Strange things be in those woods

Intro

I sit here this morning not at what has become my regular spot for writing these blogs but instead at home in my kitchen reflecting on the light coming through the patio windows and illuminating a nice pile of ferret shit which I should really stop and clean up before the kids get up. 

Weekend classes have ended for the eldest of my children and this marks the build up to the summer holidays period (remember that, when you used to get 6 weeks off in the summer to just generally fuck about... I sorely miss those days). 

I'm on the tale end of a filthy filthy cold and so if the below fails in coherence i apologize and offer that as my excuse. 

With the complete and utter disregard of a politician for what I have already committed to in last weeks post I have decided this week to write about my foray into The Weald. The timing is great as the community have just launched the enter_the_weald Instagram account and the text only new edition rules have been released.  

This morning I am listening to the album good lies created by overmono and released back in 2023.

Eye Toad Challenge

During what has been the most turbulent time in my working life I stumbled across a post from newts.minis. The post was detailing a modelling and painting challenge call the Eye Toad Challenge with the #weald28.

This challenge really stood out to me as it was guided with prompts derived from rolling a D10 on four different descriptive tables. This aspect of randomized narrative guidance for the act of creation was something I had not experienced before.

The hashtag which accompanied the post had also caught my interest and required further investigation. 

The Weald

As I rolled up my first four prompts I started looking into what exactly was #weald28. During this exploration I discovered the discord The Weald (or someone sent me a link... I literally have no clue despite scanning through all of my messages) along side an amazing 32 interview with Steven Rowlinson or if you follow him on Instagram steves_paint_brush.

 

The community I found at The Weald discord is one of the most welcoming and active I have ever seen with a truly creative and talented bunch of people. But The Weald is not just a community, considering the scope of this blog you've probably already guessed that it is a game, created by Max McComsey wroughtwithrust which truly embraces folk lore horror.

"The Weald is a brutal, miserable beauty. Life flourishes, death rampages. The weak falter fast, the strong follow soon after. Act fast and true, my friend. Keep your blade sharp and your wits sharper, if you are to stand a chance against these horrors."

"The Weald is a dire and grisly skirmish wargame for 2 players. Each player commands a group of fighters known as a warband, composed of models that operate independently on the tabletop."

Excerpts from The Weald rule book.

If you haven't already done so I would very much recommend checking out the rules and community as both are excellent.

The Beginning

So, back to the eye toad challenge. I had rolled up my first four prompts, digested the setting of The Weald and decided which direction I wanted to take my creation in.

After completing this work and finding pure joy in the process I decided to create some lore for the character as well as go on to build out a full Warden warband as well as a Gnarl warband. 

The rest of this blog will proceed with images and lore behind each of these warbands.

The Wardens of Sagard

Gojko Levic 

• Witt
• Right hand (off hand) – Dagger / Left hand (main hand) – Dagger Leather Armor
• Toad Venom
• Apothecary Charm

Gojko Levic was raised in a small village named Gospic famed for its take on Rakija. His family's Rakija was especially sort after within the region, Levic Rakija was second to none and its recipe had been jealously guarded throughout the generations. As every Levic's prominent hand is the same as their name’s sake it is said that this is the secret which sets the blend apart. 

Ever since Gojko was a small boy he found himself pulled towards nature and shunning his family's  legacy finding that their use of Majka Zemlja's gifts was an insult to all that was wild. He would fight furiously with his father and withdraw more and more into himself, taking solace with the animals and wonders of the woods around his home. 

At the age of eleven after one final ridiculing by his mother and father Gojko rejected his family and birthright and ran away from home never to return to the village of Gospic and its surrounding woodland. Not much is known of his time between then and arriving in the Weald, who even knows how long ago that was, even though he appears aged he is sprite as a nymph. 

What can be said of Gojko from his time in the Weald is that he lives the life of a nomadic hermit, you will never find him in the same spot for long and he often disappears for months at a time. During one such instance it is rumored that he ventured off to a nearby town gripped in a plague of smallpox, no one knows why, or how he survived but it is thought that the charm he wears around his belt always played some small part.

He is a difficult man to pin down and so this means that if you do find him it was very much at his bequest, and you may be in luck and able to convince him to join your warband as a warden. Tales have been told of the hermit who strikes bloody violence only to fade into the flora leaving no trace other than the carnage and gore.

Dol Stigand

• Tough

• Axe

• Shield
• Woodsman’s Balm

Dol had always been unusually large to the extent that his size caused his mother to die during childbirth. This left his farther a simple farm hand to raise Dol along with his older siblings. As Dol matured he developed a booming voice to accompany his stature. He commanded a presence many would have failed to challenge if it where not for Dol’s lack of gravitas, as for however huge, robust and daunting Dol was his spark and initiative would always be his shortcoming.

To this end after Dol had reached the age when men were supposed to go and make their mark on the world, he found himself falling in with a less than angelic crowd with a ringleader named Leonche who knew exactly how to manipulate him. One summer Leonche persuaded Dol to participate in the Southland Games. The games were of an Olympic occasion in the region and contestants came from all around to participate in the feats of strength and agility. Unbeknown to Dol Leonche had made arrangements with many underground chef’s for Dol to throw the events he was participating in guaranteeing them great returns, unbeknown to the chef’s Leonche had other ideas and decided to double cross the chef’s. When Dol went a head to not only win his events but set all time records the chef’s kidnapped him and attempted to cripple him for life by mangling his legs. Fortunately for Dol, Leonche had made out like a bandit and forked up the cash for a prothétique, unfortunately he would only pay for one and so Dol had to improvise with the other.

From that day on Dol set out to become his own man. After a few years of wandering around picking up off jobs of labor and farm handing he found himself in the region of the Weald. As he ventured further into this expanse, he experienced more and more peculiarities. Upon arriving in a small town named Bergen auf Rügen Dol expressed his experiences to the locals. One such local was an Alderman of several towns who reminded Dol of his father. The Alderman, Fridl, advised that a big Kerl such as him would make a tidy profit if he would take arms as Warden. 

In our current day Dol can be found in the surrounding area of Bergen auf Rügen, hiring himself as a warden of mighty means. Many tales have been told of Dol and his enormous stature managing to hold the line until reinforcements arrive, preventing warped creatures of the Gnarl from successfully increasing their reign of terror on the peoples of the Weald.

Catalina and Alvaro Cabrero

• Footman
• Longbow
• Throwing knives
• Anklet of Haste

• Footman
• Zweihander
• Rusted Shackles

Hailing from the village of Sagard the Cabrero siblings where the children of a goat herder and his wife named Pablo and Ysabel. The Cabrero’s had an ideal childhood, playing in the hills, valleys and streams, helping their father tend the goats and their mother care for the chores, they could not want for a thing.

As the years progressed the Cabrero’s like the rest of the villagers started to hear of strange tales being told by merchants and travelers coming into their region. The outlanders’ stories where all fantastical of nature, speaking of living plants with a thirst for blood and men and animals bonded together. For the most part like the rest of the villagers the Cabrero’s dismissed these tales and shunned the outlanders’ warnings. 

One afternoon on the approach to Catalina’s 12th birthday her mother noted that Pablo had not returned from the hills and so she sent Alvaro and Catalina out to search for him. As they wandered, they noted a tainted hue to the sky, sounds seemed to gain a reverberating echo and the air had a mired essence to its taste. They soon could hear their herd apparently over the next hill although it had a peculiar twist to its pitch. As they crossed the crest of the hill, they found themselves stood before an ungodly scene. There was a large tree lumbering along on its roots, at the center of its trunk a distorted body emerged, seemingly fused with the tree in an unholy union. The tree was herding their goats who were lathered into a frenzy, their eyes glowing green and a strange yellow substance misting from their backs. Then they realized that the goats where tearing at a body suspended from the tree, the body of their father. In fright and dismay the Cabrero’s turn and fled home. The Cabrero’s never forgot that day or what the Gnarl had taken from them. 

As they aged, they followed separate paths but with the same unifying goal of doing everything in their power to prevent the Gnarl from inflicting terror and pain on any more of their people. Alvaro, although good in his core found himself in trouble more than once and as likely to be picked up by a band of wardens eager to claim the bounty on him as you would find him furthering his mission to protect the innocent from the Gnarl. Catalina had made it her mission in life to find the very best wardens to assist her in tracking down and exacting revenge on the tree which corrupted her father and stole her family’s herd.

Tainted Shepherd's Herd

Goats

• Swarm
• Gnawing Horde
• Endless Horde

• Swarm
• Gnawing Horde
• Endless Horde

• Thrall
• Malicious Jaws
• Spore Cloud
• Fungal Spores
• Sprig Nursery

• Thrall
• Malicious Jaws
• Spore Cloud
• Fungal Spores
• Sprig Nursery

Rogal Caperon - Tainted Shepherd

• Hulk
• Rotting Log
• Entrenching Roots
• Thunderous footfalls
• Horrific Appearance

Rogel was a man of meagre existence. Born and raised in the village of Sagard, Rogel was said of by his fellow villagers Tener mala leche. His Mother and Farther died when he was young, and he was left to be raised by his solterona aunt on his mother’s side. The Caperon’s owned goats as many families did in Sagard however they lacked both quality and quantity. 

His Aunt worked him hard throughout his childhood, enforcing all the chores and responsibilities of the household on to him while she lived a life of slovenly squalor. During this period, Rogel was disfigured, his aunt exclaimed it was an accident with the fire but rumors throughout the village rustled of abuse. Rogel suffered at the hands of his aunt until the day she died and at that time he looked around and found himself well into his 20’s with no wife, no children, no money only left with a future he very much did not want.

A neighboring family man of the name Pablo Cabrero became the focus of Rogels disappointment and rage at how his life had turned out. In Contrast Pablo came from a loving home and upon his father’s passing had been left with a bountiful and strong natured herd. He had a beautiful wife, healthy spirited children and within his remit did not want for a thing. Pablo fought hard to contain his jealousy to simple acts of passive aggression. One day however his hatred spilled out and he was caught tampering with Pablo’s goat’s milk in an attempt to ruin his luck. When the village found out about this Rogel was stripped of his scant belongings and cast out never to return.

So, with no other options Rogel set off into the Weald cursing the name Cabrero under his breath……

Outro

The creation of these warbands as well the intertwining lore I wrote to accompany them is something that I am personally very proud of. One of the main aspects of this hobby that I enjoy is the all encompassing nature of it's outlets. Something that starts out as a modelling challenge can quickly develop and blossom into an act which allows you to flex the left side of your brain in many different ways.

This first experience with The Weald and application of meaningful lore is something that I have embraced as I continued in this hobby and I think you can see that from my post last week žąsies grobį 1st Intro.

If you haven't explored this part of the hobby in great detail I would urge you to try. The act of creative writing is something that can be truly freeing and allow you to add further substance to the beautifully disturbing pieces of work you are all creating. 

If you would like to know more about the build process I took with each of these models let me know in the comments or by reaching out to me on Instagram and I'll do a post about it.