At some point in 2019, I took to learning how to use Daz Studio in my spare time. Daz is a 3D modeling program that lets you purchase assets (poses, characters, clothing, backgrounds, etc) for your own use and then position those assets to create scenes.
There is also the ability to “morph” the basic models so they match how you envision your own characters.
The first character I customized was Siklana Covonilayno, Toranih’s sister from The Wishing Blade series:
Her hair’s a bit too long here, but this was a quick render to test the outfit and general background.
Here’s a closer look at her facial structure (customized from the Victoria 4 base model — which I’m still impressed I succeeded with since shortly after, I started working primarily with Genesis 8 models).
(At some point I needed a Daz PA (Published Artist) profile image, and this was one of my early renders I was happy with, so I used that. Later on I realized that she looks a little like me when the image is in tiny thumbnail size. Not intentional.)
At some point I might make some adjustments to Siklana’s design, mostly in redoing the character on a later model to take into account some issues and limitations I didn’t know about when first starting.
I continued to work with learning the program, and eventually put together a full scene with her.
In this case, she’s with her horse, Esara.
(The horse’s coat and mane ended up a bit darker than I was initially picturing for Esara, so I may need to do some tweaking if I do further images with her).
The idea behind this image, though only mentioned in The Wishing Blade series rather than actually seen, is that Siklana used to go outside of Cirena City to practice her knife-throwing skills in peace.
She would ride out to the forested region behind the city walls to a small, abandoned ruin. (This region was once Aneth, home to those who would eventually spread throughout Cirena. At the time, they faced attacks by the immortals, and many of their buildings ended up in ruin once they fled). This particular building would likely have been fairly recent in their history, though still abandoned. But now this side of the forest is relatively safe. The perfect place to go when someone wants time to themselves to study and throw knives.
Are there any characters from the Wishing Blade universe (any of the stories) that you would be interested in seeing?
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Though Siklana starts as a side character, by Magebane she has a major character arc…
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Happy reading and writing!
Stephanie Flint - Author and Artist 