born-in-ascalon

[born-in-ascalon]

So while my "no big art for ANet" stance is still in effect, I elected to make a little bit of a caveat to it, mostly for my own sake, as I was looking to stretch my professional concept art legs a bit.

What do charr need? Manes! When do we need them? Yesterday!

I wanted to stretch my concept legs, I used my ANet Stream time in February to design 4 (+ 4 alts) manes, because I do not want more human hair on giant battlecats.

Each one of these was designed with one of the High Legions in mind. If you want more design background for each of them, you can find it here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/104523403

Also since tumblr has become AI training grounds, I don't really post here anymore, so if you want a stable source of my (not-necessarily-GW) art, pick your poison here: https://linktr.ee/whitewolfburrow

[born-in-ascalon]

Update regarding charr comics

Many of you have already seen this on Twitter or shared through various private discords, but since it is sadly still in full effect, it would be fair to update you here as well:

This also means that I will not be posting to this tumblr that much, since all I am creating now are doodles and not full illustrations or stories, or I am simply fulfilling my partner obligations with a single monthly stream. I may put up a compilation every few months, but it's not gonna be worth much.

If you would like to follow me elsewhere for other, usually-charr-not-related work, feel free to hop over to my LinkTree for reference.

However, I would also like to add that I promised both you and myself I would see the Blade warband through. I will finish Frostbound on some terms and someday. But I do hate that it has to be in spite of the powers that be instead of working to our mutual benefit.

Unfortunately, unless the rules change, the assorted charr comics are very likely gone for good and Frostbound will be the last of its kind for me. As much as I love Tyria and its characters, my limited time on this green earth is better spent with things that do not result in me being screwed over.

[born-in-ascalon]

Did I forget to post this here...? I did, didn't I...

The best charr OTP there is, Snarl Backdraft and Galina Edgecrusher. This is a bit of a precursor thought/piece to what eventually became a short comic.

Made for Wintersday Zine 2018.

[born-in-ascalon]

First three of my charr shorts are now on Webtoons. The rest will follow soon (they need some format adjusting), and so will Frostbound (under a separate series tag).

[born-in-ascalon]

Hollowed life, new rebirth Set forth a soldier consumed by the earth Burdened down, last to die Laden with monstrous souls deep inside

Sacrificed into flame Now fed as kindling they all burn the same With warmth to stave off the end I'll quench the cinders' desire To let there be fire again...

(Yes, it's a bit awkward that I discovered a song that perfectly fits my charr's backstory, spent a few months vibing to it, and then discovered it's for a different game, but bear with me here, it is a great song...)

[born-in-ascalon]

Oops, forgot to upload this here.

Come join Dominion, they said. It will be cool, they said...

(cover for Frostbound)

[born-in-ascalon]

Tyria, Grothmar Valley, 1332 AE. Season of the Scion is entering its seventh decade. The Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik is dead, its branded minions scattered and slowly dying out. The Flame Legion is about to shake off its past and rejoin the other High Legions. In what feels almost like overnight, the charr are free of two major threats that were keeping their forces occupied for years.

To celebrate both of these occasions, Blood Legion imperator Bangar Ruinbringer invited any and all to Grothmar Valley. Imperators and tribunes, centurions and legionnaires, soldiers and gladia, charr and other races alike are to come to the home of the Bloods for an All-Legion Rally, to witness the rebirth of charr as one, unified force.

Some see it as an obvious political power play – a chance for Bangar to establish dominance over the other imperators and shift power in Blood's favor. Others consider it a chance to mingle and celebrate, safe in the knowledge they can breathe just a little bit easier from now on.

And for certain charr, it is a time ripe with opportunity.

For all of them, life changes in less than a fortnight...

[This story is set shortly before and during the episode Prologue: Bound by Blood].

Full resolution: https://www.patreon.com/posts/comic-frostbound-78080853

Note, please, that this is an episodic project, but due to the nature of tumblr being... well, generally unsuited for such endeavors, I have no way to link the episodes together. I will tag any works related as "#Icebrood Saga: Frostbound", but since there will also be related brief non-comic interludes, it may be difficult to get to these in the correct order. When in doubt, see page numbers, those do not reset with chapters.

For best results on anything related to this project, [search here].

This comic is unofficial and not part of the game's canon.

In case you have any doubts about it, I love Icebrood Saga. I don't love it uncritically, I don't consider it perfect, it was obviously cut short due to an abrupt shift of development in favor of the expansion, but even with all that said, it remains my favorite part of Tyria's story.

This series is my loveletter to that story. It will be a long ride, so... strap in, cubs. The Blade Warband has a long way to go.

[born-in-ascalon]

(Sort of) Guild Wars-centric ask game

Because I like reading about ocs 👀

I've seen a lot of normal ask games float around but I figured I'd make an almost kind of GW specific one for my fellow freaks.

Write as much or as little as you want. I can't stop you.

Write a basic lowdown of your OC. What's their deal?

What's their class/elite spec? Weapon of choice? Did they purposely train for it or did it just sort of happen?

Are they a part of any groups? If so, what's their role? This is for you, Inquest and Nightmare Court people

Do they have a family or people they view as family?

Their most favorite map/place in general?

How do they celebrate the holidays, if at all?

Do they have a favorite mount?

Biggest strength and weakness?

What do they THINK their biggest strength and weakness is?

What was their lowest point, either during the story or in general?

What do they consider their home/base of operation?

What's something they could talk about for hours at length?

How recognizable are they? Do they have a reputation?

Are they actually good at fighting? Do they enjoy it?

What would they be doing if they weren't the commander/whatever they are?

What's their greatest fear (be it one of the three from the personal story or something else entirely)?

People with Commander ocs, is there any part of the main story where your oc's story diverges? Everyone else, is there a part of your oc's story that follows the canon one?

Which antagonist did they have the biggest vendetta against (doesn't have to be canon)?

Do they have a love interest?

Could they ever go back to their old life? Would they want to?

What song or songs do you associate with them?

Whose death affected them the most?

Did they have any close calls/near death experiences other than the canon ones?

Which canon character do/would they get along with the best?

What are they self conscious about?

What's their least favorite enemy/enemy type to fight?

How good of a leader are they?

What is their character arc, if they have one.

What's their tragic backstory?

In what way/s do they differ from an average member of their species?

[born-in-ascalon]

”A gladium, then? What will you do without a warband?” “The same thing I would do with one,” Sicaea said simply, with venom. “Kill Flame Legion. Kill them however I can.

[quote source]

Sicaea the Shrouded, tribune Desertgrave's personal assassin.

This was a lot of fun to play with and a lot of story to hide into the painting, from the weapon choice to the blood whisky. I wish I could have done it a better justice, but I learned a lot in the process and the one person who needed to like it seems to do so; I think I can archive this, content.

Better quality can be found here.

Also comes with a timelapse video.

[born-in-ascalon]

"Scald this, we need to wait for backup! Come back, soldier! Howl! That's a bloody order!"

Happy Howl-o-ween!

Have fun, beware of Steve and remember: Risen are people, too!

Full resolution freely available here: [link]

Starring in various order of importance: Howl the Brazen, Reeva, Euryale, Clawspur, Ragenar, Rytlock Brimstone Zhaitan, cursed statue of count Barradin, angry Ascalonian Fighter three (3) worms

[born-in-ascalon]

"See, love of water does run in the family." 

His brother made a face as if his omnomberry pie had traces of risen in it. "Mine limps at best, thank you very much."

"Maybe you Irons just need to start earlier."

Firetwins ended up having their own cubs this year, so it felt only right to send them to the Labyrinthine Cliffs together. Not to mention, Kirruak can now stick to his brother without getting all soggy and wet. All in all, it was a pretty great year for these two.

(I mean, besides me not playing them as much as I'd like to, so poor Scar is delegated to opening a daily chest in the Kaineng JP and that's about it.)

Sequel to Heyday.

Full resolution and short story: https://www.patreon.com/posts/calefaction-70806681

Progress video: https://www.patreon.com/posts/timelapse-70863701

[born-in-ascalon]

This is totally how Guild Wars 2 fishing works when you're attempting to ascend to codhood. There's no other reason why you catch everything else in so many duplicates that you would fill four other collections, but that one last cheeky git eludes you for h o u r s.

Full resolution freely available here: [LINK]

[born-in-ascalon]

"You could have killed me. Or simply leave me to bleed out or starve where you had found me."

Silence. The younger male was a charr of few words, difficult to read even when met face to face. It wasn't unlike him to simply quietly listen, maybe offer an affirmative nod, but little in terms of longer conversation.

Then, after a little while, came a slight shrug. "I had no reason."

"I wore the colors of your enemy. Most would consider that reason enough in a war."

"I do not."

Past few months were kind of a snowball effect in my writing. I created these two as a bit of a personal injoke, then I got a random writing idea they managed to perfectly fit themselves into, and now... I have a 17-page monster comic on my hands spanning the entirety of Icebrood Saga. I honestly wish my brain worked in less mysterious ways.

Full resolution can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/cold-resistance-56203504

[born-in-ascalon]

I very unapologetically love shaman Brightblaze. I also admit I shamelessly stole this otherwise absolutely unassuming minor NPC from a Grothmar meta event, gave him a first name and turned him into Efram’s aide in my stories.

This particular painting is kind of a self-indulgent fanservice I started during my last official ANet stream. It ended up shelved, just like most of my paintings, until recent events made me crave some shaman-shaped comfort food.

Full resolution post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/bright-blaze-64105937 Progress video can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/timelapse-bright-64205706

[born-in-ascalon]

PAIN RESPONSE; Trait: Major, Training: Acrobatics Gain regeneration and remove damaging conditions when struck while below the health threshold.

Full resolution: https://www.patreon.com/posts/30174802

I know the Almorra comic is officially the first one I showed to the world (both finished and in early preview), but this is the first one I conceived, all the way back some four years ago. Not much has changed on the comic side of things, really. I added a few panels here and there and tweaked about two more, but art-wise, it's pretty much exactly how I planned it (which is why the anatomy's much further on the human side).

Writing, however, changed a lot. And I have to say I quite like what I arrived at in the end at least in this department.

Snarl and Galina have always been my most favorite charr ever since I started the game and got to join the Vigil. I usually avoid couples that are based on the tired concept of "I hate you but then I love you", but this is one of the few exceptions. I think it's mostly due to how it's built over time and how it plays off well-established interlegion rivalry rather than some contrived personal slight, and that the characters themselves don't "change through the power of love", but rather learn to see past the attributes they despise in one another and later make it click not in spite of their differences, but embracing them.

When Heart of Thorns was released, I was relieved to find these two were confirmed to be alive. And even though the game outpaced me (again) and had them appear during the Drizzlewood campaign, the details of their Maguuma adventures went unexplained, giving me just the right wiggle room.

I hope you gain at least a sliver of joy I had when writing this.

This work was created under the banner of ArenaNet partner program and is considered sponsored content by ArenaNet. This comic is unofficial and therefore not part of the actual game’s canon.

Huge thanks to all my patrons; this is their success more than mine.

[born-in-ascalon]

This is absolutely brilliant and I would pay solid coin to have a deck like that.

Grothmar Special Edition Playing Card Set Commissioned by Centurion Shadesword of Ash, from Sandshifter Tea of the Olmakhan, a memento of the All Legions Rally- 200 sets were given out at the party.

[born-in-ascalon]

Addendum, if you wonder why I went overboard with tangents... 

"We never saw it. It was there all along, staring us right in the face, laughing itself sick and steering us its way. We were too busy fighting to follow the lines to the bigger picture. I envy those who died not knowing."

In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.

(Invictus, by W. E. Henley)

Another comic, this time quite a bit more recent than I’d have thought I’ll ever make. It’s quite a bit different than I originally envisioned, but I’m glad to get it off my desk and I hope you’ll find some value in it.

I haven’t actually played the Icebrood Saga episode 3 that hit earlier this Summer due to the lack of voicework caused by the pandemic, but I did spend my time running the metas and these three are what actually brought home that “oi, there’s a bona fide civil war going on”. It was a risky move from ANet, to use characters from old past who are fondly remembered by the charr playerbase and hammer in that anyone can succumb to Dominion propaganda.

The Making Of of this thing will be fun to dissect.

Full list of charr NPCs appearing in this: Yahuk Fellstrike, Elexus Shredskin, Luccia Wildeye Wroda the Quick, Samona Ironclaw, Soure Doomsday, Fyon the Wraith Ranoah Grindsteel, Vishen Steelshot Cerosi Breaksteel, Volante Tornpaw, Castor Crushpaw, Nasus Thundershot

This comic was made under the banner of the Creative Partner program, but is not approved or officially sanctioned by ArenaNet in any way, shape or form.

For a better resolution, follow this link.

P.S.: I wonder if anyone will see something looking back…