Saturday 26 February 2011

Two by Two, Tentacles of Blue...

Qól Slavers

Blue??? Err- make that White! As everybody knows, the Qól are white in colour. They are a product of the Temple of Ksarul's gene-vats, after all.

Here are the last two figures from the latest bunch of Qól Rod has sculpted for us. These are meant to be leading a coffle of slaves or prisoners whose Skien of Destiny is about to be cut off rather abruptly.

Slaves/Prisoners not included, though maybe we will do some at a later date.

Friday 25 February 2011

Three Wise Men, They Ain't!

More Qól Characters

Rod was kind enough to send pics of some of the other Qól characters. There are actually seven figures in the complete set, not the five or six I was remembering, so by my math there's two more to go...

...not counting the Qól palanquin bearers (another four poses.) I think we will have pretty much cover the Qól by then! :-)

(But if anyone has any suggestions for additional poses I am always willing to listen...)

Thursday 24 February 2011

It Doesn't Rain But It Pours!

Qól Characters

Rod Campbell of Highlander Studios has sent me some of the Qól character figures he has been working on. IIRC, there are 5 or 6 that will comprise the second Qól release. After that comes a palanquin with 8 Qól bearers - the riders being a choice of priest or priestess of Ksarul. :-)

Wednesday 23 February 2011

More Swampy Goodness...

More Swamp Folk Pics

Ian sent me these and apologized for the poor quality of the pics, saying he'd send better ones tomorrow. But can I wait that long - No Sireee! :-)

These are not quite finished yet, specifically the left hand of the swordsman. I am quite happy with them finished or unfinished. So these along with those shown last post are the first three Swamp Folk ever to be sculpted (AFAIK) - the intent is to have them Mastered and then do a few more variants so that we have a decent assortment to release when the time comes.

Monday 21 February 2011

Swamp Folk - Getting there...

Swamp Folk

I was very excited to receive an email from Ian Mountain today with these WIP pictures attached! They are coming along nicely, methinks! :-)

There is a third figure to be sculpted for this initial offering, though I like these so much that I might ask for some additional variants!

Saturday 19 February 2011

Deadlier than the Male?

An Aridani N'luss Warrior

Here is an Aridani N'luss warrior in medium armour, depicted again by Jeff Dee. We had some debate about her costume as the background is contradictory in places, referring to leggings in some earlier works and pantaloons in the later novels.

Yet another concept drawing...

Tuesday 15 February 2011

An Inventory of Sorts...

A number of people have been asking about the ranges we carry and those that were carried by Eureka. Here is a brief summary of our ranges:

Currently our ranges consist of:

The Armies and Enemies of the Petal Throne
(formerly carried by Eureka. Currently not generally available.)

Tsolyanu
1)The First Legion of Ever-Present Glory, inc General Kettukal;
2)The Legion of Serqu, Sword of the Empire;

Yan Kor
3)The Gurek of Tleku Miriya I;
4)The Gurek of Tleku Miriya II;
5)The Gurek of the Turquoise Eye;
6)The Gurek of the Valiant of Ke'er, inc Lord Fu Shi'i and Mihalli.

The World of Tekumel
(Introduced with The Tekumel Club. Available through the Tekumel Club.)

7)Hlutrgu - on foot and afloat;
8)Qol - first release (more to follow);

Upcoming Releases and Status:

9)Ahoggya - armoured and unarmoured - need to be mastered and production molds made;
10)Shen - soldiers and civilians (15 figures) - need production molds made;
11)Hlaka - on foot and flying (9 figures plus Prince Eselne and Hlaka Messenger vignette) - molds need to be sent to caster to be put in production. Vignette needs to be molded;
12)Swamp Folk - 3 versions currently being sculpted;
13)Pygmy Folk - 1 figure sculpted as part of puppeteer vignette;
14)Puppeteer Vignette - comprised of Puppet Master, 2 x puppets, pygmy folk assistant and three children - needs master and production molds making;
15)Sacrifice Vignette - based on illustration from EPT, comprises Evil High Priest, sacrifice chained to column, and chalice - needs to be mastered and molded;
16)Columns of Sacrifice - three columns with prisoners chained to them - 2 female, 1 male - need to be mastered and molded;
17)Misc. slave girl - need to be mastered and molded;
18)Princess Vrisa of Saa Allaqi - need to be mastered and molded;
19)Aridani Legion of Lady Mrissa - sponsored and commisioned - being sculpted;
20)The Legion of Mirkitani, Hero of Victories - sponsored and commissioned - being sculpted;
21)N'luss - concept sketches being prepared;
22)Pachi Lei - being sponsored and planned;
23)The Legion of Chegarra, the Hero-King - being sponsored - in planning;
24)Qol - balance of range being sculpted;
25)Temple of Ksarul - will follow on from Qol;
26)Temple of Sarku - planned to follow Sacrifice Vignette - in planning stages;

Additional Yan Koryani Gureks:

27)The Clan of the Silver Worm;
28) Rulla Gurek;
29) Makhis Gurek;
30) Defense Against Evil, and
31)Dharu/Vanu
- some ready to be mastered and molded, others need little additions or changes, or command figures (as in the case of Dharu/Vanu.)

Chlen Beast. Serudla - status unknown. Were "being sculpted"...

Friday 11 February 2011

Thursday 10 February 2011

The German Connection and Real World Undergrounds...

Two of the blogs I have been following have interesting posts today.

One is Hill Cantons, which discusses Empire of the Petal Throne's role in German role playing.

The other is From the Sorcerer's Skull, who is highlighting the real Paris Underworld (beyond the Catacombs...)

This blog post refers and links to a recent National Geographic article. Be sure to check out the related story: Rome's Basement Ruins. Ditlana, anybody?

Also pay attention to the interactive map - it's small but one cool part is the reference to collapsed sections. Has anyone done a scenario where part of Jakalla (for example) has collapsed in upon the underworld beneath?

Wednesday 9 February 2011

The N'luss - the feared "Dragon-Warriors"

N'luss Warrior, in "medium" armour

N'luss Warrior, in light armour

The N'luss are barbarians who stand some 2.15m to 2.3m tall, compared to the average Tsolyani Male at 1.68m. That is around 7' to 7'-6" compared to 5'-6".

I knew that they were tall but I never realized just how tall until Jeff drew these pictures with the comparison silhouette.

Jorge Gonzalez

Here is a Real World "N'luss": Jorge Gonzalez, a professional wrestler until he passed away last year.

In battle they would have large oval shields which they bear as protection from enemy missiles. These they discard before combat - a piece of the fluff that has always bothered me because I felt the shields would get underfoot. Now, having seen the size of their two-handed swords in proportion to a regular Tsolyani, I can see that this wouldn't be the case. They would need a substantial interval to either side in order to wield their weapons so there would be ample room to discard their shields and not impede the advance of their fellows following on behind.

Monday 7 February 2011

Fire Ants Ate Me Alive!

Yes, it was that kind of day today! ;-)

(I wish.)

I stumbled on a whole mess of these vintage Men's [Pulp] magazines from the 50's and 60's via From the Sorcerer's Skull. Overall, pretty lurid stuff - but that caption just cracks me up! :-)

Sunday 6 February 2011

"How about Monkey Maps?"

Thanks, Cleitus!

Risus Monkey

Not quite Hot Hail, but beggars can't be choosers...

Could be useful for mapping an impromptu underworld. No need to cut out geomorphs, just roll a D100 to see what's next.

"Cleitus, I'm Bored..."

That pretty much sums up today. I have nothing positive nor over-whelmingly negative to report.