Inspiring Illustrations - Fantasy Art

9). The Faceless Brotherhood

An unlikely trio of two dark elves and a winged man guard an etheric gateway between the void and the material plane.

Travelers who by choice or by accident find themselves passing from our world through the multi-dimensional planes will sooner or later encounter the Faceless Brotherhood. These creatures, for only some are men or even humanoid at all, have had not only their features removed but also their identities. They have no mouth or ears and their eyes are only pits that glow with a bright light that flares and bleeds colors like a prism of flesh.

Most often they are found at gateways. Offerings of true value, from gems to the true name of a demon or a story or even a wordless song, will guarantee safe passage. At times they will suddenly attack an individual or even a group, at others they will not raise a finger even at the cost of their own existence. On their deaths they burn from the inside out and all their possessions as well.

Upon the nameless, infinite and sometimes unsubstantial planes between one dimension and the next can be found temples, fortresses and monasteries populated by the Faceless Brothers. Patrols and even small armies of them can be encountered, but what they are up to, what plans or goals they may have, are mysteries known only to themselves.