Gossamer Guardians - Fae Roseus by Femmes-Fatales on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

[Update 09/09/17: Another hair makeover. I decided to try out some pink hair on her.]

Here's the 21st profile in my original characters encyclopedia project. This one features one of the protagonists for my Gossamer Guardians concept.

Since this concept draws inspiration from classic fairytales, Fae Roseus is influenced by the story of Cinderella (though only in a cursory manner).

Rongchang is the only child of the Emperor Wanli and his wife Empress Xiaoduanxian. Together they are the House of Wan, a kingdom just outside of the jurisdiction of the Fairy Council in the west. Their province, Qin, is the largest in Asiatica and the most powerful. As such, it is coveted greatly by most. This includes the Emperor's mistress Lady Zheng. Lady Zheng has positioned herself within the House of Wan as Wanli's favoured lover and has even given him two other daughters - Shouning and Xuanshu.

Due to Lady Zheng's scheming, Rongchang has sought outside help with the Fairy Council. To do so, she was forced to escape Qin along with her friend, a thief named Zhihao. They both allied with the Council and became members of the Gossamer Guardians.

With Rongchang's design, I opted for a blending of various Chinese styles (some older and some more modern). I also wanted to give her some cute shoes (she is analogous to Cinderella afterwards), so I gave her some wings.

In fantasy terms, Rongchang is also basically a dragon knight. So, she's agile and can perform incredible jumps. However, she also communicates with the various dragons that exist in the east.

Sidenote: Asiatica is meant to be comprised of varying provinces that each represent the various countries/cultures in Asia. I felt that was important to point out as I'm not going for a homogenous Pan Asian kind of portrayal.

For those looking for further clarification about this concept, check out the synopsis below:

"Gossamer Guardians is a team of fantasy heroes I created influenced by classic fairytales. It is a high fantasy concept inspired by Final Fantasy, She-Ra: Princess of Power, Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, and the magical girl genre. It also pulls from history (specifically, marrying the time periods of classical antiquity with the middle ages all the way through the long nineteenth century).

On this alternate Earth, Europa is united by the beneficent Fairy Council. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Titania, this council governs over the Seven Kingdoms of the West. This arrangement has allowed the kingdoms to prosper and benefit from free trade. However, a schism in the council created by the rogue fairy Agrona has infected the kingdoms and encouraged an uprising in violence. Seeking to consolidate her power, Agrona has allied herself with the wicked Queen Valdis of Germania and the nomadic sorcerer Lazar in order to overthrow Prime Minister Titania. In response to this uprising, Titania has assembled heroes from across the realm to help her defeat Agrona and her forces. The champions of the Fairy Council have been dubbed the Gossamer Guardians. Together they alone can stop Agrona and her nefarious cabal."

Way back in September of 2016, I polled my watchers on the subject of fairytales. I asked them to rank ten of them according to their preference. The results of this poll would informed the creation of my characters and the order in which I'd post them. Of the choices listed, Cinderella placed sixth overall. This meant that Cinderella's analog would be drawn third.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank those that voted on the poll and I hope you all really like this concept. Specifically, I'd like to thank bjv016, Biruka, MrWonderWorks, DanFalcon, Steelpoodle, digipinky75910, kingziggy, Topherlee2, macdrome4, Jose-Ramiro, Amaliennoy, UncannyX-Factor, SargimusPrime, and featureanimestar97.

As always, I love hearing from you all so please feel free to leave a comment below.

Enjoy!