Shadow Stalker heard the mournful howling echoing across the the hills. His keen eyes twitching at the sound, he turned his head to establish a direction. Over the castle walls, across the fen, and into the woods. The moon was sitting low and heavy on the dark horizon, nearly full and glowing with a pale iridescence. The perfect night for a run.
He leapt out of his quarters at the base of the wall, opposite the dungeon entrance where his pack lay. Lifeless zombie werewolves, Shadow Stalker was wracked with constant guilt over their deaths. The only thing keeping him loyal to this Vampire Lord was the promise that the Lord's pet necromancers would return them to life once they had served. He cast those thoughts from his head, however, as the howling he was chasing down was from a live werewolf. In pain, true, but yet still alive. He was lucky the Vampire Lord was off leading his army in fighting some unknown enemy.
When he got to the woods the howling stopped. Carefully winding his way between the trees, he continued carefully in the last direction from which he heard the noises.
After a few minutes he heard the werewolf again. Not howls this time, but pitiful whimpers. Close now, Shadow Stalker could see a large overhanging rock with some darkness beneath. Two red dots glowed within, but he knew he was in no danger. He made a soft wuff sound under his breath, and spoke in the human tongue "Come forth, brother. I mean you no harm".
Shadow Stalker expected to see an injured werewolf, the howls and whimpers had made that obvious. But he did not expect these particular injuries. As the moonlight sluggishly crept across the new wolf's form, nails glinted in the icy light. Bloody nails, all through the pelt. Rings pierced into the flesh and dripping with sickly blood. Malformed paws more claw than foot, and the jaw. The jaw sent shivers through Shadow Stalker's fur. It was elongated and serrated, jutting out of the wolf's skull like bone shards reaching forth to claim a victim. He let out his own whimper, then, for this Lykanis had suffered at least as much as he had.
Back at the Vampire's castle Shadow Stalker spoke with the Thing in the Woods, learning of his tortures at the hands of the Abyssal Dwarfs. He learnt of the curses on the nails, making them impossible to remove or to heal. He heard tell of their magics coaxing his skull to distort and grow those mandible-like extensions, tearing pain as they stretched. He learnt of the night the Lykanis escaped, rending many stunted bodies and hewing a path of blood out of the abyssal laboratories. Perhaps the Vampire's necromancers could unbind the cursed nails. Perhaps they could cure the deformations. Of course, this would not come for free. Money was not the currency the Vampire Lord craved. Bloody servitude in combat would be the price to be paid.
I missed Mordheim while I was out of the hobbying scene, but after getting back in there were quite a few models that I really liked the look of. The Thing in the Woods was one such model. But I was struggling to find one for a sensible price. I once won one on eBay, but upon close inspection of the listing after winning I realised why it was relatively cheap - the seller had modified it to have a normal jaw. I asked if I could back out, and the seller was kind enough to let me. Months passed and I eventually was visiting good old Crooksey and boy did he have a surprise for me. Knowing of my quest, he had secured me a Thing in the Woods! Of course I promised to paint it up quick-smart. A year passes and it still was not done, but then a local runs a Monster March hobby event to encourage people to paint up a monster during March! The perfect excuse to get the Thing done, I diligently pledge and then completely fail to get past a base coat. Then I needed a second Lykanis for Vanguard, sort of (you can only field one at a time, but there are two in my roster so I want them to be different models). A few Vanguard games later and it was still not done. Then a Kings of War tournament comes up and I really really pledge to get it dome this time, and do! Just. Minus varnish, that is yet to happen. I run him and the old Shadow Stalker model as two Lykanis (you can have two in full Kings of War) alongside the zombie werewolf unit. The first few games the Thing sadly gets slaughtered without doing much useful, but the next two games he earns his keep and gets stuck in to a few units, causing bloodshed and mayhem. Go you good Thing! I ended up coming 5th of 15 so was pretty happy overall.
He leapt out of his quarters at the base of the wall, opposite the dungeon entrance where his pack lay. Lifeless zombie werewolves, Shadow Stalker was wracked with constant guilt over their deaths. The only thing keeping him loyal to this Vampire Lord was the promise that the Lord's pet necromancers would return them to life once they had served. He cast those thoughts from his head, however, as the howling he was chasing down was from a live werewolf. In pain, true, but yet still alive. He was lucky the Vampire Lord was off leading his army in fighting some unknown enemy.
When he got to the woods the howling stopped. Carefully winding his way between the trees, he continued carefully in the last direction from which he heard the noises.
After a few minutes he heard the werewolf again. Not howls this time, but pitiful whimpers. Close now, Shadow Stalker could see a large overhanging rock with some darkness beneath. Two red dots glowed within, but he knew he was in no danger. He made a soft wuff sound under his breath, and spoke in the human tongue "Come forth, brother. I mean you no harm".
Shadow Stalker expected to see an injured werewolf, the howls and whimpers had made that obvious. But he did not expect these particular injuries. As the moonlight sluggishly crept across the new wolf's form, nails glinted in the icy light. Bloody nails, all through the pelt. Rings pierced into the flesh and dripping with sickly blood. Malformed paws more claw than foot, and the jaw. The jaw sent shivers through Shadow Stalker's fur. It was elongated and serrated, jutting out of the wolf's skull like bone shards reaching forth to claim a victim. He let out his own whimper, then, for this Lykanis had suffered at least as much as he had.
Back at the Vampire's castle Shadow Stalker spoke with the Thing in the Woods, learning of his tortures at the hands of the Abyssal Dwarfs. He learnt of the curses on the nails, making them impossible to remove or to heal. He heard tell of their magics coaxing his skull to distort and grow those mandible-like extensions, tearing pain as they stretched. He learnt of the night the Lykanis escaped, rending many stunted bodies and hewing a path of blood out of the abyssal laboratories. Perhaps the Vampire's necromancers could unbind the cursed nails. Perhaps they could cure the deformations. Of course, this would not come for free. Money was not the currency the Vampire Lord craved. Bloody servitude in combat would be the price to be paid.
I missed Mordheim while I was out of the hobbying scene, but after getting back in there were quite a few models that I really liked the look of. The Thing in the Woods was one such model. But I was struggling to find one for a sensible price. I once won one on eBay, but upon close inspection of the listing after winning I realised why it was relatively cheap - the seller had modified it to have a normal jaw. I asked if I could back out, and the seller was kind enough to let me. Months passed and I eventually was visiting good old Crooksey and boy did he have a surprise for me. Knowing of my quest, he had secured me a Thing in the Woods! Of course I promised to paint it up quick-smart. A year passes and it still was not done, but then a local runs a Monster March hobby event to encourage people to paint up a monster during March! The perfect excuse to get the Thing done, I diligently pledge and then completely fail to get past a base coat. Then I needed a second Lykanis for Vanguard, sort of (you can only field one at a time, but there are two in my roster so I want them to be different models). A few Vanguard games later and it was still not done. Then a Kings of War tournament comes up and I really really pledge to get it dome this time, and do! Just. Minus varnish, that is yet to happen. I run him and the old Shadow Stalker model as two Lykanis (you can have two in full Kings of War) alongside the zombie werewolf unit. The first few games the Thing sadly gets slaughtered without doing much useful, but the next two games he earns his keep and gets stuck in to a few units, causing bloodshed and mayhem. Go you good Thing! I ended up coming 5th of 15 so was pretty happy overall.
Very nice! You won't see many of those around. A unique rare miniature. I loved Mordheim. I ran a Skaven warband.
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