Spiga

Kumonga (クモンガ) is a kaiju from the Godzilla franchise known to English-speaking audiences as Spiga, and inspiration for the Arduin creature of that later name.

GIANT ARMORED SPIDERS. 50% MAGIC RESISTANT VS. 11TH LEVEL MAGE SPELLS. ITS WEB HAS A RANGE OF THIRTY FEET. IT CAN SPIT UP TO SIXTY FEET. THE LARGER ONES ARE ARMOR CLASS 2.
SUGGESTED BY THE FILM "GODZILLA'S REVENGE".

– All The World's Monsters, Volume 2

The original spider is described as being 45m in height and 45m in length.

Kumonga 1967

The more recent version is described as 35m in height and 60m in length.

Kumonga 2004

Hargrave is said to have envisioned the spiga as having a body almost 50' long, but since there is a range of HD for these spiders, I imagine that there are others that are a lot smaller.

SPIGA: HD: 5+1 to 24+1; AC: 2 to 2+5; Speed: 16" to 36"; Dext: 18 to 24; Numbers: 1 to 4; % Liar: 95%; Attacks: 2 leg hits for 1-4 to 3-36, 1 bite for 1-6 to 4-48, plus a paralyzing venom that is 1/2 of the Spiga's HD or 1 web (a 25' to 90' long by 15' to 45' wide cone). The web will hold anything caught in it equal to its own HD plus 50%. Looks: Metallic silver, gold, or blue giant armored spiders. Notes: They are 50% magik resistant, 100% lightning, fire, poison/venom, and paralysis proof. Cold does 50% more damage. They are cruel and intelligent and hate humans.

– The Arduin Grimoire, Volume 1

I chose plastic Warhammer Giant Spiders from the Forest Goblin Spider Rider set to represent my spiga (which I guess might fall in the 5-8 HD category). There are a total of eight spiders in the kit.

The eight spiders can be sorted into four varieties based primarily on differences between their abdominal carapaces.

Three of the four varieties look like proper giant spiders, but I felt the fourth with the skull pattern on the back was a bit hokey (says the person painting garish metallic colored spiders).

The models are single piece, so no assembly is required, but I modified some of them so that their forelegs were in different positions. I might modify the rear legs on some of the spiders later as well.

Spiga poised to attack or cast spells.

Overall, I like the spiders. The legs do not look overly thick like with many spider models, though having all the legs touching the ground for stability would have been nice. The underside of the models are poorly represented, with a blocky sternum and hollow abdomen, but most people won't view them from that angle anyway.

I'm not sure if the metallic colors can be made to look more "realistic" given how unnatural they are in the first place, but I suppose an option could have been to use iridescent colors. Still, I am fine with being literal and taking Hargrave's description at face value.

Intulo

Intulo by Deviant artist Slaskia
While looking for information on lizardmen in mythology, I came across the Intulo of Xhosa and Zulu folklore. It is vaguely described as a "lizard-like creature with human characteristics". In other instances, it is described as a blue-headed lizard or gecko.

In Zulu mythology, Unkulunkulu (who is described by various authorities as either a sky-god or an ancestral spirit) sent Unwaba the Chameleon to bear the message of immortality to men. However, after the chameleon set out, Unkulunkulu had second thoughts about granting immortality to men. He sent Intulo the Gecko after the chameleon to proclaim that men would be mortal. Intulo was much faster than the chameleon, and delivered his message to man long before the chameleon arrived. Thus, both creatures are viewed as harbingers of doom by the Zulu people.*


The only other mention of the Intulo I could find was in Final Fantasy XI, where they are reptilian creatures that spit poison, and have strong resistance to all magic except fire.


Now, there is no Intulo miniature of any type that I am aware of, but when I saw the lizardmen from Irregular Miniatures, the first thing that came to mind was that they were Intulo. Why? I don't know, but perhaps it was because of their big bulging eyes. From left to right, the figures are Heavy Infantry Lizardman with Halberd (FLM5), Lizardman Standard Bearer (FLM8), Lizardman Drummer (FLM9), and Lizardman Swordsman (FLM1).The fifth figure is the Lizardman Chief (FLM10), but it is of completely different appearance to the rank and file, and looks a heck of a lot like Prickle from The Gumby Show.


I couldn't find an actual South African creature that was said to be the blue-headed gecko of myth, so I patterned my paint scheme somewhat after Bibron's Gecko (of the genus Pachydactylus), and the Blue Headed Tree Agama, both of which are common to that region.


The paint-job looks a little meh at the moment, but I think a coat of satin lacquer and a dark wash would probably do wonders for it.

If you wanted to cast the chameleon as the Intulo (or just as plain Unwaba), there are the Warhammer Fantasy Chameleon Skinks (GW 88-47). The first figure is actually the Chameleon Stalker, but it sometimes replaces one of the standard figures in the normal blister of Chameleon Skinks.






* Note: In The Religious System of the Amazulu, the two creatures are called Intulo and Abantu. Henry Callaway translates "intulo" as chameleon, and "abantu" as lizard (in the role of the gecko).

Necrophidius

The Necrophidius is one of those bogus pseudo-undead creatures that were so common in the Fiend Folio. The illustration shows it as a huge fanged skull mounted on a ribless vertebral column, but the text seemed to imply that the construct was a regular skull atop the skeleton of a large constrictor snake.


I always had the the impression that the Necrophidius moved about by means of levitation, rather than slithering along the ground because of these illustrations. Certainly no normal snake would be able to manage these postures, and levitation could also explain its ability to move about without making a sound.


Shown below are a selection of Necrophidius miniatures. The first miniature is the Citadel Death Worm (Fiend Factory FF7-1), followed by the Nekrophidian (Black Tree Design M161), and the Death Worm from the Lich Mage and Death Worm set (RAFM 3735).


The Citadel miniature is identical to the Fiend Folio illustration, while the RAFM miniature is probably closer to the written description of the Necrophidius (in that the vertebrae are not grossly over-sized). The BTD miniature differs because it has a serpentine skull instead of a humanoid one.

I use these miniatures as undead, since they are animated skeletal constructs, which in my game are created through necromancy. I do allow the possibility for magic users to animate skeletons without using necromancy, but why go through the trouble of digging up a bunch of old bones when you can animate material that is more easily obtainable?