Bront's New Threads (Moodity) 🐮✨ (Patreon)

Hey guys! Ref for Bront's new outfit is finally done! It ties into a new chapter in the upcoming campaign, and I ended up altering some of the initial design mostly in terms of the gold (Last sketches in the batch) To work better with the bit of back story for what he'd been doing in Nightshade for the last four months. (I'll include that below)

Just to preface this, Our group had just fought through a dungeon, and beaten a pretty tough boss, after which we followed some of the NPCs that aided us, and we ended up in the Town of Nightshade after passing through a portal/rift.

Now for the Writing:

Bront In Nightshade

"That night, after the introductions to the leaders of Nightshade and having been

seen by the healers, Bront was led to his quarters, (a small room in one of

churches). His sleep was marred with dreams of people and places that he felt

were familiar, but he also did not recognize; A large cosy home, surrounded by

fields for hay, with paths that led in many directions off into the nearby hills and

forests- the house is aflame. A larger Minotaur, dressed in noble clothing whose

face seemed… obscured by a fog- charred remains in a large cultish circle, freshly

burned and still smoking. A younger Minotaur, who seemed like a reflection of

Bront himself though his eyes were a vivid purple- and like a mirror, the image

began to crack and shatter to pieces. A forest, full of robed figures, performing a

ritual of some sort- they all turn to look at him, red glowing eyes glaring right

through him.

Bront awoke with a start, and deciding he would not sleep anymore that night, got

up and dressed in his shabby clothing, and readied himself to make his way to

Bouscar. He left a note for Arkees and Knoss and left.

In Bouscar, Bront was met with the village chief, Gooric, and after a quick

reintroduction, was led around the village. Bront busied himself by helping with

any of the projects, where strength would be an asset; Moving large wooden

beams, tilling fields and loosening the dirt to make harvesting the potatoes easier,

and even helping at the local forge to help make nails and other tools for the local

trades folk.

It was there though that Bront seemed to have found a knack for something.

Although having starting with regular nails, he had with no time at all ventured into

crafting farming tools and construction equipment. Soon he was making swords

and shields, even armour. And though many of the things he made were not things

he would necessarily use himself, he still enjoyed the meditative process

nonetheless.

This passion was not unnoticed by the forge master. He eventually taught Bront

about Moon Smithing, an ancient and secret art among the Smiths of Nightshade.

The process could only be performed during a full moon, where the Lunar energy

was at its most concentrated. Then, only the purest silver ore (something that

could be considered toxic to Werecreatures) was carefully heated, and worked and

shaped, and then quenched in a pool of water, directly lit by the light of the moon.

This process made the silver as hard as steel, and immune to oxidization or

tarnishing, and the resulting metal took on an almost icy blue aura.

It took some time to get the hang of the process (of course only practicing as

MoonSilver could only be made once a Lunar Cycle) He was taught proper

procedure, and how to temper his strength initially, as the metal began softer and

only became more dense through the forging process. He was taught breathing

exercises and how to properly channel his energy. The Crystalline structure of the

metal could not form its intake of energy was too chaotic. It would take calm mind,

as still as a glassy lake perfectly mirroring the moon above.

And on the night ending the Fourth Month since they’d arrived, Bront had

successfully forged MoonSilver. It was small (a little ring that he’d eventually tie in

his hair) but it was nonetheless considered a success.

The next morning, when Bront awoke and was getting ready to head back to

Solian, he felt… different. He realized that despite him having stayed up to forge

into the early morning, he felt more well rested than he had during previous, full

night rests. He couldn’t quite put a finger on why, and chalked it up to the

excitement in having forged his first piece of MoonSilver. It wouldn’t be until later

on though, that he realized he was no longer getting nightmares.

After exiting the basement dwelling, from under the Smithy, he was greeted by

Gooric, but also the Forge Master, and also someone he wasn’t expecting. Iris was

also standing there. Bront couldn’t help but notice the initial look of horror that she

was now trying to mask with a polite smile. It was only then that he looked down at

himself and noticed how ragged he looked. His clothes were in complete tatters,

the reds in the fabric long having faded by the saturation of sweat, soot and

charring that had accumulated over the last 4 months.

The Forgemaster having noticed Bront’s embarrassment, grinned, and stepped

forward presenting Bront with a decorated metal belt, intricately designed to look

like a wreath of leaves, a braided circular pin, and a pair of bangles matching the

design of the belt; All made of pure MoonSilver. It was then that the ForgeMaster

revealed that he’d been working on these pieces for a while, but was waiting for

the right person to give them to. He also hinted at their special properties, and

how they could potentially aid him in combat, giving him certain abilities.

Iris then stepped forward, but not too close (Bront assumed she didn’t want to

stain her beautiful dress, and he didn’t blame her) and presented Bront with a new

outfit. She explained that it was made of Spider silk, which should be lighter than

the cotton that he was used to wearing, and far more durable.

Bront was stunned and silent for a moment, admiring the new treasures he’s

acquired, then looked up and smiled. He thanked the ForgeMaster and Chieftain,

and then made his way with Gooric up to Solian."

That's it for now! 😂

Also, if you wanna see some work on some of the Chiefs of the village, along with some background lore on each of them, thanks to our DM Zanks (In the comments) you can see that here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/d-d-npc-concepts-154262770

And Bront's backstory can be read in this post here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/bront-refsheet-130236832

Thanks again, and I hope you guys enjoy! 😊🙏

(Timelapses are below)