The coming of the Plotgibber
Again Vyzorak sat at the centre of a summoning circle, the four globes stolen from Wolfram Industries melting inside a small crucible. Thick crimson smoke laced with aetheric energies rose from it and the ogroid gestured to shape it into Tzeentch's sigil. The rune formed into the air, its All-seeing Eye shut.
"Plotgibber! I summon thee, Xal'ar'ap of the Grand Cabal!", once again the ogroid called to the Great Beyond.
The All-seeing Eye's lids slowly opened. As its pupil stared deep into Vyzorak's soul, the air around it started to crack. Then, with a wet rip it opened and out of the rent stepped Xal'ar'ap.
"Well done, Thaumaturge!" cackled the Changecaster as it capered around the chamber deep within Eklysium's citadel, its blue robes swirling madly.
"9 times 9 Hyshian cycles I'm at your service, Lorehoarder. And as a first token of my respect, I'll tell you there is a gaggle of grots camped close to the Aetheric Bastion's devices. Strike fast, strike hard, destroy their camp and seize the devices!"
"So that they can be bent to Eklysium's conquest"
"Indeed! And to the greater glory of Tzeentch..."
An here is Xal'ar'ap Plotgibber, fully painted and ready to fight with the Coven of the Purple Flame.
I obviously kept the palette consistent with all my other Tzeentch models, using exactly the same techiniques I used on the Silver Tower Pink and Blue Horrors.
The base, however, looks more like a swamp than the Silver Tower tiles, and matches that of my Dark Emissary, as I have plans for a Chaos Warband to go with him. Xal'ar'ap will feature in that warband as an ally, but I'm waiting for the end of summer to see if we'll get a new Warcry edition before starting building the other models.
Xal'ar'ap Plotgibber
Vyzorak Lorehoarder sat crosslegged on the floor, at the centre of a complex network of symbols, his staff resting on his knees. A stream of arcane syllables flowed from his lips, the tattoos on his body glimmering faintly. The sick light intensified as the symbols on the floor ignited.
"Plotgibber! I summon thee, Xal'ar'ap of the Grand Cabal!" boomed the ogroid voice.
In front of him the air coalesced into a swirling vortex of impossible hues. It buckled and became translucent, a silver asp visible behind it. The snake moved, as if alive, testing the boundary between Realms. It suddenly retreated to reveal a malevolent pair of eyes and four hands tracing runes around them.
"Azyr is still shut to us, Lorehoarder!"
"Then grant me the means to break the veil for you!"
"Aaaah! Know, Thaumaturge, there is a human wizard in service to Wolfram. We fanned the flames of his paranoia and avarice, convincing him to work alone with a small escort of untrained militia. Right now, they are diving deep down the Vitrian Well, bringing him stolen images on arcane devices. In those devices, there is the knowledge the Thunderhide seeks and the power to break the veil..."
"They'll be mine and your services too, Plotgibber!"
"Indeed, Vyzorak, indeed..."
Among the few bits I brought with me from Manchester, there was a fully assembled Pink Horror picked up as a free Miniature of the Month. I've had the idea to convert it into a Changecaster and for that I had kept a pair of Battlemage arms and few other random bits, promising myself to actually convert it when the moment was right. It looks like now is the right time!
I carefully cut the three arms that were on the Pink Horror and then glued the Battlemage arms at the very back of the cut on the body. Finally, I placed two of the original arms back, slightly more foward and lower than they were.
For the staff top I used the asp, and for the hand the one holding a sacrificial dagger, both seeming the best fitting for a Tzeentchian daemon.
I could have used green stuff to join the two sides of the mantle, but the area was so small I was afraid I couldn't make the sculpted cloth look realistic. Instead, I glued two bird skulls there, as if they were clasps holding two stoles together.
The final touch was the Necromancer collar, slightly reduced in size and glued on top of the head like a frill.
