Orphans of the Ossuary

Not all orphans in the Imperium are so lucky to be raised at a Schola Progenium. Only those whose parents were servants of the Emperor get that kind of high standard education. But the Dark Millenium grants plenty of opportunities to produce orphans, of course. Lots of them. Each place deals with the issue in their own way. Local orphanages, Family/Clan/Warband self-regulated nurture houses, tribute to the Dark Lords [comment under scrutiny of the Holy Inquisition]... Most commonly the different pious Orders of the Ecclesiarchy manage to run institutions devoted to that purpose. The Order of the Ossuary is no exception. They raise abandoned children and educate them in the sacred rites of their ministry, for they assist the monks in their duties. When they reach adulthood, the survivors can leave the Order or remain within it to perform menial works. Only former combatants can become monks and full members of the Order, but there are a lot of different assignments that can be allotted to these servants, for the Emperor rejoices in all honest work.

These minis are from the Black Crab 2nd Kickstarter by most awesome Andrew May from Meridian Miniatures. Having backed the first one, my whole attention was dragged onto this new range as soon as I had a glimpse at them. They share the same creepy vibe, the unsettling looking, the atmospherical feeling that got me the first time. The KS was called 'Necropolis scum', but I thought I had to tie them somehow to the first batch, so that's why I came up with the idea above.

OK, enough words, let's hit the pics.

Caretakers of the convent

Father Ombud takes care of the children. Here alongside two monks

Orphans get initiated in the basic rites of the Order

There are not only monks and servants around the convent. Beggars of all kind look for charity. Sometimes security measures have to be implemented, as not everyone comes as a friend.

I love the Venator-like mask. Right, the blind guy who provides security

The kickstarter provided two stretch goals, but the decision was easy to make, it was a no-brainer. Mischiefs on a pole. Or at least I decided to show them that way. First one calls for the mental image of a witch. So the signs on the pole say (in proper High Gothic)  'Psychica' (quite self explanatory), 'Vates' (foreseer) and 'Magi' (kind of magician/witch).

The other guy was more difficult for me to read as a miniature. If I had to tell, I'd say he's a living sign, heading people in the right direction. So I figured he was kind of a snitch and his sentence was that. The sign reads 'Dum Lingua', 'Long tongue'.

Not that creative, but I'm happy

Here you can see the minis alongside the ones from the first KS:

Finally a family shot:

They of course work both for gothic sci-fi and fantasy and they are a treat. I know I really need to build an ossuary for these!!