diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 7b153ba..457b7d8 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -978,13 +978,13 @@ name = "open_tavern"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "axum",
- "base64",
  "futures-util",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "sqlx",
  "tavern_macros",
  "tokio",
+ "tokio-util",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1751,6 +1751,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "tungstenite",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tokio-util"
+version = "0.7.15"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "66a539a9ad6d5d281510d5bd368c973d636c02dbf8a67300bfb6b950696ad7df"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytes",
+ "futures-core",
+ "futures-sink",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "tokio",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tower"
 version = "0.4.13"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index d6b1b0c..138d9fc 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ axum = { version = "0.8.4", features = ["ws"] }
 serde = "1.*.*"
 serde_json = "1.*.*"
 tokio = { version = "1.*.*", features = ["full"] }
+tokio-util = { version = "0.7.15", features = ["io"] }
 sqlx = { version = "0.8.6", features = ["runtime-tokio", "sqlite"] }
 tavern_macros = { version = "0.1.0", path = "tavern_macros" }
 futures-util = "0.3.31"
-base64 = "0.22.1"
diff --git a/assets/web/app.js b/assets/web/app.js
index b583ac8..12c13a7 100644
--- a/assets/web/app.js
+++ b/assets/web/app.js
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ tavern.onspawntoken = (t) => {
     token.style.left = `${t.x * GRID_SIZE}px`;
     token.token_id = t.token_id;
     token.innerHTML = `
-    <img src='data:image/jpg;base64,${t.img}' ondragstart='return false;'>
+    <img src='${t.img}' ondragstart='return false;'>
     `
     token.onmousedown = (e) => {
         token.classList.remove('token-transition');
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index c5ddc1a..42709c3 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -144,15 +144,13 @@ impl GameServer {
                 api::Request::GetTokens { scene } => {
                     for token_id in self.game.available_tokens(scene) {
                         if let Some(ti) = self.game.token_info(0, token_id) {
-                            let bits = std::fs::read(&ti.img_source).expect("FAILED READING TOKEN IMAGE");
-                            let img = base64::Engine::encode(&base64::prelude::BASE64_STANDARD, &bits);
                             _ = broadcast.send((
                                 Some(id.clone()),
                                 api::Response::SpawnToken(SpawnToken {
                                     token_id: token_id,
                                     x: ti.x,
                                     y: ti.y,
-                                    img,
+                                    img: ti.img_source.clone(),
                                 }),
                             ));
                         }
@@ -160,7 +158,7 @@ impl GameServer {
                 }
                 api::Request::GetCurrentScene => {
                     let scene = self.game.current_scene();
-                    let mut scene_tokens = self
+                    let scene_tokens = self
                         .game
                         .available_tokens(scene)
                         .iter()
@@ -173,10 +171,6 @@ impl GameServer {
                             img: info.img_source.clone(),
                         })
                         .collect::<Vec<_>>();
-                    for spawn in scene_tokens.iter_mut() {
-                        let bits = std::fs::read(&spawn.img).expect("FAILED READING TOKEN IMAGE");
-                        spawn.img = base64::Engine::encode(&base64::prelude::BASE64_STANDARD, &bits);
-                    }
                     _ = broadcast.send((
                         Some(id.clone()),
                         api::Response::ShowScene {
@@ -193,11 +187,9 @@ impl GameServer {
                     img_path,
                 } => {
                     let token_id = self.game.create_token(map_id, character, img_path.clone(), x, y);
-                    let bits = std::fs::read(&img_path).expect("FAILED READING TOKEN IMAGE");
-                    let img = base64::Engine::encode(&base64::prelude::BASE64_STANDARD, &bits);
                     _ = broadcast.send((
                         Some(id.clone()),
-                        api::Response::SpawnToken(SpawnToken { token_id, x, y, img }),
+                        api::Response::SpawnToken(SpawnToken { token_id, x, y, img: img_path.clone() }),
                     ));
                 }
                 api::Request::MoveToken { token_id, x, y } => {
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 18d5794..6f26a18 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 use axum::{
-    Router,
-    extract::ws::{self, Message},
-    response, routing,
+    extract::ws::{self, Message}, http::StatusCode, response::{self, IntoResponse}, routing, Router
 };
 use futures_util::{
     SinkExt, StreamExt,
@@ -9,6 +7,7 @@ use futures_util::{
 };
 use open_tavern::api::{Request, RequestError, Response};
 use tokio::sync::{broadcast, mpsc};
+use tokio_util::io::ReaderStream;
 
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() {
@@ -20,6 +19,7 @@ async fn main() {
         .route("/tavern.js", routing::get(socket))
         .route("/app.js", routing::get(app_js))
         .route("/style.css", routing::get(style))
+        .route("/assets/{*asset}", routing::get(get_asset))
         .route(
             "/ws",
             routing::get(move |w| ws_handler(w, msend, bsend2.clone().subscribe())),
@@ -191,3 +191,28 @@ async fn style() -> impl response::IntoResponse {
         std::fs::read_to_string("./assets/web/style.css").unwrap(),
     )
 }
+
+async fn get_asset(asset: axum::extract::Path<String>) -> impl IntoResponse {
+    println!("Asset requested: {}", asset.0);
+    let supported_file_types = [
+        (".jpg", "image/jpeg"), (".jpeg", "image/jpeg"), (".png", "image/png")
+        ];
+    let mime = match supported_file_types.iter()
+        .filter(|t| asset.0.ends_with(t.0))
+        .map(|t| t.1)
+        .next() {
+            Some(t) => t,
+            None => return Err((StatusCode::UNSUPPORTED_MEDIA_TYPE, "Unsupported file type".to_string())),
+        };
+    let file = match tokio::fs::File::open(format!("assets/{}", asset.0)).await {
+        Ok(f) => f,
+        Err(err) => return Err((StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, format!("File not found: {}", err))),
+    };
+    let stream = ReaderStream::new(file);
+    let body = axum::body::Body::from_stream(stream);
+
+    let headers = [
+        (axum::http::header::CONTENT_TYPE, mime)
+    ];
+    Ok((headers, body))
+}
\ No newline at end of file