Count Osiric of Altdorf - Battle beyond the grave
Lähetetty: Ti 01.06.2004 16:53
The hordes of Chaos had attacked Kislev and the lands of the Empire were in turmoil. One man rose from the land to answers Sigmar’s call. This man was Magnus of Nuln and with him gathered a huge army of regular people, professional soldiers and noble’s with their own house guards. Amongst these nobles was Count Osiric from Altdorf. The Count had never been known for his valour or courage. He was considered more of a man that loved good food, fine wines and beautiful women. Going to war was not what the people of Altdorf expected from him. But few nights before Magnus came to Altdorf to raise the town to his cause, Count Osiric had a vision, where Sigmar himself appeared to him. “ I need you my son. The fate of the world depends on you to make the difference. If you sign with Magnus, then the rest of the nobles can not stay out of the battle. Show them your true colours and ride with Magnus. In the end you shall receive your reward.“ After this event Count Osiric was a changed man. Gone was the easygoing young noble, who enjoyed life and it’s pleasures. In his stead the man riding next to Magnus was a man with strong religious streak. Several times a time he would stop and pray to Sigmar give him strength to resist the taint of Chaos sweeping over the land. Count Osiric has before been a forgiving man, but now he demanded much from his soldiers and from himself.
The huge army marched slowly from Altdorf to the north. During the long march recruits were trained and outriders sent to determine where the Chaos horde was moving and whether bands of roving beastmen were near. Count Osiric was always the first to volunteer for the beastmen patrols and his men collected the most kills then any other patrol. Unlike most commanders Count Osiric chose not to fight with a group of knights like most others, instead he fought with the 29th Altdorf Regulars. He inspired the spear wielding commoners to an almost fanatical belief in themselves and in their commander. Not one man in the unit ran from the foe unless given the order to fall back. They were harder then any metal from a dwarves forge.
Magnus marched north as Praag was being sacked and burned by the Chaos horde. News of this event did not reach Magnus and he send most of his cavalry in advance to Praag to help against the siege that the Chaos horde had erected. Magnus was pushing his army forth and it was his plan that they re-stock in Kislev before pushing towards Praag. New recruits joining the column during the march had pushed the supply line to it’s limits and food had to be rationed severely.
Magnus and Count Osiric reached Kislev only to discover that it was under siege by the Chaos horde. News about the size of the invading army had been wrong. The horde was even bigger then the wildest rumours had indicated. The Empire army deployed to attack the besieging force. The idea was to be the hammer that would strike at the anvil, that the fortified town of Kislev would became. Any invader in between would be annihilated. Magnus could not lose here. If his army was destroyed then all hope would be lost as there was no second army in the Empire. Magnus had emptied the land of any man able to lift a sword or shoot a bow. Defeat here would mean the end of Sigmarite Empire. Chant for Chaos would be heard in the land, if good could not prevail here.
Huge formations of men moved into position and under covering bombardment from cannons and other warmachines they marched towards the enemy. Several thousand arrows were fired into the Chaos horde, but they would appear to have no effect. For every man that fell there were two to take his place. The barbarians from the north had marched south in great numbers to follow the Chaos warlords. Howling daemons charged the Empire army but they were cut down by cannon balls and stones from the great siege engines that the bretonnian allies had brought. Then it was time for the Empire soldiers to charge. They ran towards their arch-enemy and the battle was truly started. Count Osiric fought in the middle next to Magnus and his bodyguards.
The battle reached that pivotal moment when the whole battle hangs in balance and in the next moments, it would be decided, which leader would be victorious. At this moment the cavalry that Magnus had send to Praag came from the north. They charged the Chaos horde with fury, that rose from what they had seen in Praag. They knew what awaited the lands of the Empire should they fail to stop this enemy. While the Chaos horde was attacked the commanders of both armies met in the field and a duel started between Magnus and Asavar Kul, the Chaos warlord. Both men were blessed by their own god and fought with great skill and strength, but Asavar Kul was from a tribe of warriors. He was the leader of men who learned to fight even before they learned to walk and he had Magnus almost defeated when Asavar Kul hit him in the shoulder with his sword. When Asavar Kul lifted his blade to finish Magnus Count Osiric sunk his sword in the back of the Chaos warlord. He fell on his knees and Magnus rose to behead Asavar Kul. No Empire commoner had seen the backstabbing from Count Osiric. Magnus quickly said his thank you and asked if Count Osiric could keep the information to himself as it would boost morale if the news was that Magnus defeated the Chaos warlord on his own. Count Osiric promised for the good of the Empire.
After the duel the morale of the Chaos horde broke and warriors of Chaos began to retreat to the north. Even if the troops that had marched with Magnus endlessly to get to Kislev were tired and had seen enough blood and death to last a lifetime, but they could not give up and had to kill as many invaders as they could. Less that made it back to north, the more time it would take before another horde would come south.
When the Chaos forces began to retreat back to the Chaos Waste Magnus wanted someone to chase them and give them more speed on their retreat. Count Osiric volunteered for the job. He left his heavy artillery behind and took only his house troops. Count Osiric gave chase to many small bands of Chaos warriors. He killed several chaos warriors himself and his men took revenge upon the enemy, that had attacked their homelands. After they had fought minor skirmishes for couple of weeks they met a bigger warband, that was the Tribe of Bear, Asavar Kuls tribe. These were no rabble, but Chaos elite.
Count Osiric deployed his troops and attacked the heretics. Battle was fierce with both sides unrelentingly fighting to the last man out of revenge and hunger for blood. The battle lasted until nightfall and in the end it was just Count Osiric and the leading Chaos champion, who were still fighting. Other were dead or dying, as neither force would give any ground or mercy. With a cry to Sigmar Count Osiric attacked with fresh fury and managed to behead his opponent. During his moment of triumph he failed to see that while his sword was hitting his enemy in the neck, his opponent’s sword was sliding into Count Osiric’s belly.
Count Osiric could not believe it. He had both won and lost. His men were all killed and he was the only one alive in the battle field and even he was dying. Had Sigmar fooled him? He had been promised his reward in the end and now he was dying. But a stranger rode to him. This newcomer was clad in ancient armour. He took off his helmet as he dismounted and Count Osiric could see that he was very pale and he had long fangs. Horror struck Count Osiric as he recognised the stranger as a vampire. He tried to reach for his sword but did not have the strength to pick it up. “ You fought well and now you will die, unless you join me with your army.” The stranger stood next to Osiric, who was spitting blood from his lips. “ Never, I will join Sigmar. You curse upon mankind!” “Ah, to be young and have such wild ideas. Well, you will join me whether you like it or not. I can use you as a thrall. You’re most able” After the stranger had said this he made a small cut on his arm and let blood flow from the wound to Osiric’s mouth. Before Count Osiric could spit it out, the stranger took hold of him and his grip was iron. Count Osiric swallowed the blood. After this the stranger bit Count Osiric to his neck and drank his blood until he died.
During next night Count Osiric rose from his shallow grave, that the stranger had dug. When he rose he saw that his whole army was waiting for him. The stranger was on his horse and said “ We shall leave this place and go find worthy opponents to fight. We have a world to conquer!” The master vampire told Count Osiric that he was the former Duke of Brenhoff Castle. The last Duke had been alive and fought with Sigmar himself, but had fallen when he was leading his men into a mountain stronghold of orcs. Or so history had remembered the tale but the reality was riding next to Count Osiric. “ I think I will let you show your worth by letting you sack the village of Grenwold. “ “ Never! That is a village of the Empire. I will not fight against my countrymen. I’d rather die.” “ You foolish thrall, you already died and you will do as I command. You can not resist orders from the one that made you.” Count Osiric soon found out that the Duke was telling the truth. Duke’s commands were followed to the letter. Of course there were loopholes in the orders. If the Duke ordered the village to be burned, the village would burn, but the people were spared, if that was possible. If the villagers were told to be killed, then the village was not harmed in any way and Count Osiric used mostly zombies to kill the villagers so that most could flee as zombies are slow and unable to perform even the easiest task. It became a game between the master and the thrall, since the Duke was truly evil and wanted to slay the living. While Count Osiric had the need to drink blood he chose to drink from thieves and highwaymen, that he could find in the forests. If he was forced to kill innocent humans he would drink their blood, but he would not kill innocents for blood or if not ordered to.
Count Osiric’s master led the army around the Old World doing evil things in every corner of the Old World, but they met their match when they entered the northern mountains and met dwarves from the Clan Rannoch. Duke of Brenhoff wanted the dwarf gold and gems for himself. After few minor skirmishes the two armies met when the dwarves laid a clever trap for the Duke, who took the bait without thinking. The dwarves had come from their hold with a caravan, what seemed like it carried riches, but in reality it carried dwarf warriors. They had hidden in the huge chests, that were normally used to carry gold and other valuables. The Duke ordered the army to advance and when they got near of the caravan the hidden warriors came out of the chests. At the same time a huge army of dwarves came over the nearby ridge and marched towards the undead. It looked like they were trapped and would be destroyed, because the Duke was not a leader of men or a great military expert, but luckily for the undeads a cannon ball struck him in the head and he was the first casualty of the battle. Count Osiric quickly took control of the army and planned a tactic to get them from the dwarven trap. Count Osiric charged the dwarven artillery and massed shooters. The undead took terrible casualties, but their advance could not be stopped. Enough troops had come through to break out of the trap. Dwarves were glad to get rid of the undead host in their mountains and did not pursuit them beyond their own borders. During the next night Count Osiric crept into the battlefield and raised his army again. He could not leave the loyal men behind. Then he took his army to safety from the mountains, for he had to think. Had Sigmar betrayed him? He had been promised his reward in the end, but he had gone beyond death already. Maybe this was Sigmar’s plan to give him more strength to challenge the lords of Chaos. Maybe he should lead his army to the Chaos Waste and attack Chaos on it’s own ground. Who was he a mere mortal, well now a mere immortal to guess the plans of a god?
Count Osiric decided to lead his army to a safe location, where he could leave them and then he would go to the nearest town to get news of the world and rumours on the movements of Chaos. He would continue on his old path and hunt Chaos warbands. He went to the northern town of Kislev, where he had fought so many years earlier. There Count Osiric spend few weeks in different taverns and inns to gather rumours and stories about Chaos. From these stories he could gather that a new force had risen in the north. A former knight of Sigmar had turned from the true god and was now rising in the ranks of Chaos. His name was Archaon, the wind itself would whisper his name in the north. He was the favored of the Chaos gods. He was also the man that Count Osiric was going to kill. This must have been the reason Sigmar had send the evil Duke to make a vampire out of Count Osiric. The evil he had been forced to commit and witness had been a test from Sigmar and meant to harden him to face the latest warlord of Chaos.
Count Osiric followed rumours about the movements of Archaon, while he looked for the Chaos artefacts, but Archaon was moving with great speed and in areas of the world, where Count Osiric had never been. Also slowing down Count Osiric were the Chaoshunters of the Empire. They mistook Count Osiric for an enemy and tried to banish him and he was forced to kill them. The fools were aiding Chaos with their actions, but undead armies were regarded in many regions as a threat. The actions of the Duke and his kind had given a evil stigma on vampires. Still Count Osiric hunted for Archaon fighting other Chaos warbands and beastmen during the hunt and never reaching Archaon’s host.
Then the wind started whispering that Archaon had been crowned and he was to lead his army south. Count Osiric had been looking for him in the south of the Empire, where Archaon was said to be, but clearly the information that Count Osiric had been using was false. Now it is time to hunt the Uniter down and get the reward Sigmar promised so many years before. Count Osiric marches north and tries to move around the other armies moving towards Middenheim. Any fights now would play into Archaon’s hand . Count Osiric had killed Chaos scum two hundred years before this upstart had been born and Count Osiric would not fail in the holy quest that Sigmar had set for him.
The huge army marched slowly from Altdorf to the north. During the long march recruits were trained and outriders sent to determine where the Chaos horde was moving and whether bands of roving beastmen were near. Count Osiric was always the first to volunteer for the beastmen patrols and his men collected the most kills then any other patrol. Unlike most commanders Count Osiric chose not to fight with a group of knights like most others, instead he fought with the 29th Altdorf Regulars. He inspired the spear wielding commoners to an almost fanatical belief in themselves and in their commander. Not one man in the unit ran from the foe unless given the order to fall back. They were harder then any metal from a dwarves forge.
Magnus marched north as Praag was being sacked and burned by the Chaos horde. News of this event did not reach Magnus and he send most of his cavalry in advance to Praag to help against the siege that the Chaos horde had erected. Magnus was pushing his army forth and it was his plan that they re-stock in Kislev before pushing towards Praag. New recruits joining the column during the march had pushed the supply line to it’s limits and food had to be rationed severely.
Magnus and Count Osiric reached Kislev only to discover that it was under siege by the Chaos horde. News about the size of the invading army had been wrong. The horde was even bigger then the wildest rumours had indicated. The Empire army deployed to attack the besieging force. The idea was to be the hammer that would strike at the anvil, that the fortified town of Kislev would became. Any invader in between would be annihilated. Magnus could not lose here. If his army was destroyed then all hope would be lost as there was no second army in the Empire. Magnus had emptied the land of any man able to lift a sword or shoot a bow. Defeat here would mean the end of Sigmarite Empire. Chant for Chaos would be heard in the land, if good could not prevail here.
Huge formations of men moved into position and under covering bombardment from cannons and other warmachines they marched towards the enemy. Several thousand arrows were fired into the Chaos horde, but they would appear to have no effect. For every man that fell there were two to take his place. The barbarians from the north had marched south in great numbers to follow the Chaos warlords. Howling daemons charged the Empire army but they were cut down by cannon balls and stones from the great siege engines that the bretonnian allies had brought. Then it was time for the Empire soldiers to charge. They ran towards their arch-enemy and the battle was truly started. Count Osiric fought in the middle next to Magnus and his bodyguards.
The battle reached that pivotal moment when the whole battle hangs in balance and in the next moments, it would be decided, which leader would be victorious. At this moment the cavalry that Magnus had send to Praag came from the north. They charged the Chaos horde with fury, that rose from what they had seen in Praag. They knew what awaited the lands of the Empire should they fail to stop this enemy. While the Chaos horde was attacked the commanders of both armies met in the field and a duel started between Magnus and Asavar Kul, the Chaos warlord. Both men were blessed by their own god and fought with great skill and strength, but Asavar Kul was from a tribe of warriors. He was the leader of men who learned to fight even before they learned to walk and he had Magnus almost defeated when Asavar Kul hit him in the shoulder with his sword. When Asavar Kul lifted his blade to finish Magnus Count Osiric sunk his sword in the back of the Chaos warlord. He fell on his knees and Magnus rose to behead Asavar Kul. No Empire commoner had seen the backstabbing from Count Osiric. Magnus quickly said his thank you and asked if Count Osiric could keep the information to himself as it would boost morale if the news was that Magnus defeated the Chaos warlord on his own. Count Osiric promised for the good of the Empire.
After the duel the morale of the Chaos horde broke and warriors of Chaos began to retreat to the north. Even if the troops that had marched with Magnus endlessly to get to Kislev were tired and had seen enough blood and death to last a lifetime, but they could not give up and had to kill as many invaders as they could. Less that made it back to north, the more time it would take before another horde would come south.
When the Chaos forces began to retreat back to the Chaos Waste Magnus wanted someone to chase them and give them more speed on their retreat. Count Osiric volunteered for the job. He left his heavy artillery behind and took only his house troops. Count Osiric gave chase to many small bands of Chaos warriors. He killed several chaos warriors himself and his men took revenge upon the enemy, that had attacked their homelands. After they had fought minor skirmishes for couple of weeks they met a bigger warband, that was the Tribe of Bear, Asavar Kuls tribe. These were no rabble, but Chaos elite.
Count Osiric deployed his troops and attacked the heretics. Battle was fierce with both sides unrelentingly fighting to the last man out of revenge and hunger for blood. The battle lasted until nightfall and in the end it was just Count Osiric and the leading Chaos champion, who were still fighting. Other were dead or dying, as neither force would give any ground or mercy. With a cry to Sigmar Count Osiric attacked with fresh fury and managed to behead his opponent. During his moment of triumph he failed to see that while his sword was hitting his enemy in the neck, his opponent’s sword was sliding into Count Osiric’s belly.
Count Osiric could not believe it. He had both won and lost. His men were all killed and he was the only one alive in the battle field and even he was dying. Had Sigmar fooled him? He had been promised his reward in the end and now he was dying. But a stranger rode to him. This newcomer was clad in ancient armour. He took off his helmet as he dismounted and Count Osiric could see that he was very pale and he had long fangs. Horror struck Count Osiric as he recognised the stranger as a vampire. He tried to reach for his sword but did not have the strength to pick it up. “ You fought well and now you will die, unless you join me with your army.” The stranger stood next to Osiric, who was spitting blood from his lips. “ Never, I will join Sigmar. You curse upon mankind!” “Ah, to be young and have such wild ideas. Well, you will join me whether you like it or not. I can use you as a thrall. You’re most able” After the stranger had said this he made a small cut on his arm and let blood flow from the wound to Osiric’s mouth. Before Count Osiric could spit it out, the stranger took hold of him and his grip was iron. Count Osiric swallowed the blood. After this the stranger bit Count Osiric to his neck and drank his blood until he died.
During next night Count Osiric rose from his shallow grave, that the stranger had dug. When he rose he saw that his whole army was waiting for him. The stranger was on his horse and said “ We shall leave this place and go find worthy opponents to fight. We have a world to conquer!” The master vampire told Count Osiric that he was the former Duke of Brenhoff Castle. The last Duke had been alive and fought with Sigmar himself, but had fallen when he was leading his men into a mountain stronghold of orcs. Or so history had remembered the tale but the reality was riding next to Count Osiric. “ I think I will let you show your worth by letting you sack the village of Grenwold. “ “ Never! That is a village of the Empire. I will not fight against my countrymen. I’d rather die.” “ You foolish thrall, you already died and you will do as I command. You can not resist orders from the one that made you.” Count Osiric soon found out that the Duke was telling the truth. Duke’s commands were followed to the letter. Of course there were loopholes in the orders. If the Duke ordered the village to be burned, the village would burn, but the people were spared, if that was possible. If the villagers were told to be killed, then the village was not harmed in any way and Count Osiric used mostly zombies to kill the villagers so that most could flee as zombies are slow and unable to perform even the easiest task. It became a game between the master and the thrall, since the Duke was truly evil and wanted to slay the living. While Count Osiric had the need to drink blood he chose to drink from thieves and highwaymen, that he could find in the forests. If he was forced to kill innocent humans he would drink their blood, but he would not kill innocents for blood or if not ordered to.
Count Osiric’s master led the army around the Old World doing evil things in every corner of the Old World, but they met their match when they entered the northern mountains and met dwarves from the Clan Rannoch. Duke of Brenhoff wanted the dwarf gold and gems for himself. After few minor skirmishes the two armies met when the dwarves laid a clever trap for the Duke, who took the bait without thinking. The dwarves had come from their hold with a caravan, what seemed like it carried riches, but in reality it carried dwarf warriors. They had hidden in the huge chests, that were normally used to carry gold and other valuables. The Duke ordered the army to advance and when they got near of the caravan the hidden warriors came out of the chests. At the same time a huge army of dwarves came over the nearby ridge and marched towards the undead. It looked like they were trapped and would be destroyed, because the Duke was not a leader of men or a great military expert, but luckily for the undeads a cannon ball struck him in the head and he was the first casualty of the battle. Count Osiric quickly took control of the army and planned a tactic to get them from the dwarven trap. Count Osiric charged the dwarven artillery and massed shooters. The undead took terrible casualties, but their advance could not be stopped. Enough troops had come through to break out of the trap. Dwarves were glad to get rid of the undead host in their mountains and did not pursuit them beyond their own borders. During the next night Count Osiric crept into the battlefield and raised his army again. He could not leave the loyal men behind. Then he took his army to safety from the mountains, for he had to think. Had Sigmar betrayed him? He had been promised his reward in the end, but he had gone beyond death already. Maybe this was Sigmar’s plan to give him more strength to challenge the lords of Chaos. Maybe he should lead his army to the Chaos Waste and attack Chaos on it’s own ground. Who was he a mere mortal, well now a mere immortal to guess the plans of a god?
Count Osiric decided to lead his army to a safe location, where he could leave them and then he would go to the nearest town to get news of the world and rumours on the movements of Chaos. He would continue on his old path and hunt Chaos warbands. He went to the northern town of Kislev, where he had fought so many years earlier. There Count Osiric spend few weeks in different taverns and inns to gather rumours and stories about Chaos. From these stories he could gather that a new force had risen in the north. A former knight of Sigmar had turned from the true god and was now rising in the ranks of Chaos. His name was Archaon, the wind itself would whisper his name in the north. He was the favored of the Chaos gods. He was also the man that Count Osiric was going to kill. This must have been the reason Sigmar had send the evil Duke to make a vampire out of Count Osiric. The evil he had been forced to commit and witness had been a test from Sigmar and meant to harden him to face the latest warlord of Chaos.
Count Osiric followed rumours about the movements of Archaon, while he looked for the Chaos artefacts, but Archaon was moving with great speed and in areas of the world, where Count Osiric had never been. Also slowing down Count Osiric were the Chaoshunters of the Empire. They mistook Count Osiric for an enemy and tried to banish him and he was forced to kill them. The fools were aiding Chaos with their actions, but undead armies were regarded in many regions as a threat. The actions of the Duke and his kind had given a evil stigma on vampires. Still Count Osiric hunted for Archaon fighting other Chaos warbands and beastmen during the hunt and never reaching Archaon’s host.
Then the wind started whispering that Archaon had been crowned and he was to lead his army south. Count Osiric had been looking for him in the south of the Empire, where Archaon was said to be, but clearly the information that Count Osiric had been using was false. Now it is time to hunt the Uniter down and get the reward Sigmar promised so many years before. Count Osiric marches north and tries to move around the other armies moving towards Middenheim. Any fights now would play into Archaon’s hand . Count Osiric had killed Chaos scum two hundred years before this upstart had been born and Count Osiric would not fail in the holy quest that Sigmar had set for him.
