The Chimera’s Retribution: The Tale of Simon the Monster Hunter

The scent of ozone and copper always lingered in the back of Simon’s throat—a permanent reminder of the glass vats and the Wizard’s needles. He was a youth stolen early and now a "homogenous experiment," a patchwork of biology intended to blend the resilience of beasts with the cunning of man. After a shattered vial and fire, bought him a bloody escape into the mountains, Simon found a strange sort of peace. He ran first with a wolf pack that recognized the feral hum in his marrow, and later, he found sanctuary in a hidden village. Under the care of a kind elder named Martha, he spent his youth as their silent guardian, using his unnatural strength to plow frozen fields and hunt the high ridges, unaware that the gene-splicing in his blood was still evolving, hardening his bones and sharpening his soul.

That peace was shattered by a grinding roar and the scent of burning metal. A monstrous boar, its hide a fused crust of jagged stone and rusted iron, tore through the village like a living siege engine—monstrous nightmare escaped from the Wizard’s labs. Simon met the beast head-on, his enhanced muscles coiling with a fury he had suppressed for years. With a roar that was echoed by the wolves watching from the tree line, he brought the juggernaut down, heaving its multi-ton mass into the earth before dragging into a mud puddle holding the boar’s mouth and snot down as it thrashed till it laid still. To ensure such a horror never threatened his home again, Simon took the beast’s skull and metallic hide to the village smith. Together, they forged a massive battle hammer topped with the boar’s armored visage. Now, Simon roams the wilds as a hunter of his own kind, tracking the trail of failed experiments back to the source, destined to bring the weight of his hammer down on the monster who created him.

This was a 2nd commission piece for a fellow D&D player character. (the first was the youth version of Simon where the story takes place and then grew into this character.

This was designed and kit bashed on the TitanCraft app by me. (Sorry DTL, I love your work, especially Dungeon Classic on MMF.) Paint using MH ProAcryl and both AP Fanatic and AP Speed paints, no real recipes, just layering and glazing. I did shoot using a warm light which turn the photo a little warmer than expected but loved the effect almost older photos.