How An Ironclad Of The Empire Came To Be Before the tension between the Empire and Marienburg had risen to what they are now, there where discussions of a ship that could safely transport luxurious wares without fear of it being sunk or plundered. The concept of the ship was for it to be an armored vessel able to travel from Altdorf to Marienburg. Built in the shipyards of Marienburg she was designed to carry priceless treasure to and from the courts of Karl Franz. With this design in mind the master shipwright set out to create a ship that could withstand as much as a Dwarf ironclad. After a year of studying Dwarf designs and overcoming unforeseen errors, he was at last satisfied with his creation. She was originally named the Das Bollwerk. She was built of the sturdiest oak felled from the surrounding forests. The visible portion of the ship was sheathed in the purest iron and forged in the foundries of Nuln. Below the waves exposed wood showed. As the ship was to be escorted along its route it had only a small deck gun mounted on the bow. The breadth of the ship is four horse lengths and the length three times that. She is powered by an astonishing complex dwarf-made steam engine that was attended at all times by its Dwarven engineers enlisted from the docks and surrounding pubs along the dockside in Marienburg. Near her aft rose the magnificent smokestack, the apex adorned by an Imperial griffin. After many years of transporting goods between two growing rivals it would appear as though Sigmar had other plans for the Bollwerk as she was badly damaged in a conflict with a Dwarf Nautilus. It was midsummer and she was carrying a full load of the best wine and many valuable arcane items. Unknown to the convoy of gunships and transports they happened to attract the attention of the Dwarven Capitan. With undoubtedly dire intent he ascended from where the submarine skulked, near the bottoms of the river where gloomy shadows lurked the muddy water allowed a scarce amount of light to penetrate. Rising to periscope depths behind the convoy the Capitan observed the servants of the Empire dutifully carrying out their orders. Upon seeing what the Dwarfs, in their arrogance would no doubt have considered was an affront and an insolent imitation of their superior ironclads, the haughty race attacked the ship. Too cowardly to fight the servants of Sigmar hand to hand, they slunk into the midst of the convoy and let torpedoes fly in a deadly flurry. One well aimed torpedo sliced its way through the water just under the surface towards the ship despite the crews valiant attempt to destroy it with handgun fire it was destined to hit its target. Seeing the ship lurch painfully under the force of the explosion the Dwarf captain ordered the traitorous Nautilus to slip back into the murky depths from where it had risen. With a gaping hole below her water line, she began to list to her starboard side as water poured in through the opening. While Das Bulwark's crew tried to plug the hole several other ships in the convoy where also struggling to repair the damage done by the Nautilus. One of the gunships powder cache had been hit and exploded ripping a huge hole in her deck and leaving the doomed ship to burn.
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