Welcome back to the DPF domain, my friends!
A brand new year has begun and I take advantage of it to share with you this distinguished gentle..orc? Well, I think that this time there is a lot to explain about this character, the Orc Shaman!
This concept has been probably the most complex to handle, and this is a bold statement considering that I've just released a range of Elves that are totally crazy!
As you may immediately notice, the main inspiration behind this guy is the classic trope of Voodoo shamans, but there is more to talk about it!
As you know, the Orcs of Inneath are cursed with a very short life, they are strong and ambitious but their lives are short compared to humans and this fact is a big deal (obviously) in Orc society and culture. Orcs are obsessed with life and death, they are incredibly superstitious and are willing to do anything to live longer, possibly forever (well, I told you they are ambitious!). This Orc shaman indeed succeed in this task and gained a kind of immortality, but at what cost?!
I like to imagine that he made a deal with some kind of evil force/deity, selling his soul in exchange for power and immortality but, you know, evil spirits are notorious for their malicious sense of humor, so they gave to the Orc an immortal, undead life...literally!
I wanted to give a sinister vibe of black humor to this character, it's a fascinating subject but he makes us (and all around him) kinda uncomfortable because he's a living incarnation of the "memento mori" expression!
I'm pretty happy with how this character went, it has been difficult to portray it in the exact pose I wanted, a creepy (but well-mannered) gentleman greeting to the observer. The shaman sends his regards, bowing slightly and raising up his hat like a nobleman, with the ghost of his past taking the place of the face that he once had!
Probably he accepted his fate, or he's just mocking us, or both: I think, however, that this is an amazing addition to our Orcs' range!
As you may notice, the concept of death is all around this character: not only he's literally a living skeleton, but there is also a vulture on his shoulders and plenty of shrunken heads tied to his rod!
Of course, this Orc pays a big tribute to Baron Samedi, as always I like to reinvent classic subjects in different ways, and with this character I wanted to create a voodoo shaman with all his shenanigans and tropes.
As I wrote at the beginning of this journey, with the Orcs' range I want to play a lot with body shapes and silhouettes, because I want to make Orcs like living people, I want to go deep into their culture and singularities: there are not only tough and massive warriors, just like in an average group of men there are not only bodybuilders or U.S marines!
I think that, despite all the compromises that I have to consider in the designing process, it's interesting to see how this range is growing up: they are colorful subjects, each one with its own personality.
I decided to add some Voodoo touch to Urghor's crew because I think that, considering the Wild west/conquistadors theme that I chose to characterize them, it is a good match, I think that it stands very well side by side with all the other fellow Orcs!
The Orc Shaman, of course, is not the last character designed for this range, at all!
This is the 8th character sculpted, and I plan to design at least 15 before launching the new campaign, so there is still plenty of room to explore this new faction of Inneath.
The next characters will be a bit more "mundane", I will dedicate some time to complete the core of soldiers/warriors of this range, starting from a grim Orc Captain that is about to be sculpted, so don't forget to give a look at this blog, once in a while, and share this new journey with your friends!