Tempted by the goblet of blood, Tanek stood before the entrance to the Far Peak. In his previous life, they had all heard the legends of the terrible vampire haunted mountain and stayed well away accordingly, but things had changed.
During the last defence of their town, when he was alive and serving in the guard there. He had been drained of blood by the vampire leading the attack, one of its acolytes in a cruel joke gave him what he now knew to be the Blood Kiss, and he awoke later on after the battle had finished.
However he awoke with a terrible hunger. A hunger which had led him to slaughter five people nearby. Filled with shame, he had fled into the wilderness. Days, maybe weeks passed and he knew he was loosing himself and becoming a mindless beast, blood drunk and no better then the things he had culled when he was human still.
When he had purpose, control of himself, a calling to serve...
Then the new calling had begun...
Of his erstwhile creators there was no sign, but something pulled him inexorably towards the Far Peak.
An unknown time had passed before he was at the entrance, a goblet of fresh blood sitting on the stone altar testing him. Behind was a hooded figure of dark grey skin guarding the steps carved up the mountain. Great stone arches graced the route upwards, each carved with ancient Askurgan runes decrying the beast and exulting in control and honour.
How did he know that?
The guardian shifted his dark robes swished slightly disturbing the dust, they were tied by a coarse lilac dyed rope around it's waist, a strange splash of colour on the otherwise monochromatic figure.
"You have done well to heed the call young one" it whispered, yet Tanek heard it clearly, "Your choice stands before you, take the goblet and be cut down as a beast, or face the challenge ahead and be reborn on the peak!"
Tanek stepped around the altar, growling involuntary as he passed the blood. Immediately a blade flashed infront of him, the flat holding him in place. Eyes flicking from the metal edge, along the haft of a glaive he found himself staring at a different vampire entirely, this one wrapped in orange robes and dark-iron armour. The same lilac rope hung about her waist as she snarled at him.
"First lesson, you keep the beast in check, growl at blood again and I'll take your head"
Tanek turned and looked back to the hooded figure which had greeted him, but who had now disappeared, a slight mist hanging loosely close to the floor. As he turned back, the glaive was gone, as was the vampire.
"Scale the mountain and be reborn" a deep voice whispered in his mind.
Tanek took to the steps, the overwhelming scent of blood filled his nostrils from further up the mountain calling him, yet he had to resist the urge to charge as he now knew that would only end in death...his death.
The path to control had begun.
*****
The Askurgan Trueblades are a warband for Warcry, the skirmish game set in the Age of Sigmar universe, which has some of the most unique and brilliant models GW have ever produced for fantasy*.
When this particular faction was previewed on the reveal shows, I knew I HAD to have them to paint, but why?
Well, basically they are Vampire Zen Shaolin Warrior Monks (and given my predilection for far east warriors/warfare it was a given), therefore they were painted with element of Shaolin and Sohei elements.
I went with the starker, dark orange robes of the Shaolin temple this time, but tried to work in the armour style of Japan on the plates on their legs.
Their chest and shoulder armour is very mainland Asia themed as well compared, so took from Korea with the un-laquered metal effect (yes I did do some research).
There are two members who don't have the orange robes, these being the leader and a somewhat interesting character story wise. I chose to change the colours on these to reflect their positions and responsibilities within the warband.
The leader got a pale grey/white set of robes as white is the colour of death and mourning in Japan, it is often worn to funerals and in the past it marked someone in a position similar to the grim reaper in western mythology (imagine if Viking Berserkers wore white and you get the idea).
The Pariah wears a dark grey robe because I enjoyed the contrast to the rest of the warband, it also marked him out from the rest due to his unique position.
The main element which ties all the warband together are the lilac ropes tied around their waists. I saw this element was immediately reminded of the first season of the anime Naruto and the main villain Orochimaru, who other then his ability to turn into a snake, his main recognition piece is a large purple rope ties around his waist.
May as well run with that idea as it was memorable!
Acolytes are new recruits of the Trueblades. Many, having just received the Blood Kiss, are horrified by their new existence and seek out the order to learn how to control their eternal thirst. Reaching the secluded sanctums alone is proof of their potential, but they must further prove themselves to their new kin.
Askurgan Ascetics:
Ascetics are the elite warriors of the order. They seek transcendence through battle, searching for secrets that could not be found from contemplative study alone. These warriors fight through the carnage of battle until they are knee-deep in gore, yet through battle-mantras and the martial kata that allows them to appear as blurring specters, they repress their hunger.
Cursebloods are the result of Trueblades losing the battle against their inner beast. The result is a hideous and painful transformation with muscles growing larger and larger while facial bones elongate into a maw. The rope that symbolizes the Askurgan remains flapping around their waists as if mocking them. Yet they are truly mindless, having just enough self-awareness to avoid attacking their fellow vampires.
Pariahs are rare Cursebloods that manage to leash the beast and regain their humanoid form. To revert, they must engage in a harrowing trial observed by another vampire ready to execute them in case of failure, as the process risks the Curseblood losing any remaining sanity. Even if they survive, the physical marks never fade and must live on the margins of their society, both respected and feared; despite being able to regain control, one that slipped the leash may fall again.
Exemplars are masters who have confronted their bestial nature many times and has always emerged the victor. They can be found meditating upon platforms surrounded by lakes of blood or on mountaintops surrounded by pounding storms. Many Askurgan vampires dream of learning weapon arts directly from such masters, but approaching one means they must first get through the copious amounts of gore that surround the exemplars without succumbing to the beast within.
With these off the painting table, it marks the first unit completed for 2025 and the first box filled on my Hobby Bingo card:
I chose to use a supernatural box, as well, they're Vampires after all!
This gives me 10 points for Hobby Bingo.
For the OPC challenge, these are 8 infantry figures over 12mm in size, so provide another 80 points to that running total, putting me up to 90 points out of my total of 6,000.
I have the Blades of Karanak and Chameleon Skink warbands for Warcry to do next, and love the others so may pick one up the next time i go through the Element Games for a gaming day.
Until next time, have nice day...
*It really is a thing that the further you get from their core games, the better the models overall.
Necromunda is the obvious example, but Warcry and Kill Team have some fantastic models which otherwise wouldn't be made.
Blackstone Fortress and the various Warhammer Quests games have had their share as well, as has Underworlds.
Lovely warband! Really nice to see all these influences coming together - and what better excuse to do some research! I really dig the dust effect you painted on the bottom of the robes.
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