Relics. C'thunian Warriors

The cold night air was filled with the howls of the C'thu

In a series of load croaks and burps, clicks and wet cries the Warriors moved in behind the looming shadow of the Shogra as it moved off towards their prey

Ulac was first warrior of his Scale which comprised of six C'thunian Warriors including himself as First and bearer of the Bright Princes holy sigil

His Scale was joined by another, that of brother Amol, and together they flanked the great Shogra and formed the Stalking Beast, the Speartip that was pointed at the slumbering Ridend village and would soon drive deep into its heart. 

With the Shogra completed I have been working (between too many other projects and attempts at completions!)  on the C'thunian Warrior units which are the line troops of the C'thu. I usually field two units and have them support the Shogra and get the benefit of the Stalking Beast Formation

The paint scheme for them has been taken from other elements of the army, skin as the Shogra and armour the same as the C'tharacs.

Bases done and first layers

Unit leader with Back Banner (GW part)

Converted figure with Shield (GW undead part) 

C'thunian Warriors and Shogra

(2/3 of the Stalking Beast Formation)

C'thunian warriors and Prime

The Church of the Dead Sun

Relics.Shogra

Beneath the sickly moonlight unblinking eyes filled the tree line and watched as the Bright Prince stood before the stone table.

Worn reliefs and symbols glowed as he approached, it had been uncountable years since the table had last been used, almost forgotten in this quiet corner of Ridenia, but the stones had not forgotten and yearned for the flash of blade and pain, the sacrament of fear and blood.

A dozen Ridend had already been sacrificed, they were such small souls and bodies that many had been needed to complete the rite, but the last cut had been made and as its blood mingled with those beneath it the Bright Prince reached into his tattered robes and drew out a small pale object and with unholy reference lay it in the nest of the Ridends open chest

In sharp contrast against the dark scarlet ruin, the slight thing was a maggot.

Curled in on itself it could lie in the palm of a mans hand, nine fat segments in spoil milk white and pale veins the shade of red wine gone to vinegar. Cold and hard to touch, it sunk into the hot mass and began to drink and soften, to gorge itself on the offering and reshape it to its own dark design

The Bright Prince stepped back and began to chant, his words echoed by the shadowed host beyond, the Dead Sun at prayer

C'thu Ma'way fhtagn T'chag Shogra Ma'way Shogra Ma'way Shogra

The words came in tides, and washed over the stone table and the writhing mass that moved upon it. Against all natural law and hope, the dead were consumed and their parts broken and used again as the Shogra birthed itself and wove a new body. Organs pulled close and wove themselves together as Bone and muscle moved with the sound of wet cloth across gravestone. 

The beast took all it needed and more, bloated with trailing organs and dripping blood from it raw body as it birthed and stood down from the table and screamed into the night.

The Shogra is the next completed figure in my Relics collection. The Shogra is part of the C'thu faction originally released by Tor Gaming in their last Kickstarter. With my most recent Relics focused on the Orcnar I thought it was time to return to  teh C'thu and try and move the Shorgra and C'thunian warriors up the painting list!

The Shogra can be seen following the Prime in one of the images from the Kickstarter.

The Shogra was easy to assemble with the main body in one piece with the limbs to attach. I used Green Stuff to add some more trailing organs/tentacles to the middle

Parts of a Games Workshop skeleton horse added to base

Start of the blooding, Clear Red paint from the Tamiya paint range. 

Completed Shogra, exposed bone and dripping with blood and hanging organs

Detail on the base

Size comparison, left to right

Child of Niproth, C'tharac, Prime, Shogra and Vesparmoth 

Size comparison, left to right

Nuem Tormenta, Britanan Trooper, Shogra and Orcnar Eotan

Relics. The Bright Prince and the fall of Sir Mord

The darkness was silent, even the winds held their breath and the trees stood unmoving like gravestones beneath the moonless sky.
Countless crawling and winged things cowered in the night and prayed to tiny gods that they would not be seen.
The cloud broke and the fat moon shone down and lit up the ragged shape that slid between the trees, withered leaves falling around it like funeral confetti.
Dirty yellow robes hung from a vaguely human shapes but the edges betrayed themselves and damp sleeves lay on dark grey tentacles and beneath the waist, sodden robes lay on a within mass of more, bloated and writhing over each other and the dying earth under them.
Around it hung the scent of opened bodies and dead roses.
Formost of Lord C'thu's Primes, The Bright Prince emerged into the clearing before the hunkered form of the Banished Knight.
With silken word and tarnished coin his sword was bought, the embers of his bitterness and the loss his soul mount turned to serve the Bright Prince's cause and the will of Great C'thu


Inspired by the King in Yellow, the Primes are striking figures that give off a corrupted and corrupting vibe. The Bright Prince references the King in Yellow and is a twisted irony, his bright robes torn and dirty and hiding his ignoble form. 

Initial artwork released as part of the kickstarter which launched the C'thu

Art work from the Kickstarter

Assembled model

Completed base

The tentacles were painted in the same way as the C'tharacs and the yellow robes built up using successively lighter colours from a brown base coat.  

The Dead Sun Church

As started to put this post together I thought more on the corrupted Banished Knight and decided to put one together

The Banished Knight was from a previously acquired lot. The sword was reshaped and damaged added along with dents to the shield. A new base was built up with cork to make him more imposing

Detail on his shield with half cheques and half the Yellow Sign which is associated with The King in Yellow in the Cthulhu Mythos

Relics. C'thu Vesparmoths

The next group of figures for my C'thu faction is the Vesparmoth. I got two of these as part of the Kickstarter and they are big resin models that sit on 50mm bases. The main body is about 50mm long and about 15mm wide with an assembled wingspan of 90mm across on the larger wings.
Inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos Mi-Go race, the Vesparmoths are a impressive model and along with their smaller cousins the Vesparthers, are the first flyers for Relics (the Vaettir have some figures with wings but are all grounded). There is not that many insect based figures in the miniature world, a underused potential, and the Vesparmoth is a great design with the head linking it to the others in the range.
With one assembled in a blutac test I was a little concerned about potential transport problems so I  decided to magnetise the wings. The recesses for the wings required very little work for the magnets (3 by 2 mm) but settling the opposites was a bit of a fiddle as I wanted them to align the same so they would try and flip before the glue had taken. The base of the wing arms was also large enough to drill and fit another magnet.

The components required very little cleaning. I won't be using the flight stands and will be using blackened wire instead.

Starting on the Flesh work of the body. I decided to paint the main carapace section as if it had been gilded to tie it in with the C'tharacs. The face/tentacles will also be be dark.

Finished Vesparmoths

The Flight stands have been replaced with steel needles painted black. with such large bases i added some mushroom patches which are made form wire and Green Stuff

All the wings are removable and fully interchangeable 

Comparison with Orcnar Unmann and Eotan.

The figures are large but designed well and don't feel like Scale Creep.

The Dead Sun Church 

Relics. The C'thu

'From the depths of the deepest, darkest swamps of Relicia, the Cult of C’thu emerges. Its origins seeped in betrayal of the most heinous kind. 

Lord C’thu commands his minions from the shadows, whispering his unholy wishes into the eager ears of his chosen avatars. One of these devotees has surpassed all others in his pursuit of power and has assumed the mantle of leader and with it the authority to conduct the affairs of the cult on behalf of his malevolent master, he his known as Xavius Prime and from the glades of the Krakenshearth he plots to bring a terrible plague of madness upon all of Relicia'

Between building more Orcnar Terrain and putting together the next batch of Orcnar troops ( and adding all the GS stone collars and bracelets) I have been able to get one of the guys at my gaming Club hooked and has started collecting the Ridend. Discussing next factions he has settled on the Vaettir so I narrowed it down to the Nuem or C'thu. Both factions have  huge appeal for me but as I managed to stock up a quite a hoard of the C'thu when they were launched on Kickstarter and there have not been that many painted armies show up on the Net they won out.

The first figures i decided on are the C'tharacs. I picked up two of these in the kickstarter and are single pieces of resin about 50mm long and 20mm wide and stand on 40mm bases. When they were released they were shown unpainted and instead used Cthulhu Mythos images to find a direction for their look. In the end it was the Primordial beasts, the Ogdru Jahad from Hellboy that gave me a start for the tentacles 

 

while for the headdress, i drew from images of Indian and Thai headdresses and old gold from sunken treasure. I had a vision of the C'tharacs slowly emerging from the sea, though listening to 'The Shadow over Innsmouth' while i was painting might have had something to do with it!

 Cork and stone bases.

With the base colours done. The brown works well as a base for the gold

Once i started on the C'tharac's getting the infants became a must and I ordered two units. These are cast in one piece metal and stand about 30mm.

Aging on the finished crowns, built upon using several inks.

The eyes were painted as if they were glowing, which is not something I usually do and am a still bit undecided. I might go back later and redo them if I can face doing all those eyes again!

Completed C'tharacs

I wanted the bases to give the impression of their deadly nature, beneath them the earth is drained of life and cracks and plants wither and die.

C'tharac Infants

Size comparison with Orcnar Eotan and Unmann

The Dead Sun Church so far...

Gary Numan - Dead Sun Rising

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