"The Menoan noble lords are known to be cheapskates, but really- having to ride into battle yourself as a condition for payment? Me, a skilled mage in hand-to-hand combat? Luckily, I have just the ride to carry me."Here's a little piece from my fantasy world project, which I try to work on every now and then. It's a great way to have fun drawing harnesses and medieval gear, weapons and the like, though I really do go overboard with the detail too often.Depicted here is a mage controlling her golem, a magical construct mainly composing of local materials like dirt, clay and earth fused with "seeds" used to bring motion into the lifeless body. Location of battle is on the Drimani peninsula, a border skirmish between the cities of Menoa and Cusa, in the peak of summer on a dry riverbed. The two forces are mainly composed of some nobles having a nice day out showing off their fancy armours and playing at war and under their command, mercenary legions employing mixed formations. The men carry mainly long polearms and are fairly well armoured, but some have crossbows or are heavily armoured "formation breakers" who sow chaos in the opposing line with warhammers, swords and shields. Some rich mercenary companies even employ the newest technology: hand-held gunpowder cannon.The battles fought between the city-states of the drimani are rarely consequential and mostly ceremonial in nature, even if they are very bloody. They are mainly used to bolster the nobles' standing in the intra-city power struggles. However when a city simply has to battle seriosly or face losses, they usually seek to employ a trump card- an extra company of mercenaries, regiment of cannon or better yet, a skilled mage specialized in combat arts. Many of these mages are proficient in constructing golems, since they are relatively simple and precise to control unlike, say- lighting strikes brought on by mage who can control weather phenomenons. Controlling such combat beasts is a great strain on the nerves of even a veteran mage, which limits their size to generally around 2,5 meters tall- this one depicted is one of the largest, reaching nearly 4 meters tall. The combat golems are usually armoured to protect them from cannon, siege engines and fire used to destroy them. Seen on top of the golem the mage is armoured as well, with a fitted, stylish export harness made my a master smith, unlike the banged up and cobbled together gear seen on the troops below.My gallery has more on this project:Enjoy!