I really liked this art description, but apparently none of the artists at EN World were willing to take on the challenge of my art descriptions like Kevin Yancey does. With the exception of Chainlightning of course, who did a spectacular job with Zanatose.
Lord Hannible Holmes of Cormyr
A Small Historical Background
After his great grandfather Lothmoren killed many people in his insane experiments, Hannible had much to do to bring honor back to his family name. In order to accomplish this, Hannible joined the Purple Dragons of Cormyr at a very young age (14) and trained hard to become a warrior worthy of recognition. He also begin training as a paladin of the god Lathlander, the deity of the sun and dawn, for he knew that eventually he would have to take back his family’s ancestral home, a run-down castle at the edge of their lands that was reportedly rife with the walking dead created by his recent ancestor. However, Hannible ran into an evil that surpassed even that of his grandfather one winter day that ended his mortal life and began him on the same vile path that his grandfather had traveled during the last three decades of his life. This evil was Zanatose Everhate, a powerful undead drow wizard and cleric of Bane who ripped his mortal heart from his chest with one boney hand and replaced it with a malignant growth with the other in one smooth motion of magic. With the necromantic magic pumping the blood through his veins, he succumbed and turned into what he hated the most, the undead. Zanatose had selected Hannible years before to become his general and had watched in the shadows, waiting for the day when the boy would become a man. The new vampire had the bloodline and ancient talent of magic within him and that was what the lich wanted in an apprentice. Unfortunately, the lich had neglected to realize the willpower of his general and eventually lost control of him. The two became bitter enemies, striking out at one another whenever a hint of the other’s presence was detected in anything.
Appearance: Hannible attempts to hold onto his past as a noble warrior dedicated to Cormyr’s protection by continuing to wear his now old and marred armor of office. Just before he was turned, he had acquired the title of Oversword and was made commander of a small platoon of knights which protected a nearby bridge. The armor he wore had been a present from his father who had it specially made for the occaison. Unfortunately, the armor had also been blessed by Lathander’s church, and its mere touch burned the vampire lord’s flesh once it was corrupted. The suns on the arm and legplates that had so artisitically been crafted from magic paints are deliberately scratched (the symbol of the sun harms Hannible) and the enchanted metal itself is now rusted and old with pitted holes marring its surface. The breastplate’s decoration is a powerful snake-like purple dragon that winds around his body three times, it’s tail starting at his waist and its face ending just below the vampire lord’s neck, jaws open as if to feed from the vampire’s own blood.
His hair, which had once been the color of the night sky now has long grey streaks running through it as if it had been unnaturally aged from the process of the turn (He keeps his hair tired back out of his face, but the pose should show that he has long hair by either having the hair over one shoulder or from the side somehow). His face, handsome at one time (all planes and angles), is now grizzled and feral in appearance like a predatory wolf king. A short beard and mustach now cover the lower part of his face in order to try and hide a bit of the wolfish appearance, especially when his sharpened teeth are extended. His eyes do not glow, but are completely red in color as if the interior of his eyes were now filled with the blood of his victims. Unlike most of his lesser kin, Hannible does not appear to be the epitome of male beauty and is actually quite frightening and intimidating, even when not trying to be. He does not drip with sexual power, but instead is the vision of an angry king waiting for someone to swing for his amusement.
In addition to his old armor, the vampire lord keeps a silver cape draped around his neck that is both beautiful and magical in nature, decorated with small embossed dragons that are dark purple in color. He fights with a sword and a staff at the same time. His unnatural strength and speed allow him to do so without much problem and the magical items (only one which he created, the sword was a present from his ‘master’ Zanatose and contains the soul of his mortal lover, Marianae). The staff allows him to cast spells without the need of somantic and material components (thus allowing him to fight two-handed and still cast spells) at the cost of his own health (which is quickly healed by his vampiric abilities). So the pose in question should have the vampire lord either with the staff gripped in both hands and the sword sheathed at his waist or in a battle stance with the sword and staff out and ready for combat.
The staff, also called the Staff of Bloody Kings (or the Blood Staff by common folk who have seen it used), looks like a simple wooden staff that has been carved rather clumbsily to contain the screaming faces and bodies of the damned, all entertwined and in some cases coming together as one. Dark stains cover the weapon from top to bottom, a testament to whatever abilities it may confer on its wielder. The decoration at the top is a simple golden crown that has barbed points to inflict more damage. The sword, Sanguine, is an intelligent weapon of significant power. The blade, made from a clear crystalline material of magical origin, is hooked at the end like a large tooth or as if a scythe blade has been somehow added to the sword for the added benefit of being able to behead an opponent in a single strike. When in combat, bloody mist can be seen drawn from an enemy’s wounds into the sword itself, bloating the blade and turning it a bright crimson in color.
Whether in combat or at rest, the vampire lord always has a palpable aura of magic surrounding him and will often stave off boredom by casting spells on himself just to experience the rush of magic through his otherwise unfeeling corpse of a body.
