Ory-Hara the Silent, Chief Librarian of the Azure Flames
Modeling
Ory-Hara is the Dark Angels Grand Master Ezekiel model. I added a Xavier backpack, and filed the winged sword off his book and sculpted a flame and a new strap. Ory-Hara is named after the codename your character in Escape Velocity: Nova earns in the Vell-Os or Polaris story lines after developing psychic powers.
Background
During his life, Atrus, former Chapter Master, Chief Librarian, and spiritual mentor of the Azure Flames trusted one person with the secrets of his prophecies. That person was Ory-Hara. The warp is a horrible place, full of things that can drive men mad at a glance. Space Marine Librarians are trained to look into that darkness without flinching. But it takes a prodigy to look through the nightmare of the warp and actually divine the future. Atrus was such a man. There were things that Atrus learned that he shared with the chapter. There were things he shared only with the command staff.
And then there were the things he told to Ory-Hara.
Ory-Hara joined the Azure Flames (then the Sons of the Salamander) just after Atrus earned his Black Carapace and joined the Librarium of the Sons of the Salamander. The chapter liberated Ory-Hara’s world, Palshife, from the forces of Chaos. Ory-Hara felt gratitude toward his liberators, but suffered from the stress of toiling under the whip of the blasphemous regime of Chaos. Atrus noticed the boy’s latent psychic abilities immediately. Despite being the newest Lexicanum, Atrus asked to mentor the young psyker. Atrus slowly won the trust of Ory-Hara, and helped him to unlock and face the memories he had hidden in the darkest places of his mind. Free from his trauma, Ory-Hara’s psychic talents exploded with creativity.
When the Battle Barge His Hammer was destroyed, and Atrus received his vision, Ory-Hara was the first person Atrus told. Ory-Hara was initially reluctant to believe Atrus, but then he discovered something. By touching Atrus’ forehead, he found a way to copy the memory of the vision from Atrus, as if he had experienced it himself. Amazed at this new ability, he was able to immediately show Atrus how to share the vision psychically. Had Ory-Hara not done this, the Azure Flames would have never been born from the remnants of the Sons of the Salamander.
Ory-Hara examined this memory copying ability. His first trick was to copy the memories of a willing battle brother. He was able to expand this ability to find memories without the subject even being aware. Working together with Atrus, he found the ultimate expression of this power: to copy the memories of someone who had recently died. While this talent had limited use, it provided insight into their deaths. Ory-Hara copied the memories of several battle brothers that died.
This led to the current Azure Flames rite to promote a Scout to a full Battle Brother: by sharing the memory of those that died for him. For non-psykers this can be a harrowing and physically dangerous experience, but the fatality rate is only 17%. Before this, Sons of the Salamander Scouts had to travel to Nocturne, home of the Salamanders, and face one of the legendary beasts in the yearly Salamander hunt. This rite had a fatality rate of 32%.
Ory-Hara served in the Librarium of the Azure Flames with distinction, leading up to the conflict for the Chasma Spica. On Iperin, Atrus sent Ory-Hara against the horrific Daemons of Chaos to the south of the main city, Daskros. This was the one time Atrus had kept something back from his most trusted confidant. Had Ory-Hara known of Atrus’ plan to sacrifice himself, he would have demanded to die by Atrus’ side. Being denied the chance to save his only friend, Ory-Hara took a vow of silence.
He has not spoken since. Nor has he written a word outside of his official log, carried on his person at all times.
Lack of communication is a problem in a commander. Ory-Hara explains his wishes through psychic transmissions of images, or emotional impressions. With his extensive library of memories collected from Battle Brothers, he can communicate any thought, tactical or mundane. Ory-Hara has not revealed the contents of his log to any person, save Atrus and Perseus, and then only after Perseus had become Chapter Master.
Ory-Hara leads the Librarium shrouded in secrets. When he passes, his log will be inherited by whichever Librarian takes his place. Then the truth about Antonius, gene-son of Atrus, and his role in the fate of the Chapter will be revealed as Atrus intended.
ALL IMAGE GALLERIES OPEN!
…ok. So I got off my ass and re-sized all of my pics, and then created galleries for all of my projects. Check out:
The Saratogan 58th <—— NOW WITH NEW PICS!
…and last but not least, the archived works of my dear departed Flesh Tearers.
All of the other galleries are right where you left them, check out the Image Galleries link on the right side of this blog.
Azure Flames Image Gallery
…and the hits just keep on coming! Here’s my pride and joy: The Azure Flames. This army got me into gaming, and I owe them all the talent and creativity I’ve developed.
Update: Battlefleet Gothic Image Gallery
Good news everyone! I resized all of the hideously big pictures in the Battlefleet Gothic gallery. Sadly this doesn’t fix all previous posts, but it makes the gallery pics load in a reasonable amount of time. Expect the same treatment for the other galleries soon!
Edit: Blood Bowl is now browser friendly too! As well as Necromunda!
Whirlwinds, Hunters and a Thunderhawk, oh my!
Finished: One Whirlwind formation for barrage power. Four Hunters, which is all I’ll ever need, and a Thunderhawk Gunship for air transport capability.
Next: TERMINATORS.
On My Plate: 5-17-11
-Epic 40,000: Going to start Whirlwinds and Hunters today. MAOW is playing this Saturday and I want at least SOME painted minis to show them…
-Warmachine: Menoth starter box after Epic. ON HOLD.
-Azure Flames: Need to convert a stand in for Kor’Sarro Khan, and mod up a Chaplain on Bike. I also need to conceptualize an Honor Guard unit for Perseus. Status: ON HOLD. The Flames are complete enough for now.
-Orks: Need to complete painting all minis, possibly buy one more box of Boys but no more. Status: ON HOLD pending spring. I need warm temperatures outside to do dipping, as I cannot do it indoors due to cares.
-The Saratogan 58th: Need to build most of the minis and paint up at least 1500 points to start learning how to play Guard. Status: ON HOLD. Way too much on my plate to start an army from almost scratch.
Why do you do this?
As those 3 people who read this blog know, I post each link to each new post on my Facebook page so that friends can keep up with my inane, possibly syphilis-induced ramblings. Some, however, have no idea what I do this blog and this hobby for.
So, why again with the tiny mans and the painting?
1. It’s awesome. Seriously, who doesn’t think that an army of nine-foot tall super soldiers clad in powered armour is cool? If you said “me” then do everyone a favor and jump out of a tall building, please. I wouldn’t play a game if I thought the idea behind the game was dumb.
2. It gives me an outlet for my artistic imagination. During almost all of my pre-college years, I was vehemently anti-art. In high school I had some fun in Metals, Ceramics, and Drawing and Painting, but most of the time I felt inadequate based on the works of the talented artist kids in the room. Plus, my elementary art teacher was a HORRIFIC NIGHTMARE of a woman for whom all I did was worthless and deserving of hate and venom. When I started painting minis, not only did it fill the vacuum in my creativity left empty for so long, but it also made me feel good because it was an art thing I was good at. Wooo self esteem.
3. All wargames are social. While there are a few people who just paint minis to paint them, I do it to play the game. To do this, I need people other than myself, which means getting out of the house and speaking to other human beings. This is one of the few things keeping me from letting my beard grow and saving my urine in a jar.
4. It’s fun. The entire point to do all of these things is to have fun. If you don’t think wargaming can be fun then A: youve never tried it, B: you haven’t found the right wargame that appeals to your aesthetic and creative tastes, or C: you suck. For A and B, the answer is to get gaming and ask people about games they play. For C, stop sucking.
So there’s another little manifesto whipped into the internet due to boredom. I hope you relieved as much boredom from reading it as I did by writing it. Now, as cliches are the order of the day, I shall ride off into the sunset. Goodnight and good luck.
Azure Flames 4th Company
The Azure Flames 4th Company.
Next on the Epic Dockett: Thunderhawk, 4x Whirlwinds, and a Hunter.
ONE HUNDRED SPACE MARINES
4th Co. Infantry done. Next: 8 Rhinos and the 4th Co. is complete!
Space Marines in a chapter: 1000
Marines I’ve painted: 100
Boo-yah.
Epic 4th Co. Devastators
Space Marines in a Chapter: 1000
Marines I’ve painted: 70
Making progress! Next: 6 more tactical formations and then 8 Rhinos!