The snuffling was clearer this time and had been joined by the gentle scrape of metal upon stone. The harshly chiselled stone of the mouldering ruins had reflected the sounds in odd ways, making it difficult to pinpoint which direction they had come from. It wasn’t helping that the greasy yellow light of their torches and lanterns barely drove back the clammy darkness that pressed in at them from all sides. Guntrem shivered involuntarily and found herself pondering the wisdom of joining this expedition again, though in her estimation calling it an ‘expedition’ gave it more credit than it deserved. There were five of them in total, and now that they were a few days march out of Rookspine Halt she had a deepening suspicion that she was going to end up out of pocket on this trip. Ten years in the Stelehelms had inured her to many things but that damn snuffling sound was pulling her nerves taut. Without conscious thought, she pressed the fingers of her left hand to the steel cuirass beneath her trailcoat, warding against malign spirits in the old way that her Da had taught her.
Without warning, a cry went up from her left. It sounded like Felspi, but she couldn’t be sure. Cursing under her breath, she barked a terse command to converge on the slowly dimming pool of light that could only be a torch guttering on the damp, discoloured flagstones. As they approached where the torch lay, two pinpricks of light became visible in the shadows at the base of a crumbling wall. “Wha’s thet?’ Copplin asked, evidently spying them too. He moved closer, raising his lantern, but of Felspi there was no sign. Instead a hunched, pale figure was illuminated. Its hands ended in filth encrusted claws and in one it clutched the shattered remnants of an iron short sword. As the creature drew a breath and howled what sounded like ‘trespassers’ into the night, Guntrem realised exactly where the snuffling had come from and as answering barks and growls echoed across the ruins her saif was already in her hand. As the creature to their front tensed and hurled itself towards them she was already stepping in to strike. Aye, she was definitely going to end up out of pocket on this trip…
A change is as good as a rest, they say. In terms of helping to inspire me to finish up the Wildercorps Hunters warband I’ve been painting up over the last few weeks it’s certainly proved to be true.
That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed working on the Wildercorps minis by any means, they’re great minis, but I had started to get a little frustrated that they seemed to be taking so long to finish. Admittedly, this frustration was entirely self-made because it has been completely my decision to paint them in the manner I have been, but I think sometimes we can all get to that ‘nearly finished’ stage of a project knowing that rushing to completion runs a very real risk of making mistakes or spoiling the end result, but also hoping we could just get it all wrapped up – it can be a bit of a balancing act!
Anyway, I’m digressing. Over the weekend just gone I spent some time painting with Mrs T_C and while she was working on some Nighthaunt, I thought I’d grab the Cryptguard that was recently available as Miniature of the Month and just have a bit of fun pushing some paint around. Thus was Sygurd Fregane, loyal retainer of the Flesh Eater Courts born.
As well as being a very welcome break from painting various shades of leather and cloth that have been occupying me of late, Sygurd also offered a great opportunity to try out a couple of things that have been on my 'ideas list'. Firstly, I’ve been watching quite a lot of videos from Byron at Artis Opus recently and have been particularly intrigued by a recipe for red-toned basing that he’d shared in this video which seemed perfect for Sygurd as I planned to give him a pallid skin tone. Although I didn’t follow Byron’s steps exactly, I’m pleased with how the base came out, so will be keeping it in mind for future projects.
The other main thing I wanted to have a go at was staining Sygurd’s wrists and hands as though they’re so frequently covered in gore that it’s worked its way into his skin. This isn’t something I’ve really done before so even though I usually glaze the eyes and lower lips of bareheaded models, I was a little apprehensive to begin with, but some careful application of multiple layers of thinned down Targor Rage and Bloodreaver Flesh mixed with a little Ionrach Skin worked a treat.
Incidentally, I also read the Cado Ezeciar e-short Cannibal Gate this week which offers an interesting insight into how the different inheritors of the soul-blight curse within the Mortal Realms view one another - if you're following the Hollow King's path across Shyish its well worth picking up.
Happily, Sygurd has definitely served his purpose and gave me the wee boost I need to finish up the Wildercorps without rushing them, but I'm also now eyeing up the Abhorrent Ghoul King in my pile of opportunity...
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