magaambyan-legends

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this next character is a striped gnoll! Because the range of real life striped hyenas extends into the Middle East and India, I took inspiration from 19th-century Ottoman Turkish fashion for her outfit.

I imagine this character as living a cosmopolitan life in a city or busy town, working as the owner of a high-end textile and jewelry shop. New customers are sometimes surprised by her species; she resents the misconception among non-gnolls that her people are coarse barbarians who can't have an eye for fine things.

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this is one of those, "wait, I seriously haven't posted that to tumblr yet?" drawings, lol. I drew this character months ago when I was thinking I might give making adoptables a shot, but even though that project fizzled out, I still like the designs I drew for it.

This brown hyena character was inspired by the Afrikaans name for the species: "strandwolf", or "beach wolf", due to many of them being coastal scavengers. I imagine her as an eccentric seaside hermit, reclusive by choice but still friendly enough to offer a passing traveler a cup of tea or clam soup.

There is so much sand in her fur always.

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another commission, this one from a while ago, actually! The commissioner asked for a gnoll mage practicing lightning and earth magic together, and it took a couple exploratory sketches to settle on this way of representing that combination.

I always love a chance to paint craggy rocks-- I don't draw rocks nearly enough, but getting the shapes right is so satisfying. When I see a really nicely-rendered chunky rock I just want to put it in my mouth. My ambition is to draw rocks that inspire this feeling in others.

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(Spellskein art by Artur Nakhodkin for Paizo.)

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(Art by Vlada Hladkova for Paizo.)

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SHE IS BABY

so uh

after @soleminisanction told me about little Anchor Root, an NPC from the Pathfinder 2e adventure "Strength of Thousands", I maybe got a little bit immediately attached. Have I played that adventure path, or anything Pathfinder at all? No. Do I still love this chronically-anxious magical schoolgirl with all my heart? Absolutely.

Anchor Root is what's called an "ant gnoll", which are halfling-sized gnolls based on aardwolves-- perfect for her, since you look at a picture of a real-life aardwolf and go, "yeah that thing has anxiety." (see below)

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@geryuthetzakandi and @wynterwulf7 – I wound up combining your asks lol

Sweet Pea occasionally wears her mane differently– this style, with the fur gathered into little pigtails, is associated with hunting or fighting, and she is outfitted accordingly. The paint she’s wearing is a traditional design that’s meant to look intimidating and scary, evoking having shoved one’s entire face inside a fresh kill (subtle symbolism is for other people), but she’s giving her look a friendlier touch with some nice flowers.

She’s headed for a diplomatic meeting with the community leaders of the new human village at the edge of her clan’s territory. The humans always seem a bit more willing to agree to the gnolls’ terms when they dress like this, for some reason…

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(Art by Vlada Hladkova for Paizo.)

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Chizire's on to you, Kandi

(Art by Vlada Hladkova for Paizo.)

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(Anchor Root and the anadi students agree)

(also don't worry Tzeniwe you're not a mess and we love you!)

Art by Vlada Hladkova for Paizo.

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Magaambyan text posts, Andi's always dying edition

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The teachers are also having a normal one

(Art by Vlada Hladkova for Paizo.)

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Character portrait art by Vlada Hladkova; anadi art by Gislaine Avila.

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Anchor Root portrait by Vlada Hladkova for Paizo.