The Court of Spades, Part 3

The Court of Spades

The Mordants of Hunger Woods are wretched creatures that dwell in the vast dark and twisted forests that surround Wortbad in the Harrowmark. The Kyng of Spades and his court are just as twisted as their home. In their madness they see themselves as a dynasty of “The Blood Royale” - a warrior-king and his retinue. They see the dark forest as their castle and it’s surrounding lands. The mad king of a hidden court; Mudshroud, The Kyng of Spades is an Abhorrant Ghoul King who sees the dark and twisted forest as his mighty castle and it's surrounding lands. His rotted retinue seen through his eyes are a band of mighty heroes and fair maidens, wise and just and pure of heart. The truth is dark and unpleasant: Mordgrave, The Quene of Spades is a Crypt Ghast Courtier in the tattered remains of a blue dress. Mossblade, The Knight of Spades is a Crypt Haunter Courtier with an animal skull in place of a horned a helmet. Moldforth, The Joker of Spades, a capering Crypt Ghoul fool in motley.

Mudshroud, The Kyng of Spades - Abhorrant Ghoul King

Bits list:

Clampack Slaughterpriest (free with White Dwarf last year), skull trophies on belt from Ork Nobz, greenstuff ragged robe. Head from Beastmen Ungors, right hand from Orruk Brutes, crown made from two chopped-up Plaguebearer heads.

40mm round base topped with foliage from the Citadel Woods kit, skulls, sand, leaf litter and dead-grass flock.

The Realmgate Wardens, part 1

The Realmgate Wardens patrol the newly recaptured areas of Shyish, checking the Realmgates for corruption and scouting for signs of Chaos incursions. They are investigators and observers, not frontline combat troops and it isn't their job to fight off anything they find, but to escape (fighting their way out if needed) and report the problems so they can be dealt with properly.

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Elatine Jast, Witch Hunter and leader of the Realmgate Wardens of Wortbad, in Shyish.

(Since taking these photos I have used a little greenstuff to hide the Inquisitor symbol on her cloak and smooth out her chest plate.)

Anderton Fenn - Freeguild General

The Wardens

One of the Wardens ins not all he seems to be... He tries to keep his corruption hidden but the tentacle seems to have a mind of it's own...

Bits list!

Elatine Jast is based on Inquisitor Greyfax, with a Wildwood Ranger head, a Flagellant's comet symbol (where her grenades used to be), a Grey Knight purity seal (where her Inquisitor symbol used to be), a Grey Knight pouch (where her power armour backpack would be), Greatsword officer pointy hand.

The Wardens are Freeguild Greatswords' torsos and legs with Wildwood Ranger heads, Skitarii arms and guns, Dwarf Thunderer's ammo pouches. (The last guy also has a Burning Chariot of Tzeentch off-cut for his tentacle).

Anderton Fenn is a Freeguild Greatsword's torso and legs, Dark Angel head, a Grey Knight purity seal, Freeguild General's left arm with pistol, Freeguild Soldier's right arm with sword.

The Emperor's Tarot

(Edit: If you found this post due to the Arks of Omen tarot, you might want to jump down the page, to the second half where I have added the cards from that series, by clicking here!)

My friend and regular gaming opponent Godfather Viktor went to the "Throne of Skulls: The Emperor’s Tarot" weekend event at Warhammer World, in early Feb 2017. I'm sure he will blog his experience of the event soon (spoiler: he had a great time!) but for now I want to share some images of the tarot cards that all participants were given to keep as part of the event.

The cards themselves feature John Blanche artwork and they are printed in a lovely matt-finish on pleasantly heavy card-stock. The 21 cards have no rules printed on them (just an illustration, a number and a name), but they came with a small "rule book" that described each card's in-game effects. They represent the "major arcana" of the Emperor's Tarot deck.

They are really beautiful, atmospheric, "artifacts" in their own right!

Arks of Omen

Updated: 2023-03-17

Since this page is getting a lot of traffic again I thought I would update it to include the Arks of Omen Tarot cards. These are part of an ongoing series of atmospheric lore teaser videos for the Arks of Omen narrative that is the headline story of WH40K at the moment.

I will be adding more to this post soon, as I have thoughts about the lore, the art... and the apparent misunderstanding of how inversed cards work in tarot. I will also add the new cards when new videos are published.

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The art used on this deck is (mostly) astounding. I love the style and the atmosphere. My favourite is probably "III The Hulk" but it's not an easy choice.

I'm not really loving "IX Daemon" but I can forgive one misstep when the rest are just so good. They look even better in the videos, as the art is subtly animated in all of them. Check out the YouTube playlist on the link above!

I have transcribed the narration from the video for each card.

So, here are all the Arks of Omen tarot cards so far:

I Galaxy

[De Galaxis Profundi]

The Galaxy burns in the fire of ambition.

Another round of the great game begins.

II The Despoiler

[Hereticus Ultima]

Venom in his hearts and blood on his blades.

What new darkness does he bring?

III The Hulk

[Gargantua Perditum]

The Arks of Omen.

Monuments of iron and stone, and hate, and time.

IV The Silver Key

[Clavargentis]

Ah, the Silver Key.

New doorways.

New paths.

New possibilities.

V The Great Hoste

[De Infernum Legionis]

A blood-red tide of seeing blades, led by...

VI Hound

[Abominus]

A great beast.

Unliving but undying.

It claws at reality's gate.

VII The Shattered World

[Apocalyptus Est]

Devastation.

Annihilation.

The future reeks of cataclysm.

VIII God-Emperor (inversed)

[De Imperator Invertus]

The Imperium's end.

The fall of humanity's empire.

IX Daemon

[Malevolus]

The veil grows thin.

Malignancy bleeds through.

From one word into the next.

X Astartes

[Angelus Mortis]

And here stand the Angels of Death.

Blooded, but unbroken.

XI The Lightning Tower

[De Fulminatorum Colossi]

A great war.

Fire and wroth unleashed on sacred rock.

XII Daemon (inversed)

[Malevolus Invertus]

And yet Chaos is fickle.

Forever turning on itself.

XIII The Horde

[Beastiarius Magnefactor]

A horde descends.

Scarlet and crimson souls.

Blood drunk; blood maddened.

Flooding the galaxy.

XIV The Young Warrior

[De Bellicosa Novitius]

And a light gutters in the endless black.

It may scourge the red tide.

It may drown beneath its waves.

XV The Fool (Inversed)

[Ignorama Invertus]

Yet here, a change in spirit.

Form fury to serenity.

I cannot say.

I cannot yet see.

XVI The Tree of Life

[Vitalitus Asperium]

But hope blooms

In the garden of lost souls

And burning stars

XVII The Lost Child

[Purgator]

And here a fatherless son

Alone in the endless night

XVIII The Star

[Conjunctus Malascendum]

As wars rage

Beneath the gaze

Of a newborn star

XIX The Knight

[Palador]

He stands defiant

His blade reflecting the light

Of a poisoned sky

XX Galaxy (Inversed)

[De Galaxis Profundi Invertus]

But everything will change

Reality bleeds

Destiny sickens

The galaxy grows dark