Braianel, The Blessed

Most heretics have a way of altering their personalities once they become traitors to the Imperium. Not that we can blame them, really, hearing constant whispers by more or less insidious evil, larger-than-life entities tends to do that to a guy. Not to Braianel, though. In his mind, he's still the same knight he was on Caliban. The veteran. The example. The swordsman. The boastful friend. The one every calibanite loved.

He witnessed the Lion's rise through The Order. He accompanied him on every engagement, be it against man or beast. And when the Emperor's Angels arrived on his planet, the Primarch had him undergo extensive surgery and bionics implantation so that Braianel could accompany him on the Great Crusade...only to send him back to Caliban to "speed up recruitment". For more than any other Dark Angel, Braianel had made his life a constant crusade and, in spite of his great pride and experience, he'd taken the Lion to be an avatar of knighthood.

But no true knight would condemn his brethren to a life with no glory, though. No great leader would leave his most trusted comrades behind. All this finally sunk into Braianel as the Warp Storm engulfed Caliban and dragged him into the abyss of the Empyrean. When he emerged, a new crusade began. One that, for 10.000 years, has showed the Imperium what true glory is. Where Braianel goes, revolt, fanaticism and heresy spread through the population.

Yet Braianel fights alone, and on his own has he earned every one of the many black pearls he sports, each an Interrogator Chaplain slain . For his victories, he's been granted many gifts by the Gods of Chaos, to him no more than just rewards.

From his early days in The Order, throughout every field of battle in the Great Crusade, to every son of the Lion he vanquishes, Braianel has been what he has always sought to be. The champion. The legend. The swordsman. The raucous victor to every fight.

The one every Unforgiven dreads most.

This guy is an hommage to Brian Blessed, an actor that has only become known to me a few years ago, yet one of those greats that leaves me missing older days. It was easy enough to keep his armour true to his time as a loyalist, a true knight's wargear - only with a jetpack. The helmet was the hardest piece to come up with. The final result, I think, combines knight and raptorhood quite well. Still, while the concept wasn't hard, he was a veritable pain to execute.

So let us feast. Chiswick!!! Fresh horses!

Oh, yeah, Khorne is next.

Look, [link] did something great. Go check it out, it's awesome: [link]

And it comes in two flavours: [link]