CXXXIX. The Bark Fiend

My latest endeavour. I'm churning things out quite rapidly these days... I guess August is compensating for the complete silence that was July. Made the fellow primarily for use with my Malifaux Zoraida crew (as Mysterious Emissary), but I reckon it will see the table as a witch's construct in the Gardens setting and as some sort of creature in Frostgrave, as well.

The Bark Fiend. In the Gardens setting it's a lankier cousin of the Moss Monster, both being magically animated constructs built by witches out of decaying plant material and animal bones.

 

 

 

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The original model.

The carnivorous vegetation and changelings that are meant to be a part of Emissary's base did not have a place here. I fixed a horse skull from GW Black Knights kit on top of the original head like a mask (this involved some filing). The jaw bone was split in two and hung on the creature's chest like grim ornaments. Next, it needed antlers - sizable ones, but not as impressive as Moss Monster's. I knew I wouldn't be placing much moss on this one, so I reckoned it could use some Milliput fungi on the limbs to provide extra detail. Converting was done in an evening, and painting the morning after.

Just like the Moss Monster/Bad Juju was based on the Ancient Leshen from The Witcher 3 videogame, the Bark Fiend was made to resemble a 'regular' Leshen, to some degree. The Mysterious Emissary model's physique is much more akin to the source material than Bad Juju's hulking frame. What I dislike about the Leshen design in the game is the cloth skirt they wear. I purposefully left that out.   

Happy Tree Friends