Sartosa 5: Scourge Of The Storm

(^ Click on the map for a bigger version)



The island of Sartosa is once more the centre of attention for more than just pirates and their victims. A massive Storm of Magic is brewing on the mainland and the unfortunate island is in the path of the maelstrom.

The Pirates Current has become destabilised and unpredictable, many great and terrible monsters have come ashore (and this time, not just the usual great and terrible sea monsters). The Cracked Bloodfane has started exhibiting alarming phenomena such as weeping blood and arcing red lightning.

To make matters worse The Tower of Nakh has materialised on Sartosa. All the wizards in the surrounding lands (and some from much further afield) have sensed its presence and are drawn to its power. Some have come with armies of their own; others are looking for an army to protect them whole on the island. The only problem is that the Tower of Nakh seems to be slightly detached from the material world. It has become "unstuck" by the Storm of Magic's influence on the powers within it and it occasionally "blinks" out of existence, then "blinks" back at a different location on the island. Many lesser wizards have started making a tidy profit selling predictions about where the tower will appear next!

Whenever the tower is located all the forces on the island converge on its location (the more powerful wizards often get their army to the correct location even before the tower appears; either through careful observation and measurement of Gellermetric pressure, reading the entrails of certain fish, pattern recognition torcs or any number of other occult means). Almost every time it materialises a battle must be fought between rival factions for control of the tower. It is rare that a single army will be on site when the Tower of Nakh shows up.

The Tower is always accompanied (in fact it is often preceded) by a halo of Arcane Fulcrums. Control of these Fulcrums is thought by those in the know to be the key to controlling the tower and its secrets. It has not yet been achieved but the senior prognosticators are convinced that if the web of Arcane Fulcrums can be controlled then the tower can be finally fixed in place and permanently controlled.

The time has come, once more, to muster your warbands and armies and take to the field in the hope of fortune and glory, or at very least avoiding ignoble defeat!

The Ogresuns - Weathering the Storm

Kommodore Deffgit awoke with a start from a terrible nightmare. He had dreamt of a dark future in which his beloved ship, the Ogresun, was taken over by a mutinous upstart. The cur had ruled the crew with a rod of iron, inflicted terrible punishments for the smallest of misdemeanors and neglected the ship’s paintwork shamefully.

He sat up, swung his legs out of his hammock, rubbed his one good eye and scratched his beard. He knew instinctively that something had to be done about the seditious dog. He also knew who the future mutineer would be: his name was Scurvy Mogg.

Deffgit blinked as he strolled out on deck into bright sunshine, as the Ogresun gentle rolled in the light swell of the South Tilean Sea in midsummer. He cast a cursory glance up at the sails and rigging, then around the deck. The Ogresuns were lounging around after having eaten breakfast but everything was as it should be – Dredger Zug and Barnacle Nog were excellent Mates and they knew their business when it came to the smooth running of the heavy ship.

Barnacle Nog ambled over to the Kommodore and knuckled his forehead in salute. Deffgit nodded back and Nog reported that, as expected, nothing was going on. Deffgit muttered something that Nog didn’t quite catch and wandered forward. The hands all acknowledged Deffgit as he walked past but none of them got up or even made any pretence at doing actual work, the Kommodore didn’t even notice.

He looked at a couple of knots at the prow, then pretended to examine one of the looted mortars in the forecastle the turned to Scurvy Mogg, as if he was picking a crew member at random.

“Whats y’name lad?” he asked.

“Um... They calls I Scurvy Mogg Boss, on account of my not liking lime juice in me grog.” said the decidedly shifty Mogg. Deffgit noted the shiftiness and it cemented his decision.

“What do y’suppose that is over there – that big swirly black cloud over Sartosa?” said the Kommodore, pointing towards the distant island.

“You mean the one with all the blue lightning an wot-not? I don’t rightly kn… urgh!” said Mog, but he was cut off mid sentence as Kommodore Deffgit pushed him overboard.

As the Kommodore watched the hammerhead sharks rip Scurvy Mogg to bloody shreds in the churning waters he briefly considered the unknowable repercussions that every decisions will have in the future, the interconnectedness of action and reaction. Then he thought about what to have for breakfast.

~ ~ ~

Welcome back to Sartosa! I got me eye on this thread.

'great introduction!! And very Mordheimly too!!

I look foreward to see who else will set sail to this campaign! Go fighting!

The Ogresuns - Weathering the Storm



The Cold North Wind
Kommodore Deffgit and the Ogresuns meet Forr Funder’amma's lieutenant Odin and the Black Orcs of Norsca

The pirates came ashore in the Bay of Wrecks by making Mattius Caboteur cast a Celestial Shield on the prow of the Ogresun, the scintillating blue field protected the ship from the craggy rocks and submerged eponymous wreckage that littered the cove. All the way in Caboteur constantly complained about the raging headache that sustained effort gave him, but the pirate Orcs did their best to ignore him.

~ ~ ~







As they headed inland they had to use their cutlasses to hack a path through the dense jungle undergrowth along the bank of a small river. Gigantic buzzing, biting, insects plagued them the whole morning and strange creatures could be half-seen creeping through the plants on either side.

Suddenly the air turned cold; there was a metallic clinking noise and a distinct smell of snow on the breeze. Kommodore Deffgit held up a hand as a signal to stop (a couple of Orcs at the back of the line shouted questions about why they were stopping) and told Salty Ogbad to go ahead with a small party along the river. Deffgit and the rest of the crew pushed through the trees towards the strange noise.



Just through the trees there was a low cliff with a clearing on top. In the clearing there was a small group of heavily armoured Norscan Black Orcs in cold-weather gear. Deffgit couldn’t see what they were doing but with their furs and heavy cloaks they seemed oddly out of place in the tropical jungle.

The Ogresuns charged!





The crew of the Ogresun out-numbered them three to one but the Black Orcs formed up into a tight line at the edge of the clearing, between dense tangles of vegetation. Only five pirates could get at the Black Orcs and none of the sea-dogs seemed to be able to land a blow on them that wasn’t deflected by their substantial plate armour.





Salty Ogbad’s flanking party arrived a little too late but slammed into the side of the Norse Orcs. One of the smaller Norscans went down under a rain of cutlass slashes, punches and kicks but by then three or four of the Ogresuns had already fallen. Wyrdtoof Hogbreff, the Pirate Shaman, was knocked on the head and Kommodore Deffgit was shoved back down the cliff by the Black Orc Boss – apparently known to his warband as Odin.





The pirates called it a day and fell back into the jungle.

~ ~ ~

HURRAY! PROPER PHOTOS OF REAL MINIS IN THEIR NATURAL SURROUNDINGS...killing each other. The artsy pictures are nice, if somewhat elfy, but for real action, especially of the Orcy sort, there's noting like some photos of the brawl.

The new Jungle Terrain looks GREAT with the addition of the Lads.

Thanks Alan! (by the way Zelophahad forgot to bring his new Norse Orc warband, so his Cave Orcs are standing in for Black Orcs! Next game they'll hopefully look a lot more Norse...)

It's a pity we are SO far apart...it would be a pleasure to contribute to The Cause.

Lovely looking report Saul! Good to see the ladz getting out of the towns a bit.

The Ogresuns - Weathering the Storm

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good…
The Ogresuns vs The Plague Covenant in a Wyrdstone Hunt near the Bay of Wrecks

“It’s here Kommodore” said Caboteur the Warlock “I can sense the presence of several pieces of Wyrdstone in this valley.” He looked pale and tired, dark shadows ringed his eyes and he was unshaven.



The Ogresuns had come to the brow of a hill and looked down into a jungle-covered valley. The pirates clustered under the wide leaves of a rubber plant and, even though they were already soaked to the skin, they tried to keep out of the rain as best they could. They soon fell to arguing about what sort of plant makes the best rain shelter: Some of them thought plants with a few big fat leaves would be better, while others thought that lots of small leave were more effective shelters.







Deffgit scratched his beard and adjusted his hat (but rain ran down his neck) while he observed the valley for a few minutes; it was an effort to ignore the pirates’ conversation while he tried to work out if the valley was free of any rival warbands.





Just as the Kommodore spotted the skittering forms of several Skaven rushing between the bushes, that dotted a clearing around an ancient Idol of Gork, two of the arguing pirates started fighting: Throg stuck his cutlass right through Fetch in a grisly manner.











The Skaven of The Plague Covenant rushed forward and grabbed the loot just before the pirates got to it. Several fights erupted as some of the Skaven tried to withdraw with the Wyrdstone while others ran forward to block the pirates’ way. Skabius, the bloated Skaven Plague Priest, charged into the fray with unusual aggression for his kind; with a powerful swing of his gnarled staff he smashed Fishgutz’ skull and the infamous Orc fell dead on the spot!











Caboteur cast his protective spell and moved closer to the Kommodore as he and the other officers rained crossbow bolts onto the advancing ratty horde. The Skaven who’d grabbed the Wyrdstone nearest to the pirates was hit and fell back off the rocky outcrop; a couple of others also went down beneath the pirates’ cutlasses. But for every Skaven that was killed an Orc pirate also fell, until Salty, Dredger and Deffgit all rushed into the fight; hoping t tip the balance in their favour and break through to the loot.







Deffgit’s boarding axe caught Skabius on the side of the head and sent him sprawling across the ground spewing blood and spitting teeth and Salty ran his cutlass through two ratmen in quick succession.

With their leader out of action the rest of the Skaven fled the valley – with the roaring pirates’ battlecries ringing in their ears, but the Wyrdstone shards safe in their paws.

Fetch joined the cheering crew just as the fight was over. When some of the others looked at him accusingly, in a “and where the hell were you?” kind of way, he just looked a bit sheepish, shrugged and pointed at Throg's cutlass that he was still impaled by!

~ ~ ~

Wow! I really like the new boards and the jungle terrain. Congratz on the win there WbK

Yo ho ho! Those orc lads look splendid! Thanks for the report

The Ogresuns - Weathering the Storm

Hail of Doom (…well, crossbow bolts actually!)
The Ogresuns shoot up the Black Orcs of Norsca

Deep in the jungles near the Volcanic Lake the pirate Orcs pushed their way into a rocky clearing. Ominous purple-tinted thunder clouds rumbled overhead and the air had an electric charge-feel to it.

A vicious-looking mermaid turned languidly in the waters inside a huge glass tank; she watched them for a few minutes but bared her teeth at them threateningly when they approached.

“Well, that weren’t there yesterday!” said the Kommodore. “She’s a rum looking beast.”

“You’ll see a lot odder over the next few weeks sir.” said Caboteur, “It’s what we call an Arcane Fulcrum…” He started to explain where they came from and how they formed but he quickly realised that the Kommodore wasn’t really listening. A few of the Ogresuns started discussing how many mermaids they had seen and where they were most common. When they began boasting about who had seen the most it started to become a little competitive and the argument became a more heated - several loud shouting matches started. Arguments among the pirates normally turned violent pretty quickly but for once they didn’t come to blows this time.

The Larboard Watch climbed up onto a leafy rock and took out their crossbows, readying them to cover the area should any threats appear; the Starboard Watch approached the tank and started collecting several of the small chunks of Wyrdstone crystal scattered over the ground around the glass tank – wild magic was condensing into its solid form much more readily since the Storm of Magic had come to Sartosa, especially in places like graveyards, around standing stones and near Arcane Fulcrums, such as this.

Before the Starboard Watch had managed to grab more than one of the larger pieces of Wyrdstone the Larboard Watch shouted a warning: “Look out Boss! Enemy ahoy!”

The hulking forms of four Norse Black Orcs appeared out of the bushes – clearly they were intent on collecting the same Wyrdstone shards of the Ogresuns.

“Odin’s lot again! Shoot’em!” shouted Deffgit.













Odin's saga

zelophahad wrote:

Igor's helmet rattled as he shook his head to clear it. "Wot hit me?" he asked, "a spear chukka?!"

Odin was pretty sure it had actually been one of the Ogresuns' crossbow bolts, but that wasn't what great sagas were made of so he went with Igor's suggestion. "So it seems soldier," he growled, "nothing else wud've flattened one of uz black orcs wiv one shot."

Igor and the others seemed emboldened by Odin's interpretation of events. But more importantly, they'd managed to grab a large chunk of Wyrdstone crystal before the hoard of greenskin pirates could overrun them. Now it was time for Odin to replace his stolen war gear...

Da Kronicles of Adm'rul Kurgan Grimjaw: Book 11



Winds of Change
The Ironfang Pirate Fleet take on the combined might of Forr Funda'amma’s Norse Black Orcs and the Lost Waaagh... and a Mammoth!

~ ~ ~











Cuttlefish. Thousands and thousands of them: great stinking, slippery piles of them all over the place. They had been falling out of the sky for the best part of a week before the full force of the Storm of Magic hit Sartosa and they were getting… ripe. They died within a few minutes of raining down and they were rotting in the summer heat. The pirates of Sartosa had seen stranger things in their time but it still wasn’t what you’d call ‘normal’.

So when four Arcane Fulcrums emerged from the jungle, arcing with the power of the winds of magic howling round them that even those without witchsight could sense, no-one was really surprised. The nearest armies had already gathered in the clearing around them, ready to take control of the supernatural forces they harnessed.











"Mammoth ahoy!" squeaked the little Goblin Shaman called Fung, from his position atop the Arcane Fulcrum; The Tower of Torture. The ground shook as the great beast lumbered through the trees and burst into the clearing.





The colossal creature charged the Gloomwyrms (who were guarding the Tower of Torture) along-side a large unit of Savages. They wiped out the Cathayan Pirates and the Mammoth overran into Grapeshot the Giant. The tattooed titan head-butted it and stopped its rampage.



Then he Fumped it with his club and very nearly killed the brute. Unfortunately the gigantic wooly thing then trampled Grapeshot into the dirt but this enabled two Looted Kannon ("counts as" Spear Chukkas) to fire on it: with a deafening roar and anger and pain the monster was finally killed.











The Halibuteers were flank-charged by Forr Funda'amma ("counts as" Grimgor) and his Black Orc Immortulz as six Stone Trolls smashed into their front. The Fishmen didn't stand a chance: The Immortulz also dealt with Broadside the pirate Giant in a few swift chops of their two-handed choppas.















The Rotmoons were transported by the Hand of Gork to behind the Lost Waaagh's lines, threatening the rear of a huge mob of Lizud Riding Savage Orcs. The riders swiftly turned tail and ploughed into the Estalian Pirates, accompanied by a mob of Savage infantry who burst out of an Abyssal Wood into the Estalians' flank. Kapitán Da Leeva, El Doctoro the Shaman and Dragante the Orc Boss were the only survivors after the Rotmoons fled through rocky terrain and a Venomous Thicket in their haste to escape!





The Lost Waaagh summoned an Idol of Gork right next to the Mermaid Emporium Arcane Fulcrum - this became a pivotal factor for the whole battle as it made the Lost Waaagh much more fighty when they were near it!





The rusty old cutlass, that Adm’rul Kurgan had lugged around for years, sparked into life: it was a mythical Dawnsword! In a few moments the Adm'rul slaughtered half a unit of Black Orcs! But Forr ended that fun with a challenge - his huge hammer struck the old pirate down with a sound like thunder... and with that the Hogwashas were broken and run down.





The pirate river Trolls mucked about in the middle of the battlefield for the longest time, they managed to think for themselves and tried to charge the Lost Waaagh's Stone Trolls but they somehow thought walking would be better than running, so got blasted by Savage Waaagh! magic. By the time the three Stone Trolls charged them there was only one River Troll left...



UggUgg, one of the Savage Orc Shaman's, miscast from a Fulcrum (the Leaning Lighthouse); he reduced his own magic powers to zero and transposed the Leaning Lighthouse with the Tower of Torture!





Wu, a Shaman of the Flying Daggers, instead of waiting in reserve behind the Tower of Torture then found himself able to engage UggUgg in a Wizard's Duel for the Lighthouse - he knocked the savage off and took his place! Suddenly the Ironfang Pirates had Dominance!











UggUgg the Shaman summoned a Bretonnian Damsel but over-cooked it and exploded himself, the newly arrived, and somewhat confused, Damsel and the other Savage Shaman who had been fighting alongside the Mammoth!





The Cleavermaws charged Forr's Black Orcs and had the Little Waaagh! Dominance spell (The Great Green Spite) cast on them by the Flying Dagger Shaman Fa on the Mermaid Emporium, so they auto-hit and wiped out Forr Funda'amma and his Immortulz.

The fighting ended with the Flying Daggers in control of three Arcane Fulcrums and the Lost Waaagh in control of one, so even though the pirates had been ground into the dirt across the field they still managed to win the battle!

Great report WbK! Using the Lighthouse and the Prison tower for fulcrums was a great idea.

Von Kurst wrote:

Great report WbK! Using the Lighthouse and the Prison tower for fulcrums was a great idea.

Thanks VK! It was really a struggle to find three of our buildings that would work as Fulcrums. I'm building two more and Zelophahad is working on at least two. Until they are done we have to make do!!

Luckily anything can be a fulcrum in theory - you could be living in one and not know until a Storm of magic hits!