The Track to the Great Gathering
It is told that when the Valley of Defilement opened and the Promethean Tower came to life once again, the Flesh Barons stared at the wastes in terror. The mighty and the desperate, the gambler and the outlaw, the dead and the dying, all came to feel the mad rush of road war and death again. Furious battle was joined and soon mushroom clouds of dust covered the furious sun. There lied the wreck of the Promethean Tower, its black blood and sacred tech unclaimed. From the heights of the Broken Mountains, the Rustmen looked down in disbelief and stirred. But then, Red Wind returned. In caves and tunnels, the Purebred hid. There, Great Warfather Arun and Mahela the Keeper of the Flesh weighed the tribe's ancient scavenging rights. They both knew they had to defend them if the Promethean Tower's bounty was to be theirs. And as Red Wind left, they took the Purebred onto the track to the Great Gathering.
The First Day
The Great Flat opened in front of the Purebred. Sharp rock-glass shards and the scattered remains of settlements. Nothing good had ever come out of the Flat. Yet it was the shortest route the Purebred could take. Eshelon the Raider was sent ahead, scouting. The Great Warfather followed the Rider, his own son Larg and Yash the Blemished with him. A crumbling refinery lied ahead, offering shelter for the rest of the tribe and the faint hope that some Stone Blood could be found. But alas, others were already there. From Ashtown they had come, their metal helmets glinting in the sunset. The Purebred and the Wasters squared up to each other. Then an hissing roar and the Wasters' lizardthing was on Eshelon. Shots rung loud, raising clouds of red sand around the Purebred. Little could Arun do but call his men back. In the open of the Flat, you do not take on a dug down enemy.
The Second Day
Upon sunrise the Purebred reached Crashpoint, where it is said that those travelling the Great Flat could wash the dust away from their throats. Warfather Dez left Yash, Larg and Eshelon at the edge of the town and made it for the closest drink hole. Suddenly, the fur on Snapper's back bristled. Armed figures slinked through the shadows. The Ashtown Wasters too had come to Crashpoint. Warfather Dez' rage bolied up and he claimed ravenge rights. Bullets flew through the streets of Crashpoint. And then, the Hymns for the Black Machine filled the air. The Disciples of the Black emerged from their hiding places, restoring the town peace with a barrage of grenades. By old tradition, their was the right to settle matters in Crashpoint in the sacred name of the Black. Phospho spoke for them and declared the Purebred had broken the peace. They were to leave immediately. On that day, Dez swore he would have satisfaction.
The Third Day
It was in abandoned Solitude that the Purebred stopped to search for tech. Arun was leading the scavenging party when he was confronted with the Thing. The Great Warfather charged, his serrated poleharm splitting the wretch from neck to groin. He did not care whether the Thing was alone, such an aberration could not be allowed to mar the land. And in his indignation, he angered the Stash Riders that had taken the Thing among themselves. Hot beams flashed, Dez' flamer roared, Larg's shotgun barked, but soon the Riders' superior weapons took their toil. Securing what they could, the Purebred left Solitude. It had been a good day, the Laws of Da-ar-vin had been enforced and the tribe had enough tech to make for good trade at the market in False Hope.
The cast
We had our first meeting of the campaign to drool over each other's models and discuss the scenarios and fluff guidelines for the first weeks of the campaign. So, without much further ado, here you have the cast.
The Disciples of the Black, by David Whitworth
The Disciples worship the Black as a life giver. It runs the machines, it is neither good nor evil to them, just life. The Rustmen are one incarnation of Its Spirit as are the ancient fallen God Machines. They see it as their sacred duty to protect the Black.
Desert dwelling mutants: murderous, criminal and sneaky. From the Broken Mountains to Endcliff, across the desolate expanse of The Barrens past Windgrip, Malady and False Hope, the Slipgibbets scavenge the desert and battle with rival gangs. Always willing to stab an enemy in the back (or a friend, if needs be!). They are spiteful, treacherous gits.
A band of tech gangers that may not be human… They rag it around the Tor Megiddo Wastes in the Stash Wagon, looking for different and exciting substances to ingest.
The Purebred
Followers of the cunning Keeper of the Flesh, brutes obsessed with eradicating the taint of mutation from their tribe.
The Rustmen, by Saul Painters
The sacred metal creature from the myths of old, thaught lost since the Long Dark. Feared and revered in equal measure by the Yaike Yaike, they have been seen in increasing numbers since the Promethan Tower was destroyed, their strange behaviours both mistery and omen.
Another gang, the Ashtown Wasters by Ade Roberts, will also join the fight, but were not fully ready to have their picture taken.
I've also completed some more terrain, although not everything that I planned. I've added a second shanty, built exactly as the previous one. Here you can see the supporting structure made of sprue parts and a section of movement tray.
This time I decided to keep the colours of the walls and tarpaulin more distinct, hence the yellow canvas.
I've also repainted some tank traps and a truck I had made for my Astra Militarum/Chaos Cult detachment.
The truck will, most of the times, serve as a terrain piece, but it is ready to be pressed into service for 'The Caravan' scenario.
The last thing I needed to do, was to give names and a bit of background to each member of the Purebred. Here they are.
Great Father Arun, the Warleader
A giant of a man, Arun is the peak of the Keeper's efforts to breed the strongest and purest of humans.
Warfather Dez & Snapper
Hot tempered and rash, Dez seems to get along only with his trusted dusthound, Snapper.
Warfather Jax
Cool and calculating, Dez is often the only Purebred able to restrain Arun's most aggressive tendencies.
Larg, the Tribesman
One of Arun's sons, Larg just came of age and is eager to prove himself in the eyes of the more experienced warriors.
Yash, the Blemished
A Blemished since his youth, Yash is Arun's trusted attack dog, always at the Warleader's side in the thickest of fights.
Eshelon, the Rider
Nobody knows where Eshelon comes from. A loner, he keeps to the fringes of the Purebred's camps, never removing his hood. Why he joined hte tribe is still a mistery, but his skills as outrider are considered vital by Arun.
Kurk, the Blemished
A Warfather until not long ago, Kurk is still in the Keeper's care. Few doubts that, when he will return to the tribe, his shame will make him a dangerous fighter.
Mahela, the Keeper of the Flesh
Mahela had just seen twenty Red Winds when she was entrusted with Da-Ar-Vin's Book. Although Blemished shortly after, her understanding of Da-Ar-Vin's teaching is so deep that nobody dared to challenge her position. Old and withered, she is still acutely aware of the need to steer the tribe in the right direction. If she does not doubt Arun's prowess and tactical acumen, she is increasingly worried about his tyrannical attitudes.
The Keeper of the Flesh
I will tell you of the days when the Great Hunger stalked the Stone Children and the Flesh Baron and the Spirers in their golden mountains. The weak starved and the strong endured. All hungered and many changed. In those times lived Ghela of the Yaike, daughter of Warfather Aral the Black. And she made her tribe proud. She was young, but wise and strong. One day, after Red Wind had left and the tribe was on the trail to the Great Gathering, the Tainted came. Many a Brother died, but the Tainted were many and wild. Away they took Ghela, towards the mountains, to be their breeding slave. But that night, when the Tainted celebrated and fell drunk, Ghela escaped their shackles. For days and days she wandered, eating roots and drinking of the Spiked Flower. And one day she saw a gate in the rock. The Skull-Cog was on it and behind it was a great cave where Rustmen toiled around great machinery. There lived Da-Ar-Vin, the ancient holy men that talked with the Rustmen. He saw Ghela and he saw she was strong and wise. He took her with him and tought her of the days before Black Cloud and Fell Water. He tought her the language of the Rustmen and the secrets of the Flesh. He taught her how to keep It pure and strong and how to breed man and animal. And his teaching, she recorded in the language of the Rustmen. And one day, Da-Ar-Vin returned to Mother Stone and the Rustmen fell into slumber. Ghela took the Book of Da-Ar-Vin and sought her lost tribe. When she found them, she was old and her womb dry, but she tought them how to make their Children stronger. And when Mother Stone called her, she passed the Book of Da-Ar-Vin to the wisest of the Mothers. And with the teachings of Da-Ar-Vin, wise Mother after wise Mother keep our Flesh pure. So it is that Ghela's tribe came to be the Purebred.
While I was building the Purebred and developing their fluff over the last couple of months, I thaught the Keeper of the Flesh needed to be represented by a model. After a quick chat with Saul I settled on the Necromancer as the base model. First of all, I replaced the skeleton on which the model is standing with a front plate from the Sentinel kit.
To convey the idea that the Keeper of the Flesh is a debased kind of Magus Biologis and that it (at the time I wasn't sure about its sex) also operated the Blemished to remove their mutations, I used the head and harms from the Medicae Servitor from the 40k Objectives. To attach the arms I had to cut and resculpt the pinion-like sleeves of the Necromancer.
Then, I wanted to give it long, flowing hair. Here again Saul had the brilliant idea of using the Tree-revenants hair. Two of them were cut and glued around the head and Greenstuff used to join them and add some more strands running over the model's shoulders.
I have also removed the Necromancer's dagger and replaced it with a tech trinket from the Inquisitor range from our bitsbox. The book, I kept, and built it into the fluff of the Keeper of the Flesh.
The paint scheme was alredy set, but to distinguish the Keeper of the Flesh from the fighters among the Purebred I added some green and painted its hair white. It was while painting the model that I realised it must be a woman. It fit its appearance but also the social structure of the Purebred, with the healthy males fighting, the healthy females breeding and the Blemished acting as menials and expendable cannon fodder. The Keeper of the Flesh sits outside this structure. Although old and a Blemished herself, she is vital for the tribe's survival. And the other great thing is that, since we will use Necromunda rules, the rules for a Rogue Doc fits her perfectly!
I have also been working on a shanty for our board, using the STC-Ryza Pattern Ruins as the base model. The sprue itself and a piece of old moving tray provided an armour for some ondulated cardboard, creating walls and roof to close the corner formed by the two pieces of ruin I used.
Then I took an old napkin, cut it to size, tore some holes in it and soaked it in liquid Greenstuff to create a tarpaulin cover. The chimney stack is a coctail straw with a tiny bit of ondulate cardboard glued on top.
Before painteing the model, I glued some slate chips to represent the stones used to keep the tarpaulin in place.
The palette is again made of browns, oranges, sephia and metal applied as drybrushes and washes over a black undercoat which had received two zenithal highlights of reddish-brown at a 45º angle and, very lightly, of white at a 90º angle.
While the Purebred are now complete, I have plans to build a small shanty town and some natural features such as pools of contaminated water and tar. Hopefully, I should have them ready before we start the campaign in two weeks time!
Epilogue: Kalyustar's Trial
"This vile conjurer has been using forbidden magic, we all have seen him! Summoning skeletal hands from the ground, spreading unnatural fear all around himself, leeching the life essence of the basest creatures!"
A murmur run through the mercenaries of the Gilded Hand Free Companies. Van Toorn's accusations were undeniable.
"Under the benevolent rule of our great God-king, there is only one punishement for such crimes" the Witch Hunter paused savouring his final triumph "Death at the stake!"
Van Toorn stood in the centre of the Broken Circle, Kalyustar in front of him, head bowed, the Skull cupped in his hands.
"That's enough, Witch Hunter" the Aurpards' pikes wavered, as the men parted to let Lord Captain Rodrik step into the Circle. The seasoned veteran took three measured steps, putting himself between the Witch Hunter and the wizard.
"Should I remember you that your Order has lost its powers over Venithya and its people the day your God-king reneged his oaths to protect the Realms and withdrew behind Azyr's Gates, now so long ago?"
Pieter van Toorn hissed in frustration. No matter how many efforts the Order of Azyr and the rest of the Devoted of Sigmar had spent, the Elders of the Gilded Hand and their generals remained reluctant allies to Sigmar's cause. And their grudge towards Sigmar was not entirely unjustified. He knew too well not to jeopardise such a fragile alliance.
"I beg your pardon, Lord Captain. Mine was just a reminder. But if you won't consider it, perhaps you should ponder what has the Gilded Hand gained by the actions of Kalyustar here in the Harrowmark".
"This, I will do" Rodrik turned his one good eye onto the wizard "Kalyustar of the Gilded Hand, by the authority bestowed onto me by the Elders' Council I demand you account for the reward due to the Free Companies gathered here and for your dues to the Gilded Hand's Vault."
Kalyustar remained silent. And so did the Skull.
"You took three Companies, claiming these woods will hold valuable alchemicals and artefacts. I was called here, bringing another Company with me, as this Azyrite accuses you of witchcraft. Respond. Now."
"Was not the Kharadron that the Witch Hunter wanted for their betrayal? Have I not delivered them?"
"This you did. Yet, the men are still awaiting for their pay. You have nothing in your hand to offer to the Elders. And with the orruks holding the Skydock, we are faced with a perilious Realmgate travel to return to Venithya. You have put valuable resources at risk for no apparent gain. Or there is one?"
Give him what he wants, Soulchemist. My Master appreciated your gift. He will reward you richly
"These men, and you too Lord Captain, are still alive because of me. If not a reward, doesn't that deserve mercy?"
"How so? We fought as you hid behind the walls of the Rose & Schyte. You owe your life to us."
Kalyustar paused for a moment, pondering the Skulls's latest words.
Yes, Soulchemist. Power and knowledge like you have never experienced, rather than the scorn of these miserables
"You are so limited in your understanding, Lord Captain. Force of arm is the only thing you understand. But it is souls that will win the coming wars. And I took that of the Kharadron leader, bartering it so that An'sec would spare all yours".
Silence fell over the Broken Circle. Even van Toorn was left speechless.
"It is gold you all want? Well, have it!" Kalyustar tossed a gleaming key at the Lord Captain feet "I hereby forfeit my position within the Gilded Hand and with it any claim on the contents of my laboratories. They are yours for you to do as you please and share with these men."
"So be it" the Lord Captain raised his hammer "Henceforth you, Kalyustar of Venithya, are no longer counted among the Gilded Hand. I accept your payment on behalf of these men which shall receive according to their efforts in your expedition. But for your dabbling with the vile An'sec, I exile you. By the authority of the Elders, you are never to set foot inside Venithya, under penalty of death!" the hammer fell, ringing loudly on the stones of the Broken Circle.
"He must die now!" shouted van Toorn "He's a traitor, a vile heretic!"
"Men, remove this fanatic from my presence" at once van Toorn was surrounded by levelled blades.
"You have no authority here! Nor any claim on Kalyustar's soul . That, is for him to keep."
You were right, Soulchemist. His understanding is so limited. We both know to whom every soul belongs
