And one more.
Edit: The castle is with interior. I will post screens once I am ready with sculpting the segments.
Update for today.
Started sculpting the segments. After a 4 hour session my eyes are bleeding. 
Will take a short break. Might do something else later tonight.
nice work, love to see your progress… keep going
Thanks for the words, Hanzo.
So, first update for today, while I take a short break.
Re-did some parts of the protagonist’s armor.
Re-arranged the belts/straps, trying to get a ‘cleaner’ look. Also, the thin belt around the waste is supposed to carry the kunai. Something I didn’t consider for the animation. I will need the knives to be there. Of course, certain actions can be cleverly concealed with a good camera angle…but changes happen in the last moment. Better be prepared.
Edit:
Looking at it…and looking at it. Maybe a satchel attached at both ends by the thin belt…
And some more work on the mutant…Feet and more on the back and top of the head.
By the way, those are all the actors that I intend to use…for now. I have decided to abandon the ‘mount’ creature for now and focus on those three characters. Will go back to him if all is fine.
Edit: Something seems off with the bottom of the feet. It is the anatomy probably, or the pose. Either way, I am not happy with the toes. Will look for something more…sharp and menacing I guess.
wow this looks like a pretty epic project. nice work.
And I hope it turns that way. Thank you for the encouragement, Modron.
Update for today.
The mutant was bugging me so spent some time working on him today.
However, today I dedicated on creating a rigged proxy ‘actor’. Started to do some basic blocking.
Took a few camera shots with angles that tormented my dreams for the past days, weeks and months. Felt relieved. Right away, I realized how important it is to take those basic renders. Once you see the ‘scene’. your mind immediately starts to look for ways how to improve it, from adding a few small rocks at the bottom right corner, to bringing the camera up by an inch.
Attachments
Sculpting wrinkles is hard enough, sculpting without x mirror- an adventure.
I got the front exactly how I imagined it, but will definitely spend more time on those pants.
Last update for today.
Tweaks on the mutant here and there. Loving how the neck is turning out.
An update on the grunt.
So, this will be the basic clothing. From here, I will just add an item here and there, will adjust the facial lines and proportions slightly. That way, hopefully I will be able to create a squad of those guys.
And a small test.
Attachments
Props…tba.
Didn’t post an update for some time, because right now I am busy with grunt work mostly. Nothing spectacular or interesting to show really. I am making minor tweaks to the characters as I go. I will try to restrain myself from continuously posting the same image with just barely noticeable changes.
A lot is going on…and at the same time. I made few poses that one could say came into my sleep. Since I didn’t want to forget them, decided to make them now. These represent key moments in the animation. The story-board can take me to a point- with my drawing skills that is.
Worked on two blades for the main character and a short sword for the grunt. I intend to make a spear, and perhaps one more variation of a sword for the grunts.
Working on a shackle for the mutant.
Edit:
Just made the sheathe for the katana blade. Right away it was obvious the handle was off. Rotated it and now the blade has the typical arch. Me happy.
Current progress on the three characters.
Removed the scarf. Being a flippin ninja is cheesy enough, the scarf is such a cliché. What can you do.
Re-did few things.
Some work on the mutant’s hands. I like how the belt turned out. Will add more ‘trinkets’ to it…maybe.
And more work on the grunt’s face. I want to give him a ‘tribal’ feel. Maybe will add bones and skulls as jewelry.
I’ll be watching your thread 
it’s very inspiring to be honest since I just began blender a couple days ago and really didn’t know where to start. I too have a short animation in mind, but seeing how far you’ve gone puts things in perspective x3 i surely have a loooooooong way to go hehe.
Anyway good luck! Lookin’ forward to seeing the completed project
Its hard to believe I am able to inspire. If that is the case…I am glad.
I haven’t gone far…in fact, I still feel in the very beginning. But since this is my first serious animation, there will be a lot of lessons learned.
And welcome to the forums. Patience and perseverance will take you a long way.
Update for today:
Rock variety, still more to add. Now I know the methods with the displacement and so on, but in general I might try to go for a more ‘peculiar’ style. Can adjust on the go.
Still constructing the proxy castle and main entrance. Still hoping the method I chose will prove timesaving, efficient and adaptive.
Had an idea at my lunch-break today how to present the ‘theme’ of the main character a bit better.
Used lattice to bend the handle, will try different styles until it fits the silhouette of the blade.
