One of several illustrations for Morbidus War Game Project of Sophian Epic.
They are an elite guard. when i doodled a bit for them i got the idea that they could protect the entry to an important hall which reminded me at an epic painting by John Howe. Inspired by that I searched the web for medieval carvings which led me to pictures of the Urnes Stave church, Sogn, Norway, on which the carvings on the doors in this painting are based.