Fluff Background Part I

Old campaign - Where the Druchii Net Online Campaign was discussed

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Langmann
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Fluff Background Part I

Post by Langmann »

Not all done yet. Underway add the Dwarf section for Jeff Leong to review.

Fluff Background Part I

Northern Wastes:

Long has the Shadow War, the struggle between the Cult of Pleasure and the Temple of Khaine been carried out in secrecy within the under-dark of the cities of Naggaroth. Never in recent memory has the Cult openly defied the Temple, but never before has the Cult been recognized so openly by its mother-patron: Morathi the Queen Mother.

Finding succor from such powerful patronage has released the followers of the ancient Cult, and large quantities of human mercenaries from the north have swollen their thin Druchii ranks. The Cult, attempting to gain acceptance as a viable part of Druchii society gathers its hordes in the Northern Wastes only to be opposed by the followers of the Temple of Khaine.

Many Druchii, unsure of which side to choose, remain in their homes. Some gather their weapons and march forth under their various Lords and Nobles to fight the Chaos incursion, for Druchii will not tolerate other races walking openly upon their lands. Some, however, have accepted the human barbarians as a necessary source of muscle, viewing them as no better than slaves. They have chosen to welcome the Prince of Pain and Pleasure and have succumbed to the calling to experience His caress upon the battlefield.

It is the beginning of what was known as the War of Flesh and Blood. Naggaroth is divided.

The Cult and its Dark Elf and Chaos allies attempt to drive a wedge into Naggaroth from the north. If the Cult can lay siege to the cities of Naggaroth, perhaps their numbers will call others forth who have chosen to keep their worship of Slaanesh a dark secret. The Temple and their Dark Elf allies will try and stop them here rather then allow them to lay siege to the cities of Naggaroth.


Ghrond:
Ghrond lies in the bitterly cold north of the Witch King’s domain. In shape it is like the great city of Naggarond, yet in size it is far smaller, a fortress to be garrisoned rather than a place in which to dwell. Its single massive tower, grim, black, and slender like a spear, rises from its mountain spur.
From this tower sorcerers watch over the ever shifting Realm of Chaos, place of the gods and source of all magical power for good and ill alike. Within the Realm of Chaos the lands seethe with energy, rising like the sea, whilst the air is bathed in competing colours of sorcery, turning and twisting, howling and crying like the wind. The sorcerers observe the changes in the Realm of Chaos, for it is said that the patterns of change hold the secrets to the future, and that all secrets are contained therein for those who dare lo look.
Every day dark clad riders gallop away from the tower of Ghrond bearing the reports of its guardians to Naggarond. These foretell of things to come, of auspicious moments when the Witch King's armies may meet with success, or of tile growing power of his enemies, from these observations the Witch King plots his strategies and launches his armies upon the world.

In the early days, Ghrond was granted to the house of Kalanth as the bastion of the Temple of Khaela Mensha Khaine, the bloody handed god. It is also said that the First Cauldron of Blood is kept within the Temple of Khaine.

In an attempt to strike a decisive blow to the Temple of Khaine, the Cult of Pleasure has sent a small number of some of its best warriors to infiltrate the Temple of Khaine and seize the Cauldron of Blood.

The Cult is also attempting to capture the Tower of Ghrond from the Dark Sorceress guardians so that they can study the winds of Chaos and channel its energy to their own ends. For the first time the Convent and the Temple have found themselves strange bedfellows.

This is not a site of pitched battles, but rather a site of skirmish scenarios. You must use one of the skirmish scenarios from the links below and declare the results in the Battlereport as usual.


Plains of Karond Kar:

In the tongue of men the city of Karond Kar is called the City of Despair. It is to this terrible place that thousands of slaves are brought: men from the Old World, Elves from Ulthuan, and more from all across the world, all destined to serve the Witch King. The wailing spirits of dead slaves are said to haunt the whole city. The Dark Elves love to hear this sound of dread and despair. It fills their dreams with delicious images of suffering and pain.

Many slaves die upon the altars of Khaine, their hearts torn from their bodies, whilst others are sent north and south to labour in the mines and quarries of the Witch King.

Thousands die as they cross the seas to Karond Kar, stifled and suffocated in the holds of the slave ships, or tortured to death for the entertainment of the black-hearted crew. From the docks the slaves are driven in chains amidst the jeering crowds. As the slave masters beat them forward many stumble upon the steep rock and are trampled to death by the chained feet of those who follow. At this sight the crowds laugh all the louder and cry with pleasure, for such is their love of cruelty that this sorry spectacle is rated a great entertainment.

The Cult of Pleasure and its followers have returned by sea from the invasion of Lustria and have been denied entry into Karond Kar by the city leaders and the Temple of Khaine. The followers of the Cult are encamped on the plains around Karond Kara and some of the citizens of Karond Kar, drawn forth by the lure of Slaanesh, have joined the ranks of the Cult. At the same time, many from the city have decided to attack the Cult to reap and enslave the bountiful harvest of human mercenaries that swell the ranks of Slaanesh. Followers of Slaanesh, recruited by the Cult of Pleasure from the barbarian north and the human Empire, fight not only to experience the sensations of the battlefield but also for their own ‘freedom’.


The Black Spine Mountains:
While running a million dollar company, singing at weddings, and his frequent jetting to Spain Elton Jon style, Dark Alliance found the time to stand on the doorstep of Games Workshop like Moses and the Pharoah and calmly state, "Let my people go."
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Langmann
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Post by Langmann »

The Black Spine Mountains:

Ever deceitful and full of guile, the High Elves of Arnhelm have taken the initiative and pounced upon a divided Naggaroth. Pushing past the enclaves of Shade defenders, the High Elves have invaded the Black Spine Mountains. Small numbers of High Elves, returning from Middenheim have also joined their brothers in Arnhelm, bolstering their confidence and strengthening their resolve. To claim the Black Spines and close the underdark Gates that lead into Naggaroth would alleviate the constant harassment they have received from the hands of cunning and dangerous Druchii slavers that ply their trade within the underdark. A bold stroke indeed and one that would allow the colony to grow and finally flourish as citizens would not be constrained to farm within the close proximity of the city’s defenses.

Unfortunately the single cause that unites all Druchii is the destruction of the Asur. The High Elves have been met in battle by the vengeful Dark Elves in deep and immense dim-lit caverns within the underdark of the Black Spines. A place where Druchii knives, blackened by years of bloodshed, lurk within the shadows waiting for the opportunity to banish the souls of the foolish Asur into the darkness forever. The sun has set upon Arnhelm and the land is cast into the twilight of war.


The Southern Reaches:

The strange and unusual events transpiring within Naggaroth pale in comparison to the news from the south. The Temple of Khaine, hoping to end the Cult of Pleasure once and for all, have ambushed the Cult as they return to Naggaroth from the invasion of Lustria.

Ever stoic and pragmatic, the Lizardmen have allied themselves with the more ‘moderate’ supporters of the Temple of Khaine or those Druchii wishing to maintain the status quo. Lizard and Dark Elf alliances have existed before, and in this case the destruction of the Cult is a objective both would find… satisfactory. The Lizardmen hope to reclaim articles of their faith and magic that the Cult now possesses. The Temple and its Druchii supporters would also like to claim those artifacts, not necessarily to return to the Lizardmen, but Dark Elves are also pragmatic. If the Temple cannot have the artifacts, neither would they allow the Cult such possessions.

Nothing, however, is more peculiar than the arrival of fleets of undead ships. Drawn to the Southern Reaches by reasons yet to be explained, relentless hordes of undead march across the death-still deserts of the south. In their wake the necromancers and liche priests draw from the silent earth the ancient skeletons of prehistoric creatures to fight their battles. Whose side, if any, the undead are on has yet to be determined. What their purpose, if any, has yet to be declared. What is known is that both sides, the Temple and the Cult, claim that the other is responsible for calling forth the undead by using the artifacts of ancient power gleaned from the Lizardmen temples to fight bloody and bloodless battles in this early-game gambit.


Dwarven Grudges:

Underway...
While running a million dollar company, singing at weddings, and his frequent jetting to Spain Elton Jon style, Dark Alliance found the time to stand on the doorstep of Games Workshop like Moses and the Pharoah and calmly state, "Let my people go."
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Post by Underway »

From across the seas a solitary dwarven clan holds a grudge from the ages. Once, millenia ago a dwarven thane was taken into slavery by cruel Druchii raiders. Tortured, beard shaved and murdered by the sadistic corsairs, his body was thrown to the sharks. By chance it washed up on shore near Barak Var. His clan knowing who had taken him swore such oaths that if they had a way to they would make these Elves pay a thousandfold for their wrongs.

Hundreds of years passed and now the dwarven clan has their weapon. Small submarines called Natalus' and stealthy Ironclads. The dwarven sailors began shaddowing Dark Elven Raiding ships, attacking here and there, disrupting the slave trade and destroying those ships that they could. One fateful day a dwarf Natalus was shaddowing a Doomfortress when the mighty seamonster turned and entered a cavern on the western coast of Naggaroth. The Dwarves were extatic. They finally found the lengendary Underworld sea. Returning to the Dwarven Fleet already underway, they reported their great find.

The Dwarven Admiralty quickly developed a plan. If they infultrated the Underworld sea with small ships they could make the Dark Elves pay a heavy price as they attempted transit to the Boiling Sea and the lands beyond. By leaving small dwarven stike forces in the Underway they could also strike from the tunnels against Dark Elven exploration groups and armies on the move.

Little known to the dwarves the skaven had found a path to the caverns and caves under the Blackspine mountains. They were there to mine the precious minerals and warpstone that was buried and hidden in the caves. As dwarven Natulli steamed into the Underworld sea both Shades and Skaven Gutter Runners marked their presence. The black waters of the Underworld Sea would run red with blood!
Last edited by Underway on Wed Jul 21, 2004 7:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Langmann
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Post by Langmann »

Dwarven City: Barak Varr
While running a million dollar company, singing at weddings, and his frequent jetting to Spain Elton Jon style, Dark Alliance found the time to stand on the doorstep of Games Workshop like Moses and the Pharoah and calmly state, "Let my people go."
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Jeffleong13
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Post by Jeffleong13 »

Instead of trying to "fluff" in all the other armies, why don't we just have HE/DE/Chaos (all) as primary players and let the others take advantage as they can.

Allow other races to strike at a couple select areas and then we can write fluff to support it if they become significant.

J
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Langmann
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Post by Langmann »

jeffleong13 wrote:Instead of trying to "fluff" in all the other armies, why don't we just have HE/DE/Chaos (all) as primary players and let the others take advantage as they can.

Allow other races to strike at a couple select areas and then we can write fluff to support it if they become significant.

J


After posting about the campaign I had a bunch of people pm me and ask if we'd include other races please. Since there was such a demand I tried to fluff in as best I could certain things. If those events don't take off, you can bury them. There was a big calling for the Empire Slaanesh followers to get involved...
While running a million dollar company, singing at weddings, and his frequent jetting to Spain Elton Jon style, Dark Alliance found the time to stand on the doorstep of Games Workshop like Moses and the Pharoah and calmly state, "Let my people go."
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Post by Jeffleong13 »

Perhaps a followers of Slaanesh, unmasked after Archaon's unsuccessful (as we know it will be) attempt to take Middenheim, flee across the sea ... drawn by their master to the shores of Naggaroth ...

J
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Langmann
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Post by Langmann »

jeffleong13 wrote:Perhaps a followers of Slaanesh, unmasked after Archaon's unsuccessful (as we know it will be) attempt to take Middenheim, flee across the sea ... drawn by their master to the shores of Naggaroth ...

J


That is a good idea. Right now I have it as a bunch of ragged remnent followers from the CoP invasion in Lustria. If they empire does well there, why not make it so that more come from Middenheim like you suggest. Right now the numbers will be low, but later they might increase depending...

What do you think?
While running a million dollar company, singing at weddings, and his frequent jetting to Spain Elton Jon style, Dark Alliance found the time to stand on the doorstep of Games Workshop like Moses and the Pharoah and calmly state, "Let my people go."
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Jeffleong13
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Post by Jeffleong13 »

Sure - we can play with it as it develops.

J
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