The Amfast camoaign happens to coincide with the second #28magchallenge,
which is all about creating new gods for the Warhammer Chaos pantheon. Seemed
like a good idea to combine the two and make up a deity whose followers will be
our adversaries in the campaign. Thus Uras came into being.
Uras is the Chaos god of pride. Pride is interesting,
it can be regarded both as a positive and a negative quality in a person. For instance, Christian
doctrine names pride as one of the Seven Deadly Sins, while Aristotle considers it a virtue. This
felt like a good match as the theme of our new god, since in my opinion Chaos
gods are supposed to be attractive to people, offering something they desire in
order to lead them to their ultimate corruption and damnation of their souls.
Uras corrupts through flattery and encouragement, subtle manipulation and
shame. He preys on the ambitious and on the vainglorious, but also on those of shattered
self-worth, those who have been looked down on their whole lives.
I made the sigil of Uras, so I could mark his troops with
it. The Sigilist then made this lovely version of it:
Monolith of Uras
A small piece of thematic terrain we will use in the campaign.
The base is made of carved polystyrene, the stone itself from carved plaster, and the alien growths are tree roots sprayed red.
Soraan the Vainglorious, Daemon Prince of Uras
Soraan the Magnificent to his followers, Soraan the Vainglorious
to his enemies. In his mortal life he was a general whose single goal in life
was to advance his military career by any means necessary. He found a patron in
the Chaos god Uras and became his Champion. Eventually, his deeds earned him the
gift of immortality and he ascended to daemonhood as a Daemon Prince of Uras.
Soraan manifests as an immense floating visage and has the
power to shoot beams of destructive focused light from his obsidian eyes – a common
gift of Uras to his worthy acolytes.
Soraan is the big baddie Gordon and Loriana will face at the
end of the Amfast Campaign.
The model is a part of a destroyed Sigmar statue from the
Warcry starter kit scenery set. I had to do some subtle modifications on it, but
that is essentially it.
Daemons of Uras
These demons are also big heads, floating above ground: symbolic
of Uras' theme of pride. And they as well attack by shooting terrifying eye
lasers. Anybody have an idea what to call these demons? Khorne has
Bloodletters, Nurgle has Plaguebearers, Tzeentch Horrors and Slaanesh Daemonettes.
What would be a good name for these buggers?
To make the models I sculpted a suitably creepy face and
then made copies using Oyumaru press moulds.
The City of Amfast and what happened to it
The city was prosperous and wealthy. The patricians wished
to show off by building the largest and most magnificent cathedral to Sigmar on
top of a large hill in Amfast. They grew more and more reckless, even going as far as to dismantle parts of the city walls to use the stone for their megalomaniac project. Seeing how prideful the city was, Uras turned
his gaze towards it, and began working his schemes. The cathedral grew larger and
larger as time passed, until one day the city was hit by an earthquake of great
magnitude. The fateful building of titanic proportions came down, parts of its fallen walls
rolling down the hill in all directions, flattening many houses and townsfolk in
their path. In the end, once glorious Amfast was in ruins. This is when Uras'
followers revealed themselves and took control of the reeling city in the name
of their god. Chaos reigns supreme.
The destruction of the city is, of course, thematically
connected to the ruinous powers that have now taken root within its walls.
Amazing stuff - and so imaginative!
ReplyDeleteAs for the name, how about Facets of Uras? That has a couple of connotations: small(er) faces on the one hand, and *aspects* (i.e. avatars) on the other.
Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteOne can always count on you to create something so imaginative and unexpected!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWhat about the Prideful?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the idea :)
DeleteI have a few suggestions for the smaller guys. Visage, Watchers, masks,beholders,or witnesses.
ReplyDelete"Witnesses". I like that one.
DeleteI'd even suggest going singular for the group.
DeleteThe Witness of Uras.
Sort of reminds me of the phrase "angelic host", but also like something a prideful god would want.
These are incredibly beautiful, as always.
Love it. What about Masques of Uras for the little guys? Or Glorious Countenances?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your suggestions!
DeleteI want to call them "The Faceless" since they no longer have faces of their own, but instead the face of their god
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteThe demons could be called the Pridebearers (for the pun), or the Vanity Heralds
ReplyDeleteThank you for the suggestions!
DeleteGreat concept and execution! The monolith reminds me of Lars' "story" from Boschy "Until it Sleeps" clip of Metallica (oldie but goldie linked below!). Superb use of roots (and color red). Got to go and grab some myself!
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/eRV9uPr4Dz4?t=184
Thanks! I see what you mean. Also, that's a great-looking Metallica video.
DeleteIntended in the best possible way, but you've got such a gift for Chaos! Looking forward to more of your sculpting efforts. Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant!!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteA simple, but great design... Also imagine the puns. "Well, there the demon goes again. Letting it all go to his HEAD."
ReplyDelete:D
DeleteCheers!
Love that last photo ... a wonderful array of terrain pieces.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeletePride is a perfect aspect to explore for a Chaos deity. As you said, it is not inherently a bad thing, but it can be taken to unfortunate extremes. I feel that the Chaos Gods are always the most interesting when they are portrayed in ways that are not just pure evil. You would like to think that most people would not voluntarily sign up for something that is very clearly evil.
ReplyDeleteYou have come up with a clever way to represent Uras, too. What better a manifestation of pride than a vain statue reproduction of yourself?
As for a name: Vestige of Uras
Thanks Greg! :)
DeleteWhat about the Countenance of Uras? Other ideas include Visages, Beholders, Witnesses, Auditors.
ReplyDeleteThanks, all good suggestions!
Delete