Shipping of Tyrian Tarot is almost concluded (just a few boxes dozen to go) and we’re finally allowed to show these.
It’s been an absolute nightmare, but also one of the best things to happen to me this year, a total blast and incredible honor.
Organized by the GW2 Artist Collective and the ever-amazing Melanie Sayre / Zorav, The Tyrian Tarot was the surprise success story, and although some unforeseen production pains happen to it, the final product is the single best and most professional fan project I’ve ever seen and one of the highest quality items in my gaming memorabilia collection.
7 of Wands - Defiance, conviction
Pyre Fierceshot, charr ranger and renegade. 7 of Wands symbolises rebellion, firing the first shot, taking a stand. While Pyre was not the first to rise against the Flame legion, he was the first rebel to succeed and make a dent in the shaman caste system. While the successful defeat of the Flame fell to his grandcub Kalla, her victory was built on his shoulders.
Pyre was a challenge to adapt, since his in-game models are only known from Guild Wars 1, where charr anatomy is… wonky at best. I had to make some changes, including dropping the weirdo spike things GW1 charr had all over the place (because back when charr were the evil enemy race, more spikes meant more metal or something). I kept the overal leonine snout, somewhat blocky, sharp features and jawline (although I’m pretty sure that was mostly engine limitation) and the beard.
I never actually played GW1 that much (I got stuck in Borlis Pass, since you either need friends or a particular build, and I have neither), so there’s no human caped crusader of mine who’d have history of helping Pyre free his charr brothers (no sisters back then, because… again, GW1 charr). And while his storyline made me roll my eyes at Gwen Thackeray a lot (seriously, does she have *any* dialogue that doesn’t go “And btw I hate charr” with every sentence? Like… lady, we get it, chill), It was pretty fun to watch and layed interesting foundations for what later became Guild Wars 2.
I got lucky and managed to sneak a third card into the deck, among the stretch goal Wild Cards. Altough we were technically free to do whatever we pleased with the Wilds, I styled mine as a companion piece to Pyre’s 7 Wands.
6 of Wands (unofficial) - Victory, pride, success
Kalla Scorchrazor is the single most epic success story among the charr. Grandcub of Pyre Fierceshot, she finished what her grandsire had started, united the charr females, beat the snot out of much younger Iron Legion leader Forge Ironstrike to prove females are no worse to fight than males, helped bring the 3 remaining legions under single banner and defeated the Flame Legion shamans, thus beginning the era of new charr society.
6 of Wands, which the wild card is based on, symbolizes exactly that kind of victory. Day in the spotlight, pride in achievement.
Unlike Pyre, Kalla provided additional challenge. There is no in-game reference for her design, as we only have a very shoddy statue (that puts her to be greatsword wielding heavy armor class) and a very wobbly icon from the Renegade elite spec (that happens to conflict with the statue a lot). I took elements from both, mixed in a few of the design ideas from the Renegade elite helmet that’s supposed to be styled after her.
In the end, it turned out to be my most favourite card from the three.
I’m stupidly fond of the overall design and I’ll definitely find myself
an excuse or two to utilize it for something bigger in the future.
We?! There’s no “we”, twiggy. I’m not interested in a waterlogged Ash deserter.
While last to show, this is actually the first card I had (and the one I spent an eternity bugging the moderation team about - bless their patience, really). When I said Almorra and Kalla are not my most favourite charr in the game, these two are actually who steal their spotlight.
2 of Cups - Uniting the opposites, partnership, cooperation
AKA “More lovers than Lovers”. Brought together by pure chance, they first met testing (and arguing about use of) Iron Legion ghostbore weaponry (which Galina won. Sorry, Snarl, mate, but a giant doomcanon is just better). After that, they were brought together at the siege of Clarent hill, where Snarl went in over his head and got captured attempting to murder the Flame legion leader personally instead of waiting for a prolonged siege to gain results. He then successfully persuades Galina to take the fight to the Risen at Claw Island and beyond, entering the services of the Vigil (point for you, Snarl, but minus one point for getting captured, you dunce). Together in the services of the Vigil (and somehow still not killing each other), they fought in the Estate of Decay, betting whether Galina can or can’t take out a chicken in one shot (while it was Risen, so it’s not exactly fair, Snarl technically won the ten gold). Then beyond, to reclaim the source of Orr, kill Zhaitan and celebrate.
And through all this, they found respect and admiration towards one another, Galina being the “epitome of evisceration” in Snarl’s eyes, one he sneakily keeps protected from the shadows in case she gets overwhelmed, and Snarl becoming the loyal, smart and brave “true charr of the Khan-Ur” fighting at her side for Galina. This union of a giant ferocious Blood Legion warrior and snarky LA-raised Ash Legion thief is one to last.
I love these two, their constant bets, good-natured quarreling, Galina’s cheesy Iron Legion jokes and cheeky ghost taunting, the undead chicken shooting contests and hidden respect for one another. Personal story sadly abandoned them after Zhaitan campaign, with only a throwaway mention that they’re alive somewhere in Maguuma after the crash of the Pact. That does give me a lot of leeway to tell my own stories, on the other hand…
So, partnership with ANet has led me to some very interesting things and opportunities this year. One of them being a chance to design a guild emblem for use in Guild Wars 2. You know. The actual videogame, an MMO played by hundreds of thousands of people.
Not the first time - I actually finished 2 forum icons for the GW 2 official forums in… some month of some year (what are you, brain). But still, actual in-game use is actual in-game use.
From the options presented, I picked a summit wildhorn springer, which as an in-game skin I love to bits (mostly because I’m not terribly fond of the original toony vanilla springer mount and its dozen variations) - seriously, whoever designed you, amazing springy goat, deserves the biggest box of chocolates I can find. I can’t use it for my own guild, since the band I lead is specifically charr-oriented and having a decapitated goat on the emblem simply would not do for A Lost Warband. It was a nice excuse to finally get myself a private bank guild tho…
