Acrona - Origin song
project overview
Acrona: I’d been a fan of Sharm's YouTube for ages, and seeing her perform live at BlizzCon 2019? She's magical. Her voice is charismatic, with a range from angelic to sassy, and she radiates this genuine kindness and passion for her craft. When I saw her offering song commissions for original characters, I knew it was only a matter of time before I’d be reaching out for something special for Acrona. Admittedly, it took me nearly a year to actually reach out—I’ve lived with Acrona in my head and heart for almost 20 years, know the character inside out, and was afraid that I'd be too particular with the lyrics and melody for her. I don't want to be a nightmare client!
I’m so glad I went through with it, though; Sharm was absolutely wonderful and understanding to work with, and I love the result immensely.
the making of the song
Sharm: I have always loved seeing Acrona grace my timelines. She reminds me so much of a character from my favourite childhood film "The Last Unicorn" but stands apart in a much more melancholic, wistful & mysterious way. In that same vein, I had to really make sure that I didn't allow Acrona's vibe to get intertwined with the film and the music from it, and that her song was truly hers alone.
I had noticed that Acrona had another piece of music written for her which I was adamant not to listen to until after I had finished writing my song (it was very beautiful and I highly recommend giving it a listen!). Outside musical influence is something I massively try to avoid when composing so as to create something purely from my own self.
After I had read through Acrona's lore and looked at the beautiful artwork of her, I just sort of waited. A melody will always come to me and I will always listen. I like to think it's some kind of magical message from the ether that is showing me the doorway into the song. Like giving me the first few stitches of the embroidery.
I think this bit can be the hardest part, because when I get that melody, I find it very hard to let go of it. In this case, the melody I heard was the choruses of the song, and it initially started out as flutes playing counter melodies with each other.
It transitioned into many different forms of itself through piano and harps but ultimately, it ended up just as I had first heard it.
The lyrical process was certainly a lengthy, but enjoyable process. We had a lot to consider with Acrona's extensive lore and there were definitely many tough decisions that I know Acrona had to make in regard to what could be left out to ensure that the song wasn't too long or overwhelming. Looking back, there is always something to learn still, but honestly, I think she did an incredible job with all of her lyrical contributions along the way (you totally need to put them on the website, Acrona! ^.^).
I truly feel that Acrona's song is one of my most heartfelt and passionate pieces I've ever worked on. Connecting not only to her lore, but the memories I have of seeing her for many, many years on my timelines has clearly had an impact on me and helped shape the song itself.
Venturing into this new world of RP and being allowed to step into each character's world and view the extensive and careful lore creation behind each of them has brought me untold new excitement in regard to how I look at creating a piece of music. It's not just my vision anymore, but someone else's, and figuring out how to get my vision to match their vision...but to their ears is quite something!
All I can say at this point is thank you so much for trusting me with Acrona, to tell her story through song and if I could give you the biggest cuddle right now, I totally would! The video you created is... magical. It truly is, just pure magic. I know everyone who sees it will be put under the deep spell of Acrona's journey and I just can't wait to see what next lies in store for her.
COMING UP WITH THE VISUALS
Acrona: At first, the plan was simple: a slideshow using the art I already had of Acrona, pieces by me and commissions from other artists. But as soon as I heard Sharm's finished song and felt how perfectly it captured Acrona’s origin story, I thought, “No, I should create something entirely new, just for this!”
One major inspiration was Erutan’s The Willow Maid. I loved how she stylized landscapes into these almost iconic images, keeping the visuals beautifully simple and focusing on camera movement and sliding layers over traditional frame-by-frame animation. Some scenes even reused textures and assets, yet the result was immersive. That blend of song and visuals really packed a punch, and it inspired me for my own project.
I wasn’t out to make a carbon copy of The Willow Maid's style; I wanted to create something that had its own vibe—a look that’s appealing but also achievable in a matter of weeks, not an eternity. So, I kicked things off with a moodboard to get a feel for workable styles that my taste gravitates toward. The goal? To take inspiration without cloning any of the inspirations, through writing down what aspects of them I like. This helps make conscious decisions when making something new on my own from scratch.
World of Warcraft
Jian Guo
ELIOLI
Wolfwalkers 2020 film
After some research and gathering plenty of images that inspired me one way or another, I tried to narrow things down. I was particularly drawn to the night elf mural art from World of Warcraft, Jian Guo's stained glass style illustrations about Lord of the Rings, the cover image for The Moon and Me by ELIOLI, and the Wolfwalkers 2020 film.
Inspired by these, I decided to go for...
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glowing lineart against a dark background
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simplified shapes, with a lot of sweeping curves
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twirly decorative lines that I see repeating across both night elf aesthetic and Celtic motifs
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symbolic compositions
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a textured look, looking more traditionally drawn rather than vector clean for an old storybook vibe
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Doing the moodboard helped me act as my own art director - that said the style in the video could be even more consistent had I spent more time on it, but I'm rather happy what I achieved in just about 3 weeks on my spare time, from gathering inspiration and storyboarding, to doing all the finished drawings.
Because the drawings were closely tied to the melody and lyrics, I began with rough composition sketches that I quickly imported into the video editing software. This allowed me to work out camera movements and transitions between scenes early on, building a visual flow that aligned with the music. At this point I didn't want to get attached to the drawings, and kept them very loose not to feel bad about scrapping a sketch if a better idea came along.
Darnassus banner
Old night elf banner
Old night elf banner
Shen'dralar banner
Highborne tapestry
First up on the style test list—banners. Odd choice? Maybe. But with Acrona’s whole 'daughter of two worlds' theme, I knew I’d want to sprinkle in some in-game motifs to capture that. So, I went on a little archaeology dive into the night elf banners and sigils you see around Azeroth. Since Acrona’s early timeline predated Darnassus era, I passed on the Darnassus banner, and went for an older one that was previously used in the Silverwing Hold by the Silverwing Sentinels. A green version of the banner is also used to also represent the Druids of the Talon. Combined, I thought it a nice nod at the night elves of Ashenvale (where Acrona grew up) and her people's connection to druidism, which she still respects.
And for the Highborne side? The Shen'dralar banner was an option, but I decided on the more universal Highborne symbol, due to Acrona's grievances with the Highborne concerning their history as a whole.
I didn't use the Eldre'thalas sigil in the end. The illustrations started off more detailed as seen on the left, but I simplified them to read better at a glance.
Warmed up, I delved into how to portray Acrona herself in this project. Though her eyes are closed and her expression not detailed, I aimed to convey her personality through shape language and posture—suggesting her quiet, introverted, and delicate nature, with a hint of melancholy. I also wanted her to look both ethereal and statuesque at the same time. This pose helped me draw focus to several things throughout the song; the emptiness inside her, the magic in her core, and the importance of the acorn close to her heart.
Some parts of the song were more difficult to come up with visual solutions than others. For instance this part of the lyrics:
Fear, and doubt
Arcane cast out
No more practice, sorcery purged
What would this mean for her?
This section hinted at the deep-rooted stigma around arcane magic in night elf society. Acrona grew up with the belief that the Highborne’s thirst for power and magic was something to resent. Thinking back to the Sundering—the cataclysmic event that tore the world apart—brought to mind the old map of the ancient Kaldorei Empire, where the continents we know today were all part of one vast land. I could spin the lyrics as the land itself shattering, with the Well of Eternity imploding into the furious Maelstrom at its heart. Followed by the exile of the Highborne, represented by Malfurion and Tyrande staying in Kalimdor and the arcane practitioners heading toward the Eastern Kingdoms.
I know Darnassus did not exist yet at this time, but since the maps were heavily stylized, I wanted to keep Darnassus there for familiarity because it has always been there since Word of Warcraft vanilla. I did not add all the continents that have been later added to the game though; the map is a clue to the point of time during which Acrona was first learning about her Highborne heritage and started delving into arcane magic. This happened during the Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm expansions.
Meanwhile depicting other scenes came to me quickly, as I could pull ideas and reference happenings in Acrona's storyline galleries.
I wanted to use symbolism that has already been established for Acrona. For instance, there are several artworks of her depicted with an acorn. And it's not just an acorn; as Acrona's father taught her, it is a symbol of renewal and potential yet to bloom. Her father knew Acrona would understand his final gift to her even after he was gone, hoping it would help his girl find her way forward. While Curuf had little love for arcane magic, Acrona remained his chosen daughter and she'd always respect his teachings about living in harmony with the forest. At the end of the video, I wanted to echo that influence by bringing back the willowy vines from her childhood.
Thanks to Curuf’s teachings, she’ll always be Kaldorei—"children of the stars" in the night elf language. Even when she steps back onto the path of the mage after her Void story arc, she remains a daughter of two worlds, embodying both her past and her choice for the future.
The subtle glow effect with a bit of hue to it, applied in the video editing software, really helped the drawings pop against the dark background, to which I also added a bit of grainy texture for the old story book feel.
This project was a truly wonderful opportunity to collaborate with Sharm, exploring ways to match visuals to her beautiful voice and melody. I’d love to create another video in this style in the future!
If you'd like to commission Sharm for a song for your own OC, you can reach out to her via her ko-fi page!
