Fantasy Art Thursday: "Shelyn VS Zon-Kuthon" by Yu Cheng Hong

((Click HERE to check out more of Yu Cheng Hong's Work))

Due to the amount of times I've talked about the subject on this blog, it should come as a surprise to no one that I have a strange obsession with fantasy deities and the religions that surround them. Whenever I purchase a setting book, one of the first things I read is the religion chapter and see how this setting handles it. When I create my own settings, one of the first things I work on is the deities and religions. With that in mind, it wouldn't be that big of a leap to think I enjoy seeing gods and goddesses depicted in artwork.

The above piece by Yu Cheng Hong depicts two deities from the Pathfinder Campaign Setting. For those of you who aren't familiar with Golarion, I'll elaborate. These two deities, named Shelyn and Zon-Kuthon, are actually siblings. Zon-Kuthon was once a good deity like his sister, but he traveled to the dark places between the planes of existence and was possess and tortured by an evil being. When he returned to Golarion, a violent fight broke out between him and Shelyn, who desperately tried to reach the brother she knew and loved that was buried deep inside this dark being. Eventually, Shelyn managed to wrestle away the golden glaive the two had shared as a symbol of their power.

I feel like Hong's piece captures that piece of Golarion histor perfectly. I love how he has depicted the differences between the two deities, both physically and with their surroundings. I also like how Shelyn has more of the glaive in her grasp, showing that she is currently winning the struggle for it and how Zon-Kuthon's scenery looks like its being pushed back by Shelyn's. Finally, it's just a really well done piece of art.