Nyala, Witch of the Woods

"Nyala: Witch of the Woods"
Graphite on paper
© 2010 Talon Dunning

Nyala is a witch I'm playing in a Pathfinder game (currently on hiatus after losing three players). She's an aasimar (a celestial planetouched), descended from a cervidal agathion (which is fancy game-speak for "deer-person from Heaven"). I was inspired to create her while on safari in Zambia, Africa. I was mesmerized by the graceful beauty and unusual coloration of the male nyala, a type of antelope native to southern Africa. Her familiar is a goat named "Goat." Goat has become a favorite of my fellow players thanks to the farm-animal sound-effect generator on my iPhone. Goat gets to chime is occasionally, usually at the most inopportune moments.