TITLE: "Asterzothtrix"
NAME: Michael J. Holmes
COUNTRY: USA
EMAIL: otomo@postoffice.worldnet.att.net
WEBPAGE: The perpetually unfinished http://otomo.simplenet.com/
TOPIC: Magic
COPYRIGHT: I SUBMIT TO THE STANDARD RAYTRACING COMPETITION COPYRIGHT.
JPGFILE: aster.jpg
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.