Early Events

The Church of Light sent a declaration to all that the Island of Kalidor was the last bastion of Light in a widening sea of Dark worship. The betrayal of the Empire a year ago brought winter to Melinda and the Shadow Isles. Princess Louisa Berphaunt, who had been granted sanctuary by Prince Leopold, disappeared before she could be delivered to the Citadel for protection.

The Empire believed Princess Louisa was kidnapped by the Church of Light and demanded an ultimatum to return the princess or face war with Berphaunt.

A missive on the Skein Gate warned of a moving continent infested with Brood and a strange new species of Orc approaching Maud’madir.

The Whiteraven Alliance issued a statement that the impending Brood threat was more important than threats from Berphaunt, and to ready all able-bodied men and women to stand against the Brood.

Berphaunt responded that reports of a moving island infested with millions of Brood were greatly exaggerated and not to be taken seriously.

A new message on the Skein Gate indicated that Prince Leopold and Princess Louisa had left Tiefanue together as refugees. They intended to go to this moving continent of Amaranthia to join the Sons of Sprawn Orcs in a direct assault on Ga’more and his Brood forces, in the name of Essyllt and every Firstborn. Prince Leopold called upon the independent people of Arthos to join him on Melinda as they set sail for Amaranthia.

Prince Leopold and Princess Louisa then asked that the independent greenskins of Arthos reach out to the Sons of Sprawn to broker a peace and alliance. They wished to go together to rescue the lost Orcish tribes on Amaranthia.

Emperor Louis Berphaunt placed a bounty on Prince Leopold’s head, and a reward for returning Princess Louisa to him.

The Sons of Sprawn declared an alliance with Prince Leopold. However, Shuc’Noc the Eternal, the Chieftain of rival greenskin clan Bar’Ghul and devoted follower of Styphon, stood singularly opposed to the alliance.

Warcry 2017

Friday Night, August 4th, 2259

As the month of July closed, adventurers, heroes and villains made their way en masse to the island of Melinda. There, under the cover of night, they were met with the two renegade royals, Prince Leopold of Tifanue and Princess Louisa of Berphaunt, the latter of whom revealed she was six months pregnant.

Shortly after all were gathered, the Purple Firstborn Essyllt summoned her powers and opened a rift into the nightmarish place known as the Far Realm. Travel through the Far Realm was slow and laborious, assault on all sides by not just monsters of lore, but also Demons and their ilk serving the Demon Prince who calls the Far Realm home, Nilestromus. Through bloody battle, they somehow made it to the end. As the swords came to rest, the sounds of the dying falling silent, they gazed upon a throng of powerful Greater Demons standing at the end of a bridge between them and the exit. These Demons were sent by Nilestromus not to battle, but to bargain. To allow passage they demanded true names. Thirteen was the number they called, but before any mortal could give their soul to the Nightmare Lord for eternity, Prince Leopold stepped forward. He offered his true name; the true name of royalty in exchange for the escape of the others. The Princess cried out and the people who loved him begged him to reconsider, but he would not. The Demons took Leopold to their dark master, granting passage as they agreed on. Disheartened, heartbroken, and in tears, Princess Louisa took up the mantle of leadership for the first time in her life and led the adventurers out of the Far Realm.

The fields of Amaranthia were much like those on Maud’madir. The adventurers first met a few leaders of the Sons of Sprawn. Together, as allies, the Sons took the united factions to a safe camp in which, at its center, shone a bright beacon. They explained that there was another Orc tribe here known as the Ebon Khan. They were immune to the death and destruction of the Brood by, as they put it, “fighting fire with fire.” While traditionally the Brood would capture and infest the mortal races, the Ebon Khan did this but in reverse. They captured Brood Queens and, through arcane rites, made Orc-Brood hybrids, immune to the sight and senses of the local Brood Queens in command. They also shared between themselves a localized hivemind to communicate. The Ebon Khan crafted a lantern for safety and informed that it ran on a specific type of oil only found in Brood Queens. So long as it was lit, the Brood would ignore the camps. Our adventurers settled down for the night, hearing the screams of their friends who were too foolish to camp under the light’s protective shine.

Saturday, August 5th, 2259

As the sun rose high, members of the Sons of Sprawn, together with the Ebon Khan, invited the united factions of Whiteravan and Empire together for a summit. All factions and clans agreed to unite against Ga’more save one, Shuc’Noc the Eternal, servant of Styphon and Chieftain of the Bar’Ghul Clan. Shuc’Noc demanded the pinkskins die and swore that he would never ally with their enemies.

“They are useful for two things,” the Ogre Magi and rumoured Lich shouted. “Serving Syphon as Undead in his army, or falling beneath the axes of the Sons of Sprawn.”

Krulbjorn Lightstrike, Paladin of Valdr and leader of the Stormborn Clan stood up against Shuc’Noc. The Paladin demanded he step down as he was not the true leader of the Sons of Sprawn. Shuc’Noc shook with rage and approached Krulbjorn menacingly. Shuc’Noc grasped Lightstrike by the throat and with unnatural strength hoisted him into the air. He called out to his Black Dragon and then, using vile Draconic Magic, severed the divine connection between the Paladin and his God, killing him instantly. To add further insult to injury he then cast necromantic magics to raise the fallen hero before storming off, swearing to return if the pinkskins were not slaughtered.

Once Krulbjorn was put to rest the Ebon Khan stepped forward. They declared both themselves and the Sons of Sprawn were unsure if they wished to aid the united civilized factions, but they were willing to give them a chance to prove their strength. The Ebon Khan required Brood Queens to populate their breeding pit, as their last captive queen was dying. They sent adventurers on a quest to capture a young Brood Queen.

The battle for the live queen was long and hard, but in the end heroes and villains worked together to bring her down. They laid her bloody, but breathing chitinous body at the feet of the Ebon Khan.

Shortly after the end of the summit a strange multicolored prismatic Draconian appeared. He claimed to be called “The Custodian” and he gathered those who spoke well of the Firstborn. What he told them in secret is unknown, but it is said they could be seen leaving the lands of the Brood on spectral drakes of their chosen Dragon. They returned a few hours later without their multicoloured friend.

As the sun set on the second day, Shuc’Noc the Eternal gave our brave adventurers a taste of what was to come if they disobeyed his orders. Undead hordes rose from the ground and attacked in force. Zombie Lords, Plague Knights and Greater Banshees took to battle while a force of Lesser Undead followed closely behind. The night was fearsome and the screams of the dying pierced the night until the early morning.

Sunday, August 6th, 2259

In the afternoon heat, three Minotaurs claiming to be from the Vendetta Concordat approached the center of town feigning friendship. One brute of unusual size approached the Princess. Without warning he withdrew a stiletto, hidden in his armour and begin stabbing downwards into the stomach of the pregnant royal. Onlookers tried to intercede, but the Minotaurs that flanked the attacker defended him. The unborn child was brutally ripped from its mother’s womb and the cord was severed with a mighty blow of the Minotaurs weapon. With their dark work done the Minotaurs then seemed confused at their actions. A few brave souls fought them and captured them for interrogation. It was then discovered that these Minotaurs were assaulted by some form of magical gas and made pawns in a greater scheme by some unknown force.

Princess Louisa retreated to her tent as physicians tried to save the baby. Once again, fate would not shine on them this day and the child, heir to both the throne of Tiefanue and the Empire of Berphaunt, was burned and laid to rest.

The time for mourning was cut short for as the sun set, the ground began to shake and rumble. Bursting through the trees a massive Undead mammoth charged at the camps. On a platform on his back, sat the Lich Shuc’Noc. Undead poured out of the mammoth as the Bar’Ghul leader sieged the makeshift town. The battle lasted hours and things looked grim, but once it was discovered the mammoth acted as Shuc’Noc’s phylactery, all effort was turned to its destruction. Once the mammoth was destroyed, Shuc’Noc was laid to waste and the forces of Styphon were defeated.

This night of terror and darkness did not end with the destruction of the Bar’Ghul. As the full moon rose into the sky, an Avatar of Raze made her presence known. She approached Princess Louisa and the voice of Raze spoke, saying that she had been summoned by her pain, anguish, and loss. She offered the Princess vengeance for both her lost love, Leopold, and the murder of her unborn child. The royalty in mourning gave thought to the offer and, with having little else to live for, accepted servitude to the Dark Goddess as her Darkweaver. As Favoured among the Goddess of Revenge, she left with her faithful to do the work of vengeance and punish those that wronged her so.

Monday, August 7th, 2259

As the sun rose the last day on the island, the Sons of Sprawn and the Ebon Khan met a final time. The Ebon Khan joined with their greenskin kin, taking a place in the Sons of Sprawn as a growing legion. Impressed by the battle prowess and courage of the “pinkskin army,” they agreed to put aside their differences for the time being and unite to fight Ga’more, on one condition. This condition stated that in one year’s time, if all factions on Maud’madir could be united, Orc and pinkskin would band together, fight together, and die together. Until then, it was every kingdom’s duty to hold back the armies of the Brood until the time was right. With this declaration made, the order was given to retreat. An order that came a moment too late.

Ga’more, the God on Arthos himself, arrived to end this invasion personally. Behind him, in a wave 20 feet high, tens of thousands of Brood, climbing over each other in an effort to reach their prey. Slowly and with purpose he walked with his wall of death towards the united factions.

Meanwhile, Princess Louisa gathered those adventurers who were still left alive and made a proclamation. In her quest for vengeance and with the power of Raze, she summoned Leopold back to the mortal plane from the clutches of Nilestromus. She pulled forth from her robes a rod made of twisted bone. She informed those that would listen that he was their hero and she had sacrificed everything, far more than they knew, to see him returned. She also gave warning. The Demon Prince was unlikely to give up his prize so easily, but the united forces of Whiteraven and the Empire demanded in unison that no one would be left behind. Whispering an unheard word into the magical rod she held it high into the sun. A gate of shadow appeared. Through it Leopold stumbled, battered, broken and bloody. The shadows of the gate formed into that of a draconic figure that uttered only two words in a distinctly female voice before dispersing: “You dare?”

Leopold moved to embrace the Princess, but she placed a cold hand on his chest. With a stern face she spoke directly to his heart, “No. I do not love you. We are done.”

Leopold looked confused and hurt, but then his eyes fell to the empty womb that once held his child. Tears began to stream from his face and he started to speak, but the Demon Prince of Nightmares was not late to this party. A 30-foot tentacle appeared out of the ground, between our united factions and the Sons of Sprawn ships waiting to take them home. It lashed downwards, shaking the ground. When it rose again a demonic rift appeared and Greater Demons of began to pour out. Behind the wall of death, Ga’more drew closer. Leopold had no time for questions anymore. The battle was harsh and many lost their lives. In the end, the ranks of Demons broke and the armies retreated to the waiting ships.

It was on that shore, Leopold understood. He tried to speak to the Princess again, his lost love, but she turned her back to him. They would not leave this land together as lovers, but instead separate and alone. In taking the Favour of Raze to save her lover, Louisa was forced to forsake it. As they parted on separate ships Leopold called out, vowing to free her from this damnation, if it meant traveling to the Celestial Realms and killing Raze herself.

The voyage back to Melinda and awaiting Skein Gates was melancholy and cold. Heavy winds and rain bore down on the ships as if an omen to come. The single heir destined to unite the warring factions had been killed. The Orcs of both Sprawn and the Ebon Khan would still fight alongside the pinkskin forces, but only if they stood united; a hope that seemed to be diminishing with every sunset. Leopold stood on his ship’s bow, staring into the void the entire voyage home. During the five day voyage he neither ate, slept, nor entertained visitors. Louisa, on her ship, locked herself away in her private cabin. She took no visitors and only spoke with the Chieftain of the Ebon Khan, whom she summoned shortly after boarding.

When the ships landed on the shores of Melinda the Ebon Khan escorted Louisa to a Skein Gate: destination unknown. Leopold watched her go before taking his own gate westward to face the Church of Light and contemplate what remained of the life he had tried to build.

Aftermath

Months after the battle on Amaranthia, Princess Louisa revealed to the Empire that she had not been kidnapped two years before. She ran away from her stepmother Shiloth and the control she had over the Emperor Louis. Her brother helped stow her away in the confusion of the departing warships, but Shiloth’s own Dragon Knight Imrik was sent after them and tore the Prince apart, leaving Louisa alone. She went to Prince Leopold for sanctuary, and the two fell in love. Their union, and the child she bore, was supposed to unite the Berphauntian and Tiefanese Empires. Louisa believed that the Lich-Mage Shuc’Noc was not the one truly responsible for the death of her unborn child, and that it was the machinations of Shiloth that tore her family apart.

In October, Grundella the Tangled, Leader of the greenskin Clan Blackthorn, recorded a message to all pinkskin nations. The greenskin clans of the Sons of Sprawn, had destroyed or assimilated what remained of the Bar’Ghul. They declared immediate action against the Brood as the horrible insectoid soldiers made landfall around Arthos. They called upon the pinkskin nations to join them in the ongoing fight over the next year.

The Emperor of Berphaunt issued a statement claiming Princess Louisa was manipulated by Leopold, and driven mad with grief for her lost child. He believed it was all the machinations of Tiefanue, and any accusations that his wife was a Dragon in disguise were treason.

A heartbroken Leopold disappeared into self-imposed exile and the Church of Light took the Berphauntian Empire’s side, declaring Leopold a deserter. They declared war on Darkness, Brood, and Ga’more in the name of the Light. The Church gathered forces and marched across Arthos to lend their aid in training all to fight the Brood.

In November, rumours spread that Prince Marcel Berphaunt, heir to the throne, was missing. His guards were found murdered, their bodies hidden in alleys in the capital. Empress Annadonna sent her personal guards and First Champion, Imrik Adalite, to help in the investigation.

In a convenient turn of events, the Empress Annadonna announced that she was with child.

A month later, Imrik Adalite concluded his investigation into the disappearance of Prince Marcel. He reported that Prince Marcel Berphaunt had been murdered by the Dark Church. He described his demands to speak with the Dark Church in the capital, and claimed that those inside barred the doors and attacked Imrik’s forces from behind their barricade. Many fled the Black Cathedral, taking the Prince with them. Imrik claimed that the Dark Church had accepted Ga’more as one of their own and worshipped him as the head of the Dark Pantheon. When Imrik caught up with them in the sanctum of Samara the Ungraved, High Exarch of Malagant, she was found conducting a dark mass with her congregation and several cultists of Ga’more. They had sacrificed Prince Marcel in some sort of ritual. Imrik’s report stated that he flew into a rage and killed all who were involved, except Samara who managed to escape. Imrik brought the severed heads of those he had slain back to the castle to be displayed on the gates.

The Dark Church of Berphaunt was declared disbanded, with all remaining ranking officials branded traitors and hunted down by Berphauntian guards.

In December, a report from Duvain announced the moving continent of Amaranthia was still traveling northward toward the naval blockade set up to slow its progress. They warned that the Brood army could breach the southern shores as early as January 2260.

On the eve of High Winter, the combined naval armada of Duvain, Berphaunt, and the Sons of Sprawn experienced a temporary few hours of peace for the holidays. The ships were tethered together and the sailors, usually rife with disagreements, moved freely between the ships playing games, drinking, and trying to find respite from the war while far from their families. At early dawn, they were nearly crushed beneath a wave of Brood arriving weeks earlier than reports had predicted. In a heroic move, Captain Drysdale of the Duvainian fleet led six frigates into a suicidal charge at the Brood, allowing the slower dreadnaughts, man ‘o wars, and other heavy vessels enough time to escape. But the Brood began closing the gap too quickly, and it seemed as if Drysdale’s great sacrifice would have been in vain. Just as it seemed all was lost, a great disturbance roiled through the water, and the Firstborn Physignathus revealed herself to the remaining crews. She took vengeance on the Brood intruders, dragging them to the depths of the sea with great whirlpools, powerful Water Elementals, and Merfolk Dragon Knights. She unleashed her Breath Weapon on the Brood, a huge stream of boiling water, driving them back away from the ships and cooking them in their chitinous shells.