CLX. Legen: Nerod

Work on my knight's retinue is well underway, but now it's time to show some love to the opposing side: the attacking gargants. Meet Nerod, the inciter and leader of the giants' crusade:

Legen was a stone castle of sublime proportions, built by gargants long, long ago. In ancient times, from there they ruled Erebos. There is a huge ruin on a mountain in the north of the island, crumbling and abandoned for centuries. They say this is what was once Legen, but due to inaccessibility and roosting griffins nobody bothers to venture there.
The ancient giants were gradually pushed further and further north-west by the little-folk, and ultimately defeated, broken and scattered. The greatest of gargants, and their ruler at the time, was Legen-King. In a spectacular and bloody battle, the king was slain by heroes of old, and his body cut up into pieces.
The body parts were then buried separately all over the islands. This was done to forever prevent the king’s return, because it was rumoured he had magical regenerative powers. Although people enjoy telling it, that story is generally not taken seriously, and is believed mostly by children and fools.

There are gargants on the islands to this day. They are roaming monstrosities of slow mind and great appetite, but they normally roam alone. A single gargant is able to do plenty of damage to peasants, but can be taken down by a well armed and trained party of soldiers. A herd of giants in the kingdom (fortunately a rare occurrence) is a threat that cannot be ignored by any sensible ruler.
 

As it turns out, the story of Legen was all more or less true. And only a while back, a gargant named Nerod happened to find the still rotting head of Legen-King. The head spoke to him. It gave him a quest. First, Nerod carried this enormous head to the cold ruins of ancient Legen, where now gryphons roost and winds howl. The head said that the time for restoration of Legen had come. He must be made whole again and gargants must rule the island once more. The little-folk are weak now. They are not united. If the giants gather together they can crush their feeble kingdoms one by one. So, Nerod set off southward, to seek the king’s hands and feet, heart and intestines, muscle, blood and bone. And he preaches to every giant and giantess he meets of his sacred quest and restoration of Legen’s might. Some of them listen, and follow. The gargants are marching south…

I wanted to base this model on the Forgeworld Curs'd Ettin, but since it got discontinued it's become impossible to come by. So I was left with the option of using the plastic giant kit to build something similar. The custim legs and arm extensions make him a taller and much more imposing monster. 

This size comparison will give you the sense of his relative size:

Next up, we have the severed head of Legen-King. Nerod found it and took it to the cold ruins of Legen. From there he set off to gather followers and lead them south, to crush the kingdoms of little folk and put the king back together.

As you can judge from this head, the ancient king of gargants was truly colossal in size. The tales of his regenerative abilities must have been true, as centuries have passed and the head looks like it is only beginning to decompose.

The head is a resin base from Scibor Miniatures. The bushy eyebrows were added after painting, and they were meade from small chunks of cotton swab dipped in mix of water, paint and PVA. I'll need this piece as a prop for when I write and illustrate the gargants' half of this saga.