Sword Of Ys
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Kindred Ysian
Realm Ker-Ys
Kin Melusine
Class Infantry
Ubiquity Rare
Unit Size 5+/20
Base Size 30mm

The Swords of Ys are a named Melusine unit of the Ysian Kindred, Ker-Ys realm. The Melusines personify the warped lust of their Queen Euryalia and are highly trained with the blades they wield, a fatal combination for any male they face in battle (or out of it)

Official Lore

Kernsa, Sword-Melusine Mother: Kernsa is the embodiment of the Sword-Melusine. Secretive and voluptuous, lithe and martial, disconcerting and desirable, Kernsa has proved one of the most able of Euryalia's daughters, perhaps even the most able, to have lifted a sword in her name: for no blade has ever touched her skin and no foe has failed to fall under her bewitching song. Thus it is that she has become a Mother, a leader of the Melusines, a flawless swordswoman who is utterly devoted to her Queen, for she had been selected to walk the path of the Melusine at the most impressionable of ages. She has never wavered from that path, for in her lies a heart that beats for Euryalia alone, a belief in her Queen that encompasses all else in her life. It is even said that Kernsa's origins lie with Euryalia, such is her devotion, but none would ever dare to broach such a question. Indeed, few dare to even speak to her, for simply hearing her speak is bewitching: but in battle, when the lust falls upon her and unbroken enemies are abroad, her keening song and distracting beauty are matched only by the skill of her sword-work and the fury with which she administers it.

Tecass, Sword-Melusine Gigh: The essence of the Melusines and their Queen is readily discerned when Tecass brandishes her Gigh and plants it in the earth before her, marking the field for Euryalia. It displays in obvious terms both the warped temper of the Ysians and the ugly truth of their desires, for not only is it a symbol of the lust that the Melusines personify and inevitably fulfil for themselves it is also a direct insult to perhaps Euryalia's most implacable enemy: nature herself. In the north and the west, where the Earth Goddess is most revered, the Sighle na gCíoch is both a warning and a promise, for Danu knows that lust and desire have their place, just as the crone and the maiden have their place: but Euryalia's appetites have no limits, and so the Melusines display - through Tecass and others like her - their wicked temptations and their beguiling nature without the balance Danu brings upon the Gigh for all to see and desire.

Esyld, Sword-Melusine Siren: Amongst the Sword-Melusines there are those whose keening songs are even more irresistible than most, almost amusingly so, for to see the dumb expressions on their victim's faces as they are enchanted is virtually as dangerous as experiencing it. Esyld's songs are perhaps the most irresistible of all, but it is not her song that makes her so dangerous; it is the shrieking power that can be heard (some would say endured) in her voice, a howling wail that can burst minds and shatter consciousness. In battle it is unleashed at the very height of the clash, directed at the strongest enemies arrayed against Euryalia's army, and is so powerful men simply drop to their knees, horses bolt with or without their riders and beasts rage at the sky, unable to comprehend what is happening and unable to control their limbs effectively. Truly it can be said of Esyld that, even without her sword-training and martial skill, both of which are the equal of her sisters, she is a killer.

Alianne, Sword-Melusine: The path of the Melusine is a long and bloody one with the only reward a glorious death under the eyes of Euryalia. Until that death occurs, Alianne will travel along that path to seek that reward, dispatching the enemies of her Queen and goddess until she meets the foe that she craves, the foe that can avoid her flashing blade and discount her siren call: for the Melusines are not only taught the wiles of battle. Their martial skills may be legendary but such skills are merely to be respected, whilst their keening cries and distracting nature can turn the eyes and dumb the brain such that foes simply cannot lay their weapons upon them, even if they wished to. Indeed, it is rare that Alianne's blade - forged and given to her by Euryalia herself, like all those of the Sword-Melusines - strikes an enemy before they are struck by her beauty or her voice: for even the beasts and creatures of the world, let alone men with their base desires and baser instincts, cannot resist the song of the Melusine.

Ygerna, Sword-Melusine: The secrets of the Melusines are Euryalia's alone, for their loyalty to their Queen and Goddess is total. Their legends, however, are many and varied, confused with the Sairens and the Merewives and the Nix, and they have become objects of lust for many foolish men and women despite their thirst and their actions; and thus their origins and true nature remain lost to all but a few, as Euryalia designed. Ygerna's desires, however, are rapidly bringing the truth of the Melusines to Euryalia's black city, for her rapacious nature is overcoming her disciplines, and whilst Euryalia knows that her black city is but an arena of depravity to be used as she sees fit there are still ways for her many enemies to negate the power within it, including knowledge and understanding of its citizens through spies and sell-swords. Thus, they say, Ygerna treads a fine line between usefulness and inconvenience, for the attentions of the foolish Eastern Emperor and the coastal raiders are ever upon her and Ker-Ys, and whilst Ygerna's skills are prodigious she must sate her desires upon the battlefield rather than patricians.

Concept: Robert Lane & Tim Fisher
Artist: Christophe Madura
Sculptor: James van Schaik
Painter: Sébastien Picque

Miniature History

The Swords of Ys were part of the Banelegions line, and were first offered here through the original Darklands: A World at War Kickstarter.

Alternates

Alternate warrior sculpts based on the Gigh bearer and Siren were offered during the Darklands: New Kindreds Kickstarter.