Hello guys I am a a dwarf player who after 3 years of using my beloved Dawi have decided to start an Empire army from Altdorf alongside my dwarfs
Back on topic my gaming group have been unhappy amount how the Et went down so we are all having a go at writing are own version of it here is mine so far hope you enjoy!
Juts to note due to me being quite please about the way Nagash went the first section will be very similar to how Nagash went down but when we get to Khaine and Thanquol I will start some Major and I mean major changes.
Introduction
The first part is the same as the introduction in ET Nagash but the faction introductions are slightly different.
Prologue
In Nagaroth the Northmen spilled across the Ironfrost glacier and into the bleak lands below, led by Valkia the Bloodied Horde swept through the Dark rider patrols and sent them fleeing back to Volroth. Incredibly however, the Naggarothi were caught unawares for the tower of prophecy lay unusually silent in the mists. Without the sorceresses of Grond to alert them the Naggarothi outposts were singled out and destroyed one by one, as the Chaos horde sped onwards to the beats of many war drums its savagery grew for there was no strategy but to claim skulls in Khornes name.
Nevertheless messengers got out and Ebnir Soulflayer rode to Volroth with a large host of Naggarothi from Naggaeond. However, this glimmer of hope was soon eradicated when they arrived just as the proud obsidian walls were torn down by demon fire and the garrison could be seen being slaughtered in the distance. Soulflsyer set his army to slaughter the invaders and with crossbow and spear drove the Northmen away but in a storm of blood Valkia descended on the army and the bloodied set to work on glorious slaughter and a large tribute if skulls to the skull throne. Ebnir was one of the last to fall being been apart by the Gorequeen’s (Valkia) blades.
No sooner had the spires of Volroth been shattered and the defenders skulls been piled up, the bloodied horde rampaged on further. Like the winds it came crashing down destroyed city’s and army’s as Valkia’s horde descended on Naggarond. Other portions of the horde travelled east to assail Har Ganeth, whilst some headed south to besiege Hag Greaf where they were overcome the army of Malus Darkblade in a tide of death as the cold hearted regiments fought with the fever of Khiane. Although in truth Darkblade did not care weather Naggarond fell as long as Malekith fell with it, but of Malekith there was no sign.
Meanwhile Kouran Darkland master of the Black guard of Naggarond led the defence, twice had the bloodied horde threatened to overwhelm the defenders until Kouran had met Valkia in combat and driven her off, although Kouran could not break the siege himself for he lacked the tactical mind to do so. Finally after several months the witch king returned and drove the Northmen away from Naggaronds wall. However, none dared to ask what
had kept him so long and the battle for Naggaroth continued in a bitter stalemate. This ugly new turn of events caused Malekith to Grudgingly order all force bound for the invasion of Ulthuan to return for defend the kingdom. Ancient enmity would have to wait, for now.
On Ulthuan the absence of Naggarothi attacks was not unnoticed although the ten kingdoms had little chance to revel in the unusual calm, for the rising power of Chaos threatened to engulf Ulthuan once again. Suddenly on a night riven by crimson lighting clouds descended down from the Annulii Mountains, fuelled by Tzeench, anything this mist of change touched was reformed, trees and plants were twisted into vile shapes and creatures residing there were slain or warped into twisted new forms. Of the creatures of Ulthuan only the high elves were unaffected. Wherever the cloud floated the walls of reality weekend and soon Ulthuan was overrun by Daemons, the waters of Cothiqe and Ellryion become bloated with slime and noxious emissions which brewed by Nurgle, the forests if Chrace were set ablaze by howling warpfire of Tzeench. Furthermore, Bloodletters rampaged through Ulthuan burning cities and stacking skulls as they went, Corthqie and Yvresse were overrun by hordes of Khornes chosen and soon the great cities of Athel Tamarha and Tor Alin were overrun and put to the sword, the daemons of Khorne claiming the skulls of the population and garrison for their dark master. All around Ulthuan army’s lay slain and towns and city’s sacked. Here and there the armies were formed to attempt to drive off the daemons whilst mages attempted to stem the corruption.
With all these new threats the elves sought the guidance of the phoenix more than ever but Finubar was nowhere to be seen. As mutterings began at court it was revealed that the phoenix king had locked himself in a tower to attempt to find a source to relive Ulthuan however, many other nobles jumped at the opportunity and whilst the armies of Ulthan battled the demonic hosts nobles schemed and dissent arose around the nobility of the realm.
With Finubar presumed missing or isolated the task of leadership fell to the heroes of the realm. Unfortunately many of these were in the process of returning home from a disastrous rescue attempt. Manfred Von Carstein had captured the Everqueens daughter Aliathra and so far the vampire had made sure that no attempt to relive the ever child was successful. Therefore whilst the survivors of the rescue mission were returning home others were defending Ulthuan. Imrik of Caledor fought tirelessly to rid the lands of daemons and where he stepped the tide was turned however, despite Imrik holding the realm together hope was fading for the high were slowly but surely losing control of their home land. Chrace was almost all but overrun and what was once a land covered in tall forests was now a barren waste land, whilst Avelorn and Ellyrion were in similar situations and seems sure to follow suit. Not only was the phoenix king missing but Alarielle the Everqueen had seemingly abandoned her beloved Averlorn and had retreated into the world roots on some unknown journey of her own.
Finally Imrik of Caledor spoke the words which now lay as a heavy burden on manys minds, the Phoenix king had clearly abandoned his realm and so another should take his place. Although many knew that Imrik sought the crown for himself in a crisis such as this many lords and nobles rightfully believed that a hero such as him would be needed if Ulthuan was to survive, and as the days and nights passed more voices were raised in support of Imrik.
Soon though Tyrion and Teclis returned in failure and the greatest heroes of Ulthuan found themselves in a war torn land divided by intrigues at court. Teclis was appalled and although knew Imriks motives to be honourable he himself also noticed the division among the council and knew that Ulthuan must stand united. Deeming that there was no other choice available Teclis resolved to breach the phoenix kings tower, such a task was difficult even for a mage of his calibre and it took the mage 3 days to break the enchants and another which would enact the spell to open wards which controlled the door. As Teclis hurried in to the tower he left it even paler than normal as the enchantments took hold again and locked the tower to the outside world leaving the mage outside to dwell on what he had seen.
Meanwhile Tyrion was spending his time in Ulthuan preparing another expedition to rescue Aliathra and therefore, had spared little attention to the destruction of Ulthuan and the growing dissent at court. Thus did Teclis beg his brother to take command of Ulthuans defences the prince felt the suggestion with growing resentment. Not knowing what to do Tyrion sought the creator’s guidance and travelled to the shrine of Asuryan. As the prince approached the serried lines of the phoenix guard were found blocking his entrance. However, no sooner had Tyrion displayed his identity the phoenix guard bowed. They would follow him. Therefore grudgingly Tyrion decided to take up the defence of Ulthuan and despite Eltharions counsel Tyrion bid him to remain home and defend his native Yvresse. Suddenly Eltharions younger brother Argalen intervened and proposed that he and Eldyra (Princess of Tiranoc) would resolve to rescue Aliathara from Manfreds clutches or die trying.
Tyrion returned to the Phoenix council at the height of one of Imriks speeches, the prince entered the room clad in full plate and with Sunfang in hand; raising the sword high he challenged every lord in the chamber to put aside their differences or to be slain on Sunfangs edge. All present shamed or cowed by Tyrions words save Imrik who questioned under what authority had Tyrion been able to speak in such manner, Anarions air simply smiled and declared he was the herald of Asuryan and under his authority Imrik had no choice but to step down, the Caledorian’s heart froze with rage and he swept out of the chamber abandoning forever his dreams of claiming the phoenix crown. Soon after a great host marched out of Lothern with Tyrion at its head, meanwhile a second smaller army set sail east a few days after with Argalena and Eldyra at its head. The loremaster of Hoeth Belannaer travelled with the fleet and picked up the Everchilds voice upon the wind and discovered she was held captive in the region known to men as Sylvania, and was plain that her capture was part of some larger plot. Hence why Belannaer advised that Argalen seek help from other nations. The prince loathed that they should seek aid from men and dwarfs but could see it as the only resort of success. Swallowing his pride Argalen ordered the fleet to head east to the empire of Sigmar
In the Empire times were bleak and growing steadily bleaker
The portents had not gone unnoticed in the land of Sigmar thought few actually realised the ominous times that would proceed in their wake, for many looked upon the twin tallied comet and saw hope, perhaps even the return of their ancestral warrior god Sigmar. However, priests of Sigmar reminded the populace of how Sigmar had been born and risen to adult hood in the time of mankind’s darkest hour and those times could well be nigh once. And do it proved.
As the comet grew brighter the Drakwald forest became alive with rumours of a beastman shaman named Malagor, the old stories of him had long proved to be superstitious but now Gregor Martak head of the amber collage claimed to have spotted the beastman amidst the ruins of a small village near Middenheim. Soon beastman activity continued this time more aggressive and soon many villagers prayed to Taal that he would preserve them from the howling beats beyond the palisade.
On the comet sped past Morslieb and dissent began to grow in the empire as the lure of Chaos drew many to madness or defection. Furthermore, disease began to spread which the sisters of Shallaya were powerless to stop. In response to the sickness of the mind and body many unscrupulous merchants amassed fortunes selling medicines and elixirs that would shield one against the stigmata of Chaos. Many of these were fake and were fact a mixture of poisons or even coloured waters, although this seldom mattered to the buyers. Not all of the merchants got away with those heinous acts, for in Middenheim Elector count Boris Todbringer had a merchant strung from the city walls after h lost a nephew to a fatal infusion of hagbane and docksnare. After that the elixir trade in Middenheim noticeable stalled but flourished elsewhere in the lands of the empire.
Merchants were not the only ones to profit from the doom laden times, for Flagellants and doomsayers found themselves swamped by followers, and as the number of Flagellants grow so did their aggressiveness. As the twin tallied comet sped past Mannslieb, many state troops were mobilised to defend cities in containing the crowds and in Nuln even this proved to be insufficient as the city was overwhelmed by howling doomsayers who would have sent the countess to the bonfires had a retired captain not rescued the countess from the clutches of the flagellants and with the help of a band of state troops and militia barricaded themselves into an old building until the knights griffin could ride in from Reikland to quell the riots.
As the twin tallied comet sped past the constellation of Kerr, the vampire Manfred von Carstein grew ever more cunning and finally revealed himself once again and declared Sylvania was at war with the empire once again, and cloaked the province in an unnatural darkness. Spurred by righteous outrage Grand Theoganist Volkmar plunged headlong into the darkness to confront the vampire, and although the fiend had been defeated for now at least. Upon his return to Altdorf Volkmar though bloodied the old man was still unmoved declared that Sylvanias border was fortified with towering ramparts of bone. Worse still those witch hunters who had the courage to travel in range of the wall had reported that even the most potent of their holy weapons were useless. The only glimmer of hope in the darkness was the fact that Balthasar Gelt supreme patriarch of the collages of magic had succeeded in crafting a wall of faith around Sylvania which no undead creature could cross. All things being equal though not even the staunchest of traditionalists would have objected to the loss of Sylvania for it had always been a burdensome and blighted province.
However, many feared that this would be a precursor to a new campaign therefore, Karl Franz ordered the armies of the empire to march to Sylvania determined to destroy what was left of its vile inhabitants.
Unfortunately the campaign was cut short when the riders of Kislev arrived at Altdorfs gates, a mere two days before the emperor’s Sylvania campaign. The Kislevites and ridden so hard that many of their steeds were almost dead on their feet, even worse they carried dire news – The Northlanders were on the march again and Kislev had already fallen. The only glimmer of hope however, was that the ice queen Tsarina still lived and was fighting a brutal guerrilla war near Erengrad. No sooner than the message been received Karl Franz had set his heralds to the task of redirecting the imperial army’s to the Kislev border to stop his realm from suffering the same fate as Kislev.
For the next few weeks the fate of the empire hung in the balance for it seemed that the hordes of Northmen were the sand in in an hour glass waiting to flood the Empire and tear it apart. In an attempt to reach the border before the Northmen armys were forced march almost to exhaustion and lone regiments were preyed upon by Greenskins and Beastmen hungry for slaughter. Furthermore many regiments were decimated by plague and famine which spread through their ranks, all in all for every ten men that began the journey only seven reached their destination. For most the men the fighting began as soon as they reached their destination for the Northlanders had flooded into the empire in many places and armies of Ostland, Hochland, Talabecland and Ostermark were hard pressed to hold all the borders at once. The most threatening Chaos host marched under the ragged turquoise banners of Vilitch the Curseling, and whilst other hordes shattered like water on a rock against the Empires entrenched fortifications the Curselings host bypassed these and assaulted castle von Rauken. Thus was castle von Rauken besieged and only a series of genius counterattacks by Aldebrand Ludenhof Elector count of Hochland saw the fortress preserved, yet the horde was too large to be broken from petty skirmishes.
Finally when army’s from Altdorf and Reikland arrived Ludenhof had the strength to drive of the followers of Chaos in the battle of Lubrecht where he placed a bullet in one of Vilitch’s skulls forcing the sorcerer to withdraw allowing his host to be routed and destroyed by the blades of the Hochlanders and Ostlanders.
Whilst the heroic effects of the Elector counts Valmir von Raukov, Alebrand Ludenhof, and Wolfram Hertwig bring the empire hope on the northern border, Karl Franz was ever in the search of allies; for he knew that the empire would require aid from other realms in the struggle to come, otherwise it would require a miracle