"Starkh was a shadow. He was nowhere and everywhere at once. He was worshipped. He was feared. He was respected.
He named his gang the Rusting Legion.
And that was exactly what they were. Veterans who had devoted their lives to Ignis and its people, only to become as useless in retirement as rusted gears discarded from the factories and thrown onto the scrap heap. Forgotten. Despised. Broken beyond repair.
But Starkh was still an inventor. And the junk others had cast aside became the spare parts for his greatest and most ambitious creation.
Lately I've been busy running my D&D campaign. Now that I'm on vacation, I finally have the time to run a few sessions, and this artwork is from that story.
The setting is fairly simple:
"The world has fallen. The gods have turned away. Demons invade, destroying everything in their path. Humanity has retreated into enormous fortress-cities, hoping to survive just a little longer."
I'd be lying if I said I came up with the idea of towering, vertical cities entirely on my own. Ignis is very much inspired by hive cities and factory cities. And, like any massive city, it's filled with gangs.
The Rusting Legion is one of the four largest gangs. Its aesthetic draws inspiration from Cyberpunk 2077—especially the 6th Street gang—as well as the Whalers from Dishonored, with a bit of Warhammer and Necromunda mixed in. I also added a touch of steampunk and the magic system from the very first campaign I ever created, one that was never finished and was eventually abandoned.
Starkh is the Legion's leader. A faceless shadow. No one knows what he looks like. No one knows his real name—or even whether he truly exists. Yet people continue to follow him because the Legion does everything it can to strengthen the belief that he does.
In a world where every soul is fought over, Starkh has become something like an artificial messiah.
And yes, my English isn't great, so I rely on ChatGPT to help translate my posts. If anything sounds off or there are any mistakes, please forgive me!😅
