#veluart

[rajakaen]

Let me introduce my notRook Veilguard OC Verinius Sabelis Phalban. He goes by many names and is a byproduct of @jukkaricity's recent dive into Thedas and can usually be found alongside her also notRook OC Alectris Mercar. Jukkari gave him a voice, the game gave us the looks while I gave him his personality and so V has ended up as a full-fledged character over time. A & V are Blorbos by Proxy ❤️

TLDR Intro Version

Verinius is a brilliant, socially inept mage who exists in his own world of books, Minrathous fantasies and blood magic experiments. He has the talent of a prodigy and the social instincts of a brick, managing to alienate everyone around him except his cat, Andoralis, whom he insists is the only living creature worthy of his full attention.

He is utterly convinced that Minrathous represents the pinnacle of civilization, despite barely engaging with its people beyond what is strictly necessary. His mind moves too fast for most and when people fail to keep up, he either ignores them entirely or offends them without meaning to.

He has no regard for the legal or ethical concerns of magic, specializing in blood magic (purely for research, of course, tho his own blood is another matter entirely) and storm magic (which builds up when left unused for too long, resulting in frizzed hair and sparks discharging at inconvenient moments).

Alectris is the only person who comes close to truly understanding him, though her return to his life comes with a sharp reminder: she is not going to let him get away with talking to his cat more than actual people.

Background & Introduction (before the Veilguard)

To an unknowing observer, Verinius might appear to be the most Tevinter mage among Tevinter mages—at least slightly snobbish, accustomed to comfort and absolutely in love with Minrathous, or rather, the idea of the city he has cultivated in his imagination for years. The truth, however, is quite different. He comes from a small village near Marothius, deep within the Hundred Pillars, far from the empire’s beating heart. His family has owned an apple orchard for generations and while his magical talent may have elevated their status to Laetans, little has changed for them since he left for the Circle. Not that they mind—his parents and siblings take great pride in their work and are content with their peaceful life.

Veryl’s magic surfaced early—wild, untamed and far beyond what his family could hope to manage. With no other mages among them and little understanding of such power, they had few options when the inevitable summons arrived. A Tevinter child, especially one crackling with barely contained lightning, was never going to stay in a remote village. The decision was out of his parents' hands and by the time he was five, Verinius had already been sent to the Circle at Carastes. There, he trained for several years before being transferred to Minrathous at twelve, where his potential was deemed better suited to the capital. The move, however, came at a cost—Minrathous was far from home and distance meant that visits became rare, his connection to his family reduced to letters and memories.

And so Veryl spent most of his early life within the Circles, his world shaped not just by their walls but by what it meant to be a mage in Tevinter. Yet the structured pace of learning tested his patience; too slow, too rigid, never deep enough and constantly disrupted by the distractions of his peers. Carastes was more than happy to send him to Minrathous, where both his potential and his troublesome nature would become someone else’s concern. Lacking natural social graces, his background was working against him. While others fit in with ease, he often felt like he was speaking a language no one else understood—quite literally, in some cases, as his tendency to over-explain resulted in more than one awkward silence. It never stopped him from trying, much to everyone's dismay.

During his years in the Circles, few things had ever gotten under his skin, but meeting Alectris in his late teens proved to be an exception. Unfazed by his unpolished personality, she quickly became a constant thorn in his side—one he was surprised to find himself growing fond of. Eventually, a Magister recognized Verinius��� potential and claimed him as an apprentice. Verixsus brought him to his estate, pulling him into a far larger world. The rigid life of the Circle gave way to a more demanding, fluid apprenticeship, but with it came a privilege: four visits home each year instead of one. And no matter how much Minrathous holds his heart, it never truly dulled the pull of home—not that he ever spoke of it much.

Like him, Alectris left the Circle, though she chose the army instead. Over the years, their friendship became quieter; distance and duty dulling what had once been constant. He never quite stopped missing her, but life in Minrathous had a way of swallowing time and before he knew it, years had slipped away. He got along well with his master, but a mentor was no substitute for a best friend—Alec had been the only one who could truly keep up with him and he missed her. The void she left was filled by a stray cat he found on his master’s estate. Or rather, the cat found him and decided she would adopt him. From that day on, Andoralis became his ever-present shadow, named after the day she entered his life.

Eight years passed before Alectris finally left the army and returned from her deployment in Seheron. She could hardly believe what she saw. Verinius had grown utterly fixated on his cat, perhaps too much for her liking—holding entire conversations with Andoralis as if expecting her to reply and acting as if her approval was of the utmost importance. Alectris had always known he was eccentric, but this was a new level of absurd. Worse, he had begun experimenting with volatile magic and had become adept at blood magic, making no effort to hide it. His methods, however, are unusual. While others wield blood without hesitation, he could never quite bear the sight of his own. If asked, he’d simply say fresh blood gives him headaches. Instead, he collects samples with eerie calm, studying ways to preserve their potency—never considering how unnerving this might be. To him, spilt blood holds no more weight than splattered ink.

Still, his time with Magister Verixsus had done him some good—his temper had evened out, he no longer openly insulted people for their lack of magical understanding as often and he carried himself with the easy confidence of someone who had long since stopped caring whether or not people found him strange. But beneath the polish, Alectris could still see flashes of her old friend—the insufferable know-it-all, the stubborn streak a mile wide, the way he lit up when talking about something that truly fascinated him. And despite years of silence, their friendship fell back into place with ease. As if no time had passed, Alectris slipped into her old role as a constant bother and Veryl, to her great satisfaction, responded exactly as he always had—overly dramatic, easily excitable and entirely unable to get rid of her.

Veryl can most often be found surrounded by books and vials, either studying magic (the less commonly available, the better—legality is not a concern) or completing his daily tasks as a scribe and Magister’s apprentice. He has an unfortunate talent for saying precisely the wrong thing at the worst possible moment, whether through tactlessness, sheer obliviousness or a total lack of concern for social norms. His magical expertise is undeniable, specializing in practical and constructive applications of blood magic, as well as a highly destructive form of storm magic for those rare moments when force becomes necessary. He can go from zero to vaporization in less than 0.3 seconds. He's eccentric and peculiar in both his interests and his mannerisms, somehow managing to offend whoever he speaks with or embarrass himself—often at the same time. The fact that his main conversation partner is Andoralis certainly does not help his predicament.

Verinius should, by all rights, be quietly buried in books somewhere, bothering no one but his cat. Instead, thanks to Alectris and a dragon with extreme renovation ideas for Minrathous, he’s now neck-deep in the Veilguard’s chaos. Meanwhile, our poor Rook (a dwarven Warden) is left juggling world-ending threats, blighted nightmares and—because the universe clearly hates him—two more walking disasters. At this rate, Wolfram Thorne will have to save Thedas by next Tuesday or risk losing the last shreds of his sanity.

For those interested in the BG, it's a paraphrase of the codex entry art on 'Dock Town Intel: The Place Itself'. It was solely created for practice and to give V and his cat a thematically fitting bg to stand on.

[rajakaen]

Sketch concept of a Dragon Age Desire Demon

[rajakaen]

Spellblade, Soldier, Shadow Dragon - Alectris Mercar

She's @jukkariart's standalone companion for Rook and is coming with a lot of backstory and lore, fitting seamlessly into the game itself.

Sketch concept based on provided screenshots :>

[rajakaen]

First of Many >.> Jumped into PTS with @jukkariart as heal and @myrddinvonnebelstein as dps to try our luck with the lair boss that seems to have 180% more health than it supposedly should in SM—18 minutes of pure joy. Mr. T was getting splattered with 'biomatter' nonstop while kiting this so-called fleshdroid. He's not happy about how he acquired his new chievo.

[rajakaen]

More thoughts on T - just quick scribbles, not even sketches who needs face consistency anyway? What? You say that the height isn't consistent either? Thanks, I know but I don't care here.

Most of Tahr'rys' story has already been worked out, but there are still many things in the works. His overall timeline of events is fixed tho. The version I usually draw or refer to is about 42 years old (29ATC). Everything else is left to your speculation ;)

[rajakaen]

Spellblade, Soldier, Shadow Dragon - Alectris Mercar

I really enjoyed getting back to traditional media, tho it seems I don't bring the skills to tackle human portraits with ink, pencils and markers. I fucked up hard and wasn't fully able to salvage this drawing. Alec belongs to @jukkariart and she's her standalone companion for Rook. This Lady comes with a ton of story revolving around her and the Veilguard crew. Go check out Jukkari's blog to get more content :)

[rajakaen]

Two war criminals… no, wait—two ex-Sith… uh… A Gremlin and a Murderer walking down the street, minding their business, I guess? Yeah, they're both totally normal in their heads >.> Just messing around with those two Blorbos. Wanted to figure out how tall they'd be next to each other and what they'd wear in private. Tahr'rys wouldn't be caught dead in public with bare arms, though. Erin's tiny, around 157cm / 5'2". T (for German standards) isn't really that tall, but he's rather thin—he's something around 189cm / 6'2".

E belongs to Jukkari; T obviously to me

[rajakaen]

Got myself some proper references aaaaaaaaand Ashara starts to resemble herself 👀 personal design choice tweaks included :3

This WIP is so much better than my last attempt 🙈

[rajakaen]

Have T's reference sheet WIP in low quality (w/out armour plating)

for those who want to read the written notes >> click here << for higher-quality

I'm still trying to figure out how to press his character, personality & background into this single sheet for quick reference. Still, to fully understand T (if that's even possible) his character profile is needed.

SGFyZGx5IGFueW9uZSBpcyBpbnRlcmVzdGVkIGluIGhpcyBwZXJzb27igJRtYW55IGp1c3QgY2FyZSBhYm91dCB0aGUgdmlzdWFscyBvciB0aGUgbW9uZXksIG5vdCB0aGUgaW5kaXZpZHVhbCBhbmQgdGhlIGludmVzdGVkIHdvcmsgYmVoaW5kIHN1Y2ggYSBjaGFyYWN0ZXIu

[rajakaen]

Just some thoughts and explo stuff - nothing serious. Just scribbles <3

[rajakaen]

While cleaning out old files I found these Logos 🙊

They're handmade. Think about this like a challenge to see how close I can recreate the source images >.>

[rajakaen]

I made myself a MiniRef for my SWTOR OC Tahr'rys :D

I've always wanted him to interact with other OCs, but over the years I've had to realize that the results have always been devastating. He is a deeply flawed individual and not a likable person…. So if you see him running around SF or TH don't try to speak to him. He always has the chat off.

Maybe I'll slap some color on this later but I'm not sure if I want to. I hate coloring. And shading. And everything that follows >.>

[rajakaen]

Farghul has wares if you have coin

Discarded design concept from earlier this year ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[rajakaen]

Have some latest WIPs of Tahr'rys :> It's midst ambient occlusion render and therefore has no lighting and no shadows - still, I like how it seems to develop…

I had to realize that I don't own a single completed picture of my OC that I've drawn myself. Only sketches and concept designs… Never really thought about it until some days ago ^^;

The WIP features a diversity of available armour sets and some design choices and tweaks like the glasses, the knife on his leg or the pattern of his pants. Satele Shan's Dualsaber is available but I prefer to see T holster his saberstaff on his back instead of his side. That thing is huge! Why put it on the belt? (insert bike fall meme here)

Ingame T is a Sith Inquisitor and, haha yes, an Assassin (solely) Tank. But I prefer to explore his own story, away from the game but inside its timeline. What you see here is part of what I imagine for him after he burned bridges with the Sith Order and managed to gain (at least) parts of his mental health back.

T ran away from the Sith (you read that right - though it’s an understatement of the events) and spent years on his own, trying to come to terms with himself but failing. Instead, he managed to force himself (unintentionally at first) into a shutdown process from which he couldn't emerge on his own. The Force™ and some plot twists ensued until T was captured by the Mandalorian Bounty Hunter Neo. Over time (this is also an understatement), they became friends.

There's an iceberg of information behind that char trust me - I simply don't like to tell his story to the vastness of the Internet. It's untypical and faces some unpopular truths about our own society, war and psychological impacts on individuals themselves. My OC is more like a vessel to explore arising questions and developed into a fledged-out character :o

Anyway… per se, T is still a Sith and uses his powers, but he prefers to remain unnoticed. Therefore he tends to obscure the colour of his eyes with some fancy droptacs ;) His ember-like eyes would give him right away, you know?

"Oh look, this dude looks like an anaemic vampire and has orange eyes and wields a lightsaber - he is a Sith! Oh no!" (don't mind the repost - my stuff simply doesn't appear in the tags and I don't know why)

[rajakaen]

The Cake is a lie! She's a Sith, don't trust her smile.

Erin sketch concept bc brain is malfunctioning lately. Erethielin belongs to @jukkariart

This girl is a marauder, part of the Sphere of Military Offense and loves to blow things up. Surely this impish gremlin is agonizing T cross-server-universe.

[rajakaen]

Colored sketch for @jukkariart of their SWTOR OC Erin

It seems I tend to be a bit rusty with women...