The Long Way to Ulgu
Aef-Grimnir looked back at the vast expanse of the Piremoor they had already covered. For all the long centuries the Caengans had spent in Ulgu, he still felt a connection with Aqshy. Despite barely resting since evading the Murderifsts, his and his kin's wounds had healed completely. And the runes hammered into their flesh pulsed brighter than ever. The spirit of Grimnir was strong there and he silently swore he would have returned, for that was a sure sign that the land was laced with ur-gold. But for now, his duty was to the protect the Mistweaver Saih and her precious cargo. With a grunt, he turned and his short leg powered him forward to rejoin the Shadowflames.
The last few shattered pillars and lintels laid around the Shadowflames when they spotted movement in the distant heat haze.
"Lady Laelanyel, it seems Mogrum and his lads have got around your illusions".
"Indded, Aef-Grimnir" replied the aelf. "They're showing some skills, the brutes. Perhaps they can be persuaded to relent by less subtle means?".
Bursting into a booming laughter, Aef-Grimnir strode forward. Tark's war song sounded loud as the Karl moved to cover the left flank. Durbak and Engrin kept their place to protect the Mistweaver.
The Claevermaw's gun roared once again. But this time, when Sludga and a deck hand charged through the smoke, they found Tark still standing, sparks flying around with each syllable of his chanting.
Across the ruins, Deadwood and a handful of boyz came bellowing at Aef-Grimnir.
In their eagerness to fight, the orruks came too close to Durbak and Laelanyel. Soon, greenskinned bodies were sprawled on the fireheath.
Engrin leapt to Tark's side and Sludga's party joined their mates on the fireheath.
As a bunch of orruks turned tail and fled, Mogrum personally led the second wave in.
Tark's war song ended in a ringing of bronze as the Cleavermaw's gun catched on his helmet. Engrin stepped forward and kept Bosun Higgs and the hulking ogor from breaking through onto Laelanyel.
The Captain swatted Durbak aside and closed upon Laelanyel. Fire and mist swirled around the Weirdnob as aelf and duardin cut him down.
Laelanyel smiled beneath her miststeel mask. Now that the orruk was finally where he belonged, grovelling at her feet, she could focus on more important matters. Disappearing into a Mirrorpool, the Mistweaver Saih left the Caengans to strip the orruks of their loot.
Through Fire and Blood
The Shadowflames lingered in the pall of darkness summoned by Laelanyel. To Aef-Grimnir's great surprise, the Saih voiced her desire for revenge on the Gloomfen Hunters as a duardin grudge. His steely gaze halted approvingly on the aelf.
"Truly we are a Zharradumal, Lady Laelanyel. And our grudge will be settled". The Runefather paused, pondering. "But first, I am oathbound to assist you in securing the power to reclaim your palace".
"So be it, Son of Grimnir", replied Laelanyel. "We head back to the Temple of Khazla. I have unfinished business there".
The briny smell of the Aether Sea still clung to the glowing emberstone of the temple obelisk. Laelanyel drew out the scrimshawed bone and started intoning the charm that would have unlocked its powers, whatever they might be. On one side of the days, Aef-Grimnir and his trusted bodyguard stood guard. On the other, were the Kinless.
Suddenly, brutal war cries drawned the melodious chanting of the Mistweaver Saih. Blood drenched barbarians in the Murdefist colours called to Khorne, staking their lord's claim over the Piremoor.
The Caengans sprung into action, moving to prevent the humans from interfering with the ritual.
The Kinless fought bravely, but the Khornate champion leading the Murderfists was no match for them. Engrin made short work of the Bloodreaver that had stepped up to meet his charge.
A towering Slaughterpriest and his franzied followers closed upon Aef-Grimnir, the Runefather's blood pouring out of his blazing skin in response to a Khornate prayer.
A Bloodreaver lept onto the dais, shouting his hatred at the aelf magic user. Laelanyel dispatched him with a contemptous slash of her miststeel blade and resumed her incantation.
As Aef-Grimnir fell to the combined assault of the Bloodreavers and Slaughterpriest, the Murderfist chieftan charged Laelanyel. But his axe and hammer cut through mist only.
The Mistweaver Saih's voice rose high as she reached the climax of her ritual. In a swirl of flames, the scrimshawed bone unleashed a bow wave of energy that wrong footed the Khornate champion. Darkness closed around Laelanyel and she was gone, leaving the barbarian to scram in frustration.
Khorne vented his rage at that failure on the Slaughterpriest. Engrin seized the opportunity and launched himself on a rampage through the ranks of the Murderfists.
Just before the Hearthguard Berserker could be overwhelmed, Laelanyel stepped out of a pool of shadows far away from the dais, her shadeghiest darting to spirit away the Caengans.
The Murderfists turned their rage against the Temple stones, splintering the glowing obelisk with their blades.
They could have the Piremoor, thought Laelanyel. She now knew how to unlock the power of the scrimshawed bone and there was enough in it to restore the charms around her palace. It was time to return to Ulgu.
Through darkness and light
Laelanyel opened the casket her shadegheist had recovered in Wortbad and stared once more at the scrimshawed bone. She could feel dormant energies in it, but for all her skills she had been unable to rouse them. That was why she was now taking her Arh'khaladh to the Piremoor. There, among the ruins of the Temple of Khazla, she knew she would have unraveled the the bone's secrets. With a thought, she sent her shadegheist to lay a shroud of illusions to fool any pursuing orruk, then motioned the Caengan forward through the Realmgate.
The Caengan stepped upon the fireheath, the burning energy of Aqshy mingling with the sparks emanating from their ur-gold runes.
Laelanyel drifted among the shattered pillars of the Temple of Khazla. Those broken stones were of no use to her. She needed to be on the central dais.
She could see it in the distance. And what she saw displeased the Saih. The Gloomfern Hunters were there, their Tidecaster deep in a summoning trance.
The air in front of the Shadowflames condesed quickly into two tiny spots. One of utter darkness, the other of blinding light, orbiting around each other. They quickly grew in size, two Geminids of Uhl-Ghysh.
The Gloomfen Hunters moved forward loosing a hail of arrows. Most fell armlessly on the fireheath, but one found its mark on Tark.
The Geminds spun wildly, flames leaping from the Piremoor to meet them. They traced a course over the Caengans. Aef-Grimnir and Durbak fell to the ground, their minds ravaged by the sudden alternation of lies and revelations.
Engrin withstood the magical onslaught, but he had not been spared. Doubts still lingered upon him and his axe moved slowly, leaving the Hearthguard Berserker at the mercy of the Gloomfen Hunters.
Seething with rage, Laelanyel darted forward and fell a Reaver before he could claim the duardin's soul.
The Tidecaster closed onto the Geminds and bound them to her will.
As the assault of a Melusai brought Laelanyel to her knees, she realised there was no hope in fighting. She let the shadow magic coursing through her body loose and took the Arh'khaladh away.
Yrule Vivithrax paused in front of the long sealed Webway portal. It was a minor one, leading from a disused spar of the Webway into the Sprawls of Low Commorragh. As a Drachon of the Obsidian Rose, he had used it often to smuggle the peerless weapons produced in his Kabal's workshops. Should Overmistress Khromys had found out about his dealings, retribution would have been terrible. But that was another life. The one he lived before being Reborn in Ynnead. And in the Whispering God's name, he was now returning to Commorragh. He turned to his brothers and sisters. Some, like him, were eager to see the Shadow City again. Others, had never set foot in it. All were ready to bring the hope of the Seventh Way to the wretches of Low Commorragh. And they knew that in the lawless Sprawls, they would have had to fight before anyone listened to them.
When Fracture of Biel-Tan was released, I immediately loved the idea of mixed Aeldari forces fighting in the name of a god of death. In my mind I'd started planning conversions mixing all possible Aeldari and Aelfs kits, trying to figure out a way to have models that would fit nicely alongside the Visarch. All ideas, however, fell short of matching the archaic style of his armour. Until the Bloodbowl Elven Union team was released. That happened roughly at the same time as with my gaming buddies we started talking about a campaign in the Shadows of Commorragh. Then, with the release of Kill Team, we were completely sold on the idea. I got a Elven Union team and raided our bits box of all Aeldari and Aelfs bits. Most bits were Asuryani ones, but there were also some Drukhari and Dark Elves ones. That worked fine, as I could then have a WYSIWYG Asuryani Kill Team I could take to events.
In the bits box there were also Asuryani heavy weapons and bits from 40k vehicles and AoS chariots that allowed me to build a Weapon Platform from scratch.
For the colour scheme, I settled on the red, black and white scheme of the most devoted Ynnari, keeping blue, green and gold for the spot colours, as shown on Fracture of Biel-Tan.
As I was painting the models, we decided to postpone Shadows of Commorragh, which drained some of the creative juice away. So, I've not yet worked the fluff for each model. However, as I have another six to build once we get closer to play the campaign, I'm sure the narrative will start to flow again. For now, enjoy the painted models.
