Category: Witchlight Strand

Zora Shaalvaina

2007-10-07

An illustration for any fantasy -themed role-playing game settings. This one I started in 2007 but for some reason never finished at that time and it has been sitting in a dusty old forgotten corner of my hard disc for years until I finished it this week.

Name: Zora Shaalvaina
Race: elf
Location: Port Magalie, Witchlight Strand, Akron

Now a resident of the bustling port and capitol city of Witchlight Strand – Port Magalie – Zora has found living in the city unexpectedly delightful and quite contrary to what she was being told back in her traditional elven homestead some 50 kilometers up north from Port Magalie. While elven, her family has had dealings with humans from Gruenroth and her family tree reveals even a mixed marriage between her elven grandmother and a human from Gruenroth making her technically one quarter human. All this background has resulted in her adopting to human-centered city life quite easily.

She has the looks of a timid and lithe – albeit somewhat regal – little girl but in actuality she is resilient, determined and not at all blue blooded. An experienced forester and naturalist, her services as a guide are in high demand aided by her variety in language skills. She speaks all the elvish languages of the area, is fluent in Niesen (the main language spoken in Witchlight Strand), many southern dialects of Roth (spoken mostly in Gruenroth) and even manages basic sentences in Orcish due to her family homestead’s location being close to orc controlled bad lands.

Zora is open-minded and easily persuaded into adventures of some risk making her a tad naive. However, she has managed to keep herself out of harm’s way thus far by running fast and can live off the land without problem if need be. She currently accepts jobs as a guide to adventuring parties and commercial caravans seeking safe passage to Gruenroth. She knows of many routes that are safe from marauding orc bandits due to religious reasons (“Superstitious lot them orcs, they are!” is a favorite quote from Zora). While in the city, her services can be rented at The Wyvern’s Nest – a bustling inn right at the heart of Port Magalie – where she is a well known patron.

Merenes Anfala, illusionist

 

2009-03-08 elven sorceress

Name: Merenes Anfala
Race: elf
Location: Jaston, Witchlight Strand, Akron

Merenes is the daughter of Aelwyl, Lúthien Anfala‘s sister who is the current queen of the independent city state of Jaston. Aelwyl has adopted a life of silence and solitude as a devout follower of the god Hurdaan and Merenes chose to not pursue her mother’s path. Instead she stayed with Lúthien whom she considers her “second mother“. Merenes has been part of Lúthien administration since the beginning.

She suffers from a rather severe case of musophobia (fear of mice) that extends to uncontrollable fear of all sorts of rodents and goes even out of the Rodentia order to Lagomorphas such as rabbits and hares. She has tried to remedy her mental instability through various means up to and including exorcisms of bad spirits, but no treatment yet has alleviated her condition. Her condition is well known among the elite of the town and she has also been the target of several pranks that have had rabbits as the “punchline”. Much to her dismay her position as a close relative to Lúthien has not put her into a good enough standing to render her immune to such petty pranks that exploit her weakness for cheap laughs.

Merenes is a master thaumaturge and her capabilities as an illusionist are not matched by anyone in the Witchlight Strand. Excepting perhaps a few elder elven mages in the Liaglades forest way up north. Even then she masters a wide degree of thaumaturgical talents. She also uses many of her talents on a regular basis in dealing with both the town issues and her personal life. Jaston has no laws that expressly forbid thaumaturgical magic.

“The Game of the Kings” (chess) is Merenes’ most beloved past-time activity and she is currently the champion of the game in Witchlight Strand. The previous championship was held two years ago in Port Magalie and Merenes won the previous champion High Counselor Colm Theron of Port Magalie. The Game of the Kings is highly respected in the whole Witchlight Strand, but it enjoys a special standing of prestige in Jaston. Even to the point that in Jaston alone three different and rivaling gaming clubs have been founded just for the advancement, teaching and promotion of the game. Merenes is an honorary member in each of the clubs.