Millie the Dark backstory

About: This is part of a collection of gaming notes left behind by my mother when she passed in 2020. Mom was an avid table-top role player, starting her adventures in the late 1970s and continued for as long as she could find a game. I’m slowly making my way through these papers and posting them as I uncover them.

Mellenium Tolnedrá
(Mille the Dark)

Born in the mountains to the north-west in a small village. Her family has lived there for the past century after fleeing from captivaty [sic] by the Drowl [sic]. Her grandparents village on the other side of the mountains was raided centurys [sic] ago and her parents were able to flee only a few 100 years ago and come to this area to live.

She wears a raven crest on her cloak, the family crest. She is told in her family the raven is a (royal) sign. But she has no idea where her family lived before being captured by the Drowl. She has vowed to find her home land and reunite her family.

Millie the Dark

Desc – 4’8″ tall, 90 lbs with dark short hair and a dark complexion (on a human she would have a good tan)

People may mistake her for a Drowl. There is a hint of Drowl in her family. She prefers to travel alone, but will go with a party for her own good. She will wear a reversable cloak. Dark colors (browns, blacks) for her thieving skills, bright colors (greens, reds, blues) for town or MU skills.

She is suspicious / cautious of people and places. Aloof, hot tempered and [cautious]. She prefers gems to gold. She has a fear of being captured and if bound in any way will panic. She does not like to be touched by strangers and will tolerate friendly expressions from her traveling companion.


My thoughts

The mis-spelling of “Drow” lends to my mothers mid-western drawl that might do something like add an “r” sound to words like “wash”. In this case “MU” is assumed to mean “magic-user”.

I think it’s funny that my mom noted “on a human she would have a good tan”. This assumes a few things:

  • Only humans can have a tan
    • The only humans who get a “tan” are those that lack certain levels of melanin
    • All humans (for my Mom) were “white”

Was my mom racist? No? She was born in the 1940s and was, herself, white. Her boomer bias is pretty clear. Her upbringing on may have contributed to that bias. Her parents (my grand-parents) were never openly racist but there was definitely a tinge of xenophobia when it came to talking about people of different ethnicities. This is all wildly off-topic, I know.

I also think it’s funny that my mom was playing the typical “edge lord”.

Painting for March, 2015

Holy cow this one was rough. I went in all “I’m totally doing this all loose and alla prima” and… I hit a wall. I just went back to my representational process and I guess that’s just what I do. It was so large and so complicated that it really should have been done in glazes. Or I should have been throwing paint at the canvas. Either way – it’s done.

Looking at it now, I like it for its pulp qualities. The vibrancy of the green and the blue-gray remind me of what I was trying to do about five years ago when I first started the derby paintings. If it were more simple I think it could have been a pulp cover from ages past. So I’m calling this one “Pulp Derby” all official-like.

Pulp Derby. 18x24. Oil on canvas board. March 2015

Pulp Derby. 24×18. Oil on canvas board.

Painting for February – Number 281

I worried a little less about time and more about the art (see last post). However I still just stopped and said “done”. Oh sure – there’s more I could do here. There were more shapes that needed to be defined. The wrinkles needed more depth and clarity. But there it is.

My goal is to do two more in-depth works some time soon. I think I need to get a commission out of the way first.

Oil painting of a roller derby players back, bearing the number 218

16×18 oil on canvas

Painting for January, 2015

I knocked out a work. And that’s just it – a work, just to get me back in the swing of things.

The more I look at other artists, the ones that I admire, the more I realize that they work both smaller, more quickly and with more dedication than I do. I spend so much time struggling with the process that it becomes tiresome and I just say “fuck it – I’m done just because I don’t know when I’d ever be able to really finish this”.

I need to stop doing that. Stop worrying about time and start worrying about the art.

untitled003_480-stmykal

Untitled 03 – January 2015 – 16×18 – Oil on Canvas