|
While I was preparing the campaign, I realized that I probably want to give players the opportunity to give Ileosa the benefit of the doubt. However, there's not a lot of opportunities to do that in this adventure path, since Queen Ileosa's got this sassy look that, for a monarch, will instantly read as 'up to no good'.
I know that many players can't help but metagame to a degree (always suspicious of everyone or at the very least everyone with authority). I think it's perfectly fine if players decide to be suspicious, but given the art, it's hard to not be suspicious of her immediately.
For my campaign, I want players to not just guess that Ileosa is evil, but also that her personality has somewhat shifted since they first met her by the time that she's a proper queen, to suggest that maybe there's another influence in the city. I also want to give Ileosa a more genuine reason for purging the city, which is that she didn't deliberately introduce blood veil into the city, but is happy to take advantage of it.
Even if the players don't get any of that, I want to be able to foreshadow the change, so I can call back to it later.
Without further adue, this is the art. It's not perfect, but it's good enough for a handout. I'll probably start making more art as I proceed, so you can also check out the google doc for whenever I add new art to my file.
Sacredless' Alternate Portraits for CotC & Misc - Master File
|
|
Since I'm already at it, I decided to add two more portraits. One of the subplots that I am working on is that Gaedren is going to be killed in the lair of Rolth Lamm and then eaten by stirges. Later in the campaign, Gaedren Lamm is going to return as a Worm that Walks or a vampire with the ability to turn into a swarm of stirges.
In addition, the vampires the turn up in the campaign will be closer to the vampires from Darkest Dungeon, with insect-cronenburg like features rather than the traditional features.
To pull that off, I wanted his nose to look slightly pointier to line up with the rest of the vampires in the campaign, all of whom will have elongated, probuscis-like noses. His nose won't be as pronounced to emphasize that he's more intelligent than the other vampires in the city.
Yes, I know that worms that walk technically should look like a mass of wrigling insects, but that's why I am not entirely sure on whether he'll just be called The Worm that Walks or that he's actually a Worm that Walks that happens to be able to reform into his original body. He's not going to be a traditional vampire, but you're free to flavor him however you like, of course.
I will eventually make a version of his face that shows he's been dead or decayed for a while wherever the players end up fighting him. So I'll be posting another picture of a corpse that's been dead for a while in the near future.
Gaedren as King of Stirges/The Worm that Walks
P.S. Gaedren and Eodred will be notably similar in my campaign and if for whatever reason Gaedren cannot become the Worm that Walks, Eodred becomes the Worm that Walks instead. Hence why they share the King of Stirges name, since Gaedren is meant to be confused with an undead Eodred.
It is even possible that Gaedren is actually related to the crown and nobody ever knew because he, say, grew up an orphan that became very cruel and powerhungry.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thanks! Stolen smiling Ileosa for my campaign! :D
|
|
Updated! Added a portrait of King Eodred while he's still alive and a map with my own additions to Korvosa; a transdimensional portal in the middle of the bay called "The Styx" through which Korvosa will receive a majority of it's trade. They use it as a shortcut to trade with an undetermined port in Cheliax.
I've also added handout 1 from book 1 with the explicit suggestion that Zellara knows where Gaedren lives removed, because I much prefer players to be introduced to the campaign through a scenario like Portent's Peril. Also an image of Zellara drawing cards without drawing attention to the fact that she's a spirit.