Now that these characters have been introduced in A Light in the Darkness, here's my concept art for them all!
These are a little old, but mostly accurate to what I later added in detail for descriptions
Obligatory LORE TIME under the cut
These four elders were the pillars of the Dark Tribe for a long, long time. Shocking to believe, they were once all best of friends and a killer team. The brains, the brawn, the wits, the wisdom. In their youth, they were responsible for the survival of their tribe during dark, hard times, and saved all they could by migrating their tribe to a reclusive location, far out of the way of most any civilization. Their numbers were able to recuperate somewhat, but not nearly to what they used to be
As such, they were a small, tight-knit community. Harmonious in working together to survive, to thrive. Though tragedy often followed them, what with the world in utter chaos at the time. Being so close allowed the Elders close relationships with their fellow tribe folk, but such connection came at a cost. They knew every face, every name, where they came from, who they were descended from. As such long living creatures, time took its toll on their hearts. As they grew older, not many survived to grow old with them
Loss was frequent. Some of those losses, however, were personal. Not only friends and family members, but a spouse, offspring. The grief grew to be overwhelming eventually
Their hearts couldn't bear to see another young face die before they did, so following one final tragedy, the death of two young parents alongside a third, they felt it was necessary to place a taboo until the dark era of despair was no more, that it was finally safe. Otherwise they found it more cruel to bring new life into the world only to damn them to an early grave, or to be orphaned
This taboo was something a certain young swordsman came to disagree with as he grew into adulthood...
Fun facts!
All Elders have a proper name! Their titles pertain to their primary occupation or skills they gravitate towards. In Elder Wolf's case, he just likes wolves. He thinks they're neat :3 He was often compared to a wolf in his youth, so he just rolled with the name upon becoming chief
Elder Guardian and Elemental have always had a thing for each other, they just sucked at acting on it
Elder Iron's counterpart in the Scorchedlands is her lifelong bestie, Marionberry Cookie. Marionberry specializes in enchantments, a skill Elder Iron lacks in. Marionberry Cookie lives in a town called Dragon's Edge, which later became Dragon City. The two positively love to collaborate on projects. Any excuse to hang out or interact in some fashion
Elder Elemental is the only Cookie in the tribe with arcane specialty. In her youth, she was capable of casting some pretty dense spells. But in her older age, she's come to focus on more supportive magic. She's still a force to be reckoned with in a pinch, something that Elder Guardian admires about her
Elder Wolf used to be quite the family man. As his title implies, he cared for his pack like a big ol' papa wolf. Despite the resting glare, he was gentle, and especially humored the tribe's kids with their playful antics. Out of all the Elders, he suffered the most loss, and his pain didn't show until his twilight years. Grief can truly twist a person
