Slow artist & professional yapper

I remembered that I still had this drawing lying around so I finally decided to finish it!! 😔🙏 Tbh I kind of imagined this to be some kind of... follow-up to my other post where I drew them in their formal attire. Imagine they just came back from a feast and are now pretty much drunk as hell 🏃‍♀️

Been talking about this guy for way too long on my Insta story, it's about time I let him out of the cave 😔 I won't go into many details about him yet because his Toyhouse is still under construction, but I can tell you some basic stuff! His name is Veloril and he's a Snow Elf, priest of Auri-El, and a sculptor.

He is living inside a hidden shrine near Haafingar, where he spent millennia restoring it, praying and sculpting statues of Auri-El and those he loved. He walks with a limp because he broke his ankle while he was being chased and it never healed properly, therefore he needs a cane. He also suffers from a severe case of hemeralopia (day blindness) for... certain reasons 👁👁 Which means he can't see during daylight/ in very light areas and is forced to remain in his dimly lit shrine and can only leave it once the sun has set...

I considered giving him clothes with a lighter color palette because I think it would fit his complexion really well, but I feel like that would rather be something he wore in the past, where things were still better. I ultimately decided to give him darker, more muted clothes. I think it represents a kind of "degeneration" and his retreat into the shadows of the shrine, away from the light.

For example, I imagine that after the dragonborn meets Zahkrin, it would start a quest where they'll have to discover a few hidden word walls and a missing artifact Zahkrin has been looking for a really long time.

In the end, dragonborn can decide to give him the powerful artifact and gets another powerful item (or maybe gain Zahkrin as a follower?) in return. If dragonborn decides to keep it, Zahkrin will become hostile and attack. Idk something like that haha.

This was part of a collab I did with two other friends on Insta 👀 I put some thought into the whole composition so I thought I just share them here.

I thought of this as some kind of representation of how Elenya's life is getting better ever since she moved to Whiterun, yet she is still occasionally haunted by her past, may it be through memories, dreams or simply seeing the Thalmor walk around.

On the left we have people such as Morac and Valie who both welcomed her into their lives (despite initial tensions) and mark this new, healthier life stage for her. Morac is cradling her face since he is also kind of an emotional staple for her and he's the first she feels genuine love towards. Valie is sort of reaching up to her as she is the one who really looks up to Elenya and with her, Elenya finds another purpose than just being the healer/ necromancer she always has been, and that is being a role model and teacher.

So, during the Companions questline, when Kodlak has his funeral, I always get a bit emotional because I genuinely liked him (especially after reading his diary). Anyways, the funeral happened and I felt a bit sad but just went on with the game as one does.

A few in-game days later (I already felt fine again) I was walking around and talked to an NPC. As we talked, Kodlak's model (mind you, without any clothes on) LEVITATED past us in the background in a T-pose. I watched him levitate over a bridge and into a mountain and then he was gone forever.

While Zahkrin clearly remembers what his purpose was as a dragon priest and everything that lead to him sealing himself, he barely remembers who he was as a person. He doesn't remember his parents' faces, nor those of close friends. He does not remember what he enjoyed doing, nor what made him happy or unhappy.

A remnant of who he used to be is carved into his mask, the name: "Hrokan". Hrokan was his real name; not a name given to him due to his position as a dragon priest. It was given to him by his mother after he was born. He carved the name into his mask right after he had received it because he was afraid of losing it and wanted the potential finder to know who to return it to.

Nowadays, Zahkrin still sometimes wonders about the meaning of the name carved into the mask. Of course he thought that it might have been his name, but it could also be the name of the one who had given him the mask... or perhaps an important person in his life he wanted to remember. He will never truly know.

Fun fact: While he did write a word wall around himself saying who he is and his purpose, he didn't include information about who he was as a person. When he wrote the wall, he was under immense stress and anxiety and his mind was only on the ritual, so he wrote the first things that came to his mind and which he deemed most important.

+ Speedpaint!

It's kind of difficult to explain but I'll do my best 🥲

Let's go into the logistics first:

1. I don't have Paypal or any kind of online banking-opportunity. I know, not having Paypal in 2026 might sound crazy to some but yes, we exist 😭 I just didn't get to set anything up yet and so far I've had no problems living without it... 😭

2. As far as I know, when you live in Germany and take commissions as an artist, it requires navigating specific bureaucratic, tax, and social security regulations and I'm NOT dealing with that I'm sry. Germany's bureaucracy is HELL.

And now on a more personal note:

3. Besides what I've mentioned, I just genuinely don't want to tbh :( I personally don’t like the idea of my art being tied to money in any way. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with commissions, I think it’s amazing when artists can make a living from their art and I support that wholeheartedly. It’s just not something I want for myself.

My motivation to draw comes in random bursts and I also go through periods where I don’t want to draw at all for weeks. Knowing people are waiting on me during those times would honestly stress me out sm, especially since I tend to be a people pleaser. I’d end up forcing myself to draw and I know from experience that this backfires hard on me.

And while I know most commissioners are kind and patient, I’ve also heard enough negative experiences (like scammers) that I just don’t feel comfortable taking on that kind of responsibility when it’s not even something I genuinely want to do.

I've been wanting to give Valie a slight re-design for a while now and I finally got to it :D Tbh all I changed was the hair and eye color, and her left ear got a lil ouchie.

I wanted Valie to look a little more like an Altmer (since her mum was one) and I thought that giving her white hair would make a lot more sense. However, I didn't want to discard the brown hair completely. Now, while Valie was homeless and on the run from her father, she always kept her hair cut really short and also dyed it by mushing specific herbs together and using the paste to dye it (learned it from her mom) because she still needed to keep her identity a secret.

After Valie had been living with Morac for a while and knew she was safe, she slowly felt comfortable enough to slowly grow out her natural hair color :]

The blue eyes is that one trait she got from her father's genes. Her mother had green eyes.

I felt like drawing them in some more "formal" attire :] I kind of imagine them to wear these kind of clothes when being invited to... idk any kind of formal event or celebration?

I wanted to keep this Skyrim-esque feeling for their outfits so I took some inspiration from the fine clothing you can find in the game. But I also tried to still make them reflect their personalities/styles, so the outfits are something they'd actually chose to wear.

While Elenya prefers wearing black or rather anything that doesn't have much color in it, for such an occasion she'd definitely go with something like this. I think dark red/burgundy fits her so well 😭 Hair is also intricately braided + a bit of gold jewelry and she's ready to go. Morac keeps it simple... neat and formal, but still simple :D