Merry Xmas ^^

Ho Ho Hmm...

I'm not great at festive things but here's a group shot anyways.

 Cheers!

 We're wondering who took this photo as the only person obviously missing from this group is Ezra's blind sister Arian...also we're pretty sure there was a competition for the most camp elf costume here, Jet naturally wins although Alyx has it a close second.

  

 Also, also, I'm totally not bitter that I wasn't invited.

Totally.

************************

Sooo...badly captured from left to right/foreground to background to foreground are: 

Lenya, Amber and Petra dressed as angels, Argo and Charrock behind a centre-stage Panda and the ever-tall Hvidsten, then Ezra and Alyx above Jet - Si'Ra is somehow entangled with the tree at the top right and Cyan's hair skims the right-hand foreground. 

Which leaves only one thing left to say and that is 

 'Pass the turkey would you?'

Merry Xmas!! :D

Happy Birthday Jethro! :D

Here's the image my beloved requested for his 24th birthday, one of Lire and Keir (because their names rhyme of course - why else?!) We think it turned out rather nicely so hope you enjoy. 

'Anything You Can Do.'

Ben Cyncaid

Well what more can we say about young Adeth? Ok so we didn’t actually say that much in the first post but then he was one of our very first interviewees. He’s still the sincere sort, still stands 5ft 4in tall and still looks like a malnourished sixteen year old. Thankfully this time around he was considerate enough to wear a shirt. In return we made a point of not calling him Ben and tried not to ask too many questions about his family.

Adeth describes himself as a soulful poet; one, who we note, can’t help but wear his heart on his sleeve. For the most part he is shy and socially withdrawn. He expresses that he finds it hard to trust others and that it requires a lot of confidence-boosting to get him to lower his defences. An honest and open intellectual, he is awkward at first but a pleasure to talk to once his nerves are settled.

Adeth remains very cagey about his past and immediately closes off when we mention his sister. The subject of Ann is obviously one steeped in guilt, brewed to the point where his eyes glaze over with oily film at the mere mention of her name. Being passive-aggressive he switches tack to show us some of his poetry. Whilst this is probably meant to distract us the pages of words he presents only serve to reveal more of his deeply troubled psyche. His poetry is abstract, emotionally bipolar and idealistic; it tilts between themes of repressed anger, elation, remorse and hope.

Now we’re not doctors but it strikes us that Adeth must be suffering from depression and that the ‘thing’ he refuses to talk about is the root of his mania. Shockingly he wasn’t too enthralled to hear our theory and met the idea with a cardiac-inducing glare before announcing his imminent departure. We admit we were taken aback by the sharpness of his temper and surprised to spy such a virulent flash of vengeance in his usually soft violet eyes. Which reminds us, Adeth has this fun thing where his eyes change colour making him look more like this:

Of course by ‘fun’ we mean slightly disturbing.

It’s atypically a vampire trait, loss of pigmentation in the eyes particularly when hungry or emotions are heightened. It is not clear why their eye colour fades from its original shade through yellow to white or indeed why Adeth has this trait. Reflectors in his eyes suggest Adeth also has night vision; however he confesses to being very much a day person, is partial to sweets and thankfully doesn’t burst into flames upon exiting the studio.

 

Tahl Nihil

Another to add to our list of psychopaths is Shiiath’s right hand man, Tahl Nihil. A murderer by trade, Tahl greatly enjoys making friends and finding ways to dispatch of them. He is what you might call ‘slightly unbalanced’ with a tendency to commit antisocial and violent acts and a failure to feel any guilt about them.

At 47years old he works beneath Shiiath as an enforcer and agent for Lukas. This job includes in the field tasks such as information gathering, creating alliances with potential targets, killing targets and ‘acquiring’ items. Standing a respectable 5ft 11in Tahl is a well-known degenerate, an abuser of the magical arts and an outcast from his homeland.

When questioned about his past Tahl speaks candidly about the facts. He tells us that his father was one Amren DeNihil, a rejected member of the drow, and cutthroat criminal without reform. Amren was punished as with all drow criminals by having his glyphs seared red and the prefix removed from his surname. To add insult to injury Amren then married a pale ordic woman named Sophie Astir, and their resulting child, Tahl, was scorned before his first breath. Ergo, like his illegitimate father, young Tahl DeNihil was often in trouble; it didn’t take much for him to earn the red mark and lose that precious prefix from his own surname.

What Tahl doesn’t reveal are the more twisted details of growing in a skewed household where manifestations of love were lashed, displayed feelings were literally ignited and any self-esteem was bolstered by regular electrocution. It is likely his emotional distance stems from these early years. He certainly learned his façade in that time, a warm and friendly persona that he now presents to us. Unfortunately it is painfully obvious to the majority of our staff that he is putting on an act, a mishmash of mimicked interactions that prove whilst he loves trying to fit in he’s actually not very good at it. Still he maintains an air of calm and continues to speak despite being aware that we see through his egregious lies. His biggest fear is having his true personality uncovered, something we’re not keen to aid in overcoming as we hear it results in various forms of death.

Moving on he explains that he currently identifies himself as Sen Tek (an extropian convert), a key sign of which being the two splits in his once sheer elven ears. He defected from his birth species for several reasons, none of which relate to his father or a dislike of the drow, even though carrying either resentment would be justified. Mostly he fears being disliked and finds he relates well to stereotypical Teks, those who appear as cold or as emotionally depraved as Tahl is himself.

From his awkward demeanour it is clear that Tahl is unable to experience love or establish meaningful relationships. He possesses a deep desire to control the people he meets and once secure he has gained their trust he indubitably terminates their friendship. 

Trust is a weapon Tahl greedily extorts, a sensation that sickens him and a concept he ultimately fails to understand.

Shiiath Utica

Of the many frightful looking interviewees to pass through our doors we have to admit that Shiiath rates in the top three. On first sight she is a fearsome figure to behold. After a second glance, after taking a more measured weighing up of the fact she stands 6ft tall we conclude that staring intensely into laser beams might be less stressful to our eyes. Being presented with such an affront, the masochists among us squirm in delight at the thought of picking the brains of such an ‘interesting’ candidate.

Unlucky for them Shiiath seems to make up for in looks what she lacks in personal depth.

A cold and calculating Tek fanatic, conversing with Shiiath is about as easy as milking an enraged bull whilst blindfolded. The strong and silent type, she is an armoured powerhouse of weaponry and a very hard woman. We were pre-warned not to threaten or enrage our guest as she is known to have very short temper and snap over the smallest thing. A loner by choice who does not play well with others, Shiiath is the type of person who responds to phrases like ‘there is no ‘I’ in team,’ by sharply sticking her stinger into the nearest individual and sucking their liquefied innards out. 

Gaining the facts about Shiiath is less troublesome than actually asking her seeing as they are all neatly listed on her linked identity fact file. From there we learn that she is a scorpion anthropomorph of the Death stalker variety, a highly venomous arthropod who works for Lukas Graye and at 27years age is a single mother to three scorplings. The details of her children and previous partner are not listed at length. As hard as we try we can’t help but assume she devoured her lover and an innumerable number of scorplings even if the number of paternal and sex killings are recorded as ‘rare.’ The fact they are listed at all should be concern enough for potential suitors yet it seems some cannot resist the allure of a powerful woman. 

Under Tek modifications Shiiath is registered as having permanent alterations to her pincers, tail and telson alongside regular tune-ups to her exoskeleton’s defensive capabilities. The enhancements listed provide improved flexibility, tensile strength, a better grip and the ability to lift a greater weight. Shiiath has also had internal extenders implanted to allow further reach with her pincer arms, because you know, she obviously isn’t intimidating enough already.

At present we take solace with the fact that it’s daytime and Shiiath is mostly nocturnal, it is somehow comforting to know that roaming about in the sun is making our guest feel as groggy and unsettled as we do conducting her interview. Oddly whilst she possesses six eyes and is extremely sensitive to light Shiiath is practically blind.  Instead her inherent scorpion abilities allow her to sense temperature, smell and vibrations to such a level she is able to see, just in a completely different way.

If she has emotions or a softer side they never surface during our interview. Shiiath never smiles once; in fact we’re not even sure if it’s physically possible for her face to bend that way. She can however dislocate her lower jaw, which we might add, is truly terrifying. So we decided to gift you with a second rendition of her, as not everyone can boast that they resemble something out of a horror movie when they open their mouth.

Well, you weren’t planning on sleeping anytime soon anyway, right?

Happy Days :D

There aren't many occassions when I can cite being truly happy for failing to provide a new bit of artwork on this blog. Glad to say this is one of them! Today I am proud to offer a photograph and present us as we are, as Mr and Mrs McNeill. I hope the word 'husband' sounds less alien soon, I've faltered a few times already when asked about the very tall man next to me.....to cite a funny comment amidst the flurry of confetti and cake, 'is Sharlene a primordial dwarf or is Jethro a giant?'

An fyi, Jethro is 6ft 7in in in his stockin boots and I a lofty 5ft 2in, tallest woman in my family i will have you know!! :P

More artwork to come in the following weeks, happy halloween everyone :)

Tor Riel

Another unusual character to add to our ever-growing collection Tor is not only the first Druic elf we have ever interviewed but also the first eunuch. We never inquire why at 26 years of age Tor has been stripped of his genitalia, it is possible he was born that way but much like the subject in question we don’t have the balls to ask.

Tor is 6ft 6in and usually identifies as male, he has a somewhat feminine build but with broad shoulders. The androgynous look seems to be en vogue with male elves at the moment; still unlike the majority at least Tor has a genuine reason. That said he reveals he is, understandably, often confused about his sexuality.

Confused or not he is confident in his skin, an assured exhibitionist who enjoys flaunting his physical prowess. He explains that being a eunuch doesn’t bother him but it does make other people uncomfortable as they don’t know how to respond. A sentiment we wholly support as we skim the subject for a second time.

In person Tor is kind, polite and far too honest for our liking. He has a quick wit and an open smile. A flirtatious and chatty egocentric he likes to talk about himself a lot. He could easily be labelled as a cheap and flamboyant gossip, that is, if his inherent narcissism were not quite so obvious. 

It surprises us then that he considers himself a master of stealth; he assures us he is very good at blending in and keeping secrets. (Please note: we immediately distrust anyone who says this with our secrets.) He enjoys a good mystery and solving puzzles. Tor tells us he likes to play detective, that he always chooses smarts over fists and that there’s nothing like following your gut feeling to itch a good hunch. This notion is laughable at first, until we discover that he really does freelance as a Private Investigator and can literally become invisible. 

Tor may appear overly-trusting yet proves he is anything but naïve; he has a sharp intellect and sleuth-like intuition. He leads our line of questioning and selects the content of subsequent conversations without us even realising. He admits he likes to be the clever person in any given relationship, as though having a high IQ gives him superiority over us lowly drones. That’s not to say he doesn’t enjoy having his mental agility tested, it gives him great pleasure to outmanoeuvre worthy opponents.

Just goes to show that narcissism has its uses, without it we suspect he would be utterly crushed when beaten at chess.