Character sketches! Whole bunch of them!

Where else do you find an otter, a charr, a miqo'te, a sabretooth, a fox and a 1760s English sailor?

So, as you may have noticed, there was no poll earlier this month; as my life got a bit turbulent at the moment, I decided to pour my time in November just into comics – both my own, making more progress on SF, Pirates and... one other thing (for which Patrons will get a sneak peek soon), as well as taking a patch day for Guild Wars 2, which finally gets voice acting back after COVID-19 precautions forced them to release story without actors for a bit. And since new content means new story ideas, I want to have some time available to chew into a potential new charr comic, or in the absence of ideas, progress one of the older ones.

Knowing that, I wanted to make sure my previous poll assignment went a bit above and beyond its original promise.  "Mystery sketch page" of any of my OCs turned out to be the winner, which I always intended to be Lothar, but I went and added colored sketches touching up on the other options as well.

So, here's a full list with context:

Lothar Fisher, Semper Fidelis

My favorite party otter and the biggest idealist of the Stonewarren team. He's easy to draw and wears his heart on a sleeve, making him the perfect candidate for this exercise. Plus, I always wanted an excuse to draw him in his pre-team phase, where he worked as a pool boy and later lifeguard. I never said I wasn't into shameless self-fanservice.

Ineumbra, Guild Wars 2

So ever since Grothmar Valley and its charr bounty rolled in, I spent a LOT of time playing around as this girl. It started as an accident; I wanted to show around a friend new to the game around the festivities, was looking for one of my charr who didn't have the map complete yet, and... things just happen when you send a shut-in archaeologist used to living alone in a desert to a damn metal concert, alright? But ever since, I've grown to adore her character and have tons of fun with her and a certain shaman. I hope to draw her again at some point soon.

John and Lizzie, Borderline

One of the poll questions offered a chance to paint this couple again, so I thought "why the heck not". Back when I created their story, I had lots of fun with their chemistry. Turns out a budding parkourist who inherited a pub from her grandpa and moved into the city is actually a solid match with an urbex-loving bum who likes to frequent said pub. Plus, they're both utterly shameless, which is always amusing to watch.

Nox Fireheart, Final Fantasy XIV

Yeah, that happened. I didn't expect him to amount to much when I started playing over a year ago, but this knockoff bootleg copy of Tom Adams actually ended up worming its way into my brain and develop a story of his own. Life finds a way and whatnot. So there's my Warrior of Light. One of twenty million other Warriors of Light, sure, but this one's mine. Wiggling ears, landing on dragons, hanging out with Alisaie and the rest. Also surprisingly horrible to draw, but I suppose that's my fault.

"Hawk", Whistle at the Wind

So while you've met Tom & Ed, there's more to my pirate crew than those two, which I hope to be able to share by the year's end. But in the meantime, have a Hawk. He's one of those throwaway characters you add because you need them to do something specific, and then they just muscle in onto the main cast because why the hell not. Former topman, later carpenter's mate and the Kelpie's "Who was supposed to...? Ah, right, Hawk.", he's fun to play with. Especially for an extra who only served as a reader's avatar in the final interactive comic.

That's it for this round. I hope I didn't disappoint you with my choices.

These are so much fun to make, and I love the surprise waiting at me at the end of every poll. I can't wait for December's choice. Thank you, guys, you're awesome!