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Morathi had ever thirsted for more power, and with her efforts in the frozen north of Naggaroth being consistently stymied of late, she cast her gaze further from home.
Her interests were piqued in the realm of jungles and lizards after hearing reports from the Corsair lords about sacred blood rites the local lizard population conducted. perhaps these blood soaked lands held untapped dark power from which she could further he plans.
After making the circuitous route down to Lustria, avoiding the gaze of her son, the Crone and Asuryani lords and princes, she eventually made landfall. However this land was all but unknown to her people, she had never taken an interest in the swampy, insect infested lands during her time as an Ulthuan elite, when the Citadel of Dusk was an important location to her people, and since her arrival in Naggaroth she had completely disregarded it. So now she had to find her way to its secrets. Spending several days scrying and reading the ebbs and flows of magic of this new land, she eventually led her forces inland following what the Lizardmen call the Geomantic Web. Coming to a confluence of lines she split her forces, sending Supreme Sorceress Seboresh Cinderhand further west.
Seboresh blundered through the jungles for several more days before coming to a clearing containing several ruined buildings of dark stone. Her travels had not gone un-noticed however and she found cobalt coloured lizards standing stoic and silent within the central shrine. As the dark elves grew excited to finally whet their blades on the denizens of this horrible land, the jungles on the opposite side of the clearing started the shake and rumble.
The Supreme Sorceress could almost taste the blood in the air. Centuries of sacred blood rituals had been enacted on this spot as the heathen lizards begged for signs from their ancient gods. As they burst into the clearing the darkshards let loose their crossbows on the lizardmen in the shrine while Seboresh threw both a doombolt and chillwind at them. However the executioners couldn't contain themselves any longer and charged headlong into the shrine's defenders. After the saurus had stood so still and silent during the dark elves' advance and initial ranged assault, the elves were lulled into complacency, expecting easy kills. The fighting around the shrine was bloody and brutal, with many dying on both sides, however in the end the bloodlust of the executioners drove the saurus from the building. Seeing their spawning bretheren emerge from the jungle, the saurus rallied and charged back into the building desperate to win back their sacred altar. Again the fighting was bloody, this time the saurus had aetheric protection gifted from the recently arrived Slaan. This proved the turning point and the saurus beat back the executioners.
Meanwhile, out in front of the shrine the Black Guard and Cauldron advanced down the plaza towards the saurus and Ancient Stegadon, while the knights spurred their own cold blooded steeds into the Carnosaur. After embedding their lances within the hide of the apex predator, severely wounding it, the lizards both attacked back with a vengeance tearing the knights apart. As the mighty carnosaur finished off its work the Black Guard engaged the saurus, with the stegadon lending support and the Cold One Cavalry charging into the rear. Driven into a frenzy by the chanting witch elves, the Drukhari caused grievous wounds on the saurus and and cavalry finally finishing off those, however the final black guard fell under the trampling feet of the Stegadon, its crew throwing javelins at the witch elves and death hag upon the cauldron.
Finally, after consistently losing member from the rear ranks to the poison darts of the skinks, the dreadspears charge into the building in one last hope of securing the temple. The temple guard stood around their lord as the Slaan tried to stop the great flow of dark magic spilling from Seboresh. The Word of Pain dropped two temple guard, allowing an opening for the spears to almost reach the Slann. However the ferocity of the Temple Guard was too much and the dreadspears broke.
With the day lost, Seboresh ordered the retreat. She would still take this place, but not today.
This was a fun game. I feel like in the last few games we've recaptured the fun of Fantasy again. I think this might be because its a little more relatable. The scale of 40k is perhaps too big. In Fantasy we know the map, and the locations. This isn't a battle on some 1-in-a-billion planet. It's deep in the heart of Lustria, a place that matters and has reference. It's easy to come up with why these forces are here, what they want, and what could come next.
In the aftermath I'm finding it hard to come up with a really interesting background and theme for my Lizardmen, and perhaps that's ok. They might just work really well as aggressive defenders of their homes and sacred sites.
Also, it was really fun to watch the shrine change hands multiple times, and even though there were some tough fights outside and around it, it was still focused on winning that shrine.
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