The Darkwood Court

[KnaveOfScribes]

 
“Don’t go looking for snakes. You might find them.”
Ancient proverb from the World That Was
 
~
 

 
“My most-loved children, made by me and made of me.”
 

 
“Blessed of Hekate in form and ever loyal in temper.”
 

 
“The serpents in the garden, the pricking thorn in the flower.”
 

 
“My children, my warriors.”
 

 
“That bear such bitter fruit upon cruel boughs.”
 
~

Edited November 1, 2018 by KnaveOfScribes
fixing pic links

[pseudonyme]

Fantastic

[Overread]

Really love the use of the melusai tails/bodies for those! Great idea and really simple to achieve 

[flamingwalnut]

Is it just me or is the last batch of pictures not showing up? Says it is unavailable. 

[KnaveOfScribes]

1 hour ago, flamingwalnut said:

Is it just me or is the last batch of pictures not showing up? Says it is unavailable. 

Yeah sorry dude, Imgur messed up and deleted my last few uploads. Sorting it out now.

@flamingwalnut - all fixed now! Bloody Imgur...

Edited November 1, 2018 by KnaveOfScribes

[KnaveOfScribes]

Traditional quick update time!

I'm at the stage now with the Court that I can afford to take things a little slower - the 3k end-target is in sight, and plans are being made for my next few projects. For the Court, I've only really got another a Branchwych, 10 Spites, 3 Hunters, a Drycha, a Durthu and the inevitable Nightvault Sylvaneth warband to do. Of these, only the Drycha and Durthu are going to take a lot of work, and even then the Drycha should be fairly simple conversion wise and just a pain painting-wise. My current Durthu plan is.... well, its a bit crazy. And will be a big test of my greenstuff skills. I guess I could do a few more Wyldwoods but as I don't play all that often, I don't feel like they are 100% necessary. If I ever get round to maybe going to a small tourney or something, I'll probably do some more then.

Basically what this all means is that I can afford to spend the next week or two playing around with some bits to try out things. Namely, there's one or two more entries in the Denizens Of The Grey Marches series I want to do - having already shown one of the Ur-Hesht and the Vasilis Sisters, I definitely want to show one of the oft-mentioned Ghuls and possibly one of the Jheck or one of the Sheeda. What I like about this particular sub-project is that I can use it to convert and paint just a single one of whatever takes my fancy - for example, I've always wanted to do an Orruk or a Blightking style chunky guy, so may well have a think about how to fit one of those in appropriately. In terms of the Court itself, I've been able to play around with some bits as potential new Spites.

I mentioned before that I picked up the 500th store Bladegheist, because why not, and she/it has become the basis for the next Branchwych and the new aspect of the Baba Yaga mentioned in Innocent Cruelty. I had a feeling that the 'gheists would be pretty easy to Sylvaneth up a bit and would make great visual examples of what a Crone-touched treekin would look like - so what happens to a wounded Spite or Tree-revenant if Mother Aldwynter "heals" them. Here's an in-progress pic of the Branchwych, the Harvest Maiden:

She's had some gs work done since this pic was taken and some extra leaves and bark texture added as well. That gravestone needs cutting down a bit as well, its a little too clunky. But seeing as she turned out so well, I gave the same idea a try on another 'gheist to produce a regular Spite:

Again, greenstuff and leaves and texture to be added, but also again - really happy with how they will look. Grabbing a box of the 'gheists soon to do the last 10 Spites, I think they'll add a nice visual contrast to the regular Spites without standing out too much. I've already got 20 standard build revenants done (10 Tree and 10 Spites) so these new ones wont outnumber them (especially with the Nightvault warband added as well) and I'll be mixing them into the units of existing Spites so that there's a mix of standard and Crone-touched in each one.

@pseudonyme - Cheers bud.

@Overread - Thanks man, great to hear you like them. It was a reasonably easy conversion, bar a little fiddly trimming of dryad waists and necks. Really happy with the final look though.

That's a lot of text for a quick update. Sorry. More pics to come soon - the Harvest Maiden and a Ghul are next on my painting slate.

Knave.

[pseudonyme]

!

[KnaveOfScribes]

Very quick update today - those of you who follow me on Instagram may have seen that I finished up the 'gheist/spite splice test model for my Crone-touched Treekin and was very happy with the result. Here's a look at him for anyone who missed it, stood next to one of the normal (well, still rather insane) Spites:
 

 

I'm really happy. He stands out without standing out too much and there's enough in common visually to link him to the normal Spite. He looks a bit shiny there as he hasn't had the coat of matt varnish that the older Spite has - I'm waiting until I get the rest done so I can varnish a whole bunch together. Speaking of which, a box of Bladegheists has been ordered and should be with me by the weekend. In the meantime, I've got some more Crone-touched Hunters to build and a Branchwych to paint and write the intro for.

And a Blackstone Fortress to buy....

[KnaveOfScribes]

 

“They say that you cannot chose your family. This is unfortunate, as it often our families that will cause us the greatest grief in life.”

Follies; Everard Hemp of Hammerhal.

 

“How sure are we that the face we see in the mirror is us? It may bear our visage, but can we know that the thoughts in its head are the same as our own? Who is this identical stranger?”

Attributed to unknown Aelvish philosopher.

 

~

 

“Why….. done thisss?”

 

“Because you need an anchor, my poppet. Else your former lord could snatch you back. And I wont have that.”

 

“It hurttttsss…”

 

“Aye. Life is pain, poppet. Never forget that.”

 

“Feellsss wrong… heavy. Aching. Hurtttsss…”

 

“I carved you such a pretty face, and you will learn how to make your shell move for you. The others all did and they are nothing compared to you my sweet.”

 

“Who…”

 

“Who am I? Come now, you know me. Deep inside, you know me. I’m you.”

 

“Nooo...”

 

“Yes. Oh yes. She broke me, aye She did. Took my eye, and from it so much of me poured that I can scarce remember my old self. A pale, broken shadow of an echo, that’s what she left me. And that’s what you are. A shard of an echo of a shadow.”

 

“Not ssshadow…”

 

“Oh but you are, dear poppet. You are. Youngest of the three. Most fickle.”

 

“Ssss...”

 

“Most wicked. Most cruel.”

 

“Yesss…”

 

“You’ve always known. All I’ve done is allow you to admit it, dearest. Reminded you of who you truly are.”

 

“Ssss…Maiden…”

 

“Such a clever girl. Once, we were whole, we were one. Now, we are Three, and much diminished. But we endure.”

 

“What need…”

 

“What need do I have of you, poppet? You reaped souls for the Lord of Dust and Bone, did you not?”

 

“Yesss… harvested…”

 

“Then be my Maiden of the Harvest. Reap that which I sow, little sister.”

 

“Yesss… sssissster…”

 

~

 

 

“Pulled from death and bound to life.”

 

 

“Whole, yet a shard. Sole, yet an aspect of another.”

 

 

“Free and yet bound, sharpest and cruelest of the Three-in-one.”

 

~

[KnaveOfScribes]

Afternoon folks

Another quick update today as I'm up to my armpits in grey plastic at the moment - the last stretch of the first 3k of the Court is about to start, with the last 10 Spites, 3 Hunters, a Branchwych, Drycha and Durthu to build and paint. So 16 models and about 1080pts left. The counts-as Durthu should be fun to do, if a little mental...

Currently on the painting slate is the Harvest Maiden and a single ghul, for the Denizens of the Grey Marches series. On the building slate however is a whole bunch of stuff:

That's a whole bunch of Crone-touched stuff. Another three Hunters - really happy with the champion with the heart-fruit in hand - they all need a few last details added and greenstuffing around the wastes, as well as the bases being completed. Probably wont show much more of them until they are done. The other 4 chaps are the rest of the first unit of Crone-touched Treekin at a very early stage - they've got a treekin left arm added, heads in place and rooty bits added to chest hollows. Still loads to do on them like trimming Spite arms to fit, adding branches, leaves and roots as well as bark texture to their backs, and sorting their bases out. Still enjoying how they look, but I think I'll be mixing them into the existing regular Spites for games etc just to break up the look of the units.

GW did an outstanding job on the Nighthaunt range and it's been great to find excuses and ways to use some of them in the Court. Still tempted to find a way to use Lady Olynder for something too..

Back again soon,
Knave

[Arnied3]

Well now.....in all honesty this has to be my favorite thing on the internet right now. I originally found an image of the Man-Stag (on pintrest or something) before my glorious return to the hobby some time ago and thought it was a legit GW release. I saved the pic to buy later and convert for my Sylvaneth army i was planning! It was sometime later when i saw the Ogroid Thaumaturge model! which makes your work all the more impressive.

Only discovered this site (and blog) a short time ago. Reading it over the last day or so has been absolutely riveting! I find myself looking forward to the lore and the conversions in equal measure. You my friend has some serious skills!

The integration of the death models makes complete sense reading the lore you created and you have completely inspired me to create some lore for my own army (strictly for my eyes only of course!) 

So thanks again for all your work and posting here just for us!

[JackStreicher]

On 8/13/2018 at 10:51 AM, KnaveOfScribes said:

Morning everyone, how tricks?

This is a Sylvaneth project, honest. I mean, it's not like  I'm painting more Stormcast OH WAIT YES IT IS.

Ahem.

Anyway, I started the Palladors the other day - I wanted to try and get a corvid style look to the gryph-chargers rather than anything too feline or fancy, mainly to try and keep with the overall bleak and muted look of the project. Here's how the first one turned out:

 

Really happy so far, and it was surprisingly quick and easy to do - only three paints and one glaze used. Now to replicate it on the other two....

Once the Palladors are done, that'll be the last of the Crow allies and its back to the Sylvaneth proper. Well, I say that - I mean it's on to converting some Melusai that I may have "accidentally" picked up on Ebay into bow-armed Kurnoth Hunter counts-as using some left over dryad bits. I'm not avoiding the 20 Spites, honest I'm not.

@Tommy Sorry for the late reply man, but thank you - I'm really happy with the metalwork, it's not overly shiny and fits nicely with the overall aesthetic of the project.

C&C welcome as always guys, always enjoy hearing from you.

Knave.

How did you paint the gryphcharger? (Skin)?

[harrocks]

amazing modelling - kitbashing / painting ... everything!

[KnaveOfScribes]

Afternoon chaps, and thank you all for your slew of likes and comments over the last few days – they are all very much appreciated.

Sorry for the lack of updates over the last ten days – hobby time has been a little tight recently so not much has been accomplished and I am rather dreading the small mountain of greenstuff work I’ve given myself. Having said that, the Harvest Maiden is now complete and will be coming up later on today once I’ve sorted her pics out. Very happy with how she ended up, and the Nighthaunt stuff is such a pleasure to paint.

@Arnied3 – Welcome back to the hobby and to the site in particular! And thanks very much for your super kind words and praise The Man-stag is something I am hugely proud of and its ace to know he’s finding fame elsewhere online haha. Great to hear you’re inspired to work on some lore for your own projects too, its huge amounts of fun and very rewarding. You should never be afraid to share it though, especially on here. We’re a friendly supportive bunch.

@JackStreicher – I used three colours and a single glaze, all Vallejo paints: Black, Pale Blue, Deck Tan, Black Glaze. The skin was a roughly 60/40 mix of black and blue, highlighted up by adding tan to it. Kept the highlights very loose and feathery to build the furred look. Then the entire model got two or three very very thin glazes with black to darken everything down and pull all the layers together. Hope that helps J

@harrocks – Thanks buddy, much appreciated.

So yes, as I say, the Harvest Maiden to come later today and then it’s on to finishing assembling the next group of spite-gheists.

Back soon,

Knave.

[KnaveOfScribes]

 

“What harvest can a realm of winter offer? Only the cruellest and harshest. Only the dead.”

Excerpt from personal diaries of Yuri Ilyich Ifemovich, late of Hammerhal

 

~

 

 

“Maiden of the Harvest, make haste, and bring hither all your kin.”

 

 

“Come you Crone-touched wych, with all your charms and sickle blades.”

 

 

“And hold me close in your arms; to you my respects I’ll pay.”

 

 

~

[KnaveOfScribes]

Afternoon folks, and apologies for the lack of updates over the last few days - had a lot on, as well as a few tech issues involving a new phone and other bits and pieces. Add in some IRL things and hobby progress has been slim recently.

Having said that, I did finish up the assembly of the remaining 4 crone-touched treekin for the first unit of 5 last night, and promptly forgot to take any pictures of them before undercoating them this morning. Sigh. I have got some undercoated pics which will come as their reveal soon, but I apologise in advance. I've also gotten a little distracted by Inq28 and Blackstone Fortress, having picked up bits for both of them over the last week or so - while I have half-assembled two Inq28 characters so far (as seen on my Insta page) I haven't done much else and will be trying not to until the Court is done. Go away, Hobby Magpie.

Also, inspired by the excellent conversion started by Nurgleswalker on his Insta page, I had a fiddle with some leftover bits and came up with this lovely little distraction:

What is it? I don't know yet, but chances are it'll just be a background piece, possibly one of the Hounds of the Wild Hunt or something like that. Regardless of it not having a true function in the project other than looking cool, I'm actually really happy with how it looks. Needs the feet adding and all the bits actually cleaned up etc, but as proof of concept, yeah there's definitely something there. Also, this and the Harvest Maiden were the first few things shot on my new phone cam and its taking a bit of getting used to. It'd be ace if you could let me know how the pics look at your end in terms of quality etc.

That's all from me for now, hopefully I'll be back soon with a proper update.

Thanks for all your comments and enthusiasm,
Knave

[Jasondarkelf]

KnaveOfScribes - this is an awesome project! You've done a spectacular job. 

[BangDoll]

Excellent ! This army is becoming more and more interesting ! 

[overtninja]

@KnaveOfScribesWhat bits are you using for the body of your angry forest tree-doggo, Knave? It looks pretty neato.

You might be able to get away with it being a counts-as Kurnoth if it's on the right base! Otherwise you could make it a counts-as Treeman.

[KnaveOfScribes]

Evening folks.

@Jasondarkelf - Thanks very much man, that's much appreciated.

@BangDoll - Cheers buddy :) I'm trying to keep things as interesting as I can, hence the nighthaunt conversions in place of just more revenant models. Luckily, doing a folklore inspired project gives you loads of potential stuff to use and twist into model ideas.

@overtninja - The tree-hound is just a SW Thunderwolf and a spare head assembly from the Treelord kit, nothing too fancy or hard to get hold of. Unfortunately it's far too small to use as a Treeman, its smaller than the gryph-chargers that the Palladors are riding, which I didn't realise when I bought it. Does make me wonder how big a Dracoline is in comparison to a Treeman though, as there's a random idea floating around as an alternative to the other crazy option I have for my Durthu conversion.

Confession time from me - I done goofed. In my eagerness to undercoat the Crone-touched treekin, I forgot to take any pictures of them pre-undercoat for their reveal, as I have done with literally every other thing in this plog. Le sigh. This means that I'll save their accompanying fluff for the fully painted pics post of them, so apologies for that. It might be a small saving grace though as the texture paint I use to add the cracked bark effect hasn't come out too well this time round - I cant tell if its from not adding enough coats to the patches, from a lot of it flaking off somehow, or if the undercoat was a little too heavy or something (the weather has been awful this week so it might be a spray issue). Ah well. Here's some undercoated pics of them for now - kinda hard to see some of the details, which sucks, but its better than nothing right?

I still really like how these conversions look, but I might try upping the amount of cracked bark on the next five to break up the smoothness of the ghostly robes. It's a small thing though, and as the tester and the Harvest Maiden have shown, the finished wooden upper parts still look good. Kinda wish I had more of the open mouthed Spite and Revenant heads to use but I seem to have used most of them on the regular treekin already. Two of them are holding shattered blades to show that its Spites and regular Tree-kin getting "healed" by Mother Aldwynter, all of them then becoming Crone-touched. This gives me three overall "flavours" to my Sylvaneth - the Madness of the King and his Spite-courtiers, the bitter nobility of Blessed Loclaranam and the regular treekin, and the insidious deathly touch of Mother Aldwynter and her children. Strange how threes play such a big part in pretty much every aspect of this project.

More updates soon, as the 3k target grows close. Might knock out a few quick Underworlds warbands afterwards, get a taste for a potential new army once I've done some Inq28 and potentially a very small 40k army.

Also, if anyone could hook me up with a size comparison shot of a Dracoline, a Treeman and a Terrorgheist, for..... reasons.... I'd be eternally grateful.

Merci, Knave

 

[Mordeus]

Crazy cool stuff man!

[Rhivan]

That Thundertree Cavalry dude is gorgeous! I kinda wanna make one now as I really like it... Also if you are looking for something to use it as if all else he's probably the size of a Demigryph Knight right?  

 

We;; since we can't see the details it's a GW inspired reveal right  We'll see how awesome they are soon TM.  From what I can see though I think they will look great. The Tree revenant hands are great on actual revenants. 

[KnaveOfScribes]

Afternoon folks - once again I affirm that I aten't dead.

Its been a funny old couple of weeks - not a lot of hobby time, some tech issues that have caused delays in getting pics and fluff sorted, and a little loss of hobby-fu which has slowed progress to something lightly above a crawl. But we soldier on. The first unit of Crone-touched Spites are nearly done, just the last few touches to go before the joy of trying to get some decent pics that don't wash out all the shading on them. After that though I think I need a wee little break from the Court, just to refresh my painting time and break the endless cycle of wood and ghosts. Having picked up Blackstone Fortress the other day, I think I'm going to take on a few characters from there as a little refresher and to scratch a minor 40k itch. If you're interested in seeing any of that, please take a look at my Insta page, Knave_Of_Scribes. I might pop a little random project log up on here too as a possibility.

In regards to the new Crone-touched themselves, I have got a couple of progress pics to share. The first does a great job of showing the work on the woods while washing out all the shading on the spirit parts, while the last two show the shading on the spirit parts while reducing the woods to a shapeless black mass. Fun times. Still trying to work out the best technique with the new camera and definitely need to fiddle about with lighting and white balances. Here's the pics though:
 

As much as I moan about getting a little fatigued over painting these colours again and again, I am still really happy with how these guys have turned out. Definitely adds something to the project overall, and the Nighthaunt minis are fun to paint. Not so much fun to fill the gaps smoothly, but hey ho. Like I say, few little bits left to do on these tonight, so full painted pics and a little fluff should be coming in the next few days. After them, it'll be a little 40k action, then the next unit of Crone-touched Hunters and probably the Hound, just for fun.

@Mordeus - Thanks man, much appreciated

@Rhivan - Ha, Thundertree Cavalry is a great name. I'm not sure about his size vs a Demigryph, but that's possibly a good call. I have a feeling that he will just end up as a random little flavour piece for the project, like the Ur-Hesht Duardin, or possibly an Endless Spell marker like the Vasilis Sisters. Hopefully should get the construction all finished up soon. And thanks for the enthusiasm on the Crone-touched - hopefully the pics above are worth the wait.

C&C welcome as always gents.

Knave

[KnaveOfScribes]

Lightning quick updates for you today, as I work on sorting out the pics of the completed Crone-touched Treekin, and then work out why the bb code links for said pics aren't working. Technology, hurrah.

In between writing, poking the Blackstone Fortress characters, and planning out the last few units for the Court, I've also done a little more work on the Hound of the Wild Hunt. It's now currently at the pre-greenstuff phase, but does need a chunk of that to blend in the treelord parts as well as cover over some fur sections where I had to trim away 40k detail. Also need to sort a base out, but that shouldn't be too hard... Anyway, here's a pic of how it's looking at the moment:

 

For a random spur-of-the-moment conversion inspired by another fine hobbyists take on the idea on Instagram, its turning out pretty damn well. Still no idea what it could actually be in my list, other than maybe a marker for the Gnashing Jaws endless spell, but thats not a major thing - I'm all about the look and feel and story and atmoshere more than anything, and this is just a cool thing to have as part of the project.

That's all for now - more to come either tomorrow or Sunday when I post up the Crone-touched.

I'm off to try and decide between Maggotkin, Sacrosanct, Tempestus Scions, Custodes or Primaris for my next army project. Wish me luck.

Knave.

[KnaveOfScribes]

“Children learn from their parents. Good or ill, for better or worse, they learn from their parents.”
Follies; Everard Hemp of Hammerhal.

“Tolerated by our King they may be, but they carry her taint and are no longer truly our kin.”
Moralinith of the Darkwood Court

~

Nilith idly carressed the shivering ghul pinned beneath her as she watched her kin slaughter the rest of the fleshborn’s pack. The guttural cries of the feral warmbloods mixed with the hissing laughter and crooning song of Nilith’s fellow treekin, undercut by the wet butcher sounds of meat being torn and the cracking of writhing living wood. She smiled, eyes closed so that she could focus on the song of her kin. Beneath her, the trapped fleshborn spasmed and mewled as sharp talons pierced and flensed flesh gently. 

“I pity you, warmblood. I really do.” Nilith mused. “Being unable to hear the eversong. To be so cut off from the flow and music of life.”

She felt the fleshborn thrash with renewed vigour, its mewling cries fading away into panicked gasps. Nilith opened her eyes to see one of the Crone-touched drift past serenely, blood running from spectral talons. The trapped ghul shuddered, eyes wide in fear and pain as the silent treekin drew closer. Nilith watched her once-kin approach, head cocked aside in almost avian curiosity, long fingered hand gripping the ghul’s face. 

“Of course, every song must have its silences as well. These are ours, my sweet. Our wonderous awful silences.”

The twisted treekin was a hunched mass of blackened wood, hulking and heavy where Nilith and her true kin were elegant and sinuous. Cracked with old wounds, the dark heavy wood churned and roiled with ever-moving thorns and barbs. Its ragged spirit-form hung in tattered sheets like torn webs from the mass of dark wood, one long spectral arm ending in blood-slicked talons, the other in cruelly barbed talons. Others of the Crone-touched still clutched shattered obsidian weapons, their ragged edges clotted with gore. They were all hung with rattling chains of age-stained bone that swung and rattled as they drifted through the tall dead trees of the Darkwood. All wore the same serene face, all were eerily silent.

Something that might have been regret flickered fleetingly across Nilith’s cruel beautiful face before her mouth twisted into a mocking smile. Her eyes glittered with amusement as she gazed at her twisted kin. Beneath her, the fleshborn spasmed one last time as talons tightened and clenched, warm blood spurting up over them.

“It’s a pity,” Nilith mused. “They used to sing so sweetly.”

~

“She takes them, our dying and wounded.”

“Shattered wood, torn spirit. She takes them all.”

“With harvested souls, chains of dead men’s bones,”

“She binds them and heals them, leaves her mark upon them.

“Our once-kin, now her children. Death-marked and Crone-touched.”

~