Compendium: Shadowmere

NOTICE:

In light of a recent copyright violation by a gaming website that decided to claim my character “Shadowmere” as being part of some kind of game, I must stipulate that my black unicorn character “Shadowmere” is an original character of mine created in 2001 for my own original fiction efforts and has nothing to do whatsoever with any kind of role playing games. The origins of my character “Shadowmere” are explained in this article.

Shadowmere – Bio Card

A picture of the Black Unicorn – Shadowmere – This is actually a 2010 rework of an original drawing I did of Shadowmere from 2004.

Shadowmere – Bio Info

Biographical Info and the Origins of the Character Follow

Name: Shadowmere

Sex: Male – Unicorn Stallion

Race or Creature Type:

Unicorn(Unicorns in my fiction, though looking like horses, are a race of intelligent, sentient beings.)

Height:

19 hands (from front hooves to shoulders) roughly around 6′ – Shadowmere’s measurements and size are roughly that of a fully grown male Clydesdale horse.

Weight:

Unknown. Est. 1800-1900lbs

Birthplace/DoB:

Unknown

Unknown

Age:

Unknown – Said to be at least 3-4000 years old. His age and origins are unknown.

Occupation:

Divine Servant, Watcher, Guardian

Religion:

Serves only the Creator, Iysus, God.

I drew this picture of Shadowmere, then imposed him against a composite image created from photos I took at a local park.

(In light of recent legal concerns, having to issue a DMCA notice against an infringing website, I could not only produce the original pencil drawings of this artwork, but the actual photos used to create the composite scene!)

Shadowmere’s origins…

Basic “background sketch”

Shadowmere is of the sentient race of Unicorns in my story. Little is known about him, and very few people have spent any real time around him. He is elusive and mysterious in nature and actual sightings of him are so rare he is often dismissed as being a myth – it would like someone in the real world claiming they saw “Bigfoot”. There are individuals fortunate enough to have had encounters with him. The most noted one is the story of the Great Flood of Eethos – he was said to have been aboard the Ark with Noahkhi – the man who feared God and was place aboard the Ark with his family to escape the flood. The “Bible” of Eethos makes a mention or two of Shadowmere’s encounters. Because of this, many of the present day believe Shadowmere was a unicorn that lived “once upon a time” and that he doesn’t exist anymore. In spite of it all- Shadowmere’s rumours and legends have been popular among commonfolk, old and young alike for many generations. It is not uncommon for children to want to dress up as “Shadowmere” for occasions requiring costumes.

Teachers of the Sacred Texts and philosophical scholars of Eethos generally regard Shadowmere as a figure of the Sacred Texts and of Eethoian Mythology, and not an actual creature who exists in the present day. There is the famous story of the scholar who actually encountered Shadowmere but instead of inform his other scholars (due to fear of ridicule and rejection based on the “popular” doctrines about Shadowmere, the discovery of the scholar’s writings about his encounters with the legendary beast did not surface until long after his death, as found in his diary in his estate by his family and friends. In the world of Eethos, Shadowmere is a famous source of inspiration for artists and poets alike. But since little is known about his actual appearance, the artistic works vary. However, they all depict a mighty black unicorn that appears in the dead of night. Some of them depict him as a dark and frightful creature. That is the dark side of the Shadowmere Legend- some believe him to be an evil beast and a daemon, and an encounter with him will spell certain doom for the unfortunate victim.

Shadowmere in reality is a fair and gentle, wise beast who is benevolent in his dealings and actions. He does allow the occasional living soul a chance to know him. But since he desires worship of the Almighty and not himself, he keeps such encounters to a minimum, but he only allows people to know he exists and that he is not the scary, evil creature some fear him to be. Shadowmere can also be a quite happy and playful individual as a unicorn in spite of his age and demeanor. (“all work and no play…”) But he takes seriously the role given him. He watches those whom God would have him watch over. And he prays for the souls of people he encounters both good and evil. In spite of the worst rumours about him, Shadowmere has never harmed a living soul. In the story as written, Nyrva Dragonwood is one individual who has one of those rare encounters with Shadowmere. But to dispel many rumors and misconceptions about himself, Shadowmere, in the books Nyrva Dragonwood appears in allows himself more extensive encounters with living souls so that new stories about him can be told, and some of the old rumors put to rest. Nyrva’s immense love and fondness of unicorns is one factor that compels him to giver her a rather extensive set encounters with himself. But he rarely bothers with scholars- just like the one mentioned- none of them ever use the opportunities he has given them. Many of them are quick to dismiss them with their own sets of “learned reason”.

The black unicorn Shadowmere – one of my original characters. A recurring side character in my fantasy.

I drew him in pencil and photoshop. His pose was inspired by similar pose of a horse doctored up as a unicorn in a book by horse photographer Robert Vavra. (His books provide great references for drawing both horses and unicorns.)

The moon-bow was something inspired one night as I was walking home with a full moon and saw a full moon in the sky with a full moon-bow. So I decided to create one for mood in this drawing but of course, there’s nothing like seeing the real thing.

Photoshop was used for the background.

ORIGINS OF THE CHARACTER

Shadowmere originated back in 2001 when I wanted to come up with some unicorn characters. He was originally a neutral character, neither “good or bad” and he orginally was so mysterious it was not possible to know anything about him. Original drafts of the parts of my story where he appears depicted him as a frightful creature people were afraid of. But that was toned down to just him being a mysterious black unicorn stallion. Unicorns in my story, while not “magical” as they are in most stories are Divine servants of God. So any powers they have are “given” them “from Above”. Thus Shadowmere would have to be a good guy by nature.

Shadowmere’s name was inspired by one of my all time favourite computer role playing games that was out on the old Apple II computers in the late 1980s, “Wrath of Denethenor” - the use of the name is an “omage” to “Wrath of Denethenor” and is the name of the city you visit in the game to find the doorway to Mystenor- the mystic dark land where you take on and finally defeat the evil wizard Denethenor.

Even though my unicorn’s name is borrowed from a game, my character itself has nothing to do whatsoever with any kind of game; unless I decide to create my own game based on my fiction some time in the future, or license someone else to do it. “Any resemblance to any other character of similar name or appearance Is purely coincidental”. My character “Shadowmere” is not a standing “property” in and of itself, but it simply a character in my fiction and that I draw, and then he is a supporting or secondary character at that, who makes some appearances in the story I am writing.

(I always wondered if “Denethenor” was borrowed from “Denthenor” of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy? But I wish someone would make a PORT of this to the Macintosh or the Playstation 2! Serious! That is an all time favourite game! If I ever win the lottery I’m going to approach some people about acquiring some “rights” and hire the original game creator as a chief consultant and director! Imagine it as a 3D high end fantasy RPG that plays like a first person shooter (perhaps in the playing style of “Grand Theft Auto” or “Kingdom Hearts”) And this time add a spell that lets you throw those damn wizards like they do to you on there! haha!~ But anyways. And I still love to rob every vault I see on there! haha!)

Artwork

About the same time the development of my fiction was underway, I had also rediscovered my love of drawing and cartooning. And while my skills at the time were rather shoddy at best I have spent well over a decade working on development. But because I work full time I could not spend more than a few hours a week on this new hobby- and to this day this has not changed. So I do the best I can with the time I have available. But as a result of my growing and changing drawing skills, Shadowmere was another character that underwent many developmental changes. But he was always a black unicorn. There is a limited amount of artwork of Shadowmere available because I always found him to be a difficult character for me to draw – an all black unicorn from horn to hoof- and I wanted him to look a certain way. My first drawings of Shadowmere began to surface along with my first writings about him in 2002.

In spite of other galleries I may have on the web, this is the OFFICIAL website page for this character! All other information can be quickly dismissed. This page contains artwork and all information currently available about the character.

Plot synopsis ©1997-2011 and beyond by J.Williams, all rights reserved and this may not be used in any way without express written permission.

Shadowmere has several encounters with the protagonist Nyrva Dragonwood, a female wood elf who is extremely fond of Unicorns. And they know it too. Despite the fact that she comes from a tribe of elves already on high the “endangered species” list, she literally risks her very life in the story for a rare opportunity to meet the Unicorns, including the mighty Shadowmere, in their own forbidden homeland; the Valley of the Unicorns itself.

Characters, art and plot synopsis © by J. Williams. All rights strictly reserved. Unauthorized use is a violation of all copyright laws.

NOTICE:

In light of a recent copyright violation and theft of intellectual property by a gaming website which is attempting to represent my character as belonging to some kind of roleplaying game and giver credit for my work to persons other than myself, I feel it necessary to state the following:

The Black Unicorn SHADOWMERE as depicted on this website, as well as any pages on the website oslaania.net is my own original character and IS NOT PART OF ANY GAME NOR IS HE INTENDED TO BE A REFERENCE OF ANY KIND TO ANY GAME. He is part of my own original fiction created in 2001, and is not to be confused with any other medium. Any resemblance or similarity to any other such property is purely coincidental.

The name of the offending website is not being disclosed. The page bentobox.oslaania.net has been an inactive directory for well over a year. This image Is currently being housed at one of the site’s generally unpublished archive locations. “Nick” decided to use it to promote some game. Thanks a lot “Nick”, you never asked anyone at this website if you could use the picture!

Statement of Origin and Legal Basis Regarding Shadowmere Character:

Regarding the origins of the character Shadowmere, as depicted and represented on both Oslaania.net and Nyrva.org

The character “Shadowmere” as depicted on both Oslaania.net and Nyrva.org is an original character created and initially developed by the owner of these websites as early as 2001. Actual artwork of this character can be documented as early as 2005 with legally registered copyright of said artwork in 2007 with the United States Copyright Office. The registration includes artwork of a black unicorn stallion under the name of “Shadowmere” under said copyright. Shadowmere, as depicted on these websites, is a black male unicorn stallion, and not a horse or brown mare, and is also a supporting character for a novelization that has been in the works for over a decade. The major reason it has taken so long Is because of the amount of time it has taken to develop the characters as well as the back story, and the novelization itself has undergone several rewrites. There are currently no plans to change or omit this character from the planned novelization. He has also been a part of the creator’s online presence since 2007 on various websites including Oslaania.net established in 2010. Shadowmere has also appeared on Oslaania.net’s predecessor site “swarmingspirits.net” and other sites used by his creator as far back as 2007. Those sites and galleries however are no longer in use.

July 5, 2012 | Categories: Anime-style Art, Character Discussion, Female Wood Elf, Forest, Jade Dragon Original Art and Fiction, Manga-style Art, Melchizarius, Multiple Characters, Nyrva Dragonwood, Nyrva.org, Oslaania.Net, Shadowmere, She-elf, Unicorn, Wood Elf, Wood Elves, Woods, Xelizarios' Original Art and Fiction | Tags: anime, black horse, black unicorn, compendium, composite background, composite image, dark, fantasy, female wood elf, foreboding, horn, horse, jade dragon, jadedragon, jadedragon72, mane, manga, melchizarius, moon bow, moonbow, night sky, nyrva dragonwood, nyrva.org, original character, oslaania.net, recurring character, robert vavra, secondary character, Shadowmere, stallion, storm, supporting character, unicorns i have known, wood elf, xelizarios | Leave A Comment »