Spellbreakers at Realm's Edge, Part 2

The Temple of Khazla

The Agloraxi Scrolls, whose last charred copies can only be found in the Great Library of Azyrheim, tell of Arch-Domina Khazla. Like all the wizards of the Aspirian tradition, Khazla sought to unlock the secrets of reality. While most Agloraxi used their knowledge to expand and strenghten their empire in the Great Parch, Khazla sought to shackle the roaring hot energies of Aqshy's End. There, with the help of the artificial Colossi that had raised the Prismatikon, she erected a complex network of obelisks and linteled pillars. Fashioned from the purest emberstone, the Temple of Khazla channeled and stabilised the fiery magic of Aqshy, pushing back the Realm's Edge. Scholars from all the Realms' races came to study there and for centuries the region was known as the Becalmed Piremoor. Until Khorne and Tzeentch turned their gaze upon it. The first out of rage at the magic users, the second seeing the shackling of magical energies as an insult, they for once joined forces. Massed armies descended upon the Becalmed Piremoor, despoiling and shattering the Temple of Khazla. And as the destruction progressed, Aqshy's End claimed back the land, indiscriminately consuming daemons, wisemen and crazied warriors alike. And yet, Khazla's master work could not be completely undone. The core of the Temple and few scattered ruins survived the conflagration. Around them, the Piremoor still endures. Its boundaries constantly shifting as magical firestorms ravage it, the Piremoor is dotted with man-sized shards of vitrified emberstone and pools of tainted, oily water. At the centre, the Temple dais glows hot, eternal flames roaring around it.

Since the background for the Skirmish rules in Malign Sorcery focuses on Aqshy's Edge, I wanted a terrain set to fit it. The volcanic glass outcrops I had made for the Scorched Plain of Tor Megiddo were already a good start and I had half a set of Arcane Ruins lying around, perfect to give a more Age of Sigmar feel to the table. The flames come from two Burning Heads and a Malevolent Maelstrom from the Malign Sorcery set. They were clipped to fit onto the corners of the Arcane Ruins dais.

The bits that came off when clipping proved very useful in hiding how badly cast the obelisk was.

The ruined parts of the Temple were done with the broken pillars and the lintels, modelled as half sunk in the ground, with some metal flames I had found in the bits box. I used slate chips to hide the gaps between the plastic bits and the foamboard and to create charcoal around the flames on the dais.

Then, using again DAS and shards of slates, I modelled three pools of tainted water on wooden bases. The water itself is a few layers of epossy resin mixed with generous amounts of Nuln Oil. As you have probably guessed, they'll double up as tar pits on Tor Megiddo.

The black stone was lightly drybrushed with Dawnstone, washed with Drakenhof Nightshade and glazed in Gloss Varnish. The dais was edge highlighted with Evil Sunz Scarlet, Fire Dragon Bright and Troll Slayer Orange. The flames were glazed Cassandora Yellow over Corax White and then layered in Troll Slayer Orange and Evil Sunz Scarlet. The sand was heavy drybrushed with Mournfang Brown, Balor Brown, Wildrider Red and Ryza's Rust.

As I was working on the terrain, I also made an objective marker for the Shadowflames to be used in the Spellhunters scenario, using one of the Burning Head skulls, a 25mm base and bits from Craftworld Eldar weapons. The flaming skull was painted like the flames on the terrain, while the trap like the rubble on the Shadowflames' bases.

Finally, I also painted a Geminids of Uhl-Gysh Endless Spell to fit both the Shadowflames ad the Piremoor. I've reasoned that, if the Geminids manifested themselves in Aqshy, they would interact with the fiery magic of that realm. Hence, the Geminids are black and white, as expected, but the energy trail is fiery.