Dark Skies Over the Harrowmark, Part 1

Pecker's Haven, Flying Island of the Harrowmark

Pecker's Haven is a small island in the stormy skies of the Harrowmark. What its name was in the Age of Myth has been lost to memory, but it sat midway on the skylane going from Blackrocks to Gallowmire, its residents prospering off the trade between the two towns. The ravages of the Age of Chaos first and of the Necroquake later saw it unthetered from its advantageous position and sent adrift over the Harrowmark. Today, only a single structure remains intact, the tall tower home to retired sky-captain Pecker, the old sky-dog offering safe moorings to any ship willing to part with but a small part of their cargo.

Later last year, we started talking about exploring an aspect of the Harrowmark's background that Saul had built into it since its conception: the skies above it and the ships and pirates infesting them. This quickly escalated into the idea of running an event like Tor Megiddo and Rhossum Secundus. Flying ships will clash, sky-scums and wretches from all races will cross cutlasses and will plunder the flying islands over the dreary woods.

Saul has already churned out his first ship, started on a second and on some more ruins within the woods. So, I took it upon myself to work on the first flying island, inspired by John Blanche's paintings and sketches.

So far, I've built the stand and the rocky bottom of the island. The bottom of the island is nothing but an upturned hill made with polystyrene and foamcard, festoned with leaves from the old Citadel Woods and a couple of ruin bits from the Aleguzzler Gargant kit. It is roughly half the size of a Warcry board, so plenty of action can take place on it.

The stand is made from four thick wooden skewers glued into a foamcard base decorated with really old Citadel Trees (propped in for the picture), slate shards and a sign from the Walls & Fences kit.

I wanted non-flying models to be able to move on and off the island, so using skewers and coffee stirrers I built rickety structures jutting and hanging from the bottom of the island. Once painted, I will add rope ladders to join the two structures and to reach the ground.

The mid-platform serves both as a trading post with landlubbers and as a sentry box, an idea I conveyed using a brazier from the Fortified Manor, barrels from the Ogor Gluttons, a Free City handgun and assorted bits like ropes, powder horns and shields.

Unfortunately, I had run out of black primer just before the whole world went into lockdown. It seems that under coronavirus, black spray paint is harder to find that gold! In the meantime, I will build the top of the island and wait until I can paint it.