#azrith answers

[azrithart]

love your art sm! may i ask for mooore sarith lore

Thank you so much!

And certainly 🍄🍄🍄 There are so many things to say about this boi! 

Sarith has been a guest character across multiple friends’ campaigns, and is a much loved NPC! Our OOTA campaign has been on hiatus, but there will be more one day!

(Light content warning for mentions of military/religious indoctrination, character trauma, and some character spoilers)  

Sarith lore (from our OOTA):

Since there isn’t much on Sarith in the module, our GM yoinked some of Drizzt’s family lore as a starting base. Then inverted the arc 🗡

Sarith is the second son of a lesser noble house from Menzoberranzan. 

He has three sisters and one older brother. 

His older brother studied as a wizard in Sorcere.

House Kzekarit did not have any particular power or prestige. It dwelled in the shadow of larger Houses in Menzoberranzan.

It is allies with House Faen T’labbar, from the Ruling Council. 

Matron Kzekarit is still alive and looking for her “traitorous” son! House Faen T’labbar recently got involved.

Sarith trained as a warrior in Melee-Magthere. 

He went through the standard Drow warrior academy experience: 

Train rigorously for ten years

Compete in a Battle Royale contest at the end of every year

Fight monsters in far caverns to learn team tactics

Test his blade in surface raids against the Elves (yikes), For Lolth™

Sarith seems to prefer ranged weapons in our campaign 🏹

His fighting style favors stealth and subterfuge over direct combat.

Though an average warrior, Sarith is quite perceptive and good with scouting/tracking! He navigated for the party through much of the Underdark.

Sarith never cared about glory or standing out; his main goal has been to lay low and survive for as long as possible. He’s never been in a position of power.

Soldier background: Sarith served under Ilvara Mizzrym as a raider and scout. 

While not confirmed, I suspect that Sarith, Ilvara, Jorlan, Shoor, and Asha went through schooling around the same time in Menzoberranzan. 

House Mizzrym is part of Menzo’s Ruling Council. In our campaign, Ilvara returned to Menzo in a fit of rage, conquered her house, and ascended to Matron. (One fear). She’s…pretty mad about the prison break.

Sarith has traveled to the surface multiple times on raids—he doesn’t understand why the party wants to return there. He expressed fear of going blind or burning alive under the sun. 

When Sarith’s unit captured our favorite Myconid, Stool, Sarith was infected (with a certain spoiler) in Neverlight Grove. In tandem with memory loss, the infection altered some things in his brain.

Sarith feared he was cursed by a Lolth cleric or losing his mind. He killed a fellow soldier in a bout of madness, but wasn’t sure what happened. 

Both Stool and Sarith are alive and with us! Sarith has been cured.

Complex alignment: Trauma vs. Illness. (Content warning applies here) 

Like most people from Menzoberranzan, Sarith constantly watches his back. It wasn’t the infection from Neverlight that made him paranoid :( Even after his cure, Sarith remains hyper-vigilant, sullen, and defensive. He has lived through nearly 2 centuries of military and fanatical religious indoctrination.

Sarith is a soldier through and through. Yet he doesn’t seem to know what he believes. 

Sarith admitted discomfort with Lolth’s doctrine. He’s always been helpful to the party out of obligation and survival. He knows he isn’t the most powerful person in the room.

Sarith claimed to never hold attachment anywhere in his life—no companions, no allies, no achievements. 

He hasn’t even had space to figure out hobbies or interests. 

(When the campaign resumes, a goal is to find out what his interests could be besides “I like having my head attached to my body”.)

Art and magic aren’t one of them.

Acts of kindness have surprised him every time. In Menzo!Drow language, the word for “friend” (abbil) is used as an ironic joke. This has made communication difficult at points. He expects he must give something back.

However, those moments Sarith has opened up, he has a very sweet smile ;U;

The infection actually made Sarith act more selfless and help defend the party out of more than obligation. Sarith had hoped to find a haven in Neverlight Grove.

Once cured of his infection, Sarith became more self-focused and superior in attitude D: He was cynical before. But now the snark has doubled!  

Beneath the attitude, he seems terrified. Sarith claimed he didn’t believe there is a place for him anywhere—surface or Underdark. Perhaps that is one desire he’s scared to let himself consider.

Is he really Lawful Evil, or raised that way? There’s a lot going on there. 

“Friendship? Love? Disgusting. (Give me more)”

By some chance, my spore druid Amarth bonded with Sarith.

They’re both grouchy, cynical, and jaded—somehow, they warmed up to each other after becoming allies. They probably would have slain each other under other circumstances.

Sarith is a noble and soldier who fears questioning his place. Amarth is a vengeance-driven mage that seeks to destroy Menzoberranzan and help nature reclaim the Underdark.

They accidentally introduced each other to the power of friendship. Now they’re both stumped.

They bicker often. They spent an early portion of the campaign gossiping in Drow silent code and debating plans. Later, Amarth just kept bugging Sarith, taking watches with him, and getting to know him. 

Cue Gratuitous wound tending, hand holding, and promises of protection. The attention still seems to surprise Sarith. Perhaps some part of him dares to hope for a better future. 

Feelings developed, but Amarth assumed his own were one-sided.

Until he bargained his soul for a Greater Restoration spell (and more power) to cure Sarith. Sarith was pissed. They had a pretty bad fight. (Great way to find out someone likes your dumb ass back, eh Amarth?)

Now Cured!Sarith seems flattered someone sacrificed their soul for him.

The GM mentioned once no one had cared for Sarith before, and Sarith cared for no one. This is the first time that’s changed. 

After the cure, Sarith has only limited memories of recent experiences with the party. However, he’s still sticking with us. He doesn’t wish to go anywhere near Neverlight Grove. That’s…going to be a problem. Stool still wants to go home!

More fun facts:

Sarith doesn’t speak Common! 

He seems to prefer the use of Sign over speech sometimes. Even in instances he didn’t need to stealth or be secretive :)

He likes tea! 

He and Amarth each have a fucked up ring. Sarith’s is a fire resistance ring given in trust. Aaaaand Amarth’s is a spell storing ring from his soul deal pact….that’s grafted on. 

Notable Sarith quotes:

“You don’t fuck with wizards.” 

The frequent use of Drow sign language is something I loved so much from our campaign. I want to learn ASL one day :)

Sarith AU - from a Curse of Strahd campaign:

One of our friends and OOTA players GM’ed a Curse of Strahd campaign! He guest-featured the Abyss crew in the Amber Temple.

In the AU, things went wrong in OOTA. His PC, an Eladrin necromancer, became a lich to save everyone ;-; PC’s and NPC’s alike.

This resulted in everyone’s ah…reanimation. Half the party kept their memories, and the other half kept their physical fighting abilities. 

Sarith chose to keep his mind. His body suffered as a result.

I guest-played toward the end of the campaign as undead!Amarth. He had only some of his memories intact, but knew he needed to find his way back to the others.

They were all reunited! All except the two paladin PC’s, whose souls moved on and resisted reanimation.

Sarith got married! We had a zombie wedding and everything officiated by another friend’s Strand PC! (Who is the besets of bois)

This started as a joke. I was going to have Amarth cast the Ceremony spell to buff himself and Sarith with a +1 AC for a week.

Amarth and Sarith had a small, sweet Elven-style wedding.

At the end of the campaign, their lives were restored and sent back to the material plane to hunt the demon possessing Amarth’s soul.

Sarith has also appeared in another one of our friend’s Ravnica campaign, my homebrew campaign Elysion, and more!

[1] if you like the art of him, there’s plenty more Sarith in my webcomic, Sporeblood!

Sarith and Amarth’s dynamic in our OOTA campaign hit exactly the kind of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers I love in fiction. Sporeblood is a separate world, universe, and story. Though has nothing to do with Faerun or OOTA, the dynamic is there! And plenty of Elves, magic, and spookiness galore. I made the joke back in 2019 that while I shipped it, “at least I’m not planning some epic Drow romance comic.” 4 years later, I am eating those words.

Thanks again! If you have any more q's or are curious about details, I'm happy to answer 🍄 -Az

[azrithart]

Hello, sorry if you've answered this question before, but what advice would you give to a absolute beginner learning to draw fantasy character illustration art? (Also do you draw while high? Since that is the only way I know how I can experience new methods of thought openly without judgement.)

Hey,

That’s rad you’re starting out in fantasy art!

Here’s some of the starting advice I’ve received and still follow today:

1. Use references for everything! Photos, free stock pose pages for artists, video stills are all great. Deviantart, instagram, and other sites have some free fantasy pose galleries to ref!

https://www.deviantart.com/adorkastock/gallery and https://www.deviantart.com/pose-emporium have some cool scifi/fantasy shots.

2. If you worry about proportions, make doodle pages of small things - eyes, faces, hands, etc. This could help in working up to full figures; and developing a style you like.

3. Practice as much as you can! Though they say it takes around 10,000 hours to develop a skill, you’ll see progress the more you make :D

4. Explore different drawing, shading, and coloring styles

5. Draw what makes you happy! A lot of artists get caught up in trying to post what will gain them a following, and hit burn out too soon.

6. Warm up before you draw. Even just drawing a few big scribbly circles! A loose, relaxed wrist will produce better line quality than a tense, shaky one. I like to draw character headshots, hands, eyes, or objects before starting a new piece.

7. Stretch out your wrists and give yourself small breaks every 30-60 min! It sucks getting used to, but better drawing habits make all the difference.

8. Find artists or styles that inspire you! I like to try out different stuff, and have a side blog purely for reblogging inspirational pieces.

9. Tutorials - there are many great free videos on youtube for coloring, line art, drawing figures!

(While I haven’t been high before, mental blocks are all too real! I tend to stay up late to draw with a cup of tea or coffee. When playlists don’t match the theme of what I want to draw, I’ll find a fantasy ambiance compilation of a DnD tavern, desolate city, whichever vibe feels right. The more immersion, the more my mind loosens up to make cool things!)

Thanks for your ask :D

[azrithart]

Hello, I have a question about your oni-tiefling! I see that you mentioned that she doesn't have a class chosen just yet, but do you have any idea what kind of weapon she'd use? :)

Kandy fights with shortswords, throwing knives, or any small blades! Class wise, I think she'll be a rogue or rogue multi-class. Thanks for your ask! :D