Adsum Levit Aaronic –WIP #1

by Toni

Half rotten corpses of deceased pilgrims are common sight on the golden stairs of Terran temples. Many get crushed by the feet of the masses, some die of old age or of hunger, or just get murdered by the feral gangs of the underworld in a robbery. Some even get sacrificed in a dark rituals by blood hungry cults of the Terra.

Still many pilgrims believe it is a great honour to die on the sacred land. The remains of the dead are often left on their own, to rot and get eaten by the rats and other critters, or worse – by poor hungry pilgrims.

It is fairly common to leave candles, relics or other small objects next to fallen pilgrims as a sign of respect. Some even pray next to corpses, trying to use the spirit of the fallen to get closer to the God Emperor.

The heavy feet of the Adsum move surpisingly gracefully amongst the dead while climbing up the stairs of the holy temple. His heavy steps are being followed by pilgrims and holy men, as it is much easier to get a route as a tail of a brute such Adsum.

The sick and half dead pilgrims ask for mercy as the Adsum passes by them. They scratch the bottom of the Adsum’s robe and his feet with their bloody fingernails in hope of his attention. Adsum’s attention is rare, but when paid, it is his heavy power hammer hitting the skull of the weak and crushing it to small bits.

Levit00Levit01Levit02
Levit03.jpg

Tags:    
Toni

22 thoughts on “Adsum Levit Aaronic –WIP #1”

  6. That is a truly amazing job Kari!

    You have managed to nail that sketch in 3-dimensions incredibly well. A brilliant transition…I love how he is covered in small details adding to an unfolding narrative, the small bells, tokens, seals, scanner and the tattered robe adding to the narrative.

    Highly inspirational once again.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. Highe on the celestialle staire, amid the moans and screams of the crushed and dead left beind after the sodalitie of the goldene throne climbed them on their knees to make their obsequies to the godde-emperor of holie terra, a bell rings gently to announce the coming of the adsum… he who attendes, he who is worthie, he who is presente… an archedeaconne in filthy white robes, daubed with perfume and unction to hide the stench accompanied by his traine-bearers, a fewe red-clad priestes whose greasy fur collars draw a few flies awaye from the deade and dyinge, a wealthie pilgrymme-lady and her gene-dwarfe page, a few monkes from an obscure order, followe in his wake, picking through the dead and dyinge.

    As they passe a wailing pilgrymme, crushed from the waist down, scrabbles, cutting his fingers on the armour and catching his robe, the adsumme turns and the hammer falls the skull shatters… another pilgrymme sent to blest oblivion by the emperor’s syde out of the reache of all paine… their bodie to be turned over to the officio sancti exanimusse should it ever be remembered at alle… another skeleton on the charnel-world.

    What can I say, Kari? From good to better. Rather than rewriting my analysis entirely I’ll merely update it:

    Adsum = I am present, worthy or I attend. Levit Aaronic suggests Levi (son of Jacob, father of the Levites or Jewish priests in the Old Testament). Aaronic suggest, of course, Aaron, brother of Moses, great-grandson of Levi, High Priest of the Jews. ”Adsum” is a wonderful nickname for such a burly, imposing man, a holie man of the ecclesiarchie and an attendant — and executioner — on the pilgrymmes…

    The model himself is wonderful — a physically powerful man at first glance, but if looked at more closely his skin is pocked and blistered, his face marred by pustules. His holie mission is seen by the puritie seales and the bells — I counted two) that ring to announce his presence… for he is mute as his mouth is crammed with tubes running from flasks fused into the flesh of his back, his head is pierced by vials of some doubtful fluid. The square device on his front seems too fused with the flesh, perhaps a means of regulating the intake of some chemical?

    Sustained, then, by drugs, he is bloated, rotting as he stands,his corpulent legs and arms spilling over his greaves. In the same way his armour, no doubt once a fine knightly set, is pocked and rusted. I imagine it as yet another relic, treasured yet barely understood, uncleaned for fear of shifting the grime of wearers of millennia past. His clothes are ragged, greasy, holed, I imagine stained yellow-white with blood and pus, his hair greasy and unwashed. The mighty power-hammer he carries has a head deeply carved but the staff is twisted and ill-formed and crude… a poor later replacement, perhaps? The boltgunne, too, is irreplacable, I imagine them both as filthy, in one case bloodspattered relics with a hint of gilt gleaming through the grime… I wonder if the gunne can still fire.

    The model has a haunting air of grandeur and decay, the great bell and hammer, the knightly armour and the purity seals, or the bloated body, rotting away before our eyes, no doubt stinking of sweat and pus — grandeur and decay defines Terrra and once again it echoes the God around whom Terra is built, his earthly form a rotting body clad in gold, the stench of his sacrificial carcass sweetened by incense, its soul yet divine as its body decays. What a sacrifice he has made!

    The base shows a similar display of grandeur and decay, the slabs of the staires broken up and trodden with filthe — I imagine not mud but a bloody red accumulation of unmentionable things, littered with the skulles of two poore pilgrymmes… so terra rots…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. I was amazed at how well you realized your vision without all the modeling putty and additional conversion work; you are truly a master at selecting the right parts for the job. But this new WIP just puts it over the edge. The robe you sculpted looks fantastic, perfectly capturing the tone of the model. I also love how “small” a bolt pistol looks on him. He is one of the few models I have ever seen where it actually looks right, like something he could conceivably use. I like the little belt buckle too. Excellent model all around!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  11. I particularly like how welle the adsumme fits the planned board — I can imagine him leading the aristocratic partie of pilgrymmes up the stairs, wending through the dead and dying (pattens a muste for a highe ladie on terra…), the gold stained with olde blood, to where the Highe Cardinalle waits…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. An absolute classic of a model in the making. It’s the two huge cables connecting to his neck that totally make the model yours and unique. Everything is just right and then that instantly recognizable novel detail just nails it. I cannot wait to see this painted. Together with the sketch, it’s an incredible body of work that challenges the studio artists and designers to keep pushing their craft.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  18. I’m a bit late to the game but seriously everyone…. this is terrible!
    Ol’ Doomrider’s just clucking with ya, Kari that is some ridiculously good work. Inspiring stuff, can’t wait to see Adsum painted.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. Awesome! Agree with everyone that the ragged robe and crooked handle are great touches. The only detail that you may not be able to capture from the sketch is the tatoo lettering on his belly (since the robe covers that area on the model). Maybe you can paint some of that lettering on his bare shoulder? I think it’s a great element.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment