The Ogresuns in Animosity VII - part 3

Wyrdtoof hobbled up the gangplank, robes smoking slightly and eyes wild.

“Kap’n! Kap’n! It worked! It worked maybe a bit too good.”

Kap'n Salty Ogbad looked up from the map, spread out atop the aft chase gun. “What’re ye on about, Wyrdtoof?”

“The feint, skipper! I lit up da celestium like a lamp in a bugstorm, all shaking and humming and sparkling. Gravehunters bit faster’n a hungry squig. Even brought that fancy coffin-walker what smells like burnt roses.”

Ogbad grunted. “So they fell for it?”

“Like a corpse off a cliff. While they were busy lurkin’ in shadows an’ arguin’ over who gets to look moodiest, or whatever it is they do, the Boltbreakerz was free and clear to scupper the train.”

Wyrdtoof hesitated. His left eye twitched.

“But… uh… they did blow up me celestium. Gone. Shattered to glitterin' stardust, with a shrieking noise what still echoes in me teeth." Then half to himself, "I reckon it hated going. Maybe it were alive. Maybe it were me friend.”

He scratched his chin with a gnarled finger. Then he was suddenly animated again:

“But seen things when it went, I did. Visions. Like maps made of stars. There’s more celestium, skipper. Bigger lumps. Ones what dream. We just gotta find 'em afore the skele-boyz do.”

Ogbad spat into the canal.

“Well,” he said, grinning, “I hope they dream o’looting and smashing stuff.”

Wyrdtoof grinned back, sparks crackling from his hair.

“Oh aye, Kap’n. They dreams of WAAAGH.”

+++

Wyrdtoof had left his celestium lantern under Krashhart's watchful eye while he went to "Have a look at them leylines, yonder."

As expected, the device drew the attention of agents from Wolfram Industries. 

Krashhart recognised the Soulblight Vampire leading them, called Tempest, with a growl.

Krashhart rampaged toward him and their heavy, concussive weapons clashed.

The vampire countered the pirate's frenzied assault skilfully, but the hulking orruk overwhelmed him with sheer brute force.

Wyrdtoof and Bad Hook arrived, a little late. Wyrdtoof unleashed a blast of green lightning that took down one of the skeletons bearing a sorcerous device designed to drain the power from Realmstone. 

But a Dreadwarden swept down on the dropped artefact and dragged it to the celestium lantern.

The feedback loop overcharged the Gravehunter's artefact until both it and the celestium lantern disintegrated one-another!