The 3rd Skaven High Elf war

After years of waiting in 530PC the Typhonian Enclave once again mobilised its armies against the Elves of Mellvellon. His surprise attack against the Dwarves a few years earlier had been bloodily repulsed and as a result the Elves would not be isolated should the Dwarves come to their aid, but Typhus hoped that the long standing enmity between the two races would prevent them uniting. At the head of the Skaven armies strode the Vermin Lord Naspepsorael'Enaspahue'e'Ahael, once more summoned and bound to Tyhpus' will. Typhus had learned from his earlier dramas with the capricious and treacherous daemon and had strengthened the daemon's bindings, ensuring that Typhus would be able to shackle the titanic entity should it once more rebel against its rightful master.

The two factions clashed as the Skaven armies threatened to bypass Ogregard. The Elves put up a spirited and stubborn defence, holding back the Skaven hordes for many hours. At the height of the battle the Vermin Lord, living embodiment of the Skaven master race, was seen fleeing from the fight until Typhus once again managed to wrestle it back under his will, exerting his powers from his chamber back at Boiling Peak. In the end the Skaven were simply too numerous for the Elves that opposed them and they were eventually forced to retreat or be annihilated.

But with the bodies of their dead they had succeeded in buying time for the garrison of Sein Craban to fully mobilise. They opposed the Skaven on the outskirts of the city and it seemed as if a titanic battle would follow with the fate of the city hanging in the balance. The Skaven's ambitions were to be cruelly dashed however when the supreme warlock commanding the army, standing in full view of his host atop his bizarre war engine, lost control of the titanic energies he sought to master and was consumed by raw magic. With their battle standard fleeing the field the Skaven were thrown into disarray and although they continued to fight the confused and milling masses were unable to oppose of the disciplined elven ranks. The retreat became a route and in short order the sieges of Ogregard and the Tears of Isha had been lifted, leaving both sides back where they had started. Typhus flew into a rage at the news and frightened retainers reported the sounds of Tyhpus engaged in a furious argument with himself within the close confines of his palace.

The venture had not been entirely without gain. The Skaven had sacked an elven settlement and the revenue had allowed them to complete the high speed rail link to Widows Peak. It was now possible to travel by warpstone powered train from Widows Peak all the way to the secret undersea city of Ratlantis.

Phalicia blocks skaven travel

The 'Axis of Evil', an alliance between the Domovoi and the Skaven looked on shaky ground almost before it had truly begun. In 521 a delegation of the rat-men emerged from their tunnels and travelled through the Kaalroan Empire towards the Domovoi homelands for negotiations on how best to crush their enemies. All seemed in order, but the alliance had not reckoned on interference from their own side.

As the Skaven force moved through Kaalroen they were ambushed by warriors sent from the nearby city of Phalicia. Though not recently seen outside Kaalroen, the Phalicians still maintained a powerful military force, and quickly defeated the delegation, forcing the rat-men to flee back to their tunnels. The Domovoi were understandably angered, but did not press the issue with Phalicia, and sent word to Boiling Peak about the 'misunderstanding'. The axis still held, but for how long?

Though they had almost scuppered the alliance between Chaos and Skaven, Phalicia was at least partially convinced by the words of the Domovoi. Perhaps the Axis was worth fighting for after all? Still the armies of Phalicia had not been tested in the field for many years. So in 524 the city sent an army south to the Dwarven Empire. A period of raiding isolated mining communities in the Aplpinos drew out an army from the holds. The chaos army leapt on the Dwarfs and cut down many a doughty warrior. As the Dwarfs retreated Phalicia chose not to persue. It had tested its warriors' mettle and they had not been found wanting.

Domovoi clash with neighbours

The Domovoi continued their raids upon the Holy Sigmarite Empire in 528PC, once again a warband of marauders moving through the Mallvass Mountains. The raids seemed to be growing in size over the years, though the raiders were interested only in plunder, not territory. As they moved into the lands of House Volbeck the men scrambled to defend their lands but were crushed by the fierce warriors, who made off with numerous captives to sacrifice to their dark gods.

The next time the Domovoi were seen was in larger numbers, and in battle with the ogres of Cuitlaxaochitzin. The forces met on the Plain of Ruination, north of the HSE, an area that has previously resisted attempts at colonisation. Both were seeking something, at the behest of their Slann masters or crazed sorcerers. The ogres fought with their usual ferocity, smashing aside the Chaos forces with very little resistance. As the remaining Domovoi retreated back to the Kaalroen Empire the Ogres began their search of the area, later returning to Cuitlaxaochitzin bearing five iron chests.

Dwarfs first to face axis of Evil

Since the very start of the colonisation of Palurin the Typhurian Enclave had been a deeply isolationist empire, its military only venturing forth when warpstone or slaves were needed to fuel its industry or when directly challenged, such as by the Elves of Mellvellon. That changed when without warning hordes of Skaven suddenly erupted into the tunnels beneath Karak Vermingard.

Despite their long vigil against their malignant neighbour the Dwarves were initially taken completely by surprise but they soon rallied their forces within a large cavern which provided a perfect natural choke point from which to make their stand against the vast and teeming hordes.

Unable to make good use of their numbers and subjected to a withering hail of fire the Skaven fared poorly, dying in their droves. Just as it seemed that the Skaven were defeated a last vicious assault overwhelmed one company of warriors who had allowed themselves to be drawn out of line, made overconfident in their victory. The company was massacred to a dwarf and the Skaven retreated as suddenly as they had come.

No reason was given for the seemingly random attack. Sketchy and contradictory reports from Dwarven scouts sighted Typhus himself watching the battle unfold imperiously from a safe distance, but making no move to intervene. Wary that this was just the opening move in a long war the Dwarves strengthened their defences and waited.

HSE border skirmishes

The Holy Sigmarite Empire continued to be the centre for a number of skirmishes and activity. In 522 Pellenar Knights encountered Ogres from the nearby Ogre Kingdom whilst patrolling the Flachland Gap. The Gap is a thin strip of neutral ground bordering the Ogres and HSE, as well as the Kaalroen Empire and others, and the HSE have found it prudent to patrol. The men of Pellenar were unable to get their act together in time before the Ogres charged in, crumpling the heavily armoured knights in a horrific display of bloodshed.

Pellenar redeemed themselves in battle a year later, when the HSE found daemonic bands materialising within its borders. This was becoming increasingly common, and worse the attacks were growing in size. Near Mallendorf such a band swiftly defeated the Drazkharov guard, but the knights of house Aureus were able to hold off an attack near Saarborn despite heavy casualties.

No sooner was the battle over House Aureus regrouped, and with some reinforcements from Pellenar pressed north to investigate reports of a host of beastmen emerging from the Mallvass Mountains. Near Ulmmund the knights learnt that the size of the attackers had been greatly exaggerated by frightened peasants and charged into the chaos warband. The beastmen mostly fled, scattering back into the mountains.

Elsewhere the HSE scholar Alfwin Merken was working on a controversial theory; that the nearby merchant kingdom of Rhan'k'adanra was increasing in power at the same rate as the daemonic attacks were occuring, and that there could be a link between the two.

Mellvellon squabbles with Graag

Still fearing further attack from Kaalroen on their outpost of Barad Aureil the elves of Mellvellon looked to increase their defences. But the elves were increasingly spread thin, with numerous colonies set up across Palurin. With troops being diverted to Sein Thoron the Barad Aureil colonists looked towards their allies for help. Contacting the Slann lords of Cuitlaxaochitzin they negotiated a deal. The lizardmen would send a detachment of Ogre mercenaries to defend against any Chaos incursions. The Ogres would be paid in treasures the elves were excavating from the ancient city beneath Barad Aureil.

Unfortunately the ogres from Graag were less interested in this deal. Upon arriving in the distant land and seeing no Chaos attack forthcoming they quickly became bored. This lead to squabbling with the local elves over their pay, the 'ancient treasures' the had been promised turned out to be mostly pottery. The arguments quickly escalated into an all out battle, with the Ogres stomping over the beleaguered defenders of the city. After a brief period of looting the ogres made off with a number of more worthy relics and returned home to Cuitlaxaochitzin, leaving Barad Aureil in a worse state than before. Some elves theorised this had been the Slann lords' plans all along.

Palurin Political - 520PC