It was no good; the ropes that bound his body were too tight.
Garant stopped struggling and, trying not to let the stinking cloth that
smothered his face panic him, attempted to take stock.
The warband had been ambushed by ghouls as they returned
from a treasure hunting expedition. Already battered and bruised they were
easily overcome by superior numbers. The last thing Garant remembered was the
screams of his employer before everything went black.
He awoke to find himself trussed up like a parcel – knees lashed
up to his chest and arms pinned behind his back, all encased in some filthy
bloodstained sacking. He was also swinging in mid-air, no doubt hoisted up
somehow.
Was he on a ship? He could hear the creaking of wooden beams
and the flap of sails. A pale light shone through the sack. There! A hole!
Small, but, if he craned his neck, enough to see through maybe. He shifted,
squinting through the hole as best he could.
Yes, he was definitely suspended off the ground judging by
the angle of the ruins around him. Not a ship then. What else? From what he
could make out the wooden beams, from which hung tatters of cloth, were horizontal. Was that another sack dangling
from one? He tried to focus, but the sack swung as whatever it was that held
him moved.
All he could see now was sky: dark storm clouds and
flickering green light - not unusual in these parts but with a greater
intensity than he had previously witnessed. Shapes moved unnaturally below him
and then the chanting started…
Garant strained to catch what they were saying in their
strange, dry croaking voices, but the language was beyond his ken. Murmuring
low at first the chant rose in pitch and volume. The green flashes lit up the
entire sky and the world shook as something booming replied. Garant screamed.
Behold the Bone Wheel! (Though admittedly there’s nothing
particularly bony about it).
All painted up now for your delectation. In the end I
decided not to glue the top nut in place, so it can be taken apart for ease of
storage. The banners are just weird symbols I got off the internet, pasted onto
a sackcloth background and printed out onto paper.
I must say I’m pretty pleased with it!
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