There is a beautiful scene in The Lord of the Rings where Frodo, Sam, and Gollum come across an old statue of a Gondorian king that has been defiled by the orcs. The broken head lies nearby, and Frodo notes that nature has crowned it with a ring of flowers.
Obviously the hobbits were walking through a region that had once been strongly held by Gondor... but at some point they must have crossed an invisible line into lands that were more traditionally held by Mordor, where the evil powers might have constructed their own statues. That was my idea here anyway.
The statue is from Gale Force 9's Egyptian line. It's a nice piece straight out of the box, but I decided that I'm unlikely ever to assemble a lot of desert terrain, so I decided I would repurpose it for a more temperate climate. So, I primed it black and painted various layers of grey over that. Then I gave it a coating of flock and added a few scenic tufts. Finally, I gave it a few flowers popping up. So here we have ancient evil, but still beauty and life persevere. How very Tolkien.
The statue does still show it's Egyptian influence with the headdress, but I think it looks generically evil enough to work for Mordor. It's a chunky piece and a good size to force tactical decisions on a battlefield without dominating a table. I actually have a second one, which I will probably give the same treatment at some point.
