Orc Warboss on Boar - WIP

Continuing the theme of old minis, here I am with another classic greenskin. This one is extra special!

While I sold off most of my oldest collection when I was needing the money, this one I kept, because it's the very first model that I bought for WFB. While I had to scour many old toy boxes in search for parts, I was able to get most of him - which makes me very happy, I am a sucker for authenticity.

Of course, that didn't mean I would change a thing about him - it's like architectural restoration of an old ruin, some parts could be improved upon. The shield was lost, so I got him a fancier one, as well as the boar's tail and tusks. I also wasn't a fan of the original fur texture on the pig, so I sculpted it anew - to suggest that it's a very venerable mount, like the mini itself! Original standard pole was also lost, so I improvised something similar and added a plasticard banner as well (I never liked those paper ones that were popular back then).

The base is still in old size, as I am waiting for official ones in the right size. The painting will probably wait comfortably until The Old World is released.

Classic Goblin Shamans

Recently I painted a miniature with my son, he's 3, so it wasn't anything too complicated, but it made me feel things I haven't felt for a long time. I remembered simpler times when painting had no rules, no techniques, it was just putting paint on cool miniatures. Now there is a big thought in everything, a right way to do everything.

Obviously, one cannot go back, but this wave of nostalgia made me remember my oldest army - 5th edition WFB Orcs and Goblins. I still have quite a lot of old minis for that army, so I decided to work on them again.

The idea is, to make them as bright and garish as they were in 5th edition. Lots of checkered patterns, reds, yellows, very green skin, no weathering, simple bases. While I'll still use all my skills and tools to make them look good, I'll definitely won't make too much fuss about them, to recapture some simpler times.

First attempt, two goblin shamans, one warboss, painted simultaneously. On 25mm bases to conform with the new WFB, because why not, let's mix it up.

Cadret the Black - WIP

When I posted all my converted Bretonnian knights, I said that one knight was missing from that lineup - I was still very much working on him back then and now he's finally ready to be painted.

It's kinda crazy to see him ready like this, as I invented this character when I was just around 18 years old, during quite an edgy phase of my youth. He was supposed to be a half-vampire, wielding a katana, and was based on some anime characters... Still, my idea was a bit too grand for my skills back then, so barely anything was done and almost everything was converted this year in the end. Now, I eased up on the edge, so he's much more realistic and Bretonnian, but there are still plenty of references to that old version - everything was very fun to put together!

The bits used are all over the place. Even his legs are taken from a Green Knight model, as I couldn't find anything better - I feel so frickin' privileged for having two of those! Besides, there's an elven knight, a vampiric helmet, and a sword hilt from a Nagash knockoff... Even with paint he should stand out amongst his brethren - let's see soon how it'll turn out.

Sir Armand du Plessis, Knight of the Realm Gallant

It's been a long time since we've had a Knight of the Realm here, so here we are back with a converted unit champion to get this thing rolling again. His WIP was presented HERE.

The idea with him was to make a cardinal-like knight, inspired by heraldry of cardinal Richelieu. Quite a lot of bits were used to make him special, but I think the paint makes most of the work. I had a lot of fun painting all that red, going against my usual multicolored approach to Bretonnians. I also realized that this whole project is a very good exercise in painting basic colors! I hated pure black and yellow for example, but now I find them quite pleasant and manageable!

This guy also starts a big batch of Knights of the Realm, so be prepared to see quite a lot of them here.

Donning the deep crimson of his very wealthy and influential family, Sir Armand de Plessis is very recognizable - and his presence always means trouble to those not devout enough, truly or just perceived as such. While he always proclaims to be driven by love, that’s the love of a very, very strict parent, one’s that not afraid to draw blood when teaching lessons. Acting almost like a male priest in a very important sanctuary, he commands a lot of respect amongst his fellow knights, so it’s only natural to act as their commander. This way he’s also close to his men to search for any kind of foulness or heresy.

Sir Estienne Sagremor, Knight Errant Cavalier

The penultimate member (and a champion) of the Knight Errant unit and the second son of Earl Sagremor, the main leader for the whole army.

Because of this important position in the story, I had to do some simple conversions to make him stand out. A horned helmet for the horse was a must, then a cloak and an extra pauldron. A little, but it fits a champion for an unit of youngsters. He also got that little hawk on his hand - I always liked that bit that came with the knights' box, but I didn't have a good excuse for it - until now.

Also, as you can see, his base is a little more busy than usually. After redoing the bases on my pegasus knights, I decided to bring the whole army in this direction - and Estienne here is just the first one to get it after that change in policy. All the group photos from now one will feature upgraded, fancy bases.

His WIP post can be seen HERE.

Second and youngest son of Earl Sagremor, Estienne had a much easier childhood than his brother. Without as many expectations placed upon him, he had time to develop himself as a person. While he’s prone to jokes, carefree behavior and being led by women way too easily, it would be foolish to dismiss him as a spoiled brat. Estienne still tried to emulate his brother at least a bit, so he still grew into a fine knight and a capable leader. Leading a lance of like-minded Errant Knights, he’s always eager to prove himself in the heat of battle - and so far, this approach worked very well for him. If just his father would let him lead more autonomously, that would be perfect.

Sir Thierry Sagremor, the Battle Standard Bearer

Now it's time to show off the sons of my main guy, Earl Sagremor. The oldest one, presented here is carrying the Army Battle Standard, a big fat centerpiece for not only his big KotR unit, but also the whole army. However, I already did one fancy standard for them, so I had to do something extra here. Not wanting to suffer an even more elaborate freehand, I just built more details around it all. The WIP post can be seen HERE.

The painting was a little annoying, because the banner itself is metal and I had to handle it a lot as a separate piece, there was so much chipping. And because there were so many colors and textures there, it took a fair amount of time too. The brave knight underneath the standard is rather straightforward in comparison, even the freehands around the barding are rather subtle. Still, I am very, very glad he is done.

A small sidenote - his helmet was the origin of the unicorn that appears on the main family's coat of arms.

Fullsize image is in higher resolution than usual. This model is so high, it was quite difficult to take good photos!

First son of the well-regarded Earl Sagremor, Thierry was under a lot of pressure from his youngest years. Friends and enemies, nobles and peasants, everybody was judging him at all times - and to not break under all that, he just had to become the best version of himself. Thierry embraced the rules of chivalry, devoted himself to studies and thrived in battle. With his unwavering faith, he became a Grail Knight in a very young age - a true paragon to be admired. Because of that, there was no one better to carry the banner that Earl Sagremor commissioned when he took his position. Now Thierry can be found always on the front line, bringing not only the banner for everyone to rally behind, but also his courage and unparalleled skill. Unfortunately, to achieve all that success, he had to bury himself as a person underneath all the virtues - in private he’s a very cold, strict man with almost no personality to speak of.

Mounted Bretonnian Damsel - WIP

Sadly, I wasn't able to finish what I was working on recently, so a little filler this time. Sorry!

Quick conversion I did for the mounted damsel for my Bretonnian force. I was unhappy with how one sided her design is... I understand that this is how she sits on the horse, but there are ways to make it interesting. A sculpted quilt, some bits and detailing, her other side shouldn't be now as boring as before. Now, after painting Bretonnians for so long, I don't know how to paint a horse so exposed!

Lord Krvavrus, Harbinger of the Red Death

After some small sneak peeks through WIP posts, I can now properly start a brand new collection here, 40k Death Guard.

The general idea about them is to have them in all-white armor, with no extra decorative trims, like on a real military tank, but HEAVILY weathered. This then goes in a wintery setting. Amongst all that dirty white comes the red, all the fleshy bits will be painted as bloody viscera, standing out from the background. This guy here is the main leader of this new force and also a guinea pig for this whole new endeavor. And by new, I really mean new. There are so many "first-times" here, I haven't felt like this in years! I never painted any 40k, I never used chipping medium, I never used snow effects, I was very excited painting him, even if he's a little bit lost amongst the rust and grime.

Obviously, some fine-tuning will be needed on the technique, but I am looking forward to it nonetheless. I have lots of marines already primed, some terminators ordered, and conversion parts for the Blight-haulers waiting. Yet another new nurgle force coming right up! And there is another one in the works as well!

Krvavrus, fed up with Mortarion’s obsessions, decided to take his cohort and carve up his own path in the galaxy. Led by Nurgle’s own voice, they found a small, frozen mining world with a red dwarf casting its feeble rays upon it. Here, a blessing struck the whole force, a powerful disease that seemed to impart thoughts and purpose on their very flesh. The unworthy were overcome, turning into growing, pulsating mass of viscera covering the ground. The strongest were able to contain it and wield this new “Red Death” as a weapon against the inhabitants of the planet. The government is trying to diminish the influence of this new threat by dismissing it as just a “Red Scare”. Still, they do know that the situation is dire, for Krvavrus and his brethren won’t stop until there is a completely red planet under a red star, the first seed in Nurgle's great new plan.

Karel the Black, the Commander

Third Sokolov vampire for the collection, after the red one, the white one, here comes the black one. I even managed to find two variants of the model, so I was able to get him both mounted and dismounted.

A horse was unavailable for him, so I had to find something else. Through a weird trick of fate and horrible post service in Germany, I actually have two Bretonnian Green Knights... one of them will be actually used in my Bretonnian collection, but the second one was rather redundant, until I found that this vampire fits very well. This gives him a lot of extra flair. Shields were also missing, so I found them some replacements, simple ones to accomodate some emblems. Just like with Havel, I needed to add some detail to their clothes and barding and let's say that black isn't a very easy color to get it right... Everything is either completely drown in blackness or turns everything to grey. I tried finding some equilibrium and it kinda works, but I think it would be much more pronounced and pretty if I wanted to have him blue or green.

He's also my proposal for the "Mirror, mirror" challenge amongst polish bloggers - with an idea/character mirrored into something different, yet similar. So, instead of a chivalrous Green Knight, I have a cruel Black Knight, on the same horse model.

Three male vampires serve lady Ecaterina Sokolov - the red warrior, the white bodyguard and the black commander. The last of them, Karel the Black, is most usually tasked with leading his mistress’ forces. Brooding, cruel and with strong personality, this one, while still loyal, is the most independent amongst his comrades. Good quality for a commander, but this also makes him an unpredictable servant, ready to object Ecaterina’s orders more than anyone. She tolerates this, because in the end he cares deeply for her interests, even if he thinks his means are better. During the battle with von Greifens he was on a diplomatic mission, so Ecaterina had to lead herself. Next time Karel will lead and make sure that his mistress comes up victorious.

It was difficult to make photos of both models (the lance takes so much space!), so here they are once together and then separated.

Leader mode:

Fencer mode:

Iakob the Savage - WIP

After Havel, here I am with even more vampires! Just a conversion WIP though.

Back when WFB was a thing, there was a possibility to build a vampire character that's a murdermachine and melee and yet possesses the ability to use magic from the Lore of the Beasts. Thanks to the vampires' unique rules, they could retain their powers while using the spell that transformed them into monsters. A mountain chimera in this context was stupidly overpowered. Of course, it cost a lot and was very easy to counter, so nobody used it seriously. Still, I loved this idea so much that I wanted to at least model a vampire to fit that description, a powerful barbarian just barely containing his inner beast. And after that, of course, the transformed versions...

This is my take on this. The model is based on a Khorne Exalted Deathbringer from GW. I redid quite a lot with him, I expected this conversion to be much easier, but the ideas just kept coming. Because I'm using the same head as the one on Gavros, I kept his ears small and sculpted some weird tendril hair on his previously bald head. I'm really unsure if I like it... if it's bad after getting some paint, I'll just rip it off.

It's a miracle I managed to fit him on a proper 20x20mm base!

Havel the White, the Protector

It's been a very long time since I painted anything from my "mainline" undead WFB force... This guy has been lingering in the drawer half-painted for a while and I got just enough motivation to actually finish him.

Lady Sokolov from my collection has a red-black-white color scheme and she has one red-themed servant, Vaclav. When looking through eBay and looking for an excuse to buy more Blood Dragon miniatures, I decided to give her three servants, each with a dominant color. This guy is obviously the white one - and there's a black one on horseback that's in the queue to get painted soon as well.

The big cape on his back was the biggest topic here, I needed to make it special. Painting a big emblem seemed too simple and random scribbles wouldn't do, so I decided to make it a feathery pattern, inspired by the avian sigil of the family. This part probably made me stop painting him back then, but in the end, it wasn't that bad. To make the model a bit different, I switched his two-handed sword for a halberd, which also fits a bodyguard role I thought up for him.

Vaclav isn’t the only male vampire warrior serving lady Sokolov. While the red warrior soars through the sky obliterating her enemies in the field, the white one is her personal bodyguard. Havel the White, for that’s how he is known, is a silent and dutiful warrior residing usually in Castle Sokolov. Anyone intruding must be ready to face him and his halberd, one which split in two countless foes. Skilled as he is, he tends to be overly organized - while it makes him a perfect warden, it makes him also predictable. Ecaterina underestimated von Greifens and left him in the fortress during their battle - a decision which cost her dearly. Feeling guilty, Havel refuses to leave his mistress’ side now - ready to make those who wronged her regret it dearly.

Earl Guiscard Sagremor

Finally, a Bretonnian that isn't just another namless rank-and-file dude! I actually managed to paint the main hero and leader of this whole force, good and brave Earl Sagremor. This mini, bought about 15 years ago, went through numerous iteration of conversions and now managed to even get some paint on him. He was an absolute pleasure to paint, as he hails from the era of GW that I like the most, with it's metal minis with lots of pouches and other details, all in that proportion of fantasy to realism that I like the most (or its just nostalgia speaking).

He's also the first one to get that black-blue color scheme of his family painted on. I was worried that the blue and the black would meld into one dark mess, but I believe I avoided somehow. I still have 2 of his sons to paint in the same style, as well as a surprisingly large amount o archers I managed to get in those Bretonnia-unfriendly times!

His WIP post can be seen HERE.

Lands of the Sagremor family were beset by enemies for many decades - as long as the vampires and greenskins avoided raiding the great halls of the nobility, the high-born didn’t care. Then, a third son of the current earl, Guiscard, embarked on his quest for the Grail. After years of traveling the land, he understood the sickness wasting his homeland and returned to set things right. With the help of some of the connections made during his journeys, he took over the title from his father after a short, but violent war. With newfound powers, he drove out the bloodsuckers, painted the greenskins’ dwellings with their own blood and actually strived to protect his peasants. Those were hard years for everyone, but they paid off with prosperity that was unheard of for years, all thanks to the new Earl Sagremor. He became known as the one ready for the harshest methods to reach the noblest of goals, yet still compassionate and understanding. Life of the quest influenced him so much, that even now, years and years after, he’s still more comfortable out in the country than in his castle and still wields his giant sword as a weapon of choice.

FKB XCVI: Size Matters - Brutogg Corpse-eater WIP

Just like last month I hosted that little game of trying to model something to a given topic, here I am participating. The topic given by Bahior was "Size does matter" - which fit perfectly with an idea I had in mind.

I actually got Cursed City when it was originally released, one of the last reasonably priced boxes... and then it stood on top of a shelf for a year. Here I am trying to kickstart it somehow.

You see, I really love the style of the minis for this game and I'll be using most minis as they are, but an ogre without a big belly and a gut-plate? I can't stand that, size indeed does matter here! I did some conversions to put some meat on those bones and make Brutogg into a chubbier chap. HERE is the original for comparison. I have some other similar small changes planned and after that I can start tackling this monster of a boardgame.

Bretonnian Knights - Conversions

Between all the rank-and-file knights I have been working on the characters and command groups. Wanting to make them more distinct and fit my backstory a little better, I wanted to do some conversions on them since... forever. Seriously, some of those guys were my first attempts at conversions, first experience with greenstuff, etc. Of course, I had to change some of them to not be embarassing, but the idea stays mostly the same. I apologize for the mess with the undercoats and paints - I was convinced many times that they are ready to be painted, only to get them back to the conversion phase later, after already starting.

First is the "main character" of the whole army, Earl Sagremor, based on the "paladin with an axe" model from bygone ages. Main idea - his horse is a manmade unicorn, fitting his heraldry - this horn may be actually from 2008, those are easy to make. Second idea - the shield should be covered with a dragonskin - and this is perhaps the 4th or 5th attempt. Third idea - he should have a big sword. The first version of this was a translucent plastic sword that I got once in a restaurant to eat french fries with! It broke off sadly, was brittle as hell. Everything else on him are "modern" conversions to fill him up with details.

Second one, his older son, the Battle Standard Bearer. His horse is also a manmade unicorn of course.

Here, having already made a pretty impressive standard for a different knight, this one needed to be extra extravagant. So, my 2008 self sculpted this whole big "altar" on top of the standard, with the rays and shields. I only shortened some of the rays for better effect, but overall, not that terrible. Only the "ribbons" on the back side were super bad, so I remade them according to my current skills.

Now the younger son, a champion for the Errant Knights.

Nothing too complicated here, just some bits to make thim stand out more. And a unicorn-hat on the horse, of course.

Standard Bearer for the Errant Knights.

This one was actually a magic standard used on WFB 6th edition, it cheaply made Errant Knights significantly stronger - so it was always used. I liked the fluff description on how it was carried through countless errantry wars, was tattered and sewn together from many different smaller pieces, so I wanted to represent it on the tabletop. Nowadays I would probably give it more tattered parts and make different stitches, but it works good enough here too. This conversion is almost unchanged since 2008, only the hanging chains were added recently.

Last conversion for now, a champion of one of the Knight units. The idea came to me when I saw cardinal Richelieu's heraldry and wanted to do something similar - right after that the concept evolved to make him a priestly knight. Such a function probably doesn't exist in Bretonnia's fluff, but the aesthetics work well enough.

His helmet has this "bishop's hat" style and there is a lot of flowing details, all to make him regal and important.

Only one conversion still isn't made - Cadret the Black, a special character of my own invention. That one involves reposing the horse, sculpting the barding from scratch and many other details, so that one will come much later.

Blood Bowl Nurgle Staff - Infectius the Plague Doctor

Now this model was actually painted before my hiatus - and even photographed, but I just couldn't go through yet another round of editing. So, using my new setup, I retook the photos and here he is, sorry for the delay.

The colors were chosen to fit my Putrid Punters, with the notable exception for the white cloak. I painted it this way to make him look just a tiny bit more like your usual doctor. Just in case his helpful nurse, a sign, a doctor's bag weren't enough of a clue. Now he can join the team as the first proper member of the staff - first one of the many more to come!

The WIP for him can be found HERE.

Even if you are not interested in Blood Bowl, Blood Bowl may be interested in you! Such is the life of poor Infectius, a quiet, nerdy boy who always had a passion for all things biological. That evolved later into devoting himself to Nurgle and studying all his diseases and peculiar physiology of his beloved creatures. He would spend the rest of his days cooped up in his laboratory if not a recruitment organized by one of the high-ranking daemons. He wanted to create a guild of Plague Doctors, as a Nurglite alternative to Blood Bowl apothecaries. Being too timid and awkward to refuse, Infectius went with the daemon - and unfortunately for him - proved himself to be an exemplary doctor, being able to patch up even the weirdest of bodies and injuries. Then he got together with the Putrid Punters and the rest is history. The jocks from the team still occasionally make fun of him, but at least they respect him as the last chance to get back, should their regenerative powers fail them. And Infectius, while stressed and anxious most of the time, can at least find some meaning and purpose in his difficult task, which also involves endlessly learning new things about Grandfather Nurgle and his devotees.

Malignant Plaguecaster - WIP

WH40K with Nurgle continues. I wanted to have more finished conversions before I start painting, so I did some other characters too, besides the Lord of Contagion two posts ago. Today comes the Malignant Plaguecaster, the simple psyker from the previous starter set.

I was mostly fine with the model, except for the puff of noxious gas that he was blowing from his hand - I hate painting such special effects. I decided to replace it with a writing mass of tendrils, which is both properly substantial and also a connection to the flesh horror theme of this army. There is a toothy maw between them - it was a perfect use for the little squig that I spared from Mollog's kit.

Lord of Contagion - WIP

The unexpected happened - I got myself some first 40k minis to paint, an actual collection!

Blood Bowl got me into Nurgle good and I just couldn't stop marveling over modern Death Guard miniatures - all of them full of little, unneccesary detail, holes and gribbles, with so many variants and options... Death Guard players are just spoiled with how rich the range is - so I decided to give them a go. I am quite fascinated with morbid combinations of flesh and machine and this project will be good for exploring that - once I get their style and theme right.

The big leader guy from the previous starter set, Lord of Contagion, seemed like a very good start. The current idea for their theme is white/wintery armor with an industrial and soviet feel to them - with some flesh&technological horror included. To get some of that that, I cut off the special effects from his back (I hate painting those) and replaced them with some smokestacks. He is standing on a T-35 tank turret I painted in middle school - to make him stand out a little bit more and get that some soviet points too. The original tank model was wrecked by a cat long time ago, so this is its new purpose.

Some more HQ will be coming up while I'll be exploring the color scheme and trying out some snow effects for the bases.

Sir Vannier, Knight of the Realm Gallant

Because of some delays, I am filling this week with another Bretonnian oldie dug up from the cupboard - a mounted hero model, painted in 2008.

He is one of the first, if not THE first, Bretonnian model I ever painted. I still haven't decided how I want this force to look like, so he has some weird elements to him, like 'cool' non-heraldric dragons on the barding or gold, metallic trim between two colors there. I had just bought my first greenstuff back then, so I was eager to use it - so he has those two useless ribbons on his back. Fun times.

He was supposed to be a character in my army, but then I designed to convert my own character out of a common knight, so this nice, metallic model was relegated to being just a champion of the same unit of the Knights of the Realm. Maybe I'll finish them someday - continuing a 12-13-year-old plan for a game that long since stopped existing - nothing I haven't done already, so it's not out yet.

To ensure a smooth organization of Bretonnian lances on the field of battle, a lord needs his officers, his Gallants - who are most often chosen for their loyalty or skill in combat. Sir Vannier is not of those - he would be discharged many years ago, but because of an ancient treaty between his family and his sire's, Vannier, as well as his ancestors and descendants, has an ensured high position in Earl Sagremor's army. He may be carrying a lance tipped with a dragon's tooth and look very regal, but it's just equipment he got from his braver fathers - current Vannier is a cruel, petty, and bigoted man. Using his position and privilege, he often raids his own villages to pillage and harass the peasants, sics bandits on foreign traders, and tortures his captives, human or otherwise. While some share his ideas, many find that brutish man distasteful at best - but Bretonnia's rigid code of honor and laws don't leave much room for opinions and preferences.

Hod the Chief Trumpeter

After Horik the Lord Commander and Knutr the cranky old slayer it's time for the third one of the heroes I painted for my 'Hill Dwarfs' project - Hod the optimistic trumpeter! Just like with the previous ones, it's a middlehammer dwarf on a bright green base, a nostalgic trip to the times when I was just starting with Warhammer.

The model is officially named 'King Kazador', but seeing how I want to make my 'hold' an unimportant, backwater one, I decided to downplay his royal characteristics and reduced him to being just a thane with a fitting role - the main trumpeter of Karak Valldar. In comparison with the previous ones, this one looks the most classic - with a simple pose and weapon held high, so to do him proper justice, I tried painting him as colorful as my painting style allowed for - he was pretty simple in the end, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Now that those three are done, it's time for some troops - and war machines too! Still, seeing as this is a slow project in a particularly slow time in my life, it will take some waiting...

While subterranean dwarfs can rely on their strong lungs and good acoustics of their tunnels for communication, the hill dwarfs of Karak Valldar must use some help in that regard - that’s where trumpeters come into action. Using impressive horns, they sound elaborate calls that help their leaders command the troops on expansive, grassy hills. The current Chief Trumpeter in the hold is Hod, a relatively young Thane serving under Horik. What sets him apart from all his comrades in Karak Valldar, he is earnestly enthusiastic about his work here, immune to the grumbling attitudes of older dwarfs. Lacking resources, goblin raids, irritating inspections from their superiors, Hod can find something positive in all of that and more. Hill dwarves can laugh at his naivete, but secretly they admire his view on life and find some kind of comfort in it during all the hardships.

The Little Ones

It's time to finally close the set of minis that I got from the Black Crab Miniatures 2 Kickstarter. After the Cultists and Followers, I have the Little Ones ready - small familiars, that were added to the package if someone ordered all 8 of the regular miniatures.

There's nothing too fancy about them, just continuing with the same color scheme as before with those guys - only this time with less dirt and cuter. Still, they nicely close off the collection, circling back to the High Council, being their assistants. That is until Black Crab Miniatures comes around someday (maybe).

High dignitaries of the Cult of the Radiant Wheel are sometimes accompanied by diminutive helpers who carry their belongings or perform simple tasks. People see it as just another strange, probably magical thing that is related to those mysterious figures and don’t think too much about it. Select few may connect some facts and start thinking about those moments when the cultists demand a newborn to be given in exchange for bringing a relative back to life - or when they take care of sick or injured children, only to inform the family later that they couldn’t save them. Such voices are quickly silenced - through persuasion, coercion, or darker means - and life goes on, with the small creatures continuing with their duty as they were made to.