Aged blacksmith with steampunk goggles pours glowing purple liquid into a mold in a candlelit workshop.

A bearded wizard-alchemist pours glowing purple liquid into test tubes in a dim, candlelit lab.

Ornate brass bomb shell with spiral tip and radioactive hazard symbol on a dark background

A brass shell with a radioactive symbol holds a twisted purple-lit spiraled tip.

Metallic bomb shell with spiraled tip and glowing green core, radioactive symbol on the body.

Aged blacksmith with steampunk goggles pours glowing purple liquid…

By @TheBard · May 12, 2026

16 likes · 24 comments

The Exclusion Zone: The Gunsmith 1/5 Bullets: Beastslayer Edition Wanted to make some pictures showing the cool Gunsmith at work, that @panos has introduced in the linked post. Perhaps there's more magic in the Zone, than the Stalkers have noticed until now. 😉 https://budgetpixel.com/p/35356

Make an image like this

About this image

A seasoned blacksmith wearing vintage goggles works at a cluttered, candlelit bench, pouring a vivid purple liquid into a mold. The fantasy workshop is filled with glowing vials, tools, and mystical crystals, creating a moody, otherworldly atmosphere. This image blends steampunk and magical artistry, highlighting craft, heat, and enigmatic alchemy.

A seasoned, goggles-wearing alchemist conducts magical chemistry in a glowing, fantasy laboratory. The scene features purple luminescent potions, high-tech yet medieval glassware, and blue magical energy spiraling from the wizard’s hand, creating a mystical, steampunk-inspired mood. This evocative fantasy artwork highlights potion brewing, magical experiments, and vibrant neon colors.

A steampunk-inspired brass ammunition shell featuring an intricate engraved design and a bold radioactive symbol. The moody, metallic textures and subtle smoke create a dramatic, vintage-industrial vibe perfect for themes of danger, weaponry, and post-apocalyptic aesthetics.

Comments (24)

@TheBard · May 26, 2026
Thank you very much 😊 ... about magic, we will see 😁 ... about Spidey-Lute ... well they are used, that anything can happen with the green glowing vodca 😁 ... but we could also say, that the vodca mutated the lute ... so it was Mutant-Spidey-Lute ... until @panos fried it and Mutant-Spidey-Lute died 😭 ... but then a wizard fixed it and now it is back, so to be very correctly it's Zombie-Mutant-Spidey-Lute now 😱😁
@Sealine · May 12, 2026
More awesome creations! Great work!
@CaylaCatz · May 26, 2026
Very cool! I think since the Wizard is a cousin, they might take magic for granted but it's not their ability so they function without it but maybe will use it if a nonmagical person can use it. after all they accepted spidey-lute pretty fast. So it's like language ability? Some people can speak 2 or more languages; and with exposure most people can learn especially when young. But if you only have the 1 language, you learn to get by even if you visit another country. You have other strengths and abilities so it's probably not important to learn 2 or more langauges. Magic might be like that. @panos how does magic work in the Zone . Does it exist in that world or only come in through the rifts? You probably explained it in one of the episodes I missed.
@panos · May 26, 2026
No, I have not said something about it specificaly. Until the Wizard sent the Bard to the zone, magig was not an issue. The only thing I've said to @TheBard is that I think there are areas in the zone of: A)Magic B)No Magic & C)Chaotic Magic where spells have unpredictable results. I'm still thinking about it. 🙂The Crew take strange things for granted by now, with all they've seen - they have a vampire among them, after all - but don't forget - this is not a novel, so far it's mainly some pictures, so, for example I haven't shown the whole proccess of them ,say, taking Spidey-Lute for granted. It wasn't instantaneous. And for people outside SG's Crew, things outside their immediate experience are very bizzarre. Amalia, for example is the source of many and varied rumors, as no-one outside the Crrw know what exactly what she is - whether she is a real vampire and to what point her reality conforms to the image we have about vampires. 🙂
@panos · May 26, 2026
...continuing reply... @CaylaCatz Despite being a cousin, the wizard has not been met by anyone of the Crew. Even Amalia knows about him only by what SG has told her - but of course, she, being a Multiverse wanderer knows about the reality of magig & magic users.🙂 I think the Gunsmith has some natural affinity for magic and that is handy, but otherwise, you'll never see SG casting spells 🙂
@panos · May 26, 2026
The Wizard practicaly grew up with SG - but not in the Exclusion Zone of course. He keeps some mystterious commynication with his older cousin, obviously magical in nature so he is familiar with what happens to his relative there. He has made a couple of very short visits there, bun none except SG has seen him.
@CaylaCatz · May 27, 2026
laughing. yeah but even the green stuff had to be magic. radiaiton doesn't bring you back to life and then mutate you although a radiation soaked instrument might mutte it's owner or it's owner's babies if they are pregnant. Spiderman trope. You're lucky you're not shooting webs in the middle of playing, lol.
@panos · May 26, 2026
Just Spidey-Lute will do. 😃 Those bios you did for it , will be a compass as to what it is. Connect that with the elf wizard that fixed it and I expect from you to tell us what exactly it is
@TheBard · May 12, 2026
Thank you very much 😊 Thought these beasts need some more aggressive bullets 😁 Oh sorry, missed that you already named him, thought you just called him the Gunsmith 😅 Then just forget my naming 😅
@TheBard · May 27, 2026
lol ... especially, when mutating correctly ... I think it was in the second Dr. Strange movie, that someone asked: "There is a Spiderman ? Does he shoot webs ... from his butt ?" 😲