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@claire-h

Thank you! The background’s a new technique I’ve been trying out – it’s very quick and low-effort, but you’re right, it dramatically improves the depth of even a very simple illustration.

You know — that’s actually a scene in one of the stories I have planned. Kyreleis is ordinarily a very austere woman to cultivate the image of a warrior queen for her men, but at one point she has to go to the court of her greatest nemesis (and long-lost crush) to try and parley for peace, and as she’s preparing to go, she ends up asking Myrrha for advice on makeup, perfumes, and clothes, since Kyreleis hasn’t spent a lot of time worrying about that sort of thing – or trying to win hearts, not just heads.

I’ve always imagined the Countess as very pale-faced. Channeling those Elizabeth Bathory vibes and all. I hadn’t considered rouge or lipstick – I imagine that if she were attending court / the Imperial Diet, she probably would try to look her best and youngest, so why not! I’m so excited to see what you come up with!

Hurray! I’m glad I was helpful. For different powers, I suggest looking at Ezekiel as well – I’ll recommend other books as they come to mind.

Yeah… evil is a dangerous thing to be investigating too thoroughly. It’s something that I especially have to be wary of – making evil too appealing without making its abhorrence apparent – as well as steeping the story so deep in darkness that there’s no apparent light at all.  That’s one of my struggles in particular in Rest For the Wicked – all of the protagonist characters are deeply flawed, and sometimes the grief of the foreplanned tragedies gets to be a little too much to wade through. They do some good things, a lot of bad things, and a lot of terrible things happen to both them and others who really don’t deserve it. It’s… heavy at times.

Regarding sorcery, you’re absolutely correct. Sorcery is a dangerous thing to toy with in a fictional realm, considering it does actually exist, even today. My reasoning is that just as wicked individuals have consorted with demonic spirits for power, so too righteous servants of God have been visited by His angels to grant wisdom and strength.

Myrrha is unusual among sorcerers in my setting – few if any are deformed like she is, and only a couple are capable at all of matching her power at its full extent.

I forget why I added that aside. 😛

Regarding Hussites & Catholics – I’m trying to stay neutral. History tends to vindicate the Hussites, and they’re definitely the underdogs in the conflict – while the Hussites were standing up for their beliefs, many of the Catholic combatants were motivated by greed, power-lust, or dogmatic defiance of scriptural truth. Both sides committed atrocities, but the Catholic crusaders committed far more and far worse. So I guess ultimately I tend to lean towards the Hussites, though ironically, the majority of the cast at least start out as loyal Catholics.

(Honestly, that’s something I need to look at integrating more deeply into the plot and upcoming stories – this whole epoch is defined by religious controversy and holy war, so by necessity – it’s got to be a topic of conversation).