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The united campaign will be called ‘Mortal Empires’, and it’ll sit alongside the Old World and Eye of the Vortex campaigns for owners of the first two Total War: Warhammer games.
The OOC thread is here:The watchman held his hand above his eyes, shielding them from the light of two mid-morning suns. He stared patiently eastward, out over the walls of Eriva City and across the Omnikar Plains. Eriva stood at their western edge, at the foothills of the Barrier Mountains. A modest waterway, the Eriva River, flowed out of the city and winded its way through the plains, headed towards the far out-of-sight ocean. The plains gently sloped downwards, as well, but the tilt was almost impossible to notice unless one specifically looked for it.
For the most part, it was an empty grassland, but around the river and in a few clusters elsewhere, cottonwood trees grew. In this, the height of summer, their fluffy white fruits fell lazily to the ground, blown this way and that by even the most gentle breeze.Then the watchman glanced westward from his tower.
The rest of Eriva City sprawled before him. It was all tinted white, the same color of the local limestone it was built out of. There was very little wooden architecture to be seen, for this region's trees were soft and not good for building. Occasionally one would see a scaffolding or fruitstand of timber, but wood was never used for permanant structures. As a result, the city's six watch towers were not as tall as they could have been, but they still sufficed.Inevitably, the watchman's gaze was drawn towards the University, the only structure of its kind in all the Southern Regions.
It stood five stories high, and spanned several acres. The architecture, with its many balconies and sweeping curves, was not of Erivan style. Its beauty was beyond their ability. Many said that it predated humanity, and had been built by angels as a fortress in ancient times when the mortal world had been a battlefield in the Cosmic War between the Old Gods and the New.It was to that building that the entire city's history was tied. The first Erivans had been scholars from across the ocean come to study it. In recent centuries, it had been outfitted as a place of learning, and had housed many tomes of knowledge. Unfortunately, when the Moon Empire had invaded from the north and taken over Eriva, the Moon Emperor had ordered his soldiers to burn all the texts in the University.
He had been afraid to let his subjects be educated.In these recent times since the fall of the Moon Empire, when anarchy and chaos had overcome the Southern Regions, the Erivans had used it as a stronghold from which to hold back marauding enemies. The University had stood for tens of thousands of years, and no known weapon could destroy it.Beyond the western walls of city stood the Barrier Mountains.
They were neither steep nor snowcapped, but their forested curves were lovely in their own way.The morning was a pleasant and beautiful one. At times like this, the watchman could hardly believe that the world outside the city was really in chaos.Then, he turned eastward again.Five horsemen were riding at great speed across the plains towards the city. The watchman thought of sounding the alarm, but decided against it. No need to cause a panic; a mere five warriors had no chance against the Eriva City Guard. Batu pulled his horse to a stop at the city gates, and ordered his companions to do the same. The gate opened, and an Erivan guardsman stepped out towards them. The guardsman eyed the riders intensely.Their hair was black as tar.
They were not tall, but they were broad-shouldered and had imposing figures. The five of them were of the Omnik people, native tribesmen of the Omnikar Plains. Each carried a sword, and four of the five were equipped with a bow and arrows. Batu was the only one without a bow; instead, he had a musket strapped to his back.' Who are you and what is your business in Evira?' Asked the guardsman.Batu answered: 'I am Prince Batu of the Bonechain Tribe. These are my tribesmen.
We have come to speak with the leader of your warriors.' At this point, the guardsman considered asking the Omniks to hand over their weapons before entering the city. He had a cousin who once asked an Omnik to do that, though.
That cousin was dead now.Still, he would not just let the nomads walk right in. 'What do you need to talk with Captain Lires about?' Prince Batu paused for a moment, then stated simply: 'A company of Lunans are gathering to attack your city.' This was all the guardsman needed to hear.
Immediately, he led the Omniks through the city gates and towards where Captain Lires worked. Lires was leaning against an ornate stone pillar of Eviras keep. He stood at a balcony that faced westwards towards the setting sun which cast a brilliant light illuminating the castle in the evenings.
Unlike most of the city, the keep remained untouched, unmarred by the constant warring and attacks that had destroyed much of the rest of the city. And both citizens and soldiers of Eriva alike took pride that the great keep, the center and symbol of their way of life still remained untouched through all these years.Lires walked towards the balcony and looked over the city. It was large, gigantic by standards for the southlands. Some of the city was in smoke and ruins but at the same time, just as much was being rebuilt. But what worried Lires the most was a single hole, a break, a weakness in their wall.
That hole had to be rebuilt if the city was expected to survive another attack, but Lires had a plan, or thought he did.Suddenly he heard footsepts. The changing of the guard was not until noon, Lires thought, who could it be? A soldier, ran in fully armored in chain mail and a steel cone shaped helmet with a nose guard.
He carried a longsword that was strapped at his waist. Lires did not know him by name, but he had seen him around the castle.The soldier spoke in a brusk tone that gave away his age to be much younger than he looked “Prince Batu of the Bonechain tribe requests an audience with you, sir.”Lires was taken aback for a moment, they had not heard word from this tribe for years. What would make them come and request an immediate audience now?“Send them in” said Lires.Lires quickly took note of his surroundings and the nearest weapons along the walls. If it really was the Bonechain tribe there was no doubt that they would be armed, better safe than dead he thought. Lires only hoped that none of his guards had tried to take away their weapons, 'I cant afford to lose any more men' he thought.Multiple sets of footsteps were heard along the corridor, Lires stood tall and prepared himself for a meeting he would have rather forsaken at the time. Prince Batu took in a deep breath, then began:'Four days ago, my tribe was traveling several miles west of here. We ran across a small band of Lunans, but unusually, they did not fight us.
When they saw us coming, they ran off, in the direction they were already walking. We were curious, so we sent a scout to follow along behind them.Our scout followed the Lunans to a mountain we call Rafikara. On top of Rafikara is a small fort that has been abandonded since before my grandfather's grandfather was born. The roof of that fort collapsed long ago, so the scout was able to climb higher up the slope of Mount Rafikara and look down into it.He saw three score Lunans inside, as well as a strange man-one of the Rakhmeti people from the far north. When he returned and told the tribe this, we sent a small group of warriors to the mountain. We captured one of the Lunan guards while it was on patrol, and interrogated it.' Throughout the story, Batu's stern expression did not change, though he did look around uncomfortably, not used to being inside a stone building.'
According to it,' he continued, 'the man was a warlock named Amahte Bai. He has used some trickery to gain the loyalty of several Lunan clans, and plans to take over this part of the plains. Starting with your city.' The barbarian shifted his weight from one foot to another, then finished: 'The Bonechain Tribe will not allow our region to be ruled by Rakhmeti and Lunans again. We came to warn you, so that you could prepare yourselves for battle. According to our prisoner, the Lunans will be marching within the week.'
Captain Lires, took a moment to take in what the prince had said. He stumbled back a step before regaining his composure. He turned towards the balcony they had been standing nearby. He spoke silently and in a monotonous tone, 'Three score you say? Thank you for warning us Prince Batu, if we survive this we will be in debt that may be hard for us to repay. But our payment will have to wait untill this is over.'
He turned towards one of the guards and spoke in a far more commanding voice, 'tell the captains of our situation, tell them to arm every man in the city and place some of our own men in positions to support them. We may not have enough soldiers to repel this entire attack on our own.' The guard bowed slightly and marched down the corridor.He then turned towards the prince, 'what will you do with your tribe? No doubt it is in danger as well.' 'My tribe,' Batu explained, 'waits out on the plains.
When the Lunans leave Mount Rafikara, they will ride to meet them.' He smiled slightly. 'The Lunans are strong, but they are neither as fast nor skilled as our horsemen. We do not think we will be able to defeat them all that way, but hopefully their numbers will be less by the time they reach this city.Now, if there is nothing else, my friends and I will be going.' Though he said this, he did not turn to leave. Instead, he waited to see if Captain Lires had any more questions.
Lires scowled at his plan and spoke gruffly yet with decent respect, 'Your honor is intriuging, and I do not doubt your skill in battle. Yet I will not have you trade the lives of your tribe merely to lessen my own losses. Either take refuge here in Eriva, where we can mount a defense and prepare the battlefield; or we will ride out and meet them with you.'
The news began to spread, and you could tangibly see the sudden increase of activity and anxiety sweeping across the town. The sun would soon be setting, and as he waited for the prince to respond, he silently hoped that he and all those around him would live to see many more. Jaem lurked in the forest outside of Evira, studying the cities great walls.
The three wolves that followed on his heels were a comfort. They weren't following out of loyalty, just concern. Concern that the lone pup leaving the pack would get killed quicker than a cornered rabbit. He knew wolves didn't love exactly, but then again he wasn't a wolf, and he knew what love for a family member was. They were his family, the other humans he had once lived with as a child were still his family by blood, but nothing more. The wolves who raised him were his family, and the only reason he left is because something felt like it was pulling him towards this city.Ravager, a sleek black wolf with dull golden eyes, nuzzled Jaem's left leg and he stopped.
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Jaem looked down at Ravager and smiled, 'I will be fine. There is no need to follow me into such a place. We know how other humans react to us.' He tried to sound comforting, but Jaem knew that the wolves could smell his nervousness. Moonripple sat down behind Rigid. Moonripple was Rigid's mate, and she was like a big sister to Jaem.
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An overly conscerned big sister at that. She rarely let Jaem leave more than their sight. Her dark brown fur matched the gound, and Rigid was a sharp contrast as far as concern went. Rigid often tried to sneak Jaem away from Moonripple and got nipped at for it. His gray fur was patched here and there with muck from the swampy marshes from the direction they had come from. All three were worried that he would get harmed while inside the city.
Jaem had learned that the only way to get hurt was if you were careless or a fool.