#vezne

I was doing some loose Pygmy sketches the other day and along the way they picked up a little fairy friend.

I haven't fleshed out Pygmy much at all beyond having them be a melee fighter, most likely a duelist. But while I was doing these doodles, I decided to design the fairy friend too, as I am always looking for an excuse to make more little guys to live rent free in my head.

As far as design thoughts go, I had just watched a video about the Fey Dark, and I wanted to lean into the more sinister fairy archetype, to offset the kinder disposition of Pygmy. Pyggo's uniform is very much designed after a monarch butterfly, so I wanted to continue the insectoid dichotomy by going with something more waspish. I wanted to mess around with long proportions, segmentation, and lean into more of that monstrous aesthetic.

While I was drawing Vezne, I was thinking about how I could conceivably connect these two characters in one campaign setting - since it's not like I could play them both at the same time. She'd have to be an NPC. But I'd want her to be present, so she can nap in Pygmy's tail fluffs... Then I had the thought of building Pyggo out as a Pact of the Blade Warlock with an Archfey patron.

But Vezne couldn't be their patron directly, since that would be way too much power for an active party member to hold... hmmmm. And then there's the question of, 'why would Vezne be out of the Fey Dark?' That's when things started coming together. This is what I have landed on so far:

Vezne is a sprite of a Fey Dark Court. She was given orders by the court's ruling Archfey that brought her into the prime material plane, but Vez, well... She's kinda lazy, and why do something yourself, if you can manipulate someone else to do it for you? Adventurers are usually altruistic folk, and even the ones that aren't wouldn't turn up their nose at the promise of power, right? So she finds and strikes a deal with Pygmy (circumstance and motives pending) to complete the task set before her, and in return, she offers herself as a conduit for the magic afforded to her by her ruler. Basically, she's turning her magic into a multi-level marketing scheme.

So she'll ride around on Pyg's shoulders, criticize them frequently, hide when the going gets tough, and maybe over time, she will begrudgingly come to care for the members of the party.

This pastel, stained-glass colorful look is a glamour she's taken on, since illusion magic is the Archfey's jam. Still messing around with her dark-mode design, but figured this is how she presents while she's away from home.