Thursday, 25 October 2012
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Shadow in the North: The Rebel Forces
The worst kept secret in the Empire can no longer be ignored - the taint of vampirism now looms large over the north. The ties of the Blood Kiss run deep in the lines of the aristocracy, with many owing their power, position and allegiance to the Drazkharov’s politicking. The outbreak of war sees the House of Drazkharov make its bid for power. Following the religious persecutions throughout Holwingen and Mallenstein, the Priesthood of Morr can no longer defend the crypts and graveyards of those dark lands. As the banners are called, the dead rise up to march to war.
COUNTESS ANASTASIA DRAZKHAROV
The matriarch of the House of Drazkharov, the Mother of vampirism in the west, the Queen of the Midnight Court. Yet Countess Anastasia arrived in the Holy Sigmarite Empire a destitute refugee. She fled the ruin of her family following the Fall of Aquila and over the centuries since has steadily climbed her way through Imperial aristocracy to become one of the most powerful and influential nobles of the realm.
Once daughter to a long-ago Emperor and sister to another, Anastasia claims descent of the ancient bloodline of the Tyrannii. She seeks to rekindle the glory of her forbears and her thirst for power is boundless. Following her marriage into and ascension to power over the House of Drazkharov, Anastasia’s progeny has now spread their terrible curse to ensnare many other noble houses, binding the fates of each to that of House Drazkharov.
The seeds of ambition finally bear fruit as the scions of Aquila answer their sire’s call to arms. The Counts of the north unite to topple one of the greatest dynasties of the Palurin and place their grandmother Anastasia on the imperial throne.
IVAN DRAZKHAROV, THE COUNT OF HOLWINGEN
The brooding lands of Holwingen are made all the darker for lying in Ivan’s shadow. Envy of the lords in the south and paranoia of enemies at home have left Ivan an unstable man. His delusions have left him given to acts of immeasurable cruelty in order that he maintain his stranglehold over the north. It is these depravities that have proved most difficult for the Drazkharovs in their efforts to conceal their secret from the rest of the world. It is only Anastasia’s iron will that has held Ivan in check.
Yet the people of Holwingen hold a strange loyalty for their lord and master. Obedience to the Count has kept the people safe from foreign threats. Enemies from across the border are subjected to the full brutality of Ivan’s bloody hand in defence of his realm. “A beast in the hand is worth two in the bush” has become a common proverb amongst the folk of Holwingen.
As the Lord of the Krähefort, Ivan has a huge military force at his disposal. With the eruption of civil war Ivan’s callous and sadistic appetite will become the terror weapon that the Drazkharovs unleash upon the southern provinces.
VIKTOR DRAZKHAROV, CASTELLAN OF THE GRIMHOLT
The indomitable fortress of The Grimholt lies at the strategically crucial junction of the Greater and Lesser Cannaur Rivers - it is no accident that is was there that Anastasia planted her grandson, Viktor. A soldier and tactician of extraordinary ability, Viktor’s fingertip feel for the ebb and flow of battle has won him countless victories.
Steeped in the blood of the thousands he has slain, the Crimson Count presents an imminent threat for Imperialist forces from his vantage point at the Grimholt. Where his cousin Ivan is the bestial claw that will tear at the Imperial armies, Viktor is the rapier thrust with which the Drazkharovs seek to deliver the decisive killing blow.
MADAME MAXIME VOLBECK
The Doyenne of Ratzberg, Madame Maxime is an eccentric recluse, even by a vampire’s standards. Descended from the House of Drazkharov through the female line, she has been variously allied to or feuding with the family since her marriage to the ageing Count Volbeck. The Drazkharovs and Volbecks have long held one another in distrust, each having rival designs for dominion over the lands of their shared neighbour of Pellenar.
Though a changeable and unreliable ally, Madame Maxime has for the time-being aligned herself to the Drazkharov cause. Ever the opportunist, Madame Maxime will seize every chance to make gains out of the losses that the rich southern provinces will inevitably suffer as the chaos of war engulfs the land. When the dust settles, Maxime intends to find herself and her lands secure, and more powerful than ever.
COUNTESS ANASTASIA DRAZKHAROV
The matriarch of the House of Drazkharov, the Mother of vampirism in the west, the Queen of the Midnight Court. Yet Countess Anastasia arrived in the Holy Sigmarite Empire a destitute refugee. She fled the ruin of her family following the Fall of Aquila and over the centuries since has steadily climbed her way through Imperial aristocracy to become one of the most powerful and influential nobles of the realm.
Once daughter to a long-ago Emperor and sister to another, Anastasia claims descent of the ancient bloodline of the Tyrannii. She seeks to rekindle the glory of her forbears and her thirst for power is boundless. Following her marriage into and ascension to power over the House of Drazkharov, Anastasia’s progeny has now spread their terrible curse to ensnare many other noble houses, binding the fates of each to that of House Drazkharov.
The seeds of ambition finally bear fruit as the scions of Aquila answer their sire’s call to arms. The Counts of the north unite to topple one of the greatest dynasties of the Palurin and place their grandmother Anastasia on the imperial throne.
IVAN DRAZKHAROV, THE COUNT OF HOLWINGEN
The brooding lands of Holwingen are made all the darker for lying in Ivan’s shadow. Envy of the lords in the south and paranoia of enemies at home have left Ivan an unstable man. His delusions have left him given to acts of immeasurable cruelty in order that he maintain his stranglehold over the north. It is these depravities that have proved most difficult for the Drazkharovs in their efforts to conceal their secret from the rest of the world. It is only Anastasia’s iron will that has held Ivan in check.
Yet the people of Holwingen hold a strange loyalty for their lord and master. Obedience to the Count has kept the people safe from foreign threats. Enemies from across the border are subjected to the full brutality of Ivan’s bloody hand in defence of his realm. “A beast in the hand is worth two in the bush” has become a common proverb amongst the folk of Holwingen.
As the Lord of the Krähefort, Ivan has a huge military force at his disposal. With the eruption of civil war Ivan’s callous and sadistic appetite will become the terror weapon that the Drazkharovs unleash upon the southern provinces.
VIKTOR DRAZKHAROV, CASTELLAN OF THE GRIMHOLT
The indomitable fortress of The Grimholt lies at the strategically crucial junction of the Greater and Lesser Cannaur Rivers - it is no accident that is was there that Anastasia planted her grandson, Viktor. A soldier and tactician of extraordinary ability, Viktor’s fingertip feel for the ebb and flow of battle has won him countless victories.
Steeped in the blood of the thousands he has slain, the Crimson Count presents an imminent threat for Imperialist forces from his vantage point at the Grimholt. Where his cousin Ivan is the bestial claw that will tear at the Imperial armies, Viktor is the rapier thrust with which the Drazkharovs seek to deliver the decisive killing blow.
MADAME MAXIME VOLBECK
The Doyenne of Ratzberg, Madame Maxime is an eccentric recluse, even by a vampire’s standards. Descended from the House of Drazkharov through the female line, she has been variously allied to or feuding with the family since her marriage to the ageing Count Volbeck. The Drazkharovs and Volbecks have long held one another in distrust, each having rival designs for dominion over the lands of their shared neighbour of Pellenar.
Though a changeable and unreliable ally, Madame Maxime has for the time-being aligned herself to the Drazkharov cause. Ever the opportunist, Madame Maxime will seize every chance to make gains out of the losses that the rich southern provinces will inevitably suffer as the chaos of war engulfs the land. When the dust settles, Maxime intends to find herself and her lands secure, and more powerful than ever.
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
For Crown and Country: The Imperial Forces
The House of Alptraum has reigned as the imperial family of the Holy Sigmarite Empire since its founding. Centuries-old alliances form strong political and family ties that bind the aristocracy of the Empire. The Imperial Army can rely on the support of many loyal nobles and their bannermen as they unite under the Alptraum standard. The defence of the throne and the very survival of the Empire itself will count upon the courage, mettle and conviction of the brave men of the south.
PRINCE KARL ALPTRAUM
Second in line to the Imperial Throne, the young Prince Karl is the Alptraum dynasty’s representative on the field of battle, a man to inspire loyalty and bravery in the common men. Dashing and daring, at the age of just twenty-two he has already shown himself to be a man of courage in the face of a terrible enemy.
Karl fights with the invincibility of youth, but he is also a man of deep conviction that belies his age. His faith and courage inspires his men, who will gladly follow him into the jaws of the beast that rises in the north. Karl’s selfless (some might say reckless), lead-by-example, head-of-the-charge style of command has emboldened the soldiers of the Empire and won their adoration. Where Prince Karl rides, so too do the hopes of Imperial victory.
GRAND THEOGONIST IGNATIUS I
Only very recently elected by the Conclave of Arch Lectors, Ignatius would, in peace-time, have proved an unremarkable and unmemorable man as the head of Sigmar’s Church. Chosen as a steady hand at the tiller, Ignatius is an even-tempered, tolerant and unassuming man who was a choice of compromise between the conservative and radical wings of the church. However, thrust into the spotlight by recent events and the tensions raised by the emerging Puritan Movement, Ignatius now treads an unenviable path. The coming months will be a test of his leadership as he tries to hold together disparate factions of the clergy in these troubled times.
The divide between north and south could well be reflected in a schism that threatens to split the church should Ignatius not prove the man for the challenge. His first duty to the people of the Empire is to see that they hold true to their beliefs at a time when faith is about to be tested to its limits.
TOUMAS VON SCHAFFERNACKER, THE STEEL COUNT
Von Schaffernacker, like many of southern his contemporaries, finds his conservative and traditionalist sensibilities at odds with the brash zealotry of the Puritan Movement. Neverthless the von Schaffernacker’s are a deeply religious family and they abhor the malevolent influence of dark magic that pervades the north.
It has been remarked of the Count that he is a man “steel of faith, who puts his faith in steel”. Uncompromising and direct, he has earned a mixed reception at the Imperial Court and is regarded by some of the other high-ranking nobility as blunt and rude. His military prowess is in no doubt however, and the city of Sudhafen blossoms as a direct result of his continuing protection.
The Count seeks to defend the Holy Sigmarite Empire from enemies at home and abroad. His loyalty is to the crown and the realm, though some have noted that this does not necessarily equate to a loyalty to the Alptraum dynasty.
TITUS AUREUS, THE LION OF PELLENAR
As his ancestors fought to protect their homeland, so too does Titus hold his borders against the predations of the north. He has carefully managed diplomatic relations with neighbours and made friends of potential enemies following Pellenar’s union with the Holy Sigmarite Empire. Yet when it is necessary Titus is equally ruthless with those who prove his erstwhile foes, many of whom have learnt their folly beneath the thundering hooves of the Pellenar cavalry charge.
The people of Pellenar harbour a deep distrust for magic and Titus is no exception. He holds no esteem for the House of Drazkharov and has long held them at arms’ length to protect his people from their machinations.
With the call to arms, Titus has firmly aligned himself to the Emperor. The glorious cavalry of Pellenar form the steel claw with which the Lion will crush the rebel hosts.
PRINCE KARL ALPTRAUM
Second in line to the Imperial Throne, the young Prince Karl is the Alptraum dynasty’s representative on the field of battle, a man to inspire loyalty and bravery in the common men. Dashing and daring, at the age of just twenty-two he has already shown himself to be a man of courage in the face of a terrible enemy.
Karl fights with the invincibility of youth, but he is also a man of deep conviction that belies his age. His faith and courage inspires his men, who will gladly follow him into the jaws of the beast that rises in the north. Karl’s selfless (some might say reckless), lead-by-example, head-of-the-charge style of command has emboldened the soldiers of the Empire and won their adoration. Where Prince Karl rides, so too do the hopes of Imperial victory.
GRAND THEOGONIST IGNATIUS I
Only very recently elected by the Conclave of Arch Lectors, Ignatius would, in peace-time, have proved an unremarkable and unmemorable man as the head of Sigmar’s Church. Chosen as a steady hand at the tiller, Ignatius is an even-tempered, tolerant and unassuming man who was a choice of compromise between the conservative and radical wings of the church. However, thrust into the spotlight by recent events and the tensions raised by the emerging Puritan Movement, Ignatius now treads an unenviable path. The coming months will be a test of his leadership as he tries to hold together disparate factions of the clergy in these troubled times.
The divide between north and south could well be reflected in a schism that threatens to split the church should Ignatius not prove the man for the challenge. His first duty to the people of the Empire is to see that they hold true to their beliefs at a time when faith is about to be tested to its limits.
TOUMAS VON SCHAFFERNACKER, THE STEEL COUNT
Von Schaffernacker, like many of southern his contemporaries, finds his conservative and traditionalist sensibilities at odds with the brash zealotry of the Puritan Movement. Neverthless the von Schaffernacker’s are a deeply religious family and they abhor the malevolent influence of dark magic that pervades the north.
It has been remarked of the Count that he is a man “steel of faith, who puts his faith in steel”. Uncompromising and direct, he has earned a mixed reception at the Imperial Court and is regarded by some of the other high-ranking nobility as blunt and rude. His military prowess is in no doubt however, and the city of Sudhafen blossoms as a direct result of his continuing protection.
The Count seeks to defend the Holy Sigmarite Empire from enemies at home and abroad. His loyalty is to the crown and the realm, though some have noted that this does not necessarily equate to a loyalty to the Alptraum dynasty.
TITUS AUREUS, THE LION OF PELLENAR
As his ancestors fought to protect their homeland, so too does Titus hold his borders against the predations of the north. He has carefully managed diplomatic relations with neighbours and made friends of potential enemies following Pellenar’s union with the Holy Sigmarite Empire. Yet when it is necessary Titus is equally ruthless with those who prove his erstwhile foes, many of whom have learnt their folly beneath the thundering hooves of the Pellenar cavalry charge.
The people of Pellenar harbour a deep distrust for magic and Titus is no exception. He holds no esteem for the House of Drazkharov and has long held them at arms’ length to protect his people from their machinations.
With the call to arms, Titus has firmly aligned himself to the Emperor. The glorious cavalry of Pellenar form the steel claw with which the Lion will crush the rebel hosts.
Sunday, 21 October 2012
The Battle of Weissbruck
The Imperial Army sent to apprehend Count Ivan Drazkharov found itself attacked outside its camp at the town of Weissbruck. Prince Karl himself quickly assembled his troops to lead the army in a counter attack.
As the morning fog cleared, the full scope of the treachery unfolded; emerging from the mists, Holwingen soldiers marched side by side with creeping ghouls, slavering wolves, fell monsters and bat-winged terrors from darkest nightmare, and everywhere flew the crimson banner of House Drazkharov.
The Prince’s artillery hammered the foe, rockets and shot pounding the enemy lines as the air choked with smoke and fire. But the horrific beasts that Ivan had summoned marched on to tear into the Imperial lines. The Count himself proved to be a ravening beast, a clawed terror against whom none could stand. Only the courageous charge of the Prince and his Household Cavalry could check the undead advance, smashing into the vanguard and through to break the back of Ivan’s army. Yet the Count himself escaped the field to return to the Krähefort.
With the artillery train destroyed and his army exhausted Prince Karl was forced to withdraw back to the safety of the town, unable to give chase.
When news of the battle reached Sigmarheim the Drazkharovs at the Imperial Court had already disappeared, presumably having fled north. The Emperor declared Ivan and his family outlaws and enemies of the Empire. No emissary was sent from the north to sue for terms or explain the incident at Weissbruck. The only news from the north would be increasingly frequent reports of undead forces massing across Holwingen and Mallenstein. Following the religious persecutions of the Puritan Movement, the Priesthood of Morr could no longer defend the crypts and graveyards of those dark lands and the necromancers roamed unchecked.
As the Emperor calls his banners in the south in defence of the realm, in the north the dead rise up to march to war. The Drazkharov Rebellion has begun.
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Spark in the Tinderbox
The year 665PC sees the untimely and quite unexpected death of the Grand Theogonist Cornelius I. Appearing to have succumbed to spontaneous exsanguination in his bathtub, having being hale and healthy the very same morning, his death throws the Church of Sigmar into disarray. Conclave is called to elect a successor to the Holy Seat of Sigmar. Alas, the process drags on for weeks as contending Arch Lectors are variously found dead, have fled the city, or mysteriously withdraw themselves from nominations.
Meanwhile, the small but increasingly popular Puritan Movement gains support in the north. Regarded by some as an extreme branch of the Church, the Lector Boris Drazkharov nonetheless seizes upon the Puritan’s distaste for "idolatry" and "vanities" forming part of religious worship. The churches and shrines of Holwingen are systematically purged of their symbols and relics of Sigmar in favour of a more austere aesthetic. Churches in Mallenstein quickly follow suit. As the strength of the Puritan movement rises it begins to challenge the Empire’s other religious orders, considering the worship of other deities anathema. The Puritan’s scorn falls upon the faithful of Manaan, Morr and Ulric. Non-Puritans are derided and castigated for not adhering to the worship of the One True God and Saviour, Most Holy Sigmar.
Puritan zeal is whipped up by the Machiavellian Lector Boris. Priests of these other faiths soon find themselves persecuted across Holwingen, and rapidly, the rest of the north. Boris personally goes to great lengths to vilify the priests of Morr. Scores of that brotherhood suffer at the hands of the Puritans and many of Morr’s temples and shrines are put to the torch by Puritan lynch mobs.
After three months of delay, in Sigmarheim the Conclave is finally ended with the appointment of the new Grand Theogonist Ignatius I. He is appalled at the excesses of the Puritans in the north and calls for immediate cessation of their activities. Conversely, with Boris Drazkharov fanning the flames of religious fervour, the Puritan movement labels the newly appointed Ignatius a heretic for tolerating any who would stray from Sigmar's pure light.
The Grand Theogonist issues a warrant for the arrest of Boris Drazkharov and number of other Puritan leaders. However Boris finds support in his cousin, the Count Ivan Drazkharov of Holwingen. The armed escort sent to apprehend Boris is intercepted en route and the men are massacred by Holwingen state troops.
This incident causes outrage and draws the attention of the Imperial Court in Sigmarheim. With tensions beginning to reach crisis point, and a schism threatening to sunder the Church, the Emperor has little choice but to dispatch the soldiery of House Alptraum to take Count Ivan and Lector Boris into custody, so that they may be brought before the Throne to answer for their actions.
But the Drazkharovs are ready. As the Alptraum troops take rest and make camp outside the town of Weissbruck on their route northward, an army raised at the Krähefort descends out of the mist on the Holwing Hills.
Meanwhile, the small but increasingly popular Puritan Movement gains support in the north. Regarded by some as an extreme branch of the Church, the Lector Boris Drazkharov nonetheless seizes upon the Puritan’s distaste for "idolatry" and "vanities" forming part of religious worship. The churches and shrines of Holwingen are systematically purged of their symbols and relics of Sigmar in favour of a more austere aesthetic. Churches in Mallenstein quickly follow suit. As the strength of the Puritan movement rises it begins to challenge the Empire’s other religious orders, considering the worship of other deities anathema. The Puritan’s scorn falls upon the faithful of Manaan, Morr and Ulric. Non-Puritans are derided and castigated for not adhering to the worship of the One True God and Saviour, Most Holy Sigmar.
Puritan zeal is whipped up by the Machiavellian Lector Boris. Priests of these other faiths soon find themselves persecuted across Holwingen, and rapidly, the rest of the north. Boris personally goes to great lengths to vilify the priests of Morr. Scores of that brotherhood suffer at the hands of the Puritans and many of Morr’s temples and shrines are put to the torch by Puritan lynch mobs.
After three months of delay, in Sigmarheim the Conclave is finally ended with the appointment of the new Grand Theogonist Ignatius I. He is appalled at the excesses of the Puritans in the north and calls for immediate cessation of their activities. Conversely, with Boris Drazkharov fanning the flames of religious fervour, the Puritan movement labels the newly appointed Ignatius a heretic for tolerating any who would stray from Sigmar's pure light.
The Grand Theogonist issues a warrant for the arrest of Boris Drazkharov and number of other Puritan leaders. However Boris finds support in his cousin, the Count Ivan Drazkharov of Holwingen. The armed escort sent to apprehend Boris is intercepted en route and the men are massacred by Holwingen state troops.
This incident causes outrage and draws the attention of the Imperial Court in Sigmarheim. With tensions beginning to reach crisis point, and a schism threatening to sunder the Church, the Emperor has little choice but to dispatch the soldiery of House Alptraum to take Count Ivan and Lector Boris into custody, so that they may be brought before the Throne to answer for their actions.
But the Drazkharovs are ready. As the Alptraum troops take rest and make camp outside the town of Weissbruck on their route northward, an army raised at the Krähefort descends out of the mist on the Holwing Hills.
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
Daemon outbreak
The High Elves and Skaven in Palurin had been at each other's throats for centuries, ever since the Elves had established the colony of Sein Creban close to Boiling Peak. Most years only small skirmishes took place but every so often both sides would marshal great forces to war and magic would split the skies apart.
Such magical energy being unleashed is not safe for the world, and there are those who theorise it was unchecked magics that caused the downfall of the long lost civilisations of Palurin. Whatever the truth in 591PC, near the Elf-Skaven border, great rips appeared in the sky and daemonic forces dedicated to the dark prince Slaanesh spilled out to attack both sides.
The Skaven were the first to be set upon. The rat-men attempted to marshall their forces into some sort of defence but the daemonic assault was too swift. The claws of the Slaaneshi warriors eagerly tore apart fur and bone massacring the squealing Skaven.
Elsewhere the High Elves had more time to prepare before the attack, their mages sensing the approaching danger. Their vat-grown ogres marched from Ogreguard to meet the daemons on the field on battle. Their tough hides protecting them from slashing claws, the ogres soon turned the tide and in ribbons of pastel light the daemons were banished back. Perhaps the elves could have urged their ogre warriors on into the now-undefended Skaven realms, but with the rifts still glittering in the skies above they were unwilling to leave their lands undefended. The ogres returned to Ogreguard, the elven mages began their vigil against what may be coming.
All over Palurin its inhabitants looked into the night sky to see a pink corona of light in the distance and ponder its meaning. In the daemon-worshipping lands of Rank'an'Adanra they rejoiced at the sight. Their gods were coming closer to Palurin than ever.
Such magical energy being unleashed is not safe for the world, and there are those who theorise it was unchecked magics that caused the downfall of the long lost civilisations of Palurin. Whatever the truth in 591PC, near the Elf-Skaven border, great rips appeared in the sky and daemonic forces dedicated to the dark prince Slaanesh spilled out to attack both sides.
The Skaven were the first to be set upon. The rat-men attempted to marshall their forces into some sort of defence but the daemonic assault was too swift. The claws of the Slaaneshi warriors eagerly tore apart fur and bone massacring the squealing Skaven.
Elsewhere the High Elves had more time to prepare before the attack, their mages sensing the approaching danger. Their vat-grown ogres marched from Ogreguard to meet the daemons on the field on battle. Their tough hides protecting them from slashing claws, the ogres soon turned the tide and in ribbons of pastel light the daemons were banished back. Perhaps the elves could have urged their ogre warriors on into the now-undefended Skaven realms, but with the rifts still glittering in the skies above they were unwilling to leave their lands undefended. The ogres returned to Ogreguard, the elven mages began their vigil against what may be coming.
All over Palurin its inhabitants looked into the night sky to see a pink corona of light in the distance and ponder its meaning. In the daemon-worshipping lands of Rank'an'Adanra they rejoiced at the sight. Their gods were coming closer to Palurin than ever.
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