Gasping, no longer able to do more than sip air, knowing he was only inches from death, Cholik made the final ascent and stopped in front of the massive figure on the throne. Unable to stand in front of the demon, the old priest dropped to his hands and knees on the abrasive black rock that made up the island. He coughed, weakly; the coppery taste of blood filled his mouth, and he saw the scarlet threads spray onto the black rock. He watched in stunned horror as the rock absorbed the blood, drinking it in till the rock was once more dry.
Look at me.
Wracked by pain, certain of his death, Cholik lifted his head. "You had best work quickly, Lord Kabraxis."
Even seated, the demon was taller than Cholik standing up. The old priest guessed that Kabraxis was twice as tall as a man, perhaps even as much as fifteen feet tall. The demon's massively broad body was black flesh, marbled with blue fire that burned and ran through him. His face was horrid, crafted of hard planes and rudimentary features: two inverted triangle eyes, no nose but black pits that were nostrils, and a lipless gash of a mouth filled with yellowed fangs. Writhing, poisonous vipers sprouted from his head, all of them beautiful, cool crystal colors of a rainbow.
Do you know of the Black Road? the demon asked, leaning close. All the taunting had left his voice.
"Yes," Cholik gasped.
Are you prepared to face what lies on the Black Road?
_______________________________________
Before I submit it to Blizzard Fanart though, anyone got any tips for improvement? Well I actually couldn't be bothered changing it any more, I've worked on it for ages. Its time to move on to something else.
The "cool crystal colours of the rainbow" snake-hair was difficult to make without it looking stupid, lol. Here are a few variations that I tried out:
Thanks, yeah, technically that scene is meant to be in darkness with a bright star behind Kabby... but it just didn't look good. He loses his features too much with a dark background because he's so dark himself. He's meant to have black skin too but I couldn't even do that.
Kabraxis. My favorite underrated demon. The illuminated veinwork in his arms is really superb. I seem to remember reading a description of this realm too that Cholik was in? Was it starry? It's been years since I read the book.
Atru, your style is addicting. I always want more of it and you always give us just not enough.
Heh, I'm really glad you guys like it, it means alot.
There is way too much Warcraft art in Blizzard Fanart, more people should make Diablo art (and art that isn't Diablo or Tyrael lol). And I hope people don't mistake this for Warcraft either, especially since Kabraxis isn't very well known. Lol, I should title it "I can't believe its not Warcraft", haha.
I was thinking of adding some sort of quote at the bottom of the image too... but nah, I just wanna focus on the image and keep it serious. The title will be enough, they can google Kabraxis if they are curious and they'll find the extract on our wiki. "The Thief of Hope" sounds Diablo-ish anyway.
Okay, submitted.
By the way, can I just show you my first attempt at Kabby? Its shocking, lol. I started with an outline, then coloured it in and removed the lines.
I knew something was wrong, so I looked up a tutorial and discovered that I actually needed those lines in. So I tried again, and it worked like a grand charm.
Here's the full extract of Cholik's venture into Kabraxis' prison:
__________________________________
Buyard Cholik stared into the dark recesses of the open door ahead of him. Fear settled
bone-deep into him, but it wasn't fear of what lay ahead of him. True, there was some
fear of the unknown. But the greatest fear he had was that the power he found on the
other side of that door wouldn't be enough to take away all the damage that the sands of
time had wrought.
Or, possibly, that the power on the other side of the door would find him lacking or
wouldn't want him.
Being rejected by a demon after stepping away from the Zakarum Church was horrible
to contemplate.
"Master," Altharin whispered. Somehow the man had escaped the destruction that had
stricken most of the people around Cholik. "Master, we should go."
"Then go," Cholik said without looking at the man.
"This is an evil place," Altharin said.
"Of course it is." Cholik pulled his robes around himself, took a final breath, and
marched toward the door to meet his fate.
Even at the open doorway, all Cholik could see was the unending darkness stretching
before him. He paused for an instant at the threshold, tempted to call out. Would a demon
answer if he spoke? He didn?t know. The texts he?d read that had given him the
information to come this far had not suggested anything past this point.
Somewhere ahead, if the texts were right, Kabraxis waited for the man who would free
him into the world again.
A cold breeze whipped out of the yawning space before the old priest. Perhaps he would
have turned around then, but the cold only reminded Cholik of the chill awaiting him in a
grave. It was better to die suddenly tonight than to have to live with all his hopes
shattered and stillborn.
But even better than that would be to live with the success of his efforts.
He stepped forward and entered the dark room. Immediately, the steady drone of the
insects hidden against the cavern roof dimmed. He knew it wasn?t because he?d simply
entered another cavern in the cave systems beneath Ransim and beneath Tauruk?s Port.
The noise dimmed because in that one step he moved a long way from the cavern.
The chill burned into Cholik?s flesh, but his fear and his determination to stave off death
drove him on. With the lighted cavern behind him, he could see the narrow walls of the
tunnel on either side of him as he passed but still nothing of what lay ahead.
You are a man, a deep voice boomed inside the priest?s head.
Surprised, Cholik almost faltered. "Yes," he said.
Only a weak man. And you seek to face a demon? The voice sounded amused.
"Humans have slain demons," Cholik said, continuing forward through the narrow
tunnel.
Not slain them, the deep voice insisted. Merely succeeded in binding demons from your
world. But only for a time. Diablo has returned. Others were never forced away. Still
others remain in hiding, not even known of.
"You were forced away," Cholik said.
Do you taunt me, human?
"No," Cholik said, gathering all his courage. The ancient texts hadn't suggested anything
about what would transpire on this side of the door, but he knew from other readings that
demons despised fear. It was a tool, like a blacksmith?s hammer, that was used to bend
and shape the human lives they controlled. Meeting a demon meant controlling the fear.
Don't lie to yourself, human. You fear me.
"As I would fear falling from a high cliff," Cholik agreed. "Yet to climb, a man must
face the fear of falling and overcome it."
And have you overcome your fear?
Cholik licked his lips. All the aches and pains of his advanced years settled into him
again, letting him know the spell he'd worked to strip the life energy from the slave was
being undone. "I have more to fear from living my life trapped in a failing shell of a body
than I do of dying suddenly."
I am a demon, Buyard Cholik. Don?t you know that you risk dying for centuries?
Cholik stumbled a little in the darkness. He hadn't thought about that. In the years he'd
studied Kabraxis and the Black Road, he'd only pursued knowledge. After winning
Raithen over to his side to supply him with slaves and provide transport, he had thought
only of digging the ruins of Ransim out to discover the door.
Cholik made his voice strong. "You seek a way out of your prison, Lord Kabraxis. I can
be that way."
You? As frail and weak and near to death as you are? The demon laughed, and the
hollow booming noise trapped inthe tunnel sounded caustic and vibrated through Cholik?s body.
"You can make me whole and strong again," Cholik said. "You can return my youth to
me. I?ve read that you have that power. You need a man young in years to help you
regain the power that you once had in my world." He paused. "You can make me that
man."
Do you believe that?
"Yes." And Buyard Cholik believed in the demon's power as much as he'd believed in
anything the Zakarum Church had taught him. If one was false, then it all was false. But
if it was true-
Then come, Buyard Cholik, once priest of the Zakarum Church and friend to no demon.
Come and let us see what can be made of you.
Nervous fear and anticipation welled up inside the old priest. Sickness coiled inside his
stomach, and for a moment he thought he was going to throw up. He centered himself,
using all the techniques he?d learned while serving the church, and forced his tired,
aching body forward.
A star dawned in the darkness before him, spreading gossamer silver light in all
directions. The stone walls on either side melted away, revealing only the darkness of the
night. He was not enclosed; he stood on a trail suspended over the longest drop he had
ever seen. Visibility ended below the path he walked on, and only then did he realize that
he was no longer standing on a stone floor but on a swaying bridge of human bones.
Arm bones, leg bones, and ribs made up the bridge, intermixed with the occasional skull
that was complete or damaged. Cholik slowed, feeling the bridge shift dizzyingly beneath
him. A skull slid out of place ahead, then bumped and rattled and rolled down the bridge,
finally striking a hip bone and bouncing over the bridge's side.
Cholik watched the skull fall, the broken jaw hanging askew as if it were screaming. The
skull fell for a long time, tumbling end over end, finally disappearing from thereach of
the silver star that waited at the end of the bridge. Only then did Cholik realize the bones
were not mortared together; they lay crisscrossed, interlocking to provide support for
anyone who crossed the bridge.
Would you go back, Buyard Cholik?
Before he could stop himself, Cholik glanced back along the bridge. Some distance
behind him, how far he couldn?t tell, the rectangular doorway that opened back into the
cavern under the ruins of Ransim gaped. The torches and lanterns flickered inside the
cavern, and the stripped skeletons lay on the uneven floor. Thoughts of returning to the
apparent safety of the cavern wound through Cholik's mind.
An explosion shook the bridge, and Cholik watched in dismay as a section of crossed
bones blew high above the bridge. The displaced bones fell through the darkness like
leaves, drifting and spinning.
The gap left in the bridge was too far for Cholik to leap. The old priest realized he was
trapped on the bridge.
Let that be your first lesson, the demon said. I will be your strength when you have no
strength of your own.
Knowing he was doomed, Cholik turned and glanced back up the bone bridge. The silver
star glowed brighter, revealing more of the path. The bridge of bones continued to lead
up, but it zigzagged back and forth. What seemed to be trees occupied the elbows of the
zigzags.
Cholik hesitated, trying to muster more strength but knowing that his body had none left
to give.
Come, Buyard Cholik, the demon taunted. You made your choice when you stepped
through that doorway. You only had the illusion of being able to change your mind along
the way.
Cholik felt as though a great hand squeezed his chest, squeezing the breath from him.
Was it his heart, then? Was it finally going to fail him? Or was this Zakarum's vengeance
for abandoning the church?
Of course, Kabraxis said, you could throw yourself from the bridge.
Cholik was tempted, but only for a moment. The temptation came not out of fear but out
of rebellion. But that was just a momentary spark. The fear in him of death was a raging
bonfire. He lifted a foot and went on.
As he neared the first of the trees, he saw that they bore fruit. When he was closer, he
saw the fruits on the tree were tiny human heads. The small faces were filled with fear.
Their lips moved in pleading that only then became audible to him. Although he couldn't
understand their words, Cholik understood their agony. The sound was an undercurrent, a
rush of pain and despair that was somehow horribly melodic.
Tormented voices, Kabraxis said. Isn't it the sweetest sound you've ever heard?
Cholik kept walking, finding another bend and another tree and another chorus of
hopelessness and hurt. His breath burned inside his chest and he felt as if iron bands
constricted his chest.
He faltered.
Come, Buyard Cholik. It's only a little farther. Would you die there and become one of
the fruits on the tree?
Pain blurred the old priest's vision, but he lifted his head after the next turn and saw that
the bridge remained straight to a small island that floated in the middle of the darkness.
The silver star hung behind the shoulder of a massive humanoid shape sitting on a stone
throne.
Gasping, no longer able to do more than sip air, knowing he was only inches from death,
Cholik made the final ascent and stopped in front of the massive figure on the throne.
Unable to stand in front of the demon, the old priest dropped to his hands and knees on
the abrasive black rock that made up the island. He coughed, weakly; the coppery taste of
blood filled his mouth, and he saw the scarlet threads spray onto the black rock. He
watched in stunned horror as the rock absorbed the blood, drinking it in till the rock was
once more dry.
Look at me.
Wracked by pain, certain of his death, Cholik lifted his head. "You had best work
quickly, Lord Kabraxis."
Even seated, the demon was taller than Cholik standing up. The old priest guessed that
Kabraxis was twice as tall as a man, perhaps even as much as fifteen feet tall. The
demon?s massively broad body was black flesh, marbled with blue fire that burned and
ran through him. His face was horrid, crafted of hard planes and rudimentary features:
two inverted triangle eyes, no nose but black pits that were nostrils, and a lipless gash of
a mouth filled with yellowed fangs. Writhing, poisonous vipers sprouted from his head,
all of them beautiful, cool crystal colors of a rainbow.
Do you know of the Black Road? the demon asked, leaning close. All the taunting had left
his voice.
"Yes," Cholik gasped.
Are you prepared to face what lies on the Black Road?
"Yes."
Then do so. Kabraxis reached forward, taking Cholik's head between his huge threefingered
hands. The demon's talons bit into the old priest's head, driving into his skull.
Cholik's senses swam. His eyes teared as he stared into the demon's monstrous visage
and tasted Kabraxis's foul breath. Before he knew he was doing it, Cholik screamed.
The demon only laughed, then breathed fire over him.
Give, expecting nothing thereof. ------------ BoD - Come have some fun! Folks will always come and go, so enjoy them while they're meant to be in your life.
Damn near perfect atru. I didn't think his rainbow hair would turn out very good, but you proved that theory wrong :D. I only have one complaint, I always imagined his eyes (at least the illuminated part) as triangular. Like your first attempt only with right triangles instead.
lol, but I did give him triangle eyes Clearly their shape is too subtle. I made them subtle though because I thought the first version just looked ridiculous, lol.
i do agree with you though atru. that the artwork is all warcraft. i hate it.
but that is amazing artwork. i once freehanded that diablo in the diablo 1 book. but i could never do anything from imagination alone like that. its amazing
Thanks, yeah, technically that scene is meant to be in darkness with a bright star behind Kabby... but it just didn't look good. He loses his features too much with a dark background because he's so dark himself. He's meant to have black skin too but I couldn't even do that.
Ok then nevermind. I actually change my mind. Even without the dark sky, it actually looks more dark with the foggy background, creating a more hopeless feeling. Looks absolutely amazing. I love it!
I definitely feel like you captured the style of Diablo very well. Especially with the guy crawling towards him, that is awesome.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"I want to say something but I'll keep it to myself I guess and leave this useless post behind to make you aware that there WAS something... "
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
only thing i would add would be a slight haze around the demon fellow, perhaps a very light black mist around him or something.
I actually did try that, but then I flicked the layer on and off and somehow it was more appealing when it was off. I dunno. Oh well, too late now.
Oh and naj, you can buy diablo books from online bookstores, including Amazon.com. This particular books is The Black Road. The first half is a bit slow, but then it really kicks up in the second half and makes it all worth it.
Larger Size
Buy Print Here
This is what I have based it off:
_______________________________________
Gasping, no longer able to do more than sip air, knowing he was only inches from death, Cholik made the final ascent and stopped in front of the massive figure on the throne. Unable to stand in front of the demon, the old priest dropped to his hands and knees on the abrasive black rock that made up the island. He coughed, weakly; the coppery taste of blood filled his mouth, and he saw the scarlet threads spray onto the black rock. He watched in stunned horror as the rock absorbed the blood, drinking it in till the rock was once more dry.
Look at me.
Wracked by pain, certain of his death, Cholik lifted his head. "You had best work quickly, Lord Kabraxis."
Even seated, the demon was taller than Cholik standing up. The old priest guessed that Kabraxis was twice as tall as a man, perhaps even as much as fifteen feet tall. The demon's massively broad body was black flesh, marbled with blue fire that burned and ran through him. His face was horrid, crafted of hard planes and rudimentary features: two inverted triangle eyes, no nose but black pits that were nostrils, and a lipless gash of a mouth filled with yellowed fangs. Writhing, poisonous vipers sprouted from his head, all of them beautiful, cool crystal colors of a rainbow.
Do you know of the Black Road? the demon asked, leaning close. All the taunting had left his voice.
"Yes," Cholik gasped.
Are you prepared to face what lies on the Black Road?
_______________________________________
Before I submit it to Blizzard Fanart though, anyone got any tips for improvement? Well I actually couldn't be bothered changing it any more, I've worked on it for ages. Its time to move on to something else.
The "cool crystal colours of the rainbow" snake-hair was difficult to make without it looking stupid, lol. Here are a few variations that I tried out:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b319/eefen_beefen/Kabraxis06.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b319/eefen_beefen/Kabraxis08.jpg
You matched the description perfectly, If you can, send in the quote too
I am totally blown away. This is absolutely amazing! Teach me your ways!
Atru, your style is addicting. I always want more of it and you always give us just not enough.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs
There is way too much Warcraft art in Blizzard Fanart, more people should make Diablo art (and art that isn't Diablo or Tyrael lol). And I hope people don't mistake this for Warcraft either, especially since Kabraxis isn't very well known. Lol, I should title it "I can't believe its not Warcraft", haha.
I was thinking of adding some sort of quote at the bottom of the image too... but nah, I just wanna focus on the image and keep it serious. The title will be enough, they can google Kabraxis if they are curious and they'll find the extract on our wiki. "The Thief of Hope" sounds Diablo-ish anyway.
Okay, submitted.
By the way, can I just show you my first attempt at Kabby? Its shocking, lol. I started with an outline, then coloured it in and removed the lines.
I knew something was wrong, so I looked up a tutorial and discovered that I actually needed those lines in. So I tried again, and it worked like a grand charm.
Here's the full extract of Cholik's venture into Kabraxis' prison:
__________________________________
Buyard Cholik stared into the dark recesses of the open door ahead of him. Fear settled
bone-deep into him, but it wasn't fear of what lay ahead of him. True, there was some
fear of the unknown. But the greatest fear he had was that the power he found on the
other side of that door wouldn't be enough to take away all the damage that the sands of
time had wrought.
Or, possibly, that the power on the other side of the door would find him lacking or
wouldn't want him.
Being rejected by a demon after stepping away from the Zakarum Church was horrible
to contemplate.
"Master," Altharin whispered. Somehow the man had escaped the destruction that had
stricken most of the people around Cholik. "Master, we should go."
"Then go," Cholik said without looking at the man.
"This is an evil place," Altharin said.
"Of course it is." Cholik pulled his robes around himself, took a final breath, and
marched toward the door to meet his fate.
Even at the open doorway, all Cholik could see was the unending darkness stretching
before him. He paused for an instant at the threshold, tempted to call out. Would a demon
answer if he spoke? He didn?t know. The texts he?d read that had given him the
information to come this far had not suggested anything past this point.
Somewhere ahead, if the texts were right, Kabraxis waited for the man who would free
him into the world again.
A cold breeze whipped out of the yawning space before the old priest. Perhaps he would
have turned around then, but the cold only reminded Cholik of the chill awaiting him in a
grave. It was better to die suddenly tonight than to have to live with all his hopes
shattered and stillborn.
But even better than that would be to live with the success of his efforts.
He stepped forward and entered the dark room. Immediately, the steady drone of the
insects hidden against the cavern roof dimmed. He knew it wasn?t because he?d simply
entered another cavern in the cave systems beneath Ransim and beneath Tauruk?s Port.
The noise dimmed because in that one step he moved a long way from the cavern.
The chill burned into Cholik?s flesh, but his fear and his determination to stave off death
drove him on. With the lighted cavern behind him, he could see the narrow walls of the
tunnel on either side of him as he passed but still nothing of what lay ahead.
You are a man, a deep voice boomed inside the priest?s head.
Surprised, Cholik almost faltered. "Yes," he said.
Only a weak man. And you seek to face a demon? The voice sounded amused.
"Humans have slain demons," Cholik said, continuing forward through the narrow
tunnel.
Not slain them, the deep voice insisted. Merely succeeded in binding demons from your
world. But only for a time. Diablo has returned. Others were never forced away. Still
others remain in hiding, not even known of.
"You were forced away," Cholik said.
Do you taunt me, human?
"No," Cholik said, gathering all his courage. The ancient texts hadn't suggested anything
about what would transpire on this side of the door, but he knew from other readings that
demons despised fear. It was a tool, like a blacksmith?s hammer, that was used to bend
and shape the human lives they controlled. Meeting a demon meant controlling the fear.
Don't lie to yourself, human. You fear me.
"As I would fear falling from a high cliff," Cholik agreed. "Yet to climb, a man must
face the fear of falling and overcome it."
And have you overcome your fear?
Cholik licked his lips. All the aches and pains of his advanced years settled into him
again, letting him know the spell he'd worked to strip the life energy from the slave was
being undone. "I have more to fear from living my life trapped in a failing shell of a body
than I do of dying suddenly."
I am a demon, Buyard Cholik. Don?t you know that you risk dying for centuries?
Cholik stumbled a little in the darkness. He hadn't thought about that. In the years he'd
studied Kabraxis and the Black Road, he'd only pursued knowledge. After winning
Raithen over to his side to supply him with slaves and provide transport, he had thought
only of digging the ruins of Ransim out to discover the door.
Cholik made his voice strong. "You seek a way out of your prison, Lord Kabraxis. I can
be that way."
You? As frail and weak and near to death as you are? The demon laughed, and the
hollow booming noise trapped inthe tunnel sounded caustic and vibrated through Cholik?s body.
"You can make me whole and strong again," Cholik said. "You can return my youth to
me. I?ve read that you have that power. You need a man young in years to help you
regain the power that you once had in my world." He paused. "You can make me that
man."
Do you believe that?
"Yes." And Buyard Cholik believed in the demon's power as much as he'd believed in
anything the Zakarum Church had taught him. If one was false, then it all was false. But
if it was true-
Then come, Buyard Cholik, once priest of the Zakarum Church and friend to no demon.
Come and let us see what can be made of you.
Nervous fear and anticipation welled up inside the old priest. Sickness coiled inside his
stomach, and for a moment he thought he was going to throw up. He centered himself,
using all the techniques he?d learned while serving the church, and forced his tired,
aching body forward.
A star dawned in the darkness before him, spreading gossamer silver light in all
directions. The stone walls on either side melted away, revealing only the darkness of the
night. He was not enclosed; he stood on a trail suspended over the longest drop he had
ever seen. Visibility ended below the path he walked on, and only then did he realize that
he was no longer standing on a stone floor but on a swaying bridge of human bones.
Arm bones, leg bones, and ribs made up the bridge, intermixed with the occasional skull
that was complete or damaged. Cholik slowed, feeling the bridge shift dizzyingly beneath
him. A skull slid out of place ahead, then bumped and rattled and rolled down the bridge,
finally striking a hip bone and bouncing over the bridge's side.
Cholik watched the skull fall, the broken jaw hanging askew as if it were screaming. The
skull fell for a long time, tumbling end over end, finally disappearing from thereach of
the silver star that waited at the end of the bridge. Only then did Cholik realize the bones
were not mortared together; they lay crisscrossed, interlocking to provide support for
anyone who crossed the bridge.
Would you go back, Buyard Cholik?
Before he could stop himself, Cholik glanced back along the bridge. Some distance
behind him, how far he couldn?t tell, the rectangular doorway that opened back into the
cavern under the ruins of Ransim gaped. The torches and lanterns flickered inside the
cavern, and the stripped skeletons lay on the uneven floor. Thoughts of returning to the
apparent safety of the cavern wound through Cholik's mind.
An explosion shook the bridge, and Cholik watched in dismay as a section of crossed
bones blew high above the bridge. The displaced bones fell through the darkness like
leaves, drifting and spinning.
The gap left in the bridge was too far for Cholik to leap. The old priest realized he was
trapped on the bridge.
Let that be your first lesson, the demon said. I will be your strength when you have no
strength of your own.
Knowing he was doomed, Cholik turned and glanced back up the bone bridge. The silver
star glowed brighter, revealing more of the path. The bridge of bones continued to lead
up, but it zigzagged back and forth. What seemed to be trees occupied the elbows of the
zigzags.
Cholik hesitated, trying to muster more strength but knowing that his body had none left
to give.
Come, Buyard Cholik, the demon taunted. You made your choice when you stepped
through that doorway. You only had the illusion of being able to change your mind along
the way.
Cholik felt as though a great hand squeezed his chest, squeezing the breath from him.
Was it his heart, then? Was it finally going to fail him? Or was this Zakarum's vengeance
for abandoning the church?
Of course, Kabraxis said, you could throw yourself from the bridge.
Cholik was tempted, but only for a moment. The temptation came not out of fear but out
of rebellion. But that was just a momentary spark. The fear in him of death was a raging
bonfire. He lifted a foot and went on.
As he neared the first of the trees, he saw that they bore fruit. When he was closer, he
saw the fruits on the tree were tiny human heads. The small faces were filled with fear.
Their lips moved in pleading that only then became audible to him. Although he couldn't
understand their words, Cholik understood their agony. The sound was an undercurrent, a
rush of pain and despair that was somehow horribly melodic.
Tormented voices, Kabraxis said. Isn't it the sweetest sound you've ever heard?
Cholik kept walking, finding another bend and another tree and another chorus of
hopelessness and hurt. His breath burned inside his chest and he felt as if iron bands
constricted his chest.
He faltered.
Come, Buyard Cholik. It's only a little farther. Would you die there and become one of
the fruits on the tree?
Pain blurred the old priest's vision, but he lifted his head after the next turn and saw that
the bridge remained straight to a small island that floated in the middle of the darkness.
The silver star hung behind the shoulder of a massive humanoid shape sitting on a stone
throne.
Gasping, no longer able to do more than sip air, knowing he was only inches from death,
Cholik made the final ascent and stopped in front of the massive figure on the throne.
Unable to stand in front of the demon, the old priest dropped to his hands and knees on
the abrasive black rock that made up the island. He coughed, weakly; the coppery taste of
blood filled his mouth, and he saw the scarlet threads spray onto the black rock. He
watched in stunned horror as the rock absorbed the blood, drinking it in till the rock was
once more dry.
Look at me.
Wracked by pain, certain of his death, Cholik lifted his head. "You had best work
quickly, Lord Kabraxis."
Even seated, the demon was taller than Cholik standing up. The old priest guessed that
Kabraxis was twice as tall as a man, perhaps even as much as fifteen feet tall. The
demon?s massively broad body was black flesh, marbled with blue fire that burned and
ran through him. His face was horrid, crafted of hard planes and rudimentary features:
two inverted triangle eyes, no nose but black pits that were nostrils, and a lipless gash of
a mouth filled with yellowed fangs. Writhing, poisonous vipers sprouted from his head,
all of them beautiful, cool crystal colors of a rainbow.
Do you know of the Black Road? the demon asked, leaning close. All the taunting had left
his voice.
"Yes," Cholik gasped.
Are you prepared to face what lies on the Black Road?
"Yes."
Then do so. Kabraxis reached forward, taking Cholik's head between his huge threefingered
hands. The demon's talons bit into the old priest's head, driving into his skull.
Cholik's senses swam. His eyes teared as he stared into the demon's monstrous visage
and tasted Kabraxis's foul breath. Before he knew he was doing it, Cholik screamed.
The demon only laughed, then breathed fire over him.
That pic is badass.
Folks will always come and go, so enjoy them while they're meant to be in your life.
Fuck you, I'm a dragon.
only thing i would add would be a slight haze around the demon fellow, perhaps a very light black mist around him or something.
but that is amazing artwork. i once freehanded that diablo in the diablo 1 book. but i could never do anything from imagination alone like that. its amazing
Ok then nevermind. I actually change my mind. Even without the dark sky, it actually looks more dark with the foggy background, creating a more hopeless feeling. Looks absolutely amazing. I love it!
-Equinox
"We're like the downtown of the Diablo related internet lol"
-Winged
I actually did try that, but then I flicked the layer on and off and somehow it was more appealing when it was off. I dunno. Oh well, too late now.
Oh and naj, you can buy diablo books from online bookstores, including Amazon.com. This particular books is The Black Road. The first half is a bit slow, but then it really kicks up in the second half and makes it all worth it.
Siaynoq's Playthroughs