As a visual aid for this weekend‘s short scene, here’s my first attempt at drawing aspiring evil overlord (and Sublunar Realm enthusiast) Tenebella.
In terms of quality, I’m more or less satisfied with this one — though I’m a little disappointed her hands are different sizes…
In terms of the specific details of her appearance, I’m still a little indecisive about what she’s actually supposed to look like, sort of like how I’m still not entirely clear on the specifics of her character.
Basically, don’t consider this depiction of her either definitive or official, though it’s not so tenuous that any future depictions are going to be hugely different.
Fundamentally, the only thing I could definitely see in my mental image of her was some shade of “Unearthly Pallour” for her skintone. And maybe some level of “Not Quite Human” — complicated perhas by the fact I’ve never used “Human” as a discrete race in my world in the same way other Fantasy worlds do. Long story short, I consider all my races (though I prefer the term “Peoples”) to be subsets of Human.
That she ended up looking like an Elder Scrolls Dark Elf is interesting, but isn’t necessarily meant to indicate that she is a Dark Elf, which I don’t think I’ve ever established to exist in Realmgard yet…
I briefly toyed with the idea of making her a Dragon Wilderling to explain the whole “Not Quite Human” angle, but I think that means she should have a tail and/or horns. Wings. A propensity for sleeping atop a pile of treasure.
Man, that sounds like a lot of work. Maybe I don’t want her to be a Dragon Wildering…
The outfit was the hardest thing to nail down.
Typical Fantasy Evil Sorceresses tend wear armor that’s some combination of “Preposterous” and “Sufficient to Cover 1/4 of a Person” — see, for example, the Dark Elves (though I think it’s technically “Aelves” now…) from Warhammer, essentially a race of evil sorceress wearing essentially metal swimsuits.
That, uh, that sort of thing isn’t going to fly in Realmgard…
Fundamentally, the issue was trying to nail down the right combination of Regal, Impressive, and Sensible. All in all, it’s probably as good as I could manage with the time I was willing to commit for this drawing.
This is one of my better first attempts at a character. Plus, now I have a reference point to work with for future attempts at drawing her. A good day all around.
Also, “Witch-Princess Tenebella” sounds like an anime…
I give this drawing a solid Sublunar Realm/10.
More art here. Social media pages and email list here:
Sign-up for my email newsletter here.
Realmgard 