Lonkelo's Burrows and Badgers

The Mouse Knight is done for now. That is, until it is dipped.

As you can see, I’ve started painting the Adder Mage. I’ve been trying experimenting a bit with the skin, using the above adder image as a reference. I started off with some light brown (Basilisk Brown, I think?) for the body as a whole. I found that a brown ink worked quite well for the darker tone on the side of the adder’s body.

For the pattern on the top of the adders body I went for a dark brown mix of my own, with some water added. I tried to zigzag at first, like on the adder in the reference image. But it just looked messy. Instead, I decided to make a more or less straight line with the dark brown down its back. The patterning on its head worked out as intended. I’m not displeased with the result, even though it differs from my initial plan.

Originally I wanted to give the added a more sinister skin tone. I think because I (and I suspect many others like me) tend to think of snakes as malevolent creatures. Then, I noticed all the seals (the emblem, not the animal…) on its staff and it suddenly came to me that it would be much more interesting if the adder were not evil.

The core of my Royalist group was at first intended to consist of the Hare and Mouse Knights, the Weasel Soldier and the Mouse Shieldmaiden. The Adder Mage and Squirrel Witch didn’t feel like they fit in as much with the rest, so for me they were more loosely attached to the warband. I now have come to think of the Adder Mage as a more or less regular member of magical society. I think Noble magic is a bit too much for it. Instead, I’m thinking of giving it Unbound magic, which is the academic approach to magic in Burrows and Badgers. The seals and attached parchments make more sense to me like that (perhaps containing notes!) and I love to idea of the adder lounging in a big chair by the fire, warming its scales while peering over an arcane tome.

So again, I find myself drawn to the dichotomy of an animal with its profession. I have also started to notice that the colours of the hare, mouse and adder are very similar. I’d like to think that this is because these are just the camouflage colours nature has for animals inhabiting the same region. Another (and more likely?) possibility is that I’ve been using the same paints, without noticing.