"In the jungle, something stirred - first just a rumble, then a thunder. Suddenly, the trees seemed to burst from within sending foliage and splintered wood flying in a shower of organic shrapnel. Beasts cried out, whooping and howling their dismay as they fled in every direction and into the air. What burst from the trees left us stunned.
Our terror seized us, holding us in an icy grip, even as we clutched our rifles much to the detriment of our porters. The towering, scaly colossus, allowed them no quarter, tossing them about with wide sweeps of the tree trunk it now wielded as a weapon. Their rag doll bodies sailed in great arcs as the heavy feet of the mammoth denizen of this deep, hidden land lay eyes on us and set us as its next victims..."Thag is a monstrosity that haunts the deep, fern-carpeted jungles of the primordial Hollow Earth. He preys on all who would follow upon his terror, wearing their bones and gorging on their flesh. He will represent another potential Terror in my Pulp Alley games set in the lost world of my Hollow Earth.
He began life as a Reaper Bones miniature, a Swamp Troll I believe. I had no need for such a miniature and as I was still in the sculpting mood after finishing the Devourer in the Dark, I was inspired by the plates on his back and a conversation with Alex Bates of Forge of Ice to convert him into a sort of humanoid stegosaurus. The name Thag was suggested by Alex, who informed me that the spiked tail of a stegosaurus was called a "thagomizer", a term I had not heard before. Thag it was.
The named fit my idea for the creature who I decided would hail back to the old Marvel Monsters. This collection of giant fiends were always depicted in bright colors with almost unapologetic, goofy monstrosity. Thag would be colored around an orange pallet. I added a touch of accent by giving him a blue tongue and mouth that was inspired by a Skink lizard.
Enjoy,
-Eli
