Campaign art - Descent into Darkness

[thespaceinvader]

We do have a solid Giant Rat thanks to this very campaign - it could conceivably be added as a pet for Darken. Ask on IRC about it.

[zookeeper]

Looking good, nothing much for me to comment on at this point. Ready for commit? Just say the word and I'll get these in.

[thespaceinvader]

Yep, for my money.

[LordBob]

One last portrait (to rule them all and in the darkness bind them, haha) : ancient-lich Malin, the fifth of the series, which should make him the most-portrayed character in all Wesnoth . Below are unfinished flats, will complete them when shading : right now I need to find a bed and crash.

The rest of the cast can be committed, I'm done with them.

[Frogger5]

It's probably cus it isn't shaded yet, but he looks really happy.

[SouthernOracle]

Of course he's happy, he's Level 4.. Great work on all of these portraits - It's entertaining to see them get made and it will be entertaining seeing them in game.

[LordBob]

That's because he's grinning. Skulls always grin
And maybe something in the shape of the eye sockets,will fiddle with them wen shading.

[StDrake]

Something puts me off when i see a robe without a hood..and yet with something there. I can understand the fancy shoulderpads (though they need a story to tell how he got them while hiding away and raiding orcs), but a simiar contraption on the back?

[Neoskel]

I can understand the fancy shoulderpads (though they need a story to tell how he got them while hiding away and raiding orcs), but a simiar contraption on the back?

Presumably he looted them off of a mage or something who came with all the others to try and kill him. Or maybe it was a gift from one of the dark adepts who came to him looking for power.
Every little detail doesn't need a backstory.

Digging the dynamic pose and the way that the gold belt-thingy tucks behind his pelvis. I'm a little confused about how the cape/cloak and the fur-lined mantle overlap though. Is the cape only on one side? What's the green thing behind his left shoulder?

[AI]

One last portrait (to rule them all and in the darkness bind them, haha) : ancient-lich Malin, the fifth of the series, which should make him the most-portrayed character in all Wesnoth

You did that on purpose, didn't you?

I don't even think either portrait (kitty's and this one) will need much alteration to make them match up. He's had some millennia to mellow out after all. Only thing I see is the location of the remaining hair.

[zookeeper]

Committed and wired in! Once that last one is finished, I'll add that too and put it into use in the last scenario.

I used the young Malin in the campaign menu image (I think using a lich portrait is a bit of a spoiler), however his wand's glow gets cut off a bit there (since the image is displayed on a dark background), so if you want to provide a custom 350x350 campaign image (either a different image altogether, just the young portrait re-centered so the glow doesn't clip, or whatever you want really) I could use it.

[Noitakuningas]

Ancient Lich Malin is awesome. There's a discussion on some area of the forums about ancient liches, and it seems like they alter their bodies to better match their purposes, such as adding extra limbs, after time becoming really grotesque creatures. Mal Keshar is a pretty young lich, and he doesn't seem sinister enough to do something like that, but perhaps he could have a circlet or a crown of some sort, made from bone? His head looks rather bland now (even though it's in no way ready yet.)

[homunculus]

i guess the old malin lich portrait will soon be free for abuse?

there are some coolness reasons why the portraits might be better the way they are in this thread and i feel a little bit like a weirdo for saying this:
the pose of malin-lich looks more like i would expect the ancient lich version to look like, and the pose of the malin-ancient-lich looks more like i would expect the lich version to look like.
i mean the pose not the decorations.
or is the attitude of malin lich supposed to be getting less mature with age?

i guess this kind of comment would help no one in this stage, though.
maybe for the future liches this kind of attitude might be considered.

as for the current portrait it seems like there is still supposed to be some decayed skin on the head?
what about having a clean skull for the ancient lich, preferably waxed and gleaming.
the waxing might help with the transition to the glamorous and humorous malin lich in IftU.
this would perhaps take it too far if a goblin skeleton would be sitting on his shoulders polishing the skull, but for the sake of humor, maybe it would be ok.
on the other hand DiD does not look like an extremely humorous campaign to me.

[johndh]

as for the current portrait it seems like there is still supposed to be some decayed skin on the head?
what about having a clean skull for the ancient lich

It does seem like it should have all rotted off by the time he becomes "ancient", doesn't it? Unless the term is being used more figuratively just to represent more powerful liches in general, of course.

[zookeeper]

there are some coolness reasons why the portraits might be better the way they are in this thread and i feel a little bit like a weirdo for saying this:
the pose of malin-lich looks more like i would expect the ancient lich version to look like, and the pose of the malin-ancient-lich looks more like i would expect the lich version to look like.
i mean the pose not the decorations.
or is the attitude of malin lich supposed to be getting less mature with age?

The reason I specifically asked for that kind of a pose for the first one is the context: it's used immediately after he's been turned into a lich. He starts out weak and unaccustomed to his new form, is probably pretty uncomfortable with most of his former body having disappeared all of a sudden and I'd think he doesn't really want anyone to see him like that. Personally I think the portrait works really well for that purpose.