I Am the Memory - The Keeper of the Ledgers

Starting off with another picture and a little vignette to introduce this Night Lord…

 

Malkaar Shan, The Keeper of the Ledgers
 

Books, books, books! The Librarian just loved his books.

 

He tilted his head in adoration and stroked the leather cover of the tome held in the metallic pincer of his left hand with his good right hand.

 

Yes, he loved his books. Perhaps that was why they called him the Librarian. Yes. The Librarian was his name now.

 

Books and names. Names and books.

 

He had once had a different name. Something else. Something he could almost feel on the tip of his tongue. Something that wasn’t the Librarian.

 

That was a long, long time ago now. His time on the slabs under the blades had made him forget that name. He nodded. Yes, he was the Librarian now.

 

“Librarian!”

 

The vox-enhanced echo boomed through the chamber of governance, made almost ear-splitting as it was amplified by the speakers in the grille of his master’s ancient Terminator armour.

 

The Librarian’s attention snapped back to the present so sharply he almost dropped his book. That wouldn’t do; he’d once seen his master pop the head of a servitor like a ripe fruit for disrespecting the books. No, that wouldn’t do at all.

 

Robes flapping, he scuttled to the side of his master. The deep midnight blue of the armour rose several metres above his skinny, stooped frame. Power thrummed beneath its plates, and piercing red lenses gleamed from the dark faceplate.

 

At his master’s feet lay the shaking city governor. His ornate robe of office was torn, and tears and snot ran down his grey face as he snivelled.

 

“Librarian,” his master boomed again. “The Judgement of Altara IV.”

 

The Librarian knew all the books. He knew all the judgements. He gave the smallest of nods and used his good hand to deftly flick through the ancient yellowed pages of the book he held.

 

Page 177.

 

The Judgement of Altara IV.

 

Yes, there it was.

 

He held the open pages above his head for his master to view.

 

“The judgement is recorded.”

 

The governor stared up at the hulking Terminator, incomprehension on his face.

 

“But why?” he stammered. “What have we done? When were we judged? Who are you?”

 

The master inclined his head towards the Librarian.

 

“Show him.”

 

The Librarian nodded and lowered the book to the man on the floor. He could not let the man touch the book. No, no. That wouldn’t do at all.

 

Holding the pages in front of the man’s face, the governor’s eyes darted over the parchment.

 

“But I don’t understand,” the governor said, genuine confusion touching his voice. “This is over three thousand years old. How can we be accountable? How can you do this to us?”

 

The Librarian’s master, Malkaar Shan, the Keeper of the Ledgers, replied with just four words.

 

“I am the memory.”

 

Malek’s massive power fist closed around the governor’s head.

 

The man screamed.

 

The Librarian heard the wet crunch of tissue and bone. The scream became a gurgle. The gurgle became silence.

 

But none of that was the Librarian’s concern.

 

He had books to think about.

 

 The Librarian 

Ave Dominus Nox, brothers!

 

So, this is the Keeper of the Ledgers, one of the warband’s Ancients. If you’ve read the story above, you’ll know that he is the living memory of past judgements and the sentences still waiting to be delivered.

 

His library is filled with ledgers recording the worlds that require a lesson in obedience — a lesson taught through the application of terror.

 

He and his ancient brothers occupy a higher echelon of the warband, standing above the ten Claws. They act as advisors and nobles within the warband’s society and structure.

 

On the tabletop, he is an Obliterator proxy, using a Saturine Terminator as the base model. I chose this model because I didn’t want to use the heavily corrupted appearance of the standard Obliterators. I want to keep the warband looking free of mutation, and I also wanted him to feel archaic and unknowable.

 

I wanted the Obliterator models to feel like characters with their own histories, a distinct function within the warband, and a backstory of their own. The books, the mark across his Aquila, the servo-skull and the banner — including what it depicts — all reflect this.

 

If you stick with my posts, one thing you’ll notice is that I love making fluff models that don’t represent anything on the tabletop! This is why the Keeper has his two little attendants, pictured here alongside him.

 

For the servitor carrying the stack of books, I snipped off most of what he was originally carrying and added the stack of old tomes. The model kneeling with the huge book chained to his back was just perfect as he was.

 

A poor old attendant to The Keeper - not a great life!

And for those of you who read the vignette above, yes, the guy with the stack of books was also the inspiration for the Librarian. Next time I order some nameplates, I’ll try to remember to get him one!

 

Overall, I was really pleased with how These came together. As someone who doesn’t consider himself particularly skilled at conversions or painting, I was pretty chuffed with the end result.

 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story and the models!

 

Let’s hope you aren’t in one of the ledgers sitting in the Keeper’s library!

 

Until next time…

 

“Judgement comes on Midnight Wings. The sentence is passed under a Midnight Storm.”

 

Motto of The Midnight Storm, a Night Lords warband forged from the remnants of the XXII Company of the VIII Legion.