While we showed you the dwarves of this game last week, it’s time to venture to different places on Tellest, and show you another race. Similar to our last set, these elves that we’re about to show you have no affiliation with each other, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t tough as nails in their own right.

So what are their stories, per chance?  Let’s get into that a little bit, shall we?

Vesso Jaith is a trapper who moonlights as a thief.  While he’s more comfortable tracking down and hunting an animal, he’s not against using his tactics against humanoids.  His lineage is also in doubt, with people claiming that he’s a half-elf, despite his protests otherwise.

Callieflynn Xaxos is a shadow priestess who had earned a little bit of ire from her people thanks to her darker forms of magic.  Cast out from her sect, she handles herself just fine alone.  May the gods help anyone who dares encounter her when she’s feeling hostile.

Devaniel Quinnis is an extraordinary druid, though he is not as affiliated with other elves as some would expect.  He’s known as the highfather in a forest with no others of his kind, and some say that he waits to pass on that mantle to a true successor.

Named after a great legend of ages past, Phaetha has earned her own praise among her people.  With her trusty trident in hand, she’s held back the assaults of goblins, trolls and mighty beasts.  It’s no wonder so many aspire to be like her.

Here, you can see the collection of elves that will be featured in our game.  Each as different from each other as the next, they’re each sure to be someone’s favorite when the cards are on the table.

Stay tuned—we’ve still got 12 more races to show off!

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The next thing that Tellest has its sights set on?  A card game.  I had a flash of inspiration a little over a year ago, and we began working on a game that we thought would be incredibly attractive to like-minded people.  To that end, we knew we needed beautiful art like what we’re getting from Sergei.  While we’re still not quite ready to divulge how the game is played, it’s safe to say that we’re going to rely on some of the materials and lore that makes Tellest really pop.

The first thing we’re going to begin showing off is the various characters who show up in this game.  We’ve got a whopping 14 races that are represented so far, and we’re going to show you each set one by one.  Today, we’ll be looking at the dwarves of the game.

These three dwarves all come from different places in Tellest, and mayhaps, even different times. Could they be allies, or are they enemies?

Our first dashing hero is Vaulen Lightfoot.  Vaulen is a popular dwarven name, having been used for at least one clanleader across Draconis alone.  This Vaulen is not a king, however.  In fact, none of these three dwarves are the leaders of their respective clans.  As you may know about this race on Tellest, they’re obligated to start their own offshoot clan if and when they demonstrate that they’ve been touched by the Strain.  These heroes aren’t just lay dwarves, however.  They’re followers in some ways, but leaders in their own rights.  Vaulen comes from the Lightfoot Clan, where the king was able to jump and spring out far and high.

Ossa comes from the Stonefist Clan.  Her king delivered one heck of a punch.  A devout follower of the faith, Ossa may seem a little less brutish than Vaulen, but she’s definitely a sturdy adventurer, and can do her fair share of damage.

Finally, we come to Mordek, of Clan Thunderfury.  Mordek is one of our premiere characters, in that he’s already made a presence in the book series.  He was one of the companions that traveled north to face the harpies in Son of the Storm.  In that book, he was a little more reserved, cautious and maybe even filled with anxiety.  Here, you can see he’s gained a substantial bit of confidence with age.

Here, you can see “Team Dwarf” in its entirety.  The dwarves of Tellest are known for their persistence as much as their stubbornness, and it’s clear that whatever dangers await them, they’re worthy champions indeed.

Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks, as we bring you another race from the game.

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Today’s sprites are for a kaja character named Fe’Pavi.  She is a character that is in the same story as Benton, which obviously is yet to see the light of day.

This commission had a few weird twists and turns, and it might still not truly be over.

We’ll start once again with some of the ground work in place.  This isn’t much, but it gave Chris, our sprite artist something to work with alongside the other three sprites.

With a little more detail, you can see that the character has some feline features, like a tail and some pointed ears.  At this point, we thought that Chris was using our kaja concept art as a basis.

Little bit more detail, and we were still waiting to see if that staff was going to be replaced with something a little more apt for a thief, which Fe’Pavi fits into.

Once color was added, we knew that there was a slight miscommunication.  Fe’Pavi was supposed to be almost calico colored, and this is quite clear that the reference art and the intended finished product were confused somewhat.  This is definitely what Kaiyonani would look like if she was a sprite!

Chris did a wonderful job making the necessary changes to the color and the weapon, though at this point, we’re still not sure that we’re going to use Fe’Pavi as the final name and character here.  We’re able to get away with a change like that, and we hope to show you why soon enough!

There was one final change.  Her hand initially looked a little like a lobster claw, and this modification made her look a little more dainty.

Here’s our kaja warrior resized so you can the details a little better.

The first wave of these sprites is almost done.  We’re very excited to show you the next one, a character that is no doubt familiar to you!

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Our first hero that we’ll be showing you is a man named Benton Kearst.  He’s been a character that’s shown up a lot behind the scenes of various Tellest projects, but he’s never seen the light of day.  That changes today.

Alright, that’s not much to look at, but our artist, Chris (who you might remember from his work on the shelved project, Heart of the Forest), was just putting things together.

Benton is a man who has joined the Knights of Gardone in western Daltain.  He’s a noble fighter, and a resilient foe on the field of battle.  His allies would consider him very reliable, but in the case of this game and this story, he’s on his own.

There’s more to Benton than meets the eye, however.  He, his brother, and his sister all have an interesting origin story, though it might be a while before you see that.

Growing up in Tellest is tricky business for anyone, but for a stranger in a strange land, it can be even more oppressive and dangerous.  Benton spent a good part of his formative years trying to track down his two siblings, but again… that’s a story for another time.

Instead, let’s focus on the story at hand.  Chris put together a nice version of Benton that was informed by the work that we did on Heart of the Forest so many months (years?) ago.  We determined that we wanted to use Heart of the Forest as a kind of base of operations.  That is to say, if we make more games and properties in the future, it’ll work to our benefit to tell stories that utilize the same level of graphics and feeling across the board.

Who knows?  At some point, we might even see our ranger and this knight interacting together.  These next few changes are very, very subtle, but all that time was spent establishing the sprite as the very best it could be.

We joked about how many iterations this sprite had.  At one point, he had a pretty big honker.  At other points, he looked like a buff knight with the head of one of the Canadians from South Park.

This final piece showed Benton in all his glory.  He’s ready to headline his own game, don’t you think?  Well, maybe he won’t have to.  And just so you get a better idea of what the old boy looks like, here is a better look at him.

We look forward to bringing you more from this mystery project in the weeks and months to come.  Stay tuned!

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