Hurricane (1937, John Ford)

My son rejected this design for his warforged cleric character in our D&D game. I like how it turned out though, so I thought I'd show it off. 

We did decide on a backstory.

This warforged was created thousands of years ago to be the personal bodyguard of a Southern Elvish princess. Sadly, the princess died when she was just a little girl, so for many long ages, he guarded her sarcophagus. 

Finally he was roused by tomb robbers. He heard them speaking of a legendary Fountain of Youth in the New World. A glimmer of hope stirred in the ancient mechanical creature. He carried his little princess across the great ocean hoping to use the magical waters to bring her back to life. 

Some more drawings for my and my son's D&D campaign. Here's a rundown of the playable races. 

Half-Orcs. Hundreds of years in the past, an evil wizard raised an army of Half-Orcs and other demonic creatures to take over the known world. He was defeated by a coalition of Elves, Humans and Dwarves under the sign of the god of light, Pelor

The defeated Half-Orcs, reasoning that they should side with strongest god, converted en-masse to Pelor. Peace reigned for a few hundred years, until the Half-Orcs took it into their heads to convert the surrounding lands to the light of their religion. 

Allied with the Dwarves, who also worship Pelor, the Half-Orcs turned Southwest and attacked the forest cities of the Western Elves. They drove the "heathen" Elves into the sea, capturing their riches and gaining a vast store of learning from the Elvish libraries. This knowledge helped them to discover an unknown continent across the ocean, teeming with dinosaurs, which they have now set out to colonize. 

The Dragonborn are the sentient reptilian inhabitants of the New World. Their empire has been in decline for many decades due to constant war with the other reptilian races of their continent. They have extensive knowledge of many dinosaur species and can tame and command them. Some Dragonborn are willing to trade with the soft-skinned newcomers, while others simply want to drive the invaders out.  

The Dwarves are a sturdy, uncompromising folk who value hard work and firm character above all else. They seek profit in the New World and willingly trade steel goods with the Dragonborn for dinosaur feathers, skins and semi-precious stones found in the crops of vegetarian dinosaurs.

Both male and female Dwarves grow facial hair and consider it frivolous to dress in anything but work clothes. Differentiating between the genders is frowned upon. The only reason dresses are tolerated at all is because of the new Dwarven Empress who dresses in fabulous gowns in spite of the muttering it causes (yes, I borrowed this from Terry Pratchett).

The Highland Dwarves (not pictured) wear kilts rather than pantaloons and worship Pelor in the same fashion as the Half-Orcs. The Lowland Dwarven variation on the worship of Pelor causes friction with the Half-Orcs. Open war between the sects is a constant threat. 

The Elves, when they finally accepted defeat at the hands of the Half-Orcs, cut down their sacred trees and built ships of such speed and grace that they could outrun and outmaneuver anything on the water.

The Western Elves called on recruits from the East and South who joined them as vagabond corsairs who raid the shipping lanes and coasts of both the Old World and the New. They strike terror into the hearts of the Half-Orcs and anyone else unfortunate enough to cross their bloody and vengeful path.  

The Humans in the centuries since the defeat of the dark wizard have drifted from their ancient civilization and broken up into clans and tribes. When the Half-Orcs descended, they were unable to mount a united defense and were quickly conquered and forced into slavery. A brisk trade continues as the Half-Orcs use up slave labour on their New World plantations. Slavery is a messy business however, and revolts and runaways are common. Thousands of humans have escaped into the jungles and swamps, establishing their own colonies and forging a unique hybrid culture. Their hatred of the Half-Orcs makes them natural allies of the Dragonborn, who share wisdom with the Humans and help them to survive.  

I finally finished the first draft of "Jack Candleheart," my first attempt at a colonial fantasy.

It clocked in at an excessive 5200 words, but I also rushed through some scenes. I wanted to just get the story down. I'm going to have to outline it.

But I'm glad the draft is finished. It was the one thing on my checklist I didn't get done over vacation because the story would just not end. A bigger project than I anticipated.