The Zhundak Family
Ekhrim Zhundak is the founder and proud owner of the Zhundak Mine of Gleamdeep. That most of the profits of the mine end up into Nirimos Sylai's coffers matters little to him. He knows he's just one pick strike from uncovering a rich vein of umbralith. "Wait and see..." is what he keeps saying, chewing onto his trusted pipe, to anyone questioning the wisdom of staying in the Lux Umbra.
His firstborn Davvid is in charge of the siftig and selection of the minerals mined by Ekhrim. Stubbornly loyal to his father, he too is sure their hard work will soon be rewarded.
Ekhrim's youngest son, Magnir, is still completing his apprenticeship. That he has not yet been allowed to prospect for umbralith on his own is frustrating him, for Magnir has no doubts that it will be him that will reverse the family fortunes.
The Zhundaks, like Godri Snorrisson, were made using old Night Goblin bodies, arms from the Empire Militia and heads from the Knights of the White Wolf. The mining tools come from an Organ Gun, while the pipe is from the Dwarf Quarrelers.
I've also added more rocky outcrops, done like the previous ones and clusters of crystals carved from sprues, like on the base of the Umbral Slitherling. The walkways are again done with coffe stirrers, cocktail sticks and decorated with banners and bucklers from the Dwarf Quarrelers.
The palette for everything was already well established, so I just had to repeat it.
With the Zhundak family and mine completed, I'm going to call a pause on this project. Between the tunnel walls, the settlement structures, Shattered Dominion objective markers and the mine itself, I have enough to play plenty of games without ever having to repeat the same board configuration.
I'll leave you with a gallery showing everything and all the characters I've made alongside the terrains. Hope you'll enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.
Opportunity in Strife
"Can I interest you in a sword? Finest blade in the Lux Umbra, swear to the Maker!" Godri Snorrisson walked up to Tark and Slytha lingering at the entrance of his Emporium. "Oh, but I can see you are more interested in axes... finely balanced, aren't they? A Lumineth spear, perhaps? Ideal to keep enemies at a distance!"
The Shroudmaiden and the Vulkite Karl shook their heads and moved away, the duardin's droning following them as they made way for the Black Gor Inn. From the inside, they could hear the voices of their companions raised in boastful banter, and the shouting of Tulok Marrowbreath at Wench.
In a quieter corner of the common room, Lady Laelanyel and Aef-Grimnir sat, considering the Shadowflames' situation.
"There's a map in this book" the Mistweaver was explaining. "Which marks what I think is an entrance to the Umbral Web. Unlike Khainites, my Shadowkin is weary of threading it, but it could be our only way to leave the Prime Dominion before it is too late".
"My Lady, I'm as keen as you to leave this wretched Dominion and that lunatic Soulblight behind" replied Aef-Grimnir. "But I cannot return to my lodge with just a few books and scrolls, not after such a long time".
"What do you suggest, then?"
"We venture once more into the tunnels. Surely Nirimos Sylai will know of some hidden trove".
"I don't like that Iscarneth... there's something odd about him and this Gleamdeep of him".
"What other choice do we have? We don't know the place. We must rely on the locals. And as we go after something worth our efforts, you can check the accuracy of that map".
"Always finding opportunity in strife, Runefather. This is why I like you. I'll speak with the Underwriter".
***
"Well... there's this tomb that other customers of mine, a far lesser skilled company than milady's fine companions I'd say, failed to enter..." Nirimos tapped his finger on the pages of his ledger.
"And you are sure about its content?"
"Well... I'm sure it is an Iscarneth tomb, and we have always buried our dead with their valuables".
"Then, what it will take for you to underwrite an expedition?"
"Well... I'll take a cut of any profits... or an advanced payment. Let me see..." the Underwriter flicked through his ledger. "Ah, yes! There's another customer, a fine gentleman from up above, after antique books, preferably lost items from the Basileun Library... You won't happen to know anything about something like that, would you?"
Behind her shadesteel mask, Lady Laelanyel's eyes opened wide. How come the Iscarneth knew about the books? For a moment, she considered turning back the Underwriter, but forfeiting the content of the tomb would have not gone down well with the Caengan.
"I happened to stumble onto this" she said, producing the book from under her cloak. "Could it be of interest?"
"Ah, yes! Such a fine item! It will most definetely do. Now... there's a few more clauses we should discuss..."
The directions provided by Nirimos were surprisingly accurate. And the tomb was indeed full. Aef-Grimnir could see at least two chests brimming with coins and books.
As he moved in, Viserhyx and Anielyn close behind, bowstrings held taught, a barrage of bullets and filthy grot magic welcomed them. The cursed Underwriter had sent another party, it seemed. Aef-Grimnir could not blame the aelf, if it was not for the choice of Zotbag and his ogor bodyguards as backup collectors.
With a grin, the Runefather rounded up the sarcofagus, withering another blast of green energies, and brought his axe around.
Firing his bow at the maneater, Viserhyx reached for one of the chests, but it only contained common copper coins.
With the tip of his sword, Anielyn pulled out a scattering of the crystals studding the sarcofagus and fell back, just as Lady Laelanyel entered the tomb with her party.
Tark, Drevakh Xosh and Iyshak entered the tomb from a side tunnel. From across the chamber, came the booming voices of the rest of the Ironforged.
Aef-Grimnir took another blast to his face. Then, a gentle wind blew through the tomb. He breathed in deeply, sensing Ghyranite magic in it. For all his efforts, Alti had not yet sealed off the Dominion. Reinvigorated, the Runefather slammed his axe down upon the grot shaman.
Throwing axes and arrows flew at the ogors approaching the second chest as Visheryx managed to snatch a book from it, just before a brute was upon him.
Lady Laelanyel drifted to Aef-Grimnir's side, coils of mist lashing at the maneater.
Vorya moved to their back, preparing to strike at another ogor. Behind her, Anielyn still holding onto the crystals, loosed a few arrows at the same target.
Around the book chest, the ogors charged. One engaged Tark and Drevakh, the other tramped over the books, crushing them to a pile of thorn pages and smashing Viserhyx down.
Engrin rushed to support Vorya, the two barely managing to keep the ogor from reaching Anielyn and take the crystals from him.
Again Aef-Gimnir breathed in the Ghyranite wind still blowing through the room. Bullets from the maneater's gun flew at him, but together with Lady Laelanyel they bested the ogor.
Lady Laelanyel moved out of the tomb to face the second maneater. The ogor shot a few bullets at the Mistweaver. They found their mark, but the burly mercenary realised there was no way now, without Zotbag's magic, to get through the Shadowflames and take the crystals from them. With a roaring command, he called the Ironforged back.
In Gleamdeep, Nirimos rounded the corner of the wooden tower acting as his office. There, waiting for him, was his customer.
"Well, sir, I have the book you asked for".
"Well done, aelf! Well done..." the Thief of Wit's voice was heavy with gloating. "Now, forget. As always, that's the price you pay to keep your business prospering".
Once alone, the Gaunt Summoner opened the book. An enraged scream filled the air. Two pages had been ripped off, the two pages he wanted. The pages showing a map to an entrance to the Umbral Web.
The Gleamdeep Council of Fool's End
On the edges of a wide chasm studded with glowing crystals in the further reaches of Edraele Lux Umbra, lays the settlement called Gleamdeep, the last stop before the unknown regions below the Dornayar Ulkesi.
There, Nirimos Sylai has established a flourishing underwriting business. The Iscarneth will guarantee the success of any venture in the Lux Umbra for what he calls a modest cut of the profits, all terms and conditions of any agreement duly recorded onto his ledger.
Inevitably, these agreements contain an exclusivity clause for the procurement of supplies. Weapons, armour and other gear is to be purchased at Godri Snorrisson's Emporium. Though but a beardling Dispossessed, Godri haggles as hard as any accomplished Kharadron merchant, that being the only thing he is good at, if one was to listen to his clansmen mining the crystals on the chasm slopes.
Lodging before departure, food and water are provided by the Black Gor Inn and its keeper, Tulok Marrowbreath. The ogor's sickly skin tone and foul drool hint he must hail from the Undergut Mawtribe. No one can confirm that, but anytime anyone inquires about the inn keeper's origins, his signature dish, the 'Tasty Stew' is the day special.
Serving the patrons of the Black Gor Inn is Tulok's gnoblar, which he calls Wench. Whenever anyone points out the oddity of that name, the 'Tasty Stew' is again on the menu.
How the three have come together is anybody's guess, but what nobody's can deny is that their venture is surprisingly successful. A steady stream of impoverished adventurers comes to Nirimos' office, ready to pawn whatever they can to get the support of what has become known as the Gleamdeep Council. Still, no party backed by the Gleamdeep Council ever returned with any of the riches they were promised, if they returned at all, a fact that earned the settlement the nickname of Fools' End.
Just for the fun of it, I wanted to add some citizens to my Lux Umbra terrain. Who knows, they might feature as NPCs or objectives in some of the games I'll play for Animosity III.
Nirimos Sylai is converted from a Battlewizard body with arms from the Empire Cannon loader, hands from the Battlewizard kit and a head from the very first Dark Eldar Warriors kit.
I've sculpted the trims on his mantle to hide the damage done to remove the shoulders and to hide the groove where the standard Battlewizard arms would be glued.
Godri Snorrisson is made with the legs of the old multipart Night Goblins, torso from the Empire Militia, a head from the Empire Knights of the White Wolf and belt accessories from the Dwarf Quarrelers.
The arms are from the Empire Militia, with the right hand repositioned and given the long sword from the same kit and the left hand from the Dwarf Quarrelers.
Tulok Marrowbreath and Wench are, respectively, made from the Ironblaster Gunner body and the Baggage Gnoblar from the Gluttons kit.
Tulok's arms are from the Ogor Beastriders kit, with the hands, knife and rib rack from the Gluttons kit. The cleaver and bag of bones are also from the Gluttons kit. The head is from the Leadbelchers, with the left cheeck partly removed so that I was able to tilt it slightly. I've also sculpted hair on it as I find it stupid that all ogors are bald. Finally, to follow the movement of the head, I've repositioned the left foot, cutting it just above the boot and resculpting the damaged area. A greenstuff hapron and knot on the rear of the belt completed the conversion.
On Wench, I've cut away the top of the baggage he carried, preserving the roasted shin poking from it. From the other gnoblar in the Gluttons kit, I've clipped away more roasted shins and then glued all of them where the luggage used to be. Some repair on the shins and a edge around them made with greenstuff made it look like he is carrying a plate of meat.
