do her gunslinging. She and Koh are rumored to be lovers, much to her amusement.
However, if she's ever backed into a corner as Kalara, her fighting style involves acrobatic agility while dual-wielding two Prayer Pieces made of jade and orichalcum with the punishing glory of the Righteous Devil martial art.
----
Mask of Golden Lies, Abyssal Exalted, Moonshadow Caste
Mood Music: The Blackest Hand & Sunlit Grave by Mesa
This character is new for this year! Or at least this is the first time I've gotten the character out of my brain. He's been haunting there for years! He's still in development, so all of this might change.
The young man who would become Mask of Golden Lies came up from the slums of Gem, a slave who conned his way to freedom, but also earned the ire of the Despot when his greed got the better of him, tempting him to take on a risky heist involving the Despot's secret gem mine.
He fled north, thinking himself clever enough to evade the Despot's wrath by hiding in a valley ruled by a mysterious figure the locals worshipped, but others avoided.
It was there the bounty hunters found him, taking his life with the Despot's particular form of execution - forcing him to drink molten gold. They also took his forearms as trophies for the Despot's fort wall.
It was there in a shallow grave the Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears found him afterwards, amused by this ambitious, failed thief and thinking him a useful tool with the grudge against society that laid heavy in his soul. She rebuilt his broken, mutilated body with the gold and jewels he craved in life and promised him the power to act on his ambitions that he sought in life.
As a servant of the Lover, Golden Lies' most common tactic is to manipulate rich rulers into positions of imbalance and either wipe out their rulers, usually with lavish events (a la Masque of the Red Death, which is definitely on theme for him), or prime them for manipulations that benefit he and his Deathlord.
Personality-wise, he enjoys disarming people with charm and good humor and is secretly always looking for a way out of his servitude to the Lover. His mortal life is muddled in his memory, but he recalls freedom being the one thing that was most important to him, alongside the silhouette of the face of the woman he truly owed that freedom too.
Art Notes
Golden Lies' forearms are translucent with metallic gold bones.
NSFW art is ok. He's quite the cad of both men and women, usually to pursue targets.
He likes the finer things in life after a mortal lifetime living as a slave. You won't see this man in rags unless he's in disguise.
This is his 'fair form'. He has one that's also hideous that shows the mutilated state of his body at death (think Raziel from Soul Reaver with the missing lower jaw), but he much prefers to look beautiful.
Iconic Anima
Glowing red chains appear all around Golden Lies, seemingly binding him until he forces his way through them. A halo of a sun pattern also appears behind his head. He is also accented by strange red eyes that appear in a flower pattern behind him to watch him intently, signifying perhaps his loyalty is not totally to the Lover, who is always watching him. Sadly I don't have ref art of this yet!
Weapons & Combat Style
He fights unarmed, preferring that personal touch when he is driven to close combat, which he tends to avoid (but doesn't entirely dislike). His golden bone arms also make for excellent rending weapons when put to good use. I haven't decided on what style he should have yet, but it should be an unarmed one.
----
Happy Calibration and enjoy the new refs! I look forward to this event every year.
Had a little help with Lies' pose from @theposearchives
Business and Pleasure (Orichalcum Devil Casters ***)
These are inspired by @theuncrucified. While Koh’s character is in 2e, I loved the story and the artifacts and asked the author if it would be ok to turn them into some neat 3e firewands. If you haven’t read it, you absolutely should.
-
Found in an archeological dig turned betrayal by the Merchant Prince Ahrun Vadras, the twin weapons of ancient craft, forged of the demon-gold Orichalcum were inherited by his daughter, Kalara Vadras, the Uncrucified as she fled Nexus under false accusations with the Unconquered Sun’s protection leaving all speechless staring at the newly born Anathema.
The tale of the flame firing weapons did not tie itself to the name of the one bountiful Guild merchant however, but rather tales spread of the Bandit King, Koh, the Righteous Devil who freed the slaves of the East and spurred them towards the free city. And the free city was managed by the Pristine Guild and its head, the daughter of a merchant who would never again let the Guild hide its shame in her light.
She burned her enemies to ash and from those ashes rose Dinas Rhydd, the free city that would change the future of Creation.
Attunement: 5m
Type: Medium (+1/+5/+3/+1/-1 ACC, +12L, OVW 4)
Tag: Lethal, Archery (Short), Flame, Slow, One-handed, Mounted
Hearthstone Slots: 2
Era: Dreams of the First Age
Evocations of Business and Pleasure
Forged before the fall of the First Age, Business and Pleasure’s golden hues shine brighter in the hands of the Solars they were forged for. A Solar Exalted pays no additional motes to attune to both weapons. Exalted who are not resonant with orichalcum instead pay a 2m surcharge to attune to both weapons. Exalted who are dissonant with Orichalcum must attune to both firewands separately (10m total).
In addition, the two weapons burn brightest together, not alone. Anytime the Solar reloads one devil caster, she may reload both with the same action.
Chains Melt Away
Cost: 6m; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Simple
Keywords: Dissonant
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite: None
Like the nails that melted to slag in the palms of The Uncrucified, with a gout of heavenly fire, the Exalted condemns the bonds that bind herself or others. This charm creates a single attack that automatically destroys mundane locks, shackles, or other implements holding a target captive. In combat, if one of her opponents could somehow contest her action, she must succeed at a Gambit (Difficulty 3). Chains, locks, and bonds made from the five magical materials are never fully destroyed with this, but instead the Exalt must make a difficulty 5 (Dexterity + Archery or Martial Arts) check to cause them to open under the extreme heat. This never harms those the Exalt frees with this evocation, but the Exalt must have at least one hand free to melt her own chains.
Special Activation Rules: As long as the wielder is not dissonant with Orichalcum, this evocation awakens at no cost after attuning to both weapons.
At Essence 3+, this evocation can be repurchased by anyone not dissonant with Orichalcum. This allows the solar to make a difficulty 5 (Dexterity + Archery or Martial Arts) check to “break” magical bondage, such as a demon’s binding or a Yasal Crystal’s hold on a spirit or even the spell Corrupted Words.
Inner Hearth Bellows
Cost: -; Mins: Essence 1
Type: Permanent
Keywords: None
Duration: Permanent
Prerequisite: None
Firedust serves a firewand only so well, but the Exalt has no need when she herself is the flame that purifies enemies. Each of the Exalt’s firewands can be fired up to double her (current Anima Level) times in a round before needing to be reloaded, however after each action, she must still reload. As such, she may use multi-attack charms that the Slow tag would otherwise prevent, as long as she makes no more than that many attacks. For example, using Trance of Unhesitating Speed at the Dim level, she could make up to two attacks between her two devil casters or up to six while she was iconic.
Like the Unconquered Sun opened his heart to Kalara, the Exalt learns to open her heart and fire its flames from her weapon. This charm enhances a Decisive attack that supports one of her intimacies, adding bonus dice to the raw damage equal to the strength of that intimacy.
Resonant: A solar, while at the iconic anima stage, may let her entire soul fill Business and Pleasure. For each level of anima she reduces herself, she may choose to apply an additional intimacy to boost her raw damage, though she may use only one intimacy of each strength (for a maximum of 9 bonus damage from drawing on a Defining, Major, and Minor intimacy).
Inside each of the firewands is the story of Koh, the Bandit King. This evocation creates an immediate persona for Heart-Eclipsing Shroud that does not count against the Solar’s maximum number of personas. While players may choose to add additional intimacies, he always has the following
Defining: I will end the profits made on the scarred backs of fellow men
Defining: The slave trade of the Guild will be brought to an end
Major: The Guild is full of real monsters
Major: My heart knows the fire’s path and my enemies are purified in its flames.
Major: The people, are the perpetuators of change. Their dreams will shape the future of Creation.
Minor: I am possessed only by my own passion. I am no Anathema.
In addition, Koh lives in the legend of the Righteous Devil. The Exalt may learn Righteous Devil Style charms without a tutor, however these charms may only be used while adopting the persona of Koh. Should the Exalt find a proper tutor, she may spend the normal training times to use these charms equally across any persona she dons, including her original self.
Golden Devil Castigation
Cost: 7m, 4i, 1wp; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Resonant, Dissonant
Duration: One Round
Prerequisite: Freed Heart Flames
As the Exalt takes a moment to simply stare down at her foes down the barrel of a devil caster and they freeze up. She does not enslave them, they bind themselves in the chains of their own twisted sins. The Exalt rolls (Charisma + Presence) against the Resolve of all targets out to Short range. If they defy one of her intimacies, she gains that many bonus dice to the roll. If she is successful, she may initiate an immediate grapple gambit upon all of them, rolling her full initiative and using Charisma + Presence in place of Strength + Brawl. The Exalt may act normally and is not restricted by this grapple, nor is her defense penalized. Targets who would be considered innocent by the Exalted or who the Exalt holds a positive intimacy towards are unaffected, even if they currently stand against her. While her foes still take the -2 penalty to defense, -1 (or -3 for two handed weapons) to attack, and are incapable of moving until the end of her next turn, the Exalt may not take any normal grapple actions against them.
While the Exalt’s anima is displayed at the iconic anima level, these chains become visible golden constructs binding her foes.
Resonant: Resonant wielders extend the range of the grapple effect to Medium range.
Special Activation Rules: This evocation cannot be awakened with experience points. Instead a non-dissonant Exalted must complete a Major, Defining, or Legendary Social Goal that is compatible with the intimacies of Koh, the Bandit King (see Silver-Tongued Devil Style). Dissonant Exalted cannot awaken this evocation by any means.
Golden Devil Judgement
Cost: 5m, 3a; Mins: Essence 3
Type: Simple
Keywords: Decisive-Only, Resonant
Duration: Instant
Prerequisite: Golden Devil Castigation, Silver-Tongued Devil Style
Resonant: Only wielders resonant with Orichalcum can learn this evocation.
Seeing the chains that bind those who stand against her, the Exalt aims Business and Pleasure down and burns them away. Those caught in the blaze burn only from their own wrong-doings. This charm can only be used the round after Golden Devil Castigation while the Solar is iconic. All opponents caught in the grapple are immediately consumed in a golden fire, a special savage attack made by this evocation that gains the benefit of Freed Heart Flames automatically.
This evocation can only be used once per story unless reset by completing a major, defining, or legendary social goal compatible with the intimacies of Koh, the Bandit King, though the Solar may wear any persona to perform the deed.
We had a Valentine's themed art trade event over at the Forge of Wonders where I got to challenge my art skills by sending two characters on an outing!
Here's my take on a date between @annacory-blog's Twilight Caste Solar, Gale, and my Koh, the hotshot gunslinging male persona of my Eclipse Caste, Kalara.
Anna told me for a date, Gale would love a mischievous evening or reading quietly, so I thought "Why not both?" and sent them on a date to break into a dynast's heretical Scarlet Empress library for a picnic.
Meanwhile, Koh's bodyguard, Night Locust, watches on, despite being told to stay at home. He's glad the boss is having fun, but is secondhand embarrassed at the boss reading lines from "Scarlet Empress Unbound" a purportedly true account of the Empress' secret sexy adventures. 😆
Painted in Procreate with final touches in Photoshop.
----
Enjoy some detail shots of the heretical library:
And finally, a video so you can see how much of a disaster this image was at the start before I was able to salvage it.
I've been working on this fan art piece ever since Blue Eye Samurai came out and finally had a chance to finish it! Mizu's story of revenge, betrayal, and growth spoke to me in ways that made me want to drop everything and keep writing my own stories, despite my art block and uncertainty.
I felt a personal connection to Mizu's struggles as a biracial child who felt out of place and someone who wasn't overtly feminine in a generation where my potential was restricted by what my gender is.
Thank you @briankesinger and the team for this amazing show that made me feel like my peculiarities are strengths rather than weaknesses.
I couldn't resist painting a cross-over piece with one of my early original characters from the Exalted TTRPG setting - Koh the Silvertongued Devil. Koh and Mizu share the same unstoppable conviction towards their revenge plots, genderfluid identity, and taste in sunglasses.
Not sure who would win in a fight, but I hope it would end in trading survival tips over tea, at the very least!
To celebrate the Abyssals 3e launch from @theonyxpath, enjoy a collection of some of my Abyssal art!
Starting off with my take on the Deathlord, The Lover Clad in the Raiment of Tears. I channeled teardrop silhouettes and teardrop crystals with a spoopy madam aesthetic.
Say hello to Golden Lies Spewn Forth from Avarice, a Deathknight of the Lover who enjoys eating the rich (quite literally).
The Eyes of Lord Automeris, a soulsteel war fan weapon a Deathknight Moonshadow Caste used in our campaign that does willpower eroding attacks when it opens fully revealing its 'eyes'.
The Monstrance of the Lover. A gift given from the Lover to Rabzolga, the God of Slaves. As each monstrance suits the Deathlord’s intentions (the way I interpret the lore), I’ve chosen to portray this monstrance controlled by the Lover as being much like its owner.
The silk satin pillowing inside makes it seem like a luxurious bed, the soulsteel and jade construct gilded with gold. A prismatic crystalline lid allows one to gaze on the poor soul inside, whose body is trapped in an arc that mimics ecstasy by gold caressing arms that come alive and clasp the victim within. Inserted along the crystal lid, jewel encrusted needles stab into each of the victim’s chakra points, plying the Solar within for corruption. Like the Lover, this monstrance combines a beautiful and terrible aesthetic.
Huzzah! My first art of 2023! Tabletop tokens inspired by The Uncrucified. Next up - Night Locust, Kalara's faithful and trusted Night Caste bodyguard.
I refreshed the Exalted Art Challenge with a couple of new topics and a list of weekly topics for the slow folks like me! We moved right in the middle of this challenge for October, so I only had time to partake in the weekly topics, instead. Still, this challenge is always a lot of fun and a great excuse to experiment with different methods and styles!
Read more about the lore of each drawing and watch time lapses of their creation here.
Week 1 - Your PC - Laughing Fox, my Changing Moon Lunar
Week 2 - A Meal In Creation - A Feast for The Plentimon of Dice
Week 3 - Fave Charm - Archery (plus some exploration of Kalara's anima)
Week 4 - Fave Fashion - A Chiaroscuro Glass Gown for Kalara
