Lords of Darkness (WHF CK2-Ish Quest)

Omake: The Mortal Engine.

Tomas frowned as he examined his handiwork. This invention of his could be a great asset to his lord if successful. If it failed then he would be humiliated in front of his peers. Though he supposed that it could still inspire the dragon god and his other followers with their own ideas. He still wanted this particular work of his to be perfect for the upcoming campaign.

The hordes of chaos spilled forth from the far north and threatened the old world with a tide of crazed bloodshed and deamonic fury. The people of Kislev would fight valiantly of that much he was sure. They always had in the past which was admirable in a way if not very smart. Of course they were still a highly underdeveloped nation with little readily available resources and a low population. Part of him wondered why their ancestors decided to settle in such a miserable land.

Anyways, he directed his attention back to his work. He smoothly cast out his magical senses and meticulously checked over the spell work he has placed in the device. This was his most sophisticated bit of magic yet and could make a major difference. The magic was a mixture of dark magic, shyish, and chamon. It was intended to fulfill the same role as a necromancer on the field. Tomas was well aware of how vulnerable necromancers frequently were on their own as well as how few there were for Dracul's army at least in comparison to the sheer number of undead and dark beasts. They really needed to establish official training for new necromancers though some of their number had taken on apprentices a while back shortly before and after the unification. He also fully understood that they needed to prevent casualties as much as possible among their number. While all of the undead in the army were bound to their lord the god himself was rather occupied holding back the demonic hordes. Which left things to his mortal servants. The most exploitable weakness of the army of the dead was that if it's leaders/sources of magic fell it too would start to crumble as troops collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. While not the case here with the connection to Dracul without direction beyond simply kill what gets close they were more or less cannon fodder. All of this meant they needed to avoid their necromancers being out in the open and thus vulnerable. Problem was they also needed to revive their fallen troops and raise new ones as they went on top of casting their magic to strengthen their forces as well as fight themselves if needed. Thus the creation of the Mortal Engine.

The war machine itself was a large wooden cart with metal armor wrapped around with two large wheels that had flexible suspension to help with terrain. It was crafted from the dark wood of the blood oak the same trees that inhabited the cursed copses around Wallachia. The wood was, due to its origin, a natural conductor for dark magic as the trees themselves were infused with it. Atop the cart sat a small shrine like structure in the center of which was a bell of black steel upon it the symbol of Dracul. Within the bell was a clapper that faintly glowed violet. To those with witchsight it shone with necromantic power and that was its purpose. The engine's function was to act as a resurrection nexus of sorts. It would roll into battle or sit at the back lines as needed amplifying their magic and casting it's own. It could divert all of its power to greatly bolster the spells of those that commanded it or it would roll across the battlefield during or after the fighting. It's bell would ring and send forth waves of necromantic energy all around it for hundreds of meters around like a great spider web. This magic would then restore their own troops making dead flesh knit together and bones to recombine while raising the fallen enemy as fresh forces.

Tomas had carefully studied the revised and improved versions of the various spell templates used by their lord. He had taken care to instate those changes into the casting of the engine. They were well refined allowing for the created zombies and other lesser undead to be much improved. The end product was much better than their counterparts commonly used over in Sylvania. In fact the whole idea had been inspired by the infamous corpse carts that wandered that lands backroads. His invention though was much better as it had been purposely designed for this rather than the happenstance that created their predecessor. Not only was it much more refined magically, it was much more durable due to the materials used and the shyish and chamon making it much more durable.To pull it was a pair of heavily modified undead horses that were similarly armored and protected. Around them would be a group of dark knights that would defend the cart as it went about its dread work. He would look into finding a way to petition for the custodes type undead or perhaps one of the revived giants for additional protection. There was no doubt in his mind that the enemy would try to destroy them once they realized what they were.

At last Tomas finished his inspection finding everything just as it should be and he grinned wickedly. He was sure his lord would be pleased with his work. As he thought about the upcoming campaign the man felt a thrill of sadistic glee rush through him. The thought of the coming slaughter was electrifying. They would be able to gain many new troops for the army of the dead from their fallen foe. With the new machine they would grow into a tide of death that would expand and revive endlessly until their foe was swallowed whole and annihilated. Yes he thought with venomous glee they would soon know the cold embrace of death. Not only that he knew the nations of order would have to acknowledge their contribution to the war effort and thus would give them legitimacy to the world. Oh yes this was going to be an enjoyable time indeed. If only he had more time as there were so many ideas he wanted to try.

@Alucard Vampiry I made a tech omake to help us in the campaign. Can I use this to help move more of the army?

Omake: The Lady Of Intrigue


Charlotte carefully ran the brush through her red hair as she sat in front of the mirror. At the moment she was putting the final touches on her appearance for her upcoming activities. Her lord was currently busy tending to greater affairs and it fell to his subjects to maintain things on the ground. She for one refused to disappoint him. He had given her and her sisters a place in the world when they were adrift and she had grown rather fond of it. It was only reasonable they used their skills to help how they could.

She set aside her brush as she was now done and gave herself one last look over. Clothes and features were all in perfect order and ready to go. Not a drop of blood to be seen anywhere from her last meal. She smiled as she posed showing off sharp fangs at odds with her lovely features. By Dracul was she glad her bloodline did not have the usual issue with mirrors others did. Now to get to work.

Charlotte quickly made her way out of her rooms and made her way down the halls of the mansion. This home had once been that of a noble, but with the Unification was now under new management. Thick black curtains stood at the side of the windows allowing pale moonlight to filter in. The old garish decorations and symbols to the now defunct lady had long been torn out and replaced with darker furnishing with the symbol of the dragon god and Wallachia taking their place.

Along the ways she found her thoughts wandering to the past. She remembered her life as a young noblewoman in the Border Princes. She had always been a willful child and had bucked against the conservative attitude of her household. This led to many disputes with the head of house and her father one of the petty lords there who had managed to have some success. Looking back she found no actual love for the man or her wallflower mother who had been weak and silent for as long as she could remember. Then they came at the time predators and later her sisters. They had butchered the household after using their charms to gain access and from there tearing it down. She had been offered a choice a supposedly honorable death and an uncertain fate in the beyond or embrace the darkness and live an eternity of nighttime where she had power. Naturally she had taken the latter.

Oh she remembered the pain of turning. Dying was a necessary part of the process and it had been hellish. The loss of feeling and warmth. Part of her mind told her she had been deceived as thought slipped away. Her heart slowly ceased to beat and her breath slowed. Finally she felt coppery liquid being poured down her throat. She swallowed with her remaining strength. Finally darkness took her into its embrace.

When she woke it was to an all consuming ravenous thirst. It ached deep down in her bones. Her body slowly responded to her commands muscles and limbs slowly releasing stiffness and becoming flexible again. Slowly she rose adjusting to her new existence. Everything felt so different now her senses were keener then ever and a feeling of strength and energy flowed through her. Whispers on the other side of the room drew her attention. Her head snapped upwards and her nose inhaled the scent of fresh blood. Her vision went red and she lunged.

After coming back to awareness standing over a drained corpse she looked around again. She remembered her sire an older woman who had smiled and greeted her warmly. Agatha was her name and she was happy to welcome their new member. Charlotte smiled with blood streaked on her chin and hugged her back. She had found a new home. For a time all was well they traveled around the border princes with no real destination doing as they pleased. Eventually the new vampire asked about the death of her family, though she felt no grief or sympathy of any kind. Agatha informed her that Neferata had decided to tear them down as they were starting to form some order in these lands. Charlotte didn't see how that was the case she thought her father was an arrogant blowhard of a minor lord among equally small men. Agatha told her not to think too hard about it the Lahmian queen wasn't the most reasonable creature, but she was not to be questioned lightly. Admittedly though it wasn't always certain that her orders were actually part of some plan or just her pride and obsessive need to display power and exert influence on the world.

Charlotte saw for herself how bad it really was when they finally made their way to the Lahmian stronghold. She could see for herself that while the ancient queen projected beauty and confidence she was bloated with self importance, pride, and an obsession with control tinged to a large degree with madness. The woman constantly put down and mistreated others, pitting them against each other, making an example of someone she deemed weak or a failure, for simply bringing her bad news, or for simply being beautiful. At times she killed or tormented another merely because she had the power to do so. It was a hellish place and Charlotte did her best to avoid the so-called queens attention going on long term missions. Eventually though she found herself making friends among her new sisters who had similar opinions. Then it had happened and she reached her breaking point.

Neferata had just tortured and executed one of her friends in front of everyone simply because she deemed her to be too beautiful. That was the final straw for the vampiress. She quickly gathered her remaining friends and a number of others her sire among them. She spoke long and fervently about how they needed to leave. The vampiress desperately wanted to kill the hag queen, but knew they simply did not have the power. So they gathered what belongings they could and fled from the citadel.

Neferata was quick to notice their absence and sent her dogs to pursue them. She might have been mad, but she wasn't stupid. They were hunted for months forced to hide in basements and caves during the day. Eventually several members offered to stay behind and sacrifice themselves for the group. Agatha was one of them. Charlotte pleaded for her sire to stay with them and the older woman smiled and kissed her forehead. Her sire told her she had come to consider the girl her daughter. Agatha told her she had lived a long time and it was time for it to end. Perhaps this would help make up for her past sins. Charlotte wept as the woman she considered her mother hurried away to face their pursuers.

Charlotte never saw her mother again but nor did they see their pursuers. For years they wandered passing as gypsies and staying away from heavily populated areas. It was a lean time for them, but they made do. Then they heard word a powerful vampire lord was gathering followers. They investigated and there was their new lord. The rest from there was history.

The vampiress pulled herself from her thoughts as she reached the door to the once ballroom. Composing herself she slid them open and walked closing them behind her. Around the room stood her sisters gathered from around the region for this work. In the center of the room were three bound men. These men were chaos cultists they had caught. While it was true the purges had wiped out the vast majority of them a few still remained hidden in far crevices. Tolerated because they were no real threat and rooting them all out would simply be a waste of time and resources. The Lahmians of Wallachia thought otherwise.

When the sisters heard of the blood tide and the attempted daemonic incursion their thoughts turned to internal security. Chaos cults and the dangers of them were well known after all. So the sisterhood took it upon themselves to address that potential issue. The Illuminati did their part well, but they were still only mortals and some of the vampires gathered here had centuries of experience. After all they reasoned who better to hunt those who hid in the dark then those who had mastered the art of doing so. Charlotte let her lips settle into a fanged grin as she considered how to best get what they wanted. Names were of course wanted to help root them out. With Lord Dracul occupied and much of what the army could muster leaving to fight they wanted to nip any potential problems in the bud. After all this was their home and they would not let some fools and madmen endanger that. Time to begin the interrogation.

@Alucard Vampiry
I made this to either be used for the war or making sure there were no problems on the homefront.

Rune Weapons Of Dracul:
In this series, we shall discuss the Runic weapons Displayed by the Wallachians to the west of the Empire, a Dark, Grim, black humored people that they are and as such their very environment itself reflects their departure from noble Bretonnia. A pity that because of the losses sustained by the empire and the reign of the three emperors, the Empire could not bring a stranglehold over the dominions to the west, with such lands and ports under empire control and the landings of new imperial Electors, no doubt the Empire would have seen a Greater Golden age that it might have taken the entirety of the eventual war with the March of Chaos from the wastes to the north! But, at the very least with the Great Magnus the Pious, and under the Emperor and Sigmar's designated Heir's guidance...and of course the wisdom and glory of the other gods of the pantheon as well, we can safely say that such nonsense of undead legions, twisted abominations, knights parading as dragons, and unregulated magical usage and creation, and not to mention the constant rampages of Dragons!!! Bah, let the mad-men take their lands...i shall miss old Bretonnian wine though.

Now where was I? Ah yes, the Rune Weapons of Dracul...such terrible things that they are, but terrifyingly great in perhaps the Right hands of those with the will of the gods behind them. They are Devastating tools of magic, forged from legendary Star Metals, said to be all but indestructible and with age comes power, the oldest of these rune-weapons came about sometime after the war of chaos, when the first dragon knights were sighted beyond the Wallachia's borders for the first time. Such terrible weapons brought terrible wroth and horror, for as they split the flesh of their masters enemies, so too did they split the soul of the Slain, never to go to the gods embrace but be devoured by the Dark Dragon when the Rune-Weapon gets..."Full" as it were. Each one Has a certain capacity for Life energies harvested from combat from wounded or slain foes. These energies can be from what sightings say heal the wielder from any injury barring death.

These weapons also have been known that once they are full of soul fragments or true full souls, they would communicate with their wielder to return to their lands of origin and thus offer the blade to some dark obscene ritual, no doubt to empower their dark master to prepare the way for the eventual invasion of our beloved empire!*(1) As it were however, we can only speculate on how these weapons were truly made, or if they are just spectural powers from the fell dragon god to the west. Needless to say many brave imperials have met their end at the hands of these mad-men AND mad-women!! imagine that! Women being given titles of Knights! Truly Wallachia has gone to the dogs of Sylvania if they are being this mad!

While many people of high positions have made their desires for such wonderous and terrible weapons, the noble witch hunters of the empire are always on the look-out to lock such weapons away for good...even if such measures eventually fail to either control the weapon or the men wielding such ruinous tools of war. Sadly even the Preists of Ulric and Sigmar have unlike with the artifacts of the dark gods, could not and would not contain such weaponry when found, and often have them sent back to Wallachia*.(2) However there is ONE weapon that has been forged by the Wallachians that has attained a sort of nority...

The Ash-Bringer, Brother Blade to Shadow-Blight, a Holy weapon made of Light, Fire, and Life magics...a unique blade that where it goes it brings low the wicked darkness of the evil. A grand holy blade that is much sought after by many a paladin and warrior monk of many of the conclave. From Mannan's own get, to even Taal's own preist-hood...even sigmarites and Ulricans have declared crusades however minor to find and attain the weapon, for its holy power is similar to that of Sigmar's own Hammer gifted unto him by the dwarves during the founding of the empire*.(3)

As it is, Ash-Bringer is considered the Exception of a Runic Weapon, and Not the Norm. While yes it is powerful, Shadow-Blight is considered its Darkest twin, made of Shadow, Ice, and Death magics...such a horrible blade is considered to be taboo by sensible imperial standards, and any attempt made to find and destroy that blasted, wicked, and horrific blade has always met a terrible end. Whenever the Rumor of Shadow-Blight is found, one can imagine all sorts of horrors and wicked vileness would congregate towards the weapon. From Beastmen, to Orks, to even the dark cults all try their hardest to find the blade for their own usage.

Now for the weapon forms, they come in many shapes in sizes, some exotic like eastern blades, others more akin to dwarven axes and hammers, some even take the form of elven glaives and spears. But the most common form was axes and swords. While the rare shield bulwark has been noted, those are usually given to the more defensive minded of the Dragon Knights, but do not underestimate them, those shields have been given a killing power on their edges and even under-blades and saw-like edge's of the shield itself.

Of course with the rarity of Dragon Knights outside the Borders of Wallachia, one could say that such Runic Weapons must also be Rare, due to the construction and metallurgy we can rest easy knowing that such low resources cannot be renewed so easily...
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1) OHoho, some poor scholars book eh? Well might as well write this down for future generations, now lads and ladies...if you be keen to known WHY we harvest the life energy of the slain of cursed by chaos or worse, well it on one hand keeps the wicked gods of the north from attaining more power, and two it gives our lord strength to pay less attention needed to keep the barrier of darkness from consuming the world. Not that you ungrateful louts ever can conceive a dark being actually saving the world from being devoured by chaos. Lets also get on the other hand, such soul fragments are useful in raising undead that ARENT being shit-tiered cannon fodder, from wraiths to banshee's, or perhaps a few black knights or a fine regiment of grave-guard.

Next time one idiot goes off and decides that our lords work isn't proper they can kiss my arse...now off to find and brutally slaughter the moron who wrote this. i got a good feeling about killing him these days, and im a storm-dragon knight!!!

2) I remember the last time my order kept one of the Runic weapons, at the time it was thought to have been a dwarven creation, possibly from some mad long forgotten rune smith...by Sigmar were we wrong. All...so...Wrong. They came in the night, riding upon wings of ash and fury, the gale produced by the Beast enough to send naked straw into cinders and whatever plant life to slowly turn into blackened crisps. Then when the winds blew harder then we had ever felt in a storm, we saw the beast burning on the horizon...the creature of Doom and Flame being ridden by One of the Dragon Lords. We do not know HOW he was able to know exactly where the blade was kept, perhaps it is because the rune weapons are alive in a sense, like that of ancient artifacts of the gods having a will of their own.

If such a terrible thing is true, then we can be thankful that the man despite the grievance of the theft beforehand was...reasonable...if not caring at all about the burnings going around him. When the blade was returned he had politely thanked us and had left, though the Beast he had ridden eyed us all like a wolf to fattened cattle for the slaughter. I can only be thankful the beast had been well fed that night, and that brother Todd had been asleep drunk or the church and everything around us would have been turned into a wasteland, as Todd would most likely have attempted to Burn the Dragon Knight Alive...as it was he eventually went missing after a week or two, his quarters empty and his travel supplies gone.

We never really heard from him again...

3) Eh? Ash-bringer? ah that old blade...good sword that one was, apparently it was the prototype for Adamant forging techniques and of Master rune's, So was Shadow-Blight made just in case things went wrong. Both those swords have their own little tale between them...whats that? Nah i wont get into those crazy blades, always griping about the best way to beat chaos and all the other nasties in the world. Runic weapons...always a pain if you find them, cant tell if its dwarven or Dracul's own damn make unless you get the runes looked at, and let me tell ya...the dwarves while grumbling about the shoddy work nevertheless are weary around the damn things, and dont you ever try to give one to them...

last i heard of that one idiot the dwarves had him shaved and dumped naked lathered in grease and fitted with spices and whatever other cooking herbs when the Dragon Knights came around to pick them up. Them dwarves and Wallachians have a understand ya see? And they both really don't tolerate any thievery...as thats the only damn way you will ever see one of those blades in yer hands boy, now get back to work scrubbing the armor off.