While Mythic Legions is most definitely a fantasy themed series, it does have that historic-medieval flavor to it that tickles the history buff in me. And while the two degrees in history that I hold are in relatively modern fields, reading ancient and medieval history remains one of my greatest pleasures. Add that in to how much I dig The Templars and it surprised even me that I was able to go this far into Advent of Decay without reviewing today’s figure. Mythic Legions has paid respects to The Templars twice before with the release of Sir Godfrey and the Templar Legion Builder. And well, there must be enough people like me who are crazy over these warrior priests, because Advent of Decay gives us our third Templar in the series, and the first female of The Order… Delphina of Eathyross! No time for a packaged shot today, so let’s jump right in…

And what a work of art she is! Delphina’s body features a heavy re-use of the armor we first saw worn by Gwendolyn Heavensbrand, but this time the armor is painted with a beautiful silver finish and features gold accents on some of the plates, as well as on the individual rivets. I’ve already gushed plenty about this armor sculpt, and it won’t be the last time we see it. Suffice it to say the attention to detail is extraordinary, right down to the tiny sculpted and painted buckles and straps that are meant to hold the armor in place. The new features of this armor sculpt come into play with Delphina’s tabard, worn down the front of her armor, which is sculpted as part of her torso and extends down below the belt as a soft plastic piece that tabs in under the waist armor. Overall, it’s fairly convincing as a separate garment, and it’s painted with the classical red cross on a white background that matches the previous Templars in this series. Also deviating from Gwen’s armor are the more austere segmented shoulder pieces.

Delphina features two head sculpts. The first is helmeted, featuring what I believe is usually referred to as a “Sugar Loaf” Helmet. It’s similar to the Great Helms worn by her Templar Brothers, but this one is a little more rounded. The sculpt is amazing and I’m particularly impressed by the piercings on the cheeks, which are so convincing, they make the helmet look like it might be removable. The reinforced cross is painted in a gorgeous shade of gold, as are the tiny rivets running up each side of the helmet’s lower half. So, no the helmet is not removable, but you can swap it out with her unmasked head.

And here’s where the classic which-to-display? dilemma comes in, because the un-helmeted head is so damn beautiful. Although, some detractors might point out that it’s more or less the same sculpt used for Gwendolyn’s portrait. The hair is now black, the skin has a darker complexion, the paint used for the features is all different, but if you display these two ladies together, the similarities are pretty palpable. I don’t know if this has really been a big issue with collectors or not, but it isn’t really one with me. If this is what T4H had to do to make including a second portrait cost out, I’m still glad they did.

In terms of accessories, Delphina includes a standard sword and shield, both of which we’ve seen many times. The sword is the same sculpt that was issued with the previous Templar figures and this one has a gold painted hilt and silver painted blade. Likewise, the shield if the same style that was included with those Templars, as well as the majority of the original Kickstarter figures. The only real difference here is that Delphina’s includes the new grab handle rather than arm clip. And, as always, you get the brown belt, which can be worn on the waist or as a shoulder strap across the chest. And just as you might be getting a little tired of the same-old, same-old, Delphina also includes a brand new weapon…

The crossbow! And it’s a real beauty. The body is sculpted and painted to look like polished wood, with the lever-like handle, limbs, and other fixtures all painted in silver. It’s a pretty basic design, but it looks great. I only wish it had a stirrup on the front used to assist in drawing the string. You could argue that the Mythic Legions articulation isn’t designed to effectively use a crossbow, but I was able to get some pretty convincing poses out of her with the weapon.

In addition to the crossbow, Delphina comes with a quiver full of sculpted and non-removable arrows, and a single arrow. The quiver is a repaint of the one we saw included with the Elf Legion Builder. This time it’s brown with black trim and the arrows have silver shafts and red fletching. The quiver includes a clip, which can be used to attach it to the belt. It works fine when worn on the waist, but it can get in the way there. I much prefer having her wear it angled over her shoulder or even clipped across the small of her back. The arrow is also recycled from the Elf, and here’s where the re-use is a tad disappointing. Crossbows don’t fire arrows, they fire bolts. These are shorter and as a result if you load the arrow into the crossbow, it’s clearly too long for where the string locks into place when it’s cocked and ready. OK, so it’s not a big deal for me, but when I consider the attention to detail in this line, the fact that they didn’t sculpt up some proper bolts is surprising.

Ugh, I don’t want to say it again, but I have to. Delphina might be my new favorite figure of the ones I reviewed. And if you toss her in with The Templars as a group, than I think it’s a certainty. For whatever reason, I’ve been fascinated with The Templars and The Hospitallers, and all the other Holy Orders of Knights during the Crusades ever since I was old enough to read history. To finally have some excellent figures based on those designs in this scale is like a dream come true. And while T4H don’t make any pretenses toward historical accuracy here, this is a fantasy line after all, I still feel like these figures can stand on their own. Right now I’m just kicking myself for not picking up two more Delphinas from the In Stock sale. Maybe I’ll grab one more from a second-hand seller.