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Description

This is my entry into the "Princess Design Sheet Challenge" contest.
My character is named Arcene (a French name meaning 'silvery') and she is based on the fairy tale 'The Girl with Silver Hands' (which goes by various other names such as ‘The Girl with No Hands’ or ‘The Armless Maiden’).

The original story was about a girl whose father was tricked into giving her to the devil. She was too pure for the devil to claim, but he tells her that she must give up her hands if she wants to keep her father. Because of her purity she has an angel to assist her and she catches the eye of a king when she attempts to steal pears from the royal garden. After they are married the king has silver hands made for her. The devil continues to interfere in her life resulting in her going into hiding with her son.
By the end she and her son are reunited with the king and she has her natural hands restored.
I would take certain elements of the tale and alter many others. My version would have neither a devil to torment her nor an angel to aid her.

Arcene was born without hands, but in time she came into possession of the Silver Hands. Even before she had the Hands, Arcene was a capable thief as few suspected a girl without hands would have such a skill. Her favorite target was the royal gardens as it was full of fruit trees, and much of it would go to waste otherwise. It was during one of these excursions that she first met the kingdom’s prince. Despite the nature of their encounter the two became friends.

When she acquired the Hands, Arcene was eager to learn new skills. She quickly took to sewing, which is how she ended up with her peculiar ‘button sash.’

Eventually Arcene and the prince marry, but their happiness does not last long as war soon breaks out in the kingdom. The king is killed in a skirmish, leading to his son being crowned as ruler and Arcene being made queen. Her husband leaves to lead the battle while Arcene remains at the palace.
The enemy sees an opportunity to end the royal line when they intercept a message sent by the king to the palace (this is what the devil did in the original story). They alter it so that it accuses Arcene of treason and orders her immediate execution. Arcene manages to escape the palace and goes into hiding.
When the king returns he is devastated after he learns what happened and he spends years trying to find his wife. Alas, the former thief Arcene proves adept in vanishing.
Nearly two decades later, while travelling his lands, the king notices a familiar looking girl. She looks startlingly like his wife, but he realizes she is far too young and her hands are natural, not of silver.
When the girl hears this description she reveals to the king that her mother has silver hands. The king is then reunited with Arcene and his daughter. (This reunion is also based on the original story, though in my version Arcene does not gain natural hands.)

An additional plot point that I would add is the origin and purpose of the Silver Hands. They were a gift from the prince, but their creation remains a mystery. Arcene later learns that they were not actually intended to be prostheses, but are in fact keys to an arcane secret. During her time on the run she has to avoid capture by other factions that seek to claim the power for themselves.
With prolonged use the magic of the Hands seeps into Arcene, altering her mentally and physically (as seen in the face in the bottom left hand corner of the design sheet). Arcene has to discover the secret herself before the Hands start controlling her.

In the sheet you can see Arcene usually wears simple clothes, the only unusual feature being the button sash. She rarely wears footwear since she had to rely on her feet to perform certain tasks before she had the Hands.
To the right of the main pose (below her ‘Bring it on’ expression) you can see her beggar disguise and her royal dress. The dress’ crescent motif comes from the symbol for silver. I drew her eating a pear hurriedly as that was what she is said to have stolen in the original story.

Description

This is my entry into the "Princess Design Sheet Challenge" contest.
My character is named Arcene (a French name meaning 'silvery') and she is based on the fairy tale 'The Girl with Silver Hands' (which goes by various other names such as ‘The Girl with No Hands’ or ‘The Armless Maiden’).

The original story was about a girl whose father was tricked into giving her to the devil. She was too pure for the devil to claim, but he tells her that she must give up her hands if she wants to keep her father. Because of her purity she has an angel to assist her and she catches the eye of a king when she attempts to steal pears from the royal garden. After they are married the king has silver hands made for her. The devil continues to interfere in her life resulting in her going into hiding with her son.
By the end she and her son are reunited with the king and she has her natural hands restored.
I would take certain elements of the tale and alter many others. My version would have neither a devil to torment her nor an angel to aid her.

Arcene was born without hands, but in time she came into possession of the Silver Hands. Even before she had the Hands, Arcene was a capable thief as few suspected a girl without hands would have such a skill. Her favorite target was the royal gardens as it was full of fruit trees, and much of it would go to waste otherwise. It was during one of these excursions that she first met the kingdom’s prince. Despite the nature of their encounter the two became friends.

When she acquired the Hands, Arcene was eager to learn new skills. She quickly took to sewing, which is how she ended up with her peculiar ‘button sash.’

Eventually Arcene and the prince marry, but their happiness does not last long as war soon breaks out in the kingdom. The king is killed in a skirmish, leading to his son being crowned as ruler and Arcene being made queen. Her husband leaves to lead the battle while Arcene remains at the palace.
The enemy sees an opportunity to end the royal line when they intercept a message sent by the king to the palace (this is what the devil did in the original story). They alter it so that it accuses Arcene of treason and orders her immediate execution. Arcene manages to escape the palace and goes into hiding.
When the king returns he is devastated after he learns what happened and he spends years trying to find his wife. Alas, the former thief Arcene proves adept in vanishing.
Nearly two decades later, while travelling his lands, the king notices a familiar looking girl. She looks startlingly like his wife, but he realizes she is far too young and her hands are natural, not of silver.
When the girl hears this description she reveals to the king that her mother has silver hands. The king is then reunited with Arcene and his daughter. (This reunion is also based on the original story, though in my version Arcene does not gain natural hands.)

An additional plot point that I would add is the origin and purpose of the Silver Hands. They were a gift from the prince, but their creation remains a mystery. Arcene later learns that they were not actually intended to be prostheses, but are in fact keys to an arcane secret. During her time on the run she has to avoid capture by other factions that seek to claim the power for themselves.
With prolonged use the magic of the Hands seeps into Arcene, altering her mentally and physically (as seen in the face in the bottom left hand corner of the design sheet). Arcene has to discover the secret herself before the Hands start controlling her.

In the sheet you can see Arcene usually wears simple clothes, the only unusual feature being the button sash. She rarely wears footwear since she had to rely on her feet to perform certain tasks before she had the Hands.
To the right of the main pose (below her ‘Bring it on’ expression) you can see her beggar disguise and her royal dress. The dress’ crescent motif comes from the symbol for silver. I drew her eating a pear hurriedly as that was what she is said to have stolen in the original story.