Tag: Asuryani

15/5-2022 – Eiyoltan arrives on Sepulchre

The Webway gate on the planet Sepulchre opened and Autarch Koryo Stormshadow stepped through, followed swiftly by alert Asuryani warriors of the Eiyoltan Craftworld.

”Greeting! It is good to see you back on your feet, Autarch,” Iiloran Mournsong, the Warp Spider Exarch said as he approached.

”The war with the ravagers of the Purple Pox cost us all a great deal,” Koryo replied to his friend. ”You became as sick and injured as I was. How are you healing?”

”As well as can be expected. The wraithbone grafts are necessary to halt the spread of the pox and they make us much more resilient, but they take time to adapt to. I feel like a newcomer to the Shrine again. Do you think we will find a cure for the pox in this accursed realm?”

”Yes, the survivors of the Eiyoltan Farseer Council have scried the future paths and seen that we will find an answer here. The Necrontyr is projecting a field of unnatural dread that affects even us and most of the troops are new recruits to cover for the losses from the Purple Pox invasion. But we need to survey and secure the indicated sites in these mon-keigh ruins. Take your positions and stay alert, I predict we will have company soon. And tell Warlock Daranael that we need a psychic beacon to alert the rest of our forces.”

The nervous Guardian Defenders took position on top of the tank in the central ruins, with good lines of sight of the opposite street and the Necron Immortals skulking there. The Rangers ghosted forward towards a vantage point in the ruins on the opposite flank, with Koryo Stormshadow and the Iiloran’s Warp Spiders in position to secure the ruins behind them. The Warlock Daranael led the Dire Avengers into cover in the centre. Opposite them, the Skorpekh Destroyers and the Technomancer hid in the ruins opposite the Dire Avengers, with the Necron Overlord and Immortals out on the flank opposite the Guardians.

The Necron Overlord and Skorpekh Destroyers moved forward under cover from the ruins as the Immortals fired on the Guardians. Daranael protected the Guardians by jinxing the Immortals’ weapons and only two Guardians fell. The Dire Avengers moved towards the ruins with the Guardians as the Warp Spiders secured the first site. The Rangers and Guardians fired on the Immortals and massed shuriken fire from the Dire Avengers cut apart the first Skorpekh Destroyer.

The Overlord kept advancing into cover in the ruins below the Guardians and the Destroyers retreated back to secure a site. The Immortals hit back hard against the Guardians, despite being jinxed again by Daranael, and the surviving unnerved Guardians fled.

The Dire Avengers tried to take their name literal and their matchless agility enabled them to traverse the ruins and target the Overlord. But despite their immense shrunken fire, they only managing to wound him and his living metal body regenerated. The Warp Spiders advanced on the right flank towards the Destroyers. The Ranger’s long rifles didn’t have any effect on the Skopekh Destroyers, but Koryo teleported closer and melted another construct to slag with his Dragon fusion gun.

The Overlord, Immortals and Technomancer shot and killed three of the Dire Avengers before the Overlord charged. But in order to have range to the Dire Avengers, the Technomancer and his bodyguard Crypthralls exposed themselves out of cover. Against the odds, two of the expertly trained and equipped Aspect Warriors survived the blows of the Overlord. The last Skorpekh Destroyer moved behind cover towards the Immortals and Koryo secured the site that had just been secured by the Skorpekh Destroyer. The Warp Spiders teleported into cover closer to the Technomancer. The Dire Avengers feigned a retreat from the regenerating Overlord and instead targeted the Crypthralls, killing one. Daranael and the Rangers also targeted the Technomancer, but their shots were intercepted by the last Crypthralls, who died protecting their master.

The Overlord chased after the Dire Avengers, and combined fire with the Technomancer to wipe them out. The Immortals targeted Daranael and took him out of action. Koryo used the distraction of the Dire Avengers and Daranael to teleport behind the last Skorpekh Destroyer and melt it with a well placed fusion blast. The Warp Spiders had also teleported into firing range and used their death spinners to destroy the Technomancer. However, the destruction of the mechanoid activated its resurrection protocols and brought him back from the brink of death.

The Overlord and Technomancer retreated out of sight behind the tank, as Koryo and the Warp Spiders advanced on the Immortals. Death spinners and long rifles did not manage to kill all of them, and a charging Koryo failed to take any more down. But the Overlord acknowledged that the Aeldari had the upper hand and teleported his troops away. The Asuryani had a close win, as the cost in Aeldari life was steep.

Koryo was surveying the surrounding area from the peak of a ruin, as Iiloran approached again.

”Daranael will recover, but I sense a growing anger within him after his injuries. The Guardians are even more unnerved after their casualties, but will recover physically,” Iiloran reported.

”Sad news for such great warriors,” Koryo replied. ”We shall keep an eye on them. But we learned a great deal about these new Necron types. I am glad we never had to face those three-legged machines in close combat, they looked utterly lethal. We will return to the Webway gate to await reinforcements and then investigate these anomalous readings the Rangers found ahead of us.”

21/6-2020 – Search for the damaged Overlord

Rurik Sureshot of the Frostwolves Nightstalker Infiltration Pack slowly moved his hand to the sight of his marksman bolt carbine. He had the Dire Avenger Exarch dead in his sight. But as the Aeldari Guardian Defenders were patrolling at street level below his sniper’s nest in the ruined tower, he would be unable to make a stealthy exit if he took the shot. His orders were to observe only, and he had been very surprised when Aeldari from the Eiyoltan Craftworld had appeared. He was expecting some Necrons coming back for their damaged constructs. It seemed there had been some kind of teleportation malfunction, as the Necrons normally teleported their dead and damaged away. This time, however, there were still a few damaged Necron constructs littered about the battlefield, where the Beaststalkers had defeated them a few days ago. The Nightstalkers had been ordered to remain and observe if the Necrons returned.

On cue, there was alarm among the Aeldari, and Rurik moved his scope to the other end of the street. A Kill Team of hulking Necron Immortals and Lychguard appeared, led by a Deathmark. The Dire Avenger Exarch and his three Dire Avengers swiftly scaled a ruin to get a better firing position, as the Guardian Defenders advanced down the barricaded street with the scatter laser weapon platform hovering before them.

The Exarch peppered the Deathmark with shuriken discs from his two avenger shuriken catapults, but the construct merely suffered minor damage before ducking out of sight behind the ruins. One of the Lychguard scaled the wall to the Dire Avengers and cut one in half with his warscythe. The Guardians shot down the other Lychguard, as he ran towards them, but they were soon pinned down by the return fire.

After most of the Guardians had been killed or lost their nerve, the Exarch signalled for a retreat and the last surviving Aeldari withdrew.

The Necrons did not pursue, and Rurik watched them dig around a few the piles of damaged bodies before the Deathmark triumphantly lifted the head of a Necron Overlord. It was the same head that the Farslayers had put a bolt through, and the damage was still evident. The Deathmark called the Immortals to his side and the larger Necrons dug up the rest of the Overlord’s damaged body. As the Necrons took their prize and departed, Rurik quietly voxed his pack leader.

’Jarek, I have their trail.’

1/1-2018 – The Stormshadow strikes

The Eiyoltan Craftworld had revoked its expansionist policy in the Virago sub-sector after multiple defeats and had withdrawn all of its forces back home. After the disgrace of his defeats on Rhoie, Autarch Koryo had spent the last years training and meditating in the Shrine of the Stormshadow, his old Warp Spider shrine. Contemplating surprise tactics and honing his mastery of the Warp Jump Generator, he gained new insights and perfected his flickerjump.

This new understanding proved instrumental in defence of the Craftworld, when the opening of the Great Rift enabled a Nurgle Daemon force attack. The invasion was led by the inventor of the Purple Pox, the Great Unclean One known as Poxvirid Purpur Variol. Koryo, once again leading the 4th Eiyoltan warhost as an Autarch, and the Warp Spiders of the Shrine of the Stormshadow executed precision attacks on the daemonic assailants. Koryo and four squads of Warp Spiders managed to banish Poxvirid, effectively ending the invasion. This victory redeemed Koryo in both Eiyoltan’s Autarch and Seer Councils. In recognition of his bravery and deeds during the invasion, he was renamed Koryo Stormshadow. However, the victory was bittersweet. Poxvirid had managed to infect Eiyoltan’s population with the Purple Pox. Humans infected with the Purple Pox slowly turn into Poxwalkers. The effect on Aeldari, however, was to weaken and rot their limbs. Eiyoltan responded by setting themselves in quarantine and focus all research on finding a cure. It was soon found that wraithbone slowed the spread of the disease. It swiftly became custom to graft plates of wraithbone directly into their skin. This was done as a preventive measure, to slow the spread of infections, or even replace lost limbs. The Daemon invasion and subsequent epidemic reminded the Aeldari of their mortality, steeling their will to live. This made the Eiyoltan Aeldari extremely durable in combat and its troops could even ignore otherwise fatal wounds.

While the majority of the ravaged Eiyoltan was rebuilding, Koryo was sent by the Seer Council to divert the Imperial Fists Successor Chapter Cartonian Dragoon forces to attack the daemonic forces of Poxvirid and his Death Guard allies.

Koryo Stormshadow and his warhost arrived back on Rhoie in the ruins of a city demolished by Chaos forces. Koryo’s long standing advisor Farseer Embarath Dreamweaver deployed on a raised platform with the Dark Reapers, overseeing the battlefield. True to form, the Space Marines reacted swiftly to the new threat. The Rhino, Dreadnought, and two Land Speeders advanced and killed the Rangers hiding in a centre ruin. The remaining Ranger squad sniped the Space Marine Lieutenant in retaliation. Farseer Embarath guided the Dark Reaper’s fire, killing half the combat squad shielding the Space Marine command officers.

The Land Speeders redeployed to secure a flank objective, while Koryo and the Warp Spiders advanced out of sight behind a ruin. The wounded Lieutenant was fully healed by the Apothecary. The Guardians hunkered down in the ruin around another objective, next to the Dire Avengers. Both remained there for the entire battle. The Fire Dragons deployed from a Webway portal to destroy the Land Speeders, doomed by Embarath. However, one severely damaged speeder remained after the attack. The guided Dark Reapers finished off the remaining combat squad in the ruins. The Rangers sniped the Lieutenant again.

A full Tactical squad disembarked from the Rhino and opened fire on the Howling Banshees in the ruins, killing all but two. The Space Marine Captain (resembling Vulkan He’stan of the Salamanders), Lieutenant, and Apothecary left the ruins and hid out of sight. The Lieutenant was again restored by the Apothecary. The damaged Land Speeder opened fire with heavy bolter and assault cannon on the Fire Dragons, killing half the squad. The Fire Dragons then executed a feigned retreat, falling back only to reverse and blast the Land Speeder to pieces. The Warp Spiders advanced around a building and killed three Tactical Marines. The Rangers switched target to the annoying Apothecary, wounding him. The Howling Banshees exited cover, damaged the Dreadnought with a lucky shot from a shuriken pistol, and then assaulted the remaining Tactical Marines together with Koryo. Unable to overwatch after being hit by the Banshees’ howl, four marines were cut down by the Aeldari Aspect Warriors.

The depleted Space Marines made a tactical retreat into the reversing Rhino, taking them out of grasp of Koryo and the Howling Banshees. The Dreadnought took their place, charging both Koryo and the Banshees. But the Dreadnought overestimated himself, as he failed to inflict any damage. In turn, Koryo’s mandiblaster wounded the ancient warrior and the Howling Banshee Exarch finished him with precision strikes from her executioner axe. The guided Dark Reapers almost destroyed the Rhino. The triumphant Howling Banshees assaulted a Tactical combat squad emerging from an objective in the rear ruins.

The Space Marine Captain charged and killed the Fire Dragon Exarch, claiming an important objective, but leaving him vulnerable to the Dark Reapers. The last three members of the Tactical squad disembarked from the Rhino, firing on, assaulting, and wounding Koryo. The Lieutenant charged the Howling Banshees and killed one, while the Banshee Exarch finished off the combat squad.

As a final act, the Warlock destroyed the Rhino with psychic power, the guided Dark Reapers annihilated the Captain, the Apothecary was liquified by a web of death spinner monofilament wires, Koryo cut down the last marines, and the Banshee Exarch beheaded the Lieutenant.

With these deaths, the Aeldari forces had total control of the battlefield. Now the final step of the plan begun. Koryo’s forces moved swiftly around the battlefield, covering their own tracks and planting evidence that the Death Guard were behind the attack. Satisfied, Koryo led his warhost back into the Webway, leaving a false trail for the imperials to find.

30/12-2003 – Inquisitor Seraph

Teaming up with the local Chaos cultists in Andeonium Hive, the self-proclaimed Omega Soldiers, an Alpha Legion force was tasked with the ambush of a reinforcing Blood Angel detachment from the East. The elite Blood Angel Terminators met stiff resistance from the Alpha Legion Commander Agamemnon, who defeated the Librarian in combat, before he was in turn defeated by a Dreadnought. The Blood Angel Chaplain led the Death Company on a rampage through the Chaos flank, and slaughtered their way through two Cultist units as well as the Raptors. Flamers of Tzeentch, summoned by the Cultists, seemed impervious to plasma, as they where bathed in the plasma cannon of the Dreadnought, but remained unharmed. At the end of the day, the Blood Angels were halted, but at the cost of the entire Alpha Legion force.

Meanwhile, two Death Cult Assassins tried to launch a pair of missiles into the Andeonium Hive. Their efforts were thwarted by Inquisitor Seraph, who suspected an attempt to launch or destroy the missiles and had thus stationed himself and his followers Mad Dog McGree and Argyle the Arco-flagellant. Simultaneously, an Aeldari Ranger and an Aeldari Pirate Princess arrived with a mission to destroy the missiles, who were targeting a hidden Webway gate unaware to the imperials. As the assassins neared the missile site, they came under fire from the Aeldari sniper, and had their priestly escort and his cyber mastiff sliced to pieces by the pirate. Enraged, one of the assassins charged the sniper, but was shot and killed before she could reach her target. The other assassin engaged in combat with the Arco-flagellant, but was crushed to a pulp after failing to dodge his decapitator. The victorious flagellant and the awakened Inquisitor then tried to dispatch the Aeldari, but failed as a malfunctioning melta bomb was placed on one of the missiles and blew the entire emplacement to pieces.

14/8-2002 – Abaddon and Eldrad

The Aeldari had not been content to merely play the role of spectators in the ensuing drama and had secretly brought a large army to Messen. As the Abaddon’s Chaos forces deployed on the planet, using an old imperial outpost, the Aeldari struck. Led by Eldrad Ulthran himself as well as several Phoenix Lords, a combined force from several Craftworlds made an attempt to drive the Chaos forces away. Ulthran had foreseen the possible destruction of Messen and the closest Craftworlds if Abaddon was allowed to continue unhindered. After a hard struggle the noble Aeldari were defeated at the hands of Abaddon himself.

With reinforcements still coming in from the Webway gate, Abaddon’s forces had established a secure beachhead on Messen. As the Iron Warriors deployed on the planet and began the construction of several forts to acts as strongpoints when the imperial troops would arrive.

2/6-2002 – Aeldari on Messen

The planet which the Blood Angel Scouts arrived upon was a giant volcanic jungle world, called Messen. It is located on the northern border of Segmentum Solar, in the vicinity to the Eye of Terror. The Imperium uses the planet to collect energy from the numerous thermal power plants established there during the Tagean Crusades. These supply power to the almost fully automated factories there to produce power cells used in various imperial energy weapons.

On the other side of the planet, a freshly recruited Dark Angel force was training. Their base of operations was one of the remote thermal plants. Suddenly, the training became real as a Drukhari force, led by Archaon Kael, appeared. After dispatching the guards, the Drukhari force easily ambushed and destroyed the arriving Dark Angels one squad at a time. The few that survived were taken as captives and set to work on rerouting the power plants energy output to power up an old deserted Webway gate. But the portal remained closed. The Haemonculi employed by the Cabal of Crimson Carnage stated that they needed more power for it to open and so Kael left him in charge as he took a contingent of troops to find another.

In the southern jungle he found what he was looking for, but as he approached it, he spotted another force making its way towards it as well. It was an Aeldari force from the Ulthwé Craftworld. Unknown to the Imperials, Messen was originally an Aeldari maiden world populated by Exodites. As long as the Imperials were content to gather energy from the thermal power plants and otherwise leaving the planet alone, the Exodites made no fuss. But as soon as the Drukhari presence was known, the strongest Exodite Lord, Isdale, had requested help from the nearest Craftworld. Eldrad Ulthran had consulted the runes and found that if Kael was not stopped, Ulthwé could be in danger. After a bloody battle, the Drukhari withdrew and the victorious Aeldari held the badly damaged power plant.