Éomer the Lion and an Epic Elf King That Rides A Dragon!

Hello!

Fantasy Month has arrived! Some WIPs from this post are not shown on patreon. But community members can still access the latest WIPs as mentioned in previous posts.  Just to be thorough, community members will receive an email with the access information as well.

Please leave any comments/feedback/reactions on this post like you would normally do. Thanks!

This month's poll winner was Aenarion on Indraugnir. I didn't know anything about the character going into this project but a community member has helpfully filled me in with a lot of his background lore. Thanks! 👍

So it turns out Aenarion is actually incredibly important to Elven history in Warhammer Fantasy (both High and Dark Elves). How important? Well, he was the First Phoenix King that united the ten kingdoms of Ulthuan and the entire race of Elves beneath his rule.

During his reign, Aenarion befriended Caledor, a dragon riding mage from the southwest peninsula on Ulthuan. It was a kingdom who had long bonded with dragons and its elves were known to ride the great beasts into battle. To reward Aenarion’s efforts, Caledor presented him with Indraugnir, the mightiest of the dragons and the father of their race. It's said that Indraugnir respected Aenarion’s valor and he accepted him as his rider a partnership based on a real friendship and respect.

To condense a huge backstory, Aenarion's most important feats were against the forces of Chaos and his mission to cleanse Ulthuan of its constant demonic presence. At one point he discovered that Averlorn, the realm of the Everqueen (his wife) had been attacked by Daemons and thought his entire family was killed. Maddened with grief, he flew on Indraugnir’s back to the shrine of Khaine, the elven god of war and murder, situated north of Ulthuan. There, he picked up the blade of the bloody handed god, a weapon of immense power that would ensure he wiped out daemon kind.

This power did come at a terrible cost. The blade not only cursed its wielder but their entire bloodline, though the curse manifested differently between individuals. For Aenarion, it enhanced the darker aspects of his personality as he became cruel and began to revel in combat and bloodshed.

Anyways the Daemon problem reached a dire point and Caledor had no choice but to enact a desperate plan. The idea was to create a great vortex in the center of the great isle of Ulthuan which would siphon excess magic from the world so it would be much harder for Daemons to manifest.

Caledor enacted his spell on the Isle of the Dead and Aenarion joined the battle to protect the last hope of of their race. There, he and Indraugir battled four greater Daemons of the chaos gods, each promising fantastic rewards if they would only join them. But Aenarion and his mount stayed vigilant, enduring the attacks of each entity at the price of great wounds.

Finally Caledor finished his spell and saving the elves. But he became trapped in the vortex and forced to maintain it for eternity. Aenarion had vanquished the Greater Daemons but was thrown into the Realm of Chaos in the aftermath.

Nursing grievous wounds, he climbed on Indragnir one last time, the dragon being in the same state of agony. They flew to the Isle of Khain where Indraugnir succumbed to his wounds. Barely more alive, Aenarion dragged himself to the altar, returning the blade of Khan to its place; before joining his faithful mount in death.

So yeah, Aenarion is a pivotal character in Warhammer. He literally saved the world and represents the greatest warrior the original setting has ever seen. He is also extremely important for the elves, as he was the first phoenix king and ancestor to three of the most important elves in history: Tyrion, Teclis and Malekith.

So from a visual standpoint, Aenarion has the look of a classic High Elf style of armor with scale mail, cuirass, sword and shield plus he gets to ride a giant dragon! I went with that look while doing some slight experimental versions of his winged helmet.

I don't think it's specifically state what type of dragon Indraugnir is but it's implied to be the biggest breed of dragons in the world, namely the Emperor Dragons in Warhammer Fantasy. Most references provided to me had Indraugnir (and his descendent Minaithnir) look more serpentine. They generally have a triangular shaped head and snout with spikes or fins sprouting across their body so I tried to include those characteristics.

And as promised, this month I'm also working on Lion 2.0 or Éomer the Lion as I like to call him. 😄 For new community members, I'm basing his look on Karl Urban who was fan casted by the community awhile back. The goal is not only to make him untouchable by the Angry Company but to make 1st Primarch even better than before. 🤩

So I'm currently working on his upper body and trying to make up some new and completely unique crest iconography for him (variations shown). One of the things I've always wanted to include was the Calibanite Lion pelt the 1st Primarch is canonically confirmed to slay. If community members have any suggestions for things to make the Lion even more badass, please let me know. Now's you're chance to make the Lion as cool as possible!

More updates to come including my proxy for Settra the Imperishable. Stay tuned!