who wants to live forever

Wow. This...took me much, much longer than it needed to. ^_^;; I think from inking to coloring adds up to...18 months? -_-

So! What the heck is this? Well, I'll tell you! During the winter and spring of 2003, Derek, Chris, Justin and I decided to start up a Dungeons and Dragons role-playing group. Derek was dungeon master, and Chris, Justin, and I played. It was the first role-playing for the three of us, but Derek has been an experienced GM for nearly half of his life. ^_^ It was fun. Later on, some more people joined; Bekah, Paul, Joel, and Becky. The eight of us continued this huge, clumsy group of first-timer-RPers through two months of weekly role-playing sessions. In the end, the low level of experience of most of the members in the group meant that the missions we went through almost always failed, we always ignored the story Derek had prepared for us in favor of some aother random thing, and in then end, recieved an 'F' for the journey. ^o^;; The feeling of this whole ordeal is captured wonderfully by Queen's "Who Wants To Live Forever". I prefer the Dune cover of it, myself. ^_^ But, in the end, I really had fun. We sucked at role-playing, that thing is certain, but I really, really loved it.

So, characters! Here they are (in general order of appearance in group):
Ayame::
(girl with spectacles)
Played by: Me!
Stats: Halfling, Cleric, under the church of Pelor
Random info: She was constantly just sweating and worrying as her companions commited nearly every sin in her church's holy scriptures. Usually, her compassion for them won over her conscience.

Kal El::
(black-haired guy with sword)
Played by: Chris
Stats: Human, Evil Paladin, ex-communicated from the church of Pelor
Random info: He started out as a good guy for the church, but ended up either directly or indirectly killing so many people that Pelor ex-communicated him. He always favored the sword over the tongue, and had his behind saved by Ayame more than just a couple times.

Elshadi::
(guy with white wings)
Played by: Justin
Stats: Elf, Rogue
Random info: Elshadi was the most thorough in researching an area, and even if it was for his own benefit, it kept the rest of us going and helped us learn more about everything. He managed to use magic (and stat manipulation) to grow angelic wings, which he could use for flight over small distances.

Shadow
(girl with all black hair and skin)
Played by: Becky
Stats: Halfling, Rogue
Random info: Shadow was even more in it for herself than Elshadi, and left the party often. She did seek fame, along with riches, which motivated her to seek favor among the group.

Harquin
(girl with bird)
Played by: Bekah
Stats: Elf, Cleric, under the church of Ellona
Random info: Harquin helped balance out the group with more Good-Lawful, and was a great support for Ayame when it came to recharging the group with healing spells. Her constant loyalty to her deity truly saved her after being murdered in a large battle near the end, and was able to stay in the group to the very end.

McCullicut
(guy with grey skin)
Played by: Paul
Stats: Elf, Rogue
Random info: Like Shadow, McCullicut was rarely with the group, but was especially invisible when danger presented its face to the group, letting his excellent Hide and Move Silently skills keep him from any harm and take him straight to whatever he wanted.

Erasian
(blonde guy with sword)
Played by: Joel
Stats: Elf, Fighter
Random info: Erasian was the only benevolent non-Cleric in the party, and always heroically charged into battle with a level head and compassionate heart. If he had shown up earlier in the group, the outcome of the journey might have been a little better, but he at the very least got the party there in one piece.

So! Now to comment on the picture. The lineart for this was actually finished while we were still role-playing, which is why such a detailed picture didn't get put aside. However, after the game ended, the photoshop file sat on my computer for a loooong time. But now it's colored, so yay!

You'll notice that I forgot to give Erasian elf ears. ^_^;; Oops. I just kept imagining him as a human character...

Fun fact: Erasian was played by the Residential Director for the dorm we lived in. ^_^ Joel was a cool R.D.

Um...I dunno. The poses came out pretty well. Harquin kinda dissapears in her hair. ^_^;; I think I captured everyone's personalities all right, except Elshadi looks WAAAAY too nice here. Don't let that bishounen look fool you, he was really quite maniacal.

Um...now that I think about it, I don't have much to say about the making of this. 0_0 I'm going to print this as a poster for me and Bekah and whoever else in the old group wants it, although Bekah and Derek are the only ones I've talked to in about a half a year now. ^_^;;

Well...wow. Yeah! So, I'm just really glad that it's done. It came out just about like I wanted it to. Woo.

Next up is a colored picture featuring the characters from our "Masquerade" vampire RPG last spring...