Who is on the cover of TSR 3101 Blood Enemies Abominations of Cerilia?

[ardan]

Can anyone identity the characters depicted on the front cover of TSR 3101 Blood Enemies: Abominations of Cerilia?

The painting is by artist Jeff Easley. I checked his commercial website but it doesn't include this painting so I couldn't get a hint from the title there.

The painting seems to show a grim mortal human standing next to a possibly undead humanoid holding a banner the symbol of a serpent (Azrai's sigil maybe?). Behind this pair are at least twelve armored undead warriors. There's a ruined castle in the background and the terrain has some green plants but looks devastated. This might be located in the shadow world?

My first thought given the twelve armed warriors is this could be the Magian. But the depicted characters don't seem to resemble the Magian character depicted within the Blood Enemies Book or the Cities of the Sun boxed set.

Any ideas on solving this minor puzzle would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Ardan

[Fizz]

Can anyone identity the characters depicted on the front cover of TSR 3101 Blood Enemies: Abominations of Cerilia?

Wow- Easley has had a lot of his work grace the covers of AD&D 1st and 2nd ed. I never realized so many of them were from the same artist. What a resume.

The cover actually shows more than 12. If you count the indistinct forms at either side of the page, plus one hidden behind the banner, i count 15. Plus the 2 primary characters in the foreground. I've always seen it as the first line of an undead army.

That said, it doesn't rule out the Magian. He is certainly plausible. Any difference with the depictions in the CotS or the interior of Blood Enemies could be chalked up to different artists' imagination. For that matter, he's a master wizard, he could make himself look like whatever he wants.

Another possibility is El-Sheighul. He too is a powerful wizard, an undead still partly tied to the Shadow World. He has a ghoulish appearance. You can read up on him in CotS, Black Spear Tribes.

Or it's also possible is it's no one in particular- just a part of Easley's imagination of an undead army being lead by an undead general and retainer.


-Fizz

[ardan]

El-Sheighul is an interesting idea. I couldn't find any art of him in the various Birthright books, but it makes some sense.

On another note, I found Jeff Easley is releasing a compilation of about 200 of his artworks in a book. I somehow missed the Kickstarter back in April, but I'll have to see if it shows up in Barnes and Noble so I can flip through it.

Thanks for the idea.

Ardan

[Fizz]

No problem. And welcome to the boards!

-Fizz