Name: Cenred
Kanohi: Kurzika, Great Mask of Anger
Assigned region: None
Status: Dead
Backstory:
Cenred was a warrior. He had little patience for scholarly pursuits or lab work, only putting up with them insofar as was his duty. His true call was the battlefield, where he could lead soldiers to war and vanquish his foes.
It was thus not surprising that Cenred for the first time garnered significant renown during the Prosecution, the era of war following the Barraki’s defeat where the Brotherhood systematically erased all remainders of the League of Six Kingdoms from the universe.
Cenred played a big part in the campaign on the southern continent, crushing the remnants of Ruangu, Barraki Mantax’s kingdom. While the armies of Repirax advanced through the eastern jungles and Kidrov and Xirok forced their way through the plains of Avohi, Cenred led a battalion of elite warriors through the central wasteland of Asonara. He dispersed the native nomads allied with Ruangu, and after crossing the mountains near Mount Valmai, struck directly at the heartland of the enemy, a move credited with significantly influencing the eventual success of Kidrov’s main army forcing their way across the Tren Krom river in the west.
As a general, Cenred was extremely popular with his troops – unlike other Makuta, he was not above lending a hand in menial matters of campaign life. Further, he refused to lead from the back – whenever battle was joined, Cenred would be at the forefront of it, decimating the enemy and boosting morale of his troops. However, in the heat of battle, he would often lose overview of the situation as a whole, which often forced him to rely on commanders – usually senior Toa – to judge just how the entire battle was going and to make according decisions.
After the war was over, so was Cenred’s time of glory. The universe was largely at peace, and even though he was given command of the Brotherhood’s south-western military forces, no more than the occasional pirate lord rose up to challenge the status quo. Foes that were easily dealt with in more subtle manners than sending an army after them.
Dissatisfied, Cenred thus eagerly joined Teridax at the promise of new conquest, even if it would take time until the Brotherhood would openly challenge the Great Spirit.
In the meantime, he was given control over an internment camp on the island of Pauroga, where beings the Brotherhood considered as problematic for one reason or another were being held prisoner. Cenred left the organizational matters mostly to his underlings.
When one of his own soldiers defected from the location after gaining knowledge he shouldn’t have, and moved north to the island of Mohra, things changed. Cenred had long since considered the natives of Mohra an ideal target for conquest – they were as often at war with each other as not, raided other islands, and were a main source of instability of the region (although since not a lot of universal relevance was going on in the region anyways, their endeavors were typically tolerated by the Brotherhood since they tended to be short-lived).
So, Cenred assembled his troops – and was stopped as soon as Bitil, Makuta of Mohra, got wind of his plans. Cenred was recalled to Destral (escorted by a team of Toa Hagah to make sure he complied) while the defector was dealt with more subtly. A turn of events Cenred considered not only a personal affront, but a betrayal.
Suspended from his position as general and increasingly annoyed by how long Teridax’s great plan was taking to execute, he eventually left Destral again and under disguise formed a small band of mercenaries to partake in local conflicts across the universe. This, in time, put him in rivalry to the Dark Hunters. Something the Shadowed One never took to well. Rejecting the offer to join them (they did after all not know that he was a Makuta in disguise), he killed several Dark Hunters in a first confrontation. A situation that could well have escalated further if the Shadowed One learned that he was in fact a Makuta.
The Brotherhood was forced to strike a deal with the Dark Hunters – assistance in eliminating Cenred in his disguise as a mercenary in addition to significant payment in exchange for being allowed to take him to Destral for “study and experimentation”.
The conflict between Cenred’s band (already weakened from the past run-in with the Dark Hunters), and a sizable new team of Hunters commanded by Vamprah, was brief, brutal, and ultimately lethal. Under the influence of his own mask, Cenred did not register just how much damage his body was sustaining, and in the end, Vamprah could only recover his corpse.
Equipment:
Cenred wore the Kanohi Kurzika, Great Mask of Anger, which he could use to incite a battle frenzy in his soldiers and himself or to bait his enemies into rash moves. He usually shapeshifted it into the likenesses of Rahi to instill fear in his opponent as well as mask its appearance to make its mental effects less predictable.
He was skilled in the use of many weapons, but preferred dual-wielding heavy blades with which he could quickly dispatch multiple enemies in combination with his massive strength. His overall combat style, adapted to the battlefield, also heavily involved taking occasional hits on his armor to capitalize on openings in his opponent’s guard in the process. His Quick Healing power would typically seal any wounds he thus sustained fast enough to not slow him down.
Well, here he finally is. Makuta Cenred, based on @Distraxx’s entry into the Brotherhood Project.
I am quite pleased with how he turned out. Especially the torso – you might be able to tell from the side picture above, but the Hordika armor a this angle just fits perfectly with the two Mantax shells. That’s a really satisfying build. For the head, I originally was actually planning to do something more mask-like, but somehow I ended up with this pretty much immediately. And… it looks good and matches the original. Will probably stick out a bit between my other Makuta, though… then again, they are shapeshifters.
The one unfortunate thing is that he is again suffering from weak joints. The pauldrons are articulated, so the shoulders have a decent range of movement, but the joints just won’t hold the arms in outstretched positions.
And the banner does not help with poseability – that thing is quite heavy. But I definitely wanted to give him one. I had this image in my head for years, and finally decided to do it. Yes, that is embroidery. Yes, on both sides (although the first try on the backside did not turn out that well). Time needed: about 40 hours. I can definitely see a few parts that could be done better, but overall I am pleased with how that turned out as well. The design by the way is based on @Scorpion_Strike’s drawing he made for me several years ago. I know there is a canon design, but a vote in my WIP topic decreed to use this one.
Enough words – C&C appreciated, and hope you enjoy!