A Patrons-only peek at concept sketches for Joscelin, featuring weapons, armor, & more, plus photo references and design discussion.

EDIT: I added in an important note about the Cassiline sword’s design and how it might change later. More thoughts down in that section!

It’s been a minute since I was able to update this project, so I wanted to treat my faithful fans who stuck with me during the long quiet with a nice, chunky Patrons-only update! Here’s a peek at my explorations of Joscelin, the main character of Cassiel’s Servant by Jacqueline Carey, and his armaments.

I wanted to figure out some of Joscelin’s visual specifics as they may feature heavily in the fan cover I’m creating for this book, which is the ultimate goal of my Story Sketcher project. As always, I love research, so I dove headfirst into the rabbithole of medieval garb, lanolin, and clubbed hair!

Joscelin’s Appearance

First off, I had to start asking myself the question. What does Joscelin look like, anyways? He is described as someone beautiful enough to be an adept of Cereus House with the provincial charm of a Siovale noble with the classic blue eye, blonde hair, and fair complexion.

I’ve shared my rendition from years ago already here, but I never felt like I truly nailed him down in this old piece. Looking back on this first try, I wasn’t satisfied with his bland, grumpy face, his weapons were too ornate for his modest order, and I took a more ‘Hollywood Medieval Fantasy’ approach with his Cassiline clothing.

Having Joscelin’s more specific descriptions of his equipment in Cassiel’s Servant gave me the perfect opportunity to redo this concept.

Now, before I get into fan casting for his physical appearance, I know what you’re going to say. My choice is a rather unorthodox one…

…but, guys, have you seen how cut Bill Skarsgård is in Boy Kills World and The Crow?

Yes, that’s right, I’m fan casting Bill Skarsgård as our dear Joscelin! He’s a unique kind of beautiful, once I got over my “Oh help, it’s Pennywise!” feelings first. Once you see this man in action flicks, Skarsgård has the flexibility to be both intense and charming and, boy howdy, does he kick ass! He moves like an absolute martial arts pro in Boy Kills World and would suit the acrobatic physicality of Joscelin so well.

Skarsgård’s also a dead ringer for Tran Nguyen’s painting of Joscelin, which is one of my favorite artist’s renditions of this character. She captured Joscelin’s focused gaze and dedication to his ward so well! No doubt, Skarsgård will be informing my interpretation of Joscelin moving forward.

But I know this is an odd choice for some, so tell me who you all are fan casting for Joscelin in the comments?

Armaments of the Cassiline Brothers

Now the really fun part – equipment! Let’s break it down bit by bit.

(A section of my reference board for Joscelin’s Cassiline equipment. You can find more references and individual links in my Cassiel’s Servant mood board on Pinterest. Sidenote that the Metropolitan’s Museum of Art’s vast online collection proved invaluable for research, as it can be searched by time period and region and often includes photos of multiple angles of artifacts!)

The Hair

Joscelin describes the Brothers who came to recruit him as having a warrior’s club of hair at the nape of their neck because they do not cut their hair as a show of devotion to Adonai. What does ‘clubbed hair’ mean, anyways? I explored two possibilities, a folded queue inspired by 17th/18th century British soldiers that shows more of the hair versus a wrapped queue tied with laces, inspired by native american hairstyles, considering the similar belief in the sacred nature of hair.

(I also experimented with wavy hair for Joscelin, but felt the straight hair represented his reserved and tidy personality better.)  

I chose the wrapped queue because it felt more monastic to me, while the folded queue feels too fancy for a group dedicated to modesty.

The Armour

The Cassiline Brothers are described as a lightly armored unit who prize mobility so they might better protect their assigned ward. Upon Joscelin’s initiation, he describes recieving the Cassiline signature grey wool mandilion coat treated so thoroughly with lanolin that it is both waterproof and extremely soft. This shirt also falls below the knee and is sleeveless for a full round of motion. This description blew up my old image featuring lots of leather and doeskin. (Everyone looks sexy in leather, okay??)

If you were like me upon reading and had no idea what ‘mandilion’ or ‘lanolin’ means, a mandilion is a style of pullover jacket open on the sides from the 16th century. In true Fantasy fashion, Cassilines have a unique custom tailor cut that’s secret to their sect’s makers, so I had a little fun with the lines of this garment. Lanolin is the secretion that sheeps make that keeps their wool fluffy and clean in nature. The More You Know!

(Mandilion coats from Jacques de Gheyn and Academie de l’Espée by Gérard Thibault d’Anvers, respectively. The upside down Y shape of the top right image heavily influenced the cut of Joscelin’s jacket.)

Beneath Joscelin’s coat, there’s also chainmail, and beneath that is no doubt an undershirt because nobody wants chainmail pulling their body hair or chaffing. Trust the word of this former cosplayer.

The Armaments

Cassiline Brothers have some really cool kit! They are known for their twin daggers, steel vambraces, and a sword strapped to their backs which is drawn only in combat with the intent to kill.

I kept their weapon designs simple and elegant taking inspiration from 15th century French gothic swords.

I did allow myself one specific artistic liberty not described at all by Carey in the books so far and that was the idea that Cassiline Brothers have a flame motif etched into their swords which pays homage to the flaming sword of the archangel Cassiel, the central symbolic figure of their order.

This is all me and not technically book-accurate, but I couldn’t shake the thought once it occurred to me that the single remotely ornate thing you will see of a Cassiline’s is the sword they draw before someone dies. The poetry of that to an archangel’s fateful appearance is just too perfect for me to exclude.

[EDIT 8/31/2024]: I may end up dropping the etched flames in a later iteration if this is perhaps too close to rendering a graven image, which might be anathema for Cassilines as well because of their religious similarity to Judaism, which does not permit graven images. I’m torn on whether this would be considered idolatry if it is not meant to portray Cassiel directly, but to honor the fire, as I recall the priests of the archangel Kushiel in the first novel also using masks and whips to honor Kushiel. Feel free to chime in on this in the comments, book fans who are more well read on this topic!

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What is your favorite rendition of Joscelin? I’d love to see if you want to share in comments! Let me know how my rendition holds up. Moving forward, these will be the design cues I’ll be following, though we shall see if anything changes my mind later. The process of illustration can always surprise you with unexpected revelations!

Now it’s on to reading the rest of Cassiel’s Servant and seeing what other art pops out along the way.

– Ang

Reminders:

• I’m currently book-clubbing Cassiel’s Servant in my Discord server! I post my thoughts on the story, art thoughts, etc. there. Feel free to join in the discussion!

• My Discord server is also open to everyone, with a private area for Patrons! Patrons get special access to the Ask Me Anything channel, among other perks. Come ask me anything! Learn how to link your Discord to Patreon accounts here.