Naxela

This is one of the first sketches I did of Naxela, the central dude in the story.  Crooked Sabre is the narrator and he will appear fairly regularly as he and Nax are a couple (with pretty relaxed boundaries).  Anyway, Nax is one of those generals who are either a great leader or a mass murderer depending on whose side you are on (and yes his name is an unsubtle cue to a historical inspiration).

I see Nax as a pretty solid, ethical kind of guy who is prepared to do what it takes, even if that means making decisions that make him the bad guy.   He is facing a pretty fucked up theocratic empire in the Men of Weare who have colonised or conquered a large chunk of the world.  Before he is done, Nax will go much further and (briefly) bring civilisation to far flung parts of the globe.

Nax has access to the magic, science and knowledge of the old world, the science that the Shantist church fears.  The same science that created the Ix (so called abominations of dark sorcery).  He also believes in some of the controversial philosophy of the old world, equality, rights, liberty and so on.

  

On a personal level, Nax is one of those infuriatingly stubborn people who are always convinced they are right and are just waiting for you to come around to their point of view.   He is a very intelligent warrior philosopher, a great leader but something of a know it all.  This can be frustrating to be around when he is right and very dangerous when he is wrong.

Like his inspiration, Nax only has a short period of time to get things done.  He can be impatient, especially in his need to crack 'the Ix Code' and acquire the Hands of God.   Coupled with his stubbornness can lead to a frustration that others can't keep up with his level of intensity.   He's building a legacy but its also a tombstone.