Peabody

Hey Mitzy - chuck that on Twitter and we can RT...

“Real life” game situation: I was playing my good friend John in his first AoS game in July. He has painted up a heavily converted Stormcast army and was testing it out. Turn 2, he dropped two units of paladins on Neferata while simultaneously walking his Lord Celestant into the fight from his deployment zone… Lightning cascaded around her as Neferata leaned back into her throne atop her abyssal terror, Nagadron. She looked across the battlefield to see her brother Mortarch, Mannfred, dealing with the mounted elements of this upstart, Stormcast force. How dare they enter the lands of the dead! As the smoke from Sigmar’s parlour tricks cleared, ten paladins stood in the open ground in front of her but her focus settled on the so-called Lord Celestant who had advanced behind them, under cover of the light show. How could a man call himself a Lord when he had to walk into battle! The ebb and flow of battle can be fickle and, with the intensity of the fighting focused elsewhere, Neferata took the opportunity to pick her fight ahead of the paladins closing in around her. Well used to being the hammer of the force, the men were surprised to see the Vampire Queen all but ignore them, running into their midst with her fell dagger pointed directly at their Lord. While the spirits around her held the paladins at bay, Neferata and her mount focused on the Lord Celestant, tearing him down before his retinue could move to protect him. The same lightning that had delivered the paladins to the fight seconds ago returned to the battlefield to reclaim their hero. The sadness of the paladins quickly turned to horror as the lightning skipped off the Sigmarite armour, unable to gain any purchase as they had seen so many times in the past. Instead, a rose coloured nimbus surrounded the Lord. Horror became fear as the broken corpse began to rise from the ground. His helmet had been lost in the melee and his skin had taken on an unnatural hue. As he stood the armour plates on his back cracked apart, two huge wings sprung out and shook themselves free of his cape, the skulls and chains attached to them rattling against his armour. He turned towards the vampiress with a haunted look; “What is your wish, Mistress?” Neferata sensed the fear pouring off the paladins that surrounded her and shrieked with laughter, “Arise, my vassal! My first order is to dispatch these peasants who impede my path!” The words were enough to snap the Stromcast out of their shock. Forgetting the threat of the Mortarch of Blood, they gritted their teeth and piled onto their former Lord, smashing him to the ground before he could fulfill his new Mistress’s instructions. Backing away from the fallen Vampire Lord, the paladins realised their mistake as Neferata crashed into their flank and, aided by her morghast guard, slaughtered them to a man. Her goals achieved, she allowed their spirits to return to the Celestial Realm. Sometime later, her words echoed through their minds as they coalesced through the reforging: “Consider this a brief respite from the Will of Nagash, all souls come to him in the end. Your denial of Him will only bring you suffering.” On the battlefield, the hammer at the center of the Stormcast force had been gutted and the Mortarchs made short work of the remaining forces. After tasking the skeleton minions to stop the screams of the mortally wounded, Neferata returned to her fallen hero. She dismounted Nagadron and pulled a golden cup from her saddle. After slicing her arm, she allowed some of her life blood to pour into the cup, lifted the head of the vampire and poured the contents of the cup down his throat. “What is your name, servant?” Neferata demanded. “Nathaniel Bl…” “I care nothing for your history and heritage, Nathaniel. I also have little need of your services but my reckless daughter has need of a skilled Hunter and you are my gift to her. My gift to you is this Chalice, each time you use it in battle, remember it is me that has sustained you. I will expect some service from you at a time of my choosing in the future. Now go.” If Nathaniel had any free will remaining, he might have wept as he flew over the lands of the dead towards his new Mistress but Nagash’s will conquers all hope and he was the spawn of Neferata, Mortarch of Blood. The only thoughts in his mind were of service.

I will be embarking on the fluff wagon soon. Should we post it in here or in separate hobby posts?