So earlier to-day you may have seen posts for Brave Sir Pidge and The Terrible Musician for the Multi-Award Winning Moonstone's upcoming Kickstarter that will introduce the (F)Undead faction of the Shades of Moonreach to the world of Tauber. But What does this mean, and why are the psychopomps I hear you cry?

If you've not yet had the chance here is a video that briefly explains the world of Tauber and how we got to this point in time. The Dominion of Moonreach and the terrible King Chernitt have long passed into fabled history, but the events chronicled in the Arising campaign book finished with the Elrich wizards accidentally summoning Chernitt back from the Deadlands and in doing so has began a new era in the history of Moonreach. Nobles that have staved off death's embrace have remained entombed beneath the ruins of Moonreach and Chernitt's wraith is freeing them to resurrect his court and potentially his nation.

Negroli // Shades of Moonreach

Negroli was born into a noble family and had the added fortune of being an extremely skilled soldier. This earned him the position of Knight Marshall Viscount Negroli, General of the Armies of the King, Commander of the Privy Guard, Bearer of the Sovereign’s Cup, and Protector of the Royal Nanny, second only in rank to King Chernitt (aka ‘The Forgotten King’) himself.

Negroli Render // Moonstone

Within the Shades of Moonreach there are two flavours of undead, the spirits come from the Deadlands the Tauber equivalent of the afterlife. The Risen are those more traditional solid undead, zombies, skeletons, and of course revenants. The style of Negroli's armour is wonderfully ornate and truly fitting for a King's right-hand man. He is a fitting example of nobility that gave itself over to prevent their own demise and in doing so became a parody of humanity. Even with that he seems to be gesturing to all assembled to explain that the Forgotten King has returned and now is the time to bow and swear fealty.

Negroli Stat Card // Goblin King Games

It's difficult to say how the keywords will fit in without seeing the others from the Shades but as expected from a soldier and a noble Negroli is a fighter. A base melee stat of 5 and a 2" range with his longsword and it is safe to say keeping your distance may not be particularly easy.

His ornate armour will help keep him around for some time and the increased slicing and piercing damage is not to be sniffed it especially when coupled with his ability A Bone to Pick with you buffing arcane and melee of friendly soldiers and risen within 6" against wounded opponents.

On top of this, his signature move Fracture can deal an additional point of damage to another model within 4" which then helps to spread the effectiveness of A Bone to Pick even further.

Summoning in a Psychopomp for 2 energy will be a key factor, as we've already seen they offer a variety of support choices from debuffs to additional melee attacks, and the stacking of auras in this way will turn them from an irritation into something much more dangerous. I also hear that the occasional Pomp going Poof! will be used by some other Shades so expect these to be constantly popping in and out of the tabletop to your opponent's chagrin.

The more I hear and see about the Shades the more I'm looking forward to the next release and the advancing of the story, hopefully Eric the Enlightened can do Leshavult proud and hold off the encroaching undead. If you want to be notified when the Kickstarter goes live in October you can sign up on the website or Kickstarter itself.

Something shady this way comes!