The Badfangs tribe have an oral tradition, myths and legends that have long
been told and retold, passed down through the years, of their time as
travellers among the stars, in the Void-Between-the-Realms. They believe that
in an age long ago they roamed the cosmos, they were not natives of Ghur but
they came from some other, unremembered Realm. They chased god-beasts across
the void, riding in the belly of a creature they called the Odargul, but they
crashed into the Great Parch by accident while the Odargul was battling
another god-beast.
In some versions of the stories the Odargul was killed by the other god-beast,
in other versions the Bonesplitterz accidentally killed Odargul from inside by
cutting their way out in an ill-considered attempt to get at the god-beast
that was attacking it.
Whichever version they believe, they all agree that in the crash they lost
their ability to travel the cosmos and they were stranded. They still carry
with them a sense of adventure that continues the tradition of travelling,
exploring and finding new monsters to defeat.
They wear masks to protect them from the Void-Between-the-Realms and in reverence the god-beasts they emulate and hunt.
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Down Wit Da Walls!
Dry winds and reddish sands swirled through the Realmgate as the Badfangs
stepped out onto a rocky island in the seas of Argharock. In the distance the
colossal god-beast Nasson (also known as Puncha to the orruks) lumbered slowly through the waters around Neolotl (known as Sitta), each carrying the half of the city called Nassollotyl that was divided between their backs.
Hogrog tipped his head and pointed at the distant creatures. The Badfangs
followed his gaze and one of them let out an impressed whistle.
"There's Puncha and Sitta. There's a whole bunch of gitz, what live in a
city on the back of them like fleas." There were a few wordless sounds of
consternation from the warband.
Then he turned and pointed in a different direction. The Badfangs all turned
to look, but there was some confusion as none of them could see any monsters that way.
"There's another big old beastie comin' from that way. A massive wurmy
thing. The stories say it will pass right between those two soon, and a whole
load of them city gitz is planning to try to jump on it as it passes through.
We're going to make it difficult for them. Maybe even nick the wurm ourselves." Some of the Badfangs laughed.
"We need to get into the caves under the mountains on Sitta's back. The caves lead to tunnels, the tunnels lead under the walls of the city."
The Badfangs arranged their gear and weapons for the fight, some re-tied knots on each-others backs, and others adjusted their godbeast-masks.
Hogrog looked at his mob with pride - he could tell a few of them were already
planning to update their masks with a pair of nose-horns, like
Puncha's.
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The Badfangs crept through the ruins in the mountains, on the back of the
godbeast Neolotyl as the evening light faded. So far they had evaded detection - everyone in the city
seemed to be distracted by their preparations for the arrival of the great
wurm.
Make that almost everyone: A band of duardin mercenaries had been
posted to guard the tunnels.
Their leader hefted a heavy-looking (and probably magical) hammer and shouted orders as soon as
he saw the Badfangs.
The Badfang's arrowboyz let fly and with a roar, the rest of the mob changed!
Boss Ersatz leapt up the walls, straight into the fight. Aethershot rifles flashed and banged around him.
Hogrog blasted one of the duardin off his feet with green lightning...
... then jogged round the undefended side of the wall.
Skulsmaka wielded his great axe with skill and ferocity, stopping another of
the mercenaries from helping his leader. Ersatz and the duardin Endrineer
fought tooth and nail but neither had the upper hand for now.
A couple of the Badfangs were wounded in the charge, by the punishing volleys of duardin aethershot fire.
But the mercenaries were pushed back by sheer weight of numbers.
Hogrog smiled to himself as his orruks roared with dark glee...
... when Ersatz finally finished off the duardin leader.
Wardokk Urgog used his grimdokk powers...
... to fix up a couple of injured but still grinning orruks, whose wounds knitted
themselves back together as Urgog's magic did it's job.
Skulsmaka and Zurgob chased off the last of the gunners. Then Hogrog and the Badfangs descended into the tunnels.
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