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Description
Bestiary artwork for Endless Realms , a D&D-like "pen and paper" fantasy RPG I'm working for.

While normally I get a mix of different kinds of creatures, this monster block consisted of entirely corrupted spirits. The world(s) of Endless Realms has a number of gods, but they are normally quite removed - spirits, on the other hand, thrive in the Corporeal Realms of mortal races, often creating symbiotic relationships with its people, places, and principles, inhabiting places such as villages, forests or rivers, or representing concepts such as harvest or war. However, sometimes these spirits grow hungry for power and become corrupted, twisted versions that feed off the world rather than nourish and balance it - for these various concepts, I've tried to capture the darker, nastier essence of what they represent. The art director required all the spirits to be humanoid, but requested that they all be "eerie and strange" - I took that quite liberally. There's a lot that can be done with the basic humanoid shape, and alternatively making them all "people with different horns and bits on them, or wearing different outfits" seemed terribly boring.

The biggest inspiration for this creature was the idea of rampant, parasitic growth, as what was once a spirit representing life in balance betrays its corporeal anchor in a bid for power. Its roots sap the very surroundings of its lifeforce only to feed its own twisted, skeletal growth, never satisfied, and never bearing fruit nor flower in return.

Perhaps appropriately, perhaps (very) inappropriately, I'm reminded of the forest from Evil Dead... :V

I'm very glad for this creature that I had figured out a way a while back to expediently do the "lineart" for such complicated ... polypodic forms. The trick? Just block paint it in, and set an Outer Glow on the layer to be the outer lineart for you!

Concept & Artwork © 2014-2017 Lunar Games Inc.
Endless Realms FAQ

Description
Bestiary artwork for Endless Realms , a D&D-like "pen and paper" fantasy RPG I'm working for.

While normally I get a mix of different kinds of creatures, this monster block consisted of entirely corrupted spirits. The world(s) of Endless Realms has a number of gods, but they are normally quite removed - spirits, on the other hand, thrive in the Corporeal Realms of mortal races, often creating symbiotic relationships with its people, places, and principles, inhabiting places such as villages, forests or rivers, or representing concepts such as harvest or war. However, sometimes these spirits grow hungry for power and become corrupted, twisted versions that feed off the world rather than nourish and balance it - for these various concepts, I've tried to capture the darker, nastier essence of what they represent. The art director required all the spirits to be humanoid, but requested that they all be "eerie and strange" - I took that quite liberally. There's a lot that can be done with the basic humanoid shape, and alternatively making them all "people with different horns and bits on them, or wearing different outfits" seemed terribly boring.

The biggest inspiration for this creature was the idea of rampant, parasitic growth, as what was once a spirit representing life in balance betrays its corporeal anchor in a bid for power. Its roots sap the very surroundings of its lifeforce only to feed its own twisted, skeletal growth, never satisfied, and never bearing fruit nor flower in return.

Perhaps appropriately, perhaps (very) inappropriately, I'm reminded of the forest from Evil Dead... :V

I'm very glad for this creature that I had figured out a way a while back to expediently do the "lineart" for such complicated ... polypodic forms. The trick? Just block paint it in, and set an Outer Glow on the layer to be the outer lineart for you!

Concept & Artwork © 2014-2017 Lunar Games Inc.
Endless Realms FAQ