Metamorphosis Series

**Metamorphosis Series**
-- Where Cedany tried to depict herself and her journey from a 'failed' Acolyte to a Herald pledge and beyond!

1. A First Attempt

(This unfinished piece of art is littered with notes and annotations on all
sides of the parchment.

An elven woman has been sketched carefully in charcoal. The bed upon which she
lays has been sketched with ink and filled in with various pastel paints. The
hues bleed together and run past the bed frame and blanket, and it is clear the
artist didn't focus on how the colors would blend together. The resulting
blanket would be right at home in a moonlit swamp. Worse still, the fabric looks
strangely flat - as if failing to find a pleasing mixture of colors had caused
the artist to give up hope on salvaging it.

To the right of the bed is a note - "Can color even capture lethargy? Should I
have done the bed last?? Oh well." A few droplets of ink pooled beneath the text
in large circle - indicating that the artist had considered writing more but
decided against it.


2. A Second Attempt

(This novice artwork is penned in black ink and a deep red paint. Smudges of
charcoal have been used in an attempt to create shadows but the effect has been
executed poorly.)

A silhouette of an elven body has been carefully traced and centered on this
sheet of parchment. The right half of the figure has been traced meticulously.
There are no breaks in the lines and the parchment is slightly indented. By
comparison, the left side is a sloppy mess of lines that were clearly drawn by
eye in an attempt to mirror the opposing side. The artist did not stop at a
single failed attempt - the lines intersect and stack up on top of each other.
Bizarrely, the lines vary in width and length with the majority trailing off at
random points. Red paint has been stippled along the left side of the silhouette
in place of an eye. The application of the paint is uneven and many of the dots
have been smudged with charcoal before drying. Whether the muddled effect was
intentional is rather unclear.

Her face is bisected horizontally with a crisp blue line. Beneath it a section
of text written in a flowing script. 'I am not alone. I am more than the sum of
mistakes. I am not a caricature. My failings are as powerful as the Light is
bright, provided I act on them with the intention to change. Even if I lose
everything, I can still *be* someone.'

The final sentence is underlined multiple times.


3. Metamorphosis One

A delicate border of gold leaf in the shape of rolling waves has been pressed into
the page.)

The center of the page depicts a humanoid skeleton resting in a field of
flowers. Daisies, sunflowers, and various weeds grow in between the spaces
between the bones. A corn snake has coiled itself around the left femur, and its
red and orange scales glint in the sunlight. Resting atop the skeleton's
clavicle, a beetle with a purple carapace gazes towards the moist earth. In
distinct contrast to the rest of the skeleton, broken finger bones have been
manipulated to 'clutch' a weathered journal. Due to the splintering of the bones
that have been placed on top of the journal, the hand seems strangely separate
from the rest of the skeleton. This is further highlighted by the bleached grass
that peeks out from beneath the book.

While the leather cover was clearly constructed with great care, large gashes
reveal that the pages within have been splattered with blood. A few words can be
made out, but the majority of the script has been muddled beyond recognition.


4. Metamorphosis Two

A humanoid skeleton has been propped up into a sitting position against the
trunk of a large cedar tree. Bones that would normally dangle and fall have
been secured by thin lengths of silver wire. The metal has been highlighted
with shimmering paint that draws the eye to the small linkages. Some bones
have fallen or been ripped from the skeleton. They now rest on the moss
covered forest floor. Most notable among the fallen bones is half of the
skeleton's right arm -  which has been ripped from the humerus, leaving
a section of wire dangling a foot from the ground.

The remainder of the skeleton has clearly been cared for in a rather bizarre
manner. Lengths of ivy have been pulled down from the middle of the tree and
wrapped around the spine of the skeleton, lashing it to the trunk securely. A
number of sturdy branches have been tied to the the left arm of the skeleton
with hemp rope. Purple violets and white orchids have been cultivated in the
dirt around the leg bones. Thin stakes encourage the flowers to grow between
The gap in the fibia and tibia. More plants have been positioned in small clay
pots that are nestled within the rib cage. The red climbing hydrangeas that
have sprouted from these pots have poked through the ribs and continued to
climb upward towards the skull.


5. Metamorphosis Three

(This drawing utilizes black ink for the line work. Offensively bright paint
takes up nearly all the white space on the page, as if the artist was trying to
bury the parchment in color.)

The bones of a skeleton peek out from beneath a motley assortment of
hand-stitched clothing and accessories. The skeleton's torso is draped with an
oversized cotton tunic. Felted wool has been coaxed and prodded to form tulips
and daffodils with lengthy stems. They have been sewn onto the tunic at the
bottom hemline to 'grow' up the wearer's chest, though some of the flowers are
barely sewn on and seem to be drooping, ready to fall back to the ground.
Lengths of purple and blue wool have been woven together in a thick braid and
decorated with a number of trailing ribbons to form a bangle that graces the
skeleton's right wrist. The opposite arm is concealed by a homemade sling made
from a potato sack that has been dyed a myriad of jewel tones and studded with
small charms.

Even with the questionable clothing, the most striking part of this skeleton is
undoubtedly the face. Skin has been pulled over the skull and the visage of
Cedany is clear, though it is marred with some imperfections. Her once bright
eyes are oddly dull, and the skin has not been properly aligned with the bones
in her skull, leaving the impression that there is something crawling just
beneath her skin. Her braid has been sheared off at an angle, leaving her wavy
blonde hair to rest just above her shoulders in an asymmetric line from left
to right.