[] Guarding Hands: You know well enough thanks to Sabine how quickly property can be taken and made iron-clad possessions of another. One such as Hultressa more than has enough wealth and power for such, and the Battle of Salkalten has surely created a bounty of low-priced real estate to be claimed as soon as possible. They will be less protected, true, but they will have more freedom to move and act which could be direly important if you are to escape this damned Ark. Hultressa will spend more time out of the Tor setting up wards and defenses there, but if it helps protect the others, it will be worth it.
Spikes, Horns, and Stone 9
With one last look at the now slumbering Eldyra, you rise up from your kneeling position and take up a seat on a chair next to the couch, this one facing towards the chair that Hultressa has taken for herself. For all the sorceress' power, the warmth flowing from the torches and the air itself, there is a stark coldness to this place. To all of Hultressa's chambers, really. It is made all the more present by how large this specific chamber is, considering that it should be able to accommodate dozens of Druchii in it. You, Hultressa, and Eldyra take up such a tiny portion of its environs, despite the rich furnishings, the many cabinets full of glasses and goblets and drinks and other curious for conversation. This is a place meant for hosting, and despite there not being a single speck of dust that you can see, you can feel the yawning emptiness of this place like a physical itch in the back of your head after spending so long in places blessed by the hospitality of Esmeralda.
"How much territory could you secure, if you went, right now," you say, uncorking your first bottle of wine and drinking a half of it down. "You said House Duskflame is gone, right?"
The sorceress purses her lips and very slightly waggles her head from side to side in thought. In the same moment, you convey your decision to Natasha, one she accepts. There is a wretched aspect to it all, not being able to directly see one another, one worsened by working towards an effort that will see your wife kept away in dangerous territory. But, as Natasha sends back with thoughts of her own memories and reactions to your telling her of Magnus' near death in Karak Ungor, you could both be on the exact same battlefield and end up being surrounded with one without the other there in time. Not the most pleasant example for her to use, but you both must make use of what you can through the esoteric nature of the bond.
"They might have a few scions dying in the rubble," she squints into the middle distance, "But the collapse of their Tor is significant enough. The area around it is a major ruin after the passage of the Elder Djinn and your false priestess-,"
"You keep calling her that," you interrupt, making Hultressa's eyes flash with indignation as she sits up with a suddenly straightened back. "Why? I would think that Magdha showed more than well enough what Manann could do."
The Druchii sniffs at you, tossing her hair as she drinks from her goblet and slowly starts settling back into her seat. Her glower is a powerful one, even though you can tell that it is not nearly as heated as it could be. A single finger taps against the goblet's side, right against a diamond encrusted into the silver.
"I shall describe for you, human, the true God of the Seas," she hisses at you quietly, "
Mathlann, Lord of the Deeps, King of Storm and Sea, and God of Storms. Uncaring, capricious, mercurial. He has been venerated by all elven kind for all matters regarding the seas and storms of the world for longer than your Empire has existed. Since before your Sigmar was a twinkle in his father's eye. Since before the mountains of the dwarfs were shattered, before the War of the Beard, before the Elves were splintered – in golden ages past whence before there
were any humans in what you know as the Old World."
Then she leans forward without spilling a drop of her wine. In the purple-flame light of the room, her shadow is a strange and eldritch looking thing. It undulates with the flickering of the torches, granting it a further alien aspect beyond her mortal frame. Some of the shadows of the room seem to seep over her body as well, covering portions of it in darkness, all the while her dark eyes burn like embers.
"And once the elves, for one reason or another, departed the lands between mountains and sea or retreated into the deep forests, we left behind our broken cities and ruined outposts. And
then," she sneers, "What do we find but in later times that – all of a sudden, after having settled in our old ruins," she circles the goblet in her hand, swirling the wine in it, "The tribes of the Old World are giving credence and prayer to
Manann, Lord of the Seas, King of Sea and King of Storms, God of Seas and Oceans."
A harsh bark fires out of her as she sits back roughly into her high-backed chair, draining her goblet of wine in the same motion.
"Capricious, just as like to sink your ship as to grant it safe harbor and good winds. A force of destruction, seemingly at a whim. Does, or does that
not sound familiar?" She arches an eyebrow as high as it can possibly go, tilting her head back slightly at the same time.
This is, you have just discovered for yourself, one of the most uncomfortable topics you've ever been thrust into discussion over.
"…all right," you grunt, "I don't have enough theological grounding in the lore of Manann to debate you on that. But you
did say that Maghda knocked over an entire Tor, ending an entire Druchii noble line in the same motion, while shaking the bedrock of the Ark, didn't she?"
Hultressa chuckles as she refills her goblet and takes a short sip.
"And that disproves my point, how, exactly?"
Your lips twist before you drink the other half of your first bottle, welcoming the curious energizing surge and sitting up on the further in your chair.
"If she was a false priestess, I don't see how else she would have been able to do that. I
know she wasn't a secret worshipper of the Dark Gods either. The woman had bloody tridents in her eyes as long as I've known her, she was born and lived her entire life at sea, never stepping foot on land even after she was called by Manann as High Matriarch."
As it is, all that gets you is another smirk from Hultressa.
"As I said before,
Mathlann is a capricious god. If he wishes to bless a human, then who am I to tell Him otherwise?"
"And the Cults of Khaine in the Empire?"
The smirk drops, lips pressing together into a thin line.
"I met a woman who was one of the greatest assassins of Khaine – amongst human worshippers. The things I've seen her do," you shake your head, "The things I know she's likely done. The Cults of Khaine have never been much for proclaiming anything about Har Ganeth, or the Executioners, or Brides, or Death Hags, or the like."
A moment passes between elf and human in silence, the two of you contemplating each other.
"The answer is the same, even the reasoning," she says, the tapping slower now on her goblet's side. "Khaine desires one thing more than anything else – death done in his name, and his name alone. In war, in murder, in sacrifice. If the humans can provide this, then he will make use of them, even if they know nothing of the true deeper mysteries of his Cult."
Your thoughts churn for a moment, briefly touching on Natasha, exulting in the continued contact despite the situation.
"And again, something I do not have the grounding in to debate you on," you admit with a half-shrug, "If I were Maghda, or if it were Leah, perhaps, but I am not."
Hultressa just sips from her wine again.
"There is nothing to debate. The Gods, Cytharai or even Cadai, are mighty. It is no surprise that others would seek for their favor and attention, even if in lesser scales and measures."
"House Duskflame might disagree on the lesser part," you roll your eyes.
"Hah!" She lets loose another terribly cruel laugh, "Perhaps they well might. And as to your earlier question, it would not be too difficult," her eyes glitter in the torch light. "You have made your decision then? I could secure some of the ruined territory without too much difficulty. But of course, moving in your wife and other allies may take some more measure of…effort."
The shadows flicker over her face as she curls a fist to rest underneath her chin, placing her now empty goblet of wine on an end table next to her.
"Not time?"
"There are few as wealthy as I on this Ark, Frederick von Hohenzollern. Much is afforded to an accomplished Terror-Maker," she bares her teeth which almost looked like that of a shark in the low light. "I can purchase what I need to in rapidity, what money alone will not give me, bloodshed will speed my desires to fruition. The only issue after that is the time required for proper warding to ensure your wife's…protection. You do, after all, want her as protected as can be out there, do you not?"
"I should think that would be obvious," you say stiffly, aggressively tearing off the cork of another wine bottle and drinking a third of it down.
"Of course, of course," she nods, then frowns. "The next matter is actually ensuring contact with your wife, and the others, without us coming to blows or being seen by others. I am powerful and capable, but even I cannot forge a true multitude of defenses in a single day. Not without making it far too painfully obvious what I am doing."
Something, however, is better than nothing. You don't even need to say it, a simple look from you to Hultressa is answered with rolling eyes and a huff and nod. The sooner your wife is not simply trying to hide out on a damned Black Ark surrounded by hostile Druchii without knowing anything of her surroundings the better. Even the most meager of wards and a stamp of ownership from Hultressa over any given territory would provide better security than that. You know it, and the sorceress knows it. Though you can't quite discern the meaning behind her expression as you drink the rest of the third wine bottle. Once you finish, however, it has become much more openly contemplative, a single finger tapping against her chin before the sorceress stands up.
"A signal. A phrase?" She posits to the air before the finger tapping her chin becomes an upraised one, "A
whisper," she murmurs sibilantly, "Something to dance across the ears but be otherwise meaningless save those it is meant for."
"No one is going to question why they're suddenly hearing a nonsense garble of words?" You tilt your head at her.
At that, Hultressa just looks at you before releasing the absolute most pitying exhale of air you've ever witnessed in your life.
"Do you think that the
Claw of Dominion, of the Firstborn Arks born of the Sundering, holdfast of the Last of the Sorcerers, is a place where maddened whispers do not tickle the ears of masters and slaves alike?" She asks you plainly before cupping a hand to her ear and holding up the other hand towards her lips. "If we listen hard enough, Frederick von Hohenzollern, and my wards were not what they were, we might well hear the screams of a hundred and more souls laid into each and every stone which built this place. If you were to stand," she gestures outwards and seems to swell with dark power where she sits, "Upon the top of the Tor, and the spells woven there to deaden wind and slow air were stripped away, you might even hear the echo of the Sundering itself as its echoes continue to thrum through the whole of the Ark to this very day."
You wait a moment to see if she's got even more to grandstand about, drinking methodically from your bottle of wine, and are rewarded with the slightest twitch of her eyebrows before she rolls her head back and laughs. It is a jagged sharp-edged thing, liable to slit your throat if aimed correctly, but no one could deny the surprisingly earnest humor in it. She cuts it off just as quickly as it began, though, and rolls her eyes as she adjusts her posture in her chair. You can't track all of it, every slight movement of her body, not to the extent of depth that would be required for a full elven conversation. You know that much thanks to your lessons from Sadrina just how much every single errant iota of body language conveys to elves. Though she tried to be as kind about it as possible, the Handmaiden eventually did confess that it could possibly be explained as the difference between an intricate but small painting and a just as intricate but wall-spanning mural. It's hard not to wonder just what it is the elves perceive when they look at your people, or you in particular.
"So, what shall we whisper into the air so that they know an ally comes for them?" She asks you, rolling her hand in the air.
"Give me a second," you tell her and sit back, closing your eyes.
Natasha, still bemused, finds the idea of some measure of safety of course invaluable. Wherever they are, they can still the sounds of an industrious city moving. While your wife doesn't have the same grounding in Eltharin as you do, it's not that hard to figure out what the sounds of lots of moving lumber and metal and yelling might mean near a dockyard. The Druchii lost a vast amount of ships, but they also have the capacity to build and crew more of them. It appears that, at some point, Alyssa Voidreaper has given out new orders. It makes sense, you suppose. The only way that the Ark is going to rebuild its wealth and power is through raiding, and if they're not willing to beach the Ark again anywhere soon, it'll have to come through ships. Based on the scattered images that Natasha conveys to you, it sounds like they are actively training new Druchii sailors. You think. The image of a roaring bear in the snow and a squealing group of children is the best she could do at short notice. For your part, it is incredibly easy to come up with something, and you get a bright burst of gallows laughter through the bond.
"Okay, very simple one," you say, chuckling to yourself and getting another imperious eyebrow raise from the sorceress.
"I am all ears."
"It's a Hohenzollern dinner drink order at the Grand Kitchen," you smile, enjoying the way her brows furrow. "Ten kegs, three cases, five barrels."
The Druchii woman's brows furrow further as her head tilts slightly to the side.
"Simple enough, right?" You add on.
"Given the fact that you have drunk your way through at least three bottles of Firevenom Blood-Wine and barely appear to be affected, I suppose I have to believe you are telling the truth," she replies blandly, "And yes, simple enough to be remembered. That is for your entire family, correct, not just you yourself?"
"Have to save room for the actual food," you shrug.
"Indeed," is her droll response before she taps the palms of her hands against the armrests and smoothly rises upwards. "Gwendolyn, you may enter!" She calls out, and one of the doors which you had not previously been led down opens, the young Druchii appearing with the bent golden tray in her hands and what you could best describe as a faltering attempt at obsequiousness on her face.
"Mother, I knew that you had returned from the emanations of the wards, and in celebration of our undoubted victory," Gwendolyn gives the slightest of pauses there before picking the patter back up, "I have reheated some hot cakes and prepared some of the highest quality of maple syrups drawn from the most well-fed trees along The Dark Road."
Then both speak at the same time.
"Where the sap is as sweet as the blood spilled on the roots," they recite as one in a pitch perfect sing-song voice.
There is a flash of a smile, a hidden and precious thing, which leaps from child to mother and back again. But then both seem to remember you are there, and suddenly that small light is gone, replaced with cool impassiveness from mother and daughter. Hultressa nods, and with far more ceremony than there should be Gwendolyn places the tray onto the table. By now the cakes have to have gone cold, but then you watch as the sorceress flicks her fingers with a brief bloom of heat washing through the room, and just as quickly you swear you see lines of heat rise from the hotcakes. They are also accompanied by a surprisingly comforting smell, as if freshly made. You've no idea of the Winds involved in that, but you know that there are certain spells to purify and cleanse foods, it isn't so surprising that a people such as the elves have a cantrip for reheating food perfectly. Though you, for some reason, get a look when the plates and other accompaniments clatter slightly with the now uneven golden tray.
"I can only have a few bites, my daughter," Hultressa informs Gwendolyn, resulting in the girl going briefly still – trying to show no major reaction which, itself, is more than a reaction enough that you can see. "I must go to secure territory for allies that we may pursue victory still."
Gwendolyn's eyes flick towards you and back towards her mother.
"But I thought…," she starts before a curt shake of Hultressa's head silences her.
The sorceress inhales deeply and then begins speaking in rapid fire.
"Circumstances turned against us. The Claw is in retreat, the human city of Salkalten stands still, the
Eternal Fortress is left behind and shackled to their beaches, Screamtaker is slain and Alyssa in ascendance, with Caledor's Bane slain with his dragon. The human, Frederick von Hohenzollern, was captured," she gestures towards you, with you raising your now empty wine bottle in hand in salute, "But his wife, their gryphon, and a small number of others exist freely. The humans dealt significant damage to the Ark, and so they huddle in ruins – ruins I must claim. There are more details, which we can go over later. However," Hultressa grabs the small jug and pours the so-called maple syrup over the hot cakes, "First."
In silence, she cuts and separates out a single drenched bite for herself, and then one for Gwendolyn. Both pause, for the briefest of seconds, with eyes closing as they savor those single bites while facing each other. Then Hultressa completes eating the topmost hotcake and stands, sighing as she puts the fork and knife down. There is a shared silence between parent and child next, the two of them communicating on an inherent level that you both understand intimately yet cannot in this moment access. Then it passes as Hultressa begins to step away, leaving Gwendolyn to droop ever so slightly as she walks past.
"A dinner drinks order," she scoffs to herself before glancing back at you over her shoulder. "But very well. Inform them that I shall begin my search for them promptly, and will be escorting them to their new…abode. After which I shall go about purchasing it."
"Possession being a good portion of ownership, eh?"
"Possession
is the whole of ownership," Hultressa and Gwendolyn say together again.
Apparently you've stumbled over a Druchii idiom, there.
"What did you call this stuff again?" You ask instead, waggling the empty bottle.
"Firevenom Blood-Wine," Hultressa says as she dusts herself off. "The main ingredient is purified venom from the same-named spider which makes its home upon the slopes of certain volcanoes in Naggaroth, building tunnels and trapdoors from the ash and snow there. They are actively sadistic and cruelly intelligent as a harpy, and enjoy their prey wriggling, screaming, and generally being active as they are devoured instead of dissolved."
"Hmm," you say, looking down at your stomach where at least four bottle's worth now rests. "I see."
"Stimulating and alcoholic, no?" She smirks at you before turning to kneel down in front of her child. "Gwendolyn."
"Mother," the younger Druchii lifts her chin proudly.
"What are the rules?" Hultressa asks, the sound of it rote and routine to your ears.
"Remain inside the chambers of our home. Kill anyone you do not introduce me to. Train. Study. Prepare," Gwendolyn nods with each rule she recites with absolute seriousness.
"Correct. You
will be alive and hale when I return," Hultressa says firmly, the well wishing transformed into something altogether more into a general's ironclad demand.
Something in your stomach feels tight when you see the ramrod straight back of Gwendolyn straighten further, her nod curt and tense. The closest example of the sort of behavior you watch the young Druchii display that comes to mind is that of Tasha in her early life. Before the rest of the Hohenzollerns and the rest of the College started taking over for the portions of raising that Anna quite simply could not provide anymore, and for quite a long time afterwards, Tasha acted as Gwendolyn does in this moment. It is disturbing to see that same stillness, that same amount of exerted self-control that just seems inappropriate for one that young to possess.
"I
will return," the sorceress declares, as much to her daughter as to you, rising and fixing you with not-quite-a-glare before sweeping back and heading for the doors to exit without another word.
As soon as she does so, not one but four terrors enter the room from various doors, though they do little more than take up guarding positions on the walls. They do not speak, their movements near to completely silent despite the metal that sheathes so much of their bodies, and as far as you can tell they barely seem to breathe. Two of the four are, you think, the sort you saw earlier directly guarding Gwendolyn's room. One of which had accompanied her on her ill-fated excursion into the torture foyer. But the other two are foreign to you, and different than the other two. These do not bear swords for fingers, though they seem to retain the same extended height. Instead, quadruple-jointed arms hang past their hips culminating in one heavy sphere of metal where hands should be. Spikes cover those spheres, transforming arms into swinging heavy maces, and you do not miss how there are subtle runes engraved into the mace heads despite how they barely glow.
A small click-clatter of metal and porcelain grabs your attention to Gwendolyn levering herself into the seat her mother was just occupying, seeming to be swallowed by its size where Hultressa had seem barely restrained to the seat. She is forcing the stoicism on her face, you can tell, though you have to work a good bit harder to see it than you should on any other eleven- or twelve-year-old. She sits, now, cutting into the hotcakes that have only just begun to stop steaming slightly and is cutting out small dainty squares of out them. It occurs to you as the smell wafts over you again that you haven't actually had the opportunity to have much solid food in you since awakening. It's been several hours now, and the only thing you've had put into your body is whatever sort of wine it was that Hultressa first gave you out of her goblet, and then the bottles of apparently venom-related wines you've been drinking. Four of them, you think. Maybe.
Either way, there is something terribly sad about the way that she eats from the second of the plates, leaving Hultressa's stack almost completely untouched save for the topmost hotcake.
"So," Gwendolyn says in accented Reikspiel after a moment, placing her fork and knife down onto her plate and clearing her throat, "You are Frederick von Hohenzollern."
There is an irreverent urge to salute with the empty wine bottle but you stomp that impulse down and place the bottle with the others onto a nearby end table.
"As I said earlier," you nod to her.
She looks altogether very prim, if one could only ignore the horrid abominations in the room, her hands folded in her lap and chin lifted high.
"Speaker to the Queen in the Woods, of the Asrai, and the Everqueen on multiple occasions."
"True enough."
She nods, once, and then takes in a breath that is shaky despite her best efforts and speaks in a voice that is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand thrice over.
"Do you think they will take us?"
The scowl that appears just afterwards exists only long enough for you to recognize that it is aimed wholly inwards, an anger bright and strong that she could not contain her own emotions properly. But after that comes a solid stare, cut through by a flash of confused desperation deep in her eyes.
(Interpretation: 84+Frederick Diplomacy(5)+Frederick Intrigue(7)+Dynasty Patriarch(25)-Gwendolyn Diplomacy(11)-Gwendolyn Intrigue(15)+One Is The Loneliest Number(10)=105/100)
She isn't even wholly sure that this is what she wants. It strikes you like a lightning bolt. Hultressa has been working desperately for more than a decade to isolate her daughter from the rest of the Druchii for Gwendolyn's entire life. For her own good, yes, to try and prevent as many hooks and barbs of their dreadful culture from sinking in as she can, to be relieved of all the horrific pressures forced down the souls of their people for thousands of years. But she still, nonetheless, has utterly isolated her daughter. You know that apparently the high priestess equivalent of their murderous Cult of Khaine proclaimed Gwendolyn as a prime candidate for their faith, but was that spoken to the child herself or just to her mother? Hultressa says that they are going to leave the Druchii, leave them and find another group of elves to live with, and so Gwendolyn follows and believes in her mother's wishes – because she doesn't quite know what else she is supposed to do. You know it is possible that it was all just manipulation, but if Hultressa is even half as isolated and separated from the rest of the Coven and Ark as she seems, then her professed plans for Gwendolyn would be an unacceptable amount of vulnerability for a true Druchii.
"Possibly," you say gently, cautiously and slowly coming closer and then kneeling in front of her, the whole time with her unblinking as she watches you.
She's liable to shoot upwards in height soon enough, but for the moment you are about head height with her now.
"I don't know how much my word would go for with Ariel, and it's not like we were ever on the best of terms," you frown in thought, "But the Everqueen seems an incredibly compassionate sort."
"I…I see," she says, bowing her head slightly.
"Of course, there are other options as well," you muse, placing elbow to knee and propping your chin up.
That makes Gwendolyn's head shoot up at you, eyebrows furrowing.
"What? No, there are only two Avatars of Isha, aren't there?"
"I mean," you pause, scrunching your face briefly, "As far as I know, sure."
"So those are the two options," she tells you with all the absolute certainty of a child who has been told something they chose to believe. "The Druchii are taught that the weakling Goddess Isha was rightfully all but scoured from Druchii society," she begins reciting to you, eyes flicking back and forth slightly as she pulls the information from within. "She brings nothing of worth, only weakness, to the blood and spirit, and the spells for seedings and births sourced from the Goddess Hekarti and Atharti are more than enough to make up for what her paltry offerings might be."
Then she clears her throat, and looks up at you with what was the beginnings of shyness before that too-mature seriousness is summoned up again.
"But mother says that Isha is actually incredibly powerful, and that she can scour the whole of Ulthuan of its enemies as she wishes, and that her Avatars are those who would reckon with the First Hag Queen herself, if necessary. She wouldn't lie," she adds at the end, insistently. "She wouldn't!"
You raise your hands, palms forward, at the faint heat in Gwendolyn's voice.
"I am not saying she is. I am saying that there is more information, perhaps, than what she could get access to. After all," you fold all the fingers of one hand save the index, silencing the beginnings of protests from the child. "Who between the three of us
has spoken with the Avatars of Isha, Kurnous, seen the Avatar of Anath Raema besides?"
That makes Gwendolyn's eyes grow quite wide indeed.
"
What?" She breathes. "How? When?! I didn't even…," then her eyes narrow. "You are lying to me. Mother says-,"
"That anyone who isn't her may well be lying to you about anything," you interrupt gently but firmly. "Right?"
That, again, draws the child up sort, eyes widening again.
"How did you know that!?"
That twisting in your gut still isn't coming from the bottles of Firevenom Blood-Wine, although you wish it was.
"I had a guess," you sigh, running a hand through your hair. "Besides which, how do you know what I have and haven't done?"
Gwendolyn's eyes narrow slightly before she sighs herself, crossing her little arms over her chest.
"Mother said that informants revealed some of the details of the happenings in Laurelorn because the Everqueen herself spoke about it, along with her Handmaidens and the squire," she gestures at the now slumbering Eldyra.
"…concerning," you say after a brief pause, thinking about the intricacies of intrigue between two rival nations feuding for thousands of years that also happen to both be made up of elves. "But regardless, yes the Avatars of Isha are powerful. So is the Avatar of Kurnous."
Even now, despite all the healing you've received since, there are some aches that are going to stick with you in your mind if nothing else.
"The elves of Athel Loren are strong, yes, and powerful. I suspect your mother might fit in, at least in one of their High Realms," you lower your hand with index still upraised and instead lower the hand to become flat as if weighing something. "Modryn employs some dark magics, as far as I know, which your mother might find some familiarity in. On the other hand," you lower your other hand and perform the same weighing motion. There's Argwylon."
Then you think for a moment, and remember with a bit of fond bemusement of the sheer anger in Yhanna Sunweaver towards her once-home.
"Your mother might not like it there, for all that they are a place of wondrous and powerful magics. Apparently they're so arrogant that other elves can't much stand them."
"Wow," Gwendolyn whispers, eyes wide and staying that way.
"And, again, there are other options," you mention again before lowering your arms to clasp your upraised knee. "I cannot guarantee the safety of either of you two in my home from the foes that might chase you, and I suspect that the prospect of living amongst humans would not be acceptable to Hultressa," you wait as Gwendolyn's entire face wrinkles in faint disgust before smoothing out again and becoming more contemplative. "But there is also Laurelorn itself."
Gwendolyn gasps.
"We had heard that they had declared independence! They possess their own Avatar of Isha?"
"Ah, no," you say, causing her to droop again. "Is that so necessary?"
She begins to speak before stopping, a frown appearing on her face.
"I…mother says that we needed to beseech an Avatar of Isha for safe harbor, lest the rest of their kind seek to harm us for what the Druchii have done. That we would need the compassion of…of the compassionate Goddess to safeguard us."
"Or," you shrug, "A Glade Lord who might be willing to offer you safe harbor. A High Spellweaver who could provide a somewhat similar environment to one trained in Ghrond, albeit less…well, evil."
The possibility you have laid out appears to dumbfound her.
"Of course, I can't make promises on the behalf of others," you admit. "But it is another possibility. The world outside has a lot of those, you know?"
She shakes her head ever so slightly, distantly responding to your question while the rest of her puzzles over your other words. Said contemplation pauses however as your stomach finally decides to make its own desires heard with a loud growl.
"Apologies. Haven't had anything since the battle except the wine," you cough into your fist and make to rise up again before Gwendolyn clears her throat again.
"I see. Uh, well," her eyes flicker again as she searches for some long ago memorized script. "Then let it not be said that the Druchii are not incapable of being gracious hosts?" The effect is ruined, of course, by the lilting question at the end, but she still gestures gingerly towards the other plate that Hultressa had already eaten from. "I don't suppose humans even know what hotcakes and maple syrup are."
And there comes the arrogance, cloying but not barbed like that of Hultressa.
"Well we don't call them that, no," you snort, "And we don't make exactly these. But the concept of flour or dough and oil to make similar things as this are not foreign to us. There's even these ridiculously thin kinds they apparently make in in Bretonnia called crepes."
Gwendolyn has gone still, apparently her first response whenever something unexpected occurs, before she ducks her head shallowly.
"My…apologies, then. You are an ally, and should be treated as such, and so-,"
"It's all right," you interrupt the now slightly wobbly toned script as softly as you can while still remaining audible. "You couldn't have known. Your education up until this point has surely revolved almost wholly around the other matters than what foods the humans of the Old World may partake in."
The nod is far too shaky as well, a lip doing its best to wobble despite her best efforts.
"I just wasn't sure if it would be all right if Hultressa came back to find I'd eaten her hot cakes," you say while lifting the plate up and standing fully to sit back on the couch, placing it in your lap.
"We have plenty of ingredients, I can make more whenever," is her response, a faint murmur as she now locks onto you, staring unblinkingly as you tug off your right gauntlet and begin to cut out some of it for yourself with your naked hand.
The first impression you get is softness, followed by an explosion of sweetness by the syrup that has now thoroughly soaked in, the textures and flavors not utterly unknown to you but simply magnified by a number of factors. If you were to learn that Druchii use their inhuman and incredible grasp over magic that even the Asur would find questionable to produce certain results in their food, you would not be terribly surprised. They can't all just be eating bitter and sour foods all the time over in Naggaroth, after all, and if nothing else the hot cakes prove it. It has to be a luxury item, you think, or at least the maple syrup is. Something a sorceress of Hultressa's standing would have access to at least. Either way, it is quite good, but you can't deny that there is just something missing compared to something made by an adherent of Esmeralda.
"Wow," you say after swallowing, "That's…really good. It's hard to believe that Hultressa would get up and walk away from these, though I'm glad she did given what she's doing."
Then you glance back up and find what had to have been a
spectacular bright flush of red rapidly fading away on Gwendolyn's face and neck.
"Thank you," she says with determined primness.
Then, with great rapidity and no small amount of relish, you eat.
"So what was the plan?" You ask only after making sure that both you and Gwendolyn are finished up.
"Hmm?" She tilts her head.
"You were saying what the plan was for the Ark, and everything," you shrug. "I figure, at this point, it'd be nice to know."
"Oh! Ah," she chews her lip for a second before inhaling deeply. "Well, presuming that…," she glances at you and then away then back towards you. "Presuming that we took the city of Salkalten, the main troops would begin deploying along the coast to secure all natural and unnatural dock-sites, then proceed into the interior, heading towards the city of Fur...Ferlangin."
Your right fist clenches slightly, though you continue the motion to once more prop it under your chin.
"Ferlangen," you say, the sound a rough one.
"Ferlangen," she repeats it a few times, then continues. "Then towards Wolfenburg. Meanwhile, by then our attendant fleets should have returned, and we could deploy a second force towards the Arcane Fulcrum to take it for the Covens."
It's not possible to perfectly classify the noise that rumbles in your throat, but Gwendolyn takes notice nonetheless and clears her throat again.
"Mother planned on us evacuating the Ark before that point, rescuing you from Dreadbringer's clutches after he captured you to further torture the squire by torturing you in front of her…,"
Really should have tried to make his death more painful than you managed.
"And then aiding you in repelling the invasion, by nullifying the ritual that Supreme Sorceress Screamtaker was planning on using at the Fulcrum."
"And what," you ask, forcing the anger down because you'll be damned if you yell at a child for telling you what you wanted to know, "Ritual was that?"
At that, Gwendolyn gives a hunched shrug.
"She never told mother, but mother said that there were ancient rituals, once upon a time, to try and move Arcane Fulcrums, but that they almost never worked. Or rather, you could summon one forth during a Storm of Magic from the aether or possibly elsewhere, but that it would almost never remain stable in the long run. So…," she clasps her hands in her lap and rocks slightly in the chair. "She said that it was possible that Screamtaker was going to use the Fulcrum to try and…do things…to your province…," she trails off.
"I see," you rasp, then rub at your forehead for a moment. "My apologies, Gwendolyn, I am merely angry at the thought of my home in danger. I am not mad at you."
"I…I understand that."
Sighing, you then stand, looking down at the plate.
"So you said you mother keeps no slaves, so…,"
"Oh!" She hops up, taking the plate from you and placing it on the tray. "This can go to the kitchen."
Immediately she begins scurrying off, though she turns when she notices you stopped following the moment you passed Eldyra.
"She will be safe, Frederick von Hohenzollern, this I swear to you," she says firmly. "The terrors have been instructed to keep her safe from all harm."
"And what should happen if she wakes up and finds herself surrounded by Druchii terrors after being Dreadbringer's plaything for so long?"
Gwendolyn's mouth forms an 'o'.
"I can't leave her," you tell her honestly. "But I won't leave this place either, so I suppose you can just leave and come back?"
The child frowns, thinks, and then nods rapidly.
"Very well. I shall return soon!"
Then she is gone, managing to disturb you again with how even at a full sprint she manages to not even make the quietest of patters against the carpet or stone.
"So…," you drawl, looking at the various terrors, none of which turn their heads to look back at you. "Right."
For the moment, you and Natasha can do nothing but wait for Druchii, and so you turn to communicating to each other through the bond. There is an undeniable wariness about just about everything going on in the situation, but with the same resolute grimness required by a family on the northern edge of the Empire, you both do your best to just continue on. You try to inform her about the hot cakes as best you can, while she conveys to you that both Roland and Jaques appear to both be somewhat injured. Not terribly, but enough that it would be good if the blessings of the Widow through those wielding her ice could do anything like healing. At best, ice can seal up wounds, or perhaps hold broken bones in place, but other than that, Natasha can do little else to help them. It also doesn't help that, apparently, as she manages to convey through a series of disheartening images, you have finally been given an answer as to just how long it has been since Salkalten.
A question you had dreaded asking your wife, and one she had not volunteered herself after apparently assuming you had already been told by your savior and captor.
To be specific, the sun is starting to come up.
Because the night has already passed.
It's been more than a day since Salkalten, and all this time, Natasha and the others were desperately moving and hiding as best as they could.
By the Gods.
=========================================================
"By the Gods, so many dead," someone murmured as Arthur walked past them, jerking slightly at his appearance and ducking their head. "High Priest Hohenzollern."
He was dressed as he had been since the battle's end, in his vestments and armor both, the passage of time enough to transform wet into dry, and dry into flaking rust which wicked off and away from him as he oversaw that most vital of duties for one of his station.
"At ease, soldier. You did not speak falsely," he intoned, even as dozens more Priests of Morr scrambled about the ocean of dead to try and catalogue what they could. "The carnage enacted here is considerable. Yet," he told the mostly volunteered militia man, "If we stop now, can we live with ourselves?"
The man was older than him, it was true, his beard greyed with age and heavy wrinkles about his face, but for all of that he seemed to falter underneath Arthur's gaze before his words reinvigorated him.
"I…yes, High Priest. In Morr's name, yes, we'll see them set right, given the right respects and honors."
The shore this might have been, but even here the touch of Zacharias had been felt during the Necrarch War. An unfortunate reality, or a fortunate truth? Possibly both. Regardless, Arthur had his duty, as gruesome as so many had found it. In the aftermath, after all the yelling had quieted and the recriminations and accusations had begun, he had pursued his course. Even though a great many had argued against it, his arguments back had overwhelmed and crushed his opposition. And for good reason, given the proof he had and the honesty in the words of the Asur who backed him up. For all that it did for the dead, that is. A phrase which many would find sarcastic and biting was a simple and truthful one in his heart.
"Ah," he sighed, leaning down to find a broken child's body, eyes as empty in death as they had been in life.
Somewhere, someone would have a nightmare about the arrow they shot into a child's chest, for all that it was clearly necessary given the now recognized brand burned into her back.
"They stole their soul from you, but I will do what I can for your body," he told the corpse before he took it up in his arms, "They cannot –
will not have
everything from you."
The docks of Salkalten were gone, ruined, smashed apart and broken to pieces. Enormous chunks of masonry had been blown to pieces or in some cases launched upwards to fall as ammo from a Bretonnian trebuchet into the city and amongst the defenders. Between the newly carved out shoreline, courtesy of the Black Arks, and the last wall keeping the rest of Salkalten from the Druchii, there lay the bodies. So very, very many bodies. Many of them defenders, many of them attackers. He was uncertain as to what should be done with the bodies of the Druchii, given his lack of knowledge about the afterlives of the elves, but the Asur and Eonir seemed to be prepared to take ownership of the bodies. Or, he frowned at the memory, as some amongst the Eonir had darkly joked, 'the bounty'. But the Shackled? No. Those he had refused to the Eonir, despite their frustrations. Despite the objections from his own kind as well. They were human. They had been enslaved. They had been ruined, abused, tortured, and used in life. They would be given the rites as they deserved in death.
"Arthur."
The volume was a yell, the voice as flat as the plains of the Northern March of Ostland.
"Anna," he turned, carefully cradling the body in his arms. "Is there something you need?"
"Finished the fucking deliberations," she jerked her thumb back towards the ominous citadel which had found itself planted on their shore, voice as level as ever. "No one is fucking sure what to fuck do with the damned surrendered Druchii. Not like we have the Gods' damned facilities to hold the shitheads, after all. But for the rest of the bastards, the freed slaves have finally fucking elected a trio of leaders amongst them – one for each arena apparently. Some are talking about wanting to go home."
At that, Arthur grimaced, even as he walked along the edge of the corpse sea and towards where the rest of the Cult had created a makeshift tallying and categorizing camp.
"That…will be difficult, for some."
"Yes, anyone from past the damned Ivory Road will require fucking incredible amounts of wealth and protection to make it 'home'," Anna nodded, eyes straight ahead on the horizon. "We slaughtered the shit out of the fucking greenskins, they just wanted to keep fighting everyone and everything, but the ogres…,"
"I do hope that Uncle Urgdug hasn't summarily executed them," Arthur said quickly.
"Not yet. Seems like he's gonna try and see if they can be rehabilitated. If not, push them out of the Empire."
"I see," Arthur sighed again and nodded as a pair of silent Black Guard approached, offering up the child's body. "Another of the would-be bombs. Care well for her," he instructed, receiving a pair of nods in turn before he turned back to the corpse sea. "As for the rest?" He glanced back at Anna.
She, too, had not changed, aside from summarily wiping some of her face so that she could breathe and see properly. There had simply been too much work to do after pulling off of the Ark. Aiding the fighting ongoing at the
Eternal Fortress of Torture, meeting joyfully – for one Hohenzollern capable of it at least – with Count Stephan von Kessel and Reinhardt Hertwig and all the others. But that had turned sour when it became known, widely, that his father, mother, and others had gone after the Supreme Sorceress herself. On an Ark that was, at last sighting, simply gone. Fighting the ever more desperate Druchii, having to storm their towers and manors, fighting monsters and zealots and crazed gladiators who had not joined in with their fellows, all of that had been exhausting. But then the work after the battle's end had come, work that he continued even now.
"Lots of talking. Lady Dawnstone is angry, Count Kessel is angry, Uncle Urgdug is angry," she listed off, tallying blandly with her fingers. "Lots of people happy, I think, with winning. But father and mother and the rest…make it bittersweet."
"More than fair enough. Has Sunweaver…," he trailed off hopefully, hopes that were dashed when Anna shrugged again, her Slayer's mohawk once waggling with the motion.
"Other than the fact that she is relatively sure that father is wearing the
Light of Summer – and is alive – not much else. Even that is hard enough to tell, apparently. Wherever he is, it's got some damned impressive wards."
A desperate, painful thing, hope.
Yhanna Sunweaver had been utterly certain, but it was just so hard for many to believe her. After all, they did not hold the intrinsic connection to the talisman, and it to her, and worse than that she could not provide more than vague certainties of life for but one of the party that had journeyed to the Tor of Dominance – as apparently the central and highest tower was called on the Arks.
"Plus," Anna looked ready to speak again before cutting herself off, pointing towards an approaching war hawk rider. "Hmm."
"Hohenzollerns!" The Eonir cried out as their mount flapped closer. "The scouting ships, those that were pushed back out to water to patrol! They say they see…metal hulks coming from the west! Like your…vapor…tanks – but on the water!"
The poor Eonir seemed baffled by the very concept, but that they had worked enough to learn the Reikspeil was impressive, nonetheless.
"Ah," Anna said. "That'd be the dwarfs. I should probably go help keep them from shelling the Ark, given it's got troops from three provinces and Laurelorn inside of it keeping the peace. You want to come?"
Arthur pursed his lips then looked back at the bodies.
"I have my own duties. Besides, the dwarfs know you better than they would know me. And if someone from Salkalten requires a Hohenzollern, better for one of us to stay behind to help them."
"True enough," Anna nodded before looking up at the Eonir. "Can you take one more or will I have to walk."
The Eonir looked horrified at the blood drenched, gore-soaked Anna clambering onto his war hawk, but grimaced and nodded all the same. A few words passed to his bird, and the war hawk descended with a squawk.
"Shame about Waldemar," Anna said as the bird began to flap a bit harder to take off again.
"Indeed," Arthur sighed as they flew away.
Crushed by rubble from his own walls to the point that Arthur had barely been able to recover a fourth of the man's remains had not been a good way for a man such as Waldermar von Sterneck to die. As near as could be told, he hadn't even managed to get involved in much of the fighting, dying right at the beginning as the Arks had smashed their way through Salkalten and shoreline both. It hadn't even taken out more than a handful of his Greatswords, and it was perhaps for that reason that the remainder had taken to the fighting on the
Eternal Fortress with such ferocity. Though given the various flags now draped over hits various tors, Arthur couldn't help but ruefully wonder just how 'eternal' the Black Ark was meant to be thought of now.
"Victory," he murmured to himself before sighting another human body amidst the dead, duty compelling him forward.
==============================================================
"She's taking a while," you say aloud, glancing at the terrors again. "Is that something I need to be concerned about?"
Of course, none of them respond to you.
"I'm assuming that you are all also responsible for her, too. More than us, even."
Silence.
"Or are there more of you, just sprinkled about the place? Hidden in compartments in the walls and floors and ceilings?"
The words are mocking, but your mind can't help but wonder how true it might actually be.
"I-,"
The doors swing open, and you turn to glance at Gwendolyn entering with another tray, this one silver, but with more food on top of it. There are eggs, two drumsticks of some bird or another, and a grouping of mushrooms mixed with cooked dark green vegetables. A larger cup, this one of glass, rattles slightly as she enters in rapidity, breathing slightly hard. Upon sighting you, she seems to brighten, then scurries forward without dropping or knocking over anything.
"I was starting to get a bit concerned," you inform her, fighting the smile on your lips.
"I know, my apologies," she says in a rush, "But you hadn't been fed since before the battle, and if we need to fight intruders, you need to keep your fight up," she finishes holding the tray up to you.
"I…okay," you say steadily, taking the tray as she stares at you unblinking. "Really dedicated to the whole…intruder thing, aren't you?"
She nods, still unblinking with those wholly black eyes.
"Of course! It could happen at any moment! At any time! There are so many ways to die," she finally blinks, once. "Poison gasses. Poison in the food and drink. Poison in the supplies. Touch-sensitive time-slowed poisons. Assassins that can leap through shadows, assassins with the blessings of Khaine letting them force their way through the doors, assassins summoned forth by an enemy breaking through the wards, infiltrators wearing mother's face with her aethyric signature, subverted terrors, poisoned dreams, ritual spells to do a variety of fatal effects," she pauses to finally take a breath, pausing and freezing up when you place your bare and unarmored hand on the top of her head, mouth still open.
"Gwendolyn," you say softly. "Thank you for the food. I'm sure it will help me keep my strength up. Your vigilance is also appreciated. But, for the moment, here, I would judge us relatively safe. Four terrors in sight, more presumably out of sight, me fully equipped, and you with your own deadly skills and training."
There is a shudder that runs through her before she nods, still with your hand atop her head.
"Maybe just…take a seat, and we can wait for your mother to come back. Maybe you can tell me what I was looking at in that alcove in the meantime," you give a small laugh and step back, taking your hand off the top of her head and sit down.
Gwendolyn remains frozen in position before blinking rapidly and then taking an aborted hop and step to get back into a chair herself.
"I…yes. I can. We can do that," she corrects herself with a nod. "We can...we can talk about things."
There is a wonder in those words that makes your stomach clench again.
"Right. Like...where is the Ark going, or something," you chuckle.
"Oh, if the invasion failed so badly, we'd head to the Sea of Chaos," is the immediate reply, making you cough and sputter.
"What?!"
"Oh yes," Gwendolyn nods quickly, shrugging. "Probably going to hit the Keldevind Islands first, I heard mother talking about that as an easy quick target, then on towards the Kvellings territories beyond?"
"Beyond. Beyond as in on the edges of the Chaos Wastes?"
"Probably," she shrugs, nonchalantly, the concept more than feasible to her. "Either to raid or to trade, or both depending on the tribes. Either that...or...we go to Norsca's northern coast? With their civil war going on and all, it would be easy to take lumber to rebuild ships and such."
"The Norscans are having a civil war?"
Gwendolyn tilts her head at you.
"You didn't know?"
"No, I did not," you cough again.
"Well...they have been pretty insular about it, and I doubt your sources of information include them, so that makes sense. Though, I'm not sure what Trathann is going to do...oh, is he still alive?"
You just blink at her.
"Trathann?"
Gwendolyn blinks back at you.
"Oh! You might not know his name! I assumed he would be with leading with Alyssa now that she is the Supreme Sorceress? Everyone knows that he was her favorite lover. Unless he's dead?"
"I'm not," you pause, "I don't know. I don't recognize the name. Was there anything that made him distinctive?"
You see a flash of Druchii cruelty in the acidic laughter that Gwendolyn releases.
"Oh, very much so. He couldn't avoid it. After all, his father is Caledor's Bane!"
"Was," your mouth automatically corrects before you pause in shock.
She freezes again, but resets faster than the past few times.
"Oh, well, in that case, he might have more, or less influence? If the
Eternal Fortress is gone, then he can't really bring it into Alyssa's influence," she nods firmly before twiddling her fingers, looking up at you through some of her hair which has fallen over her face. "Does that mean that...Caledor's Bane...?"
"Killed him, yeah, and his dragon," you sigh.
"Oh...then I don't know," she shakes her head back and forth. "Trathann rode Rendrip, a dragon sired by his father's dragon Venomfang?"
Well there's just about one person that could be, then.
"If that's the case, then I definitely don't know," you grunt, pausing as you bite into one of the poultry drumsticks, "This is quite good. But," when you glance up again you see a retreating flush on Gwendolyn's face again. "But I saw one dead dragon and one rider ducking out of the way during the fight. I don't even know if he's alive or not. And besides, how do you know all this?"
"Oh, everyone knew," she says confidently, "Everyone knows that Trathann was going to try and usurp his father, the same for Alyssa against her mother. It is how the Druchii do things. But...," her confidence drains to uncertainty then certainty again. "But not me and mother. Not us. Because we're...we're different, and we're leaving."
"Right. Well," you take a few more bites, realizing that apparently Hultressa's kitchens have access to some powerful spices. "Let's move on, then."
Topic Limit Unknown While Hultressa And Others Make Moves, Vote In Desired Order Of Importance:
Moratorium 3 Hours
NOTE: Please put your priority list in a planned vote for ease of tallying purposes.
[] Gwendolyn's Life and Training Thus Far
[] Information On Hultressa's Life And Deeds
[] Information On Alyssa Voidreaper
[] Information On Ark's Gladiatory Arenas
[] Information On Ark's Aquaculture Method of Food Production
[] Information On Ark's Pyramid Farms
[] Information On Norscan Civil War
=======================================================================================================
Present On Shores of the Empire Prior To Incursion
Notables at Salkalten
Frederick von Hohenzollern, Elector Count of Ostland
Oskana the Gryphon, Mount of Frederick
Natasha von Hohenzollern nee Romanov, Countess of Ostland
Anna von Hohenzollern, Princess of Wulfenburg, Master Engineer
Arthur von Hohenzollern, Prince of Wulfenburg, High Priest of Morr
Urgdug Greatbellow, Knight of Trofurt, First Maelstrombringer
Sir Roland Martel d'Mousillon (Formerly Sandrine du Pointe du Lac Dieudonné), Questing Knight of Bretonnia
Waldemar von Sterneck, Prince of Salkalten, Former Greatsword of Army of Ostland
Kerillian, Journeying Waywatcher of Athel Loren
Sadrina, Handmaiden of the Everqueen
High Matriarch of Manann Maghda Sprenger
Wizard Lord Margarethe Wolfgang of the Jade College, Plus 5 Journeymen Jade Wizards
Magister Karl, Magister Carlotta, Journeyman Adira of Araby
Master Wizard Casparan Smokewrought of the Bright College
Smoke Signals Sent, Amber College Response Unknown
Gold College Journeymen Otto, Violetta, Rashad, Emile.
Army of Ostland
2000 Swordsmen - The workhorse of soldiery, armored and given a sword and shield. (Decent Attack, Good Defense, Good Mobility)
2000 Halberdiers - Armored and armed with a well crafted halberd and a smaller short sword for extreme close range. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
2750 Archers - A soldier with a bow and some arrows, little else to say. (Decent Attack, Decent+ Defense, Good Mobility)
2000 Crossbowmen - A soldier with a crossbow, able to reliably punch through a knight's armor and reload faster than a handgun. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
2000 Light Cavalry - Lightly armored with decent weaponry. (Decent Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility)
2000 Pike - Armored well, wielding a good long stabbing weapon. (Decent+ Attack, Good Defense, Poor Mobility)
3000 Handgunners - A trained marksman wielding a handgun (Very Good Attack, Decent Defense, Decent Mobility)
500 Wing-Suit Fighters - Expert aerial-capable scouts armed with crossbows and trained in the use of the gravity-defying wing-suit. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility) [25 Engineers Manning Accompanying 5 Flight Towers]
1000 Grenadiers - Lightly armored, but equipped with devastating bombs and a specialized lobbing gauntlet. (Great Attack, Decent Defense, Decent Mobility)
500 Greatswords - Full steel plate armor and high quality steel blades combined with supreme experience and skill. (Extreme Attack, Great Defense, Great Mobility) *Only 500 per controlled Barony allowed.
220 Champions of Ostland - Full steel plate armor, highest quality great axes. Skilled veterans, spread across the rest of the army as leaders. (Extreme Attack, Great Defense, Great Mobility) *Legally Not Greatsword Position Holders
300 Steelbacks - Armored ogres, wielding an assortment of Great Weapons that only they could wield. They are also equipped with Ostland Ironfists, increasing their close combat damage and overall durability. (Greater Attack, Greater Defense, Good Mobility)
50 Thunderbringers – An armored ogre striding forth wielding a Bull Cannon, a modified design of the Imperial Cannon (Greater Attack, Greater Defense, Low Mobility)
30 Pulverizers - The most physically powerful ogres in Ostland, decked out in the heaviest, thickest, hardiest armor they could possibly wear. Equipped with a single massive thick slab of solid metal in the general shape of a shield with spikes and blades on one end that can also be used as a great smashing weapon. (Good Attack, Extreme Defense, Low Mobility)
100 Ogre Archers - Ogres wielding the mighty ogrebow, practically a handheld ballista specially made for an ogre to utilize their immense strength with. Lightly armored compared to other ogres, but still retaining natural ogre durability and deceptive mobility. (Greater(-) Attack, Decent+ Defense, Great Mobility)
25 Urgdug's Maelstrombringers - Elite Thunderbringers equipped with personalized heavy armor and high grade custom built Bull Cannons. Urgdug's personal squad, the toughest, biggest, smartest ogres in Ostland. (Greater+ Attack, Greater+ Defense, Good Mobility)
330 Artillerists - Cannon Swabbers to Master Engineers, They Crew The Cannons. 5 Per Great Cannon/4 Per Dash Cannon/5 Per Dash Volley Cannon/2 Per Barrel Thrower / 7 Per Titan Cannon [30 Great Cannons] [25 Dash Cannons] [10 Dash Volley Cannon] [8 Barrel Throwers] [2 Titan Cannon]
50 Doomspheres - Swirling balls of metal, spikes, and blades that are wound up and pointed in the direction of the enemy. Sometimes explodes at the end of their rolls. Against lightly armored foes - (Absurd Attack, Bad Defense, Good Mobility). Against heavily armored foes - (Low Attack, Bad Defense, Good Mobility).
1 Vapor Tank '
The Horns' - Masterful creation of advanced engineering, powered by alcoholic vapor engine. Possesses incredibly thick plating, a set of covered wheels that can go on and off-road, and a full Imperial Great Cannon as its main weapon. The essentially traditional loadout of the Vapor Tank design, capable of significant ranged damage as well as surprisingly devastating close range crushing capacity. Cupola can open up to allow better sighting, as well as allow a crewmember to man its smaller swivel cannon or their own personal weaponry. Able to ram, crush, and drive over many things. (Greater Attack, Greater Defense, Decent Mobility) [Crewed By Team of 1 Master Engineer, 3 Senior Engineers, 1 Engineer]
1 Vapor Tank '
Little Guvuar' - Masterful creation of advanced engineering, powered by alcoholic vapor engine. Possesses incredibly thick plating, a set of covered wheels that can go on and off-road, and a lighter Dash Cannon as its main ballistic weapon. However, as befitting their origins in the Steam Tanks, this vehicle has come with a modified weapon loadout. Specifically, a modified deathspinner sitting at the front of the tank which is connected to the vapor system to allow for constant spinning and death as the tank slices and hacks apart those before it. Cupola can open up to allow better sighting, as well as allow a crewmember to man its smaller swivel cannon or their own personal weaponry. (Greater Attack, Greater Defense, Decent Mobility) [Crewed By Team of 1 Master Engineer, 3 Senior Engineers, 1 Engineer]
18 Warrior Priests (x6 of Sigmar, x4 of Ulric, x3 of Morr, x5 of Myrmidia)
2 Magister Grey Guardians
3 Witch Hunters of Ostland
20 Bird Bomber Flocks
Knightly Orders Present
The Bull Warriors
1 Grand Master Karl Kaiser
1 Mounted Preceptor Ludwig Brandt
1 Foot Preceptor Sven Voit
45 Knights of the Inner Circle
650 Infantry Knights
300 Mounted Knights
400 Bowmen-At-Arms
400 Crossbow-Men-At-Arms
4 Ballista
7 Attached Shallyan Priestesses
Knights of Morr/Black Guard of Morr
1 High Guardian of the Garden
2 Warrior Priests of Morr
50 Guardians of the Garden [Inner Circle]
700 Infantry Knights
Knights Raven
1 High Seeker of the Raven
4 Warrior Priests of Morr
20 Seekers of the Raven [Inner Circle]
300 Infantry Knights
500 Mounted Knights
Knights of the North Star
1 Chapter Commander
22 Knights of the Inner Circle
110 Infantry Knights
305 Mounted Knights
Sons of Manann
1 Commodore Lars Gildemeister
10 Warrior Priests of Manann
50 Stormbreakers [Inner Circle]
1000 Sea-Faring Knights
650 Mounted Knights
Land-Based Mercenaries Present
Lumpin Croop's Fighting Cocks [Race: Halflings] [Origin: The Moot] [Type: Masterful scouts, trackers, game-wardens, archers] [Numbers: 350 Halflings]
Company of the Stag [Race: Human] [Origin: Talabecland] [Description: Experienced Archers - Swordsmen/Archer/Scouts - that specialize in Forest Combat] [Numbers: 200 Swordsmen, 300 Archer/Scouts]
Bianca's Black Scorners [Race: Human] [Origin: Remas] [Description: The Leopard Company is not the only pike company in the world, much less Tilea. While their legend is not as great, their characteristic black pikes - and ability to spew legendarily grievous insults - are plenty famous enough.] [Numbers: 500 Pikes]
Leopolds Leopard Company [Race: Human] [Origin: Tilea - Luccini] [Description: Legendary Pike Unit, with a long history of famous successes. Expensive but always worth it. [Numbers: 1000 Legendary Pikes]
Chargers of Chaq [Race: Human] [Origin: Kislev] [Description: Elite Ungol Horse Archers who refuse to work in the land of the Gospodar's who broke their people] [Numbers: 1,000]
The Whitewings [Race: Human/Pegasus] [Origin: No one is quite sure where these men managed to obtain and train these snow white pegasi, nor have the materials to armor their mounts so expertly. What is important is that they fight for coin and only what they deem to be 'the right causes'. The sheer utility and tactical advantages of flying lancers and scouts is more than enough to have any intelligent enough employer acknowledge their rather inflexible sense of morality.] [Numbers: 10 Heavily Armored Pegasus Lancers]
Derelict Deadlies [Race: Human] [Origins: Old World] [Description: Gathered up detritus from across the Old World, given armor and weapons, and thrown into the fight. Those that survive in the long-term become hard-bitten veterans.] [Numbers: 750 Halberdiers, 250 Crossbowmen, 1 Derelict Company Leader Luigi]
Los Bravos Jabalíes [Race: Human] [Origins: Estalia] [Description: Their homes lost or taken from them, these men have turned to becoming soldiers of fortune to make a brutal living in the world. Their pikes are held with all the bitter strength of those who have nothing left to lose.] [Numbers: 500 Pikes With Unbreakable Morale]
Company Of The Dragonfly [Race: Human] [Origins: Old World] [Description: A grouping of professional soldiers who hold to the old ways of Myrmidia's Legions, an ancient military tradition that died when the Goddess herself left the mortal world. They have revived it in the modern era, updated for the modern battlefield. They are not cheap, but they are a complete military package, backed by priests of Myrmidia who are not afraid to prove their worth to a Goddess of War on the battlefield.] [Numbers: 2000 Pikes, 2000 Crossbowmen, 500 Light Cavalry, 500 Heavy Cavalry, 10 Great Cannons With Crews, 5 Warrior Priests of Myrmidia, 1 Mercenary General Flavio]
Los Espantos del Torricelli [Race: Human] [Origins: Estalia] [Description: 'The Terrors of Torricelli' are an experienced small army of soldiers who have spent the last ten years ranging across Lustria and beyond, their experience undeniable and their arms of extremely high quality. They still retain the name of Torricelli, the name of their original founder years ago, and have proven themselves time and again in pitched combat. They have returned from the New World, eager to battlefields that are a little more familiar than jungles and fantastical beasts...for the most part, at least. Their banner is that of a rather salacious looking Myrmidia, her spear absolutely drenched with blood as she stalks across a road of slain scaled creatures.] [Numbers: 500 Pikes, 500 Spearmen With Shields, 1000 Crossbows, 100 Light Cavalry, 2 Warrior Priests of Myrmidia, 1 Commander Braggando]
Helmut's Free Company [Race:Human] [Origin: Empire] [Description: A company of adventurers armored in half plate, armed with crossbows or handguns, swords and bucklers and skilled both at range and in melee] [250 armored Crossbow-Swordsmen, 250 armored Handgunner-Swordsmen, 1 Company Commander Helmut Sepp]
Perdición de Los Nórdicos [Race: Human] [Origin: Estalia] [Description: Veteran Estalian Almogavar light infantry hardened by the Chaos invasion of their country, excellent skirmishers, woodsmen and ambushers, armored only with helmets and shields and armed with javelins, slings and an assortment of hand weapons] [Numbers: 500 Almogavar light infantry]
The Smoking Manticores [Race: Human] [Origins: Empire] [Description: This mercenary company was originally two separate units, the 5th Hochland Handgunners and Duke Albright's Pikes from Averland, that found they worked extremely well together and joined forces. The hand gunners deserted after some local lord pocketed their wages, and the pikes were raised by some umpteenth son of some rich noble in Averland that tried his hand at lordling in the border princes couldn't hack it and went merc. The two units fought together in one of Tilea's many wars, the lordling died somewhere along the way, and the surviving officers decided to join the companies together and changed the name. Now they are a pike and shot unit led by Captain Harl Schmit.] [Numbers: 1000 Pikemen, 500 Handgunners, 1 Captain Harl Schmit.]
Taal's Ever Faithful Pack [Race: Human] [Origin: Empire] [Description: Taal's Ever Faithful Pack or Taal's Pack for short is unlike most mercenary band what one might call literal dogs of war as they are primarily made up of Hunting Dogs. What they lack the ferocety and staying power of proper war hounds they make up for in their versatility. The roles Taal's Pack can fulfill are many and varied from the expected of patroling for and hunting of man and beat to helping law enforcement to sniff out and chase after elusive criminals and protecting herds, caravans and farms from most dangers. As well as training for their employers dogs and selling dogs that become to old or hurt. Taal's Pack claim to fame is however is however more due to how well trained and behaved their dogs are and how a many hardened heart have been softened by the undeniable charm of the dogs.] [Numbers: 101 light armored hunting dogs, 10 Taalite dog handler, 1 Warrior Priest of Taal]
The Great Wind - [Race: Human] [Origin: Araby] [Description: Fanatical light cavalry and horse archers] [Numbers: 500 Light Cavalry, 500 Horse Archers]
Detachment of Ostermark's Army of the West
2000 Ostermark Veteran Swordsmen
2000 Ostermark Veteran Spearmen
2000 Ostermark Veteran Handgunners
2000 Ostermark Veteran Archers
200 Ostermark Greatswords
100 Veteran Knights of the Everlasting Light
1 Jade Wizard Lord Margarethe Wolfgang
5 Jade Wizard Journeymen
185 Artillerists - Cannon Swabbers to Master Engineers, They Crew The Cannons. 5 Per Great Cannon/4 Per Dash Cannon/5 Per Dash Volley Cannon [20 Great Cannons] [15 Dash Cannons] [5 Dash Volley Cannons]
3 Warrior Priests of Sigmar
2 Warrior Priests of Ulric
3 Warrior Priests of Verena
5 Bird Bomber Flocks
Eonir
1 Elder Highweaver Myrisira Sunweaver, First Daughter of High Spellweaver of Laurelorn Yhanna Sunweaver and Lady of the Sunweaver Kindred
8 Elder Highweavers
2 Elder Darkweavers
55 Brightspears, Apex Laurelorn Highborn Champions bearing enchanted arms and armor of Brightgrove, the most magically powerful of the Canopy-Cities of Laurelorn. They are some of the single most deadly elves in all of Laurelorn and cannot be deployed without the agreement of both the Lady of Brightgrove and the Glade Lord of all Laurelorn.
44 Umbral Striders, Apex Laurelorn Waystalkers bearing enchanted arms and armor of Brightgrove, the most magically powerful of the Canopy-Cities of Laurelorn. They are some of the single most deadly elves in all of Laurelorn and cannot be deployed without the agreement of both the Lady of Brightgrove and the Glade Lord of all Laurelorn.
Other
100 Veteran Kreml Guard - Heavily armored and expert halberdiers who hail from the harsh land of Kislev.
1 Veteran Kreml Guard Captain - Captain Boris
500 Greatswords of Salkalten of House Von Sterneck
100 Greatswords of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
1500 Swordsmen of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
1000 Pikemen of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
1000 Archers of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
1000 Handgunners of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
1000 Crossbowmen of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
80 Manned Cannons For Salkalten Sea Walls. 30 On Outermost Wall, Then 10 For Each Ring Inwards
80 Scorpion Bolt Thrower Artillery on Salkalten Sea Walls. 30 On Outermost Wall, Then 10 For Each Ring Inwards
25 Bird Bomber Flocks Trained For Anti-Ship Usage
15 Warrior Priests of Sigmar from across Ostland Northern March
10 Ordained Priestesses of Shallya from across Ostland Northern March
20 Warrior Priests of Manann
1000 Knights Mariner
50 Inner Circle Knights Mariner
5000 Militia Spearmen
3,500 Militia Minute Men
1,000 Militia Archers
1,000 Militia Crossbowmen
35 Ogre Spearmen Militia from across Northern March
5000 Salkalten Guard - Armed in scale mail and helmets, given a handgun and the choice of either a spear or axe. They are stationed permanently on the coast of Ostland, there to defend its settlements.
100 Ostland Ogre Volunteers (Equipped With Clubs, Scavenged Armor)
200 Dwarf Warrior Volunteers (Equipped With Masterwork Steel, No Enchanted Arms or Armor)
10,000 Flagellants
3,500 Explosive Martyr Flagellants
Ostland Naval Forces Present
51 Imperial Wolf Ships
59 Wargalleys
1 Ostland Greatship 'Mace of Magnus'
1 Ostland Greatship 'Arthur's Sword'
Cult of Manann Present
5 Cult of Manann Bretonnian War Galleons
10 Cult of Manann Imperial Wolf Ships
1 Cult of Manann Seaborne Cathedral 'Grace of Storms', Personal Ship of High Matriarch Maghda
1 Ostland Greatship 'Fist of Frederick'
1 Ostland Greatship 'Natasha's Grace'
1 Ostland Greatship 'Alexandra's Hammer'
1 Ostland Greatship 'Blue Anna'
1 Ostland Greatship 'Oskar's Omen'
Mercenary Ships Present:
4 Heavily Customized War Galleons, Overweight With Weaponry And Boarding Crew [Red Anne]
1 Ironclad Ship 'The Fair Fregar
' With Dwarf Naval Cannons, 4 Ironclad Dinghies, 150 Slayer Crewmen, 1 Long Drong [Slayers]
5 Heavily Customized War Galleons And Crew [Saltspear]
4 War Barques of Araby [Golden Scimitars]
Notables At Nordland's Shores
Stephen von Kessel, Elector Count of Nordland
Odelia Flamestar, Bright Wizard Lord
Naraiel Dawnstone, Glade Lord of the Eonir High Realm of Laurelorn
Kyrian Dawnstone, Prince of the Dawnstone Kindred and Eonir High Realm of Laurelorn
Yhanna Sunweaver, High Spellweaver of the Eonir High Realm of Laurelorn
Bloodglade, Eldest Branchwraith of Laurelorn
Lendrilin, Eldest Treeman of Laurelorn
Baron Otto von Neurath of Nordland
Baron Peter von Wittig of Nordland
Baroness Amelia von Laue of Nordland
High Priestess Ultha of the Sudfast Temple of Ulric
High Priest Uthbert of Manann
Nordland Hierarch of Taal Wolfram
Nordland Hierarch of Rhya Kamila
High Priestess of Myrmidia Julia
Reinhardt Hertwig, the Silver Manticore, Heir of Ostermark
10 Lesser Barons and Baronesses of Nordland
5 Bright Wizard Magisters
3 Jade Wizard Magisters
1 Celestial Wizard Magister
12 Kindred Lords and Ladies of the Eonir High Realm of Laurelorn
1st Army of Nordland
2000 Swordsmen - The workhorse of soldiery, armored and given a sword and shield. (Decent Attack, Good Defense, Good Mobility)
2000 Halberdiers - Armored and armed with a well crafted halberd and a smaller short sword for extreme close range. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
2000 Archers - A soldier with a bow and some arrows, little else to say. (Decent Attack, Decent+ Defense, Good Mobility)
1000 Nordland Huntsmen – Masters of woodcraft acknowledged even by those of Hochland and Talabecland, expert trackers and ambushers wielding Laurelorn-sourced bows and arrows. (Very Good Attack, Decent+ Defense, Good+ Mobility)
1000 Crossbowmen - A soldier with a crossbow, able to reliably punch through a knight's armor and reload faster than a handgun. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
2000 Light Cavalry - Lightly armored with decent weaponry. (Decent Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility)
1000 Crossbow Skirmishers – Lightly armored cavalry possessing advanced repeating shot crossbows from Nuln and plenty of specialized ammo. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility)
3000 Pike - Armored well, wielding a good long stabbing weapon. (Decent+ Attack, Good Defense, Poor Mobility)
2000 Handgunners - A trained marksman wielding a handgun (Very Good Attack, Decent Defense, Decent Mobility)
500 Greatswords - Full steel plate armor and high quality steel blades combined with supreme experience and skill. (Extreme Attack, Great Defense, Great Mobility) *Only 500 per controlled Barony allowed.
10 Warrior Priests (x4 Warrior Priests of Sigmar, x5 Warrior Priests of Ulric, x1 Warrior Priest of Myrmidia)
10 Shallyan Priestesses
2nd Army of Nordland
2000 Swordsmen - The workhorse of soldiery, armored and given a sword and shield. (Decent Attack, Good Defense, Good Mobility)
2000 Halberdiers - Armored and armed with a well crafted halberd and a smaller short sword for extreme close range. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
2000 Archers - A soldier with a bow and some arrows, little else to say. (Decent Attack, Decent+ Defense, Good Mobility)
1000 Nordland Huntsmen – Masters of woodcraft acknowledged even by those of Hochland and Talabecland, expert trackers and ambushers wielding Laurelorn-sourced bows and arrows. (Very Good Attack, Decent+ Defense, Good+ Mobility)
1000 Crossbowmen - A soldier with a crossbow, able to reliably punch through a knight's armor and reload faster than a handgun. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
2000 Light Cavalry - Lightly armored with decent weaponry. (Decent Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility)
1000 Crossbow Skirmishers – Lightly armored cavalry possessing advanced repeating shot crossbows from Nuln and plenty of ammo. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility)
3000 Pike - Armored well, wielding a good long stabbing weapon. (Decent+ Attack, Good Defense, Poor Mobility)
2000 Handgunners - A trained marksman wielding a handgun (Very Good Attack, Decent Defense, Decent Mobility)
10 Warrior Priests (x4 Warrior Priests of Sigmar, x5 Warrior Priests of Ulric, x1 Warrior Priest of Myrmidia)
10 Shallyan Priestesses
Knightly Orders Present
Sons of Manann
1 Commodore Niklaus Buchel
5 Warrior Priests of Manann
50 Stormbreakers [Inner Circle]
1000 Sea-Faring Knights
500 Mounted Knights
Knights Mariner
1 Commodore Joseph Sea-Strider
3 Warrior Priests of Manann
20 Stormborn [Inner Circle]
300 Mounted Knights
Knights of the North Star
Grandmaster Markus Frostfaust
1 Mounted Preceptor
1 Foot Preceptor
100 Knights of the Inner Circle
500 Knights
White Wolves
1 Company Captain Mia "der Wirbelsäulenbrecher"
5 Fellwolves [Inner Circle]
100 White Wolf Knights on Foot
500 Mounted White Wolf Knights
Knights of the Cold Dawn
1 Knight Captain Baldric
1 Warrior Priest of Myrmidia
15 Knights of the Cold Dawn
Knights-Errant
200 Assorted Knights-Errant of the Old World
Detachment of Ostermark's Army of the West
2000 Ostermark Veteran Swordsmen
2000 Ostermark Veteran Spearmen
2000 Ostermark Veteran Handgunners
2000 Ostermark Veteran Archers
200 Ostermark Greatswords
400 Veteran Knights of the Everlasting Light
50 Lightbearers [Inner Circle Knights]
185 Artillerists - Cannon Swabbers to Master Engineers, They Crew The Cannons. 5 Per Great Cannon/4 Per Dash Cannon/5 Per Dash Volley Cannon [20 Great Cannons] [15 Dash Cannons] [5 Dash Volley Cannons]
3 Warrior Priests of Sigmar
2 Warrior Priests of Ulric
3 Warrior Priests of Verena
5 Bird Bomber Flocks
Excursion Force of Laurelorn
3 Elder Highweavers of Yn Edryrl Ladrilalilecail within Laurelorn astride Great Eagles
3 Elder Darkweavers of Yn Edryrl Ladrilalilecail within Laurelorn astride Great Owls
12 Highweavers
12 Darkweavers
20 Spellweavers (x12 Weavers of Azyr, x2 Weavers Aqshy, x2 Weavers Ghyran, x2 Weavers of Ghur, and x2 Weavers of Ulgu)
5 Branchwraiths of Laurelorn
10 Waystalkers of Laurelorn
100 Highborn Champions of Laurelorn Wielding Ancient Ithilmar Arms
10 Highborn Great Stag Knight Champions Wielding Ancient Ithilmar Arms
25 Glade Captains of Laurelorn wielding Hagbane Tips
2000 Eternal Guard
3000 Glade Guard wielding Arcane Bodkins
2000 Deepwood Scouts wielding Arcane Bodkins
1000 Rangers of Dusk and Dawn wielding Swiftshiver Shards [Wildwood Ranger Equivalents]
1000 Glade Riders
500 Glade Knights
250 Warhawk Riders wielding Starfire Shafts
750 Wardancers
250 Bladesingers
100 Shadowdancers
500 Waywatchers
100 Waywatcher Sentinels
500 Dryads
10 Treemen
500 Tree-Kin
5 Forest Dragons
12 Spite Clouds
Other
500 Greatswords of Norden of House Neurath
250 Greatswords of Assembled Nobility of Northern Nordland
250 Greatswords of Assembled Nobility of Southern Nordland
2000 Swordsmen of Assembled Nobility of all of Nordland
2000 Pikemen of Assembled Nobility of all of Nordland
2000 Archers of Assembled Nobility of all of Nordland
2000 Handgunners of Assembled Nobility of all of Nordland
2000 Crossbowmen of Assembled Nobility of all of Nordland
2000 Huntsmen of Nordland's Folk (Not Wielding Laurelorn-Sourced Weaponry)
8000 Militia Spearmen
3000 Militia Archer
1000 Sigmarite Flagellants
2000 Ulrican Flagellants
20 Warrior Priests of Ulric from across all of Nordland
10 Warrior Priests of Sigmar from across all of Nordland
15 Warrior Priests of Manann
Nordland Naval Forces Present
200 Wolf Ships
125 War Galleys
34 'Deputized' Assorted Trader Ships [x4 Arabyan, x10 Bretonnian, x3 Estalian, x5 Tilean, x12 Imperial]
Present On Shores of the Empire Post Retreat of the Claw of Dominion
Notables at Salkalten
Frederick von Hohenzollern, Elector Count of Ostland [
Status Unknown]
Oskana the Gryphon, Mount of Frederick [
Status Unknown]
Natasha von Hohenzollern nee Romanov, Countess of Ostland [
Status Unknown]
Anna von Hohenzollern, Princess of Wulfenburg, Master Engineer
Arthur von Hohenzollern, Prince of Wulfenburg, High Priest of Morr
Urgdug Greatbellow, Knight of Trofurt, First Maelstrombringer
Sir Roland Martel d'Mousillon (Formerly Sandrine du Pointe du Lac Dieudonné), Questing Knight of Bretonnia [
Status Unknown]
Waldemar von Sterneck, Prince of Salkalten, Former Greatsword of Army of Ostland [
Dead]
Kerillian, Journeying Waywatcher of Athel Loren [
Status Unknown]
Sadrina, Handmaiden of the Everqueen [
Status Unknown]
High Matriarch of Manann Maghda Sprenger [
Status Unknown]
Wizard Lord Margarethe Wolfgang of the Jade College, Plus 5 Journeymen Jade Wizards
Magister Karl, Magister Carlotta, Journeyman Adira of Araby
Master Wizard Casparan Smokewrought of the Bright College
Smoke Signals Sent, Amber College Response Unknown
Gold College Journeymen Otto,
Violetta, Rashad, Emile.
Army of Ostland
1250 Swordsmen - The workhorse of soldiery, armored and given a sword and shield. (Decent Attack, Good Defense, Good Mobility)
1000 Halberdiers - Armored and armed with a well crafted halberd and a smaller short sword for extreme close range. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
2300 Archers - A soldier with a bow and some arrows, little else to say. (Decent Attack, Decent+ Defense, Good Mobility)
1550 Crossbowmen - A soldier with a crossbow, able to reliably punch through a knight's armor and reload faster than a handgun. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
750 Light Cavalry - Lightly armored with decent weaponry. (Decent Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility)
1000 Pike - Armored well, wielding a good long stabbing weapon. (Decent+ Attack, Good Defense, Poor Mobility)
2500 Handgunners - A trained marksman wielding a handgun (Very Good Attack, Decent Defense, Decent Mobility)
400 Wing-Suit Fighters - Expert aerial-capable scouts armed with crossbows and trained in the use of the gravity-defying wing-suit. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility) [25 Engineers Manning Accompanying 5 Flight Towers]
900 Grenadiers - Lightly armored, but equipped with devastating bombs and a specialized lobbing gauntlet. (Great Attack, Decent Defense, Decent Mobility)
400 Greatswords - Full steel plate armor and high quality steel blades combined with supreme experience and skill. (Extreme Attack, Great Defense, Great Mobility) *Only 500 per controlled Barony allowed.
200 Champions of Ostland - Full steel plate armor, highest quality great axes. Skilled veterans, spread across the rest of the army as leaders. (Extreme Attack, Great Defense, Great Mobility) *Legally Not Greatsword Position Holders
260 Steelbacks - Armored ogres, wielding an assortment of Great Weapons that only they could wield. They are also equipped with Ostland Ironfists, increasing their close combat damage and overall durability. (Greater Attack, Greater Defense, Good Mobility)
50 Thunderbringers – An armored ogre striding forth wielding a Bull Cannon, a modified design of the Imperial Cannon (Greater Attack, Greater Defense, Low Mobility)
30 Pulverizers - The most physically powerful ogres in Ostland, decked out in the heaviest, thickest, hardiest armor they could possibly wear. Equipped with a single massive thick slab of solid metal in the general shape of a shield with spikes and blades on one end that can also be used as a great smashing weapon. (Good Attack, Extreme Defense, Low Mobility)
100 Ogre Archers - Ogres wielding the mighty ogrebow, practically a handheld ballista specially made for an ogre to utilize their immense strength with. Lightly armored compared to other ogres, but still retaining natural ogre durability and deceptive mobility. (Greater(-) Attack, Decent+ Defense, Great Mobility)
25 Urgdug's Maelstrombringers - Elite Thunderbringers equipped with personalized heavy armor and high grade custom built Bull Cannons. Urgdug's personal squad, the toughest, biggest, smartest ogres in Ostland. (Greater+ Attack, Greater+ Defense, Good Mobility)
250 Artillerists - Cannon Swabbers to Master Engineers, They Crew The Cannons. 5 Per Great Cannon/4 Per Dash Cannon/5 Per Dash Volley Cannon/2 Per Barrel Thrower / 7 Per Titan Cannon [4 Great Cannons] [10 Dash Cannons] [8 Dash Volley Cannon] [8 Barrel Throwers] [2 Titan Cannon]
25 Doomspheres - Swirling balls of metal, spikes, and blades that are wound up and pointed in the direction of the enemy. Sometimes explodes at the end of their rolls. Against lightly armored foes - (Absurd Attack, Bad Defense, Good Mobility). Against heavily armored foes - (Low Attack, Bad Defense, Good Mobility).
1 Vapor Tank '
The Horns' - Masterful creation of advanced engineering, powered by alcoholic vapor engine. Possesses incredibly thick plating, a set of covered wheels that can go on and off-road, and a full Imperial Great Cannon as its main weapon. The essentially traditional loadout of the Vapor Tank design, capable of significant ranged damage as well as surprisingly devastating close range crushing capacity. Cupola can open up to allow better sighting, as well as allow a crewmember to man its smaller swivel cannon or their own personal weaponry. Able to ram, crush, and drive over many things. (Greater Attack, Greater Defense, Decent Mobility) [Crewed By Team of 1 Master Engineer, 3 Senior Engineers, 1 Engineer]
1 Vapor Tank '
Little Guvuar' - Masterful creation of advanced engineering, powered by alcoholic vapor engine. Possesses incredibly thick plating, a set of covered wheels that can go on and off-road, and a lighter Dash Cannon as its main ballistic weapon. However, as befitting their origins in the Steam Tanks, this vehicle has come with a modified weapon loadout. Specifically, a modified deathspinner sitting at the front of the tank which is connected to the vapor system to allow for constant spinning and death as the tank slices and hacks apart those before it. Cupola can open up to allow better sighting, as well as allow a crewmember to man its smaller swivel cannon or their own personal weaponry. (Greater Attack, Greater Defense, Decent Mobility) [Crewed By Team of 1 Master Engineer, 3 Senior Engineers, 1 Engineer]
13 Warrior Priests (x4 of Sigmar, x3 of Ulric, x2 of Morr, x4 of Myrmidia)
2 Magister Grey Guardians
3 Witch Hunters of Ostland
10 Bird Bomber Flocks
Knightly Orders Present
The Bull Warriors
1 Grand Master Karl Kaiser
1 Mounted Preceptor Ludwig Brandt
1 Foot Preceptor Sven Voit
25 Knights of the Inner Circle
400 Infantry Knights
100 Mounted Knights
300 Bowmen-At-Arms
300 Crossbow-Men-At-Arms
7 Attached Shallyan Priestesses
Knights of Morr/Black Guard of Morr
1 High Guardian of the Garden
2 Warrior Priests of Morr
40 Guardians of the Garden [Inner Circle]
500 Infantry Knights
Knights Raven
1 High Seeker of the Raven
3 Warrior Priests of Morr
20 Seekers of the Raven [Inner Circle]
50 Infantry Knights
100 Mounted Knights
Knights of the North Star
1 Chapter Commander
15 Knights of the Inner Circle
75 Infantry Knights
275 Mounted Knights
Sons of Manann
1 Commodore Lars Gildemeister
2 Warrior Priests of Manann
10 Stormbreakers [Inner Circle]
250 Mounted Knights
Land-Based Mercenaries Present
Lumpin Croop's Fighting Cocks [Race: Halflings] [Origin: The Moot] [Type: Masterful scouts, trackers, game-wardens, archers] [Numbers: 350 Halflings]
Company of the Stag [Race: Human] [Origin: Talabecland] [Description: Experienced Archers - Swordsmen/Archer/Scouts - that specialize in Forest Combat] [Numbers: 200 Swordsmen, 300 Archer/Scouts]
Bianca's Black Scorners [Race: Human] [Origin: Remas] [Description: The Leopard Company is not the only pike company in the world, much less Tilea. While their legend is not as great, their characteristic black pikes - and ability to spew legendarily grievous insults - are plenty famous enough.] [Numbers: 100 Pikes]
Leopolds Leopard Company [Race: Human] [Origin: Tilea - Luccini] [Description: Legendary Pike Unit, with a long history of famous successes. Expensive but always worth it. [Numbers: 500 Legendary Pikes]
Chargers of Chaq [Race: Human] [Origin: Kislev] [Description: Elite Ungol Horse Archers who refuse to work in the land of the Gospodar's who broke their people] [Numbers: 200]
The Whitewings [Race: Human/Pegasus] [Origin: No one is quite sure where these men managed to obtain and train these snow white pegasi, nor have the materials to armor their mounts so expertly. What is important is that they fight for coin and only what they deem to be 'the right causes'. The sheer utility and tactical advantages of flying lancers and scouts is more than enough to have any intelligent enough employer acknowledge their rather inflexible sense of morality.] [Numbers: 10 Heavily Armored Pegasus Lancers]
Derelict Deadlies [Race: Human] [Origins: Old World] [Description: Gathered up detritus from across the Old World, given armor and weapons, and thrown into the fight. Those that survive in the long-term become hard-bitten veterans.] [Numbers: 250 Halberdiers, 100 Crossbowmen, 1 Derelict Company Leader Luigi]
Los Bravos Jabalíes [Race: Human] [Origins: Estalia] [Description: Their homes lost or taken from them, these men have turned to becoming soldiers of fortune to make a brutal living in the world. Their pikes are held with all the bitter strength of those who have nothing left to lose.] [Numbers: 500 Pikes With Unbreakable Morale]
Company Of The Dragonfly [Race: Human] [Origins: Old World] [Description: A grouping of professional soldiers who hold to the old ways of Myrmidia's Legions, an ancient military tradition that died when the Goddess herself left the mortal world. They have revived it in the modern era, updated for the modern battlefield. They are not cheap, but they are a complete military package, backed by priests of Myrmidia who are not afraid to prove their worth to a Goddess of War on the battlefield.] [Numbers: 500 Pikes, 1500 Crossbowmen,
500 Light Cavalry, 500 Heavy Cavalry,
10 Great Cannons With Crews, 3 Warrior Priests of Myrmidia, 1 Mercenary General Flavio]
Los Espantos del Torricelli [Race: Human] [Origins: Estalia] [Description: 'The Terrors of Torricelli' are an experienced small army of soldiers who have spent the last ten years ranging across Lustria and beyond, their experience undeniable and their arms of extremely high quality. They still retain the name of Torricelli, the name of their original founder years ago, and have proven themselves time and again in pitched combat. They have returned from the New World, eager to battlefields that are a little more familiar than jungles and fantastical beasts...for the most part, at least. Their banner is that of a rather salacious looking Myrmidia, her spear absolutely drenched with blood as she stalks across a road of slain scaled creatures.] [Numbers: 500 Pikes, 500 Spearmen With Shields, 1000 Crossbows, 100 Light Cavalry, 2 Warrior Priests of Myrmidia, 1 Commander Braggando]
Helmut's Free Company [Race:Human] [Origin: Empire] [Description: A company of adventurers armored in half plate, armed with crossbows or handguns, swords and bucklers and skilled both at range and in melee] [100 armored Crossbow-Swordsmen, 250 armored Handgunner-Swordsmen, 1 Company Commander Helmut Sepp]
Perdición de Los Nórdicos [Race: Human] [Origin: Estalia] [Description: Veteran Estalian Almogavar light infantry hardened by the Chaos invasion of their country, excellent skirmishers, woodsmen and ambushers, armored only with helmets and shields and armed with javelins, slings and an assortment of hand weapons] [Numbers: 300 Almogavar light infantry]
The Smoking Manticores [Race: Human] [Origins: Empire] [Description: This mercenary company was originally two separate units, the 5th Hochland Handgunners and Duke Albright's Pikes from Averland, that found they worked extremely well together and joined forces. The hand gunners deserted after some local lord pocketed their wages, and the pikes were raised by some umpteenth son of some rich noble in Averland that tried his hand at lordling in the border princes couldn't hack it and went merc. The two units fought together in one of Tilea's many wars, the lordling died somewhere along the way, and the surviving officers decided to join the companies together and changed the name. Now they are a pike and shot unit led by Captain Harl Schmit.] [Numbers: 200 Pikemen, 500 Handgunners, 1 Captain Harl Schmit.]
Taal's Ever Faithful Pack [Race: Human] [Origin: Empire] [Description: Taal's Ever Faithful Pack or Taal's Pack for short is unlike most mercenary band what one might call literal dogs of war as they are primarily made up of Hunting Dogs. What they lack the ferocety and staying power of proper war hounds they make up for in their versatility. The roles Taal's Pack can fulfill are many and varied from the expected of patroling for and hunting of man and beat to helping law enforcement to sniff out and chase after elusive criminals and protecting herds, caravans and farms from most dangers. As well as training for their employers dogs and selling dogs that become to old or hurt. Taal's Pack claim to fame is however is however more due to how well trained and behaved their dogs are and how a many hardened heart have been softened by the undeniable charm of the dogs.] [Numbers: 30 light armored hunting dogs, 10 Taalite dog handler, 1 Warrior Priest of Taal]
The Great Wind - [Race: Human] [Origin: Araby] [Description: Fanatical light cavalry and horse archers] [Numbers: 100 Light Cavalry, 100 Horse Archers]
Ostland Detachment of Ostermark's Army of the West
1000 Ostermark Veteran Swordsmen
1250 Ostermark Veteran Spearmen
1750 Ostermark Veteran Handgunners
1850 Ostermark Veteran Archers
100 Ostermark Greatswords
75 Veteran Knights of the Everlasting Light
1 Jade Wizard Lord Margarethe Wolfgang
5 Jade Wizard Journeymen
125 Artillerists - Cannon Swabbers to Master Engineers, They Crew The Cannons. 5 Per Great Cannon/4 Per Dash Cannon/5 Per Dash Volley Cannon [7 Great Cannons] [10 Dash Cannons] [5 Dash Volley Cannons]
3 Warrior Priests of Sigmar
2 Warrior Priests of Ulric
3 Warrior Priests of Verena
5 Bird Bomber Flocks
Eonir
1 Elder Highweaver Myrisira Sunweaver, First Daughter of High Spellweaver of Laurelorn Yhanna Sunweaver and Lady of the Sunweaver Kindred
8 Elder Highweavers
2 Elder Darkweavers
55 Brightspears, Apex Laurelorn Highborn Champions bearing enchanted arms and armor of Brightgrove, the most magically powerful of the Canopy-Cities of Laurelorn. They are some of the single most deadly elves in all of Laurelorn and cannot be deployed without the agreement of both the Lady of Brightgrove and the Glade Lord of all Laurelorn.
44 Umbral Striders, Apex Laurelorn Waystalkers bearing enchanted arms and armor of Brightgrove, the most magically powerful of the Canopy-Cities of Laurelorn. They are some of the single most deadly elves in all of Laurelorn and cannot be deployed without the agreement of both the Lady of Brightgrove and the Glade Lord of all Laurelorn.
Other
75 Veteran Kreml Guard - Heavily armored and expert halberdiers who hail from the harsh land of Kislev.
1 Veteran Kreml Guard Captain - Captain Boris
500 Greatswords of Salkalten of House Von Sterneck
100 Greatswords of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
300 Swordsmen of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
1000 Pikemen of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
350 Archers of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
800 Handgunners of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
900 Crossbowmen of Assembled Nobility of the Northern March Territories of Ostland
23 Mannable Cannons From Salkalten Sea Walls.
80 Scorpion Bolt Thrower Artillery on Salkalten Sea Walls. 30 On Outermost Wall, Then 10 For Each Ring Inwards
25 Bird Bomber Flocks Trained For Anti-Ship Usage
9 Warrior Priests of Sigmar from across Ostland Northern March
10 Ordained Priestesses of Shallya from across Ostland Northern March
2 Warrior Priests of Manann
1000 Knights Mariner
50 Inner Circle Knights Mariner
3500 Militia Spearmen
3000 Militia Minute Men
800 Militia Archers
1,000 Militia Crossbowmen
25 Ogre Spearmen Militia from across Northern March
1000 Salkalten Guard - Armed in scale mail and helmets, given a handgun and the choice of either a spear or axe. They are stationed permanently on the coast of Ostland, there to defend its settlements.
70 Ostland Ogre Volunteers (Equipped With Clubs, Scavenged Armor)
200 Dwarf Warrior Volunteers (Equipped With Masterwork Steel, No Enchanted Arms or Armor)
10,000 Flagellants
3,500 Explosive Martyr Flagellants
Ostland Naval Forces Present
10 Imperial Wolf Ships
59 Wargalleys
1 Ostland Greatship 'Mace of Magnus' [Heavily Damaged]
1 Ostland Greatship 'Arthur's Sword' [Substantially Damaged, Near Total Loss]
Cult of Manann Present
5 Cult of Manann Bretonnian War Galleons
10 Cult of Manann Imperial Wolf Ships
1 Cult of Manann Seaborne Cathedral 'Grace of Storms', Personal Ship of High Matriarch Maghda
1 Ostland Greatship 'Fist of Frederick'
1 Ostland Greatship 'Natasha's Grace'
1 Ostland Greatship 'Alexandra's Hammer'
1 Ostland Greatship 'Blue Anna'
1 Ostland Greatship 'Oskar's Omen'
Mercenary Ships Present:
1 Heavily Customized War Galleons, Overweight With Weaponry And Boarding Crew [Red Anne]
1 Ironclad Ship 'The Fair Fregar' With Dwarf Naval Cannons, 4 Ironclad Dinghies, 150 Slayer Crewmen, 1 Long Drong [Slayers] [Pushed Off And Sunken In Bay After Ramming Boarding As Claw of Dominion Fled]
5 Heavily Customized War Galleons And Crew [Saltspear]
4 War Barques of Araby [Golden Scimitars]
Arrivals
Stephen von Kessel, Elector Count of Nordland
Odelia Flamestar, Bright Wizard Lord
Naraiel Dawnstone, Glade Lord of the Eonir High Realm of Laurelorn
Kyrian Dawnstone, Prince of the Dawnstone Kindred and Eonir High Realm of Laurelorn
Yhanna Sunweaver, High Spellweaver of the Eonir High Realm of Laurelorn
Bloodglade, Eldest Branchwraith of Laurelorn [
Remained Behind To Return Bloodmulch to Laurelorn]
Lendrilin, Eldest Treeman of Laurelorn [
Remained Behind To Return Bloodmulch to Laurelorn]
Baron Otto von Neurath of Nordland
Baron Peter von Wittig of Nordland [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
Baroness Amelia von Laue of Nordland [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
High Priestess Ultha of the Sudfast Temple of Ulric
High Priest Uthbert of Manann [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
Nordland Hierarch of Taal Wolfram [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
Nordland Hierarch of Rhya Kamila [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
High Priestess of Myrmidia Julia [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
Reinhardt Hertwig, the Silver Manticore, Heir of Ostermark
5 Lesser Barons and Baronesses of Nordland
5 Lesser Barons and Baronesses of Nordland [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
5 Bright Wizard Magisters
3 Jade Wizard Magisters
1 Celestial Wizard Magister
6 Kindred Lords and Ladies of the Eonir High Realm of Laurelorn
6 Kindred Lords and Ladies of the Eonir High Realm of Laurelorn [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
1st Army of Nordland
1250 Swordsmen - The workhorse of soldiery, armored and given a sword and shield. (Decent Attack, Good Defense, Good Mobility)
1000 Halberdiers - Armored and armed with a well crafted halberd and a smaller short sword for extreme close range. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
1650 Archers - A soldier with a bow and some arrows, little else to say. (Decent Attack, Decent+ Defense, Good Mobility)
900 Nordland Huntsmen – Masters of woodcraft acknowledged even by those of Hochland and Talabecland, expert trackers and ambushers wielding Laurelorn-sourced bows and arrows. (Very Good Attack, Decent+ Defense, Good+ Mobility)
900 Crossbowmen - A soldier with a crossbow, able to reliably punch through a knight's armor and reload faster than a handgun. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
1000 Light Cavalry - Lightly armored with decent weaponry. (Decent Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility)
750 Crossbow Skirmishers – Lightly armored cavalry possessing advanced repeating shot crossbows from Nuln and plenty of specialized ammo. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility)
2000 Pike - Armored well, wielding a good long stabbing weapon. (Decent+ Attack, Good Defense, Poor Mobility)
1750 Handgunners - A trained marksman wielding a handgun (Very Good Attack, Decent Defense, Decent Mobility)
450 Greatswords - Full steel plate armor and high quality steel blades combined with supreme experience and skill. (Extreme Attack, Great Defense, Great Mobility) *Only 500 per controlled Barony allowed.
10 Warrior Priests (x4 Warrior Priests of Sigmar, x5 Warrior Priests of Ulric, x1 Warrior Priest of Myrmidia)
10 Shallyan Priestesses
2nd Army of Nordland
1250 Swordsmen - The workhorse of soldiery, armored and given a sword and shield. (Decent Attack, Good Defense, Good Mobility)
1500 Halberdiers - Armored and armed with a well crafted halberd and a smaller short sword for extreme close range. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
1500 Archers - A soldier with a bow and some arrows, little else to say. (Decent Attack, Decent+ Defense, Good Mobility)
800 Nordland Huntsmen – Masters of woodcraft acknowledged even by those of Hochland and Talabecland, expert trackers and ambushers wielding Laurelorn-sourced bows and arrows. (Very Good Attack, Decent+ Defense, Good+ Mobility)
1000 Crossbowmen - A soldier with a crossbow, able to reliably punch through a knight's armor and reload faster than a handgun. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Good Mobility)
1000 Light Cavalry - Lightly armored with decent weaponry. (Decent Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility)
850 Crossbow Skirmishers – Lightly armored cavalry possessing advanced repeating shot crossbows from Nuln and plenty of ammo. (Good Attack, Decent Defense, Extreme Mobility)
1000 Pike - Armored well, wielding a good long stabbing weapon. (Decent+ Attack, Good Defense, Poor Mobility)
1650 Handgunners - A trained marksman wielding a handgun (Very Good Attack, Decent Defense, Decent Mobility)
10 Warrior Priests (x4 Warrior Priests of Sigmar, x5 Warrior Priests of Ulric, x1 Warrior Priest of Myrmidia)
10 Shallyan Priestesses
Knightly Orders Present
Sons of Manann
1 Commodore Niklaus Buchel
3 Warrior Priests of Manann
20 Stormbreakers [Inner Circle]
100 Sea-Faring Knights
100 Mounted Knights
Knights Mariner
1 Commodore Joseph Sea-Strider
3 Warrior Priests of Manann
20 Stormborn [Inner Circle]
100 Mounted Knights
Knights of the North Star
Grandmaster Markus Frostfaust
1 Mounted Preceptor
1 Foot Preceptor
95 Knights of the Inner Circle
450 Knights
White Wolves
1 Company Captain Mia "der Wirbelsäulenbrecher"
5 Fellwolves [Inner Circle]
50 White Wolf Knights on Foot
250 Mounted White Wolf Knights
Knights of the Cold Dawn
1 Knight Captain Baldric
1 Warrior Priest of Myrmidia
14 Knights of the Cold Dawn
Detachment of Ostermark's Army of the West
1250 Ostermark Veteran Swordsmen
1350 Ostermark Veteran Spearmen
2000 Ostermark Veteran Handgunners
2000 Ostermark Veteran Archers
150 Ostermark Greatswords
300 Veteran Knights of the Everlasting Light
45 Lightbearers [Inner Circle Knights]
185 Artillerists - Cannon Swabbers to Master Engineers, They Crew The Cannons. 5 Per Great Cannon/4 Per Dash Cannon/5 Per Dash Volley Cannon [20 Great Cannons] [15 Dash Cannons] [5 Dash Volley Cannons]
3 Warrior Priests of Sigmar
1 Warrior Priests of Ulric
2 Warrior Priests of Verena
3 Bird Bomber Flocks
Eonir
3 Elder Highweavers of Yn Edryrl Ladrilalilecail within Laurelorn astride Great Eagles
3 Elder Darkweavers of Yn Edryrl Ladrilalilecail within Laurelorn astride Great Owls
12 Highweavers
12 Darkweavers
20 Spellweavers (x12 Weavers of Azyr, x2 Weavers Aqshy, x2 Weavers Ghyran, x2 Weavers of Ghur, and x2 Weavers of Ulgu)
5 Branchwraiths of Laurelorn
10 Waystalkers of Laurelorn
80 Highborn Champions of Laurelorn
9 Highborn Great Stag Knights
25 Glade Captains of Laurelorn wielding Hagbane Tips
1500 Eternal Guard
2900 Glade Guard wielding Arcane Bodkins
1800 Deepwood Scouts wielding Arcane Bodkins
1000 Rangers of Dusk and Dawn wielding Swiftshiver Shards [Wildwood Ranger Equivalents]
900 Glade Riders
450 Glade Knights
230 Warhawk Riders wielding Starfire Shafts
600 Wardancers
250 Bladesingers
100 Shadowdancers
500 Waywatchers
100 Waywatcher Sentinels
400 Dryads [
Remained Behind To Return Bloodmulch to Laurelorn]
7 Treemen [
Remained Behind To Return Bloodmulch to Laurelorn]
400 Tree-Kin [
Remained Behind To Return Bloodmulch to Laurelorn]
5 Forest Dragons [
Remained Behind To Return Bloodmulch to Laurelorn]
5 Spite Clouds [
Remained Behind To Return Bloodmulch to Laurelorn]
Other
300 Greatswords of Norden of House Neurath
200 Greatswords of Assembled Nobility of Northern Nordland
200 Greatswords of Assembled Nobility of Southern Nordland [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
1000 Swordsmen of Assembled Nobility of all of Nordland [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
750 Pikemen of Assembled Nobility of all of Nordland
1750 Archers of Assembled Nobility of all of Nordland
1500 Handgunners of Assembled Nobility of all of Nordland
1500 Crossbowmen of Assembled Nobility of all of Nordland
2000 Huntsmen of Nordland's Folk [
Remained Behind To Secure Nordland Shoreline]
5000 Militia Spearmen
2500 Militia Archers
1000 Sigmarite Flagellants
2000 Ulrican Flagellants
15 Warrior Priests of Ulric from across all of Nordland
7 Warrior Priests of Sigmar from across all of Nordland
6 Warrior Priests of Manann
Nordland Naval Forces Present
170 Wolf Ships
90 War Galleys
7 Appropriated Ravenships of the Eternal Fortress of Torture [3 Lost After Landing on Ark]
70 Appropriated Dagger Ships of the Eternal Fortress of Torture [20 Lost After Landing on Ark]
25 Appropriated Dreadstalker Transports of the Eternal Fortress of Torture
10 Appropriated Ravenships of the Claw of Dominion
80 Appropriated Dagger Ships of the Claw of Dominion [20 Lost After Landing]
25 Appropriated Dreadstalker Transports of the Claw of Dominion
Captives Taken On Shores of Nordland By Nordland Troops
- 100 Cold One Knights, sans mounts
- 200 Dark Riders, sans mounts
- 1,000 Black Ark Corsairs
- 4 Sorceresses
Druchii Forces Sent To Nordland
Note On Druchii Vessels
- Death Fortresses = 200 Corsair Crew [24 Reaper Bolt Throwers] Mounted Atop 1 Sea Dragon
- Doomreavers = 75 Corsair Crew [6 Reaper Bolt Throwers] Mounted Atop 1 Helldrake
- Ravenships = 400 Corsair Crew [48 Reaper Bolt Throwers] + 300 "Transport" Capacity + Often Carries Sorceress Into Battle
- Dagger Ships = 50 Corsair Crew [4 Reaper Bolt Throwers] + 150 "Transport" Capacity
- Dreadstalker Transports = 50 Corsair Crew [2 Reaper Bolt Throwers] + 1,000 "Transport" Capacity
Attendant Fleet of Eternal Fortress of Torture
Fleetmaster Vorthal Nightfiend of the Eternal Fortress of Torture
Supreme Sorceress Xenatha Nightscreamer of the Eternal Fortress of Torture
2 Assault Kraken
15 Manticores
10 War Hydras
100 Dark Flyers
5,000 Harpies
5 Death Fortresses = 1000 Corsair Crew / 5 Sea Dragons / 3 Sorceresses
15 Doomreavers = 1125 Corsair Crew / 15 Helldrakes
15 Ravenships = 6000 Corsair Crew / 4500 Shackled As Transported Troop / 15 Sorceresses
100 Dagger Ships = 5000 Corsair Crew / 7500 Shackled As Transported Troops
30 Dreadstalker Transports = 900 Corsair Crew /
30,000 Transport Capacity
- 10,000 Shackled As Transported Troops
- 1,000 Dark Riders taking up 2000 Transport Capacity
- 500 Cold One Knights taking up 1000 Transport Capacity
- 2250 Shades
- 13,477 Black Ark Corsairs
- 1,000 Reaver Elites accompanying Fleetmaster
- 5 Chained Carnosaurs + Chained Chimera taking up 250 Transport Capacity
- 15 Khainite Assassins
- 8 Beastmasters
Attendant Fleet of Claw of Dominion
Fleetmaster Nevis Duskreaver
30 Manticores
5 War Hydras
200 Dark Flyers
10,000 Harpies
8 Death Fortresses = 1600 Corsair Crew / 8 Sea Dragons / 5 Sorceresses
20 Doomreavers = 1500 Corsair Crew / 20 Helldrakes
10 Ravenships = 4000 Corsair Crew / 3,000 Shackled / 10 Sorceresses
145 Dagger Ships = 7250 Corsair Crew / 10,875 Corsairs / 10,875 Shackled
35 Dreadstalker Transports = 1050 Corsair Crew / 35,000 Transport Capacity
- 20 Khainite Assassins
- 10 Beastmasters
- 3,000 Dark Riders, taking up 6,000 Transport Capacity
- 2,000 Shades
- 10,000 Black Ark Corsairs
- 5,000 Shackled
- 2900 Hollowed Ones
- 75 Enslaved Trolls taking up 750 Transport Capacity
- 1,000 Reavers accompanying Fleetmaster
- 1,000 Cold One Knights, taking up 2,000 Transport Capacity
- 5320 Terrors of Ghrond
Invasion Force Losses At Salkalten
Claw of Dominion
Supreme Sorceress Mellis Screamtaker, The Hag Tyrant of the Claw of Dominion, riding Munthrall the Dark Pegasus [Slain Mutually By Long Drong Slayer]
Tullaris Dreadbringer, Chosen of Khaine, Captain of the Har Ganeth Executioners, First Amongst Executioners [Scalped+Beheaded By Frederick von Hohenzollern]
Hag Queen Eloida, Successor To Hag Queen Danralla [Slain By High Matriarch Maghda Sprenger]
35 Sorceresses [17 Survivors, Including Ascending Supreme Sorceress Alyssa Voidreaper And Hultressa]
10 Beastmasters [5 Survivors]
12 Khainite Assassins [5 Survivors]
20 Death Hags [10 Survivors]
55,000 Shackled and 5,000 Hollowed Ones Slain
10,000 Bleakswords Slain
8,000 Darkshards Slain
4,000 Black Ark Corsairs Slain
3,000 Shades Slain
1,000 Dark Riders Slain
650 Doomfire Warlocks Slain
5,000 Sisters of Slaughter Slain
10,000 Witch Elves Slain
2,000 Terrors of Ghrond
3 Cauldrons of Blood Destroyed
1,500 Cold One Knights Slain
2 Bloodwrack Shrines + Attendant Medusae Destroyed+Slain
5 Untethered Bloodwrack Medusae Slain
4 War Hydras Slain
1,000 Cold Ones Slain
1 Preyton Slain
1 Kharibydyss Slain
30 Bolt Throwers Destroyed, Crews Slain
1,000 Summoned Furies of Chaos Banished
15,000 Harpies Slain
50 Dark Flyers Slain
4,000 Executioners of Har Ganeth Slain
2,000 Draich Masters of Har Ganeth Slain
40,000 Druchii Militia Slain
5,000 Noble Houseguard Slain
100 Druchii Noble Bastards Slain
50 Druchii Noble Scions Slain
8 Druchii House Lords and Ladies Slain
Fortress of Eternal Torture
Dreadlord Maranith Pridebane, Caledor's Bane, Rider of the Elder Black Dragon Venomfang [Forcibly Fed His Own Lance By Frederick Von Hohenzollern, Dragon Slain By Urgdug Greatbellow]
Hag Queen Mystralla the Goredrenched, Rider of Mature Black Dragon Fleshtearer [Slain In Aerial Combat By Roland d'Mousillon and Jaques of the Whitewings]
Master Trathann Joyflaye [???]
Rider of Young Black Dragon Rendrip [Rendrip Slain In Battle of Tor of Dominance On Claw of Dominion]
High Beastmaster Uriahal, Atop Toad Dragon Bilemaw [Slain By Vengeful Urgdug Greatbellow After Learning of Frederick and Natasha's Disappearance]
20 Sorceresses Slain
35 Beastmasters Slain
5 Khainite Assassins Slain
10 Death Hags Slain
40,000 Shackled Slain
5,000 Hollowed Ones Slain
6,000 Bleakswords Slain
5,000 Dreadspears Slain
4,000 Darkshards Slain
3,000 Black Ark Corsairs Slain
2,000 Shades Slain
2,000 Shades [Zealots of Ananth Raema] Slain
1,000 Dark Riders Slain
500 Doomfire Warlocks Slain
1,000 Sisters of Slaughter Slain
4,000 Witch Elves Slain
3,000 Savage Flayers of Clar Karond
4 Bloodwrack Shrines and Attendant Medusae Destroyed and Slain
2 Cauldrons of Blood Destroyed
1 Walking Trophy Shrine of Anath Raema Destroyed
12 War Hydras Slain
2,000 Cold Ones Slain
3 Basilisks Slain
3 Kharibydss Slain
3 Great Spined Chaos Beasts Slain
100 Slave Trolls Slain
500 Sabretusks Slain
200 Culchan Slain
3 Preyton Slain
2 Stegadons
1 Carnosaur
1,000 Executioners of Har Ganeth Slain
15,000 Harpies Slain
30 Bolt Throwers (Teams of 4) Destroyed
20 Dark Flyers Slain
100,000 Druchii Militia Slain
20,000 Noble Houseguard Slain
500 Noble Bastards Slain
120 Noble Scions Slain
20 House Lords and Ladies Slain
5,000 Rabid Greenskin Gladiators [Fought Everyone]
Eternal Fortress Non-Druchii Aligned Survivors Post Invasion
5,000 Multi-Generational Human Slave Gladiators
5,000 Fresh Human Slave Gladiators [x1000 Imperial, x500 Norscan, x1000 Arabyan, x500 Estalian, x1,500 Cathayan, x500 Indi]
100 Saurus Captives [Attempted Gladiators, Defiant To Training]
10 Kroxigor Laborer Slaves
1 Skink Priest Captive
200 Norscan Dwarf Slave Laborers
100 Norscan Dwarf Slave Gladiators
20,000 Multi-Generational Human Slaves
5,000 Human Child Slaves
1,000 Asur Captives From Eldyra's Relief Expedition
250 Asur Slaves
500 Karaz Ankor Dwarf Slave Laborers
1,000 Albionese Human Slaves
1 Thoroughly Tortured Albionese Giant Slave
1 Thoroughly Tortured Albionese Truthsayer
200 Ogre Bull Slaves
20 Ogre Bruiser Slaves
1 Ogre Gladiatorial Champion Tyrant Thrugg Breakfist
Eternal Fortress Captives Taken
3 Sorceresses
5 House Lords and Ladies
40 Noble Scions
40,000 Druchii...Citizens????
