homebrew Custom Wind Spirit: Aella, Wind Spirit of Storms

[Sinarai]

Lore:

Aella, or “The Whirlwind” by some, is the sixth Wind Spirit of Hysh and is the Wind spirit of Storms. She takes the form of a giant Thunder Bird, the Spirit of Storms's favorite creature to travel her gales. Brought to form by not a helmet but two pieces of ancient wing armor that once were once worn by the Legendary Thunder Bird Galeari the Swift.

Before the beginning of the Age of Chaos and the Spirefall Roosts of Thunder Birds were found throughout the four Great Nations of Iliatha, Helon, Oultrai, and Ymetrica. These gigantic intelligent birds generate lightning through their wings and are able to exhale it like a Star Dragon's flame, the flap of their wings sounds like that of thunder. Always heralded the coming of the strongest storms, the roosts riding upon the gales of the Wind Spirit of Storms, Aella the Sixth Wind Spirit of Hysh. 

As the realms became under threat from the armies of Chaos the fate of Hysh soon followed the same fate as those before. As the lands and skies became filled with Daemons and their followers the Roosts of the Thunder Birds came to the aid of the Lumineth and the Realm at large, though in vain. With the Lumineth not only being crushed by Chaos but by their own civil war, great losses beset the roosts as allies turned foe without warning, and daemon and corrupt Lumineth began hunting the giant birds down. The Spirit of Storms lent her fury and aid where she was able to manifest strongest, however not able to manifest it was not as effective as was needed.

In the last retreat for one of the last roosts of Thunder Birds, the oldest and largest of their kind fell back to stay with the fury of daemons that chased her roost. Galeari the Swift with her powerful currents of lightning took out thousands of foes before finally a mighty Bloodthirster of Khorne struck her down. As the mighty bird's body fell from the sky winds began to pick up, and before Galeri hit the ground a current of wind and cloud landed her gently below. In the moment of seeing an old friend of the skies and storms fall, the Wind Spirit Aella found the focus she needed to manifest fully. Rage and sadness that she clung to the sky soon turned black, then green, then purple, and a loud whistle that turned almost a scream began to be heard - as if it were in one place and then another. 

Hail and lightning began to strike feverishly everywhere, thunder so loud it burst eardrums of those below, so large the stone of ice they cracked open skulls of mortals. Soon gales stronger than any recorded within the realm began to pick up, and from the sky, the make of a giant Thunder Bird created by storm clouds emerged. With the sound of a wind’s scream Chain Lightning burst down to the ground as the enraged wind spirit passed by. The lightning cracked it open as it struck, all that was left in its wake was of gore and gristle from those unfortunate to be hit. The Spirit of Storms unleashed a storm so powerful that the trees that survived are still bent nearly sideways, and the land is just now beginning to recover from the lightning bursts and fires that engulfed the area. The giant Thunder Birds body was carried off, including the giant wing armor that was crafted by Lumineth, after the massacre, never to be seen again. Lost to legends, the wing armor that Galeari wore was said to create a beautiful sound as she flew as the wind crossed over the armor, a sound that Aella was drawn to for its beautiful melody. 

The location of Galeari the Swift’s body was heavily guarded for centuries as the Age of Chaos raged on and the Thunder Birds fled to the highest Floating Islands amongst the Clouds in Hysh, though some left to Ghur and Ghyran. Only known by the remaining Roosts and Aella the Spirit of Storms, it wasn’t until the Wind Mage Aledrec Galeari that a Lumineth was entrusted with the location of the burial ground of the Ancient Thunder Bird and her famed armor. Given the Armor by the Roost which guarded the site, Aledrec was able to complete his supplication to Aella by earning the trust of the Thunder Bird Roost and therefore making a bridge back between the two races.

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So! Finally, I have completed Aella, Wind Spirit of Storms! I have to say, this is probably the fastest I have ever done a model of this size and detail before. I believe in all it was about 18 hours over 6ish days, around 3 or 4 hours a session. I personally feel my best paint job to-date.

I really wanted to "capture the storm" with this piece, referencing a lot of personal storm pictures I've taken, along with some online images. Where I live I have seen both Purple and green skies, like - deep purple and green - so I wanted to capture that but felt purple more fitting for what I was going for.

The wings and face just feel really good to me, I am glad I went back to re-highlight certain feathers. The nright highlight blue next to the faded blue highlights really give that coursing lightning through the wings (and tail feathers!) I was hoping to convey.

The lightning could be pushed more, but for now I love how it looks with the rest of the model - It just looks super natural to me how it comes off the wings and out of the mouth.

The cyclone really helps "ground" the model some with its more neutral colors of greys and blue greys, but then has a pop of red-orange to draw from the blues in Aella. The rest of the base I just love the movement and colors that contrast with everything else.

I just really love this model, though I wish the pictures did it justice - Ill have to try and grt better ones eventually. The bottom of the wings especially just didn't come out great

C&C welcome!