The games that built up to this story took place during Holy Havoc 2022.
You can find the other parts of the story within the ‘Revenge of Rondhol’ campaign here.
The Khardirian team made up of the Inquisition of Umberspire Templar strike force and the shock troops of the Stormscale Covenant Stormhost had made it to the outskirts of the Dell. They have not been the only ones heading this direction, and the major entry points across the tall jagged mountains surrounding the great valley are already under watch by the forces of Da Choppas and their allies, as well as Blackmaw’s goons. It was up to the Inquisition/Covenant team to punch a hole through any such blockade so they could proceed to the Dell. They chose a mountain pass, away from sight, where the some of the Choppas’s allies had been setting camp, their bonfires’ smoke rising high up in the air. And of all coincidences, the army that had set up camp here was none other than Azoth’s Realmgorger’s Steamwrought Chuglords, a clan of aqhsyan edgewalker ogors who had been blessed by the Realm of Fire. Belimir and the Hounds of the Inquisition last met them during the War in the Bleeding Wilds, where they stood with Ghalbakk’s Company in opposition to the Inquisition’s allies, the Underbough Sepulchre.
This gave the Inquisition some pause, as they have been well aware since the conclusion of that war that the Chuglords are in possession of an captive Incarnate of Beasts, a truly daunting threat to face. Thankfully, Keeper Zindimir of the Inquisition Templars made sure to bring with them from Lendu the Drekazrite, the Inquisition’s own artificial Incarnate of Beasts. Recently recharged with a new batch of amberbone. The perfect tool for this job.
Thus prepared, the Inquisition marched forward to perform a lightning strike at the Chuglords’ camp to act as a distraction, while the Stormscale would later strike deep from the heavens, landing behind their lines to scatter their forces and prevent pursuit.
The clash of the titanic incarnates was intense, and the energies of Ghur coursed through all the combatants nearby, inducing horns to sprout, claws to lengthen and fangs to grow from their mouths. Unbeknownst to the team from Khardihr, the ogors had set up camp next to an ancient monolith dedicated to Gorkamorka, which flared into life as soon as the violence kicked off. Mixed with the presence of the incarnates, it triggered a berserk rage in all involved around it, the bonfires raging three times their size and threatening to consume anyone who strayed too close.
Azoth himself charged the Inquisition’s Men in Black, attempting to take down Keeper Zindimir himself. But the specters, adopting feral shapes and growing fanged maws the size of a lion due to the influence of both incarnates, were a relentless wall of shadows and intangible limbs. Azoth took wound after wound, and had to pull back.
Belimir rode his trusty mount Vargov to hit the Chuglords’ backline, and remove the blockade to allow the rest of the team’s forces to traverse the pass. But the Chuglords’ minions and trained beasts just kept coming.
The destructive battle around the Gorkamorka totem reaches a fever pitch, with every combatant driven to a frothing rage by the bestial energies, and the battle being joined by another steam engine of the Chuglords. The two titanic manifestations of Ghur have been tearing each other to pieces, and their energies are starting to flicker. The Men in Black at this point come around, and join the fight, pressing against the ogors’ engine and their incarnate, providing the final push needed.
The Drekazrite surges forward, shielded with protective magics from Zindimir’s make, and punches through the Chuglords’ elemental spirit, dismissing it back into its now-dormant furnace. With the Chuglords’ main battleline broken, the Inquisition takes the opportunity to slip between the gaps and strike at the remaining ogre runners. The blockade was broken, and the Inquisition disengages to run through the pass, leaving its ogre sentries in temporary disarray. The Inquisition then rendez-vous back with the Stormscale, who had landed in the other side of the ogre camp and attacked their camp and supplies directly, hampering any pursuit. They set out toward the depths of the Dell, towards the location of the shattered Temple of the Storm.
The following day, the team of the Inquisition and the Stormscale reach a most peculiar forest, where they feel guided by some unseen presence and feel like they walk in circles, but somehow make way across it faster than expected. They had heard scouts tell of this Forest of Foresight, but together with tales of divined travel also came those of the Tower of Blood. Soon, the Khornate remnant came into view, almost as if all paths were drawing them here.
And they were not alone: a motley force advanced towards them, intent on challenging them for the Tower. Composed of orruks and followers of Nurgle, these conquerors called themselves the Woodhammers, and elaborated nothing further than a string of insults and chuckles as they advanced towards the position of the Khardirian team.
It became clear that these forces may not be affiliated directly to their rivals elsewhere in Rondhol, but may in fact have wandered into the Dell through one of the many malfunctioning realmgates. And with his keen eye for deduction, Keeper Zindimir correctly identified that crystal fragments of the Xarlanth had crashed in this location. So it may not be the tower these foes are after, but the same as them: fragments of the Seraphon void-ship.
Determined to engage and potentially interrogate their foe, the team from Khardihr charges forward.
As the Tower erupts in a fountain of gore, infecting those splattered by the violence of the Blood God, the battle turns against the Inquisition and Stormscale team. A highly virulent pestilence of Nurgle, likely some volatile ill-tested concoction the realms had never seen before, spreads through the ranks of the Inquisition, consuming and corrupting even the soulstuff of its Nighthaunt warriors. Their very links to the mortal plane corroded, the Inquisition’s own High Bailiff, Makari, was pushed to his limits in retaining the dutiful souls bound to the Realms.
Not even the presence of Judge Voranul was able to stem the spread of this disease, no matter how many insect-riding plague warriors he felled. The decision was made to retreat, and continue past this location towards the Temple.
The Inquisition and the Stormscales conceded.
After one more day of march, and picking up some void-ship crystal fragments along the way, the Inquisition and the Stormscales finally reach the shattered remains of the Temple of the Storm. Several floating metaliths remained, within a powerful storm of azyrian lightning, drifting around the main gate where the Seraphon void-ship had become lodged, roughly a mile into the floating debris field. Many smaller spatial gates had appeared here and there, potentially as a side-effect of the explosion. Scouts confirmed that the gates allowed travel between some of the metaliths, although not without some risk.
However, someone seemed to have made camp already at the bottom of the debris field. An undead army of Bonereapers and Gravelords, slowly marching from the shadows, reveals itself. They announce the Khardirian team had trespassed into their “gothic castle” built to carry the will of Nagash, and would be hunted down if they did not leave immediately.
The Inquisition laid out a plan, and entrusted the majority of the void-ship fragment haul to their Men in Black, who would fly from metalith to metalith and circumvent the slow-moving forces of the corpse armies. The Stormscale cavalry would run together with Knight-Vexillor Thelan Razorbolt to strike quickly at the Gravelords’ leadership, supported by units of Anihilators riding the lighting to land behind enemy lines. Belimir, on the other hand, would infiltrate their backline to steal their loot.
The Stormscale succeed at dislodging the bonereaper sorcerer from the leyline coursing through the debris field, which became obvious as their battle progressed. It had been allowing them to command the azyrite lighting from above, a hindrance to the marching Men in Black and their cargo.
What became a very problematic menace was one of the leaders of the enemy army, a vampire lord mounted on a zombie dragon, which soared through the metaliths chasing down the skirmishing forces of the Stormscale and the Inquisition.
Several Stormscale stormcast had to retreat after being savaged by this monster, and it almost caught the Men in Black carrying their cargo to safety. Thankfully, Judge Voranul was able to catch up in time, and used his Oblivion Scythe to cut the thread of this death-defying knight once and for all. The cargo secured safely atop the tallest metalith, the Men in Black joined the fight and helped finish off the remnants of the enemy forces.
The final strike against these Nagashite followers was a suicidal dive by Belimir, who jumped straight from the top of a metalith several yards in the air, to cut down the vampire cavalry down below. Belimir succeeded in cutting down several knights and their steeds in one blow with his greatsword at high falling speed, but his body was left broken after that. He had to be carried away from the site.
With this “gothic castle” successfully broken into and its defendants evicted, the Inquisition and the Stormscale Covenant had successfully secured the other side of the gate leading to the Mountains of Maraz. Scouts were sent into the void-ship wreckage to establish contact with the other side, and attempt to find traces of any enemy armies that had already gone into the wreck.
But the dreaded truth slowly revealed itself: the Seraphon wreck had been stripped clean of any valuable metals, energy sources and arcane-powered mechanisms. Anything left over was either without a power source, or too large to be moved in any way but also unusable due to being stuck in a wreck.
Belimir starts getting suspicious about his orders, and questions Keeper Zindimir why this wasn’t foreseen, or why the forces of Inquisitor Voidwalker on the other side had not yet crossed over. Or indeed, if they crossed already and the battle is over before they got here. He is wondering whether this mission is only being undertaken for the benefit of appeasing Khardihr, and both they and the Stormscale are simply political chess-pieces.
He starts focusing on tracking down the thieves that looted the void-ship.
The trail leads the Inquisition and the Stormscale up into the mountains of the Dell, which Belimir and the Stormscale knights express some confusion about.
There, they approach a number of fortifications that scouts from Khardihr had previously informed them about, set upon a frozen lake dubbed the Lake of Despair. It has been called so due to its belligerent guardians: bronze golems with a supernatural durability and arcane capabilities. These golems are said to attack any intruders as a test of skill, unless those intruders fight among themselves, in which case the guardians allocate themselves among the factions and fuel the conflict.
But their time exploring the abandoned fortress, and confronting the guardians, is abruptly cut short by the arrival of a new force: an contingent of Ironweld and aelven warriors, alighting on the opposite side of the lake, and shouting a challenge. The Inquisition’s ghost messengers come back reporting that this is the army of Cogfort Duardelbad, and they accuse the Khardirian exploration team of murder and theft, of having stolen their possessions, and thus they tracked them here.
Belimir becomes even more suspicious, knowing they themselves are tracking those who stole the contents of the Seraphon Void-ship.
Judge Voranul reminds his allies that he recalls this Cogfort in particular, and that they do owe a debt to the Inquisition over a prophecy several decades ago. The messenger says that was relayed, and they deny any recollection of a debt or prophecy.
With no further time to broker negotiations, the Inquisition protects their leaders, and is joined by one of the strange bronze guardians, just as another one joins the Cogfort army. Zindimir tasks the Inquisition of securing one of the golems, for further study, as a primary objective.
The mechanical steamworks and riders of Duardelbad are even joined by Stormcast warriors, which gave the Stormscale pause. But these stormcast show themselves to not have any qualms in attacking other servants of Sigmar, accusing the Stormscale of heresy, treachery and betrayal.
The agents of Duardelbad try to take over the fortress on the lake, but the Stormscale annihilators land from the aetheric lightning onto the island, and take them down.
The stormscale knights charge forward to take out the enemy golem as fast as possible, which they succeed to great cheers of all members of the team.
The Stormscale and the Inquisition take the battle to the Duardelbad, surrounding their phoenix and mechanical dragon. The battle dragged on, with the gheists of the Men in Black being cut down and returned to service by the hand of Bailiff Makari, yet the monsters of the Duardelbad smashed them again.
Eventually, the stormcast members fighting against each other relent, and start a dialogue. Both forces are exhausted, and the leaders of each terribly hurt. A tentative truce is held, and the two forces compare notes.
The leaders of Duardelbad say they have been guided here by visions and dreams, having crossed a realmgate to come to this place, in search of new lands and resources for their Cogfort. And that last night they were attacked by gheists and a stormcast warrior, which quickly disappeared into the night, towards this direction. This raises Belimir’s suspicions… it is too much of a conincidence. Zindimir says he is not convinced, which is uncharacteristic to the calm and cooperative Guadian of Souls. Belimir shares how they have come exactly from the opposite direction, and they have no interest in their trinkets: they cannot be the thieves that attacked them. He reveals how strange the tracks that led them here were, away from the shattered Temple… only to have them clash together. The Duardelbad share that a large force of followers of Chaos have marched away from the Temple, but not here: they went past the great Tree and deep into the ruins. They know this because they were exploring those same ruins, and were forced out due to the approaching large force.
Belimir entrusts the negociations to Thelan Razorbolt, who builds a better rapport with them. They eventually agree that they might have been set up, to clash against each other. Razorbolt explains they come from Khardihr and that Duardelbad might still find support out here from the city’s explorers like them. The Duardelbad leaders share some of the dangers of the ruins of the Dell, warning them of the creatures lurking in the canals, and of the vicious sylvaneth spirits around the Great Tree.
Judge Voranul orders deliverance of a note to the Duardelbad leaders, informing them that he has considered their debt settled. They shrug, having no idea of having signed any contract at any point.
After parting ways with the Duardelbad, the Inquisition and the Stormscale descend into the jungle, determined to catch the agents of Chaos responsible for looting their seraphon ship. Such an organized force is likely working for Blackmaw, although rogue forces are not out of the question. Now, they approach the great landmark that is the Crann Bethadh, the Great Tree listed in the notes from Khardhirian scouts.
Very quickly, they start hearing a low lament and some of the tree moving in their direction. Slender titanic sylvaneth shapes, moving with a slowness as if they were perceiving the world at a different pace, approach inexorably. The Khardirian team quickly steers clear and goes the other way around… only to be waylaid by an army of daemons, waiting for them.
And to Zindimir and Voranul’s surprise, leading part of that army was none other than Ku’sass, the aspiring nurgling. Ku’sass, who can punch monsters and flatten units despite his tiny frame. Ku’sass the most dangerous daemon of his size.
They had encountered him once, during the war in Gork’s Grin between Be’lakor and Gobsprakk, and there his nurglite forces forced them from the battlefield once already.
It was at this point that both the Inquisition and the Stormscale Covenant realize their magical artefactshad been misplaced, and their tactical orders had been switched. Interestingly, they could see some similar confusion in the enemy ranks of the daemons, with their leaders bickering. But this did not last long, as the battle lines closed quickly soon after.
The aerial cavalry of the daemon army surrounded them, and the Khardhirian team had to think quickly to stand strong against them. The Stormscale annihilators once more landed behind enemy lines and slayed a greater daemon on their own, while the battleline of the Men in Black held for now. But the onslaught of the giant fly cavalry was relentless.
Despite Judge Voranul swinging his scythe behind enemy lines and felling many daemons in his wake, this was not sufficient to prevent new ones from emerging from the Realm of Chaos, fed by the carnage and blood spilled and the disease spread by the nurgle daemons. The daemons break through the battleline of the Khardirian team.
Outnumbered and scattered, the Inquisition and the Stormscale break off, retreating to a much farther location before regrouping. This cost them a lot of supplies and time, and they would have to go around significantly, costing them several days more.
Thankfully, along the way, they find their magical artefacts and the correct combat orders, which had been suspiciously packed away together with other gear. Belimir’s suspicions increase even further, but he can’t explain exactly why this is happening.
Along the way, and avoiding the major movement of the daemon armies, he confronts Keeper Zindimir, as he does not dare challenge Judge Voranul, and gives him a piece of his mind. The arguments last for a day, until they finally reach the underground ruins. Belimir is incensed, and the strange replies from Zindimir only lead him to believe more and more that they have been set up to a fool’s errand, just to appease Khardihr.
Carefully descending down into the ruins, the Men in Black snatch away one of the enemy sorcerers, and hold him captive for interrogation. They can only extract so much, but learn that a force with monsters and several Chaos champions is down there, in the service of Captain Blackmaw.
Just as they start spotting the enemy forces, Belimir puts his plan into practice: he has secretly used his silkbinding insect to lay a number of tightening bonds around the Keeper. This ghurian silk can affect even the supernatural insubstantial flesh of nighthaunt, and Belimir leave Zindimir where he is, with a warning to not move and not interfere, as he is under suspicion. To a stunned Bailiff Makari and the rest of the Men in Black, their next surprise is that both Judge Voranul and the Stormscales’ Lord-Arcanum are missing! Without the rest of the force noticing, the enemy lured and captured them as they were traversing the narrow corridors.
Belimir is livid, and even more suspicious.
The sunken ruins of this place give way to a large chamber decorated with sigmarite iconography from the Age of Myth, with a vaulted ceiling held by many columns.
On the far side, a large force of Chaos followers surrounds the ruined shell of a building being used as a prison. Scouts tell that’s where Judge Voranul and the the Stormscale’s Lord-Arcanum are held, as well as a large stack of collected seraphon artefacts. This is their target, who they have been hunting this whole time: the Rancho Terror, herder of beastmen and monsters.
But between their prize, the Khardhirian team will have to go through monsters, varanguard and chaos champions.
The battle across the canals and bridges is brutal, with commanders attempting to take each other out, and trying to reach the others’ loot cache.
Battles between master warriors take place, with champions of each side dueling each other for dominance and possession of seraphon crystal artefacts, and passage over the canal bridges.
While some of the first duels went favourably to the Khardirian team, the chaos Champion Mordred stood tall and cut through his enemies one at a time, moving light lightning and striking like a meteor. Finally, it became Belimir’s turn to face him. The ghurian vampire knight is one of the most powerful fighters in the Inquisition and has defeated countless monsters by himself… but he finally met his match.
As he hits the floor, his strength drained, Mordred takes his artefacts, and proceeds to advance on the Inquisition and Stormscale’s cache of hard-earned loot.
While Judge Voranul and the Stormscale’s Lord-Arcanum eventually escaped in the confusion, the enemy was already in possession of the khardirian explorer’s hard-earned seraphon loot.
Their work, this whole long trip, now escaped through their fingers.
But now they know where the enemy is. They can regroup. They can call reinforcements.
With time after the battle, and after Belimir recovered and Zindimir was freed, it became clear that the Guardian of Souls had been receiving conflicting information and readings from his divinations. Conflicting… and misdirecting. Zindimir now agrees with Belimir that they have been misled for a long time, and turned against each other. And that this phenomenon might be affecting others in this place.
Armed with this knowledge, the Inquisition and the Stormscale prepare to renew their efforts and strike at Blackmaw’s lackeys, besieging the ruins.
