#Gaeril

[unicornia93]

🌾It's you, despite everything... 🌿

As the bandages come off, Gaeril can do nothing but stare at his reflection in shock. The red gnarled marks covering his face now a prominent feature. A eternal reminder.

The pain is only a dull ache, but the panic grips him tight as tears flood his eyes. This is him... A foolish boy acting before thinking.

"These scars... I think you should carry them with pride rather than shame. What you did for Fang was a selfless act, brave even. My brave druid." 

That was all it took. For one person, just a single one to say against all his destructive thoughts. He could be brave. He knew it, but yet he so often denied it. Was it so much easier to blame the fear and guilt that he could never afford to call himself brave? 

Watching her comb away his hair, he felt naked at first. But as his eyes met those of the reflection, listening to her soft humming as dilligent hands braided the leaves into his hair... he felt at ease. 

"Thank you." 

"What for?"

"For making me brave enough to admit to myself that... I am brave." 

🌿🐺🌷

Alusys the halfling belongs to my dear friend @vesprynna 🌷

Timelapse and a proper backstory for Gaeril and how he got those scars are available for supporters on my ko-fi ☕

[unicornia93]

Look at my boi 🥺❤️ Aaah I love these two pieces so much 😭🌿✨❤️

✨🌿Mielikki's Chosen🌿✨

I finally got around to joining @unicornia93 's DTIYS! She's hosting over on IG to celebrate her 30th birthday which was in June 🎶✨ Those who have followed me a while will probably recognize this guy as her Dnd OC Gaeril 👀

Here he is in fierce battle alongside his friends, while his god Mielikki's avatar prances above, guiding his way ✨

Below the cut is a side by side comparison with my entry for Unicornia's first DTIYS in 2020, which this one is a callback to👀✨

Gaeril has grown and matured in our campagin, so I wanted to show his growth through the years with my new DTIYS🥰

At first he's a withdrawn, insecure apprentice druid, but in time Gaeril learns of his fate as one of Mielikki's chosen and what potential he can truly reach ✨ It's kinda fun how this became a Old vs New redraw meme too 😂

[sonofkhaz]

The Savage Hero [Dreadnaught prestige class story]

Entry 78

I had to do night watch duty tonight. It’s not a hard job, but it can be dull. At times, I wished the enemy would attack us in the middle of the night so it would give me something to do. Then again, most of these dainty elves need their beauty sleep lest they get more ornery than a Plainstrider in heat.

It was a full moon, and the stars were out so I didn’t need a torch; too much light can ruin your night vision, you know. As I strode along the perimeter, I heard the crunching of boots behind me. I gripped my axe in anticipation, then whirled around to meet my follower. A Forsaken wearing black robes and a black brimmed hat looked up at me, his rheumy, undead eyes beaming.

“Well hello there,” he said in a raspy baritone, “my ostentatious oxen. Are you burning the midnight oil as well?”

“Braun,” I replied, pushing down the urge to pulp his skull like a ripe melon, “you should know better to sneak up on me like that. It will be your death sentence some day.” Despite my response, I knew that “Professor” Braun Bratosus was a dangerous sorcerer, even though he acted like an idiot most of the time. In the past, before joining the Sunspears, I had done odd jobs for him, collecting dangerous reagents for fruitless experiments. At least he paid well.

The undead rubbed his metallic jaw in thought. “I suppose. Guess they’d just have to stitch me up again. Try not to damage anything important when you kill me, okay?”

“Whatever you say, Braun.” I rolled my eyes.

“It’s a serious request, Muroco. I still have many experiments to conduct.” Braun tapped the butt of his staff on the ground. “Say, that reminds me, I had a question for you, one that is likely impertinent.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“What are you going to do when this is all over?” Braun paused. “Well, assuming that the Legion doesn’t triumph, enslave us all, and turn our dear planet into a ball of molten fel.”

“What do you mean what am I going to do? Fighting is a full time job. Even after the Legion’s defeat, there will be plenty of enemies to kill. Bank on it.”

“Ah, but my boisterous bovine,” Braun said, crooking a bony finger towards the camp, “even most of our elven compatriots have lives of their own. Some of them have families, some of them are craftspeople, and others have to lord over their lands. They don’t fight all the time.”

“I’m a Grimtotem exile,” I said, “fighting is the only thing I’m good at.” It was the only thing I was taught to do, even from a young age. The Grimtotems are never developed self-sufficiency, and only truly survive by raiding, pillaging, and killing everyone and everything that isn’t them. As such, the vast majority of Grimtotems are expected to know how to fight. A Grimtotem that wants to open up a general store is viewed the same way a street-goer might view an organ grinder’s monkey.

Braun and I continued our conversation, but I don’t think he understood my point of view. I don’t think anyone can.

-

-

Entry 104

I went to my “peaceful spot” today. It didn’t turn out to be so peaceful.

When I was still an Initiate, I found this pasture several miles south of the Dawnspire. It is nice and quiet; miles of plain with rolling hills and some trees. Silvermoon City is cramped, and sometimes I need to get away to stretch out.

While I sit underneath a tree on a hilltop and meditate, I sometimes see a little girl, about six or seven winters old, named Verina. She has a black cat named Olive, and I’ve helped her pull her kite out of the tree a few times. Despite her youth, she speaks to me without fear or hesitation - more that can be said about a lot of people I’ve met.

I made a stupid mistake today. My guard was down, and I didn’t hear my attackers sneak up on me. A robed man - some elf - approached me when my eyes were closed and cast a binding spell. As I stood up to attack him, I felt coils of fel energy ensnare my wrists and hold my legs in place. Struggle as I might, I couldn’t break free. I heard him snicker to himself as shimmering forms behind him coalesced into being. A felguard and a shivarra wielding wicked looking scimitars appeared, advancing on me. As they got closer, I could hear Verina’s high-pitched voice shouting, “Leave him alone!”

The cultist turned, saw her clumsy attempts at striking him with her fists, and kicked her to the ground.

I could feel the binding spells weaken as his attention was turned elsewhere...but something snapped in me. Something about seeing that girl being hurt drove me into a rage I hadn’t felt in years. Rage can be a powerful weapon; the dirtiest, flea-bitten peasant can be pushed into feats of heroism if everything they hold dear is threatened. With a roar, I shattered the cultist’s spells and rescued my axe from the ground. I beheaded the felguard with one chop, then turned my attention to the shivarra. Her blades nicked and grazed me, but I was too angry to care. I severed her, limb from useless limb, until she collapsed to the ground.

I turned my attention to the cultist next. He attempted to cast a spell at me, but squawked in protest as my plated fist landed square in his face, snapping his beak-like nose and knocking out most of his teeth. I grabbed him by the neck, ignoring his pleas for mercy as I slammed his head into the tree’s trunk. I bashed his skull in repeatedly, even after he was dead, his head nothing more than a bloody stump.

I only stopped when I heard crying.

I turned around and saw Verina cowering.

She wasn’t afraid of the corpses of the demons. She was afraid of me.

Before I could say anything, she turned and fled, her legs carrying her as fast as they could as she screamed in terror. With a sigh, I ripped the cloak off the cultist’s mangled corpse and heaved myself to the pond residing at the hill’s base. As I cleaned the grime off me, I looked at my distorted reflection on the pond’s surface. I wasn’t wearing my helmet, so blood had spattered on me.

I looked just as I did when I was still a Brave in the Grimtotem tribe, raiding orcish, night elf and tauren settlements with little care of who was in the way.

For once in my life, I felt disgusted with myself.

-

-

Entry 105

I decided to stay the night in the countryside. The sun was setting when the cultist attacked me, and I didn’t feel like marching back.

A warrior learns to sleep lightly while outside, and this time I was not about to make the same mistake twice. As the sun began to rise, I heard someone moving towards me. I grabbed my axe and rose, preparing to cut down the intruder.

I paused as the man in front of me yelped in surprise and jumped back, his hands held up in supplication. He wore rough hewn clothes, and his tanned skin look weathered from time in the sun. A farmer.

“I, ah,” the man stammered, “thought I might find you here.”

“What do you want?” I asked.

“You saved my daughter yesterday,” the man said, his eyes glancing cautiously the edge of my axe.

I set my weapon down upon the grass and sat down on a nearby tree stump overlooking the pond. “It was nothing. You don’t owe me anything. What’s your name?”

“Gaeril. And it wasn’t ‘nothing’. My daughter is the most precious thing in the world to me. I am not a warrior like you, and I shudder to think what might have happened if you weren’t here.”

I rested my head in my hand. I wasn’t accustomed to praise like this. “I scared her off, you know. Horrified her with what I did. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I just don’t fit in with,” I furrowed my brow in consternation, “With…”

“With whom?”

“Elves. Especially ones that don’t fight. No offense.”

Gaeril frowned, taking a seat on another tree stump near me. “Then why are you here, if I might ask? Don’t you have a family? A tribe?”

“Not anymore. I’m exiled. I left Kalimdor to continue my pursuit to become one of the greatest warriors of the Horde.” I looked up at the sky and saw the towering parapets of the Dawnspire in the horizon. “Sunguard let me in because I’m useful for killing things. Doubt they did it out of charity. Otherwise, I’d just be another wandering mercenary, looking for fights.”

The farmer nodded. “Then perhaps, tauren, the Sunguard is your new tribe. Whether you want to admit it or not, I am sure many of them appreciate your combat prowess - they can come home to their families each day because you’re there to watch their backs. You may be...savage, as you claim, but you’re a hero to many in ways you don’t realize.”

I remained silent after that. I couldn’t think of anything to say. A simple farmer had just laid out the truth to me, an epiphany that no seer or sage could ever manage to elucidate in their best efforts.

“Maybe so,” I said at last, “maybe so.”

-

-

The Defense of Thalassian Pass

Muroco stood near at the front of the Sunguard’s lines, gazing at the advancing Legion forces. The pass connected the borders between the Eastern Plaguelands and Quel’thalas. A fel reaver thundered at the vanguard of the invading force, flanked by eredar, felhounds, felguards, and other demonic aberrations. The tauren lowered the visor of his helmet. If the demons made it through their defenses, they would pour into Quel’thalas, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake.

Muroco nodded to himself as the demons closed the gap. Let them come. Let them try. When he was younger, he strived to find every fight he could. As he got older, however, he understood that the best fights would come to him eventually. Being in the Sunguard would provide him the fights he craved.

The warrior jogged forward, his battle-axe in both hands, eventually breaking into a charge. He raised his weapon to strike as his bounding hooves brought him closer to the Legion. The elves might be an odd bunch, but they were his elves. His tribe.

And anyone who threatened his tribe would receive a brutal end.

[unicornia93]

🌾🐺 Druid of the Wild Soul 🐺🌾

These are illustrations for a druid subclass my boyfriend and I have been working on for a while! It is also the one I use for my dnd character Gaeril. I was also very happy to draw him with his wolf companion Fang to showcase the Wild Soul druid! The three animals represent the worlds. The Land (Faerun), the Fey Wild and Shadowfell.

The subclass is available as a pay what you want downloadable PDF here:

There will also be a blog post this sunday for subscribers on my ko-fi page where I talk about the process behind this subclass.

[unicornia93]

☀️ Worship 🌙

You stand before me, your smile so warm, your touch so gentle. So let me sit here a while. Let your love wash over me, like the warmth of the sun ~

Gaeril and Alusys sharing a moment somewhere in the castle. A moment for admiration, for quiet and peace.

It also gave me an opportunity to try out more brushes. And how to do backlights with them. It startet out as a small sketch, but I liked their expressions so much ❤️

Alusys the halfling belongs to @vesprynna

These are our Dungeons and Dragons characters ☀️🌿

[unicornia93]

🌿☀️The Dance☀️🌿

In one of our sessions, during our heroes stay in Silverymoon Gaeril wanted to reach out to the druids in the area. Upon reaching the Evergreen Garden there was a celebration. Alusys, being a halfling from a farm community, and a bard, joined in without question, and upon spotting her shy druid glancing at her from beneath the shadows of the trees she sweeps over and pulls him out of his shell.

Alusys the halfling bard belongs to @vesprynna

[vesprynna]

✨🌻The Journey Home🌻✨ Today is my friend @unicornia93's 30th birthday, so of course a gift is in order! Toot toot the birthday floot, haha! 🥳

I decided to draw our DnD OCs Alusys, Gaeril and his wolf companion Fang, riding homeward to Gaeril's mother. We finally met her last session. Needless to say a very emotionally charged moment between mother and son when they met again after being separated for years. Loredh's interactions with Alusys were also so sweet, the two drank coffee, talked and made clothes together (Loredh is a seamstress and weaver). It really inspired me, and I thought the idea of Ally and Gaeril traveling back to his home in Lunalucia would make a nice gift for Uni 🥹 💕

[vesprynna]

The past month I've been working on a Q&A with questions for both myself and my OCs, and I wanted to share some of the art and comics I made for it!

First out is a mini comic about my halfling bard Alusys and her "Expectations vs Reality" for her first kiss 🥰 featuring @unicornia93 's halfelf druid Gaeril 🌿💕

You can read the entire Q&A for free over on my 🪷 Ko-Fi 🪷 🥰🙏

[unicornia93]

The Kiss 🌻🌿

Your hands reach mine, a glance, a breath. We will live to see yet another dawn. I hold you closer, and without a word the distance is closed and your lips meet mine. Another dawn... another day shared with you..

🌻🌿✨🌿🌻

Got around to redraw this again! Sometimes it is great to see how far you've come since 2019, which is when I drew the first edition. Second is from 2021! Really happy with this last one, and with my coloring lately. It’s been a journey!

Alusys the halfling bard belongs to @vesprynna

Gaeril the halfelf druid is my boy and we play these in Storm Kings Thunder!

I wrote a blog post that is open for all on my ko-fi, so if you're interested in getting a closer look on my journey you can find it here:

[unicornia93]

Winter Joy

"Coming home after a long journey brings out the joy of simple things. Like letting one self fall into the soft cold snow, forgetting about all the imposing things to come. And as I meet your smile, I get lost in your eyes, and forget about everything else..."

New year, new brushes, new Gaeril and Alusys art! I recently bought a few sets from True Grit texture supply, and I had to try them! Really enjoyed working with the markers, and the texture is lovely!

Alusys belongs to @vesprynna

I hope you all have had a good start of the new year ❤️

[unicornia93]

Wolf Ride

As the trees turn green and spring is on the cusp of becoming summer, Gaeril would take Alusys hiking to some of the places he'd discover wandering the woods with Fang. They would all be equally magical!

-

This piece has been a work in progress for a long time! I started sketching it last summer and decided to take it further earlier this spring. It was several revisions before I was satisfied! My ko-fi supporters can read all about it in a blog post I wrote 😂

Anyway, finally drew Gaeril and Fang merged into one big Dire Wolf! Alusys looks like she's enjoying the hike ❤️

She belongs to @vesprynna

[unicornia93]

🔥When the hinges come off🔪

Alusys the sweet pastel halfling and Gaeril the gentle druid do have a different side to them! Better not challenge the warning!

Alusys belongs to @vesprynna

[unicornia93]

🍬🍭🎃Trick or Treat🎃🍭🍬

Like last year I decided to dress up some characters for Halloween! Gaeril and Alusys brought along Fang for a fun costume group, but Fang is not thrilled!

Had fun designing their clothing, especially proud of the pink robes. Wish them luck trick or treating, and have a happy Halloween 🎃🖤

Alusys belongs to @Vesprynna

🍭🍬🎃 Check out my ko-fi to see more of my work! 🎃🍬🍭

I painted up a bunch of spooky tabletop miniatures as well this year! The post is open for all to read.

[vesprynna]

💚🌻💕 our sweet bebs, I love this 🥺

Never Let Go

"Though I am connected to nature, and I must serve it... You alone hold my heart. Never let go of me. Never let me forget where I belong.."

-

More Alusys and Gaeril romance in Valentines wake! This piece is based on a sculpture featuring Amor and Psyche in eachothers embrace. Sculpted by Auguste Rodin.

It was another fun challenge, translating a piece of classic art to suit my own vision. I really enjoyed working on it, though it had some challenges you can read all about on my ko-fi 😂 Alusys looks so happy, really love her hands holding onto him ❤️ It inspired the title for sure ✨

Alusys the halfling belongs to @vesprynna ✨

[unicornia93]

🌿✨Heart of the Forest ✨🌿

Gaeril stands with the sacred unicorn of the woods, in his palm a faint pulse of magic rests, swirling in small patterns as he holds it out for the trees, the grass, the flowers. A gust of wind sweeps by as the forest accepts the breath of life, green sprouting from branches and twigs. The pulse of magic grows, energy returning as life is breathed into it once more.

In the special occasion of my 30th birthday I invite you all to celebrate with me by hosting a DTIYS 🥳

I've wanted to have one featuring a unicorn for a while and thought it fitting to be for this occasion ❤️ Head over to my instagram to read more!

Rules are simple

🌿 Character must be recognizeable

🌿 Tag me so I can see your post

The DTIYS itself is the cropped version, feel free to play with poses and add your own flair to it!

There will be two prizes. Read more on my Instagram @/unicornia.art

[unicornia93]

Voice of the Forest

The Hierophant is a teacher, a spiritual guide and religious figure. He stands proud before his cathedral, which in this case is a great tree. The student has become the teacher and during his studies he knows that faith is fundamental for spiritual balance. In his hand rests a heavy burden of responsibility, to his faith and those following him. Sunflowers and Forget me not's surround him, symbolizing happiness, unwavering faith, love and respect.

My DnD character Gaeril, the Voice of the Forest and Mielikki's champion. Depicted as the Hierophant figure in tarot. I loved working on this, like the previous piece featuring Alusys ❤️