Good guys...err...good guys AND bad guys wear black.

"Back! Back foul spawn of Satan!"

Father Thomas, the Vicar, brandished his gleaming silver crucifix. Raising it triumphantly towards the hemoglobin-addicted man he took a step closer to the abomination before him. The dark figure pulled his cape close about his face, snarling and squinting at the religious symbol before him. A moment passed while Father Thomas waved the cross about, listening to the muffled hissing of the hunched figure hiding behind the velvet cape. He glanced about the room, looking for his missing companions. Where were the damned slayers?! He'd need the spike to complete the deed!

Slowly and confidently, the caped man stood straight, letting the cape slide aside. He proudly stood erect, sticking his chest out and raising his chin above the pitiful 'priest' before him. His eyes peered intently over the cross, directly into Father Thomas's thickly bespeckled and myopic eyes. Father Thomas wavered and his outthrust arm slowly drifted lower.

A smile crept across the pallid man's face and he whispered, "You have to believe in order for it to work Father Thomas." He let a cynical twist of tone curl his tongue around the word "Father". "Your friends have failed and I have tasted their life's essence! I wonder, how will yours taste? Rich and woody? Corpulent and unctuous?" The Master of the Night flung his arms to either side of his body, cape unfurled, revealing his terrible might. He laughed, a chill, ice shattering sound. His tone turned vapid, "Or just old and bitter?"

Father Thomas's arm dropped to his side, the cross sliding from his fingers making a 'ping' noise as it struck the floor. The caped man before him open his mouth inhumanly-wide, baring wickedly long and needle sharp incisors. A darkness emanated from him as he loomed over the trembling priest.

Spittle flecked Father Thomas's lips as he issued his last prayer, "Oh Lord..."

technical info: Father Thomas the Vicar (Chronoscope miniature. Sculpted by Tim Prow). Vampire (Reaper Dark Heaven Legends Line miniature. Sculpted by T. Mason). Painted by Troy Nies using Vallejo Game Color Paints. Floor Tiles: Dungeons and Dragons Dire Tombs and Arcane Corridors. All items purchased and available at CROSSROAD HOBBIES.

Concerning Wyrrrmmmsss and failing your perception check

Wyrms. Say it: wyrmsss... Again: wyrrrmmmzzz. It the kind of word that one cannot resist saying without throwing a slurred errrrrrmmmz in there - most often making one sound like a close relative of Grima Wormtongue. Griiiimahhh Wyrrrrrmmmtongha. Ok, I'll stop it now.

A wyrm, according to most fantasy references, in it's simplest form, is a wingless dragon. Whilst digging through my pile of antiquated minis waiting to be painted, I crossed another vintage 1985 Grenadier 'Wyrm'. I recall looking at the name on the package when I bought it - back at Meredith's Hobbies in Gateway Mall, Bismarck (circa 1985). 'Wyrm', I said it outloud, "Wyrrrrm." I liked the way it sounded so much I purchased it on that attribute alone.

But while looking at the unpainted mini recently, I thought back to my many years of being

a DM. I vaguely recall either a Dragon Magazine article or module or something that referred to Wyrms. Recently, after rediscovering this relic in my stash, I decided to research it a bit further. Not being able to recall that particular article or module plagued my brain for many days. On a hunch, I pulled out Gary Gygax's first Monster Manual. No luck. I then went to the Fiend Folio. No joy. I then went to the AD&D Monster Manual II. Victory was not mine. This Wyrm proved to be elusive indeed. Did I perhaps dream it, during one of my ma

ny mental trips while in High School? Nay, it surely existed! It was right there on the Grenadier miniature box!

I dug around on the internet and discovered this link:

Draconic Creatures: landwyrm

So it appears that I wasn't imagining things. Wyrms did exist. The strange thing is the publication reference listed as Draconomicon 3rd Edition. The 2nd edition was released in 1990 - but my mini was from 1985! Did some vortex of time suck the sculptors of Grenadier into the future and then pull them back into the past with knowledge of the Wyrm?! I know as Glabrezu is my witness, that I did spy such knowledge prior to the Draconomicon. Also, I don't believe i've ever laid hands on a copy of such a tome.

Apparently, knowledge of the Wyrm is indeed guarded. Perhaps it is because they are such an incredibly rare and surely sought after creature.

Working only with the magical tome known as Wiki, I replicated what I perceive as a: Tundra Landwyrm. According to Wiki, it is a neutral landwyrm found in cold plains. It normally lies under the snow in semi-hibernation. It drinks the blood of warm-blooded animals.

This particular specimen has migrated further north, and is seen breaking through the ice to feast upon unidentified prey.

Technical Data: Mini: 1985 Grenadier 'Wyrm'. Ice chunks: insulating foam, Water, Snow and Ice: Vallejo 'Water Effects' Pacific Blue (26203), Foam & Snow (26231). All paint Vallejo Game Color Series. All Materials save for mini purchased at CROSSROAD HOBBIES, Dickinson, N.D.

Failing your perception check.

"Uh. Doc."

"Yes, yes. What it is now Mr. McGlenn?" Doctor Vincent Lee did little to hide his impatience with the mobster.

Michael McGlenn paused, swallowed hard as he adjusted his tie. "Did you hear somethin?" he whispered.

Doctor Lee sighed and raised his lantern a little higher, peering into the darkness. He thought he saw movement, just ahead, but dismissed the thought knowing they were the only living things here. He took a few cautious steps closer and realized what he mistook for movement was the reflection from his lamp on an ornate and extremely large sarcophagus.

"I told you before, it's just your imagination. Professor Armitage told us this section of the tomb has been untouched. We are the first to enter for thousands of years. We are surely the only souls here."

A deep, profoundly mournful moan suddenly droned from behind them.

Both Doctor and gangster froze, the hair on the back of their necks rising.

"Mr. McGlenn."

"Yes?"

"Is your tommy gun loaded?"

Techincal Info: Reaper Miniatures, featuring Chronoscope line. Miniatures painted with Vallejo Game Colors Paints. GaleForce 9 Basing Grit: Rocky GF9:92023 used on mummies. Dungeons and Dragons "Dire Tombs" tiles are pictured. All items purchased at CROSSROAD HOBBIES, painted and photographed by Troy Nies.