Reboot: Oriel on the Edge (Patreon)

Oriel, my sun elf illusionist and diviner and the 17th Catilus pin-up girl, literally on the edge! This is an update of an older piece where I experimented with perspective and some new techniques!

Character: Oriel, the Waking Dreamer, Sun Elf Illusionist and Diviner

Born to a wealthy family in the great elven nation of Ramethis, Oriel is an illusionist and diviner with a dark secret. Shouldering an ancient curse, she suffers from visions that when not controlled through sheer force of will, can manifest as illusions that alter reality itself for her and those around her.

Oriel’s father, Lord Eresseus, is a vastly influential merchant who sought to buy his way into the court of Ramethis. For his goal to succeed, he had to ensure Oriel’s secret remained hidden while he manipulated her into an arranged marriage to a viable heir of noble, or even royal birth.

Just before her hundredth birthday, Oriel entered the royal court of Ramethis to serve as a diplomat and mediator, a duty she assumed with enthusiasm and fulfilled with success. However, as soon as she realized that her position in the court was part of her father’s schemes to marry her to a royal heir, she abandoned her post to seek refuge among the peaceful, yet sometimes hedonistic dark elf sages of Varmy, deep in the Sunken World.

Not to be outsmarted, Lord Eresseus employed master diviners to track his daughter down and sent a host of suitors to Varmy, hoping that one of them would impress Oriel enough to secure a marriage that would bring his daughter back and secure his elevation to noble, or perhaps even royal, status. Her father’s intervention threatened to bring discord to the serene dark elves of Varmy, and when one of the suitors was revealed to be a dangerous enchanter who would not hesitate to subvert her will with his dark magic, Oriel made a brave decision. She left her dark elf friends behind, and against their counsel, she escaped into the Mageplex, a disused and unstable nexus of magic portals built by deep dwarves and dark elves millennia ago.

For Oriel, it felt like a few days of intense struggle against her visions and entropian horrors that live beyond time and space, but when she stepped out of the Mageplex, five whole decades had passed, and the Theomachy, the cosmic war between the gods had transformed Naam beyond recognition once more. Now, as one of the few remaining sun elves on Naam, she must seek out old friends and make new allies if she is to survive…

What do you think? :)