For those who missed it, Art added a bit more information regarding Elric in his comment on "Demon Sword". Jim: yes, it does sound a bit like Highlander and my answer to that is 'um, yes and no'. Yes, in that Duncan and Connor (yum on both counts :) were also 'Eternal Champion' figures fighting against chaos and therefore evil. Yes, in that there is something like the 'quickening' going on when Elric slays someone with Stormbringer. However, Elric is usually in large battles with lots of casualties and the more souls Stormbringer gets, the more it wants. Rather than 'blood-lust' I guess you could say that the sword possesses 'soul-lust'. The swords of Duncan and Connor had no intelligence, they were simply swords. Great swords, but just swords. No, in the sense that the Lords of Chaos were heavily involved in the lives of the Melniboneans and Elric in particular. Duncan and Connor were very fit men and Elric is a sickly albino, but he's also a powerful mage and the Emperor of the land. There are dragons involved. The Melnibonean's ancestors were nomadic elves called Eldern. They traveled with a pair of dragons, but got separated. That's another story. They do not consider themselves human but they are humanoid. Their civilization is very old and a great many of them are powerful wizards, as is Elric. They are so old as a race, they have become calloused, self-centered and very decadent. They like to torture people for amusement. One character in particular stands out, Doctor Jest, the Master Torturer. Elric is the only one who has a conscience and despises the ways of his people. Yet, he too is a Melnibonean. Yes, Alicia, he is a very complex figure and he broods a lot, but so does Conan. Lol. The stone in Stormbringer is usually black. It is referred to as 'the black stone'. I don't remember if it changes when it's drinking souls, but I've made it so it lights up :) That was fun and a bit of a challenge. Elric is wearing the Purple Reign texture from 'Glorious Euros' by Laura and Lynn (Gypsy Angel and LW Perkins). No Apo flames in this, just brushes. I used water splashes for the blood this time and a drip brush. Expanding effect is by copying and stretching the layers of Elric out (pngs) then different degrees of gaussian blurring and changing the colors and then the layer blending options. Lightening is on a separate layer over the black background. Thanks for stopping by and do know that your comments and favs are greatly appreciated! Thank you too for your own inspiring works of art dear friends!! Image tagged just in case, due to much blood splashing about. Have a terrific Tuesday! Ray