Gordie Moosleton: The Barbarian/ Rune Knight Fighter Moosotaur

I had the pleasure of working on this cool DnD character illustration! This was a freelance commission, done for a client who plays this character and has a whole community revolving around him.

Backstory: He grew up around the Spine of the World Mountains. In his 20’s he
settled in a small village, working as a lumberjack and tree farmer. A plague came through town, so he
travelled to Mirabar, looking for aid. The dwarven priests demanded too much gold to help the villagers,
so he fell into a group of bandits to make gold.
After several years, he said enough was enough when the bandit leader, Krilla, set him to kill a man for
not paying back a loan. The man was poor and was just trying to feed his family. Gordie helped them run
away but was beaten to death and left to die.
A druid giantess found him, healed him, and set him on a new path in life. She taught him the ways of
Silvanus, the Oakfather, and he began to live in harmony with the wilds. There, he met his wife Jessie,
and they settled down and raised a large family.
In his twilight years, his seven children and fourteen grandchildren run the family business: making
maple syrup and logging. He wanted to adventure before he died of old age, so he joined a guild, and
has been traveling ever since.
He and his closest adventuring friends formed the Moose Water Brigade and built a tavern north of
Phandalin. His wife and a few of his daughters and granddaughters came to help work in the Moose
Water Tavern.
After adventuring for a while, Gordie woke up one day to runes etched into his antlers: a by-product of
abusing potions of growth. He and his best friend Willhelm the gnome artificer traveled to see the
giantess in the mountains to ask for her aid. Olmaya is her name, and she taught Gordie to channel the
rune magic of the giants to condition his body and improve his martial skills.