#zelyra

Official character art for our campaign. 

Top: Fraeya, Kazimir, Balasar, Zelyra, “Ranger”

Bottom: Eldeth, Sarith, Prince Derendil, Fargas

I can’t claim rights to all of these portraits. I did a lot of reworking, some of it in Photoshop, some of it hand drawn and then digitalized. They’re not perfect but closer to what I envisioned for these characters than anything I could find. Prince Derendil and Fargas are almost entirely colored pencil, interestingly enough. 

Zelyra Erenaeth, half-elf druid from 'The Grey Warriors,' a retelling of a completed Out of the Abyss (Dungeons and Dragons) campaign. I can't get over how adorable she is! After I got such good 'spellcasting' results for Kazimir, I had to add some for Zelyra.

The last image is probably the closest I'll get to a depiction of her fire sword, Flameruin.

Edited AI test portraits of characters from ‘Midwinter.’

‘Midwinter’ is a prequel to ‘The Grey Warriors,’ which is a long term narrative based on a campaign play through of ‘Out of the Abyss’. These were created using Midjourney on Discord. Featured are:

Zelyra Erenaeth, half-elf druid, and Varan Fenhirel, half-elf ranger.

These have been edited in Photoshop to get rid of some of the weird AI bot accidents (giving Varan antlers?) and giving them both elf ears (as the bot refuses to make Zelyra look like an elf...*sigh*).

…

You can read Midwinter here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43119996/chapters/108365325

or

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14161750/1/Midwinter

…

You can read The Grey Warriors here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35100307/chapters/87436915

or

Chapter Twenty-Two

Dunglorrin Torune

1485 DR / Day 32

Ghohlbrorn's Lair, Gracklstugh

"No, no, no! Zelyra, you are still pronouncing it wrong. I said, good morning, and you just responded with the equivalent of, I will pee on your leg!" Prince Derendil said with a heavy sigh.

Kazimir and Eldeth immediately exploded into howling laughter as Zelyra dropped her head into her hands. The druid's face instantly turned bright red. "Why is this so hard?" she groaned. "I picked up on Druidic much easier than this!"

"How old were you when you learned Druidic?" Kazimir asked.

"Twelve," Zelyra answered truthfully.

The tiefling snapped his fingers. "They say learning new languages is easier when you're still young. The older you get, the harder it is to rewire your brain with new ways of thinking," he said.

"Don't feel bad, Zelyra. I'm struggling too. We can't all be geniuses like the grey-one over here," Eldeth said, jabbing her thumb in the wizard's direction.

Kazimir stuck his tongue between his lips and blew a raspberry at her.

*follow link for more*

Chapter Eight - The Explorer and The Ranger

A sense of dread washed over the druid as she watched the spiders swathe their paralyzed victims with silk. And for a moment Zelyra fell into memory. She recalled a dim forest filled with dying, black twisted trees, most leafless, a tricksy, swirling fog, and a mass of lustrous web that blocked the path ahead. A tall elven figure with long dark hair stood before the giant web, wooden shield, and gnarled staff in hand. Behind him, a young half-elf, no more than twelve or thirteen winters, waited amongst an escort of armed sentries. As the elf raised his staff, a spark of flame lit upon a single strand. The spark fed quickly. It spread, turning into a ravenous storm, sweeping from web to web to thoroughly consume the lair in which the webs concealed. The air carried the stench of death and in all their ears, echoed the shrieks of hundreds of giant spiders as they were mercilessly flushed from a home that was not theirs to claim. It was only a start. But a start nonetheless of taking back Neverwinter Wood.

Zelyra shook her head, willing the memory from her mind. She was not in the Wood. This was the Silken Paths. And it would not do her good to continue to dwell on home or the past when the real danger lay before her in the present.

Chapter 6 - Flight Through the Wilds

Time can be a difficult thing in a land without sun. But to those native to the Underdark, that was simply the way of life. Passing days were gauged by spurts of long rest unless there was specific means of measuring time, such as the great clocktower Narbondel in Menzoberranzan. Velkynvelve's escaped prisoners had no such luxury. For untold days to come, they would find themselves far from the comforts and ingenuity of civilization.

Fraeya rose from her reverie and began waking the others. She was eager to move on. A rock had dug into her back all night. And more importantly, any hope of distance that they had gained from their pursuit the day before could be cut short in an instant. For drow elves, like their surface counterparts, fell into a dreamless trance during rest instead of deep sleep. What might take a human eight hours or more, an elf could benefit from in half that. In short, Ilvara and her hunting party had every advantage. And the fleeing prisoners, who had only two true elves among them, had everything to lose...