ogres

NPCs – Riklun’s Raiders

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

I made these models a while back and thought I’d bring them up as another example of a group of mercenaries for a game encounter. I’ve nothing particularly made up for them, but I like the designs and thought I’d share them

Riklun - dark skinned dwarf with a prosthetic right arm, dark tunic, and strange energies darting from his outstretched left hand
Orc warrior in chainmail with sword, shield and helmet obscuring most of their face
Orc warrior in chainmail with sword, shield and helmet obscuring most of their face
Orc warrior in chainmail with sword, shield and helmet obscuring most of their face
Orc warrior in chainmail with sword, shield and helmet obscuring most of their face
Lamech - heavily muscled and green-skinned warrior with blue leather armour and a battleaxe held in one hand
Farrd - hulking ogre with a spear and rough furs as a mantle on his shoulders. His spear and arm are stained red with blood up to the elbow
Barrgh - large ogre in tattered blue rags easily hoisting an enormous stone bludgeon above his head

These mercenaries are led by Riklun Steelfist – a duergar psionicist who lost his right arm in a skirmish and had it replaced with a darksteel prosthetic. With his original warband destroyed in the encounter, he sought out and slew the leader of a small orc mercenary group, offering new direction and more profitable work. He rounded out the group by recruiting two ogres and an ogrillon as extra muscle and worked up a number of simple but effective ambush routines with simple labels.

Riklun portrait
Orc mercenary portrait
Orc mercenary portrait
Orc mercenary portrait
Orc mercenary portrait
Lamech portrait
Farrd portrait
Barrgh portrait

The Raiders have a small but growing reputation for tracking down bandit groups and for retrieving goods stolen from merchant trains. These jobs are often undertaken away from civilised eyes and are brutal and sudden strikes bolstered by Riklun’s stealth and psionic powers.

The two ogres – Farrd and Barrgh – defer to the ogrillon half-ogre Lamech when it comes to plans, and so those three are sometimes split off from the main force to act as reserves or a nasty surprise to close a trap. Riklun sometimes joins his orc mercenaries as obvious guards for merchants and has the ogres take a parallel path, ready to rush in when summoned in the event of an attack

Riklun token
Orc mercenary token
Orc mercenary token
Orc mercenary token
Orc mercenary token
Lamech token
Farrd token
Barrgh token

So there you go – a ready made mercenary band that can be allies or enemies as your game needs – feel free to grab the tokens and have some fun!

Lore Drop – The Sons of Alice

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

We’ve covered Deadeye Alice and her husbands, the Chainmates, and now it is time for her sons – a set of mighty warriors who protect hearth and home, and occasionally go on a rowdy hunt through the Blackcap Mountains. The Sons of Alice, also described in tales as the Alicespawn, largely wear red and black clothing and armour. They were not seen much during the Last War, though some speculate that just means there were no survivors of encounters – or that they retreated into the mountains to ride it out whenever armies ventured onto their territory.

Jotin Alicespawn - braided beard and mohawk both dyed red and black, broken horns, sharp teeth
Makkar Alicespawn - dark long bushy beard, short mohawk hair, broken horns, fierce eyebrows and scowl
Ruthek Alicespawn - bound egyptian style false beard, long ponytail, broken horns, sharp teeth
Goor Alicespawn - tousled hair, bushy beard, and broken horns
Kher Alicespawn - hooded and cowled ogre with sharp teeth and filed horns

Jotin, Makkar, Ruthek, Goor, and Kher are all half-ogres with hag blood in their veins. They form a barbarian clan devoted to Alice that exists on the threshold of rage, fuelled by the contrast between their fathers and their fey lineage. Jotin in particular is feared for the symbiont spear that he took from a daelkyr cultist and had enchanted by his mother. He often leads the warband into battle, flanked by Makkar and Ruthek who are brutal close-quarters fighters. Goor and Kher are brighter than their brothers, and tend to fight more strategically – though with equal relish.

Jotin - organic-looking spear with teeth and eyes
Makkar - twin notched knives
Ruthek - a pair of spiked and bladed buckler shields
Goor - a bloodied sword and bronze shield
Kher - a plain warhammer and an open clawed hand

Tales are told of hulking warriors who patrol the lands claimed by Alice – leaving the dismembered remains of those who trespass as warnings for others. Roars from the horizon may be bears or yetis – but are just as likely to be attributed to the Sons. They stayed out of the battle between the trolls and the dwarves over the years, but their mother’s antipathy towards trolls no doubt informs their actions. Tales of burned out caves and bonfires with distorted bones are whispered by trappers and hunters alike along the north of the Blackcaps – but if these are warnings left by the Sons, they’re vague enough for most people to shudder and move on.

Jotin token
Makkar token
Ruthek token
Goor token
Kher token

Lore Drop – The Chainmates of Deadeye Alice

Tim Maidment1 Comment

The Annis Hag known as Deadeye Alice is a solitary being, at least as far as others of her kind go. She does not live alone however. Over the many years of her existence she has formed a family of her own choosing – and the first part of that was taming the so-called Chainmates.

portait of Hurrek - a purple-skinned brute with a beard and long braids, a single broken ram's horn on the right of his head, and a crown of brass and ruby
Portrait of Dhellis - a dark skinned muscular man with curved rams horns and a turban wrapping the top of his head. Black and red locks spill across his bare shoulders, framed by belts and cloth.

Hurrek and Dhellis are ogres, native to the Blackcap mountains, who were captured by slavers and forced to fight. At first they were confined to arenas but as their prowess and experience grew they became trusted enough to act on behalf of the owners of the arena. Bound together by their chains, they fought as a unit to make the most of their strengths despite their shackles. Then, one day, they saw an opportunity to break their chains and slay their captors. They did so and then struck off on their own to make their own way through the world.

full length image of Hurrek wielding a ball and chain. he wears black and red robes and has a spiked pauldron on his right shoulder
full length image of ,Dhellis in green and white rags and furs, spinning a bladed chain around him. He is covered in moon-shaped tattoos on his chest.

Hurrek and Dhellis reworked the chains of their slavery into savage weapons to sweep opponents away, while the bonds of their time together led them to a deep and passionate relationship. In time they entered lands claimed by Deadeye Alice – and she aided them – seeing fellow outcasts. The two ogres crushed her enemies, and she provided for them – and then took them as husbands. Devoted to her as much as to each other, the ogres sired five sons with her and taught those sons how to fight.

top down token of Hurrek
top down token of Dhellis

The ogres are never too far from their wife – they are wily and surprisingly stealthy for such large beings – but at the same time they also know not to question her or get in the way of her schemes. Deadeye Alice is absolutely in charge, even if that control is sometimes masked in honeyed words. There is a brutal directness and honesty between the three of them and their sons that can be mistaken for a lack of awareness by outsiders, but do not be fooled. This may not be a traditional hag’s coven, but their knowledge and understanding of each other means that they are a greater threat together than apart.

A foolish bard once opined that the Chainmates had swapped slavery in the arena for a different kind of ownership. His remains were found on several spikes a week later.