Kitbash challenge – Vermintide

Moril Oakensword is obviously an adaptation of Oakenshield from Lord of the Rings but it has a narrative function that I like.

Moril was just a name that stood out from a googled list of dwarven names.

Moril’s Father Thraim Oakensword was not born with that last name. It was given him as a punishment for a near fatal mistake he made during his smithing apprenticeship. As Thraim finished the pieces of armour that Moril proudly wears today he was told to smith a sword for a minor royal as soon as possible. Thraim was good at what he did, but was still learning. His drunken mentor failed to judge that the time pressure and the pressure of making a sword for a royal had gotten to Thraim and the sword was presented to the royal too soon.

A battle (a now infamous battle) was fought and sadly the young royal was badly wounded. The sword had splintered and crumbled like cheap piece of wood on first contact with the enemy and it was only the bravery of his entourage that saved his life.

The king demanded that Thraim’s last name be struck from all the records and that he and his offspring be stained with the name Oakensword.

To try to remove the shame Thraim completed the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Grimnir and became a slayer. He had hoped to die valiantly in battle. He proved to be very hard to kill, so much so that he has had to hunt more dangerous enemies. Thraim has killed trolls, giants, daemons and even dragons and his death oath goes unfulfilled.

Many years have passed. The stories of his father’s exploits have filtered back to Moril and he has ventured out on an adventure to find Thraim.

He is not sure whether he just wants to let him know he’s loved and a source of pride before he finally gets too old to continue his phenomenal success as a Slayer. Perhaps it was more selfish and he just wanted to see him for his own sense of loss of a father figure as he grew up.

Moril met up with Mordecai Von Malleüs the witch hunter and stumbled into an investigation into a coven and their familiars that he cheerfully dispatched.

He didn’t intend to stay with Mordecai for long, but without any leads on where his father was it seemed sensible to follow someone with a knack for finding dangerous situations.

As Moril slipped his pipe into his belt and saw a horde of Skaven beasts begin to swell in numbers he was emotionally torn. He was fearful that he wouldn’t have the strength to last out the night against such a huge number of enemies, but he also hoped that a challenge of this magnitude might draw his father out of the wilderness.

The inspiration was Kerillian from Vermintide.

I was not going for a carbon copy but the hood, white hair, bow and swords, cloak with fur around the shoulders etc all spoke to me as a cool aesthetic.

The head is from the NorthStar female soldiers Frostgrave box, but the original part had a brimmed hat. I removed the brim to make it look like a hood more.

The body and arms are from the NorthStar female soldiers Frostgrave box too. The bow arm was cut and reset at the wrist to give it a more interesting angle. The bow is covered in Greenstuff leaves as a nod to lots of old waywatcher sculpts and the source image.

The sword and knife are from the Victrix Greek Hoplite sprue. They just look far more elven than my Viking etc sword scabbards.

The quiver is from the NorthStar Frostgrave Barbarian box sprue.

The cloak is from the female soldier sprue again, but to keep the Kerillian look going I added Greenstuff fur around the shoulders.

The base came from the fact that I got hold of some skaven heads and that I wanted Eldwinia’s base to be different to the rest. I think the elves always seem to be agile and on the move. I was wondering whether to have her on a pile of Skaven heads, but the over the top and gory nature of that put me off. I still wanted her to be it motion, so I used a head, a Beastman shield and a pile of dried paint pot paint as ballast to show there could be a body beneath the shield. I plan to have Eldwinia stood on the shield at a slight angle to suggest she is springing from the shield to bound onward and reload her bow whilst still in the air.

I used the texture paint again for mud and static grass for fur. I have tried to add leaves to every base as a uniting theme.

The hands on the base are from the Mantic Games Zombie sprue.

I used gloss varnish for puddles of mud and blood.

The Paint job was fun. I know that I rushed it a little to get it finished today, but probably wouldn’t have spent much longer on it in all honesty.

• The whites are the Army Painter bright whites. I used Nulin Oil to get some shading, but didn’t keep a lot of it as the concept photo has this ruff / cloak top as being quite a stark white.
• The green of the clothing and leaves is Vallejo Flat Green. I used a touch of Caliban Green in the creases to get more contrast and used Citadel Biel-tan Green shade.
• The blue of the clothing is citadel Macragge Blue with heavy washes of citadel Drakenhof Nightshade.
• The Brass bits are Vallejo Brass
• A lot of the browns are the primer colour of citadel Mournfang Brown spray paint with Nulin Oil or with Agrax Earthshade washes until it was where I wanted it to be. I did use some Vallejo Mahogany Brown paint here and there as a highlight or to cover up mistakes.
• The black shoes are Abaddon Black.
• The skin colour is Bugman’s Glow and Army Painter Barbarians Flesh highlights and some Reikland Fleshshade.
• The gore on the base is Citadel Blood for The Blood God paint with bits of Army Painter Barbarians Flesh at the edges.

The name is a corruption of my own middle name Edwin. On Skyrim on the PS4 I named one of my characters Edwinolas.

(Legolas rip off, sorry not sorry)

I googled elven names and all the ladies names beginning with “E” also began with “El”. I think Eldwinia is a pretty name.

Eldwinia is a waywatcher with all the scouting experience and training that that famous name conjures up.

Why is she dressed in a lavishly trimmed cloak and not wearing the camouflage of her people? Love.

Eddard Rattenfäller was riding the dangerous roads from Bretonnia to the Empire alone. His entourage took a slower safer road with his belongings but he wanted some time away from his dreary businessman life. He was strong, stoic and as skilled in combat as any Imperial Captain, but he had a love of song that he was embarrassed by. It was OK for a man of standing to listen to music, but not to take part.

Eddard sang as he rode. He sang songs of unrequited love, of home, of battles long forgotten and long lost treasures. He sang loadly and like a man who knows he is not being watched. But he was wrong.

Eldwinia had been ordered to kill anyone who came down this path on sight. There was something about the man’s tone, emotion and the words of love that saw her unknock her arrow and follow him for a few miles listening to him unseen.

Beyond the next mile Eldwinia knew there would be another waywatcher with the same orders as her. To prevent the inevitable she made her choice.

Eldwinia made herself known with a warning shot and descended to the roadside. Eddard was alarmed, but knew by reputation that he would have been dead already if a waywatcher decided so. As Eldwinia calmed his stressed horse Eddard was struck by her beauty. Even though he knew he was on the right road, her words were as soft as silk and as comforting as a warm hearth and he dutifully turned his horse around and followed her. Her confident martial bearing and stunning beauty were a combination he had never experienced before and he was spellbound.

In this way she saved his life. Beyond that next waywatcher there was a secret. An embarrassment that the wood elves did not want the men of the Empire or Bretonnians to see, hence the strict orders given. As Eldwinia led Eddard safely to the road that would take him to his destination she had a choice to make. She could go back, but nothing goes truly unseen by the forest. She was confident that they would know that she disobeyed orders and used her initiative beyond her bounds. She decided that if she could be punished or even considered a traitor for sparing a life, just because love had filled her heart, then perhaps the waywatcher life was no longer for her.

Unbeknownst to Eddard he and Eldwinia did not strictly part company. When his heart sank as he said goodbye she saw him leave, but even in the broken ground beyond the forest no one sees a waywatcher that does not wish to be seen. Seeing Eddard sullen and forlorn at her absence gave her a pang of guilty pleasure.

Without knowing truly what life held in store for her any longer she returned to type and chose to become a guardian of the city streets as though these were the pathways of her forest home. Her forest camouflage, apart from her trusty bow, were replaced by garments that during the day would pass for local fashion at a glance, but at night would be reminiscent enough of a waywatcher to strike fear into those she chose to reveal herself to.

Now we find Eldwinia busy killing Skaven beasts knowing that this horde will kill every one in the city and knowing full well that that would included Eddard.  If she and Eddard lived through this she would speak with him and encourage him to sing for her. This gave fresh energy to her resolve. As a skaven monk lays dead at her feet and another recoils from an arrow to the snout, she is already reaching for the next arrow. Eldwinia clinically judges as she leaps through the air to a fresh vantage point just how many arrows she will loose before she will have to revert to her beloved swords. She hummed a tune that she had heard Eddard sing that fateful day and hoped beyond hope that he was still alive.

Thank you to everyone who liked and commented on this project.

I have really loved every element of the project. Building, basing, painting and story writing have all been great fun.

Will Thraim ‘The Dragon Slayer’ Oakensword turn up to save his son?

Will Alban Tonmehr live long enough to become a credible Captain of men and how many skaven will he rent in twain along the way?

Will this encounter be the one that convinces Witch Hunter Mordecai Von Malleüs of his own worth, or will he always consider himself a jumped up coach driver?

Will Eldwinia and Eddard Rattenfäller live to find the love and meaning that they both seem destined to find in each other?

Sadly we’ll never know…

These minis might need to be morphed into Rangers of Shadow Deep war party or even get hold of a Mordheim rulebook and see if these guys would point up to a legal troop.

Thanks again.