From HerrRobert (Robert H): Sister Hazel and party (59 Points)

Sister Hazel pushed Brother Lazarus around the corner first. She followed behind, terracotta jar holding alchemical fire in one hand, her drab skirts swirling to reveal warm blue leggings. A canvas mask kept her face safe from the harsh, frigid winds that still swept the urban canyons of Felstad. More fire hung at her belt, ready for any eventuality.

 What buildings remained intact, and which ruined, in the city was mostly chance. The house to their right was completely intact and well-preserved; it might make a convenient base for future explorations. The tall tower looked out on the ruins of a long-forgotten building, but they had spied treasure. More importantly, they saw none of the fell denizens, hazards or other roving bands that so often plagued their excursions into the Frozen City.

 Rounding the corner, they pressed their luck, dashing to find something of value to take back. Coin, forbidden knowledge, magical weaponry? Only a careful examination back in the decrepit rooms of the village inn quickly thrown together as lodgings for the brave and damned who ventured into the ruins known as Frostgrave.

Alas, their luck failed. An imp and a minor demon lurk in the ruins. Sister Hazel readies her flask, leans back, and throws . . . 

As many of you have seen from the news, 2020 has been a terrible day, week, month and year, and has only gotten worse. This is the second time emergency operations have struck during the Challenge, and while I have been painting, my progress on Challenge Island has been very limited.

 Well, needs must. Since I lack the time for a leisurely crawl through Challenge Island, it is time to summon Lady Sarah's Balloon Service and Parachute School: 

Lady Sarah, adventuress and aeronaut is exploring Challenge Island from the heights of her hot air balloon. 

With her keen powers of observation, Lady Sarah will land her air ship on any point of the map and assist the Challengers to any other geographic location on the map. 

Lady Sarah can be summoned by challengers through the painting of a female figure and then flown to their destination of choice. You can book as many trips as you like, at a female figure per trip. 

Figure must be painted, posted to the blog and the next destination declared to the minion before the challenger is “moved “ on the map board.  

Fun fact: It is traditional to have a glass of champagne after a balloon ride * .... break out the bubbly, include the evidence in the photo with your submission and gain an extra 5 points! ** 

Of course figures painted to summon Lady Sarah’s Balloon will also be considered for “Sarah’s Choice”, the most coveted of Challenge Prizes.

With that, it's time for a no-holds barred aerial assault on Roundwood's Tower!

My fare is a little vignette showing the adventures of Sister Hazel and her apprentice, Brother Lazarus, searching for treasure in the ruins of Felstad. Both Sister Hazel and Brother Lazarus are Reaper figures:

A painted example of Sister Hazel from the catalogue (God, I'm even spelling like a non-American)

Brother Lazarus, also from the catalogue

Sister hazel I bought in my LGS, Brother Lazarus off Amazon after the Challenge started. I was clearly inspired by the paint scheme for Brother Lazarus more than Sister Hazel, though I didn't feel confident enough to attempt the glass phials. So I went terracotta instead. I also tried some of the new GW contrast paints (I think Skeleton Bone) to get the drab lower robes, while using traditional paints and triads for the rest of the figure.

The cloaks are deep taupe, actually. It smells a bit weird, but worked well

I put them on round bases, and built the stone up using greenstuff. It worked all right, though I probably should have trimmed them down and put them on a Renedra cobblestone base. Still, it worked.

The imp and minor demon are both from Northstar's Frostgrave line, painted almost according to the box art. My new iPhone didn't really do too much justice to the reds, but I am very happy with how they turned out:

The treasure tokens are Wizkids preprimed ones, just given a quick black, then drybrush metallic.

Also not too happy with the photography here.

Finally, no balloon ride or demonfight is complete without a celebratory split of champagne:

So, there we have another entry. twenty points for the figures, three for the treasure, thirty for Sarah's Balloon ride, and five for the perfectly painted 1:1 scale glass of champagne. A total of fifty eight, and so taking me to a grand total of 113 for the entire challenge thus far.

My next posting should see the successful aerial assault and capture of Roundwood's Tower by that slick mercenary in disguise, Esteban "Portugal the Man" Portugal, currently in the employ of a shadowy, possibly sinister, and maybe even disreputable military contractor!

MilesR: Love the figures and what the hell lets go with 6 points for the champagne as I'm sure it is of a superior vintage