Shadows of Commorragh - part 21, game 2

Cornered and Surrounded

"Come in, sweet one, come in!" said Lakbyrn, with a voice like honeyed cakes and a grin like silvered needles.

"I will continue my tale if I may?

When last we spoke I told of how the Void Phoenixes bested the Bleaksouls, driving them back and sabotaging the works of their mistress, did I not?

Well, the tail is not done, oh no! Not by half, nor even half of a half. The Bleaksouls were not so foolish or naive as the Void Phoenixes took them to be. There was no elixir secreted into the Voidfall Tower! It is not so, nor was it ever so. Not a drop. It was a ruse, a trick, and the Bleaksouls were fully aware of it, so they were. They were not used by their kind, and generous mistress Lady Anielyn, to lay a trap for Lord Daisan's puppets. It is not so, nor was it ever so.

When the Void Phoenixes discovered the deception, they fled the Faded Obelisk and made for a webway portal that would return them to Daisan's fortress. But the Bleaksouls knew their territory and stepped ahead of them using hidden pathways, and waited in their path in the ruins of the Shuddervault.

~ 🝁 ~

The light grew bruised, as though the stolen sun was suddenly curtained by an encroaching storm. But the colour was wrong, as was the quality of that glow, its texture, and the smell of air, damp earth and still water, menaced with its eldritch promise. In that strange, wild, drowning light, no one looked as they did before.

Two of the Void Phoenixes were separated from their kin, and the Bleaksouls closed the noose around them, in a clatter of laughter and a rattle of blades.

Jair and Torc found themselves hunted and outnumbered.

The shadows squirmed and the trap was sprung.

The Bleaksouls were all around them.

The two Void Phoenixes did their best to escape, but the net was cast around them.

They backed themselves into a corner.

Izurad pounced, his hektari blade slashed at Torc!

Morghdrax laughed as his followers closed in.

The Void Phoenixes fired at the nearest Bleaksouls.

Morghdrax was saved by luck and sheer spite.

Jair deftly climbed up a ruin to a webway portal, but it was cold and unresponsive.

Torc tried to fend off Izurad's attacks.

Lann of the Unyielding Fire and more Void Phoenixes arrived to try to rescue their cohorts.

The other Void Phoenixes arrived in the Shuddervault, behind the Bleaksouls.

Torc fell back from Izurad but the Wych chased her into Lakbyrn's waiting blade!

Morghdrax was about to fire on Torc and Jair...

When a warning shout from Ravneth alerted Morghdrax to the Void Phoenixes behind him!

Lann tried to extract his followers.

He raced into the fray to try to save Torc.

Ravneth was wounded!

Izurad finally defeated Torc and leapt toward Lann.

Blades clashed and sang!

Bahreneq caught Jair as she jumped down from the platform. The Wych made short, bloody work of her.

Ravneth and Morghdrax lunged at the newcomers.

Lakbyrn and Izurad fought Lann, and Inghfar the Ranger was ambushed by Yariaq who leapt out of the shadows.

Bahreneq gloated over her opponent's corpse.

The Ranger was stabbed in the back by Yariaq.

Morghdrax revelled in his victory!

Lann was the lone survivor of the Void Phoenixes!

Suddenly there was silence in the Shuddervault.

"Let him go!" Morghdrax Bleaksoul called across the ravaged street as he drew himself up to his full height, swept his sword vertical into a mocking salute and bowed with an ostentatious flourish.

"Let him flee back to his master and tell of what happened here. And let him pass along Lady Anielyn's kindest regards."

~ 🝁 ~

This ended up being such a brutal game! The mission was Surrounded, from Elites. Viktor was the defender and I was the attacker. To win the game I had to makes sure every one of his Kill Team were either Out of Action or Shaken, otherwise victory would be his. At the end of turn 2 that was looking unlikely but I had a cracking turn 3! I managed to successfully charge with every single model in my warband and (making full use of the Combat Drug I rolled and the Power Through Pain bonuses!) managed to successfully eviscerate 5 models one after another. That left Viktor with only his Leader and a very tough Nerve Check! Lucky for me, he rolled badly and Lann of the Unyielding Fire was Shaken!

But even if I hadn't won, it still would have been a great game. Viktor's side of the story is here.

Soul Points:

Viktor 2

Saul 7