#── 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐈 𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄

[sinistercall]

what's your favourite thing about ithuriel's appearance ?

𝐔𝐍𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐋𝐄. 𝐁𝐇𝐀𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘. 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇... 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄... 𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.

Something I really enjoy about Durge as a whole is the fact that Bhaal had "given his seed" out long before Durge was even an idea - and instead, with Bhaal being on another plane, was sculpted from his very essence. Sceleritas Fel answers a lot of questions about Durge's past, and one of the questions able to be asked is in regards to Durge's mother; to which its discovered the character doesn't have one:

𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘞𝘌𝘙𝘌 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘊𝘌𝘐𝘝𝘌𝘋. 𝘉𝘏𝘈𝘈𝘓 𝘚𝘊𝘜𝘓𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘋 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘍𝘙𝘖𝘔 𝘈 𝘋𝘙𝘖𝘗 𝘖𝘍 𝘏𝘐𝘚 𝘖𝘞𝘕 𝘎𝘖𝘙𝘌.

I found this idea really cool because bodies are full of different colors, not just red but whites, blues, purples, all of that - so I had to sit and really decide what I wanted to do with them since I was dead set on making a tiefling. But of course being me I couldn't just leave her being standard red, and instead wanted to base her on something else in the body besides blood. Eventually I settled on having her visage be inspired by bleached bones and their raw marrow:

There's many different viscera within the body, and I included the inspiration of veins and arteries as well - the blues lend themselves a fine contrast to the pinks and creams that make up her main body. The reason I went with bones specifically is because of their meaning in regards to Ithuriel's storyline: there is a degree of duality with regard to the symbolism of bones in that they can both represent death but also the indestructible part of life which endures beyond death. Not only this but in many cultures they are used to encourage reflection on one's mortality and the impermanence of worldly attachments - and identity is a major theme of Ithuriel's story since she feels she lacks one at all.

Her name even means "discovery of God" - whether she follow the lifelong destiny promised by Father Bhaal or decides to free herself from it entirely.

Another aspect of Ithuriel's design are the two dark crescents under her eyes, they're not actually markings but rather makeup that she puts on when she wakes up in the morning. This is more than a routine for her, however. Durge's storyline is rife with amnesia and while it isn't my favorite trope it does lend for some interesting explorations in terms of identity and what it means to connect with something specific from one's past. These markings are similar to a haircut or a tattoo for her; they are something she remembers being present on her body often, and she intends to keep them there as her reflection looks wrong without them.

This next paragraph is going to seem like its out of left field a little but I promise they all connect. Within the realm of DND devotion to Gods usually brings about boons or power that can be used by clerics, paladins etc - this happens whether someone is born into worship or indoctrinated. However if you dig a bit deeper into Bhaal specifically you’ll find books and writings detailing how his devoted are gifted divine ecstasy. Joy and pleasure beyond anything by following his tenets - and considering some Bhaalists are necrophiles it definitely extends into sexual pleasure. A common reaction to sexual pleasure is to run the hands down the face, usually starting at the corner's of the eyes and following the curve of the cheek down to the chin or jaw.

These marks that she is recreating with makeup are from the blood of hundreds (if not thousands) of sacrifices within Bhaal's name, each one having their blood smeared down her face while she writhed in pleasure gifted from her Father. Ithuriel before the tadpole was a massive hedonist, and while extremely logical and efficient as she is now, she enjoyed her worship and the gifts given to her by Bhaal. While Bhaal inflicts his spawn with dark urges/nightmares so they either submit to the depravity and become a worshipper or resist and Ithuriel, in her past, felt extremely loved and connected to her Father and gladly obeyed his doctrine. Currently she's unaware why she's so connected to these markings, or of their nature, and uses a dark carmine to rouge pigment to recreate the markings.

I also like her double horns and that she's built like a brickhouse but -

[sinistercall]

@sanguisstella

I EXIST, I EXIST, I EXIST // ON HOPE AND LIFE

Euripides Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides (tr. Anne Carson) // となりのトトロ My Neighbor Totoro (1988) dir. Hayao Miyazaki // Mary Oliver Invitation // Virgil The Aeneid // Ocean Vuong Night Sky with Exit Wounds // ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Sun Hubble Views an Active Star-Forming Galaxy // Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot // Leonard Cohen Anthem // K.C. Cramm tender is not a bad word // A Hidden Life (2019) dir. Terrence Malick // Richard Siken Scheherazade // Emily Dickinson // 光画日記 (via @uroko) // Sophokles Elektra (tr. Anne Carson)