From EvanH: Abelar, Sable Tribe Priest of Daka Fal - Millsy's Millpond (55 points)

Greetings, Challengers and Challenge Fans!

I'm moving on from Sander's Sand Dunes to Millsy's Millpond, where the following rules are presented for aspiring explorers;

"Paint one or more miniatures from prior to 2000, any genre, any scale. Bonus 10 points if the mini(s) are pre-1990 or bonus 20 points if pre-1980. Extra 10 points if you can provide a backstory on how and where you acquired the mini(s) e.g. I originally bought these to play original D&D back when I was a kid."

Longtime readers may recall my last-minute scramble for a 'Nostalgia' theme entry back in Challenge VI. I had planned to paint up some of Citadel's RuneQuest Miniatures from 1982. I was GMing RQ that year, and when these figures landed at Tin Soldier in Dymock's Arcade on George Street in Sydney, I snapped up a couple of boxes. Being the well-motivated individual that I am, I stored them away and forgot about them for a few decades.

Fast forward to 2015, and alas, the miniatures I had planned to dust off for the Nostalgia round had succumbed to the dreaded Lead Rot. Bits had broken off, and paint refused to stick to the unpainted metal, leaving me looking frantically for another suitable figure for the round. I went with a figure of Groucho Marx instead.

Thankfully, I some of the figures had been undercoated years before, sparing them the worst effects of corrosion. I hunted them down, dug them out, and today's entry is one of the better-preserved ones. I present Citadel's Daka Fal Adventurer.

He's 25mm tall, which was the fashion at the time, and he bears a close resemblance to one of the characters depicted in the RQ2 supplement Runemasters, a compendium of high-level NPCs for the game.

The one on the left is Abelar, a Sable Tribe Priest of Daka Fal. Daka Fal is the Judge of the Dead, and the god of ancestor worship. High level cultists may end up with a dead relative as an allied spirit. Let's just hope that you get somebody you were on good terms with! 

Abelar has a Man Rune on his leather-faced shield, symbolic of Daka Fal's connection to all mortal folk. 

As well as a spear and bow, he carries a sword slung over his back.

As befits the Bronze Age world of Glorantha, Abelar is armoured in bronze mail, helmet and greaves. His helmet is adorned with the horns of his tribal animal, the Sable Antelope.

Lead Rot did for his spear long ago, but I was able to drill out the remains and replace it with a North Star wire pike cut down to a more manageable length. Basing was the usual Vallejo White Pumice Paste, which dries to a nice textured finish suitable for the desolate Plains of Prax.

So let's see... 5 points for the figure, 30 points for arriving at the Millpond, 10 points for being pre-1990, and 10 points for provenance... 55 points! Well, this may be the most over-rewarded entry I've ever submitted. I'm cleaning up (just as well, really)!

Still got a Curtgeld entry to submit, so I'd better hurry. Stay tuned...

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What a great little piece of history from years gone by Evan.  Thanks for resurrecting this figure from the lead pile. It would be interesting to see him next to a modern scale to see the scale creep in action.  I have to say, those horns on the helmet though.... those would not be easy to wear around all day!

He looks great, and it was nice of you to save him from nurgles rot, the replacement spear looks good and is probably far straighter than the old lead one would have been, I hate soft metal spears and swear by those north star spears.  I love the bright blue against the gold, it makes everything stand out. 


- ByronM