Supervillain: Lychgate

White Hat shouldn't have attacked his target in the cemetery.

Technically, this wasn't originally going to be a supervillain, but I have a theme going for the end of the year here, so I'm going to roll with it. An actual lychgate is a covered gate leading into a cemetery, where vigil could be kept on a body until it was buried. This Lychgate is a bit more like a force of nature.

The legend of Lychgate is well known to the locals. Saint Anthony's Cemetery is the largest graveyard in the city, situated on the hills behind the cathedral, just outside the freeway. It was sprawling, even in the 18th century, when bodysnatchers and graverobbers were something of an epidemic. According to the legend, those disturbed spirits interred in St. Anthony's had enough. Ghost stories are common enough in the city, but in this case, it wasn't one ghost or a dozen; the spirit was of the cemetery itself. They say the Lychgate makes no sound—on the contrary, it is known for the utter silence and stillness that its very presence imparts. Appearing from nowhere, it is a creature created to guard those hallowed grounds, seemingly built of gravestones and monuments, with great bronze gates sprouting as wings from its back. Those who would rob the dead of Saint Anthony's face its unyielding wrath; they and any who spill violent blood in the cemetery are interred by the Lychgate among the graves. Not everyone believes the stories, of course, but it's said that criminals especially are a cowardly and superstitious lot. There are whispers that sometimes the Lychgate can be compelled to leave the cemetery, driven by manipulative forces to do their bidding.

The model is a Reaper Bones Graveyard Golem. I really like the figure. It's big and there's a lot of detail, but it can basically just be dry-brushed like stone. It originally had both arms down in a fairly static pose, but I repositioned the left arm to reach forward to make it slightly more dynamic. I originally planned to use this model as a mini-boss in my Dungeons and Dark Souls game, but it wasn't needed (and it wasn't done in time). I like the idea of a cemetery guardian creature, so I'll probably import it into a fantasy RPG campaign at some point.