The Guardian of Pyros

'There are no criminals here, only the children of the Exiled remain, paying for our parents' mistakes.' - Skeleosana, Lupis/Nether dragon hybrid.

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Pyros, the City of Flame. Hidden deep in the jungle, far from man's reach, it was once capital of the dragon world. For ages it was kept secret, known only to a handful of outsiders. Within the City's walls, lining every cobble-stoned street are fountains of fire, the knowledge used to create them, lost to the ages.

When the Queen was murdered by an extremist group of Lupis Dragons, the King in his rage ordered that every Lupis be hunted down and killed. Years later his daughter took over control of Pyros, her father's sanity worn thin. Tiamat, seeing the effects of the genocide, wisely chose to move the entire population to another home.

Before the massacre, banishment was punishment for most crimes, and those who had been banished, returned to Pyros. Those Lupis dragons who managed to escape, returned as well, however, Pyros never regained it's splendor. Slowly, the jungle began to take over, and repeated attacks from Ethereals and other Faie drove many to live alone. However, the children of the Exiled, unable to return to the new City of Xanos decided among themselves to remain in Pyros. Their rules, nothing more than pathetic attempts at peace between them, still Skell attempts to keep it, knowing divided they will find themselves alone.

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if it shows up as too dark, or not much colour variation, try adjusting your monitor settings. . . or maybe I need to work on mine O_o

I lost track of the number of reference pictures I used for this. Lemme see. . . New Orleans, Venice, random cobblestones, vines, jungle plants and vertebrae. Her spine freaks me out

I'm really happy with how the whole thing turned out. Which is unusual for me. I think I spent two hours on the cobblestones before I gave up and duplicated/shrunk the layer a few times

Also the only things NOT done with a regular brush are part of the curtains, and the top of the metal-work. I even did my own grass! Huzzay!

For a while there the perspective was really REALLY off. . . I know the angles still are a bit. But I had a LOT of fun with it.

This is not a picture of hell, damit! It's a picture of PYROS! *twitch* I'm in love with the moss and the plants and her eyes and her tail fur and her spine and the cobblestones and the grass. . .

Okay, yeah. . . I'm proud of this one. (and yeah, I changed her quote thing)

Image ? Zero
Concept/character/city design ? Zero (this means if you steal it I'll find out where you live and write you very nasty letters)

*crosses fingers and hopes high*