These are the maidens of battle, towering above mortal man, born from the spilled blood of war gods. On their steeds the Valkyries are part of the endless battles of the Heroic Domains of Ysgard, or fly over earthly wars in search of great warriors. Their eyes always crackle with lightning, as do their swords. They know no cruelty, but they also know no mercy.
There are actually two entries for the Valkyrie creature in the books of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5. The first is a storm-wielding woman of fury with wings and hooves, and the second one is essentially a celestial level 20 Paladin. I liked aspects of both (the lightning of the first and the steed of the second) and decided to combine them into a single image.
This image is dedicated to Wolfgang Baur, publisher of the D&D/Pathfinder magazine Kobold Quarterly, who requested this creature.
I like the cloud pattern, the lightning and the armor. I can't see that fat horse being much use in battle, though...
ReplyDeleteevery time i see one of these comments i always imagine adam and tom literally sitting at the computer together typing their amalgamated opinions into comments
ReplyDeleteHe's gone back home now, but my Blogspot is hooked up to our shared Gmail.
ReplyDeleteI actually really like the composition of this one. I can't give an artsy comment other than "It looks awesome".
ReplyDeletethe chunky horse makes me smile. You'd think a valkyrie wouldn't ride a male horse though...at least not an intact one :)
ReplyDeleteShire horses are best horses. They are like monsters, only they are horses.
ReplyDeleteThis would make a nice T-shirt, or post cards.
ReplyDeleteMAKES ME THINK OF FAT PONY
ReplyDeletehttp://stickersanddonuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Pony-Hitman-Boarding-02.jpg
THAT IS A GOOD THING