vrijdag 25 april 2014

Chapter 5: A Dark Forest

After the slaughter at the beach head, I ordered the Lothern Sea Guard to start building our outpost 'Oriour Dakthai', meaning Blood Claw in remembrance of the blood the Legion has spilled on this beach.


In front of us was a dark forest that needed to be explored in order to secure our Oriour Dakthai. It was surpricingly quiet in the forest that even the Shadow Warriors grew uneasy and then suddenly a loud roar when we saw Beastmen running through a clearing in the forest, straight towards us!

At the beginning I silenced all noices around me and looked inward...then I saw their leader in my mind with glittering armour, I knew what I had to do and asked the High Magic wind to come to my aid, it whispered back "Vaul's Unmaking". Excelent, that will single out their leader.
I then quickly ordered the troops around, mainly the Ellyrian Reavers to go with Sealandir to hide behind a ruined fence. Only the lesser Beastmen with bows noticed them but they were quickly put down.
Spells upon spells were being cast by me on their Beastlord but to no avail... Cursing my so called succes upon obtaining the perfect spell for the situation, I tried to blast the main Beastmen unit with Soul Quench. It was dispelled by my enemy. My magic is failing me...

The Shadow Warriors were having diffilculties with the second group of lesser Beastmen and were then silenced.
The sudden feel of despair I felt because of the loss of the previous battle came up. I wanted to run but I heard the Lothern Sea Champion yelling his orders to his unit to put the beasts down and I saw their succes and my hope grew.

We were moving around the battlefield a lot that I noticed the ruined fence behind us. The Champion saw me looking aswell and ordered our troops towards it.
The next couple of minutes were chaotic. Beastmen were heading our way but after some casualties...they fled.
Our unit stood still after that, waiting for them to return but they never came back. I decided to return back to Oriour Dakthai for some well deserved rest and replenishments.




Second battle of the Fantasy Campaign with 500 pts High Elves vs. Michiel Vlag 500 pts Beastmen.
Result: Victory, Lothern Sea Guard regiment of Renown +1 xp.
General: Survived and gained +2 xp.

donderdag 17 april 2014

Chapter 4: Beach head



Finaly, I have been sent to this mysterious island that has emerged itself from the depths of the sea.
Not much is known about this island other than that the Elves know about it's existence but almost forgotten. We actually inhabited the island but lost communication, perhaps lost to Chaos during the great wars and now...it's back with all it's lost treasures and Elven relics but most of all...it's ancient lore!
Now I know that this island didn't go unnoticed by the other races and that's why I have to move fast.
I gathered a small but fast reconnaissance force, they were all specialized. The Ellyrian Reavers were fast, the Shadow Warriors in scouting and the Lothern Sea Guard were used to being in strange places. The young dragon, Sealandir, has shown great anticipation of what is to come. He could see a kind of children's exitement in her eyes. Although she has been trained to fight, I do mean fight and not reared, she hasn't seen any real battle yet.
"Sir!" the Sea Guard Captain called for him "At long last the storm has settled and the spotter sees a island ahead of us. What are your orders, Sir?" Mimas didn't need to think for long "Anchor near the beach head and spare me ten of your guards for the landfall"


"Alright Shadow Warriors, scout ahead in the left forest. The Ellyrian Reavers will move with Sealandir to the right, I think she wants to warm up her wings for a bit just like the horses will be glad to touch the ground after the long trip. I want the Lothern Sea Guard near me at all times and remember to be on your toes, there is a strange wind blowing through the air with hints of magic"

We were making a simple camp while the rest were scouting ahead. Prince Perrion would want a proper base to house is forces because this island will soon be a place of bloodshed. But for the time being, I will enjoy this new land and set eyes on things never seen before.

"Mage Flamewalker, the Ellyrian Reavers have returned scouting the beach!" said the Sea Guard captain. The Reavers are back to soon... "To war, brethren! They are on being persuited!" yelled Mimas.
"Pursuited? Who could be that fast to persuit the Reavers?" he got his answer. A unit of knights with turbans halted while five riders with which seems to be carrying pistols were flanking the knights.
The Ellyrian horse riders approached, while Sealandir landed behind them. "They were firing at us with no reason, general mage, but they were missing every shot!" gasped one of the Reavers, still gasping for air. "They were doing that on purpose, they were trying to find us" replied Mimas.

"You pointy eared Elves got some magic items?" yelled one of the knights from a far. Mimas looked at the Sea Guard champion and nodded. "We got none!" replied the champion.
"You Elves must surely be lying then. You Elves always got something carrying with you and we are going to take it!"
We saw them move towards us with great speed so I ordered the Reavers to go with Sealandir to guard our right flank. "Kill those pistoleers! They will pierce our armour easily! Let's hope the Shadow Warriors are near us". They were. We saw the a group of five pistoleers on our left side engaging 'something' in the woods and then we saw arrows being fired from them, killing three pistoleers, which made them flee from the battle.
On our right side the other five pistoleers tried to shoot Sealandir but she only got grazed by her wings. Angered with this, she charged the pistoleers and killing two. The Ellyrian Reavers tried to intervene but Sealandir was charged by the knights, cutting her down. But before the deathstroke has been given, they regrouped to face the Lothern Sea Guard. I casted a Soul Quench spell and two knights died which in turn only angered them even more. They charged and although we fought bravely, we lost. I was struck down while seeing one pistoleer shooting the last of the Shadow Warriors down and then took a look at the weapon of the knight before it came down but I pass out right before it. Or did it?

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs45/f/2009/152/6/4/Warhammer_Empire_Pistoliers_by_JanBoruta.jpg


















I woke up to the looks of a weary looking Elf. It was one of the Reavers. "Thank Asuryan, you are still alive!" he sighed with a relief. Mimas got up to his knees and looked around. He and another Reaver were the only survivors of this onslaught. "The turban knight fled the scene when we killed his last knight in his unit. What orders, general Mimas?" General...this is a grim day. On my first landfall the sand was painted red with blood...Elven blood. "Gather up the dead and let's give them a proper burial. I signal the ship for reinforcements while I heal Sealandir" She was hidden between the corpses of the dead horses she has slain and moaned. "My pride has a dent aswell, Sealandir. The next time we go to battle, we will tremble but learn of our naive mistake"

First battle of the Fantasy Campaign with 500 pts High Elves vs. Vincent v/d Berg 500 pts Empire.
Result: Draw but claimed the beach head.
General: Defeated with a -1 leadership on it's next battle.

Background story of Mimas Flamewalker

Chapter 1: A formal introduction
It has been a while since we traveled the world in search of old Elfish heirlooms and magical artifacts that are rightfully ours or too keep them out of dangerous hands. We retreated back to Ulthuan, the mountains of Caledor to be precise.
I am Perrion, an elf prince bestowed the honor of riding a dragon into battle battle and general of the Dragon’s Legion. I am proud to be a part of bringing back glory from the old days, every heirloom brings a piece of our culture back and every artifact out of Ulthuan’s enemies reach is a step closer in maintaining a fragile peace.




There are many stories I can tell and many things I have seen but now is not the time. No, I am going to tell the tale of my most trusted advisor, connoisseur of craftsmanship and a powerful mage in its own right. But I feel his time has come to move to the next phase of his already long life.
Mimas Flamewalker has had a long history as an student at the region of Saphery. When at a certain age and knowledge he was particularly interested in magical arts and craftsmanship so he moved to Vaul’s Anvil. He then underwent the ritual of Vaul and blinded himself. He told me once about this ritual where he experienced great deals of pain but also an understanding as if Vaul opened his eyes towards all that is magical. He once saw a beautiful green glow like the Aurora Borealis forming before him, warning us the Orcs were in their state of rage.
When I was a young prince and tasked with finding heirlooms and artifacts, they tasked mage Flamewalker to assist me in my endeavors. He identified countless of items and even saved our lives more than once. We encountered a small guerilla force from Empire in the jungles of Lustria claiming they found a powerful artifact of the Lizardmen. I was young and inexperienced but tried to negotiate some kind of a deal. They wouldn’t give it. In my pride and frustration I almost waged war on them, with a certain jungle fight disadvantage, but Mimas stopped me. He said that it was not worth the bloodshed. I wasn’t able to give in just yet and, my foolish pride, even put Mimas back at his place. He then put a soft hand on my shoulder at which I shivered while looking seriously in my eyes “This holy artifact of the Lizardmen is not worth the bloodshed”. We parted the group and move inwards into the jungle when we suddenly heard screams from behind us, human screams. We all stopped for a moment but Mimas kept on walking saying the artifact contained no magical properties but stealing a relic from Lizardmen would still invoke their wrath and that is what we were hearing. We continued, nobody said a word. I approached the mage, whispered my apology and that I owed him my life and more importantly, my honor. Even then he amazed me by smiling, still with his head directed on the path before him, “I owe you this incredible adventure, young prince, for the things I have seen and learned are beyond words”.






































Chapter 2: The addition, separation and war
Our campaign was slow but successful, traveling around the world is no feat that can be done easy and fast. But in time the council and king saw more worth in our cause and added a unit of Phoenix Guard to protect it, that important was it as the sacred Shrine of Asuryan.
Some Shadow Warriors joined our army and were more adventurous than war-like. Still they were quite useful as scouts on long journey’s. Sometimes the Lothern Elves on board our ships battled beside us and sometimes our spearmen were enough.

After a long while I received the most marvelous words written upon a letter: A dragon has awaken and I have been tasked to guide it. I was at awe and pride when I gazed upon the dragon, Draugniron. He looked right back at me as if he could feel my pride and respect. He bowed for me so I could mount him and then with a mighty roar he took me to the skies. Now I understood why the Dragon Princes of Caledor were arrogant and sad when they tell me their tales of dragon riding, the feeling of power and mutual respect is very special.



Draugniron wasn’t the only reason we traveled back to Ulthuan. Mimas Flamewalker was entitled as most valuable and could not be spared. He was to remain in Saphery to carry his knowledge on to the next generation mages and sorcerers. He was highly against it but I persuaded him that it was time for him to settle down and rest. Even Mimas could feel the fire of his pride burning.
But after a couple of years I received a letter from the White Tower of Hoeth. Mimas was apparently very restless and had no patience for his slow students. He gave orthodox lessons in which he praised students to learn more from the field than from books when they were done, “If all the knowledge of the world could be stored, the best place would be your mind”.
He was ‘ordered’ to return to the Dragon’s Legion but not alone. He apparently had a student that was on equal footing with the mage and also gave the university a great deal of problems with her
impulsive actions. Sifre Morninglight was a sorceress that specializes in the Lore of Life. I think that was the reason they enjoyed each other’s company since the old mage has already seen much in his life time but is still very much adventurous.

Before we set off, we were tasked with something different. We were ordered to engage in war to settle different disputes for the defense of Ulthuan. The battles lasted long and we have seen lots of bloodshed. For a prince like me, it was a test of leadership for the future and it has taught me well. For the young adventurous sorceress, it taught her to be more thoughtful of life. But for the old mage, it stilled his passion for traveling and learning. He was troubled but never faltered.




Chapter 3: The Dragon’s Roar
On our return in Lothern we received news from Saphery that a tropical island suddenly emerged from the bowels of the sea. This island was never heard from but the vaguest old inscriptions in books from a time long forgotten. It could contain vast amounts of lore, artifacts and heirlooms. I saw a new flickering in Mimas his eyes and I saw my chance to write a letter to the White Spire of Saphery.
I stayed longer than usual in Lothern, gave my men some more shore leaf and waited for the news to return.

“By decree of the High Elf Council and the Phoenix King, Mimas Flamewalker has been ordered to gather an expedition force towards the mysterious island. His mission is to gather intelligence about the island, retrieve long lost artifacts and train an awoken young dragon named Sealandir. Additional forces will be granted after fortifying beach head”

It has been a long while but I saw Mimas smile again. He thanked me for the opportunity I gave him even though I didn’t mention his recommendation to the king and council. I told him I would visit him when I can or even reinforce his position but I also told him to enjoy his new adventure.

So now he left the Lothern shores with a handful of Elven brethren on his way to this unexplored mystical island. He called its expedition force ‘The Dragon’s Roar’ for the island will hear the roar before set eyes upon the Legion.
“Will he be alright on his journey? Maybe I should go with him?”
“He will do fine, miss Morninglight. He will sent letters regularly and this is something he has to do, but I think you will miss him more than fear for his life. You will probably join him soon enough”
She smiled and will wait, in secret a bit jealous of what seemed to be one the greatest adventures mage Mimas Flamewalker has been set upon.