Ammrik Gunrock:
Hello everyone, This weekend I went to the first Arena Montreal Doubles tournament:
http://www.arena-montreal.com/
It was great fun! Despite the fact my team got beaten all 5 games :(. One of the things that makes Arena so special is that they have an award they give that no other tournament I know gives “Best Theme” Its given to the army whose list matchs a basic story submitted before the Tournament begins and isn’t based around power gaming and optimal lists. Long story short, I and my Dark Elf Partner won!
Anyway I thought I’d share the background of both our armies to you here. My background revolves around the Gunrock Clan who are the Lords of Gorgoth and his army, a Dark Elf force revolving around House Seregon. Hope you all enjoy it!
The following text comes from the diary of Deepok Marbud, Sorcerer of the Gunrock Clan, and Lords of Gorgoth.
Day 27
I would gladly give up my life for Gorgoth and the Gunrock clan. I would perform the most dangerous experiments, face the greatest demons, and march among the slaves alone, unarmed with all of them unchained. But I swear by Hashut, I cannot handle another moment on this accursed boat! The fleet commander told me that I would get used to the swaying…damn his hide! Here I sit in my chamber with my head spinning all to perform a duty of great honor for my Lord Ata’sul…and I find myself wishing he had picked another!
We will be rounding the cape of the Southlands soon. The rest of the Armada will be breaking off to �?odistract�?� the High Elves at the Fortress of Dawn. We should be at our rendezvous a day or so after that.
I swear the damned Druchii had better make this worth our while…dozens of slaves are already dead from this voyage and if it turns out to be fruitless I most certainly will be annoyed, as will the slave masters who will have to go out and fetch another band of these damn Gnoblars to work the boilers of the fleet.
I must have faith in Hashut and the will of my Lord Ata’sul. If this is about what he thinks it is then it will all be worth it in the end.
Day 32
I can see the storm in the distance. The fleet is still doing its job making sure the forces docked at the Fortress of Dawn do not come out to see what we are doing…or who we are meeting.
The Sorcerers should be able to keep the storm going long enough for us to complete our mission. Pity, I was hoping the Fortress would have Elven mages of superior caliber there to combat our Sorcerers. It matters not I suppose, they do not know where we are going or what we are doing and that is enough.
The Battle barges, Fire ships and several Maulers of Gorgoth are all that remain of the fleet now as the rest have remained behind. An impressive sight to be sure to see our Armada out on the high seas…despite the ships swaying that is.
It is good to be out of the hold…the damn stench of greenskin sweat is something I�?Tm used to as I have lived in Gorgoth all of my days. But having their stench surrounding you for over a month as you are locked in a steal coffin with boilers running around the clock is something that will certainly take longer to get used too. Ammrik doesn’t seem bothered by it, but then again I believe he is jealous that Lord Ata’sul granted me the duty of this meeting and not him, so he is stoically taking the affront to his nose and enjoying my discomfort.
Why would he expect otherwise? After all I am Lord Ata’suls most loyal apprentice. It matters not that he is a true blood member of the Gunrocks and I am of a lesser clan. I am gifted with the great power of our Lord Hashut! I am greater then he! Anointed above all save for the Bull Centaurs who watch the great Ziggurat in Zharr Naggrond.
Damn this horrible stench! Damn these waves, and damn the Druchii! This had better be worth our time.
Day 33
The great Black Ark has been spotted by the lookout on one of the Fire ships. I saw its pinnacle on deck little over an hour ago, it must be closer now. I must prepare to meet our hosts.
Ammrik will accompany me, as much as he despises being merely a member of the Honour Guard, it is important to have at least one member of the Gunrock Clan at the meeting. Watching his scowl at one not of the Clan, a Deepok even, being the one given the Honour of this task is an enjoyable bonus to this trip. I have had to deal with his smirks and snide comments about my inability to get my sea legs this whole trip. Now it is time for me to cause him some discomfort.
A host of Warriors from Gorgoth will accompany me led by Ammrik, along with the Khan Flick of the Howlin Wolfs clan. Not so much because he will have any input in the meeting, he is a slave after all, but because it will make those Elves squirm to be so close to greenskin. I certainly hope the smell unnerves them.
I hear the horn sounding now, our fleet is approaching the Black Ark. I must finish my preparation for this meeting.
Day 34
Seems this little venture shall be worth our time after all. I have already communed with my Lord Ata’sul who was sitting by or great High Priest Astrogoth in Zharr Naggrond itself! They have both agreed…it is worth the risk!
The Druchii are assaulting Ulthuan yet again. You would think they would learn their lesson after all their failures in the past… but they go once more and they seek the aid of the Dawi Zharr. As if we would care for their vengeance! Let them kill themselves over so foolish a thing as the kingdom of Ulthuan. If Malekith was not worthy enough to take it the first time how will he hope to succeed the second time…or the third!
Yet they have given us an offer…a very good offer to gain our aid.
I met two elves in particular, Tollomei Seregon, a witch elf and follower of the Lord of Murder Khaine and Kaja-Rang Seregon. Although I did not know much about the Witch Elf, I have a good deal of knowledge about Kaja-Rang.
They call him the Black Dawn, a truly great Corsair from what we know of his raids. Our fleets have fought him twice if the Archives of Gorgoth hold true. He did not shy away from facing our Battle barges or our Fire ships, even our Maulers that have crushed enough petty pirates who sought to harm our trade. No, he does not back down and each time we fought it was a draw…he could not take us…and we could not catch him. Oh he is crafty…interesting that they would send him to the negotiations.
But I wonder from point…Oh such an offer! It was Tollomei that made it to me, after attempting to soften us up with a gift of slaves, Elven slaves as well. They will be interesting to experiment on. The magic in their blood will make interesting research. My Lord Ata’sul has already granted me one of them to test on out of gratitude for my service! Oh I cannot wait to begin…but I must get my thoughts down now while they are fresh in my mind.
The Hosts of Naggarond, under the command of the Witch King will assault the Shadowlands of the former Nagarythe yet again. The bulk of their forces will move inward and threaten the various Gates guarding the entrances to the other kingdoms. The plan of Malekith, as explained by Tollomei, was to pull as many of the Defenders North as possible. The Forces of the Sea Guard will drain away from Eataine and the bulk of the standing forces of Yvresse, Caledor and Saphery will move north to reinforce Chrace and Averlorn. While this is going on, the slow process of gathering the local militias will begin, but before they can muster we will be upon them.
A contingent from House Seregon, led by Kaja-Rang and his sister will strike at Ar Yvraine in the south of Yvresse. The Defenders will not be expecting an attack by the southern route…especially not one whose troops are being supported by the Dawi Zharr.
The Gunrock Clan will land a contingent on the southern shore and move to lay siege to Lothern and disrupt movement in Yvresse, forcing the defenders to divide their attacks on two fronts. I have been granted leave by my Lord Ata�?Tsul to command the initial landing force, oh how Ammrik glared when he heard the news! He may be my rival, but this is a matter of importance to Gorgoth and he will do his best for the preparation.
That is the overall plan. Why are we doing this though? Why are we, who care little for the damned elves, aiding them in their war of vengeance?
I am laughing even as I write! They are giving us Saphery! Saphery!
The land of Magic! The place where the most ancient learning�?Ts of the Winds of Chaos rest. The Elves, with their affinity for life and beauty, no doubt hold secrets of healing we Dawi cannot discover despite our best efforts. The knowledge that rests within Saphery will be hard fought to gain. The Swordmasters guard their charges in the great towers of magic well but we will have their secrets. Even as I write my Lord Ata’sul is mustering a force of Gorgoth to come and join the attack. Oh foolish Druchii…they think us to stay with their plan! Once the forces of Ulthuan are distracted and a minor force of Gorgoth marches on Lothern the true force will move on Saphery itself! And once my Lord Ata’sul has shown the weakling elves of Ulthuan what true magic is like, we will topple the spires of that place, take the secrets of their libraries and leave the Druchii to their war.
Ammrik and I have already discusses some of the details. We will take two regiments of our clans�?T soldiers from the fleet; a unit of warriors and blunderbusses is all we will spare for the elves. Let them spill their blood for Ulthuan; we need to save our forces for our real goal. Meanwhile, we will bulk out our contingent with our slaves to make it seem as if we are truly committing to the cause. A regiment of wolf riders sent to serve Gorgoth by leave of the Khans will provide effective scouts, while a regiment of their warriors commanded by Flick will march beside us along will a pair of bolt throwers form the lower stores. Meanwhile some of the more useful Gnoblars from the boiler room will be herded out as fodder. I believe we can manage two minor regiments and still have enough to man the ships. Lastly, our most venerable Earthshaker cannon is being moved out of the hold. It will lay waste to the puny elves and their pitiful defenses!
Those foolish elves think they can manipulate us! We will take their secrets of magic and find a cure for our Curse of Stone…and leave the elves to kill and maim themselves as they like.
Oh it will be glorious indeed!