The Creature from the Murky Fens
By Elessar Taralom on March 5th, 2016 |
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"Sometimes, when a wanderer passes through the fen at night, he hears things. Don´t get me wrong, I usually don´t believe in stuff like this, but the guy who told this story to me is usually pretty reliable. He didn´t only hear things; he also SAW something. A giant creature, cowering in the murky water, hiding behind tree trunks and hollow stumps. He swore to me, this creature was nothing he had ever seen in his life. Its eyes were glowing hauntingly, following his every movement and his massive head looke a bit like that of a Charr, but not quite. Sometimes it seemed to emit a dark growl, but it didn´t attack. It just followed and watched, until my good friend reached the safety of an outpost. He swore to me he would never enter this fen at night again. Now I can also sometimes hear it at night: the scratching of giant fangs, the howling of a beast. I fear that it didn´t like his presence being known."
This look was quite a risk for me. I wanted to create something that barely looks like it belongs into the world of Tyria anymore, creating a monster that isn´t even a Charr on first glance. The Fanged Dread Mask was just perfect for that aim and to bring an interesting dye job into the whole look, I chose the Tribal weapons. I always disliked this weapon set, but for this shamanic beast I found them kinda fitting. I just wanted to go out of my comfort zone and create something that is ugly and wild and just different.
I was also kind of inspired by the Moonkins from World of Warcraft, especially when it came to the right hair style.
I know he has a face only a mother can love, but I hope you also find something intriguing about this look! ^^
Discuss this look on Reddit at GuildWarsDyeJob!
Comments
 AnaChronism Fashion Guru | You took a risk and you succeeded! He really looks like an evil and frightening creature from another world I just love that little 'monster' aspect of his. The face mask reminds me a bit of the demons in Buffy and that's a huge plus :D I like how you incorperated the weapons to your look and how perfect everything works together with your armour mix and the dye- scheme you used. It's a brave thing to create an 'ugly' character but in my oppinion he is still pretty bad ass and looks damn awesome but I understand if others would rather keep their distance as soon as they see him. I like the story and the athmosphere your screens are really perfect, as well and as always! I'm kinda falling for this Charr and I am really a fan of his look it's so damn creative and such a rare thing it really deserves all the Gold I have! |
| 2016-03-05 9:42 | |
 Luphegor Trendspotter | That´s a really unique looking Charr, that´s for sure! The screens are just amazing and the theme is really interesting and fitting to the look :) |
| 2016-03-05 10:02 | |
 Mithras Fashion Collector | Awesome effect on first and third screens :). |
| 2016-03-05 10:10 | |
 Hylek Fashionista | Absolutely awesome! Your screens are purely amazing! I LOVE the tribal weapons! Its so nice to see a look centered around them!!! The shoulderpiece fits just perfectly! So much Gold ^,^ |
| 2016-03-05 10:36 | |
 KestrelGirl Fashionista | WOAHHHH!! Love this super-evil charr! Pure gold! |
| 2016-03-05 10:50 | |
 ridiculousRia Stylist | Those are some amazing screens! After some getting used to, i might even really dig this look. The idea behind it is without a doubt really cool and well executed. |
| 2016-03-05 11:48 | |
 windrell Trendspotter | Very strong voodoo look. And good choice to use a charr; I don't think any other race can pull this off quite as well. Gold :D |
| 2016-03-05 12:44 | |
 Elessar Taralom Fashionista | Ty! ^^ Yeah, everything else just looks too humanoid And Asura...not monstrous enough :p |
| 2016-03-05 12:47 in reply to windrell | |
 Migg Fashionista | Everything is PERFECT!! :D |
| 2016-03-05 13:17 | |
 RedIvy Fashion Guru | I was already amazed at the thumbnail! This is a very impressive look and those screens are perfects! |
| 2016-03-05 18:03 | |
 SIGfigures Stylist | I want to like this, but I find it increasingly difficult the more I look at the armor combination and choice of dyes. There's this discrepancy between the Dry Bones Chest and the Invoker legs that I can't ignore. I see this 'disconnection' between your chest and legs, which makes it appear that your character is cut in half (Which, I think is armor weight issue, as the pieces don't flow well together). Likewise, I feel the bladed gloves don't compliment your character's look; you have this creature that carries this deathly appearance, yet the Bladed gloves were perhaps not the best choice to align with that appearance. Sure, they have the bone motif, but I think that's as far as it goes. Personally, I think there are a plethora of different glove skins you could have used (Wrappings of the Lich, Primitive Handwraps, Trickster's Gloves come to mind). I'm also not sold on the boots. They feel clunky, to say the least. The Devout boots are very low-cut, and again, probably not the best choice here. Perhaps the Archon, Walkers of the Lich, Whispers boots could fare better? Dyes also feel out of place, as you have this purple that doesn't really show anywhere outside of your weapon choice. Your metals are dyed very awkwardly, and I can't see them being appropriate to the material it's dyed. The Trickster shoulder dyes aren't very fitting with your armor combination, as well. I see that it's supposed to match your tribal weapons, but again, outside of that it falls short. Screenshots are also VERY dark -- More so the lighting in the screenshots. The only 'truly' clear picture you have of your look is the character select shot, and even then, it's hard to discern the armor textures and colors. Perhaps next time get some shots in a more neutral lighting? Also, with your screens, I can't really see your weapon choice outside of one or two screens (The rest have your weapons obscured due to skill effects and camera angles). I'd love to see more neutral stances with your weapons out, as well. All in all, I feel this look has potential, but for me, it falls short in multiple aspects. There's a lot that can be changed and touched upon, and I hope you take into consideration my feedback. |
| 2016-03-05 20:14 | |
Elessar Taralom Fashionista | I appreciate that you took the time to write such a long comment, but I actually find it unneccessarily harsh and criticism for criticisms cause, but I know that´s kinda your thing on here |
| 2016-03-06 0:14 in reply to SIGfigures | |
 thunderstruck Fashion Guru | lol, some people really neee to chill I loooooove this!!!! it's extraordinary and highly original, not your everyday boring charr with the same old boring colour scheme! The screens are so so so well done, extremely atmospherical, I mean, srsly what's there to mock here? |
| 2016-03-06 0:25 | |
 NanaItalia Fashionista | I love it! The combination is very unusual, but you made it work perfectly. I find he looks like a charr version of the mossman, but much better :) The dyes are perfect too, they capture the essence of mukiness. I agree with thunderstruck, some people need to chill. On this side we always try to combine armor pieces, that were not designed to fit together, but you did an excellent job! GOLD :) |
| 2016-03-06 5:58 | |
Elessar Taralom Fashionista | Thank you! That´s a really cool idea actually! He did feel very comfortable in the Swamp Fractal at least :D I guess one can always find smth to criticise, I don´t take it too harshly, I´m quite confident in my style anyways ^^ |
| 2016-03-06 6:51 in reply to NanaItalia | |
 Cykomore Trendspotter | This slightly remind me of something.... :D Amazing look like always ! Second and fourth screens are beautiful, and the overall theme is awesome. I do have a little problem with the bladed gloves in here, something more tribal and "bony" would have fit more IMO. That's close to what I would have gone with for my latest look, except I didn't have tribal armor so I had to do with something else :D |
| 2016-03-06 9:11 | |
 Acethyle Fashion Guru | He looks so unique! Using that mask is genius he looks otherworldly :D I love the feathers that fit to the tribal weapons so well. Beautiful screens as always. Goooold for the Creature ;) |
| 2016-03-06 12:15 | |
 LyraHeart Stylist | I'm not sure where you're seeing anything harsh in Sig's feedback. Rather I see a well thought out and honest critique of a look--something that is rare to see in the comments on this site. Furthermore it is a fashion site meant to judge looks (hence the sliders for voting) so any kind of criticism/feedback should be expected. That being said, I have to agree with Sig to an extent. I feel like the chest and legs are a good combo, though I believe I can see what he means by a disconnect between them. I think this more so has to do with the dyes than the armor pieces. I definitely agree about the gloves, they feel very out of place with the cloth textures you have going on. Something more like the trickster gloves or--if you were lucky enough to get them back when--the tribal gloves. As for the boots, I feel like every light boot looks clunky on Charr, as just an unfortunate side effect of how Anet designed them. I do agree that a taller boot like the Archon boot would fit this look better. The mask (while I personally don't like helms at all) is scary and fits your theme--so good job there! As for the dyes, I'll start with the shoulders. The purple feels out of place too, despite trying to be matched with the weapon. I think had you added purple elsewhere it might not be such an eyesore. Also I feel like you need some variation in your dyes. Sure, you may point out that you have several colors in the outfit, but the majority is this olive green color. I think some more brownish dyes in the chest and legs would really help this look out. Also going to agree about the screens, they are very dark and hard to see the Charr. I understand that this is partly what you are going for with his story, as he is not so much a Charr anymore as he is a monster. The screens are suiting. But you're not showing off the armor or doing it any justice by having such dark screens. While I admire your screen taking abilities, I come here to see armor looks, not dolled up screenshots. I'd definitely like to see more clear screen shots of this character, as he has an interesting concept. Overall I think with a couple of changes--the dyes and gloves--this look would be really good. |
| 2016-03-06 17:09 | |
Elessar Taralom Fashionista | Well, there are just two main dye slots for legs and chest Everything that I could vary there I did, but I don´t see how two different dyes on chest and legs would´ve helped the look; look at the pieces and the dye channels themselves and you´ll notice that there is not much variation possible You may not like my choice to go with the dye scheme of the Tribal weapons, but you can´t deny that this is 1:1 the colour of the feathers; they wouldn´t be this colour if not for the weapons, so I find it a bit unfair to critque it like this, I just feel that my intention for the look wasn´t taken into consideration I agree that other gloves would have been possible, but I personally already use the Lich Wrapping for example on a lot of looks, so I wanted to go for smth different here As for screens: they are there to support my look and my story. This is how I view screens on this site: it is about presentation, about interesting looking screens. The character select screen is there to judge the colour, the rest is for storytelling. Again, I appreciate that you took the time to leave a comment, but maybe if you look at some of the pieces yourself you´ll see that certain decisions were made for a reason, at least personal ones that I hopefully elaborated a bit on |
| 2016-03-06 17:33 in reply to LyraHeart | |
 glitterbat Fashion Guru | Gold - straight away, this is SO well put together and so unusual. Really impressive screenshots too! :) |
| 2016-03-07 8:55 | |
 Ursaring Fashion Guru | Warning: Long post To begin with, I think your dismissal of SigFigures commentary based on his perceived "harsh" tone is unwarranted. He is a decent stylist and solid creator of Charr looks (19/28 of his looks are Charr), so I believe his feedback is worth a great deal in regards to Charr creations. Based on your previous submissions (only 2/19 are Charr not including this one) you don't appear to have much experience with Charr styling so I would think it prudent to heed the advice of someone who does. In addition, to generalize all of SigFigures feedback as "unnecessarily harsh and criticism for criticisms cause" because "that's his thing here" is also dishonest. While, most of his commentary does lean towards critiques he has left quite a lot of feedback on this website that has helped budding stylists improve. It is of little wonder why so few people offer constructive criticism anymore, if disregard and contempt is the response they'll receive. Constructive criticism is a process in which one offers well-reasoned opinions about the works of others with useful advice intended to help improve the outcome. I believe SigFigures provided exactly that, he gave some well-reasoned opinions(as a Charr stylist) and offered some good advice (such as different armor pieces you could use) that could improve your look based off of what he felt was ill-fitting. Your disregard to his feedback made me seriously consider whether or not I should comment on this look, but seeing as how you gave a response to LyraHeart's review, I'm taking a leap of faith that you'll offer the same to me. ------------------------------------------------------------------ To start on your originality, I think the concept for this style is really well-done. It's difficult enough to find light armor Charr, but I've seen few uses of Charr in a swampy environment, and even much less use of the Tribal weapons. It's an appealing concept that's only more supported by the description you provided and I think you demonstrated the idea very well with the hairstyle you chose. It's frayed, spiky, wild, and intimidating, something that I think an inhabitant of a swamp would wear very easily. Even your more subtle choices, like eye color, such as the fiery shade you chose, really helps bring that dangerous gleam to his visage. Although, the Bat wings you picked, something I would have entirely overlooked, truly cements this concept of an otherworldly being who you do not want encounter. However, its because of this concept that I begin to wonder at your armor and dye choices. I am trying to take your intentions into consideration as I believe the idea for this look was a creature of the swamp but it seems that some selections for your concept aren't very well fitting to the rest of your look. I liked a lot of your choices. Your use of the Fanged Dread Mask was spot-on. It's scary, it's dreadful, and it's perfect for this theme. My only nitpick with the dyes you chose for this helm is that I would have liked to see it reflect your weapon selection some more. You have many mask-like elements on your weapons; intricately carved faces, similar to your head-piece. It would've been a nice approach to see some of that color and texture brought over to your helm with a different dye choice. As it is, though, I think what you did with the mask looks good already. But despite my minor disappointment in that, I think you make up for it very pleasantly through your shoulder piece. The feathery Trickster mantle is fitting and I don't think any other piece (barring Tribal) would've provided a better substitute. The dye you chose is also perfect, it's a 1:1 match to the color of the feathers in your weapons and adds a nice aspect of coordination between your armor and weapons. A minor nitpick about the purple dye you used is that I would have liked to see more purple used in the rest of your armor. Your chest piece, bony and tattered as it is, makes for a very suitable pick that matches your primitive look well. However, I struggle to understand your dyes choices. I can see why you picked that shade of green-to match your Tribal weapons-but I think adding another hue, like a darker green or brown in place of the Cinders you chose would emphasize the tattered and stitched appearance of this chest-piece better, as well as capture the murkiness of the swamp as stains on his clothing. Because of how well you established your theme, your choices of gloves, boot, and pants don't make much sense to me. To reiterate what LyraHeart said, the metallic aspects of your gloves and pants feel out of place with the cloth textures you're using. In addition, swamps/marshes/fens are wetlands that are saturated with water, metallic garb would be out of place and weighty, not to mention rust very quickly. Moreover, the leggings you chose feel dissonant to the chest-piece. The chest is cloth-like, tattered, and adorned with bone, while the leggings have a very leather-like texture, look to be smooth, kempt, and adorned with metal. In addition, as previously stated by others, Charr boots are notoriously difficult to chose and understandably even more difficult to match to a set. Even with that in mind I feel that better boots could have been chosen. These boots aren't fitting to your theme; they don't match the cloth and bony textures on the rest of your armor and their low-cut would not be useful in a wet and swampy environment. Taking into regard your not wanting to reuse the Lich Wrappings I think some good glove substitutes, like the others have offered, would be Trickster, Primitive, Tribal (if you have it) and even Whispers if dyed correctly. Those gloves are made of cloth (Whispers), have bone adornments (Tribal) and even offer textures that you would be able to dye to emulate the carvings on your weapons (Tricksters/Primitive). Also, with regards to repetition, I think an fitting alternative for your leggings would be the Primitive leggings or Trappings of the Lich. Both are cloth armor with tattered textures and bone adornments that would be fitting to the rest of your look. As for boots, I would lean towards pieces that match the texture of your armor as more fitting, bony adornments (Walkers of the Lich), dyable "feathers/fur" (Cabalist/Exalted) and ragged cloth (Primitive) would work. As I think visual aids are important, I did a mock-up as an example of what I think your Charr can look like with some of the changes I spoke of.(http://i.imgur.com/rgpDoX3.png) Your screenshots, as always, look splendid. You have your character in many degrees of motion and combat where his personality manages to come through. I have one recommendation, though I know it was said before. I understand it's very befitting of this character to be in dark locations as a monster/creature would be, however I would've liked to see more screenshots of your Charr in clearer lighting. I'd like to catch a better glimpse of his dyes, armor combination, and weapons and how they all flow together into his look, but with so many different screens showing so few of each aspect it's like piecing together a puzzle. I also understand you believe screenshots are about presentation and storytelling, but they are only one facet of a look that will be judged on this website(only 20%). Ultimately, armor combination, dye choices, and originality comprise the majority, three-fifths (60%), of what one should be looking at when evaluating a look. Screenshots are a medium for showing armor, dyes and originality, and not just a way to tell a story, especially when the character-select screen omits so many aspects of a look that help with determining its originality (back piece, gliders, weapons, pets, mini-pets and more). All things considered, I really like this look but I think it can be better. The armor combination and dyes are sound for the top half but can still be worked on for the lower half. The screens are well-done yet could be improved with a few shots in better lighting. And the concept is original and striking with a solid description that's supportive of the idea. |
| 2016-03-07 21:08 | |
Elessar Taralom Fashionista | Okay, first of all: thanks that you took a lot of time to write this comment, it is always great to see these kinds of comments! It is more the style of his comment and why I felt Lyra´s and your comments were just a bit more balanced and helpful to me; also some personal stuff that I won´t spread out on the site here, so let´s just get to the actual important bit! Some of the things you addressed I already answered in my reply to Lyra, so I hope you don´t mind if I skip some of the points As I said, the choice of the gloves were mostly because of me personally having the feel of overusing the Lich Wrappings; I 100% see, why people have a problem with them, but I just don´t want to be too repetitive on my own characters, that´s why I found the creepy skulls just kinda fitting My initial thought for the pants was, that I wanted much of his fur visible; most of Light armour pants look a bit too much like weird skirts to me, that´s why I went for a different style BUT seeing the Lich legs you used I really have to say that this looks incredibly good with the little bones! I probably pushed it aside too soon, because of its skirt like appearance, but maybe that would also be a piece where I could integrate the bright purple a bit without it looking too out of place. I will definitely consider changing the pants, thank you for the picture you attached! With the boots it is somewhat similar to the gloves, otherwise I might have chosen T1 or T2 cultural boots; I really didn´t want smth that covered up too much fur either, and while I considered taking the Whisperer´s Boots, I ultimately decided against it. Maybe I will settle for cultural boots after all I do agree that my screens fall a bit on the dark side which can also be attributed to GemFX to some point, I just couldn´t find a brighter area that still fit his theme too well. I might get searching again though and maybe switch out some screens here then. So all in all! This was a great comment that definitely helped me see some flaws and solutions for said flaws, so thank you a lot! I will probably not upload a second version since I got a lot of other stuff planned instead, but I will change some screens and definitely change the character in-game according to some of your suggestions! I hope I could convince you that I am not unwilling to take advise on my looks and thanks again for that detailed review, I mean, I knew this character was a bit of a stretch ^^ |
| 2016-03-08 3:08 in reply to Ursaring | |
 morriganiontko Fashionista | I think everyone here love you (seriously! :3) and noone want to criticize you, it's more like personal taste. I adore every your look, decision and screen, here is no difference! Idea with purple feathers is incredible, I see shoulders with Tribal weapons are unity. Honestly I'm surprised anybody can think different :o Also I totally get idea of dark screens, it's part of presentation (and you added screen from character select so I don't see the problem) Also I understand difficulty of creating something "ugly". However even nasty character made by you is so so awesome :D |
| 2016-03-08 8:07 | |
Elessar Taralom Fashionista | Thank you a lot for this positive feedback! ^^ As I said, I can 100% understand some of the critic points, so it is no big deal essentially, and especially Ursaring really helped me out, that is the kind of critique I am totally fine with getting! However I of course get totally overjoyed with the great feedback and support people like you are giving to me, so thanks for that! ^^ |
| 2016-03-08 9:10 in reply to morriganiontko | |
 Idoh Stylist | Great overall theme! The screens are diamond... Perfect score! |
| 2016-03-08 10:41 | |
 sweet_tooth Trendspotter | okay, this is kinda creepy >> but I still love it! |
| 2016-03-23 12:42 | |
 zenobia Stylist | This is spectacular. I don't know if you meant to do this, but the action shots in the swamp/branded areas look like scenes from some dark Pixar film. And I really mean this as a compliment. I love the boldness of the colors and the armor choices --- it's such a fun look! The impression I get from one glance at this charr is that he has character, he has a backstory, and he's an interesting figure. Good to break the charr stereotypes! :) |
| 2017-02-16 0:10 | |
Elessar Taralom Fashionista | Thanks so much for your feedback! I am really glad you enjoyed the screens so much, the light in these areas is really phenomenal, was nice to screen there! Glad to see some fans of unusual looks on the site ^^ |
| 2017-02-16 6:09 in reply to zenobia |
