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Description

EDIT: Fixed his head and changed some stuff around. Old version: gyazo.com/dd75b52eaf98fde0e7f3…

I worked on this for far too many hours not because I was making an effort to refine it, but because I could not figure out how I wanted this character to look. LOL

I changed his hair and colors so many times. OTL I'm still not completely satisfied (especially in regards to his damn head), but I realize I should stop worrying too much over a friggin piece of concept art.

Anyway, I digress. This is a rather old character that I've renamed and redesigned. He was originally named Saffron and he started off as a bird pet of my book's main character, Letticus. But later on I decided to make him a dragon (but only a bird-like dragon) and now he's a full-fledged dragon only with feathers. This is him as an adult and how he appears throughout most of the story. I renamed him to Leinus (pronounced the same way as Linus) because the name Saffron no longer reflects his color.

Lore dump for this interested:

Leinus is a dragon from an endangered subspecies known as the Apudian Sun Feather. While most types of dragons live in Oritia (the kingdom of the dragon-blooded peoples known as the Oritians), some dwell in other environments such as the Isles of Apus south of Oritia. Feathers are rather uncommon for dragons, but the Isles of Apus were once home to many. Over the years, Apudian Dragons were hunted down out of fear that they would be rallied by the dragon king Nafarius ( ) to be used against the local Apudi people. To escape extermination, the remaining Apudian dragons left for Oritia. Unfortunately, due to conflicts with dragon groups already there, the Apudian Dragons had much more difficulty surviving than they did in the paradisaical Isles of Apus.

Leinus was orphaned as a whelp due to his mother dying from illness. He was found by renowned mage and researcher Resald Genrich while he was out studying the interactions between the Apudian dragons and the local Oritian ones. At this same time, Resald was also caring for his adopted son, Letticus ( ) who was then only about a toddler. He brought the little whelp to his personal home for study and to see how Lettiucs (of whose race he isn't even entirely sure of) interacted with him. The two bonded almost instantly, and this fascinated Resald so much that he decided to keep the dragon under his care.

Leinus grew up alongside Letticus and showed incredible intelligence. He picked up the Oritian language quickly and even learned to read and write (to the best of his ability since holding human-sized pencils is hard) as well as do math alongside Let. He developed a passion for literature and singing (two things relatively unheard of for dragons since dragons, even the most intelligent ones, do not have a native written language, nor do they tend to engage in complex musical behavior). He learned to fly mostly through watching birds, but Resald (who he also considered his father) did try to help him through times via model explanations.

Throughout the story, he matures alongside Let and grows from the size of a doberman (at the beginning of the story) to that of a large draft horse, and that's not even the full size he can grow to!

Due to his unusual upbringing, Leinus has more of a fondness for people than he does for other dragons. He likes to fancy himself as a young man trapped in a beast's body and often complains about not being able to do simple things that Letticus can like fitting through the average door or playing an instrument. Much to his chagrin, he is often forced to carry the main party's belongings during their journey.

For more stuff on this project: www.deviantart.com/taralen/gal…

Description

EDIT: Fixed his head and changed some stuff around. Old version: gyazo.com/dd75b52eaf98fde0e7f3…

I worked on this for far too many hours not because I was making an effort to refine it, but because I could not figure out how I wanted this character to look. LOL

I changed his hair and colors so many times. OTL I'm still not completely satisfied (especially in regards to his damn head), but I realize I should stop worrying too much over a friggin piece of concept art.

Anyway, I digress. This is a rather old character that I've renamed and redesigned. He was originally named Saffron and he started off as a bird pet of my book's main character, Letticus. But later on I decided to make him a dragon (but only a bird-like dragon) and now he's a full-fledged dragon only with feathers. This is him as an adult and how he appears throughout most of the story. I renamed him to Leinus (pronounced the same way as Linus) because the name Saffron no longer reflects his color.

Lore dump for this interested:

Leinus is a dragon from an endangered subspecies known as the Apudian Sun Feather. While most types of dragons live in Oritia (the kingdom of the dragon-blooded peoples known as the Oritians), some dwell in other environments such as the Isles of Apus south of Oritia. Feathers are rather uncommon for dragons, but the Isles of Apus were once home to many. Over the years, Apudian Dragons were hunted down out of fear that they would be rallied by the dragon king Nafarius ( ) to be used against the local Apudi people. To escape extermination, the remaining Apudian dragons left for Oritia. Unfortunately, due to conflicts with dragon groups already there, the Apudian Dragons had much more difficulty surviving than they did in the paradisaical Isles of Apus.

Leinus was orphaned as a whelp due to his mother dying from illness. He was found by renowned mage and researcher Resald Genrich while he was out studying the interactions between the Apudian dragons and the local Oritian ones. At this same time, Resald was also caring for his adopted son, Letticus ( ) who was then only about a toddler. He brought the little whelp to his personal home for study and to see how Lettiucs (of whose race he isn't even entirely sure of) interacted with him. The two bonded almost instantly, and this fascinated Resald so much that he decided to keep the dragon under his care.

Leinus grew up alongside Letticus and showed incredible intelligence. He picked up the Oritian language quickly and even learned to read and write (to the best of his ability since holding human-sized pencils is hard) as well as do math alongside Let. He developed a passion for literature and singing (two things relatively unheard of for dragons since dragons, even the most intelligent ones, do not have a native written language, nor do they tend to engage in complex musical behavior). He learned to fly mostly through watching birds, but Resald (who he also considered his father) did try to help him through times via model explanations.

Throughout the story, he matures alongside Let and grows from the size of a doberman (at the beginning of the story) to that of a large draft horse, and that's not even the full size he can grow to!

Due to his unusual upbringing, Leinus has more of a fondness for people than he does for other dragons. He likes to fancy himself as a young man trapped in a beast's body and often complains about not being able to do simple things that Letticus can like fitting through the average door or playing an instrument. Much to his chagrin, he is often forced to carry the main party's belongings during their journey.

For more stuff on this project: www.deviantart.com/taralen/gal…