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

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

“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.” ~

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.

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

“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.” ~

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....

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.

Yeah sorry dude, Imgur messed up and deleted my last few uploads. Sorting it out now. @flamingwalnut - all fixed now! Bloody Imgur...

“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.” ~

Afternoon folks, and apologies for the lack of updates over the last week or so. Sadly hobby time has been at a bit of a premium recently but hopefully I'll have a bit more spare time now to get things done. @Boss Salvage - No worries man, glad you found it useful. The blue tones can easily be subbed out for any other tone, so you can very similar green or purple or pink tones and so on using the same process. And ha, yeah the Lord of Crows may not happen now, it might be something a bit more lupine.... And speaking of painting, I have indeed made a start on the Crone-touched as well as planned out a few more bits and pieces. Here's a couple of quick pics: The Crone-touched are at the pre-glaze stage of the wood - once that's done, I'll be working on the tails with probably a dark grey/black and muted yellow combination. Also got the bits now to do the next unit of three, so they will be coming along pretty soon as well. And yes, I did have to pick up the celebration mini on the weekend. It's a great model and with a few tweaks will work really well as my next Branchwych that was alluded to in previous fluff entries. I've also rethought my Durthu stand-in a bit, and following one minor set-back, I now have a newer and better plan that is probably even crazier than the original god-crow idea. More on that at some point once I can see if it can be realistically be done. That's all for now, more to come soon. I'm off to potentially buy some Cawdor and Custodes. Knave.

Great to see you getting some hobby time again fella. The Geistcaller is great, the skin tones are fantastic and the conversion itself is lovely.

“There is, on occasion, an entirely correct belief that some things are best forgotten.” Follies; Everard Hemp of Hammerhal. “She claims Ghyran as if only She can create life. Foolish. There are many kinds of life and many ways of creating it. A puppet has a kind of life…” Mother Aldwynter ~ Seranam cursed as the ghuls pushed deeper into the hallowed Darkwood, their croaking cries and stale animal stink filling the cold air. He had pulsed a sending through the rootways as soon as the fleshborn had drawn close to the border, but the Darkwood was vast and his fellow sentinels few in number. The ghuls were strong in number, as their verminous kind always were, and he was alone and thus could only follow and watch as they tainted the sacred forest with their beast-hot presence. To attack alone would be foolish, to simply watch was galling. Deeper and deeper the pack went, scratching at themselves and the bark of the great trees surrounding them, coughing at each other in that crude animal way they spoke. They lit pitch-soaked rags that they had wrapped around fallen branches, the rough torches guttering a rot-yellow light that did little to breach the darkness of the forest. Shadows danced around them and the darkness behind the great boles of the Darkwood moved and shifted in turn. When it came, it was the torch-bearing ghuls that died first. Seranam heard a jagged keening split the cold air as ghuls suddenly sprouted long gnarled shafts from their sinewy chests and bestial heads. They fell, pierced through, scattering burning rags and torches as they did so, some into the snow and others into their own flesh or kin. Greasy clothing and flesh caught light, the ghuls baying in their panicked animal way at the dead and dying, and the spiteful darkness that hurt them. More keening shafts flashed in, finding homes in warm bodies. Some tore entirely through ghuls, erupting in gouts of blood that looked almost black in the moonlight. The pack milled around in screaming confusion, enraged at its own slaughter as more lived were claimed by gnarled and twisting shafts. And then it was over, as quickly as it had begun. The fleshborn lay in the snow, some burning fitfully, others clawing weakly at the shafts that pinned them, others entirely still. Mewling cries and hisses filled the uncaring night air. Seranam stepped forward slowly, bent to pull a shaft from the cooling body of one of the fleshborn. It came free with a sucking sound, the long slender spar of twisted and gnarled wood glittering with venom. It had an unpleasantly organic look, as through grown rather than fashioned as a normal arrow would be. The tree-spirit cursed again, dropping the foul thing and straightened to gaze into the shadows between the trees, searching for any sign of the packs killers. He saw them then, winding between the darkness and the smoke of the burning fleshborn, lit by the gathering wyrdlights of the Darkwood. They crept forward sinuously on the tails of great serpents, skeletally slender lisovyk bodies towering above him. Twisted branches and long thorns crested their carved bodies, all glittering with the same venom as the shafts. Huge bows of twisted wood grew from their arms and as Seranam watched, one snapped a gnarled straight branch from her body and nocked it slowly. “What in the Everqueen’s name are you?” he breathed, his own obsidian blade heavy in his hand. A growing sibilant hiss and the keening screech of the shaft being loosed was his only reply. ~ “And this is how she makes them.” “With ropes of braided corpse-hair and poppets of dead wood.” “With harvested souls from her garden and the shed scales of the wyrm.” “Pierced with iron nails from the timbers of her cottage and marked with the blood of her eye.” ~