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Jerantino — Elric the Mercenary

Published: 2012-10-11 05:31:33 +0000 UTC; Views: 988; Favourites: 22; Downloads: 0
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"It is the colour of a bleached skull, his flesh; and the long hair which flows below his shoulders is milk-white. From the tapering, beautiful head stare two slanting eyes, crimson and moody, and from the loose sleeves of his yellow gown emerge two slender hands, also the colour of bone, resting on each arm of a seat which has been carved from a single, massive ruby."
— The first lines of Elric of Melnibone, Michael Moorcock]

Elric was the last emperor of the stagnating island civilization of Melniboné. Physically weak and frail, the albino Elric must take drugs—later retconned to mean special herbs—in order to maintain his health. In addition to herb lore, his character becomes an accomplished sorcerer and summoner, able to summon powerful, supernatural allies by dint of his royal Melnibonéan bloodline. Unlike most others of his race, Elric possesses something of a conscience; he sees the decadence of his culture, and worries about the rise of the Young Kingdoms, populated by humans (as Melniboneans do not consider themselves such) and the threat they pose to his empire. Because of his introspective self-loathing of Melnibonéan traditions, his subjects find him odd and unfathomable, and his cousin Yyrkoon (next in the line of succession, as Elric has no heirs) interprets his behavior as weakness and plots Elric's death.

As emperor of Melniboné, Elric wears the Ring of Kings, also called the Ring of Actorios, and is able to call for aid upon the traditional patron of the Melniboné emperors, Arioch, a Lord of Chaos and Duke of Hell. From the first story onwards, Elric is shown using ancient pacts and agreements with not only Arioch but various other beings—some gods, some demons—to assist him in accomplishing his tasks.

Elric's finding of the sword Stormbringer serves as both his greatest asset and greatest disadvantage. The sword confers upon Elric strength, health and fighting prowess but must be fed the souls of those struck with the black blade. In the end, the blade takes everyone close to Elric and eventually Elric's own soul as well. Most of Moorcock's stories about Elric feature this relationship with Stormbringer, and how it—despite Elric's best intentions—brings doom to everything the Melnibonéan holds dear.
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Comments: 2

Jerantino [2012-10-16 07:11:51 +0000 UTC]

I do use a Hunts quill, probably a #108. Just salt on watercolors in the background, although I have used bleach with some startling effects before. Outstanding results on the sea turtle; I may have to try that. Cheers!

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ARTG33K74 [2012-10-15 23:39:03 +0000 UTC]

♥ all the cars you sent me, thank you, thank you again!

I am thinking you are using a small dip quill, something like a Hunts #111 or #108? It also looks like you are dispersing acrylic ink with isopropyl alcohol on the blue background. I do dispersions with acrylic paint thinned with distilled water hit it with and 91% isopropyl letting it dry between layers. In this one I painted the background two shades of mottled gree, then slammed five layers of greens, gun metal metallic, dark silver: [link]

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