Monster March 7 - part 5; The Final Reveal.

 

Light glittered from every surface imaginable as the torch illuminated the treasury room.

The three thieves stood by the entrance, entranced by the scene infront of them, an entire kingdoms treasure in a vault which stretched far above them, so high that the light from their torch could not reach the ceiling.  No-one would notice if some went missing, as well as their target which was down here somewhere.

Gingerly, unbelieving that they had made it this far, they stepped off of the stone steps and moved amongst the treasure piles. Skittering piles of coins over causing a cascade of rolling bow wave as they moved.

"Wait, this was too easy. There should still be menials and clerical workers down here keeping tab on the tax levels and outgoings" one said as she stopped where she was.

"Who cares? Just fill your pack with gold and we'll find the Pitaxian Sceptre and be out of here" one of her companions replied, already filling his backpack with plundered gold pieces, a huge grim plotting his face.

The grin dropped as the huge doors clicked and locked shut. All three turned and began to scan their surroundings, the reflective light of the gold no-longer a thing of beauty but a distraction.

They lost sight of their companion in the dark.

"Gunter, Gunter, where are you mate?" 

There was a muffled cry and a thud in response, then the whisper of air over leathery skin, almost as if something was flying down here. 

Metal scraped as a sword was drawn, arrow was knocked onto bowstring and held ready, but the edge was upon them. The heist had been going so well, too well now they agreed, something was down here with them. A guardian perhaps, surely this kingdom wasn't insane enough to have monsters lurking in their undercroft?

Coins rippled in movement and both thieves jumped and turned at the sound. Weapons at the ready but the light from the torch was pitiful and they couldn't see anything.

"Marcus, get back up here, we need to find a way out" the woman said.

"Oh, I'm afraid it's too late for that my dear" a voice purred out from the dark, causing both to swing around again.

"Marcus, and...I don't believe I got your name..."

"Eva" she replied.

"Don't tell it you're name dummy" Marcus hissed.

"So, Marcus and Eva, I've already dealt with Gunter there, so you two won't be leaving I'm afraid. But I will know who set you upon the course to your doom and what they wanted".

"Show yourself Demon, I'll fight and die before I tell you anything" Marcus shouted hefting his bow manically left and right.

A huge thud, and a cut off scream announced the arrival of their nemesis.

Saerthaera dropped from the ceiling above, landing square on Marcus and squashing him flat, erupting a jet of blood in all directions from underneath her huge clawed foot.

She reared up, towering over the shocked Eva, eyes glinting in the meagre torchlight, red scales tinged orange.

"Now, let us talk, you and I"...

*****

You've gathered your friends around the table, snacks and character sheets at the ready. Player Handbooks are open on class and spell lists. The group note-taker has their notepad open and pencil at the ready.

Gradually as the Dungeon Masters screen is unfolded and blocks off the section of rulebooks, dice and other paraphernalia, the conversation about the table dies off and everyone looks expectantly at the Game Master.

"Greetings, when last we left our dragon..."

-----

Greetings, when last we left our dragon I mentioned that I had very little left to complete, mainly her base and some details.

I'm happy to report that the Matte Varnish stage worked as intended:

This was the rather undignified pose of waiting for the black base rim to dry as I always paint a section underneath the rim black as well. I find that it stops the inevitable flakes round the rim forming, especially once varnished.

My can of Army Painter varnish was used, warmed gently in a sink of warm water, and shaken thoroughly before a test application on a "volunteer" Grot I had lying around to ensure that there would be no cloudiness upon drying.

I must admit to still being very nervous, as it could very easily have ruined the entire project at this late stage (due to work shift schedule, I won't get anymore time to work on her this month).

Afterwards, it was just a matter of overbrushing the gold, picking out the cauldron on her base and painting in her eyes and teeth.

Below I present Saerthaera, in all her glory:

 I am happy to have her finished well in advance of the deadline and not to have been pushing it.

A little background behind her.

Saerthaera, was a player character in a Pathfinder kingdom builder campaign my friends played in*.

It was set in a region known as the Stolen Lands, which were split into a series of other smaller regions, each of which could be added to the players kingdom as play continued.

Saerthaera, was the daughter of an Ancient Red Dragon known as Choral the Conqueror, and who was actively working to return and conquer the region.

She had been sent out in human form to gather intelligence on the kingdoms, but took to human affairs and the running of the kingdom, so decided to betray her father** and work against him in the long run.

If memory serves, she ended up ruling a northern barbarian tribe and was working on becoming the ruler of the kingdom of Brevoy, by way of killing off the rest of the ruling family and taking over.

In honour of the game, Saerthaera was purchased and now thanks to Swordmaster, I have transformed her from bare grey primer, into the display piece she deserved to be all along!

Some detail photo's:

The focal point is obviously her head and face, I took extra time here to add highlights to the ridges and blend the purple into the red.

Finally I added her eyes.

With a "miniature" this size, her wings will draw a lot of attention, so I made sure to work towards the weathered, aged leathery look.

The "Butt shot"***, the bricks on the rear of her base are actually sculpted using Green Stuff, as the area was flat on the stock model.

Once again, with the ridge running down her tail, I took the time to work to blend the purple into the red to get a soft transition of colour.

Every Dragon loves treasure, and Saerthaera's base is liberally covered in the stuff. Gold and Silver coins, Rubies to keep the warm feel of the entire model. The half buried cauldron is spilling more rubies onto the floor. 

The ruined walls are in place because I imagine that she's turned the treasury room into her personal horde area and wanted to transform amongst the kingdom's wealth to relax.

Lastly, just to remind everyone about just how big this model actually is:

That is my converted Stormcast Eternal Knight Questor, not entirely a small miniature, and he is dwarfed by the Dragon.

Once again, thanks to Swordmaster of Hoeth for running Monster March, and I'm extremely happy to have taken part and finished in good time.

I'll have to start planning for next year's monster!

Until next time, have nice day...

*****

"What I want to know is who hired you, and what do they want" Saerthaera grumbled, "So?"

"Why would I tell a dragon anything?" Eva asked and swung her sword at the dragons face.

Contemptuously, Saerthaera swatted the sword aside, then with a surprising amount of grace and dexterity turned and pulled the sword from Eva's hand, throwing it out of reach into the treasure pile.

Eva scanned around eyes settling upon Marcus's bow and arrow.

"You'd never make it in time my dear" Saerthaera said, "I am Saerthaera, treasurer of the kingdom, daughter of the Conqueror and currently, I should be the sole object of your attention".

A growl snapped Eva's eyes back to the dragon.

She whimpered, "If I tell you, will you let me go?".

"Of course" Saerthaera said, although the reptilian face was much harder to read facial cues on then a regular humanoid.

Eva sighed deeply.

"Alright, a man named Calistrus hired us. He was after the Pitaxian Sceptre as it's a sign of office and one can rule the city-state of Pitax using it".

"Calistrus, I've never heard this name".

"Really, he works gathering relics and treasure for your father, Choral the Conqueror".

At the mention of her father's name, Saerthaera's eyes snapped back into sharp focus, stare boring down on the hapless adventurer.

A glow began to rise in her chest, visible between the chest scales, getting brighter as it worked it's way up her neck.

Eva panicked, having figured out what was about to happen and ran for the doors, even as Saerthaera pursed her lips and let forth a stream of fire, aimed directly at the running thief.

The superheated flame caught Eva, who didn't have time to scream before she was immolated, a cloud of ash and a pair of charred boots all that was left.

*****

Half and hour later, Saerthaera, back in human form, walked the groggy Gunter out of the doors to the treasury, pointing out the remains of his compatriots as they passed.

"Now you know what to say when you return, don't you?" She asked.

"That the treasury is guarded by a red dragon, and that Mamzel Saerthaera will suffer no fools to attempt to steal from her".

"Good man, here's five gold pieces for your trouble" she said smiling broadly as she placed the coins into his hand.

"Thank you, um, who are you?"

Her smiled turned to ice as she looked at him again.

"Mamzel Saerthaera, now get out of my city!".

*****

* I've been invited to play in campaigns many times by this group, unfortunately working changing shift work as I do I can't commit to a regular game on a regular night at a regular time. Also I don't want to say I'll play, and then my character only turns up one out of three weeks or something, maybe longer if there is overtime shifts to cover!

I live vicariously through their reports and offer opinions about what they should try to do. I also sometimes give motivations to the higher up NPCs who need to make decisions regarding things in the game world, kind of make the world a little more real feeling behind the scenes.

** Because she's a RED Dragon, duh.

*** Oo-er, Butts!