After the journal entry for Open Your Scars, I had to do it.

This is the second draft of the card. The first one followed the set up for the RWS a whole lot more but I got struck like lightening tonight and have been working on this since... uh... okay I've probably been working on this for 7 hours now but it was totally worth it.

I don't know where this came from but I haven't had caffeine yet and this got stuck in my head.

So have vague Gortash and Zaelis painting.

experiment with more basic colors

uh

yeah that's why i drew this

I am writing my Durge pre-worm as a terrifying cult leader. Charismatic, authoritative, deeply religious and observant of the traditions not held up by most anymore, but are carved into his very bones.

There are snippets here and there which suggest that’s what he was, that’s what inspired the Tyrant to commit the sins against the Edicts and declare him an equal, that’s what made the damn Brain admire him even.

Gods I could go on about Durge for hours.

I am starting to form headcannons about my Durge (and Gortash).

I saw a post about the Durge wearing a mask early on in knowing Gortash, and uncovered some Bhaal lore that he’s appeared in fine black clothing wearing a steel harlequin mask, and now I can’t get that out of my head.

In the scene where the Durge returns to Gortash with both stones, there are options to observe him, and both of them are like circling predators, snarling to see who flinches or attacks first, and when the Durge stands his ground even when fully surrounded and pressured, there’s so much relief that he’s still in control, calculating, able to read the situation like a master and confident in himself. And I can’t help but feel like it’s a window into the past, before the Durge was broken down and left only with the Urge. He was charismatic and commanding and a genius in his own right and I am so fucking feral for that.

I based my main Durge build off the idea of the Deathstalkers of Bhaal, but after running into a snippet about Bhaal as a mortal being a wizard in Netheril, I see why the automatic class selected is Sorcerer, as that magic is passed down through the blood, twisting and warping the Durge’s magic into this corrupted dark echo of the magic that once was, a magic not seen in ages but now at the center of the plot.

I have so many little scenes I need to write out and won’t gush about all the things but I am forming a series of pieces that will absolutely be posted.

Guess it’s time to revive my defunct AO3 account— which somehow I had never posted my BG2 fics to? They are on my fanfic but I don’t remember the email account so I guess fuck that whole account. XD

"Dream in red."

Internet went out and booted me from a raid sooooooo I decided let's do the quick portrait in one color square thing. This one is red, because of course Zaelis would be red. I feel like it was cheating because he has so much red on his design already.

Had to keep reminding myself big swaths of color, chonky only, minimal blend, not doing my normal shading and hatching on shadows. It was freeing after a little bit.

I really like how this turned out. Next quick sketch color portrait is going to be Laz and probably green.

I have finally finished writing the chapter for the House of Wonders heist, so here it is.

Chapter warnings are just canon-typical violence for this one.

The plot continues. Gortash still doesn't know the name of the Bhaal Cult's leader, much less seen the man's face. He does, however, get to see him in action-- all while furthering his own goals for the future.

Now that this is finally done, the plot can move on, and I can finally get to Durge POV scenes as well, so it won't just be Gortash narrating after this. Which means the reason this has been preemptively labeled dead dove will also be coming out soon oops. Durge earns this tag.

I was going to make a character sheet sort of deal for Zaelis to post but then I got distracted and this happened. Oops.

I am in the process of trying to draw out armor designs for Zaelis and this is the first one I am really liking a lot. So here it is, at least the top half of it. With this done I can finally start drawing him with clothing on!

Now I need to design his priestly robes for when he's being a terrifying charismatic cult leader at the head of the Bhaal Temple's loyal congregation.

And finish designing what his main mask looks like. And his entire mask collection.

New Bhaal related mods dropped? Why yes, yes I do.

I decided to give them a whirl. I took a break from BG3 after the Franc Letters Change TM, but really want to rekindle my inspiration a bit so I can get back to working on my fic again, because I have soooooo much I want to do and I really need a creative outlet outside my giant art project to take breaks on.

And somehow I am managing to find a lot of new things??? After nearly 600 hours of gameplay. Huh.

Shadowheart vanished from the beach, so I went about my normal business and she wasn't at the ruins either. Went oh well, shrugged, and kept on keeping on until I got to the Druid Grove where I found her sitting by the strange ox playing with the Prism.

Also this Withers interaction when he first joins camp??? Excuse me???

I hadn't drawn Gortash and Zaelis together in a while so here you go.

They are hugging.

I saw the Stillmaker for the first time and knew immediately that it was my Durge's weapon. I know there's a lot of headcannons about Orin's weapons-- especially her dagger-- being Durge's, but for me it is Stillmaker.

Look at this beauty. I don't care how many weapons do more damage. I want to use this one. It's his sacrificial dagger he uses in rituals for Bhaal and my brain refuses to believe otherwise.

I am back with another painting practice. I think I worked on this for about four hours, but the first 30-40 minutes was me trying to paint up from the darkest part of the skin, not being able to get him corpse-ish enough, and then completely redoing his skin start to finish working from palest tone.

Today I used the oil paint brush instead of the round shader brush for most of it and while I like the toothiness, there's some stuff I feel like the round shader just does better. But so far am pleased with my progress. I even tried to do the tattoos this time!

Again, it's Zaelis, surprising absolutely nobody.

Decided to crack open that portrait of Zaelis again and work on it more. I still haven't watched any hair tutorials but decided to just fuck around and find out like I have with everything else I've learned so far.

I think I've figured out something I like but holy hell it is going to take a long time and my hand is cramping so

Here is my progress for right now. Maybe I'll do some more later.

I've thought my Durge was pretty solidly in the Neutral Evil block of the horrible alignment chart of D&D past (I'm thinking 2nd Ed since that's what I started on and played the most of, yes I still argue jokingly with people over THAC0), with some edging into Lawful Evil but after having written more and more scenes from his POV...

Man might actually be Chaotic Evil. Straight up. He can put on one hell of a show in polite company and displays great restraint or orderliness when it suits him and his goals-- man is a cult leader, and a successful one at that-- but in his own sanctum?

Ohhhhohhh boy. Uh. I feel like I need to apologize to Gortash at this point. >.>

currently experimenting with more of a painter thing than the big chonk ink and I am having a lot of fun

eventually I need to introduce actual lighting and whatnot to my art but dramatic lighting is scary so maybe later ^^;