The level of fear and uncertainty is growing by the day for the people of Rondhol. The Fae’s recent activities have sent shockwaves throughout the region, and everyone knows that they have to be prepared for anything that might come their way. Those who currently reside within Furyoth Dell and the Mountains of Maraz know that they are most at risk of being attacked by Voidfang. The titanic monster is slowly making its way northwards, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Its immense size and strength are enough to strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest warriors.
Meanwhile, cities along the coast of the Bitingsea, such as Civilia’s Ruin, face a different kind of threat: The Svlind continues its slow journey towards them. The city’s inhabitants know that they need to prepare for the worst, as the Svlind’s arrival could bring about the destruction of their homes and livelihoods – or what’s left of it after all the recent flooding.
And then there are those in other parts of the region, such as Khardhir, who are under an ever-growing number of threats – from within and without. The Fae’s cloak-and-dagger maneuvers throw the entire region into chaos, and the denizens of Rondhol know that they cannot afford to let their guard down for even a moment.
To strengthen the defenses of the Procession, the Archprophetess sent out Sepideh and her scouts to gather ingredients to cast potent magical rituals.
However, because of being continuously outmanoeuvred by a big group of wanderer allies of the Fae who made off with their prize in the end, the scouts had to return empty-handed, with only a bundle of worthless Aelf-heads to show for their efforts.
(Warcry Templar loss)
https://thegreatweave.com/assaulting-the-city/
Having been abandoned by the Knights of the Chalice, the Brashbriar Brood see no reason to continue on to the Gaping Portal (though they still don’t realise that was a ruse) and instead turn back to assault Khardhir whilst the bulk of the city’s forces are (hopefully) busy contending with the fae threat.
Briars Breach a Broken Bastion
The Faes’ power over the strings of Fate is considered the most vile Heresy by the Faithful of the Architect of Fate.
At the edges of the Battle against the Voidfang, complex magical rituals are conducted in Worship of Tzeentch, as Acolytes, Adepts, Chaos Sorcerers and Tzaangor Shamans cast spells protecting the Procession forces Fate from interference by the Fae.
Sepideh and her scouts are among those protecting the rituals from enemy attacks.
Again, they are set upon by a vampire noble and his undead minions, and after a hard and intense battle, the undead forces are shattered and forced to retreat.
(Warcry Templar Victory)
Inquisitor Voidwalker of Umberspire enacts his purge, and the Inquisition starts evacuation maneuvers
As the Voidfang gains momentum and the Inquisition disables the agents of Khardihr in the field, the leader of the Inquisition Hounds, Inq. Vollastor Voidwalker, finally arrives at the Mountains of Maraz.
The Vampire Lord had been travelling the shadows for months, following the movements of the city’s agents, and the infiltration of it by these Fae agents. While Voidwalker had not been able to stop the mayhem triggered by Hawcaller and the assassinations in the very heart of the council room, he was able to identify the culprit and purge a good few enemy spies from the Vermillio estate. This allowed him to learn how deep this operation had sunk its claws in the city, and that the head of the Navigator’s Guild was the ringleader. And the Inquisitor had now been putting in countermeasures for weeks.
Now that the butterfly was out of the coccoon, his targets were in the open. The boldness of the Fae agents’ murders finaly gave them away, which the Inquisitor suspected was due to them feeling they were close to their endgame. He was able to take out several of the Fae agents himself the past weeks, now that they thought they had the upper hand. The Vermillio agents he coordinated were able to move quickly and swiftly, and Voidwalker himself stepped between shadows to reach the most impenentrable bastions, seeking his prey.
The covert infiltration and eventual incursion into the city by the bloodwarriors of the Steel Fang did complicate matters, as this third party was an opportunist predator waiting to bite on the weakened animal that Khardihr had become. But thanks to his planted intelligence, he was able to weaken Hawkcaller’s hold on several institutions by pitting his minions against the Steel Fang. The blood warriors were able to claim a hold over part of the city, but their interest aligned with expunging the Fae. The Vermillio weren’t happy to have such a big bite taken out of their real estate, but it was a concession they were willing to make given the circumstances.
The attacks on the Vermillio members precipitously stop, with hushed whispers mentioning the “Avenging Shadow” who had steadily thinned the numbers of most of the assassins and spies in the city, and had scrambled their missives. As Voidwalker’s purge operation progressed, he was able to retrieve some of the plans these traitors had been brewing, by document retrieval, and psychological or necromantic interrogation. Hawkcaller was traced to be at the center of their web, and the House of Vermillio’s remaining members were fuming for revenge.
His work done, and amused to have been able to prowl the city while his minions were out conducting warfare, Voidwalker decided it was finally time to shift the Inquisition’s priorities.
Communicating with Judge Voranul, who was still with Inquisitor Hastagar in the depths of the Dell with the rest of the Inquisition, pursuing Seraphon wrecks, Voidwalker explains he would be ordering a full scale retreat of his Inquisition Hounds from the Temple at Maraz, which is right in the warpath of this Voidfang fortress creature the Fae are controlling. He had done enough for the Vermillios, and this should now put them on the upper hand in Khardhir, enough to clean up their mess. As per their contract to secure further Seraphon technology, Hastagar’s group would continue pursuit in the Dell, as they were finally reaching this procession which had gathered to fight the Fae. The rivals that eluded them before, having stolen the guts of the seraphon wreck that became the Shattered Temple, were now close. They would be too distracted fighting the Knights of the Chalice.
Voranul agreed, and assured that Hastagar’s intentions aligned, having already mobilized all of the Inquisition Templars out of Maraz. “Good. Get me Belimir here as well. I need him for several jobs, in fact.” asked the vampire. “Me and My Hounds will be leaving to the south, to Lendu. We just heard of a possibility to collect a debt from Everquake City that we might never have a chance to again.” Voidwalker grinned, a wicked amusement spread over his face. “We are going to join the greenskin shaman’s Waaaagh. Hahahaha!”
The Inquisition Templars secure a seraphon cache for the House of Vermillio
The Templars had left the Dell, and in the confusion of the battle against the Voidfang, managed to escape with them to Khardihr mostly unscathed, hauled in their ghost ships.
Their last remaining forces alight on a remote plateau of the city, using warehouses owned by the Vermillio to house their salvaged relics. They only needed to wait for their contacts to arrive and collect.
But it seems someone had been tipped off to their transfer: two Kharadron vessels descend on their position, and have their marines ransack the containers. One vessel escapes with one large glowing orb, one of the most powerful relics indetified in the salvage. Accidentally, it revealed the engine’s power: to project a field that disrupts the magic of spellcasters in the vicinity. Dramatically so.
The last remains of the Templars of the Inquisiton barely managed to keep these duardin from robbing them of these items that took so much to acquire. Were they hired by someone else in the Council? Or by the Fae’s agents?
Inquisitor Hastagar was furious, and cut them down mercilessly, his Mindrazor Blade slicing a frigate in half.
It seems the Inquisition had succeeded in fending off their rivals. They had recovered a large cache of the Xarlanth’s engines, though not the engine that had allowed it to fly, which both the Council and the Vermillio so coveted. Nonetheless, these would bring significant leverage to the House of Vermillio, especially the anti-magic generator.