It’s a draconith-sized day on Warhammer+ this week, with Ionus Cryptborn taking centre stage, plus an epic giveaway for the upcoming video game Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin.
First, our winged friend. Clad in Mortis armour of darkly gleaming sigmarite, Ionus Cryptborn strikes a morbid figure among the heroic ranks of the Stormcast Eternals. Long-time fans of Warhammer Age of Sigmar will remember him from his appearances in the Realmgate Wars, and he has made his return in Dawnbringers: Book III – The Long Hunt, soaring into battle atop a scarlet draconith and flanked by his loyal Stormwing.
Loremasters and Citadel Colour Masterclass presenters Alex and Ed have both got plenty to tell us about this magnificent Arch-Relictor.
Warhammer Community: It looks like Warhammer+ is really celebrating Ionus Cryptborn and his partner Cthorak this week.
Alex: Indeed, we are following in the footsteps of last week’s episode of Battle Report. The latest Loremasters will be looking at the Arch-Relictor’s history, the background of the Relictor temple and the role they play for the Stormcast Eternals, as well as Cryptborn’s secretive new mission from Sigmar!
WarCom: A secretive new mission? Tell us more…
Alex: Well, we can’t say much here… it's a secret. After witnessing his friend Vandus Hammerhand fall and be Reforged time and time again, Ionus saw how badly it affected him. The flaw in the Reforging process has been known for some time, but so far no-one has been able to fix it.
It was the Sacrosanct Chamber’s duty to help mitigate this effect, but that was really only a temporary fix, until something more permanent could be found. Now that the Sacrosanct have been dispatched to every corner of the realms to battle dark magics and search for answers to the flaw, the issue has been exacerbated.
WarCom: Flaws? In Sigmar’s glorious creations?
Alex: It’s hard to believe, but it's true. When the Stormcast are struck down, they return to Azyr for Reforging, then rejoin their Stormhost and fight on in the God-King’s name. It’s why they’re called Eternals!
This torturous process is not perfect, however. Each time a Stormcast warrior is Reforged, a little piece of them is lost. Some of the effects are more individual, like Ionus Cryptborn’s hoarse and whispery voice, which manifested after his many Reforgings, while others seem to affect whole Stormhosts, such as the Anvils of the Heldenhammer, who appear closer to death upon each Reforging. A fairly universal trait is the deterioration of memory and emotion, that sees the Stormcast become closer to ruthless automatons with each Reforging.
WarCom: Well, that doesn’t sound good, but how does Ionus fit into all of this?
Alex: Ionus abandoned his Stormhost and journeyed for decades through Shyish, the Realm of the Dead, looking for a way to reverse this degradation. Now he’s returned with his new mission from Sigmar.
WarCom: We can’t help but notice he has a new friend…
Alex: That would be his draconith ally, Cthorak, prematurely aged by his time searching near the Shyish Nadir in the Realm of Death. If you want to know what he was looking for – and pick up some clues about Ionus Cryptborn’s new purpose – you’ll have to watch the episode to find out!
WarCom: Speaking of which, it looks like Citadel Colour Masterclass is also taking an interest in Cthorak?
Ed: It just so happens we are! The episode is focused on painting scales, rather than the entirety of Ionus Cryptborn and Cthorak, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use such a fine miniature as the basis for the techniques. Cthorak is coated in a mixture of different-sized scales, making him a fantastic model to look at how we can create different looking textures on different surfaces with the same paints.
We’re going to use a mixture of techniques such as glazing, stippling, and lots (I mean lots!) of edge highlighting to get all the scales painted.
WarCom: We’re also seeing lots of red in the colour scheme!
Ed: Well, we needed to do Cthorak justice by painting him with his rich red scales, but we also wanted to look at how we can carry paints through from one part of the miniature to another. For example, we rather liberally use Gal Vorbak Red to start shading our darker scales down, but we also use it mixed into Rakarth Flesh, to create the purply mottled underbelly scales. By using paints consistently across a miniature we can help tie a colour scheme together – in this case with colder reds.
WarCom: So there’s an element of colour theory in the scheme?
Ed: Exactly! Bright reds are typically associated with energy, passion, fire, warfare, and violence, all attributes that we would identify as staples of dragons, with Karazai the Scarred being a prime example. By using deeper, more purpley-reds throughout we can keep elements of these ideas, but also evoke colder associations of despair and death, potentially caused by Cthorak’s time in the Realm of Death. Something which you can find more about by listening to the latest Loremasters episode while painting…
Thanks to you both! You can watch both of those episodes on WarhammerTV right now if you have a Warhammer+ subscription. A subscription will also net you the choice of one of two fantastic free miniatures, and access to a treasure trove of content including more episodes of Loremasters, Citadel Colour Masterclass, Battle Report, and exclusive Warhammer animations like Blacktalons, Pariah Nexus, and Hammer and Bolter.
But what’s this about a giveaway?
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin is released on 17th November, and to celebrate we have an awesome prize draw for all Warhammer+ subscribers.
We’re giving away four custom Xbox controllers themed around the factions in the game – Stormcast Eternals, Orruk Kruleboyz, Nighthaunt and Disciples of Tzeentch
As long as you are a new or existing subscriber to Warhammer+ by the 30th of November, and you are following @RealmsOfRuin on Twitter, you will be automatically entered into the prize draw to win one of the controllers. Each winner will also receive a Warhammer Merch Realms of Ruin t-shirt, poster and notebook. Terms and conditions apply.
And that's not all! Game developer Frontier are sharing exclusive brand new in-game cosmetics with all Warhammer+ subscribers who are subscribed by 30th November. These include a brand new player portrait, portrait frame, and Player banner, so you’ll be gaming in style.