LAST EDITED ON Aug-02-08 AT 10:55 PM (EDT)
 
Storytime! This one needs a little setup.

A couple of months before the wedding, I was trying to think of something nice to do for Ardaniel to commemorate the event. Our main CoH characters, Tuncer and Rotini Barilla, were getting dangerously close to 50, and we were also getting close to our one-year anniversary in the game. So I hit on the idea that maybe I could get some art of our characters commissioned.

But what artist to try and get? Given all the special occasions the idea was wrapping up, up to and including getting *married* and all, after some internal debate I decided I would go for the brass ring and try to get someone very, very meaningful to the both of us. Someone whose work had itself helped to bring us closer together. So I wrote up an email and sent it off and held my proverbial breath.

Bupkis. Nada. 6 weeks passed without a reply. I assumed the artist in question was busy, and I wasn't utterly tied to the idea, so, you know, I tried and all. The wedding came and went, even though that wasn't the exact date I was shooting for in the first place, I'd more or less let it go.

Then, two weeks before this year's San Diego Comic-Con (which was the target date), I got a reply. "Looks like I missed the wedding, but if you still want it, yeah, I can do it." I scrambled for screenshots and reference, and sent them away. And then I spent an agonizing two weeks trying to keep my mouth shut- keeping a project so large under Ard's radar is a Herculean effort! And as if for bonus points, we actually managed to hit 50 on both of them the weekend before SDCC. I was psyched.

We pile into the car early on the Friday morning of Con, blast down to San Diego, hit the show floor right around 9:30am. Had to beeline to the NCSoft booth for our free game swag. And then, with a few unsubtle "Where is so-and-so's table again?" questions from me, we finally get there. After a few amusing moments of "Wow, does he remember us from last year? Cool." and then me and him doing a silent Laurel and Hardy routine finding the art in his sketchbook, he finds it and pulls it out...

...and I got *exactly* the floored reaction I'd been hoping for.

So, now that I finally got a decent scan and have sent the original off to a trusted framing shop, I'd like to show off master swordsman Tuncer and mistress of fire Rotini Barilla, as depicted by Mage and Grendel creator Matt Wagner:

edit: I'd like to add that I specifically sent screencaps sans any power effects, save one show Rotini's hands on fire from triggering one of her powers. That he managed to get the general background green of Tuncer's Regen secondary powers just floors me after the fact. :)

	Chad Collier Smirking Kilrathi The Captain of the Gravy Train

*grins* This is still entirely fantastic.

As to the powers....dude, you gotta figure he plays. :>

Awesome story, sweet art.

Polychrome

Yeah, I was completely fucking floored. Matt's an incredibly great guy, doing that for us.

That being said, Rotini's chest slider is certainly *not* set that far to the right in Paragon proper. There was obviously some dimensional realignment going on there.

Ard Collier
that Janice chick
Usual Suspect and general menace

...the funny thing is this story only serves to underscore the fact that that makes, I think, 3 people off the Eyrie staff(and counting) that my main's run into while they're heading out the Ouro zone's exit portal. *grin*

I distinctly remember recognizing the name and thinking "Hm...he doesn't look anything like an Elite. Must just be a coincidence or name homage from an Eyrie reader..."

Lo and behold, I am enlightened. ;)

Stand next to the Ouro portal long enough and you'll see someone you know, if only because it's faster than the freaking train and base portals.

I used Tuncer in a previous game (that shall remain nameless since they turned out to be a wet sack of suck) and when we made the switch to CoH, he had to come along. :)

	Chad Collier Smirking Kilrathi The Captain of the Gravy Train

I call it the Crosstown Express. :)

>...the funny thing is this story only serves to underscore the fact
>that that makes, I think, 3 people off the Eyrie staff(and counting)
>that my main's run into while they're heading out the Ouro zone's exit
>portal. *grin*

Derek Croft on Virtue isn't actually played by a staffer, FYI-- our intrepid technical consultant, Dave "donnerjack" Lawson, rolled him up.

Ard Collier
that Janice chick
Usual Suspect and general menace

>>...the funny thing is this story only serves to underscore the fact
>>that that makes, I think, 3 people off the Eyrie staff(and counting)
>>that my main's run into while they're heading out the Ouro zone's exit
>>portal. *grin*
>
>Derek Croft on Virtue isn't actually played by a staffer, FYI-- our
>intrepid technical consultant, Dave "donnerjack" Lawson, rolled him
>up.

Oh hey, I ran into him once, in a "did I just see what I thought I saw?" moment. I remember thinking to myself that it was yet another reason CoH needs a dual pistols set for heroes. :)

I've also seen Tuncer once, I think -- IIRC, he was just coming out of the building I was entering. Didn't know until now that it was an EPU player, though -- I thought it was a Halo reference. Ah well.

--sofaspud
--

> I remember thinking to myself that it was yet another
>reason CoH needs a dual pistols set for heroes. :)

Dual Pistols is coming to heroes; Lady Jane appears to be the test character for such things (from the Midnighter arc).

>I've also seen Tuncer once, I think -- IIRC, he was just coming out of
>the building I was entering. Didn't know until now that it was an EPU
>player, though -- I thought it was a Halo reference. Ah well.

Tuncer is an original EPU character concept, despite being a Covenant Elite. So, no, any Tunce ref is automatically an EPU ref. ;)

Ard Collier
that Janice chick
Usual Suspect and general menace

I've also seen a BS Scrapper(I think) sporting the name Vigdis Brightblade running around on Virtue. Is that a staffer as well?

>Is that a staffer as well?

Nah, that's one of the folks who have toons in The Legendary.

-- Bob
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I intend to be a freak for the rest of my life, and I shall baffle you with cabbages and rhinoceroses in the kitchen and incessant quotations from Now We Are Six through the mouthpiece of Lord Snooty's giant poisoned electric head. So theeeeeere...