Shadows of Commorragh - part 28, game 8

Betrayal, Redemption

"Now little one, the hour grows late and the dying suns have set. It is time to sleep."

Complaints. Objections. Protestations.

"Well, yes, there is one final part of my story that I can tell you. But you must promise to go to sleep afterwards.

Now then... Word reached the Bleaksouls that the Hex were betraying Lady Anielyn. They had already sold Hurrikhaine to street dealers, so it's exclusivity was no longer guaranteed to the Dying Sun. But they supplies they had distributed we thankfully limited, so if the means to make more could be taken from them they would not be able to hand it out hither and yon.

So when Jaenis was told that the slave, whose very body and soul was modified by the Haemonculi to manufacture the elixir within him, was to be transported across Venomport, The Bleaksouls hurried to that cold dark place. She was also informed that the slave would be shadowed by a number of terrifying Medusae, so they called in some assistance.

~ 🜍 ~

Dramatis Personae

The Bleaksouls

Morghdrax Bleaksoul: Hekatrix, Leader

Ravneth: Wytch Fighter, Combat

Lakbyrn the Parched: Wych Fighter, Scout

Bahreneq: Wytch Fighter, Hydra Gauntlets, Zealot

Izurad: Wytch

Jaenis: Wytch

Yariaq: Wytch

Iyskyth: Kabalite, Splinter Rifle

Arzomar: Kabalite Gunner, Blaster
Combat drugs: Grave Lotus

NPCs
Ozunhar: Unarmed slave with “chemical injectors” in his back. Part drug-transport, and part drug-factory. Drukhari drugs are... esoteric.
Vhrex and Xoth: 2 Medusae, escorts for Ozunhar.

In cold Venomport they gathered, in numbers that they had not so far dared. Morghdrax cashed-in a favour and two Kabalites accompanied them, armed with weapons of longer reach.

Strange echoes floated through the cerulean-lit ruins.

Morghdrax and his kin prowled the dark.

Arzomar and Lakbyrn watched as Bahreneq and Izurad stepped into a webway portal. But they did not find what they expected when they reached the other side...

They found themselves far from the rest of their kin, far from Venomport at the Sorrowshards! The portal flickered and faded. They would have to find another way back...

Inghfar the Wanderer, the Ranger, sniped at Arzomar, but the Kabalite was adept at hunting from the shadows and the ranger missed him.

Ravneth fired at a Dire Avenger lurking beneath the walkway, but the Ynnari was lucky.

Yariaq and Jaenis charged towards the Ynnari lines.

Morghdrax Bleaksoul sprinted towards Lann of the Unyielding Fire. Both Dire Avenger Exarch and Hekatrix intent on sealing each other's doom!

The Kabalites opened up with blaster and splinter rifle.

But his shimmershield really was as unyielding as it's bearer - darklight splashed from the bright light of the shield as it saved him from the devastating power of blaster and splinter fire.

The waiting Dire Avengers fired at Jaenis and Yariaq as they ran at them. Yariaq was hit but the wound only seemed to empower him.

The warband leaders, Lann and Morghdrax, clashed atop the Venomport landing pad! Glaive and shield verses hektari blade and splinter pistol.

Yariaq and Jaenis fought Uless beneath the arched ruins, Jaenis wounded Uless.

The Bleaksouls' Kabalites fired on the Ranger...

And took him down in a hail of splinters and darklight!

Lann's shimmershield flashed and deflected Morghdrax's blade, then the Exarch's glaive sliced through the Hekatrix's light armour and the Wych fell.

Yariaq's blade bit deep and the wounded Uless finally collapsed.

Lann leapt on the Kabalites.

Yariaq and Jaenis prepared to take the objective in the ruins from the entrenched Dire Avengers.

Then the Shards appeared, hooting and howling in the myrtle darkness, taunting the other two warbands.

Dark Lance, Shuriken and Splinter Rifle fire crisscrossed the cold streets.

Derashi, of the Shards, charged through a webway portal and joined the fight against Lann.

Kaerathir stepped into a webway portal...

But became lost in the webway and found himself far from the fight.

Kaerathir made the best of it though, he dropped lightly to the ground and headed through the Shrine of Khaine.

Jaenis and Yariaq battled the Dire Avengers in the ruins.

Lakbyrn tried to charge the grav-platform crew again but he was gunned down as he stepped out of cover!

One of the slave's escorts stepped into Venomport through a shadow-shrouded path.

The Bleaksouls and their opponents did not notice the new threat, so focused were they on their fight...

Lann dealt swiftly with the Shards Wych and turned his attention on Arzomar. The Kabalite was lucky to survive the many wounds that Lann inflicted on him - but his own pain seemed to give him a dark strength.

Yariaq once more quenched his blade's thirst for blood and another Avenger dropped.

Suddenly Ozunhar the slave was discovered! Iyskyth followed him as he fled - they both leapt from the landing platform, down to the street below.

Yariaq leapt down into the wreckage-strewn dark beneath the shattered walkway.

Jaenis duelled with the Dire Avenger.

Ravneth finally joined the battle with Lann...

... and his fighting prowess tipped the balance.

Ravneth and Arzomar looked for new targets, unaware they were being stalked.

Kaerathir jumped down from the Voidfall and ran through the deserted streets...

... to watch the battle from the shadows.

Zendril the Sslyth set its sights on Yariaq and the bounty of souls he had taken.

The Void Phoenixes started to regroup.

As Ravneth and Arzomar fired on the Void Phoenixes the Medusa approached. The parasitic creature blasted them both in the back with it's hideous eye: Arzomar was lucky but Ravneth was wounded.

And a second Medusa materialised through a webway portal.

The Shards' Dark Lancer fired at Jaenis and the Dire Avenger she fought, careless of his target, and Jaenis dropped, pierced by the darklight beam.

The Dark Lancer had already chalked-up a fearsome tally and the fight was not yet over.

Yariaq fell to the Sslyth's overwhelming assault.

Iyskyth the Kabalite secured the Hurrikhaine, and the Drukhari slave that manufactured it within his Haemonculus-transformed body. He took the slave into the webway portal and returned to Port Carmine.

Lady Anielyn, Succubus of the Blade Denied, was able to use the power contained within the elixir to empower her followers and gain leverage over Daisan Verkosian, Drachon of the Dying Sun.

Lady Anielyn was pleased with Iyskyth and pleased with the Bleaksouls. They escaped the cloud of her anger that had hung over them for the past, ahhh, I-don't-know-how-long, and they were given a place in her newly-restored court in the spires of High Commorragh.

So that, my little darkling, is the end of my tale of how your mother recovered her status and the favour of the Kabals, how she returned to the power she now holds. Power that one day will be yours.

Now, go to sleep. You know it's your first day of training with the Wyches tomorrow little one."

Lakbyrn touched a small floating crystal and the light dimmed a little.

"You know you will need your rest if you are to be at your best in the morning."

"It is not so, nor was it ever so." the little one whispered.

~ 🜁 ~

The Finale!

The last mission of the campaign was Shifting Priorities (from Elites).

There were 4 numbered Objectives across the centre-line of the board. At the start of each round the player who lost the Initiative rolled a dice, if the roll matched the number of one of the remaining objectives it would be removed. If one of the objectives had been removed and the roll was a 5 or 6 then the 5th objective would be added to the board, in the form of an NPC Drukhari slave: Ozunhar the Drug Mule. If the roll was anything other than a 5 or 6 and the roll matched the number of an objective that had been removed then an NPC Medusa would be added! (And boy were they scary!)

I got a battering from both sides but I still managed to get a solid Victory Points total by focusing on the objectives. I also succeeded in clinging on to my lead in Soul Points, but only just! David doubled his campaign score in this one game. If his last shot of the game had not been foiled by my ability to pass Power Through Pain saves he would have bagged another 2 points and cost me 1 from my total, so the overall "winner" was on the line to almost the last dice roll of the campaign.

Victory Points (for this game):

The Bleaksouls (Saul) 11

The Void Phoenixes (Viktor) 8

The Shards (David) 0

Soul Points (for the campaign):

The Bleaksouls 16+1= 17

The Void Phoenixes 4+2= 6

The Shards 8+8= 16

This campaign was SO MUCH FUN. And that isn't just because I managed to hang onto my lead and cling onto the top spot.... The games have all been tense and close and exciting. The story grew naturally from our sketched-out plot into something really satisfying. The characters of the warbands have been fleshed out and realised. I hope this came across in my write-ups! We will definitely be going back down to Low Commorragh at some point next year.