#ishma

a few years ago on a whim i drew ishma in this exact outfit so i think i had predicted something

It’s a bit sloppy but I just wanted to get an idea of how Ishma and Etza would look full scale. Ishma always get a little annoyed when Etza is around, she is the ultimate rival to him.

for @thistlebane

Ishma explains his tattoos! With Ma'Jahrann as our interpreter.

Hello there :D I'm glad you like Ishma, he's one of the OC designs I'm the proudest of!

Some bosmer have horns in TES3 as well as in TESO, but lore on the matter conflicts. Before ESO there was no material citing their origin, and while ESO itself cannot decide if they're glued-on prosthetics or magically grown, the game seems to go with them being unnatural. Here's an except that summarizes both of their points of view:

Morriel: [...] I'd like to ask about Bosmer antlers. You see, the last time this has been asked, as far as I understand, I had heard that Bosmer have- wear a lot of cosmetic - or prosthetic, I suppose - antlers on their brows, and a few have them, you know, magically grown from their skulls. [...] where do these things come from? Phrastus: Well, I've never been to Valenwood, but I ... I'd caution you against assuming any single or simple answer involved with those reprobates the Wood Elves. Now, I daresay that most antlers worn by Bosmer are cosmetic and removable, but I myself have met a Treethane who had a magnificent 6-point rack growing right out of his cranium, and it was no prosthetic! Now, he told me that he'd had it magically grown upon assuming his title, as a symbol of his authority.

from: 2015 Interview with Jessica Folsom and Lawrence Schick

Ishma himself was designed around 2015, back when ESO was in its infancy and while I can't remember for sure I'm pretty certain I had no idea of ESO's lore explanations for them. I put them on because they were cool, and because Ishma's character concept references the satyr: he's a party-loving, friendly but unpredictable woodsman, so he got goat horns inspired by the classical mythological creature sharing these traits (which I'll let you google images of on your own, as the sensibilities ancient greeks shared clash a lot with the americans running Tumblr, eggplant emoji)

I've never decided myself if Ishma's horns are natural or not. I have a sketch of him as a wee lad I don't remember if I ever posted where he does not have them on yet, but I figured out he's already have started growing them before puberty. I headcanon bosmer live on a longer timespan than humans, which gives my man decades to sprout his pair.

I tend to forget to draw them a lot too, ironic given their roots show up a lot on his facial structure! I'm not the most confident in my realistic rendering still, but here's a quick no-tats sketch of his face to hopefully show that. While only a bit "pokes out", the roots are present and show up as large ridges that extend from above his brow to the side of his head :) Definitly not just glued on!

I'm honored you like my Beyond Skyrim work! By the way, have you checked out their new Valenwood project? I'm not on it and don't think I'll have the free time in life to lend a hand anytime soon, but they've been, through proximity with our Elsweyr, working close to us and it's wonderful to see what they're up to!