Forget That Other Guy, I'm The Original Dark Lord (Fantasy WIP) (Patreon)

Hello!

The next batch of Fantasy WIPs are here!  So if you're a super casual fan of LOTR like me, you might have thought Sauron was the biggest and most evil cheese to ever blight Middle-earth.  But no!  It turns out Sauron used to have a boss, and that guy was way scarier than Sauron was in any age (we never got to see Sauron at the height of his power either).  That guy was called Melkor (later Morgoth by the elves).  

So Melkor was the original the most powerful of the Ainur created by Eru Ilúvatar, the supreme deity of Tolkien's universe.  Unlike other Ainur, Melkor wanted to use the Flame Imperishable to create sentient beings to inhabit the Void but that only belonged to Ilúvatar so Melkor grew jealous.  He fell from glory when he disrupted the Music of the Ainur and defied the will of Ilúvatar.

The original Dark Lord has an uncountable number of misdeeds through each era which you can find here.  But some highlights include corrupting other Ainur like Sauron, corrupting elves into orcs and the theft of the Silmarils (the three gems on his crown), which resulted in his name Morgoth, the destruction of the Two Lamps and the Two Trees of Valinor.  And of course he killed Fingolfin, who I discovered was the coolest elf to ever exist but not before taking a heavy beatdown and getting a permanent limp.  Also Fingolfin scared Morgoth and he only came out to fight because he'd look like a wimp among his followers if he didn't. 😄  

Morgoth was finally defeated by the Host of Valinor in the War of Wrath (all the other Valar ganged up on him). As punishment, he was banished from of Arda into the Void, though it was prophesied that he would one day return.

Maybe some Middle-earth experts can explain this to me but why was Morgoth made as the most powerful Valar if he was a bad apple from day one?  Seems like a lot of these problems wouldn't exist if he wasn't given so much power to begin with.  Or maybe that's all part of Ilúvatar's plan.  

Since there is no official art of Morgoth, I went with bits and pieces of fan interpretations.  He's generally depicted as bulkier than Sauron while hefting a mace and sometimes carries a shield.  I guess he and Sauron would have a similar style of armor but spikier.  

So next up is Sylvanas Windrunner, formerly known as "the Dark Lady" and "the Banshee Queen".  She is the former Warchief of the Horde and former supreme ruler of the Forsaken, one of the most powerful factions of undead on Azeroth. In life, Sylvanas was the ranger-general of Silvermoon. During the Third War, she was defending Quel'Thalas from a Scourge invasion led by the death knight Arthas.  Sylvanas fell in battle Arthas ripped out her soul and transformed it into a banshee: a cunning and vengeful agent of the Lich King empowered by hate.  After Arthas bit the dust, she becomes queen of the Forsaken and took control of the Horde.  

I don't play WOW so I can't speak much about her character.  Visually, she looks more or less like a standard elven archer even in undead form but with corpse skin and red eyes.  So I didn't really deviate from that template and just chose the most popular variations I've seen.

Finally we have the delayed Yvraine's familiar from the last Grimdark month.  They are known as Gyrinx and help focus their companion's psychic powers.  It's said a Gyrinx will actively seek out someone to adopt them.  Oddly enough, Gyrinx show a slow metabolic change so that they can come to resemble their owner physically, temperamentally and in habit.  

Halloween season is upon us!  Right now, all items on my MMF storefront is 50% off with the discount code 3DARTSPOOKY. 🎃

Alright, poses are up next!  I'll probably show this update as a public preview including the epic fight between Morgoth and Fingolfin.  Stay tuned!