I was not born, not as you were. I was dreamt of in the eternal darkness of the abyss, a vague nightmare spun from the webs of fear and pain. The woeful idea that sparked my malignant soul was the thought of demons, yet somewhere along the way as my soul began to coalesce, a single innocent prayer floated into this never-ending hell. It struck my misformed essence and the half-formed thought of my being was struck awry. Screaming in pain, my unborn shell fled this holy touch, wailing away from the abyss and crossing into the prime. It was here that my half-self discovered flesh and clothed my soul in the guise of a mortal. It was here that I began a twenty-year journey of misery that has resulted in this jaded, torn man that you see today, a hellspawn struck down by the angelic thoughts of a dying man calling out to his god. Neither demon nor mortal, I exist in tormented eternal half-life. I am chaos incarnate, yet flittering like a softly winged butterfly is that damnedly holy prayer, trapped in the dark cage of my soul. It has reached golden tendrils into my essence, bringing me consciousness, bringing me choice. Bringing me joyful agony that sends me from this protective dream into the horridly bright day and makes me yearn for mortal touch and makes me wish for something more... I wandered the world for a time and came to a lonely place, forgotten and scorched by the sun's life-giving touch, so much as I had been. I settled in this land of burning sands and freezing nights, finding a strange kinship with this tortured land. At first I only sought a meager existence, only living for the next day. In time, I found I cared for this little scratch in the earth and built around me a paradise. Animals came to my Eden and at first I threw stones and drove them away. Then I found my sickeningly weak mortal heart desired their presence and I allowed the beasts to drink from my spring and bed down in the small grasses that I had coaxed to grow in this godsforsaken place. We grew together, that scant handful of animals and shriveled plants and I, and for a time I foolishly believed my dueling soul to be at peace. Joy was not a word inscribed in the book that is my life. My heaven on earth, as it were, came to a crashing halt all too soon. Was it a day ago, or perhaps five years? Maybe a lifetime ago, an army of mortals passed through the desert bringing their filth and garbage, upsetting that delicate ecosystem I had so painstakingly sought to balance in this hellish place. Waters were poisoned, the land desecrated and then they were gone, gone to the cities east of here. My dreams passed in the blink of an eye and all I remember is the expressionless helm of their leader, fashioned in the guise of a mad red dragon. When I close my eyes, I see it. For years, my focus was a little place in the desert on the edge of life. That has been crushed under reptilian claw and now a new focus has risen in me, once again giving me purpose. I quickly gathered what little is left in my humble grove, including a mewling flutterkitten, newly orphaned and barely alive in the destruction of our home, and turn toward the dust cloud of the passing army even as it fades on the horizon. ********* Riva is a new character concept I am developing as a tiefling (human touched with demonic influences) druid. The image is a little bit from the WIP for his portrait. I clicked the face cam and happened to really like what I saw looking back. ********************************* .:Credits:. Daz: M2, Adventurer's Suit MayaX: Yuna Hair Wenke: Texture for Yuna Hair Ecstasy: Mauriella Texture for V3