EMAIL: otomo@postoffice.worldnet.att.net
NAME: Michael J. Holmes
TOPIC: Magic
COPYRIGHT: I SUBMIT TO THE STANDARD RAYTRACING COMPETITION COPYRIGHT.
TITLE: "Asterzothtrix"
COUNTRY: USA
WEBPAGE: The perpetually unfinished http://otomo.simplenet.com/
RENDERER USED: Bryce 2.1
TOOLS USED: Photoshop 4, GraphicConverter 2.8, Poser, MiniCAD 6
RENDER TIME: 1 hours and 52 minutes
HARDWARE USED: Power Macintosh 7100/66
IMAGE DESCRIPTION:
     The sorceress Asterzothtrix, sometimes called a destroyer of worlds, was the most powerful magic worker to ever come from the upper Planes. She strove for, and attained the powers and skills of a goddess. Why she originally wanted such powers is unknown because they quickly drove her insane.
     She became known as a destroyer of worlds not for her collection of spells that could cleave open a planet's crust or flip its poles are will, but for her ability to drive a society mad and obliterate itself with lust, passion and politics. The magic she actually uses in her "work" is quite subtle, and merely bolsters her more human skills of deception and deadly ingenuity.
     The image depicts a typical arrival of Asterzothtrix as a pillar of fire and smoke that coalesces into her human body. In the distance, the city state of Tal Ivor Tow has clearly been forewarned of her coming. The city wizards have chanted up a null field in a feeble (the firld is merely single ply) attempt to ward her off.
     She would walk naked from the barren desert against a prepared enemy and within two weeks have Tal Ivor Tow a burning ruin bleeding a caravan of refugees to the horizon.
     Asterzothtrix inserts herself into the political and social processes of her targets and weaves her spells and trickery in a dense tapestry. Her lies can ruin the careers of kings. Her truths can end their lives. She will seduce princes and princesses, pages and janitors, streetwalkers and homeless serfs in her quest for agitation. Her guile and quick thinking are unparalleled. Her moral vacuum is harder than that of intergalactic space.
     Many a politician has been foolish enough to invite her into their camps, only to see their campaigns, their lives and their worlds dashed into pieces by internecine warfare and squabbles that erupt into endtime Magick conflicts.
     Asterzothtrix vanished from the MultiWorlds eighty years ago. The Romanticists say she finally found true love and settled down anonymously. Rigger Talent, the Mad Magician of Lenticula, claims to have lured and trapped the sorceress in the core of a collapsar. Whatever the answer, the MultiWorlds breathe a little easier with Aster's departure from the scene.
DESCRIPTION OF HOW THIS IMAGE WAS CREATED:
     The only object of real note is the body of Asterzothtrix. It was a creation of Fractal Design Poser. The body was DXFed in MiniCAD to half delete her legs, and then DXFed into Bryce where her legs were replaced with gams of fire and energy.
     The height map for Tal Ivor Tow was done in Photoshop.
     The rest of the image and textures are pure Bryce.