So, here we are at the last icon!

Feeling that it would be best to end this project on a high note (by which I mean the icon for one of the larger factions), I've been saving this one for months. The Forever Knight Mercenary Guild is not one of the original six; but it was created a war or three later, and has been a popular faction ever since.

I immediately decided that, as with other early factions, the Mercs' icon would need to incorporate a version of the old symbol that was created for them back in the 1990s:



This appears as a header on the Merc Central site; and, as soon as I brought up the question of icon design with their Grand High Pooh-bah (admittedly very much ex post facto), she immediately said she thought it should be included. So it's just as well that I'd already done so!   ( A bit of history.... )

Once the basic design of the icon was done, I added the name of the faction, looked upon my handiwork, and—decided that something was missing.

After all, if the Mercs are associated with anything besides gold, it is chocolate. How could I possibly do a proper Mercenary Guild icon without chocolate?

I googled "chocolate".

Well! Most of the images were of truffles. (Strange but true.) And truffles, let me tell you, do not reduce acceptably to icon size. All you get is a little brown blob. Even truffles with squiggles on top turn into unrecognizable blobs.

I did in the end discover, though, that chocolates in paper cups do reduce to a minute size yet remain recognizable.

So here (blare of trumpets) is the icon for the Forever Knight Mercenary Guild.



( And here is the big version...! )