Digital DND character study - Cal Irestorm

[acecadet]

I've posted the progress for this character on my art thread, but I decided I want to try to make this a long term project in character design and *UGH* digital painting.
I love character design. I hate painting. Hopefully by marrying the two towards Cal I can actually improve at art.


The character -

Cal Irestorm

Real Name: Calypso Falk
Disgraced captain charged with treason for refusing an immoral order. This also broke his paladin's oath.
After escaping custody he makes his way into the Aetherial Expanse, where he joins up with the current party as they do a lot of mercenary work for his former alliances.
He is lying about who he is from the moment he joins, pretending to be a smuggler.
--------------------
The Falk family have spent generations operating a metal business, one that has made them rich supplying the empire's armoury. The advent of rail has cemented the family into the nouveau riche for the last generation or two.

After three boys in a row, Cal's family was surprised by twins. His sister, Caspian came out first. The mixup wasn't discovered until much later (The twins were a surprise, period. The family had superstitious reasons for wanting to stop at three kids) but by then, paper work had been filed and people already /knew/. And Mr. + Mrs. Falk couldn't really be assed to change it either way, pretending they had meant to do so all along.

As the fourth son and fifth child, Calypso's life was one of 0 expectations. Cal was kept away from the family business and spent his youth/early adulthood sneaking off into pubs, theatres and coffee shop, under a false last name. He managed to keep a low profile when some unexplained trouble wound up causing a scandal in his home city. Calypso was given two choices- become something other than an embarrassment and make something of himself or make his home in the gutter.

Cal decided to take the first option to the extreme. He joined with the military, primarily patrolling borders and disputed territories as a means of getting as far away from home as possible.
Calypso found a real purpose in the military. He was recognized for bravery under fire, holding an important post against impossible odds with nothing but a hammer. This feat garnered much recognition. Calypso served for ten years, taking an oath of protection, justice and obedience to the soverign-general. By his own grit and determintation, Calypso became a captain with a 10 year military record that would make any man proud.

Until the order. Captain Falk was ordered to march on a small fishing village and raze it to the ground for the crime of harboring rebels. Cal arrived at the place but found nothing that would suggest any kind of insurgency. The village was small and populated by a desperate population. Cal ordered searches and interviews with the locals instead, finding nothing that could suggest they were doing anything more than surviving their day to day lives. The Captain ordered his men to return home, leaving a small garrison to support the village instead. He was prepared to face the consequence of his refusal, but treason went beyond anything he could have expected.

Cal's oath breaks for his disobedience. But Cal knew slaughtering a village of innocents would have broken it anyway.

The story finds Cal months later. Fugitive of the law. Wanted for refusing to commit slaughter. Oathbroken, pissed about it and desperate to find some way to reclaim what he sees as stolen from him.

Or a story in two pictures: Before and after

Critiques are welcome. There's still something wonky in his jawline to my eye.
Also I hate lips, why are they so hard to draw.

What's weird is that the close crop looks way better.
That's a face you can definitely trust! (probably)

 

[acecadet]

Some doodles from tonight, drawn in my usual style. There's definitely something to the bottom left one I might try to expand on. I probably won't do a full painting but I'd like to see if I can paint it to look like a screenshot.

 

[Phidippus]

I've posted the progress for this character on my art thread, but I decided I want to try to make this a long term project in character design and *UGH* digital painting.
I love character design. I hate painting. Hopefully by marrying the two towards Cal I can actually improve at art.


The character -

Cal Irestorm

Real Name: Calypso Falk
Disgraced captain charged with treason for refusing an immoral order. This also broke his paladin's oath.
After escaping custody he makes his way into the Aetherial Expanse, where he joins up with the current party as they do a lot of mercenary work for his former alliances.
He is lying about who he is from the moment he joins, pretending to be a smuggler.
--------------------
The Falk family have spent generations operating a metal business, one that has made them rich supplying the empire's armoury. The advent of rail has cemented the family into the nouveau riche for the last generation or two.

After three boys in a row, Cal's family was surprised by twins. His sister, Caspian came out first. The mixup wasn't discovered until much later (The twins were a surprise, period. The family had superstitious reasons for wanting to stop at three kids) but by then, paper work had been filed and people already /knew/. And Mr. + Mrs. Falk couldn't really be assed to change it either way, pretending they had meant to do so all along.

As the fourth son and fifth child, Calypso's life was one of 0 expectations. Cal was kept away from the family business and spent his youth/early adulthood sneaking off into pubs, theatres and coffee shop, under a false last name. He managed to keep a low profile when some unexplained trouble wound up causing a scandal in his home city. Calypso was given two choices- become something other than an embarrassment and make something of himself or make his home in the gutter.

Cal decided to take the first option to the extreme. He joined with the military, primarily patrolling borders and disputed territories as a means of getting as far away from home as possible.
Calypso found a real purpose in the military. He was recognized for bravery under fire, holding an important post against impossible odds with nothing but a hammer. This feat garnered much recognition. Calypso served for ten years, taking an oath of protection, justice and obedience to the soverign-general. By his own grit and determintation, Calypso became a captain with a 10 year military record that would make any man proud.

Until the order. Captain Falk was ordered to march on a small fishing village and raze it to the ground for the crime of harboring rebels. Cal arrived at the place but found nothing that would suggest any kind of insurgency. The village was small and populated by a desperate population. Cal ordered searches and interviews with the locals instead, finding nothing that could suggest they were doing anything more than surviving their day to day lives. The Captain ordered his men to return home, leaving a small garrison to support the village instead. He was prepared to face the consequence of his refusal, but treason went beyond anything he could have expected.

Cal's oath breaks for his disobedience. But Cal knew slaughtering a village of innocents would have broken it anyway.

The story finds Cal months later. Fugitive of the law. Wanted for refusing to commit slaughter. Oathbroken, pissed about it and desperate to find some way to reclaim what he sees as stolen from him.

Or a story in two pictures: Before and after
View attachment 1207648
Critiques are welcome. There's still something wonky in his jawline to my eye.
Also I hate lips, why are they so hard to draw.

What's weird is that the close crop looks way better.
That's a face you can definitely trust! (probably)
View attachment 1207649

This shading must have taken a crazy long time. It gives him a lot of personality though. I love the mixture of tired and determined.

 

[acecadet]

Preview from the character sheet I'm working on.
I just have to work out the hands and the color, but I am super happy with how this turned out.

I found this video on youtube, "This Drawing Advice Changed my Art" from Anime Charlie super helpful

 

[acecadet]

This shading must have taken a crazy long time. It gives him a lot of personality though. I love the mixture of tired and determined.

I want to say I remember how long the whole thing took, but I honestly can't say for sure. But I'll count that compliment as a success in getting the character down *u*

 

[acecadet]

Not quite done yet, as I still have to figure out the hand, but I am super happy with the progress. All that's really left is shading.



removable cloak,

 

[acecadet]

Colors and shading are done. What I usually like to do is a few expressive doodles for funsies, but I've been having a bit of trouble with those.
He's a fun character to draw but hard to keep on model. I'm going to try to fake his military document. Faking paper work is weirdly fun for me

 

[acecadet]

Lunchtime doodle!


Last session, Cal used his paladin spells for the first time since breaking his oath. Not only was he treated to a weird ass vision, instead of divine light and triump the spell was bugs.

Just bugs. Tiny terrible swarming bugs. Nat 20'd a smite and the bugs consumed an undead skeleton like that one scene in the mummy, leaving behind bones and blood.

Cal is not pleased about the bugs.

 

[acecadet]

JUST BUGS - WIP 2

Going for the dramatic lighting with this one. I'm in the process of blocking the shadows/highlights and I still need to rework the sword to look more like its coming apart

By the way, these are the bugs

 

[TatsuEevee]

Idk what it is with eyebrows having a scar over them...Idk, "I just think they're neat", as Marge would say.

 

[acecadet]

Soldier's Death Insurance
One of my favourite things to do is make fake letters/elements and I decided to have a bit of fun making a whole ass puzzle for the group.
The fun part is, if all goes well, no one will ever see what is inside. But there is a chance Cal could die in the campaign. There's also a chance someone of the crew just decides to snoop through all this shit, in which case, I have left them a surprise.



Recent events have given Cal a bad case of pessimism and paranoia. Faced with the very real prospects that he might die out in the expanse without anyone ever knowing about it, he will privately approach the Captain and entrust her with this bottle.
It's corked and stopped with wax. There are two bundles inside, one addressed to the Captain of the crew. The other is sealed with wax and addressed to someone named Imbra Torsk.
If the bottle is shaken, it's possible to hear something metal clinking against the glass.

THE LAST WILL OF CAL IRESTORM [The First Letter]





LETTER TO CAS [The second/third letter]
If the crew respects Cal's wishes, this will never be opened by them.
But if someone decides to, they'll find a letter to Imbra giving instructions on what to do with his ashes and another roll of
paper that is wrapped around something. Opening that third paper reveals a ring and a message.

The ring has the family name Falk engraved on the front, and the name Calypso K. Falk inscribed inside the band
The letter to Cas is written on the same paper as all the others, but it feels a bit weighty....


CODE TO CAS [The fourth letter]
If the letter is investigated further, it's revealed that Cal stuck two pieces of paper together using some water.
A final paper is revealed, with a code.



The clues to solve the code are in Cas' letter. To solve the code the will have to identify the type of code and the key. Just knowing the type of code will not allow them to solve it.
If anyone wants to try to figure it out themselves, the answers are under the spoiler.


CAL'S CODE
Cal left deliberate pen marks on his letter to Cas, specifying something about a key.
He also misspelled align and put markings on 'word' and 'letter'

The code is a book code. Solving it involves finding a copy of the play Cal mentions. The last act has a song, and each parenthesis of numbers represents a line/word/letter. Using that, you can decode the message, but ain't nobody got time for that and finding the play/the logic is my 'solve' condition.

AND YES, I MADE A GRAPHIC FOR IT TOO,
But don't give me too much credit, it's basically 90% plagiarized from a Three Musketeers play. I just changed up some things for the bit.



There is nothing especially important or terrible to warrant all this secrecy, but for whatever reason Cal wants these words to be for his sister only.
The coded message reads:

OATH BROKEN

I CARE TOO MUCH FOR YOU TO SAY MORE

I KNOW YOU LL TRY TO PIECE IT TOGETHER

LET IT GO
I AM DEAD
IT DOESNT MATTER NOW

DO NOT TRUST BRANDEL

 

[Daisie]

Soldier's Death Insurance
One of my favourite things to do is make fake letters/elements and I decided to have a bit of fun making a whole ass puzzle for the group.
The fun part is, if all goes well, no one will ever see what is inside. But there is a chance Cal could die in the campaign. There's also a chance someone of the crew just decides to snoop through all this shit, in which case, I have left them a surprise.

View attachment 1218411

Recent events have given Cal a bad case of pessimism and paranoia. Faced with the very real prospects that he might die out in the expanse without anyone ever knowing about it, he will privately approach the Captain and entrust her with this bottle.
It's corked and stopped with wax. There are two bundles inside, one addressed to the Captain of the crew. The other is sealed with wax and addressed to someone named Imbra Torsk.
If the bottle is shaken, it's possible to hear something metal clinking against the glass.

THE LAST WILL OF CAL IRESTORM [The First Letter]

View attachment 1218420



LETTER TO CAS [The second/third letter]
If the crew respects Cal's wishes, this will never be opened by them.
But if someone decides to, they'll find a letter to Imbra giving instructions on what to do with his ashes and another roll of
paper that is wrapped around something. Opening that third paper reveals a ring and a message.

The ring has the family name Falk engraved on the front, and the name Calypso K. Falk inscribed inside the band
The letter to Cas is written on the same paper as all the others, but it feels a bit weighty....
View attachment 1218423

CODE TO CAS [The fourth letter]
If the letter is investigated further, it's revealed that Cal stuck two pieces of paper together using some water.
A final paper is revealed, with a code.

View attachment 1218426

The clues to solve the code are in Cas' letter. To solve the code the will have to identify the type of code and the key. Just knowing the type of code will not allow them to solve it.
If anyone wants to try to figure it out themselves, the answers are under the spoiler.


CAL'S CODE
Cal left deliberate pen marks on his letter to Cas, specifying something about a key.
He also misspelled align and put markings on 'word' and 'letter'

The code is a book code. Solving it involves finding a copy of the play Cal mentions. The last act has a song, and each parenthesis of numbers represents a line/word/letter. Using that, you can decode the message, but ain't nobody got time for that and finding the play/the logic is my 'solve' condition.

AND YES, I MADE A GRAPHIC FOR IT TOO,
But don't give me too much credit, it's basically 90% plagiarized from a Three Musketeers play. I just changed up some things for the bit.

View attachment 1218417

There is nothing especially important or terrible to warrant all this secrecy, but for whatever reason Cal wants these words to be for his sister only.
The coded message reads:

OATH BROKEN

I CARE TOO MUCH FOR YOU TO SAY MORE

I KNOW YOU LL TRY TO PIECE IT TOGETHER

LET IT GO
I AM DEAD
IT DOESNT MATTER NOW

DO NOT TRUST BRANDEL

Good gosh you go into as much obsessive detail about your characters as I do
Gonna comment so I finally get notifs for the thread instead of just lurking

 

[acecadet]

Good gosh you go into as much obsessive detail about your characters as I do
Gonna comment so I finally get notifs for the thread instead of just lurking

My brain refuses to shut up about this character. You're more than welcome along for the ride xD

There's a good chance no one will even open the bottle, but this crew has a morbidly hilarious track record of using dead crewmen in some capacity.

The last captain's body is currently the ship figurehead, someone on the crew had his bones dipped in titanium. Metal as all fuck, but not reassuring for the guy literally dimensions away from home.

So if they do as Cal wishes, I am going to ask the DM if Cal's ashes can have special explosive properties. His sister will absolutely comply and they'll just one day get a bag of Cal.

If they do all that snooping and find the last letter, they screw themselves out of the gift. Either that means they never send it, or they do but Cas notices the letters have been tampered with and is pissed on behalf of her bro.

 

[acecadet]

The Falk Twins
Caspian & Calypso


Caspian was born 17 whole minutes before Calypso, breaking the Falk family's streak of three boys with their first girl.
For reasons that bordered on disinterest at best and negligence at worse (the twins agree it was a mix of both), she was named Caspian.

By the time Calypso came into the world, their father was off to one of his meetings and their mother was beyond focusing. At first, she claimed to have already named him, only to have the presence of two babies pointed out to her by the poor maid who was the sole aid in the birth. Supposedly their mother thought for a moment, said Calypso, and then promptly passed out.

By the time the mistake was noticed, the rings were already forged and given to the infants with their name and a number of triangles indicating their birth order. Calypso was born fifth and couldn't be swapped for Caspian, born fourth, not without admitting to the error (The horror).

So, the Falks pretended it was a deliberate choice.

-------------------------

I don't know what her rank is, or what role she ends up serving in the DND adventure, but she decided to pursue a career in the Karelagne military- And unlike Cal, it was a deliberate choice on her part. She signed up as soon as she was permitted to, I'm sure. It would be neat if her job was the one that involved codebreaking as a skillset.

Cas is Cal's favourite sibling for obvious reasons. Despite being like oil and water, they spent their childhoods looking out for one another.
Lets be real, it was usually Cas looking out for Cal. But he's been known to pay the favor back when it counts.

Cas is also Cal's favourite thing to lean on. It annoys the shit out of her.


I have nothing better to do than to map out Cal's giant ass family like the lunatic I am. I'm putting it in the quote block so this post doesn't become a worse wall of text,

PARENTS
FATHER - 70
MOTHER - 63
(Married young and basically just started popping off kids for the good of the Raalian protocols)

Cal does not get along well with his parents. Current relationship was somewhat frosty but cordial. He is not close to either of them, but dislikes his father worse than his mother.
Cal assumes he is basically disowned at this point.


Falk Children (9th generation)
1- Sault Falk (M) 40- Falk Metals - Acquisitions & Growth - Married

• Cal thought his oldest brother was the coolest when he was a kid. They had a relatively good relationship up until The Deraal incident. Sault highly disapproved.
• Sault is salty af about the state of the company. He has arguably done a lot of work and dedicated himself to proving his ability to run it, only for it to be handed over to Ceasar.

2- Jerrik Falk (M) 38 - Falk Metals - Accounts & Financial - Married w children

• Jerrik is known to be a bit of a weasel/backs out of his word.
  Cal doesn't particularly trust him due to a string of broken promises over the course of their youth.

3 - Caesar Falk (M) 35 - Falk Metals heir (golden child) - Unmarried. Probably busy trying to get married

• Current chair of Falk Metals (also occurred ~5 years ago)
• Caesar and Cal have the same kind of relationship as Isabella and Mirabelle from Encanto
• Caesar thinks Cal has had it easy and all he has to do to enjoy his life is be discrete/avoid dragging the family name through the mud. Cal thinks Caesar's a spoiled jackass. They never really got along.

4- Caspian Falk (F) - 31 - Military Career (Navy?)

• • Cas is Cal's favourite sibling,

5- Calypso K. Falk (M) - 31 - Military Career (disgraced former captain)

6- Renata Falk (F) - 27 - Deraal Merchant

• • Married to a relatively successful businessman .She has children. Her husband died from illness or accident and she runs the business.
  • It's considered a 'lesser' business, but it does really well. Renata is cutthroat about keeping it afloat. Her children help.

7 - Liesel Falk (F) - 23 - Student/A few years into a career in Aether tech + magic.

• • She studies in Karel.
  • Their mother's favourite daughter. Mrs Falk absolutely pulled a fit when Liesel left to study in Karel.
  • Cal and Liesel are most alike. Second fave sister.

8 - Frieda Falk (F) - 16 - Student

• • Sister Cal knows the least. She was ~3/4 when he had to leave.
  • He endures the visits home to see her. She's a bit of a lonely kid. No one else lives at home except their parents and Cal knows how bad they are.