Thy Soul To Keep - part 7

Lands of the Dead

Fleshless vultures circled high above the Harrowmark and skeletal jackals prowled the forests. Bolts and arrows drove them off soon enough, but they were always there, just out of reach.

Worse still were the dreams of the omen some called the Writhing Serpent, the skeletal, snake-like form that haunted the nights of Shyish. Some said it is a familiar spirit of Nagash himself, an omen of his dark will made manifest; others that it was the spirit of Nagendra, Father of Serpents, slain by Sigmar in the Age of Myth. Whatever its cause, it could not bode well, and it slithered through the dreams of Bolet Ghosteater.

The gates into the infamous Great Oubliette were open, where Nagash kept those who wronged him for all eternity.

~ 🕱 ~

Whispered words, as heavy as tombstones slammed into Bolet's mind.

WE ACCEPT YOUR OFFER.

Sweat poured from the Cave-Shaman's brow as he cowered in front of the Knight of Shrouds. The aura of death around the terrible spectral form of the hunchback ghast was oppressive. With shaking hands he handed over the Rotmoons cache of Realmstone Sand, in a deal that Kapitán da Leeva would not have agreed to, even if he had known of it.

GO TO THE HURRICANE BELL AT BLACKROCKS. WAIT FOR US THERE.

Bolet scrambled to his feet and ran. The less time he spent in the company of Nighthaunts the better,a s far as he was concerned. But the Portents were clear, the servants of Nagash were not going to let anyone else win a war in the Realm of Death. A temporary alliance was the only sure way to survive in the short-term. Beyond that he had no plan. The Cave-Shaman had woken from fevered hallucinogen-fueled dreams and gasped for air far too many times for comfort. The visions of a squirming boney snake coiled around him and crushing the breath from his body still loomed large in his mind.

~ 🕱 ~

Race to Destruction (Coalition of Death battleplan): if the signs have been interpreted correctly, a vast deposit of Realmstone lies beneath the ground around the Hurricane Bell. It is better to share it with one ally, than having to fight many enemies.

4 objectives; one in the centre of each table-quarter. Each objective is worth 1VP at the end battle rounds one and two, 2VP at the end of battle rounds three and four and 3VP at the end of battle round five. 1VP is also earned for slaying an enemy General and another 1 VP is earned if the general is the coalition's Warlord.

Order
The Raidho Othalas - 54 Renown

The Gilded Hand - 47 Renown

Death & Destruction

The Heralds of Nagash - 52 Renown

The Rotmoons - 46 Renown

Bolet looked sideways at his new allies. He was deeply distrustful of them but could not let the orruks know that. If they'd thought he had any doubts they would have abandoned him immediately.



Tambor headed for the Fisherman, hoping to win some glory by bringing down the now-infamous Duardin.



Bold Rikk was given the task of looking after the stash of loot. He wasn't pleased until he realised there was a barrel of rum amongst the cache of Realmstone...



An'sec, the Knight of Shrouds, made directly for the Witch Hunter, the Spirit Hosts accompanying him surrounded the servant of Sigmar!



The Balefire Blade bit deep and the Witch Hunter dropped to the forest floor.



A ragged volley of shots rang out across the battlefield as the Kharadron opened fire, the orruks ducked but the shots missed their marks by a wide margin.



Bolet and his bodyguard hurried to the Hurricane Bell, the Lord Ordinator tried to intercept them. The Cave-Shaman's followers leapt on the Stormcast Harbinger with glee.



The Spirit Hosts chewed through the remaining Freeguilders in the forest, who bravely stood their ground regardless of the loss of the Witch Hunter.



An'sec stayed back and watched the battle progress, after he completed his personal objective of cutting down the Witch Hunter.



Kalyustar targeted the Knight of Shrouds with the first of many arcane attacks.



The Knight was very nearly banished but he held a powerful relic: The Ring of Immortality restored his life-force.



But only just!



He re-materialised behind the Hurricane Bell, clinging to the last scraps of his existence!



The Rotmoons advanced through the forests but the death of some of their mates spooked them...



... And a couple of them fled.



An Arkanaut tried to take advantage of the Knight of Shroud's weakened state, but the Knight just drained the soul-stuff of the Kharadron and used it to replenish his own life-force!



After a barrage of gunfire from the Thunderers and a rain of hammer-strikes from Lord Ordinator Ironfundson, Trollumbus the Fellwater Troggoth finally fell.



Bolet fumed with rage! He stuffed a handful of Deffcap Mushrooms into his mouth and let the magical fungus infuse him with potent energy!



... And he unleashed the deadly power of the Spore Maws: With a high-pitched screech, the Cave-Shaman caused the thick spores around him to coalesce into gnashing green mouths which swarmed Ironfundson and the Navigator, and brought down the already-injured Lord Ordinator!

The Kharadron and Freeguild withdrew in good order but they had only managed to hold on to a single stockpile of Realmstone. Two were in the hands of their enemy and the last was left in the field.

~ 🕱 ~



Elated at his first taste of victory, Bolet Ghosteater scuttled off into the woods and started collecting the interesting mushrooms he had spotted there, earlier in the day. He was determined to get absolutely hammered that night.

~ 🕱 ~

Victory Points
Order - 3VP
Death & Destruction - 4VP



~ 🕱 ~

Godfather Viktor's version of this adventure is here.

Thy Soul To Keep - part 6

The Fragile Cargo

Kapitán da Leeva and a few hands raced over the trees in the yellow cutter. The sail was drum-taught in the winds (both meteorological and thaumaturgical) and the cutter’s speed was exhilarating for all aboard her. They all tried their best to avoid looking at huge spherical Black Void that hung menacingly in the sky above them. The Kapitán sat in the bows with his eyes fixed on a distant landmark: a tower of black rock, some thirty or forty feet higher than the surrounding forest canopy. The crew worked together with only a few words exchanged. Dragante, hand sure on the tiller, only needed to give the slightest of instructions for the crew to know exactly what was needed: a tightened halliard here, or a shift in the yardarm there. The six of them had run up and down this stretch of the Harrowmark for weeks; from Wortbad to Blackrocks and back. Ever since the Rotmoon shipwrecked in the forest.

~ 🕱 ~

While Bolet was making his grand entrance to an empty inn, the Rotmoons had been elsewhere. The sorcerer Juan Dee had told them they needed the protective Lantern of Souls, a device made of brass and skulls and wreathed in ethereal green fire. It was kept in a tomb in Black Rocks and they had to bring it back to the Rose & Scythe inn by last light on the 21st of Sorows. The orruk corsairs had procured it fairly easily but their return journey was interrupted by the crew of The Raidho Othala, who were waiting for them at the edge of the village.

~ 🕱 ~

Skirmish Battleplan: Fragile Cargo

The Rotmoons - 43 Renown

The crew of The Raidho Othala - 48 Renown

~ 🕱 ~



The orruk corsairs left the yellow cutter at the sky-dock and set off on foot toward the Rose & Scythe.



They hurried but the Lantern of Souls was awkward to carry and Kapitán da Leeva struggled to keep up with the crew.



Lord Ordinator Ironfundson was waiting for them! Having foreseen their mission, but not their intentions, he was certain they were up to no good and determined to stop them.



The Raidho Othalas were right behind him and cheered as the Lord Ordinator started raining comets on the orruks!





Awkwardo set off toward Ironfundson on his own, impetuously and unwisely. The Kapitán considered calling him back but sighed and left the big orruk to try his "plan". Unfortunately he didn't get far as the Invisible Geists in the graveyard dragged him into their underworld.



More starfall rained down on Kapitán da Leeva's head! But the orruk corsair's collection of battered talismans and charms somehow protected him.



Kapitán da Leeva brought down a Doom and Darkness and only a couple of the Kharadron could see a target to shoot at. Unfortunately Geedo Forks fell to a staccato volley from the nearest of them, but only after he and Pez charged and killed the kharadron they called "The Fisherman", the one armed with a much-feared Skyhook.



Ironfundson got frustrated by the orruk Kapitán's resilience and charged him, hammers swinging.



The Lord Ordinator took down the Kapitán but the Rotmoons around him avenged their leader swiftly, and picked up the Lantern to try to complete his mission. It got too much for Don Snotto though, and the cowardly grot fled.



The Kharadrons drew closer, blasting the orruks with pistol shot and charging with cutlass. A couple of greenskinz fell but an Arkanaut did too, and that was enough to make one of his crew-mates run for it!



So at the very end only two fighters remained on each side, the Kharadron Navigator felled Bold Rik then an Invisible Geist from the ruined barn grabbed Percy Percy!

~ 🕱 ~

The Rotmoons nursed their wounds as they trudged back to the inn in darkness, and without the Lantern of Souls. The rain started as they got to the front door and came down so heavily that they were soaked through in seconds. They were all already in a black mood before that and the freezing rain did nothing to improve matters. They pushed open the door to find Bolet Ghosteater sitting in front of the fire, warming his gnarled toes.

The Fungoid Cave-Shaman was half tempted to jump onto his chair to make himself silhouetted against the flames and shout at the orruks and startle them, but he saw their faces and instantly thought better of it.

He slumped into the chair defeated. He hated Wortbad already.

Thy Soul To Keep - part 5

The Black Void

Everywhere across Shyish, waking dreams plagued those who scried the future – including Bolet Ghosteater, for his quest had led him to the heart of the Realm of Death. Like every visionary, mage and wise man he was haunted by the image of a vast black sphere that stole light, warmth and hope from all who witness it.

Yet only at night was its most profound consequence keenly felt. The Black Void, synonymous with oblivion in the mythic symbology of Azyr, hungered to devour all things – and in the Realm of Death, that rapacious nothingness began to consume time itself.

It started with a blink in time, a glitch in the chronology of events that few noticed bar a slight feeling of disorientation. Perhaps, if the cities of Sigmar’s free people had not striven to find order in time as well as space, it would have gone unnoticed, at least for a while. But as the effects worsened, the clockmakers and arcanists of the Amethyst Realm notice their hourglasses suddenly filled with less sand, and that at midnight, their chronocogs and water clocks glitched as if ten minutes has passed without their notice.

And so it had. For in the dead of night, the Black Void fed.

Stolen seconds turned to minutes, and then hours. As more and more time slipped away, even the most primitive and bestial species became somehow aware that their lives were being shortened by an impossible force that preyed on them from the Great Nothing.

The Rotmoons neared the verge of panic as this realisation set in. But while the unnatural darkness might herald more woes for the land, for now the shapes moving through it surely were a more pressing issue. 

~ 🕱 ~

Clash at Dawn

All fighters were deployed in a random quarter of the battlefield (1-4 on a D6) or held in reserve (5-6 on a D6). The skirmish would be won at the end of the Battle Round in which the enemy warband was reduced to half its number of fighters.

The Rotmoons (40 Renown)

Bolet Ghosteater, Fungoid Cave Shaman.

Hammerhead - Ogor

Trollumbus - Fellwater Troggoth

Dodoso - Orruk

Bondon - Orruk

The Heralds of Nagash (48 Renown)

An'sec - Knight of Shrouds

Lord Radclyffe's Riders - 3 Hexwraiths

Noisey William and co. - 3 Deadwalkers

~ 🕱 ~

Bolet waved his staff and sickle in what he hoped was a menacing way and screeched high-pitched orders in frustration and anger. He had found a few wayward members of the Rotmoon's crew and talked them into joining him. They thought they were looking for the rest of the Rotmoons, but the Cave-Shaman had other ideas.

Trollumbus and Hammerhead smashed a Deadwalker to a gooey mess on the edge of the forest. 

The Knight of Shrouds floated down from the watchtower and closed on the pirates.



A Hexwraith headed toward Bolet but the Cave-Shaman retreated.



He shrieked more orders and the big guys ran past him to intercept the ghostly rider. The Hexwraith screamed silently and faded to smoke under the heavy-hitter's barrage of blows.



Bolet chuckled to himself, as he still thought that the battle was going well, but An'sec, the Knight of Shrouds had other plans...





Bondon arrived (late) and a Hexwraith hunted him and rode him down in the darkness.



Another of Lord Radclyffe's Riders galloped out of the night.



The harbingers faced each other and Bolet did all he could to save his miserable life, using every trick he could muster, but the Knight of Shrouds eventually cut down the Cave-Shaman in a cloud of hallucinogenic spores.





The Heralds of Nagash closed in on the remaining Rotmoons from all sides, soon Dudoso and Hammerhead were taken down, leaving Trollumbus the troggoth alone.



The troggoth realised that it was hopeless and he lumbered off into the darkness, craning his neck to look over his shoulder, terrified he was being pursued.

~ 🕱 ~

Meanwhile, in another part of the Harrowmark... Kalyustar and the Kharadron Raidho Othalas met to settle their grievances!

~ 🕱 ~

The inn door burst open, wind and rain poured in. Lightning flashed and silhouetted Bolet Ghosteater in the doorway. Thunder rolled over the forests and hills around Wortbad and he stomped into the bar, slamming the door behind him. Satisfied that he had recovered his dramatic advantage and made a suitable entrance at last, the Cave-Shaman smiled inwardly and waited for a moment before lifting his head. Rainwater scattered across the floor from his soaked filthy robes and ran from the huge umbrella-like mushroom that grew from his skull. With a flourish of his hand he pronounced...

"Behold! I am... ahhhh, Zoggit!"

He slumped in disappointment once more as he realised the inn was empty.

~ 🕱 ~

The Mushloonz - part 1 - Bolet Ghosteater, Fungoid Cave-Shaman

Bolet Ghosteater waddled through the stinking mud toward Wortbad. It had been raining for two weeks and the road was almost impassable, but it was only a mile or two to the village now. Something had gone wrong with hi portal though and he muttered to himself and cursed his luck: he was supposed to have appeared in the town square. Now not only was his grand entrance ruined, his feet would be too. The Fungoid Cave-Shaman had foreseen all this, of course, but that didn’t make the bitter disappointment any less unbearable.



I'm not 100% happy with his face, so I might do a little more work before I call him finished, but this is good enough for today's game!











~ 🕱 ~

Some WIP pics - these were before greenstuff - I didn't take any before undercoating as I only had two evenings left to paint after building him! I built the mushroom stem from his head, filled the gaps between his new face and his original ears, and added a leather strap to attach the crossed bones to the staff.

Skarkrow's Ironjawz Ardboys - part 2

I played my first game of Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire this week. It was a fun game and it spurred me to get back to painting the Orruks for it I bought last year when they were first released! I did some head-swaps when I built them, as I have issues with building models "straight out of the box"! They have been sat half-finished on my hobby desk for a few months. Two of them were very nearly finished so I concentrated on them last night.

Gurzag Ironskull:





Kutta:





The first two Shadespire Ardboyz together:



I have also been working on some addition Ironjawz Ardboyz, to boost Ironskull's Boyz to the size of an AoS Skirmish warband: Skarkrow's Ironjawz Arboys.

They are made from a mix of old Ardboyz, Blood Bowl Orcs and the Shadespire Ardboyz. All the models are converted in some way - I've added baggage, cloaks, knives and trophies. I've also done weapons-swaps (from Brutes and Ogors) and head-swaps from other kits (Boar Boyz, Ironjawz Brutes and Orks). I detailed their bases with cracked and chipped flagstones, skulls and scrubby plants and gnarled roots to make them look more like the Shadespire orruks' bases. The first one painted is...

Murk: