Samael Urkston, Chronicler of the Church of the Red Athenæum, Lord of Bones

by Migs

 

Here is Adam Vier, with the finished chronicler. This model has generated a ton of discussion between the Pilgrym crew – everyone loves the conversion so dearly and has an idea of how it should be painted. Adam has decided to call it finished for now, but is considering coming back later to tweak the robes. I would go as far as to say this is so far my very favorite Pilgrym model, but also that I think the red robes need some line work to add definition and more weathering. Over to the maestro:

Samael Urkston.
When a member of the Church dies, it is their custom to remove the head of the individual, stripping it of its flesh and muscle, and removing the brain.  The last necrotizing tissue is cleaned with the help of Dermestid beetles, readying the skull for “chronicling.”  The deceased’s life and contributions to the Church are written directly onto the bleached bone with ink tinged with their blood.  This tradition dates back to the foundation of the Church, with every past member’s skull lining the walls of a cyclopean sepulchre within the Red Basilica.
Since its induction, the Church of the Red Athenæum has had a Chronicler with the chief task of recording the Church’s history.  This is primarily done with the aforementioned skull-inking. The Chronicler also assists members of the congregation in preserving the bones of their limbs and other body parts that were offered to the Emperor in veneration of His suffering.  Additionally, they work hand in hand with the Chief Bibliognost, transcribing the Church’s sermons and other doctrines.
Samael Urkston, Lord of Bones, is the Church’s current Chronicler.  He has practiced his craft with the Church longer than most members have even been with the congregation, having joined the Church shortly after venerable Ormond was elected Cardinal (811.M41).  Such is his skill and clout, that he is virtually beyond reproach, a paragon of the Faith.  As such, he serves as one of the Cardinal Levedescu’s (and the late Ormond’s) most trusted advisors on both spiritual and more mundane matters.
Adam Wier

Samael Urkston 1Samael Urkston 2Samael Urkston 3

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Migs

21 thoughts on “Samael Urkston, Chronicler of the Church of the Red Athenæum, Lord of Bones”

    1. Thank you for the high praise! I have been pouring my heart and soul into each of the models I am working on. Each conversion and paint job is a learning experience. 🙂

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    1. I am pretty sure I will revisit Samael’s robes after I have painted more of the church members and have a better sense of their paint scheme. I am pretty excited myself to start painting more of the members of the Church! 🙂

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  3. Look at those shoes! What a great detail; they look so real. The sole especially looks like a real shoe that has been worn outside. I particularly like how the dirt on the sole looks like it is the dirt on the floor.

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    1. I am glad you noticed and liked his shoes! I spent awhile trying to get them just right. After noticing the bottom of his raised boot was simply flat I knew I needed to try and paint in the treading.

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    1. The face and the skulls are some of my favorite aspects of the model and the paint job. It is nice to know others feel the same way. The quill went through numerous iterations during the conversion until I was happy with it. 🙂

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    1. I was very pleased with how the face turned out. I played around with his skin tone a lot. The color was primarily the Citadel color Karak Stone, along with a healthy amount of different red, purple, and green washes to add subtle differences in color.

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  9. Cool to have a painted shoesole. Great detail mate!
    I would paint the inside/underside of the robe at the arms and legs in black, just to give it more depth.

    hrld

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  10. samael, the angell of deathe… tinted inke, in terra that means thick iron-gall mixed with redde blood, a crude stinking redde-black. dermestidae feed on rotting fleshe… a last agonie, the bites of a thousande thousande swarming insectes over the scrappes of fleshe and bone

    http://s983.photobucket.com/user/jkapfer/media/R_DSC07425_zps5727db77.jpg.html
    vivere est pati…

    bibliognost… booke-knower, gnosis is strange or hidden knowledge… bookes are strange half-remembered mysterious things, very few are literate and the historie of the church is a confused jumble of dustie skulles, old shrines collapsing and falling with a crack to the floor or the inke rotting away, the sermons and doctrines a roome of rotting moth-swarming vellum…. all is darke…

    a beautiful model, the skulle-hand splattered with thicke stinking inke… the hourglasse fulle not of sande but thicke bloode or worse…

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    1. He he, yeah that is a distressing thought, the last of oneself being finally eaten away by beetles… And you are right, who needs books when you have inked skulls?!

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  11. The concept of this miniature is simply great! It must have been pain in the arse to try and catch that vibrant red colour on the photo.

    Blood will no doubt be one of the tying themes in the Pilgrym scenario 😉

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