#vlad nijik

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"In Izar Palace gold jewelry is the sign of special status and royalty. Even though His Royal Highness, Prince Vlad, could not wear gold jewelry until his sister became Queen, he freely gives. Each member of his circle is gifted gold jewelry by Prince Vlad himself. Even though none of them are nobles. Even though, His Highness, Prince Vlad, hardly adorns himself."

Fun lore here we go! For those that do not know, Vlad is one of my antagonists in The Ashen Magus. He's a bit of a personal fave. He grew up in Izar Palace as the second in line to the throne. He and his older sister Hypatia were the only of the many royal children that actually carried royal blood. However, they were neglected by his father as his mother, the rightful queen, started to lose her mind. He was neglected, abused and bullied. He never got to wear any gold jewelry until his older sister, Hypatia, murdered their father and then took the throne.

Who are each of the characters here? So they're part of Vlad's personal circle. A mismatched group of people who ended up serving him willingly or unwillingly. It should be fairly obvious who Vlad is, so lets go in order from the top.

With a large bangle on his wrist is Kalei. He's young, though not the youngest member of the group. He is first because he is the latest addition to the circle. Kalei was born in the Gray Class, a group of humans with no magic and unable to even perceive magic. This makes their lifespans incredibly short in a world that basically runs on magic. He was a slave who was then trained to be an assassin and kill Mehr, another one of Vlad's circle. Mehr ended up catching him and deciding he actually liked him and so asked if Vlad could keep him. Vlad ended up agreeing. The members of the Gray Class are not looked upon well and so Vlad gave him a gold bangle that stood out a lot so that no one in the palace would ever dare to look down on him. Kalei is a bit shy and soft spoken. He likes makeup and mostly blends in the the background.

Second in line is angry boy with the eyebrow piercings, Daire. He's the youngest of the group. He's 14 years old. Daire comes from a fairly normal background. But the only problem was that despite having so much magic inside of him, he was unable to use any of it. Vlad found him picking a fight with people on the streets and took him in because he decided to test and see if he could get Daire to use his magic differently. Daire is loud, very opinionated. He can and will cuss you out. He is somewhat best friends with Kalei and will yell at people for Kalei because Kalei will not. He gets into trouble for being rude a lot.

Third is Brinley. half human, half dura (@maddyisenough's oc). She ended up joining Vlad's circle against her will. She gets arrested for attacking a corrupt noble and Vlad notices her unique magic and decides to convince her to join him. When she refuses, he ends up learning that her lover snuck into Izar Palace to try and save her. So he ends up holding her lover's life hostage and ends up managing to get both of them to work for him (although her lover ends up a death mage in the general army instead). Brinley is hot headed and full of naive justice. She's not a fan of Vlad or his circle, but eventually ends up seeing way too much of who they really are to actually hate them. She struggles a lot as a result. Especially with Aruna. WHO IS NEXT.

Aruna started out as a noble and she was actually against the Vlad Order. She planned on running away with her best friend in order to join the rebel army and fight the Vlad Order. Her family ended up being moved to a city on the outskirts of Ignosi and although they were kind and benevolent, people who said they were part of the rebel army raided their residence and killed, tortured and paraded them like war prisoners. Aruna ended up being the last of her family alive and then as she was on her last legs, Vlad and his circle arrived to quell the rebellion. He looked at her and then asked her "are you going to die? just like that?" and then she realized that he was asking her if she was going to fight back. The entire time she had been trying to beg for mercy and prove her innocence. And Vlad told her to fight back and save herself instead. So she ended up using her magic to murder everyone in the area and then joined the Vlad Order instead. Being a parallel and opposite of Brinley, Aruna and Brinley struggle to get along. In another universe they would be best friends though.

Then is Zal. Zal's super fun. He's carried a one sided love for Vlad for a very very very long time (in another universe vlad finds out and decides to reciprocate but not in this one). He's very quiet and straight laced. He's kind of Vlad's personal bodyguard. (Prince and bodyguard romance anyone?). Zal is a mix of various different races. Kind of a rare one of a kind. His mother tried to kill him a bunch of times as a child and when Vlad was much younger he came across Zal who was escaping a murder attempt and then took him in because he could tell that he would be quite the useful addition to his trusted personal circle (which at the time only consisted of Lamya and Mehr).

Mehr is a personal fave. He's one of the fire folk but he has night folk blood in him too. Well tbh, mostly night folk. He's like a fourth fire folk. The Night Folk are a closed community (the result of almost being completely eradicated in wars). So when Mehr was born with both fire folk magic and night folk magic (which involves their voices), his family decided he could only have one. and since he looks like one of the fire folk they decided he couldn't be allowed to have his night folk magic. So when he was 12 his family held him down and cut out his vocal chords. That's why Vlad gave Mehr a choker like necklace, to cover the scars. Mehr is a feral and absolutely terrifying fighter. If you cut off his arms, he'll use his legs to kill you. If you cut off his legs, he'll bite you to death. He's the strongest in hand to hand combat and no magic combat of the group. But he's also the mom of the group. He makes sure everyone has had their food, he stops fights, he protecc, he makes sure if anyone's hurt they go get treated. This is also why Vlad has Mehr take care of his son, Prince Einar.

And lastly is Lamya, Vlad's right hand and most trusted. She's been with him the longest. Her mother was bribed by a noble to poison Hypatia. She was caught and Hypatia murdered her brutally. Lamya who was a budding spellcaster at the time was horrified. Vlad tricked her into thinking that Death Magic would save her mother which turned her into a Death Mage. This resulted in Vlad having control over her. She's a human and so should have died over a century ago, but because of Vlad's control she has remained alive and still looks youthful. Lamya is loyal and steadfast. There was once a time where she resented Vlad. But since she was his first loyal servant she ended up seeing that this child who was younger than her was treated like dirt even by his own servants, she realized that he had used whatever he could to make sure he didn't die. Even if it meant using her. Lamya eventually comes to understand and value Vlad deeply. Although it certainly didn't start out very well.

And finally, one small character who isn't in the art but deserves an honorable mention. Vlad has a son named Einar who isn't even a teenager yet in canon. Einar rarely receives Vlad's direct attention and always only does as he's told to do. The general consensus is that Vlad is a horrible parent to Einar. I'm not going to lie, he isn't a good parent. But Vlad has had a very interesting life and so the way he views family is interesting. He made sure everything Einar ever needed would be provided for. He assigned Mehr, one of his strongest men and yet most caring to take care of Einar. He gave Einar a sappy-as-hell middle name. He made sure Einar was always fitted with gold jewelry, no matter how quickly he outgrew them. I could write a whole essay about Vlad and Einar's relationship but not here. Yeet.

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Doodle of Vlad as a teenager that I will not finish coloring

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I think Tumblr might have completely shot the quality.

Anyways, say hello the protagonists' group for "The Ashen Magus". This took me two years to finish. not because it was hard, but because I kept putting it off. From left to right, Ilana - The Guardian, Chou - Magus of the Ocean, Yura Corcrain, Zoe and Zander - The Silver Twins, Princess Ebony Rubina Nijik, Jasper - The Eighth General, and Taher of the Sun.

Quick recap to anyone who knew anything about my ocs already and have somewhat forgotten. For those who don't know anything this is for you too, but I promise I am considering character sheets to make everyone's lives easier.

Ilana is a Dura and survivor of the First Battle of Makena where she was forced to kill her father and then go on the run so that the antagonists could not rise up to power again.

Chou is considered the guardian of the Stygian bloodline (which Ebony and the antagonists belong to). She chose to serve Ebony above the antagonists, Vlad and Hypatia. Chou is a mix of many different races, but the one that ended up being prominent was human, as a result, she is a Water Mage.

Yura Corcrain only makes an appearance halfway into the story so anyone who was avidly following my ocs before my tumblr hiatus actually has no knowledge of her. She is Violet's identical twin (who some might remember).

Zoe and Zander are the protagonists of the story. They're both twins and Zoe is an Air Mage and Zander is *looks around and then whispers furiously* his magic is a secret for plot reasons. Those of you who remember and know, well...that's only for you to know. They're the youngest people in this piece....teenagers....

Princess Ebony Rubina Nijik is Vlad and Hypatia's distant niece. She's the only remaining survivor of her immediate family and she was in hiding for decades before the plot starts. She is a Plant Mage. She's also YES. the shortest. Zander makes fun of her for it. She stabs him for it.

Jasper - The Eighth General, is a Prince of Yaqut who ended up serving as a general to the army that was brought together for the sole purpose of ending Vlad and Hypatia's reign. He is the youngest and last general of the army. He's a Metal Mage (which sounds really weird actually).

And lastly, Taher of the Sun is one of the Fire Folk. He served as one of Queen Hypatia's closest confidants. However during the First Battle of Makena, for some unknown reason he betrayed her. Now he works with Chou primarily.

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Because there’s never enough Vlad content, have some very smol and very sad Vlad art. 

This is from before he started imitating Hypatia and before Hypatia gained footing in the palace through pure violence and terror. Vlad was one of the most neglected and loneliest people in the palace. He could roll down the stairs and no one would know until the next day when his attendants would change his clothes and give him a bath. It’s why he latched onto the attention Hypatia gave him, because he was just that lonely and just that neglected. 

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Did you only realize what you had when you lost it?

It was Vlad’s birthday yesterday, so I bring to you guys some sad Vlad content. 

I think it’s really sad that Vlad loses everyone around him and only then does he realize that he hadn’t been alone and that he cherished everyone. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve what came to him. He absolutely had it coming. I still love him though. 

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Upon the recent realization that Vlad has long straight hair, the intense desire to draw him with different hair styles has gripped me. One day I want to draw him with braided hair.

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“Some people are born to rule. And some people are born to follow.”

More out of proportion phone + finger art of my ocs. They’re my antagonists from my Zoe Zander universe (I’m actually calling it The Ashen Magus now). Ignore the lumpy hands and feet cause I did this without ref.

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What’s with this tragic romance comedy taking place in the palace?

I posted this on insta a while back and forgot to post it here. Zal is one of my new characters in Zoe and Zander’s story. He’s a rare fae that was saved by Vlad because his power was useful. Zal is in love with Vlad, but Vlad only sees him as someone powerful and therefore useful. This is just a dumb comic. Nothing ever actually happens between them in canon.

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And with this smol Ebony and Dubhan art, I have drawn Dubhan a total of two times!

I keep starting things as rough sketches and then going “I should color this.” kids are so hard to draw. Luckily Ebony looks like a kid. I’m not sure about Dubhan. Can you guys tell i don’t care about anatomy anymore. AHAHAHAHAHA. Help me. Dubhan and Hypatia are the “not straight haired Nijik” squad. God, I don’t talk about Dubhan and Ebony enough. He was her older brother, her hero, the person she wanted to become. And then he dies in her arms, trying to protect her from Vlad. It haunts her for the rest of her life, even after the Battle of Makena.