Hero Forge Miniatures: Bronze Bogatyr / Ковка Героев Миниатюры: Бронзовый Богатырь

English

The Bronze Bogatyr is an ancient motif in Rhûnnish folklore, dating back to before the word "bogatyr" even existed. The motif is quite simple: a warrior, clad entirely in blue clothing and bronze armour, wielding bronze weapons. Sometimes, he is depicted wearing modern plate armour, but full plate armour did not exist during the Rossberan Bronze Age.

In ancient times, bronze swords and spearheads were quite common, but bronze armour was another matter, usually only kings owned enough to protect themselves from head to toe. Likewise, a bronze shield was a quite a heavy object, usually suitable only for soldiers fighting in formation. To be able to swing one around to deflect blows and bash opponents was a sign of a great warrior.

There was no single inspiration for the Bronze Bogatyr. Instead, the relatively common practise of ancient kings to lead their warriors into battle wearing so much bronze led to each story of a hero king being tied together into a single myth, the Ballad of the Bronze Bogatyr, implying that one man did all those heroic deeds before meeting a tragic end at the hands of the Goblin King. The moral of the exceedingly long poem is that, no matter how many victories a warrior may enjoy, if he keeps on fighting, eventually he will taste the bitterness of defeat.

Warriors from all over the Rhûnnish lands sang lines about the deeds of the Bronze Bogatyr as they charged into battle, usually against each other. During the conquests that led to the foundation of the Rhûnnish Empire, it was quite common for battles to begin with one side singing about the deeds of a bronze-clad warrior king, and the other screaming ominous Skharan war chants. Defeat after defeat, and soon, as various petty tsars tried to gather warriors to fight against the Skharan invaders, more and more people began to sing the lines about the Bronze Bogatyr's fall in his battle against the Goblin King. It was a controversial analogue to what was happening in the Rhûnnish lands at the time, because that part of the story told of children in a village being abducted by goblins. The Bronze Bogatyr came to the village, promised to find the goblins, kill them, and bring back the missing children. The villagers followed, hoping to find their children and bring them back, while the men-at-arms slew their kidnappers. Instead, the goblins killed all the adults, and turned the children into more goblins. The tsars swiftly punished those who sang these lines, for they knew them to be warning that this was the end. Those who fought against the Skharans would lose, and those who did not fight forfeitted their crowns. However, after the Rhûnnish empire was formed, all these songs were compiled into a single epic poem, the Ballad of the Bronze Bogatyr, which listed the deeds from their slightest to greatest acts of heroism, ending with his death in battle. Thus was the legend and motif preserved. Rhûnnish soldiers continued to sing lines from the ballad as they charged into battle. A warrior in bronze was also a common image on the banners of many military units, and in later years, also painted on quite a few tanks.