Hello chaps, carrying on my humble efforts on the Rogue Quest project that Asslessman and Axiom kicked off, I would like to present my fourth entry. As a reminder, the brief is to build a six-strong adventuring party for Rogue Trader/Confrontation, where each member portrays one of the classic dungeon crawler tropes:

• Barbarian
• Bard
• Cleric
• Fighter
• Magic user
• Paladin
• Ranger
• Rogue/thief

I went for the Bard category for my fourth effort, and there was really only one model that I wanted to use here – a certain Mr. Kelos Longfinger from the RT402 Eldar Command Group. I managed to track him down thanks to the Oldhammer trade network, and I was really looking forward to painting him up! Unfortunately, I really struggled with whole painting experience and it was difficult to summon much enthusiasm for poor old Kelos – he is what I would describe as a ‘soft’ sculpt – no clear delineation, not much detail/missing detail, and some very strange proportions… he isn’t called Longfinger for nothing you know – just check out his left hand! I found him to be a pretty unfulfilling model I’m afraid to say… I can’t even be bothered to make up a name for him, and just went with the catalogue name. Still, I persevered and got the job done, and he does make an impression… he’s certainly 10/10 in terms of being ‘Bard-like’! I went for an authentic Rogue Trader era paint job – dark grey-blue for the body, and a bright red for the helmet & key armour areas… (I was tempted to go with yellow, but I wanted to keep the group looking coherent). The squiggles on the helmet are a must for the period imo. Finally, I tried for a bonelike effect on the derpy church organ thing on his back and the harp… y’know, bone singers and stuff…        yeah…

Anyhow, here he is, see what you make of him:

And some backstory:

“Kelos, called the long-finger, was once a young bonesinger from the Milantos craftworld. He worked diligently at his chosen path, but unexpectedly began to develop a psychic foresight and precognitive ability that terrified the Farseers of Milantos. The reason for this fear was that Kelos only ever foresaw one event – the total destruction of his craftworld and the death of his kin. Kelos tried to convince the counsel of the validity of these visions, for he was certain that they were a true-sight, but these disturbing lines of fate were undetected by the Seer counsel and they began to view Kelos as an abhorrence.  The taint of Chaos was suspected, and he was banished from his world by the counsel. Alone and afraid, Kelos began to wander the stars while his kin thought themselves wise and safe… Weeks later, the craftworld Milantos was overrun by the minions of Slaanesh, its people destroyed, their souls consumed by She Who Thirsts.

Kelos felt the destruction of his world, and was distraught. Many months of mourning passed – his soul was a battleground where his guilt and shame waged war with rage and fear. At the end of this time of madness, Kelos emerged with a new sense of purpose and strength, for his premonitions had changed since the demise of his craftworld. He was now convinced that his destiny lay with the Mon-keigh, specifically, one Arturo Lamina, though the ultimate reasons for this were obscure to him. Regardless, Kelos followed the threads of fate that lead him to Arturo and finally caught up with him on the desert world of Frenos, where he found Arturo caught in a skirmish with a mutant desert tribe. Kelos was able to intercept several mutants that were in danger of outflanking Arturo’s position, killing the savages with a sonic/psionic weapon of his own devising, and so was able to swing the battle in the Rogue Trader’s favour. He introduced himself to Arturo after the battle, describing how fate had conspired to bring them together and how their destinies were intertwined. Arturo also felt the hand of destiny in this meeting, and so invited Kelos to join the Rogue Trader’s band.”

Phew, another RogueQuester in the bag, and another member of Arturo’s growing band of misfits… I hope that the next one is more enjoyable to paint!