Fantasy book cover inspired by historical tapestries

In a Black Tapestry

D.K.Hill

In a Black Tapestry is a blending of horror, fantasy and historical fiction. It is set in a town in dark ages Eastern Europe, over the course of a single night as all manner of horrors come to terrorise the townsfolk.

Adult horror and fantasy fans with an interest in history. I want the cover to allude to history and pull in history fans, but on looking closer they should see the fantasy influence.

I'm very specifically looking for something in the vein of a medieval tapestry. It should be in yellowed cloth, with engraving like characters. I've included an excerpt below from the book that should give a clear indication of the image. I've also attached two images, one of the Bayeux Tapestry - which I'd like to be used for the background, cloth colour and general style. The second image I would like to influence the size and shape of the characters shown in the tapestry as the Bayeux Tapestry's characters are too thin and spindly. Excerpts that describe the scene: ‘Its cloth had begun to yellow long ago, and the colours grew more vibrant as one moved along from the town’s faded early history to its recent.’ - ‘This is the men of your grandfathers’ grandfather’s time. Look, they wear the black armour of the Sworn, just like your father. See the wings on their helm?’ - 'In the scene a group of knights stood and looked on at a hill in the distance with their swords turned up. Their horses’ heads were turned away, in fear it seemed, and upon the hill were wrought other figures in spidery black thread. The sewer had given them a dark ominous look, but only one blue eye each, just a pip of blue thread. ‘I don’t know, dear,’ she replied after a while. ‘Probably more Wends.’ ‘They made a mistake,’ said Henrihs. ‘They gave one of our men the blue eye too.’ The last of the knights did indeed have one blue eye, and his sword was not turned up like the others, but ready. ' The spindly figures in black thread mentioned in the excerpt above should be bald, with pointed ears and long arms but be otherwise difficult to make out. While the colours of the characters depicted in the scene are prescribed, I'd like to use some faded reds, greens and blues for the tapestry scenery (the grass and flowers of the hills, the knights horses and saddle, yellow or gold for the sun etc). The general mood or theme should be eerie - I'd like the cover to at first appear purely historical and its fantasy elements be something that stands out on closer inspection (the knight's face's look terrified when you look closer and the spindly figures menacing with the blue eye a subtle addition). Many thanks for your interest!

Any modernisation of the theme. The colours should appear faded as in tapestry examples but I’m open to another approach if they can be both rich and still look authentic. Clutter - most of the image should be the yellowed cloth. The figures, the hill and some very sparse inclusion of tapestry scenery like flowers on the ground should make up the rest.