Prowlers - Revised Concept

The prowlers are kind of an iconic creature in our comic's world/setting. They're the perfect embodiment of the fantasy/post-apocalyptic entropy and body dysmorphia horror that plagues the world and characters. A toxic miasma chokes the world, and it slowly infects everything. Some people will die a slow and painful death from it, but others are mutated in horrifying monster. Then there are those, like our main character Laumé, who take on the infection of prowler blood so they have the strength to fight other monsters and demons. Potions and alchemical concoctions may delay the inevitable, but they will eventually become prowlers.

I've gone through a number of designs with the prowlers, because I couldn't quite find something that I was happy with in reflecting that horror part of the dark fantasy genre. They were once human, and need to be recognizably so, but they also need to be monsters. They are borne of infection, but shouldn't resemble zombies. They move in unnatural, almost animalistic ways, but can't look too much like animals or they could look goofy. It has been quite the challenge since creature design is not my primary wheelhouse. But here, I think I finally hit upon a design I'm happy with. One you will see more of going forward.

This piece was created in Procreate using an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. It presents original characters, creatures, and the world of In the Shadow of the Ancients. ItSotA is a comic project that I am working on with my husband, based on a tabletop roleplaying game campaign we ran over the course of years. It was a multifaceted adventure, that spanned multiple groups and branching storylines, and utilized Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeon World, Torchbearer, and Pathfinder.

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