The Long Night Part One: Embers in the Dusk: A Planetary Governor Quest (43k) Complete Sequel Up

Deepwood Defense
A report by Magos Biologis p3T3r-P4N after the Skies of Blood​

During the previous incursion the wildlife was witnessed to coordinate at levels never seen before allowing many new tactics and even species to be documented. The Skies of Blood was no different and this report will go over some of the tactics that were used by the residents of the Deepwoods.

Initially it was worried that the recently discovered Shrine Fairies would be a liability in the incursion due to their psychic powers not being strong enough to overcome the Blood God's hate for witchcraft while still being valuable sacrifices for the demons. Thankfully this seems to have been accounted for in the defensive strategy of the Deepwoods as great efforts were made to prevent the Khornates from reaching the 'cities' of the Shrine Fairies and the almost helpless people who resided in them. One of the ways suspected but not confirmed is that however the Deepwoods' space is warped was changed to make it harder for the demons to attack the cities. The Shrine Fairies main use during the incursion was providing a safe area for defenders to rest and giving psychic support defenders of the Deepwoods. Though their lack of power made this a minor effect but in an event as dangerous as the Bloody Skies was even a little help can mean the difference between life and death.

While the Shrine Fairies were wrongly worried to be a liability their more physical cousins were correctly guessed to be a major part of the defense. The first thing that was noticed in regards to the Slayers was them gathering in greater numbers than the small groups they usually operated in around the Shrine Fairy cities. This was due to two reasons one of which was the Slayer Fairies entrusting those who were too weak either due to age, sickness, or injury to their psychic cousins so they could completely focus on the enemy. The other reason was for the Shrine Fairies to enact a massive ritual to empower the gathered Slayers which was very successful due to the Slayers' smaller size compared to many of the other defenders and their compatibility with their cousins. Afterwards many of the Slayer Fairies split back up to their usual groups, though those who were typically loners grouped up as no one wants to fight an incursion on their own, in order to prepare for the enemy. When the demons finally entered the Deepwoods the Slayer Fairies used their small stature to quickly ambush any Khornates that appeared which with their crafted weapons and the strength they granted usually ended the fight then and there. Against the tougher of the Blood God's minions who would not die to a single ambush a Slayer group would meet it in battle and making full use of their numbers would slay the beast. Finally when a powerful Bloodthirster entered the Deepwoods and began slaughtering everything in its way including several experienced Slayer parties a special group of Slayers who were waiting and resting for an opponent such as this moved out. These were the most skilled and best equipped (for the two traits were interconnected) of all the Slayer Fairies, who had even left the Deepwoods to hunt one the greatest predators of Avernus, dragon. For this they were titled by their people, Dragon Slayers, but today they weren't hunting dragons they were hunting a demon. The battle between the Greater Demon and the Dragon Slayers is one worthy of having an entire report of its own but to summarize it: after nearly an entire day of battle where many of the party was wounded and a few slain the leader of the Dragon Slayers in his Invisible Bastard armor dealt the final blow to the Bloodthirster. After this the assault on the Deepwoods was weakened for the rest of the Bloody skies.

The third and final wildlife that showcased new capabilities in the Deepwoods Defense were the Bwana Trees. At the incursions start all of the Bwana Trees brought their Dryads together into one massive army. The leaders of the army were those sapients who were brought to their tree masters alive and without brain damage, primarily Slayer Fairies and humans, as they are the most intelligent of the Dryads. The canon fodder of the army were the brainless for no tactics beyond charging mindlessly was possible for them but they did manage to successfully occupy many of the Bloodletters that entered the woods. One of the interesting things that happened during the Bloody Skies was that almost all of the dead and dying defenders of the Deepwoods were brought to Bwana Tree pools to be reborn as Dryads so even in death they could still fight. The Trees created so many Dryads that more than a few died by the toxins produced in the aftermath of the incursion. As the Khornate invasion went on many of the Bwana Trees began to weaken from both the toxins and exhaustively using their psychic powers to support their Dryads. While the first issue couldn't be solved, the second was another thing entirely. For the Shrine Fairies sensed that their hated enemy turned defender was weakening and realizing that if they failed the Blood Demons would definitely reach their homes. So many Shrine Fairies would volunteer themselves as sacrifices for the Bwana Trees who greedily devoured the psykers in order to empower their minions to even greater heights. Because of the Bwana Trees role as troop producers and medics they were centers of the battle with many bands of Bloodletters following the trails of Dryads to the trees where important fights took place for every dead Bwana Tree meant the Deepwoods were closer and closer to falling.​