Sunday 8 April 2012


























































The House Guard of Ch'Ihll


Famed for the Black lacquered armour of the Ch'Ihll dynasty, Cynath Ch'Ihll, the Bastard prince, maintains a regiment of warriors in his household at all times. Acting as the Prince's debt collectors, thugs and disposable pleasures, it is never-the-less a great honour to serve as a retainer in one of the noble houses private armies.  

These warriors are drawn from the citizens of Naggarond, Capitol of Naggaroth and therefore of cold complexion. Unlike standard militia raised in times of the Witch King's wars, the warriros of Ch'Ihll are professional soldiery, bound to the Ch'Ihll house. A peculiar trait shared amongst those of the Black house-hold is their distinctive eye colour. It is a little known fact that and Elf's eye colour can change throughout their life, either through extreme stress, trauma, or inner turmoil. The common Nagarothii aphorism is the best liars have black eyes.  The ritualistic bonding to the Ch'Ihll house taints the Elf's eyes a violent carmine that deepens to a royal purple the longer they serve.   

The sigil adorning the Warriors shields is a mocking reference to the slur cast upon the current ruling Matriarch of the house; The Gorgon Queen, Mother of Monsters. Cynath has taken the Gorgon as his personal heraldry for this campaign, a cruel joke to remind his enemies of his dubious allegiance to the Queen and his knowledge of their private vulgarities.

The Household Guard is captained by Khatalha Khela'Mandour. He is responsible for the training of Cyanth's warriors, the maintenance of armour and meating out discipline where it is needed. Khatalha served a commission as a corsair aboard the Kraken's Tempest - the Black Ark that first ferried Cynath across the Old World during his Hakseer. Khathla rose to promnince in Cynath's court when his detachment of Corsairs had run down a chariot manned by Characian lions. In lieu of plunder, Khatalha took the lion's pelt as a symbol of power; a satisfactory return for the loss of an eye. 


4 comments :

  1. Wonderful work contrasting the purple and green. The metallics are nicely done as well. Not all of the pictures are showing up, but the ones that do look amazing.

    Ron, From the Warp

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  2. Very nice. Like them. Beautiful blades.

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  3. Personally, I do enjoy the painting, but the story you wrote to explain them is really why I keep returning to this very page. The literacy and explanations you provide with each of your works makes them really come to life. Thank you for sharing :).

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  4. hi! i know this is an old post but could you give me any tips about how you got this skin tone and what paints you used? im getting back into the hobby after a 20 year absence (mid life crisis?) and i quite fancy making a dark elf/melnibone type army using the current citadel range and maybe some gamezone stuff too. i think these dark elves youve posted look amazing. (im not interested in the current warhammer fluff and shocked/disgusted to return to the hobby and seewhat theyv done with it!!)

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