David Markiwsky

@davidmarkiwsky.bsky.social

872 Followers 531 Following

Ennie Award-winning writer/artist/art director/producer šŸ³ļøā€šŸŒˆšŸ‡ØšŸ‡¦ (he/him) dmarkiwsky@gmail.com

A banner with the title ā€œBefallenā€ on a collage of artwork. From left to right: a sea monster with the front half of a shark and the back half of a kraken crushing a ship in itā€™s tentacles; a village with nordic-inspired architecture nestled in a misty pine forest; a door frame wreathed in pink flowers standing in the middle of a burning village, from which emerges a giant hand; a seaside village overhung with ominous green clouds; a being of twisted metal and glowing embers, twisting the clouds between itā€™s fingers.
A man kneels in a forest, leaning on his unsheathed sword. He is overshadowed by a tall growth of intertwining plants behind himā€”the foliage and branches forming the vague shape of a humanoid, with hand outstretched towards the kneeling man. Tiny seedlings sprout from the man, tearing through his skin and clothes as they seek the sunlight.
Befallen cover art. A knight sits on a boulder, cleaning his sword. Blue crystals grow from between the joints in his armor, covering his shoulder and protruding from the visor of his helmet. In the background, crystal formations sprout from the ground as a village burns, sending up a plume of purple smoke that blots out the sun.
Screenshot of Spotify playing Placebo's album, "Meds".
Muse. A solo journaling game of eldritch creativity. An easel stands in teh middle of a dark room, blank canvas ready to be painted on. A small table, splattered with stands next the easel, adorned only with a paint-covered can holding old brushes. All around the easel, a collage of multicoloured paint splashes litter the floor. Out of the darkness behind the easel, a multiarmed creature, with spiralling patterns across it's mouthless face, emerges in a sea of stars.
Befallen cover art. A knight sits on a boulder, cleaning his sword. Blue crystals grow from between the joints in his armor, covering his shoulder and protruding from the visor of his helmet. In the background, crystal formations sprout from the ground as a village burns, sending up a plume of purple smoke that blots out the sun.
Oathbound Hunter. An oath is a powerful, sacred and magical thingā€”a promise given and a binding willingly placed upon your soul. Oathbound Hunters are fighters, enforcers, trackers and killers who bonded themselves through the ancient practice of oathbinding to an order or deity. They seek out their goals with a single minded determination born of their oath. Here, youā€™ll find 3 binding oaths to choose from: - Order of the Brass Shield - Packmate of the Wild Hunt - Whispers of the Last Gasp
Awakened Scholar. Nestled amongst the Northern mountain ranges, in the shadow of The Teeth and hidden from the prying eyes of the rest of the world lies the College of Enlightened Analysis. Here, college scholars use scientific methods to delve into arcane mysteries, relying on a state of awakening achieved through contact with a dead god to broaden their awareness. These scholars have tapped into many forces, once thought mystical or arcane, and bent them to their experimentsā€”most notably, the forces of harmonics and reflections.
Back Alley Duelist. In the city of Karn, blade masters stalk the alleyways, engaging in duels beneath the light of the full moon, trying to build their legends, heap honor upon their name, or reclaim honor long lost. It is said that the Goddess of the Moon is the patron of fools and those who are lost, with no place to go. Here, youā€™ll find two paths to choose from: Glory Seeker Forgotten Blades of the Moon
Rogue Alchemist. The teachings of the alchemical arts are closely guarded by the Alchemical Orders: The Order of the Gleaming Dawn, the Order of the Twilight Moon and the Order of the Silver Phial. They restrict their knowledge to a chosen few students who follow their strict rules and hold to their regimented value system. However, there are those few alchemists who eschew the strictures of the Orders and learn the secrets of alchemy through their own experimentation or by stealing the secrets held by the orders. These are known as Rogue Alchemists.
Bronze Broker. Finding its origin in the city of Ravensward, a den of warring criminal factions and religious zealotry, the Bronze Vault is at once international bank, mafia-led protection racket and temple to the bronze god of debt. The Bronze Vault has branches in every major city in every corner of the world, lending money to rich and poor, businesses and monarchs, alike. The Bronze Vault always collects on its debts, taking what it is owed and much more. It is the job of the brokers of the Bronze Vault to leave the walls of their temples and wring payment from those who would default on their debts. The Bronze God gifts his brokers with an unnatural intuition for ferreting out secrets and connecting informationā€”information they employ to compel others to obey them. Many brokers take up their role to work off their own debts to the Vault, though many stay on after their debts are paid, drawn by the wealth purloined from debtors or the lures of the Bronze God.
Fated Hero. There have always been stories of great heroes who push past their limits to slay monsters, battle villains and defend the weak. Despite seemingly insurmountable odds, they always seem to prevail, as though the Crone of Fate themself had decreed their victories. Fated heroes are those for whom the Crone of Fate had decreed a great destiny. They are resilient in the face of overwhelming odds and survive when others would fall.
Salt Sorcerer. For hundreds of years, Salt Sorcerers have learned their craft in the coastal salt marshes where land meets sea, freshwater meets salt, and storms roll across the horizon. They eschew the gods of the cityfolk to commune directly with the spirits of the land, learning spellcraft from their familiar spirits. Although they refer to themselves as the Medean, they have come to be known more widely as Salt Sorcerers for the accumulated salt that they gather from the reeds and herbs of the salt marshes. They use this salt to cast ritual circles or inscribe magical symbols when combined with herbs and oils. It has become common for merchants to hire a salt sorcerer to ward their caravans against attacks from bandits and monsters, or for those traveling into deeper waters to hire a Salt Sorcerer to travel aboard the ship and sing magical songs to lull the most dangerous sea creatures to sleep.
Forge Witch. The Forge Mother is the goddess of the hearth and the forgeā€”giver of warmth and life-giving bread, who protects her followers and hones unshapen metal into useful tools and deadly weapons. Forge witches are her chosen disciples. They are masters of hammer, forge and hearth; able to coax flames with unrivaled skill. They ignite the flames of the forge within themselves and traffic with the spirits of metal and flame, awakening life within the objects they craft by binding spirits into them beneath their hammers. They often serve as wise-folk in many smaller communities, offering their services smithing and crafting charms to protect the community and cure minor ailments. Forge Witches cast magical spells by igniting collections of herbs or other materials in their forge, or by crafting small trinkets from clay or metal.
Memento. Orran Felding was a duellist and bard, descended from a disgraced noble house; renowned for his quick wit, quick swordplay and his sticky fingers. He traveled from court to court, plying his skills with lute and sword in an attempt to make a name for himself and rekindle his family fortunes. However, his penchant for petty theft put him in the sights of a sorceress of the Varrae, who placed a curse on him guaranteeing that his name would never be remembered. Generations later, Feldingā€™s descendants continue to carry his curse. Memories of interactions with them immediately begin to slip from peopleā€™s memories after they are out of sight, unless they have a memento to remind them of the interaction.
Masked Visage. Queen Nerra Albaysian, of Aikoria uncovered a doppelganger in her court. It had been masquerading as various people, including a hand maid and one of her closest advisors. After this discovery, Queen Nerra became obsessed with understanding the magic of doppelgangers and through years of experimentation created a technique by which she could steal the likeness of others through the crafting of magical masks. Nerra passed these secrets on to her daughters and they to their daughters down the line of succession until the kingdom of Aikoria fell. Now Nerraā€™s techniques are resurfacing again in the hands of charlatans, con artists and spies. Some theorize that it might have been the intervention of these criminal elements and their desire for Nessaā€™s techniques that led to the downfall of Aikoria itself. How did you learn the mask making techniques? Was your master allied with the royals of Aikoria or with the criminal elements who orchestrated the fall of the empire and theft of its secret arts?
Gentian Virtuoso. The virtuosos of the Gentian Conservatory are master musicians who seek to craft the most artful, pure expressions of music. To achieve this aim, they conjure the spirits of great musicians of the past and trap them in the Melodicus, a massive structure of gold, rune-etched-glass and mystical artifice. The Gentians utilize solosā€”talismans of gold, crystal and glassā€”to channel the collective knowledge and skill of these captive souls to create unimaginable feats of musical genius that are entrancing and sometimes dangerous to those who hear them.
Befallen cover art. A knight sits on a boulder, cleaning his sword. Blue crystals grow from between the joints in his armor, covering his shoulder and protruding from the visor of his helmet. In the background, crystal formations sprout from the ground as a village burns, sending up a plume of purple smoke that blots out the sun.
Tibbers, an orange and white cat, sits with his butt on the stairs and his paws on the floor, watching birds out the window.
A fey lord with long silver hair and antlers of twisted black wood is seated on a throne of twisted silver wood. Moonlight streams through an opening in the roof of the cave, silhouetting roots hanging from the ceiling above. Swords and spears are stuck into the ground around him, wreathed in leafless saplings.
Befallen cover art. A knight sits on a boulder, cleaning his sword. Blue crystals grow from between the joints in his armor, covering his shoulder and protruding from the visor of his helmet. In the background, crystal formations sprout from the ground as a village burns, sending up a plume of purple smoke that blots out the sun.
A man kneels, holding the pummel of his sword, while a profusion of plants bloom behind him. A hand, crafted of wood and vines reaches out for him as plants begin to sprout from his exposed skin.
A grim mesmer - a creature born of a spirit who was caught in a nightmare. The creature stands tall, on 2 human-ish legs and is wrapped ina colourless sarong. It's stomach gapes open, shedding an eerie teal glow coming from a glowing, exposed heart. From it's shoulders, black tendrils ooze upwards, pulled by weightless indigo spheres. Its face is covered by a featureless white mask, which has crack and broken, revealing a malicious smile beneath.
A forge witch stands wreathed in flames, drawing the power of the Forge Mother, the goddess of hearth and forge, into the sword in her hand. She is adornbed with metal jewelry that carries the blessings of her goddess and the forge hammer- the tool of her trade. Art by Kata Kemi
An old sorceress, shrouded in a ritual blindfold looks upwards as a conjured spirit twists in the air above her.
Lanterns burn in a seaside village, bathed in the eerie green light of the dawn. The lighthouse towers ominously over the village, the glow of its light lost in the haze.
A doorframe stands alone on a rocky promontory, wreathed in snaking flowering vines. Through the open doorway, a greenish light reveals a massive, clawed hand with the ring and middle fingers joined, clawing it's way out the doorway. A village stands in the background as flames spread towards it.
Befallen cover art. A knight sits on a boulder, cleaning his sword. Blue crystals grow from between the joints in his armor, covering his shoulder and protruding from the visor of his helmet. In the background, crystal formations sprout from the ground as a village burns, sending up a plume of purple smoke that blots out the sun.
An eternal - a cosmic being consisting of metal-like plates twisting and spiraling around a burning core, forming a vaguely humanoid shape. It strides through a plane of crystalline hexagonal pillars, holding filiments of the clouds between its fingers.