'Mercenary' from IannickM: Lexana O'Aria, Kharé Mercenary

In December 2017, I started a Fighting Fantasy RPG game with two of my best friends. 

Neither Emilie nor Marie-Claude had ever played RPG's before. In fact, while videogame enthusiasts, both were alien to most of the geek world we know and love so well, from D&D to Warhammer, etc. So it was a bit of a gamble, and a learning curve (both in their 30s, so we're not teenagers anymore!).

And what do you know, both of them fell in love with the game and we've been playing RPG every two weeks ever since. They've become probably my most enthusiastic players, like, ever.

It was my first experience playing with an all women group, and I have to say it's a very interesting and rewarding experience. Women do not play the game the same way guys do, and that's a good thing! The campaign lasted for a whole year, with 24 sessions that saw their characters go from inexperienced adventurers to legends in the Allansia continent. In my case, an experienced GM, it was possibly my most rewarding campaign. Both Emilie and MC really plunged headfirst into the campaign; from entering the Citadel of Chaos to steal a magic book from the evil sorcerer Balthus Abhoré, to defeating Shareela, the famous Snow Witch and exploring the famed lost city of Vatos, it was an fantastic journey. 

We changed game and setting at the end of 2018 after an epic finale (one of the first time of my GM life where I really got to close a campaign properly). So I decided to reward my players with a gift, as a thank you for their dedication and the seriousness with which they played for a year. So I painted a figure for each of them, one that represented as closely as possible their characters.

So today we have Lexana O'Aria, commonly referred to as "Baba" (long story). Lexana was raised as a child soldier in a mercenary camp in Kharé, the Cityport of traps, before escaping to Allansia. A no-nonsense mercenary fighter with very limited people's skills, a mean streak and trust issues, she grew up during the campaign to become much more. 

While perusing websites for the figures I needed, I realized there's a lot more male figure than female, that's for sure, so it was a bit of a struggle to find exactly what I was looking for, but in the end I managed!

Lexana had acquired a bronze enchanted Corinthian style helmet in an abandoned Temple, was wearing heavy armour and had a large two handed magic sword. So those were a must. I found what I was looking for to represent Lexana O'Aria from Reaper's Bones range. I was my first time painting Bones, and while I'm still not a huge fan of the material it works well with solid one piece casting.

The figure looks appropriately epic on top of this fallen statue, and I'm happy with my choice. I'm never a big fan of all-armoured figures, as I find it's a bitch to highlight appropriately, but I'm satisfied with my work on her.

Emilie was really happy with this piece, and in the end that's the most important; a token to remember this great journey. 

Before the end of the Challenge, I will also reveal Kaynora Uldum, the other character from my campaign. Stay tuned folks!

So that's 5 pts for a 28mm character, and I assume a candidate for Sarah's choice.