Shadow
A hulking figure coalesces before you in the darkness, its form as fragile as candle smoke. The suffocating stench of peat moss and old blood fills your nostrils and you struggle not to make a sound. You glimpse the faint and ephemeral iridescence of raven feathers as the creature reaches beneath its cloak and withdraws an object made of the same coagulated darkness. Its razor-sharp edge glints in a beam of moonlight filtering between the trees. Wouldst thou like to harness the void? The figure proffers the sword. You step closer.
The blade whispers its name from the shadows—Hrafntoskr. In hushed tones, the sword boasts that it has sealed the souls of all who dared wield it into forms of avian shadow. It claims it was initially forged to allow Odin’s ravens—Huginn and Muninn—to take on human forms. But the sword was stolen by a greedy and unworthy warlord, who found himself rent asunder from the material plane and rendered bestial upon using it. It is this pathetic beast, said the sword, that stands before you now. Peering closer, you discern the hook of a beak and the curve of talons around the sword’s hilt and pommel. Its black eyes beckon like bottomless pits, almost as if beseeching you to take this weight from its hands.
Are you worthy? Through a hypnotic haze, you see your hand stretching out before you, reaching towards Hrafntoskr. Your fingers alight on the hilt. Cold. So cold. Suddenly, pain shoots through your fingertips as though something under the skin is struggling to burst free. Are those...claws?
-4.25” x 5.5” card & red envelope
-Blank inside
-Printed on 100lb Cardstock
-Made in USA
About the Artist
Jennifer Smart is a documentary editor and illustration hobbyist based in Washington, D.C. Her artistic niche is mythological creatures and cryptids with a dark fantasy, eldritch twist. Everything's better with at least two too many limbs and eyes in places they don't belong. Delve deeper into the cosmic horrors at www.etsy.com/shop/LehenProductions and on Instagram @jaesmart.
A hulking figure coalesces before you in the darkness, its form as fragile as candle smoke. The suffocating stench of peat moss and old blood fills your nostrils and you struggle not to make a sound. You glimpse the faint and ephemeral iridescence of raven feathers as the creature reaches beneath its cloak and withdraws an object made of the same coagulated darkness. Its razor-sharp edge glints in a beam of moonlight filtering between the trees. Wouldst thou like to harness the void? The figure proffers the sword. You step closer.
The blade whispers its name from the shadows—Hrafntoskr. In hushed tones, the sword boasts that it has sealed the souls of all who dared wield it into forms of avian shadow. It claims it was initially forged to allow Odin’s ravens—Huginn and Muninn—to take on human forms. But the sword was stolen by a greedy and unworthy warlord, who found himself rent asunder from the material plane and rendered bestial upon using it. It is this pathetic beast, said the sword, that stands before you now. Peering closer, you discern the hook of a beak and the curve of talons around the sword’s hilt and pommel. Its black eyes beckon like bottomless pits, almost as if beseeching you to take this weight from its hands.
Are you worthy? Through a hypnotic haze, you see your hand stretching out before you, reaching towards Hrafntoskr. Your fingers alight on the hilt. Cold. So cold. Suddenly, pain shoots through your fingertips as though something under the skin is struggling to burst free. Are those...claws?
-4.25” x 5.5” card & red envelope
-Blank inside
-Printed on 100lb Cardstock
-Made in USA
About the Artist
Jennifer Smart is a documentary editor and illustration hobbyist based in Washington, D.C. Her artistic niche is mythological creatures and cryptids with a dark fantasy, eldritch twist. Everything's better with at least two too many limbs and eyes in places they don't belong. Delve deeper into the cosmic horrors at www.etsy.com/shop/LehenProductions and on Instagram @jaesmart.
A hulking figure coalesces before you in the darkness, its form as fragile as candle smoke. The suffocating stench of peat moss and old blood fills your nostrils and you struggle not to make a sound. You glimpse the faint and ephemeral iridescence of raven feathers as the creature reaches beneath its cloak and withdraws an object made of the same coagulated darkness. Its razor-sharp edge glints in a beam of moonlight filtering between the trees. Wouldst thou like to harness the void? The figure proffers the sword. You step closer.
The blade whispers its name from the shadows—Hrafntoskr. In hushed tones, the sword boasts that it has sealed the souls of all who dared wield it into forms of avian shadow. It claims it was initially forged to allow Odin’s ravens—Huginn and Muninn—to take on human forms. But the sword was stolen by a greedy and unworthy warlord, who found himself rent asunder from the material plane and rendered bestial upon using it. It is this pathetic beast, said the sword, that stands before you now. Peering closer, you discern the hook of a beak and the curve of talons around the sword’s hilt and pommel. Its black eyes beckon like bottomless pits, almost as if beseeching you to take this weight from its hands.
Are you worthy? Through a hypnotic haze, you see your hand stretching out before you, reaching towards Hrafntoskr. Your fingers alight on the hilt. Cold. So cold. Suddenly, pain shoots through your fingertips as though something under the skin is struggling to burst free. Are those...claws?
-4.25” x 5.5” card & red envelope
-Blank inside
-Printed on 100lb Cardstock
-Made in USA
About the Artist
Jennifer Smart is a documentary editor and illustration hobbyist based in Washington, D.C. Her artistic niche is mythological creatures and cryptids with a dark fantasy, eldritch twist. Everything's better with at least two too many limbs and eyes in places they don't belong. Delve deeper into the cosmic horrors at www.etsy.com/shop/LehenProductions and on Instagram @jaesmart.
