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Description

The seventh son of the Stormweaver and the only one to actually survive until birth. Septimus is a Hueilin dragon; part of a very large community of very varied dragons both in appearance and ability. He spent a large portion of his youth an outcast, deemed weak by some and cursed by others. As an adult, he embraced the life of a scholar, being one of those dragons that lusts for knowledge much as some examples in literature lust for material wealth. That path ultimately brings him great strength, respect and reverence throughout the continent of Aster and beyond, resulting in him taking on a role as a diplomat. Much of the blue on his body is bioluminescent to differing degrees, and the ventral surface of his wings is covered in tiny chromatophore-like cells that act as conduits for magical energy. When at rest, they result in an appearance almost indistinguishable from a clear night sky. This quickly changes when channelling magic through them, where the membranes become elaborate tapestries of light and arcane energy. The bioluminescence in Hueilin [Hway-lin. Literally Soul-skin in their tongue.] comes from their innate ability to channel mana throughout their bodies from birth. It manifests differently in every dragon, with some being more subtle than others. Septimus is neither the most nor the least eye-catching a Hueilin could be, but his appearance is distinctive enough that he is easily identifiable even in a crowd.

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Alright. So this picture is, to put it simply, a monument to my artist's block and frustration. I started working on the original incarnation of this image in 2014. Some time in November of 2014 I got it to the digital stage. Being completely clueless in the digital process, I made several mistakes and had to redo several parts, ultimately getting burned out in mid-2015. That was followed by a year-long foreign language teaching assistant program in the US where I had no access to my tablet or anything that could serve that role.

Jump to 2017, where I picked it up, continued making mistakes, got frustrated, and ultimately lost my motivation when the file got corrupted. I put it down for a year and came back in 2018 with a new sketch, new art program [because photoshop is a nightmare for an amateur artist] and a new mindset. Worked on it for a few weeks, got distracted by other things I wanted to do, and put it down for a while. Then my tablet broke late 2019 and I thought it was all over. I got it a decade ago via Amazon overseas, there was no local shop that could fix it, and it'd cost more than it was worth to send it back overseas to be repaired and returned.

Jump to early 2020 where, thanks to dad's electronics engineer background, the tablet was fixed. That ordeal made me realise I hadn't really utilised this thing the way I should have, and I had no idea how much longer I had left before something broke that *couldn't* be fixed. So I picked up the Stormweaver sketch I had doodled sometime in the interim, finished that, then came back to this absolute disaster of a refsheet project. That brings us to now, where the refsheet is finally finished and ready to be uploaded. It's not perfect, but I'm happy it's finally done. I can worry about perfection a few dozen pictures down the line when I actually know what I'm doing lol.

Please do not trace, repost, or use as a base.

Description

The seventh son of the Stormweaver and the only one to actually survive until birth. Septimus is a Hueilin dragon; part of a very large community of very varied dragons both in appearance and ability. He spent a large portion of his youth an outcast, deemed weak by some and cursed by others. As an adult, he embraced the life of a scholar, being one of those dragons that lusts for knowledge much as some examples in literature lust for material wealth. That path ultimately brings him great strength, respect and reverence throughout the continent of Aster and beyond, resulting in him taking on a role as a diplomat. Much of the blue on his body is bioluminescent to differing degrees, and the ventral surface of his wings is covered in tiny chromatophore-like cells that act as conduits for magical energy. When at rest, they result in an appearance almost indistinguishable from a clear night sky. This quickly changes when channelling magic through them, where the membranes become elaborate tapestries of light and arcane energy. The bioluminescence in Hueilin [Hway-lin. Literally Soul-skin in their tongue.] comes from their innate ability to channel mana throughout their bodies from birth. It manifests differently in every dragon, with some being more subtle than others. Septimus is neither the most nor the least eye-catching a Hueilin could be, but his appearance is distinctive enough that he is easily identifiable even in a crowd.

-------

Alright. So this picture is, to put it simply, a monument to my artist's block and frustration. I started working on the original incarnation of this image in 2014. Some time in November of 2014 I got it to the digital stage. Being completely clueless in the digital process, I made several mistakes and had to redo several parts, ultimately getting burned out in mid-2015. That was followed by a year-long foreign language teaching assistant program in the US where I had no access to my tablet or anything that could serve that role.

Jump to 2017, where I picked it up, continued making mistakes, got frustrated, and ultimately lost my motivation when the file got corrupted. I put it down for a year and came back in 2018 with a new sketch, new art program [because photoshop is a nightmare for an amateur artist] and a new mindset. Worked on it for a few weeks, got distracted by other things I wanted to do, and put it down for a while. Then my tablet broke late 2019 and I thought it was all over. I got it a decade ago via Amazon overseas, there was no local shop that could fix it, and it'd cost more than it was worth to send it back overseas to be repaired and returned.

Jump to early 2020 where, thanks to dad's electronics engineer background, the tablet was fixed. That ordeal made me realise I hadn't really utilised this thing the way I should have, and I had no idea how much longer I had left before something broke that *couldn't* be fixed. So I picked up the Stormweaver sketch I had doodled sometime in the interim, finished that, then came back to this absolute disaster of a refsheet project. That brings us to now, where the refsheet is finally finished and ready to be uploaded. It's not perfect, but I'm happy it's finally done. I can worry about perfection a few dozen pictures down the line when I actually know what I'm doing lol.

Please do not trace, repost, or use as a base.