Sunday, February 23, 2014

Artist's Sunday #4: Nerd Love, Episode 1 - Big Bad Beholders

I'm kicking off the next month of Artist's Sunday with Episode 1 of a series (as I type this, Dragon is peering over my shoulder humming the Star Wars theme music... argh!) celebrating the artisan crafts inspired by various nerdy pursuits. Depending on what I find, these themes could include cosplaying, larping, Steampunk (and/or its various permutations, such as Dieselpunk), Cyberpunk, pen-and-paper gaming, MMO gaming, heroes and monsters of various fandoms, Star Wars, Star Trek (hmm, an entire Sunday devoted to Wars vs. Trek in art form...) and, heck, whatever else I find. This may have to extend longer than one month to squeeze all the awesomeness in, or I may have to do a couple multi-themed posts, or... well, we'll see.

Stay tuned for Twinflame Studio's artistic month of nerddom.

Episode 1: Beholders
Because no Dungeon is complete without a Beholder.



What the devil is a Beholder, I'm sure some of you will ask. (I salute those of you who do not need to ask, and say namaste. :D)  Beholders are nasty creatures with an evil eye (11 of them, actually...) and a tendency to use those eyes to zap anyone that ventures too close. From the Monster Manual I (3.5): "A beholder is an 8-foot-wide orb dominated by a central eye and a large, toothy maw. Ten smaller eyes on stalks sprout from the top of the orb." They float, and you can't sneak up on one unless it's asleep. Each eye has a different, and devastating, magic power. They are typically kept as watchdogs by villainous adversaries, and no magic-user can think of a beholder without cringing at least a little. Its central eye is constantly emanating an effect that keeps any other magic from functioning, in whatever direction the beholder is looking. 

They are a classic, iconic Big Bad Nasty, the stuff of any adventuring group's nightmares, and the artistic Muse of many an artisan crafter...





Live, Love, and Make Art
-your Artful White Fox

2 comments:

  1. "no Dungeon is complete without a Beholder." That made me roar! And the earrings are totally cute. ;-)

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  2. Ugh! Poke its eyes out! Poke them again! Save the mage! Save the....

    Oh. Ok. Roll new character.

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