Fantasy - The Lady of Vines, Branchwych

Sylvaneth are thought to be immortal creatures, in a way they are, but nature works in cycles.

Life and Death should be in balance at all times.

This was what The Lady of Vines was trying to tell her Queen before the hordes of Nurgle had descended upon their realm and the Sylvaneth forces had begun the long retreat to the Hidden Glade.

Alarielle had begun to favour life, rampant and vigorous, more then the balance of nature. All the elder Sylvaneth could see what was happening and what would come to pass if their queen continued along her path, but she was not to be persuaded from her course and drew the followers of Nurgle like moths to a flame.

Many bitter battles and losses occurred during those dark times. The Lady of Vines never far from Alarielle's side or the council of ancients.
Each treeman ancient lost was knowledge and memory which could not be recovered, unless the surviving Sylvaneth could retrieve the fallen seedstone before it was defiled.

Many times during battle, The Lady of Vines engaged in magical duels with a sorceror who was unlike the pestilent fiends plaguing her homelands.

This one was crooked, wrapped in robes of luminescent white and wielded a staff wreathed in coruscating flames.

The she fell in battle, a momentary lack of concentration as the queen had called out under attack.

She felt weak as she stood, shut off from nature, unable to commune with anything. As she looked around, she realised with horror why that was.

Nothingness, bright, white, nothingness surrounded her no matter which way she looked. Slowly, panic rising, a pathway appeared through the void. At her feet, one reminder of what she was lay.

As she uttered the spell to create a familiar from the small pieces of broken wood which had been transported with her, a distant chuckle of laughter, no louder then a whisper but audible from a distance away echoed through the void.

Another model I have had part painted for ages, not ONE year this time, but at LEAST five, possibly six years, where does time go?

Anyway, The Lady of Vines is a Games Workshop Spellsinger model, which I am going to count as a Branchwych from their Sylvaneth range. One of my favourite sculpts from the old Wood Elf range, she is definitely up there on the "top models" lists.

Her colour scheme comes from the fact that I cannot fathom how Wood Elves in their classic sense are meant to survive. Look at any type of creature which lives in a specific environment and it adapts to it's home.

In their classic iteration, Wood Elves, as Fey Creatures, all have white/pale skin which seems to glow with an otherworldly power, and often long blonde or silver hair...when was the last time you saw a blonde tree?

Instead I decided to give my wood elves green skin and hair, paired with deep green cloaks and robes, the only reason she has a white dress is to break up the miniature a little and draw your eye to some of the details, like the wines wrapping their way around her body and such.

Her name partially comes from this last detail, but also from the Realmgate Wars series of novels Games Workshop put out when Age of Sigmar was going through it's first campaign phase. These were a hit and miss series of books in my opinion, several were excellent, others not so much and one was a definite chore to get through.

The Lady of Vines, appears in Book 4, Wardens of the Everqueen, and she is the handmaiden of Alareielle. I wanted to take this aspect of the background and build upon it, having her calamity which draws her to the Silver Tower take place during the first invasion of the realm by the forces of Nurgle, creating the replacement Lady of Vines which features in the novel.

My own character being ripped from the realm of life and thrust into the formless expanse surrounding the Silver Tower, feels cut off and powerless at the end, creating her little woodland familiar. On the model this is represented by a wood familiar from Reaper Bones, a fun little addition, gameplay wise this counts as a Bittergrub which she can use against her enemies.


Until next time...


 - Lewis