Firebert

Artist Name: Joshua Lennen

Fall Semester: September 4th Princeton University



Maire Gobhain was an exchange student from Scotland. Well on her way to an early graduation with a 3.9 GPA and advanced credits, she had earned the right to void certain classes. Her high grades and admiration by her instructors did not keep her from living a party lifestyle. With the reputation of the UK on her shoulders, she couldn't let these star American quarterbacks think they could drink a Scot under the table. As a result, she tended to mix in with the wrong crowds after studies. Instigating fights, defacing property with graffiti, Maire wanted to live on the edge while her visa would allow.



Professor Damien Coolidge taught advanced biomechanics. He had been an instructor there for over a decade. Much of his career was spent trying to find the next big break for mankind. A cure for cancer, a cure for AIDS; something that would make him world famous. Twelve years before he began his tenure at Princeton University he finally discovered it. He had stumbled upon the next big thing. Super soldiers. While his initial tests were only proven in lab rats, they were still conclusive and earned him top secret status by the U.S. Government. Using his lab on campus as a cover for development of his findings, he taught a couple classes during the day and then attempted to advance his findings afterwards. Time and time again, he would build a new serum that would yield no results on human tissue. With the government placing increasing pressure on Damien, his nerves were at their end.



Final Exams: December 17th



Maire had finished her final exam ahead of everyone else. Although she had partied the night before, she knew her luck had yet to run out. Later that week she received her results with a failing grade. Something sparked in Maire that had never been ignited before. In all her years as a student, she had never received a grade less than A-. In a wave of furry, she picked up the phone.



December 22nd: 2:00a.m.



Gathered outside the science facility on campus, Maire led almost half of the defensive line as they broke in. Filing down the halls, no one was in any of the lecture halls. A light was shining out of the small window to Professor Coolidge's classroom door. After opening it, they saw no one inside. Maire ordered them all to destroy the classroom and graffiti the walls. Hearing the commotion from his lab, Damien cracked open the door to see his lecture hall being dismantled by the university’s strongest athletes, and then Maire appeared out of nowhere. Widening the door open in a flash, she called to her brutes to grab the professor. In fear of his life, he retreated to the furthest recesses of his lab. Hiding in a dark corner he watched as they ran past, destroying anything in their path. Coolidge made a break for it, and one of the football players saw him out of the corner of his eye.



"There he is!"



Doing an about face, they chased Professor Coolidge out of the lab with Maire at the back of the pack. Amongst all the commotion, the player in front of Maire knocked over a cabinet of flasks and test tubes that crashed on top of her.



A lit Bunsen burner had fallen over.


Damien escaped into the hall with the brutes in tow.



Pools of liquid inch closer and closer as Maire lie unconscious under the pile of metal, glass, and serum.



Professor Coolidge is tackled just outside the entrance to the building, hit hard and held at bay on the cold snow, the team realizes Maire is not with them.



The flame ignites the mixed serums.




The back half of the building explodes, knocking everyone backward.



The professor scrambles to his feet and escapes while the remaining accomplices flee the scene.





One hour later:



Government agents apprehend Professor Damien Coolidge at the local train station in an attempt to disappear forever. Agents cover the entire site of the explosion. Looking for any survivors and gathering all data that remained.



A locket is found bearing Maire's family crest.



Later that morning:



The football team members that had helped Maire gathered quietly at their frat house. They decided to never tell anyone that they had helped her, and to break any and all ties if possible that would link them to her death.



A knock at the door.



One of the brutes opens the door and instantly bursts into flames. Shouts are heard from the common room and the remaining members run out the back as another football player is incinerated instantly. A girl peaks over the second floor railing to see what looks like a naked woman shrouded in flames. Screaming at the top of her lungs, the curious teenager is lifted into the air and dropped in front of the woman of fire.





9:00a.m.

Paramedics swarm the young girl now lying on the hardwood floor covered in sweat. A man approaches her asking the medics to remove her oxygen mask and leave.



"What did you see?"



"Woman… fire."



"Did she say anything?"



"She said… two down… three to go."





One year later: Norfolk International Airport



Maire is sitting at the gate waiting for the 5:00am flight to Heathrow. She has missed her family and friends for so long, and any hope of a future here in America is all but gone. She needs to return home and disappear forever. Checking her MP3 player for the latest weather forecast, Maire sees a pendant suddenly appear in front of her face. Removing her earphones she hears a man say,

"I believe this belongs to you."


The faint sound of a thump. A sharp pain in the small of her back. Everything goes black.



Maire can see nothing, everything has gone white. She is in a dark room aside from the floodlight blinding her eyes. Her hands are tied behind her back and she is bleeding at the wrists. An oxygen mask is firmly secured over her mouth. A voice comes over the intercom.



"We believe that you are responsible for the explosion that occurred at Princeton University on December 22nd last year."



"Who are you?!?"



"We would like to cooperate with you as much as possible Ms. Gobhain."



"Cooperate THIS!"



Maire surges her body forward and falls flat on her face, chair and all.



"Oxygen is the key to igniting a flame Ms. Gobhain. There is none present in this room aside from the tiny amount provided to you through that mask."



"I didn't make it happen! This was all an accident! I just want to go home!"



"That may be possible one day. For now, we would like to offer you peace. We would like to offer you a chance to start over."



"What do you want?!?! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?!?!”



"We want you to kill this man."



A face appears on a television in the corner. Statistics and map overlay readouts pop in and out.



"Your old professor has stolen from us, and we think you are the perfect candidate for the job. If you agree, we will only ask that you consider working for us once this mission is complete. Do you accept?"



.......



.......



"Yes."



"Good. You will find your belongings in your room along with details of your assignment. Your identity will be permanently deleted from the international system. If you choose to leave, you will be assigned a new one. For now, your codename will be Silo."

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Below are my initial concepts. I have spent the past couple of days cooking up this ridiculous story and working on these designs. Time's a waistin' so I better get to Brushin'!

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aiman

Awesome concept man, I think the flames are a great idea for the base, I like the second costume more, but then I like the sleeves and the collar from the first. Keep the hair as is though, that looks great! I'll be watching this thread.

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Aimanimation.com

jeffmeckley

Sweet concept. I like.

goldo_O

Nice concept Firerbert! Like Aiman said, it would be nice to mix some elements of both costumes. Are you going to sculpt the flames as well?

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Adrien Debos
Portfolio

gang

nice concept

Hamilcar

Love your concept sketches! Good luck with the sculpt.

Moni-Poroni

Great concept sketch, I like the second costum more..because of it´s orange colour....
looks more like fire...
maybe you could combine the costums like aiman and goldo_O said.

I´m looking forward to the zbrush version

JUPITER

Cool sketch and concept....good luck

Firebert

TO EVERYONE: I greatly appreciate the support and response. Below are some individual responses. These concepts are to only get a feel for the design of the character, and by no means are a direct resemblance to the final pose. I will post up the pose gesture I like the best here in a little bit. More than anything, I wanted to see what you guys thought about the costumes, and you have provided much more feedback than I expected, so thank you very much!

aiman: Thanks! I was hoping to get this kind of feedback on the different elements of each costume. I will mix them together this morning and post up the results in an hour or so.

jeffmeckley: Thanks!


goldo_O: I appreciate your support and feedback! HELL YES I am going to sculpt those flames! I figured that they would provide a very strong challenge, and I love a challenge!

gang: Thanks!

Hamilcar: I am glad you like them. I really needed to add a woman to my portfolio and now seemed like the perfect excuse.

Moni-Poroni: You hit it right on the head. The coloring is exactly what I was going for, so that makes me feel good that you got that out of it. I'm going to do my best to make this a top notch sculpt, so stay tuned!

JUPITER: Thanks man. I'm gonna need it!

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Firebert

Here's what I came with on the mixture of the two costumes. Let me know if there are other tweaks you guys would like to see. Below that is some real quick gesture line work to help you guys get a sense for the final pose from a couple views. The end result would be the fire filling the base and flooding up to a stream of flames coming from her outstretched hand. The other hand is warming up a fireball for the next attack and she is in the classic mid-air type pose.

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3dzeiro

nice style, nice lines, nice colors,
I like that! Be accompanied! nice work!

SolidSnakexxx

The concept sketch's just marvelous. She certainly is "Hot" I kind of like the first costume. Can't wait to see her come alive

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SolidSnakeXXX: My Sketchbook Thread

Hamilcar

I like this costume, but I also like the one with the covered legs. Nice work.

Harmonic

Really nice clean sketches Firerbert. I like the uploaded costume allot. Seems like it could maybe use a little ornament or point of interest like the second sketch.