Chalawan

Chalawan (ชาละวัน) is a crocodile spirit from the Thai folktale Kraithong (ไกรทอง). The story was adapted into a lakhon nok play credited to King Rama II, and has received a number of film adaptations over the years.

The story is so popular, that there is even a Thai craft beer named after Chalawan.

Anyone think their logo looks familiar?

In the story, Chalawan lives in a cave containing a magical crystal that gives all the crocodiles within human form. Outside of the cave however, he appears as an enormous crocodile. On occasion, Chalawan is also depicted as being half-man, half-crocodile.

A Cambodian take on the story can be seen in the film Kropeu Charavan (ក្រពើឆារ៉ាវ៉ាន់) aka The Crocodile Men. In this film, Chalawan (Charavan) is fully human, but knows a spell to transform into a crocodile.

The spell is very reminiscent of legends about the Indonesian power of tiang maleh rupa that allows people to change into crocodiles, or crocodiles to change into humans. And in fact, these legends are often credited as being the source for werecrocodiles in RPGs. In the Indonesian horror movies based on these legends, these creatures always seem to be albino crocodiles (buaya putih).

For more inspiration on magical crocodiles, I turned to the first issue of the zine A Thousand Thousand Islands, by Zedeck Siew, with art by Mun Kao.

MR-KR-GR describes a land of crocodiles and their human subjects. The zine introduces us to the Place of Crocodiles, but does not delve deeply into detail so I'm not sure I can characterize it as a gazetteer. The setting is painted with broad strokes, yet is evocative and tantalizes the reader with bits and pieces of the wondrous and grotesque.

Zedeck doesn't have any plans to make a comprehensive guide for his setting since he prefers the open-ended feel of the different locales introduced in his zines, but I personally would want to do a lot of research into the culture and mythology of Southeast Asia to do justice to the setting. Nevertheless, there are many people who can take off running with it just fine, so it is certainly not a hindrance to not have any sort of detailed background.

I'm not sure if there is currently any stock of the latest printings of the zine, but you can always contact Zedeck to check on availability.

Anyway, on to miniatures. There are several companies that make crocodile-men, including Privateer Press (Gatormen) and Crocodile Games (Sebeki), but the only series of miniatures that are close in size to 1/72 scale figures are the old C19 and RR11 Lizardmen from Citadel.

Grenadier also made the Caroc (Monster Manuscript Vol.II 1502, MM10) which I think matches well with the Citadel miniatures.

For regular crocodiles there are a lot of different plastic toys that can be used, but most of them are probably too large for use with 1/72 scale figures.

I only have the Airfix crocodile from the Tarzan figure set (01733), while all my other figures are actually alligators. The adult and baby alligators are from the Airfix Zoo Animals No. 1 set (01724). Next is a Galoob alligator from the National Geographic Collection Swamp Adventure set, and at the end is the Marx alligator from the Noah's Ark playset.

Last but not least is the D&D Icons of the Realms Crocodile (Waterdeep Dragon Heist #30), which can be used as a large saltwater crocodile.

New Caesar Fantasy Sets

After a long hiatus, Caesar has released four new sets of plastic miniatures through their Miniknight line.

The first set is of Lizardmen Warriors (F107), consisting of forty or so figures in 12 poses (the box says 11 poses, but I think there was some sort of confusion between number of poses with another set).

Two of the figures need to have some limbs attached. The sprues also have shields for some of the other figures. The parts attach quite easily with a bit of CA glue.

Lizardmen armed with spears and swords. The first two figures required assembly.

Lizardmen armed with clubs. The figure in the center (wearing armor) is a unique pose and does not have duplicates.

Lizardmen with missile weapon.

The figures range in size from man-height, to over a head shorter than a man. The sculpts are rather rough, and don't look like the type of lizardmen shown on the cover of the box. In fact, the figures are very reminiscent of skinks from Warhammer.

I use Warhammer skinks as D&D Troglodytes, so the Caesar figures will make a nice addition to my Troglodyte forces.

The second set is of Ratmen (F108), and consists of roughly 40 figures in 11 poses.

I think that the pose count was mixed up with that of the Lizardmen set, and though 12 poses are shown on the box, I believe that the two figures I've marked are actually the same pose (although with different shields).

One figure needs to have its limbs attached. The sprue also has additional shields. The arms attach easily with CA glue, but I recommend putting the glue into the holes in the torso, then fitting the arms into the body.

Ratmen with spears and clubs. The first ratman on the left required assembly.

Ratmen with swords. The ratman on the far left is a unique pose and does not have duplicates.

Ratmen with missile weapons.

These ratmen are essentially Warhammer Skaven. They are a head shorter (or more) than a human. The sculpting is decent, but still not as nice as the earlier Caesar fantasy sets. There are a lot of mold lines on the figures as well.

The third set is titled Undead Camp (F110), and consists of about 40 zombie figures in 11 poses.

The first group of figures are armed zombies that are probably best suited for fantasy settings.

The second group of figures are more generic zombies that can be also used in modern settings.

The final figure in this set is the unique pose, which is of a Chinese hopping vampire. This is easily my favorite figure in the set, and I wish they would have included more of them.

The final set is of Modern Zombies (SF004), and consists of about 40 zombie figures in 11 poses. First are the male zombies. The big zombie at the far right is a unique pose without duplicates.

Next are the female zombies, and a male crawler.

The zombie figures are all well sculpted, and the set allows zombie hordes to be quickly and easily assembled.

The foulest stench is in the air
The funk of forty thousand years
And grisly ghouls from every tomb
Are closing in to seal your doom

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).