DRAMATIS PERSONAE
IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
- Enthardon Alar, Prince of Nagarythe
Commander Varamas, Officer of the War Council of Asuryan
Prince Calaidan, Noble of Nagarythe
Phoenix King Finubar Seafarer, Leader of Ulthuan
Lady Esperanza, the White Lady of Chrace
Feldarion Nightstar, Provincial Commander of Tiranoc
Sea Lord Shannar, Provincial Commander of Eataine
Elthair Minathar, High Commander of the Second Legion
Prince Regulus, Noble of Caledor
Elias Kalderon, Prince of Shades
Prince Therefas, Merchant Prince of the Colony Arnhelm
Nachri, Champion of Eataine
Lord Aseiar, Commander – Arnhelm Citizen Levy
Thilion Aellesar Dragonhearth, Prince of Caledor
Captain Ilitar, Captain of the Second Legion
The Hawk Ship glided through the waves with ease. After months of fighting under the banner of Lord Aislinn, Enthardon was finally returning home. Since first dawn, the rocky shores of his homeland had slowly grown larger and larger – driving Enthardon’s longing to return to the island continent of Ulthuan. The crew of the ship sought to avoid the Aesenar at all cost – his brooding silence was enough to intimidate even the most stalwart of the sea guard on board.
The elf was not brooding over the crew though – he was brooding over his own failure. Aislinn had commanded Enthardon and his shadow bands to hunt down the skaven threat – Clan Eshin. While Enthardon had managed to slay many of the ratmen, ultimately they still managed to wreck severe havoc against Middenheim and its defenders. When Aislinn’s fleet began its pull out of the Sea of Claws, all forces around Middenheim were recalled as well to return home to Ulthuan. Facing the possibility of not having a way to journey back to Ulthuan for quite sometime, Enthardon was forced to end his pursuit of Clan Eshin.
When the sun was high over the sky, the noise of footsteps drew the shadow warrior’s attention. It was one of the Captain’s deck officers. “Lord Enthardon, I apologize to disrupt you but I feel you might want to take a look off of our port bow – we are coming on a courier ship under assault by the druchii.” Druchii. The very word filled his soul with hate. Without a second of pause, he grabbed his weapons that were resting on the deck railing and gestured for the deck officer to follow him to the bow. Enthardon watched as the ship’s crew readied the bolt thrower batteries for firing. The Pernicious Wrath was the name of the ship, and was one of the new second generation Hawk Ship’s employed in Aislinn’s fleet – it featured a wider deck over the an improved hull that allows for the same speed as the older generation of ships but more deck space for the Eagle’s Claw batteries.
Even from the distance the Wrath was at, Enthardon could see the other ships the deck officer had mentioned. In the center of the group was an Asur courier ship. Smaller than the Hawk Ships employed by the navy, these were designed with speed in mind. It carried a long Eagle’s Claw to ward off any raiding parties and a small compliment of Sea Guard, but nothing in comparison to the Hawk Ships. And that is why it was in trouble – many dark elf Hydra ships were currently swarming it. The much softer hail of sea guard bows and the occasional fire of the single eagle’s claw answered the twang of reaper bolt throwers firing.
Enthardon turned to see Captain Morvelion – master of the Pernicious Wrath – walking up next to him amongst the busied preparation for combat by the ship’s crew. “Prince Enthardon, do you recognize the markings of that ship?”
The ship’s hull bore nothing of interest, but what did draw his attention was the large solitary rune on the sail – the rune of Asuryan. It was a very untraditional marking for a ship of the Asur fleet. After a moment of thought, Enthardon recognized it. “That is a ship of the war council of Asuryan.”
“Indeed, and a courier ship at that. It must be bearing something important if it is of the war council’s bidding,” the Captain said. The war council of Asuryan was a sect of the Priesthood that dealt with what it deemed were significant external threats to Ulthuan. It commands its own private force of ships and soldiers – and at the bidding of the Phoenix King the council dispatches some of its forces on missions throughout the world. Enthardon knew from his recent trip to the Old World that they had been responsible for the unearthing of many High Elf watchstones in the present day Empire. However, this ship’s course brought it from the west, away from both the Old World and Ulthuan. “Most curious indeed,” the Captain murmured to himself.
As Enthardon and Morvelion pondered over the mission of the courier vessel, their ship had closed in on the harassing druchii. With a group of cries from the battery commanders, the Eagle’s Claw bolt throwers launched their salvos in unison, scything through the decks of the dark elf raider ships. Preoccupied in their attack on the weak prey, they had not noticed the approach of the Hawk Ship. As the Wrath drew even closer, it fired another volley, scattering most of the Corsairs to the decks of their ships. Reaching bow range, the Sea Guard aimed their bows at a high arc for a mass volley into the ships. They were forced to quickly raise their shields; however, as the Corsairs launched a scattered counter attack with their repeater crossbows.
A third repeater bolt thrower volley, forcing the small druchii ships to flee, quickly countered the druchii bolts. The Hydra ships were designed for harassment and transport – not to go up against capital ships – and were thus far outclassed by even a lone Hawk Ship. While the batteries on the ship trained their bolts on the fleeing druchii, Captain Morvelion ordered his ship alongside that of the courier vessel. As they glided up to the ship, Enthardon could see the soldiers on the courier vessel readying a boarding plank for a trip to the Wrath. All of them bore white and black clothing underneath their armor – which was splendid ithilmar in silver and gold. Even for Sea Guard, their armor was quite impressive. At the front of the small squad of soldiers moving to the Hawk Ship was an elf with no armor – but clad in the same white and black robes.
“Greetings, and thank you for the much needed assistance,” the elf said as he nodded in greeting to the Captain. “I am Commander Varamas of the War Council of Asuryan, and that is the courier ship Righteous Judgement.”
Morvelion returned the greeting, “And this is the Hawk Ship Pernicious Wrath, under the banner of Lord Aislinn. I am Captain Morvelion. Do you have any wounded or any repairs that needs the tending of my crew?”
The commander shook his head, “No Captain, but I will be needing to take command of your ship. The Righteous Judgement was carrying important information for the Phoenix King himself, and by the royal edict that established our order, it is my right to temporarily take command of any vessel or regiment if it aids me in my mission.”
If there was one thing Enthardon knew, it was that the Captain prided himself in his position as master of his own ship, and would not be surprised if he attempted to defy the edict of one of the members of the War Council. A mysterious group indeed – since the Phoenix Court had little to do with the descendents of Alith Anar, Enthardon had never interacted with them; rather, he only heard of them through the mouths of others. A sect of the Priesthood of Asuryan, members of the War Council of Asuryan bear black and white robes, representative of the black and white mask worn by their patron god. Not only do the operate under only the Phoenix King and the temple, but they also have the privilege to take command of units or ships if necessary to complete their mission – save that commanded by the nobility themselves. It was that rule that the Captain attempted to exploit, “Commander Varamas, I would be happy to escort you to Lothern, but I will be unable to relinquish command of this vessel, as it currently under command of a Prince.”
Varamas’ eyes narrowed, “I am sorry Captain, but I insist that command must be relinquished. The information we have is dire and must be presented to Finubar as soon as possible. I care not whom is in command, you will be defying the edict of our King if you do not allow me to take command!”
The distinct sound of an arrow being drawn back on a bow caused Varamas’ head to snap. Enthardon’s gaze was cast on the commander, “Perhaps you shall care about my bow, good commander.” In an instant, the bows of the War Council’s soldiers were drawn, their arrows aimed at Enthardon. The Shadow Prince smiled and lowered his bow, “Now that I have your attention. I am the Aesenar Enthardon Alar, Prince of Nagarythe. I know all about the purposes of the War Council commander, and let me assure you that I am quite aware of the fact that you cannot relinquish command from one of the Princes. I find it silly and a testament to the politics of our nobility, but a rule nonetheless that applies here.”
The bows were still trained on Enthardon as Varamas spoke, “I have heard of you Enthardon Alar, and indeed I cannot take control of this ship if you are in command. But I must protest your refusal and request that this ship set sail for Lothern.”
“No we will not. I long for my home, as desolate as it may be. I shall have the Captain deliver you to Lothern after myself and my men are on the shores of Nagarythe.”
The commander was now beginning to show external signs of his anger. Despite his frustration, Varamas attempted to remain level headed. He was a smart, and knew how to play off of the shadow warrior’s emotions. “Prince Enthardon, as I have said I bring important news from Arnhelm. As the duty of the War Council is to the external policies of our race, we have a small establishment in each colony and fortress not on Ulthuani soil. The rangers that guard Arnhelm came across startling news while scouring the mountain passes the druchii use to assail our colony. They came upon a pile of corpses all druchii – only there were two distinct groups – one bearing homage to Khalea Mensha Khaine. And the other group bearing homage to – “
Enthardon cut him off, “Slaanesh.” The commander nodded as Enthardon continued to soak in the words, “But it was simply a skirmish, druchii have been known to backstab each other countless times.”
“Right, and our council members there thought the same. That is, until the rangers reported more of their findings. The party not of slaanesh bore the traditional markings of the druchii forces of Clar Karond – and of course symbols of Khaine. Their commander was found a few hours running pace down the mountain passes. He was dead of course, but he was carrying orders to shut the Wrath Gates – small entrances to the mountain passes the druchii use to assail Arnhelm. They are no fools the druchii, and know we will use the passes someday to attack them. Thus they devised magically enchanted gates to the passes that can be sealed if needed.
“The orders were explicit – ‘the Asur cannot be allowed to take advantage of Morathi’s assault on the Temple, and the gates must be sealed to avoid the use of Arnhelm as a staging point into our lands.’ That and the fact that half of the so-called Wraith Gates were indeed shut caused us to investigate the matter further. Our own unit of rangers from the War Council traveled through the open passages into Naggarond is captured shade garb. What they found out confirmed our suspicsion – they saw many clashes between warriors representing the two gods. Nothing of large scale battles, but small skirmishes. Nonetheless, from what we can tell the druchii are diving into a civil war.”
Enthardon and Captain Morvelion were speechless. The dark cousins were fighting amongst themselves. “If they are fighting over the dominances of Slaanesh over Khaine as your reports indicate, then there will be significant bloodshed, and a reprieve from the assaults launched from Naggaroth.”
Nodding in agreement, Enthardon knew that going to Nagarythe was no longer a priority, “ Captain, I believe I have had a change in heart. Lothern sounds like a much better destination than my blighted homeland.”