[X] Direct Boneripper to charge one of them while flinging Warplightning at said Necromancer and dispelling the enemy spells if they're malignant towards us (magic missile, hexes, etc).
-[X] At the same time, charge up an Ash Storm, to be overpowered with the Warpstone (it and any other spells used afterwards)-it must hit all of them (left) so run around as necessary to get them in position for the spell and following burniness.
-[X] When the Ash Storm is delivered, turn on the rest with Boneripper's Warpfire and your own Burning Wrath for greater power and burniness, while our foes are hindered and hexed and flammable.
-[X] If they manage to gang up on you in melee, use the Cloud of Corruption to punish them for crowding so close to your august person.
It all happened very quickly.
Scrambling off his rat-ogre's back, Thanquol pointed a trembling finger at the necromancer in the center of his opponent's formation and screeched, "Kill-kill, Boneripper!" With a rumbling whine of pistons and gears, his iron-clad behemoth minion charged forth, and the battle began.
Emaciated hands were raised to the sky, the parchment-like flesh covering their gnarled bones so thin as to be translucent. Horrid syllables echoed from a hood of deepest shadow, the words spreading darkness with them.
As the undead monarch spoke words of woe, the world recoiled as a shroud of evil fell upon the battlefield, twisting the air into malignant forms and disturbing the winds of magic. A great pool of dhar was manifested thusly, fuel for the dread necromancers.
The companion to the first, its movement suddenly quickened by the saturation of dark magic, moved to intercept Boneripper, who was now moving at speeds comparable to a charging skittaur.
It raised its sword, shining like a fell beacon while emitting bone-biting cold, and with it grasped some of the dhar in the air and shaped it with timeless will, binding it to the shape of the sword. It slashed downwards, the spell released as an extension of the sword's cutting edge, a cut inscribed upon the fabric of the world that raced forward and hit Boneripper in the chest.
The mecha-rat ogre had been constructed sturdily enough that such an attack only scored his armor and robbed him of some of his forward momentum, but it was enough for the necromancer. The ancient lich thrust his black staff into the ground, channelling fell power through it, and a host of skeletal limbs burst from the ground around Boneripper's feet.
Ranging in size from a human's forearm to the finger of a giant, they wrapped around the rat ogre's form and pulled down with unholy strength, wrestling Boneripper to the ground even as their substance cracked and strained under the rat-ogre's mechanical might.
The necromancer wrenched his staff from the ground and approached, death radiating from under his hood. He was three steps from Boneripper when his skeletal mount was suddenly obliterated by a tree-trunk thick bolt of warp lightning, the sudden vaporization of so much mass sending a stone-cracking wave of sound out for miles around.
Thanquol lowered a smoking finger as the necromancer fell to the ground. "Hands off, skull-thing," he shrieked. "He is mine-mine!"
Thanquol was a skaven transformed. Gone was the sniveling, shifty-eyed, stooped skaven of before - with the consumption of his warpstone stash, he had grown taller in some intangible way while remaining the same height. His eyes shone with a fearsome green glow, his horns gleamed wickedly, and the shadow he cast was ten times his size. He was the Lord of the Under-Empire, and the dhar in the air was like putty to his claws.
The third necromancer saw this and recognized him as the true threat, regardless of Boneripper's far greater size and strength. His mount sprouted a dozen limbs of bone and flung itself across the empty space towards Thanquol, killing curses swelling on the bonelord's dead lips.
He was met by words of ash and fire spilling forth from Thanquol's throat, amplified both by the progidous power of warpstone and the inherent nature of their battleground, which was attuned to the energies of flame and earth. The necromancer and his steed were blown back as Thanquol summoned a storm of ash.
The everpresent soot coating the ground sprung to life at Thanquol's will and swallowed the battlefield in a cloak of hot soot and embers, imbued with magic that caused them to stick to whatever they hit, swiftly cloaking all three necromancers and Boneripper in thick coats of red ash. Only Thanquol was unaffected. The storm would not touch him, for it was his. He cracked a toothy grin, and fire guttered forth into his palms. "Flame-flame, Boneripper," he shouted. "Melt-char them, scorch-kill!"
Boneripper let loose a metallic roar in response, and shattered his way out of the cage of bone that held him, its substance weakened by the hot ash. His jaw distended under mechanical force, opening far wider than was natural, and from his throat a stream of warpfire gushed forth like a river of emerald napalm. It was picked up and amplified by the magic within the whirling storm, stoked into a great cone of fire that blazed forth, washing over the necromancer in front of him with a great shriek like that of steam.
The necromancer that had charged Thanquol attempted to stand, so covered in ash that it resembled an ash wraith more than a material being, and was promptly blasted off its feet once more by a stream of congealed flame and rock conjured by Thanquol. The skaven lord laughed triumphantly at this sight, for with his incomparable magical might and Boneripper's brute strength, he had come to a position where victory was inevitable! His enemies were befuddled and hexed by his storm of ash, their bone steeds destroyed and their very being under assault from his mastery of the magic of the Dark Lands. Soon he would stand triumphant over their charred bones, and -
The blade of an amaranthine scythe, forged of concentrated death magic, swept through Boneripper's left arm and a good portion of his side, gliding through his metal plates as though they were but air. The limb fell to the ground as Boneripper whirled to face the only necromancer who had not engaged in direct combat up until this point, a second charge of warpflame boiling up from within his throat. The volatile substance shot forth from his maw, but his aim was fouled as the necromancer he had turned away from, who had been burned terribly by his attack and was still on fire, grasped onto his ankles and sucked the vitality out of the mortal flesh that remained there, causing the great rat-ogre to topple to the ground.
Thanquol's grin faded. This was not how triumphant victory normally went. His expression was further soured as he observed the necromancer he had just blasted rising to its feet again, its bones frosting over as it exerted its terrible will, sending the temperature in its immediate vicinity plummeting sharply downwards. As it stood up fully, it became clear that Thanquol's spell had done more than knock it off its feet - there was a substantial hole in its chest, tattered cloth covering only the top edge.
No fog of breath gusted out from under its concealing hood, but the hiss of malice that issued out was evident in its intent.
[] Write-in
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Current Statuses:
Battlefield:
- Shroud of Dhar: The battlefield is choked with a fog of dark magic, increasing the power of any dark magic-based spells and also increasing the risk of catastrophic backfire for the unwary. Amplifies other battlefield statuses.
- Storm of Ash: The air is filled with a whirlwind of hot ash and drifting embers that swirls and drifts into any exposed surfaces. Increases the power of any spells associated with fire or ash. Renders all targets within its area extremely flammable. Greatly increases the difficulty of casting any spells not targeted within one's immediate personal space. Thanqol is immune to the negative effects of the storm. Currently being amplified by Shroud of Dhar - the coming round will see the amplification progress to such a degree that Thanquol's immunity to the downsides will begin to fail sporadically.
Thanquol: Unharmed, has enough warpstone charge left to empower 2 moderate spells. Within the effect radius of Ash Storm.
Boneripper: Left arm severed and substantial damage to left side; lower legs magically withered. Can still move and fight. One warpfire shot left, in range to attempt melee attacks. Within the effect radius of Ash Storm.
Necromancer Lord 1: Minor singes. Within the effect radius of Ash Storm. Skeletal mount is intact. Sustaining a magical scythe of concentrated Shyish.
Necromancer Lord 2: Major fire damage - still burning. Within the effect radius of Ash Storm. Skeletal mount destroyed. Currently sapping Boneripper's life force.
Necromancer Lord 3: Moderate-major fire damage, giant hole in the middle of chest. Within the effect radius of Ash Storm. Skeletal mount destroyed. Currently empowering Dhar/Shyish-based defenses against the effects of the Ash Storm.
