The Lux Umbra - Part 1

The Zhundak Mine of Gleamdeep

Like many others, Ekhrim Zhundak and his sons came to Gleamdeep as impoverished fortune seekers, lured by the rumours of rich veins of the fabled umbralith running through the slopes of the chasm below the settlement. They were convinced to struck a deal with the Gleamdeep Council by their clansman Godri Snorrisson. Nirimos Sylai underwrote their mining enterprise, granting the Zhundaks exclusive mining rights on the chasm slopes. Any umbralith they'd found would be theirs to trade as they'd saw fit. For anything else they mined, Nirimos Sylai would act as their sole trading agent. So was the Zhundak Mine founded, nothing but a wooden shack protected by ancestor idols carved by the young Zhundaks and a few walkways criss-crossing Gleamdeep's slopes. Years have gone by and nor the mine itself nor the Zhundaks' fortune have improved a bit. Not a single shard of umbralith has been found. What little the Zhundaks have earned from the sales of other minerals, is inevitably spent in more gear from Snorrisson's Emporium and supplies from the Black Gor Inn, as the stubborn Dispossessed claim they are close to hitting the mother lode that will forever change their fortunes.

I had the Ancestor Idols and miners' cart from Battle for Skull Pass in my bits box and though I knew they wouldn't be ready for the last round of submissions for Animosity III, I decided to add them to my Lux Umbra board.

The cart was partly damaged as I had used half of the luggage sitting on top of it and one of the dragon heads on other projects. So, I've repaired the damage with a chest from the Empire Cannon and accessories from the Dwarf Quarrelers. The banner tops and a couple of bucklers also from the Quarrelers, together with bits from the Organ Gun and a torch from the Flagellants, helped to give a Dispossed feeling to the wooden shack made with coffee stirrers.

With the cardboard offcuts from the mine base and a few others I had laying around, I made some rocks, decorated with slate chips and coated in a mixture of talco, sand and PVA glue.
What's left to do now, is building some walkways, more rocks and the Zhundaks themselves. Then, I could call the Lux Umbra project done.