Khyranne in her Sirh Empire outfit, which she wears during most of the Reclamation.I guess a bit of backstory is in order too. Khyranne was born to a large, rich family in Myran, back when the country was still part of the Phycosian Confederation. Being born far from the war between the Empire and Confederation, she had a peaceful childhood. She was one of many children in this family and as such she didn't always get the full attention of her parents. At a very young age, she started to show signs of great magical aptitude, and she ended up reading about magic on her own, even going as far as practicing during her spare time. Her parents tried to get her to stop and pursue something more practical, but she continued studying on her own.
The fateful day came when her magic experimentation resulted in a whole wing of the house burning down. This loss, coupled with the fact that she had been warned before, resulted in her parents disowning her, considering her a delinquent child and casting her out of their home. She was sent to live in a foster home far away near imperial territory where she lived in much poorer conditions along with other orphans. She was forced to adapt to this lifestyle quickly, and in time, found herself part of the wrong crowd, spending most of her teenage life stealing for a living. Of course, when she got a chance, she read more books on magic, and even stole them in some cases, and her abilities continued to grow. She started to put these skills to use in her "job", eventually earning her a reputation. One day, she was found by a man not much older than her who saw her potential and offered to give her a better life as a mercenary. Khyranne was more than happy to take this opportunity and joined immediately. That man was Czalyr Vintas, who would eventually become the most important person in her life.
Sprites of Khyranne for Convergence, in Imperial, Confederate, and Legion colors respectively.
For years, Khyranne fought alongside the mercenaries, fighting on the side of the Sirh Empire. In the meantime, Czalyr trained her in more practical skills, but soon found himself eclipsed by her abilities. Regardless, she always considered him a sort of superior, and not really much else. In time, the Third Demon War began, and the mercenaries found themselves spared from execution in exchange for serving the Confederation. The ferocity of the war slowly took the lives of her comrades, and their numbers started to dwindle. Everything came to a head when the mercenaries were betrayed and slaughtered, with only Khyranne and Czalyr surviving. The two were sent to a prison camp where they were subjected to harsh labor and torture, and Czalyr, feeling responsible for dragging her into this, had to watch painfully as Khyranne slowly lost touch of the world, all the while powerless to do anything. At least, until one opportunity came.
One day, Czalyr and Khyranne were able to break out of the prison camp, and fled across a barren, frozen wasteland on their own, evading pursuers along the way. Khyranne was deathly sick and terrified, but Czalyr carried her as far as he could. For weeks they ran and hid, living off the land, until finally sickness threatened to take Czalyr's life. Khyr instead picked up the slack as best as she could, but even this didn't get them far. Having formed a powerful bond through their hardships, the two promised each other that they would stay together even in hell, they resigned themselves to their fate. However, this would not be - someone else found them instead.
Khyranne vs Mastoreon, as drawn by Capt. StrifePersephone the Cruel, a powerful psychic and wing lord of the Tyrant Legion's Hundred Suns, detected the faint signs of the two escapees when they entered her territory. Sensing people in such a remote place intrigued her, and soon she sent her forces to pick them up. Persephone nursed both Khyranne and Czalyr until they had fully recovered, and used her powers to heal their minds. When the two were back to their normal selves, Persephone saw their potential and offered them a job - to serve as elite "monarchites" of the Legion, under the Hundred Suns. She promised them their vengeance, and even more power. The two were more than happy to take the job. They became part of a select few to receive the tutelage of the prime demons of the Demonarchy, which resulted in their skills improving by leaps and bounds.
Khyranne vs Crimson, as drawn by Sleeping Wind.And so, in the following years, up to the end of the Third Demon War, Khyranne and Czalyr became champions of the Tyrant Legion, sweeping aside its enemies and leaving nothing in their wake. But like many others in the Legion, they soon saw it for what it really was - a rampaging army of criminals bent on ravaging the continent. When the war ended, the two left the legion and struck out on their own, returning to their mercenary roots.
Khyranne after a particularly devastating super move (taken from the art tournament).
And that brings us to the Reclamation storyline, which like I said in previous posts, is somewhat unclear at this time. Anyway, Khyranne stands out because she served as my "favorite" character for years, ever since I first created her in 2001 or so. She has always been a mage of sorts, and I gave her a shotgun for a weapon when the Third Demon War setting became more modern. One reason she sticks out so much for me is because of her unusual fighting style, combining magic with her shotgun to form different kinds of shots, while using the prime demon Arcan-traax's spells. Interestingly, I came up with this idea when i read about various kinds of shotgun shells at some point, and found the diversity to be awesome enough that I should implement it with her, except using magic instead. Turned out to be a good move.
The other interesting thing is that she isn't as "sexy" as most of my other female characters. In fact, her long coat outfit could be seen as kinda plain and unflattering in some cases. I dressed her in a more practical manner knowing that she'd be in cold environments, but the coat thing has been her outfit for so long that it's hard to see her in anything else. Either way, female charm hasn't really been her main draw, although I've done a decent job of giving her an attractive "mature woman" face in the last couple years. On the contrary, some could call her manly in some cases. But it's those quirks that make her more unique among the other female characters I have.As I said before, she's the most-drawn character out of the 50 jillion that I've made. I featured her in the GamingW Art Tournament, in which I drew her in three comics, the third being 53 pages long. And so, even if Skulhoarse seems to have stolen the spotlight from her for now, she's always an important part of my universe, because a lot of my growth as an artist usually had her in it somewhere. Like I've said before, she'll have her moment again. Heh.
So here, have a gallery:
Khyranne and a couple other Reclamation characters, as drawn by Skie.
Khyranne's Diamond Spire move, one of Arcan-traax's signature moves that she added to her repertoire, often used to finish off enemies or do serious damage to machines or vehicles. This move can vary depending on how much power she puts into it...
...as seen here. (Art by Sleeping Wind)
Khyr likes to use her signature Frost Blanket to immobilize an enemy before blasting them to oblivion.
Star of Power and Magma Cannon, two of Khyr's mid-level spells. Star of Power creates three or more spheres of energy controlled by her mind which shoot lightning bolts at nearby enemies, while Magma Cannon is essentially a magic artillery shell.
Star of Destruction, a higher level spell similar to the weaker Star of Power, except this one shoots piercing beams in rapid succession.
Arrow of Destruction, a desperation move Khyr invented in which she pools all of her remaining energy into one devastating shot. This results in the explosion in the picture up there.
Khyranne fighting...Valeska? Yeah she makes a cameo in Convergence.Also, here's an older introductory comic from back in the GW Art Tournament, somewhat summarizing the above backstory.
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