K is for the Garden of Kama

All work on the Garden seems to have ground to a halt. I am waiting...waiting for resin hulls of the galleys and canoes to send to sculptors; waiting for those with sculptors to get worked on; waiting for Mara to be cast up and mailed to me, waiting for the first figures to be sculpted (they are in the queue), waiting, waiting, waiting... *sigh* ;-)

C is for Chariot (or Cart...)

Fire Chariot...

The image of a fiery cart - sometimes called a chariot - being pulled by a Demon seems to be common in Buddhist art. I've come across several examples, including one that had a demon pushing as well. Unfortunately that example was very small - so small as to be barely visible. I would like to find a better version of it, but these images are the only two I could find. I believe it is also called a "Hell Cart". I'm sure the one saw had Mara standing in the back, but it has been a while so I could be mistaken. 

...or Hell Cart 

A cart inspired by these will be part of the Mara range in the Garden of Kama setting. The Mara themselves have already been sculpted and can be sen here.

Mara Ordered!

The Mara, sculpted by Andrew May

My news for today is that I've ordered 50 sets of the Mara, or Tibetan inspired demons. Sculpted by Andrew May, they will be sold in sets of six demons. They come with separate hands and heads to maximize the individuality of your warbands. Six different bodies with six different heads and over twelve different hands (I can't recall the exact number of hand/weapon variants done) is 432 combinations, at least, by my calculations. Each set will be $30.00 US with Tekumel Club discounts applying, even though these are not technically related to Tekumel.

If interested please email me at: green27 -AT- sympatico - DOT- ca

Postage is a fixed rate: Canada $5.00; USA $10.00 and International $15.00.

I hope you like them!

In the line-up are their beautiful but deadly sisters: the Daughters of Mara, also sculpted by Andrew.

Best Regards,

Howard Fielding

War Galleys and Canoes...some progress!

Khmer War Galley (top) and Canoe (bottom) - cast by JTFM

Jeff Trnka of JTFM sent me these pictures today of the Khmer War Galley and War Canoe models. He has cut the prow and stern off about five of the plain versions. The bits will be sent to Andrew May in the UK for him to add some funky Khmer detailing similar to the examples below:

The idea is that the prows, body and stern will all be interchangeable to allow for maximum customization. Once that is done, I'll start thinking about crews. These are intended for the Garden of Kama setting so there will be Kamjola (Khmer), Champakou (Cham) and the Amazon nations of Ologog and Aoa.

The galleys were sculpted by Tony Harwood. The galley is about 12" long, and the canoe about 8".

Oh, yeah, almost forgot - the Mara are going off for molding and casting tomorrow. :-)

Daughters of Mara - group picture...

The Daughters of Mara

To be honest, I don't think this is a finished pic but it is the only one I could find on the fly showing all six of the Daughters of Mara. Sculpted by Andrew May.

The Daughters of Mara

The Armatures...

"During seven days while the Buddha was experiencing of the bliss of deliverance under the banyan tree, the three daughters of Mara came and tried in vain to lure the Lord to worldly pleasure."

In the Garden of Kama, the Daughters are demons: both seductive and deadly. Those that resist their temptations they attack in a vindictive rage. They are spiteful, sadistic and bloodthirsty.

The Mara Completed!

Sculpted by Andrew May

Here are the completed figures. Don't they look great?! They are multi-part figures with separate heads and hands, so Andrew has used blu-tack to hold them together.

Next up: their sisters, the Daughters of Mara!

(Can't wait!) :-)

The More Mara the Merrier!

Andrew sent me some new pics of the WIP Mara today. Note that there are six bodies, six different heads, six weapon hands and six clawed hands. I think that means there can be 6 x 6 x 6 x 6 = 1296 unique Mara possible. :-)

Mara - close up

A Mara, sculpted by Andrew May

Here is a detail pic of one of the Mara Andrew is sculpting for me as part of the Garden of Kama range. The hands are separate as there will be options for clawed hands or weapons.

Mara

Mara is the demonic Lord of Evil. The Mara are his demonic minions; the Daughters of Mara are cruel temptresses who delight in pain and suffering.