Trying to slip out of my comfort "default face and colors syndrome" zone by sketching some portraits for our current DnD campaign. Ranging from just some local dudes to hotties, but in a weird palette

The shtick was we each draw lineart of a character and a landscape and trade to colour

Adam drew Nico from PJO and I drew Iados, my friend's dnd character

then the landscapes:

I drew the pond one (it was supposed to be a lakeshore lmao oops) and he drew the desert

[Well, here we go.]The quiet of the forest had a comfort all its own, one that she had missed greatly in her time away. Originally, she had been intent on going to see her family, speaking to them after years of separation, telling them of her mistakes and asking that they forgive her, but that idea was quickly stamped out when she’d seen the outline of her parents’ home. She couldn’t say rightly what it was that kept her from going up to the front door and knocking, she knew only that it didn’t feel right. This was not home, nor had it been for a very long time - she wasn’t going to find the solace she was so desperately seeking here. This was a place she’d known in another life and her parents were better off thinking her dead than her pulling them into what had quickly become an inescapable hell. There was no going home.

The blonde had wandered through the familiar trees and hills of the Shroud, eventually finding her way to the small shrine she’d erected in memory of Frank. The stones remained exactly as she had placed them and the sprigs of holly hadn’t wilted in the slightest. It was heartwarming to see that at least one thing she’d created had not yet been torn down. She drew the dark cloak she wore around her shoulders and knelt in front of the stones, pressing her brow to the dewy grass beneath her and taking a moment to honor the man with her silence.

When she lifted her head, the cool kiss of a blade pressed against her bare throat, stinging as steel bit into skin. Sunny didn’t move.

“Down on your knees where the sinners pray. A means to believe that is where the sin stays. You’re too involved to make this go away, so convince me now before rest becomes an eternal sway. A life need not be taken if I do not have to take it, but wolves in sheep’s clothing bring no guilt to the throat slit.”

Silence greeted his words, Sunny remaining still on her knees, her hands loose and resting in her lap as if this were just a simple conversation. A soft breath was taken in, careful not to move too much and encourage that blade to bite any deeper. Already crimson blood had pooled to the surface, a thin line of garnet making a lethargic trail down the gentle pillar of her throat. “Do the sins of the father also stain the children? Is there no redemption from that which made me the wolf?” Her gaze was lifted to the heavens above, each star that hung there a treasured friend, a memory of a childhood that had slipped away all too quickly.

“There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when no one remembers the Collective or the Jackal or the Raven Father. They will not remember what we thought or built or destroyed. We will become nothing more than myth and legend, but if he remembers me, I don’t care if everyone else forgets. I’ve no desire to continue on a legacy of bloodshed and agony, I’ve no desire to be a Queen. All I want out of this life, all I’ve ever wanted was for this pain to seem purposeful. If you believe me to be a liar, do me a favor and make it quick. I’ve been waiting on this judge and jury for far too long.”

“Your lips move, but your heart does not. Agony has not a voice, only a throat in knots. What we do is not for recognition of the mass. Not a word will be spoken of who we are; not even marked on caskets, alas. You speak of no reason to live beyond the circumstance of one. Who are you? What are you? You are meant to be second to none. If you die now then what accomplishment had you made? The reality of your dream only subject to fade. If that is how you see it then there is no point to cut the line. Punishment to live in an emptiness like me… but, at least your own was not induced through a bloodline.”

“Two weeks from now I will return anew… If your hope has not arisen by then the perspective is not all I’ll skew. Rule one, lovely, listen close. No alcohol for the throat, or medication to dose. Rule two comes with pride. Lustful acts and virtues will lead to a shattered drive. Rule three… The worst of them all. If you say the words, ‘I can’t”… Even hell won’t catch your fall.“

There was a moment where she was certain he’d slit her throat and be done with it, but the dagger was lifted away, his feet not even making the faintest murmur of sound as he moved backwards.

“Mutter the words of denial to a task and the definition of horror will be unmasked. Think the words as you may, but say them at all, to your own dismay.”

The girl had seen this play out far too many times in the past, and though she despised being tied up in rules, she also knew that this was one game she needed to play by the book if she cared to live to see three weeks. “Very well, then. Let the games begin.”

“What do you mean it’s gone?” Mouse’s voice rang out sharply behind the pacing girl. She’d retreated to Ul’dah immediately after her talk with Caelric, unable to think of anywhere else to go. The Bounty Hunter wasn’t giving her the coin back until she helped him take down Iados and she hadn’t been able to kill Ric for it - she wouldn’t become the monster Landon had tempered her to be. Their interaction had shaken Sunny to her core and she found herself replaying his words to her over and over again.

‘I had someone that actually -cared- about me. And he didn’t pretend either.’

“I mean It’s in the hands of someone else and they’re not going to give it back to me unless I help them remove the Jackal from the playing field,” she stated matt-of-factly, turning around to face Pallimeaux. The tall elezen frowned at Synne, pacing closer but maintaining a respectful distance from the blue eyed girl. “You understand that we need to send out a retrieval force to take the key back, yes?” He was testing her resolve and it made her hard to stoke anger rise to the surface. “Absolutely not.” “Madam, I fear that you may not be seeing clearly given your affections for the Hunter.” Synne took in a slow breath, gaze lifting up to settle on Mouse’s steel-rimmed eyes. There was nothing but truth to his words and she was well aware of the impairment, but she couldn’t allow Caelric to come to harm. He’d unfairly asked her what was more important to her, him or the coin. Her choice had been obvious as he was still breathing and still in possession of her lucky charm.

‘You don’t have to do what you do. Landon is gone and at this point you’re in more danger than I am.’

“This is my fight, Mouse, this is my decision. I’ve agreed to help and that’s what I’m doing.” The little firecracker strode past the Elezen and towards her desk near the back of the room. He turned and followed her slowly, a puzzled expression crossing his face. 

“I apologize, perhaps I am not understanding your motives here, but… you’re going to allow him to hold the coin while blackmailing you into assisting in the murder of Iados? I’ve known you a long time, madame, and I’ve never seen you commit to something so… blatantly destructive.” The girl paused when she got to her desk, her back still turned to Mouse and her palms resting on the surface of the polished wood. “This is my decision,” she repeated softly, her eyes closing as the next words left her lips. “Landon is gone and no one is going to persuade me to do other than exactly what I said I would.”

The smile Pallimeaux gave her was affectionate, almost understanding as he nodded his head, but there was something else behind those steely eyes, something fickle. “As you say, Madam.”