Through Hel and High Water - a Path to Glory Ravaged Coast campaign, part 4

The Rotmoon, 26th day of Sorows

Helbridge

We reach Gnaw’s Edge these week and it as worse as we've expecting. The weathers are unremitting bad, in fact they seems worse by each day. So, we head inland for site of power, where El Doktoro has tell us Emberstone are.

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The blood-hued skies of Aqshy roiled with storm clouds and smoke. Lightning leapt in crimson arcs, striking nearby volcanic ridges with blinding fury, illuminating a narrow land-bridge that jutted across a churning sea. Crusted in soot and salt spray, the Rotmoons charged.

Kapitan Alunzo daLeeva led the way, black coat billowing behind him, gold trimmed armour dull under the ashfall. The blade of his sword, Shipwrecka, seemed to ebb and flow, reacting to the power at the land-bridge’s far side. A brace of battered pistols clanked at his side. Behind him came the others; loud, mad, and hungry.

Palmaz strode along the sand, vouce raised in a shanty so horrible the storm itself seemed to wince. El Doktoro the shaman trotted barefoot beside him, red eye-glass lenses glinting like twin embers above his grubby ruff, singing quietly and off tune in a language only he understood. And towering above them all Ogdrog stromped, his massive axe slung over one shoulder, smoke wafting from the muzzle of a Kharadron rifle he'd had modified for use like a pistol.

But theirs was not the only storm to make landfall. From above came the lightning - true lightning, shot from the heavens - and in its wake came the Stormcast Eternals, gold-clad sentinels of Azyr. Both warbands had the same aim, albeit with different motivation: to reach the sacred ground at the far side of the land bridge and hold it against all comers.

There would be no flanks, no escape, and no room for subtlety. Just orruk steel, celestial wrath, and a causeway too narrow for anything but blood.

A binding of Soulsworn Questors translocated, from their lightning-borne arrival point, to the sacred ground objective.

The Weirdbrute Wrekkaz rushed ahead of the rest of the Rotmoons. Eager as always to start the fight. The Oddmoonz raced in front, but the Weirdmoonz were close on their heals.

Ogdrog and Roggriguez's Brutes made short work of the Vanquishers who had struggled to cover ground in claggy sand.

The rest of the crew did their best to keep up, but something moving through the smoke behind them caught their attention.

El Doktoro cast Bash'em Ladz on the Oddmoonz and Ogdrog roared encouragement: Both the Wrekkerz mobs charged and crashed into the Soulsworn (despite the craftily giving ground to confound the Wrekkaz)

Accompanied by the clash of weapons and armour Palmaz' shanty rang out across the battlefield, casualties fell on both sides, but the Wrekkaz wounds knitted closed and they leapt back into the fight. Soulsworn held their position despite atrrition slowly eating away their advantage.

Supported by El Doktoro's magicks, Dragante's watch turned, and ploughed into the Prosecutors who'd appeared behind them, dropping out of the storm.

A dragon swooped toward Bortagno's watch, as the Stormcast were reinforced by a band of Annihilators who translocated onto the only Emberstone Cluster in sight. But they abandoned it, without harvesting the precious realmstone shards, and thundered into Ogdrog and his hefty ladz.

Vigilors struggled through claggy sand to close on the pirates, but they peppered them with arrows from long range.

The Oddmoonz took advantage of the cover provided by a squall of soot rain and disengaged from the Soulsworn. 

They'd spotted the Annihilators moving away from the Emberstone and sprinted to claim it for themselves.

(The Annihilators headed for the sacred ground after they dealt with their first quarry, but that had nothing to do with the Oddmoonz choice....)

Even without them, the Weirdmoonz felled the last of the tenacious Soulsworn and captured the sacred ground.

The last Prosecutor fell and Dragante urged his watch to regroup and help their shipmates.

While El Doktoro and the dragon rider exchanged blasts of magical fire, Kapitan daLeeva dived for cover behind the rocks...

... as the dragon took a deep in-breath.

Dragante's watch were again hit by Vigilors' arrows, but either most glanced off armour or were redirected by the pirate's lucky trinkets.

So bows were swapped for swords.

The dragon swept around the rocks and Kapitan daLeeva charged! He drove Shipwrecka deep into the beast, wounding it severely.

But he was immediately swathed in a jet of seering flame...

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The Stormcast had gained the upper hand: Their losses were less significant than the Rotmoons' overall. When the Annihilators re-took the sacred ground, it was clear the pirates would continue to be worn-down if they attempted to contest it again.

So Palmaz called for a retreat, and the Rotmoons fell back to the ship with (a not insignificant) three shards of Emberstone in-hand.

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Opponent: Daniel

Faction: Stormcast Eternals

Battleplan: Storm the Land Bridge (1 Objective)

Twist: Ash Storm

Emberstone Clusters: 1

Points Values: 1290 vs. 1720 (Stormcast stalled reinforcements = 230+ points)

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Result Loss

Added to Emberstone Vault +1 shard from the captured cluster, +2 from the post-battle D3 roll.

Total Emberstone Shards Gained Overall = 12

Campaign Battles Fought = 4