CHARACTER DESIGN
The following are a combination of original and commissioned character designs. In my design work, I weave narrative elements of their stories into physical elements of their designs: scars, accessories, posture, etc.
ILYA IGNATIEV
(HE/HIM)
Ilya is an artificer (PhD) whom I created for an eldritch horror Dungeons & Dragons campaign set in the Dark Sun world. Before the campaign, he was afflicted with the "red rot": an illness which consumes one's body--flesh and bone. He should have died to the rot, however he's managed to keep it at bay... for now. As Ilya and his friends travel across the world, Ilya is desperate to invent a cure for the rot. Towards that end he performs terrible experiments of bio engineering--feeding people food cooked from the mutated flesh of monsters, in the hopes that one might result in an immunity to the rot.
In Ilya's design there are many nods to his rotting nature! The green tint in his hair comes from mold formations in the follicles. And the red pupils of his eyes show the redrot growing inside them. The scars all over his body are the result of the daily surgeries he must perform on himself to keep the rot at bay. And the many layers of clothing he wears intend to hide those scars from prying eyes.
Height: 5'5'
Age: 25
Scent: ambroxan, assam, burnt sugar, rotting leaves, patchouli
Loves: cooking, entomology, monsters, romance novels
Hates: The Rot, Leon Graff, being wrong
RHIAN
(SHE/HER)
Rhian is a legendary warrior, "the Red Wolf" of Greenfell. She's covered in battle scars and covers those scars in tattoos. The tattoos tell the story of how she received a particular battle wound, be it from wolves, arrows, or acidic plants. Whenever she goes home to see her young niece's she regales them with tales of her exploits--the tattoos both add to her stories and render her scars less alarming for the younguns.
(I also added a D&D Easter egg in her tattoos. Can you find it?)
When she's gearing up for battle, Rhian wears a set of clockwork leather armor and a gear-covered sword. I designed both to demonstrate the time-bendig abilities of her gear, but also to give her a clockwork soldier appearance. Much like a machine, Rhian tears down her enemies. I think it would be quite scary to hear her clockwork armor ticking towards you through the mist...!