Fluffy stuff for battle report found here:
http://www.druchii.net/viewtopic.php?t=70328
The lines of thousands of elven troops had been drawn, more than was expected to muster in fact. Lines of crossbow wielding elves sat calmly to the right flank, checking their weapons for the hundreth time and loading their repeaters while other younger soldiers ran back and forth on errands. Some carried ammo, other messages back between the officers, some watched in silence as the Asur troops did the same hundreds of metres away.
A rumbling roar echoed now and again and flashes from the jungle confirmed the approach of the hydra to the battle lines. Luck would have it, a hydra had been found roaming the Lustrian jungle two days before the battle, true it was a young member of it's kind but it was strong and still controllable. Fate would have it that a number of the Druchii troops used to be employed as beastmasters, however despite this the creature was greatly sedated and magically cotrolled as many of the soldiers had died trying to tie the beast down.
The only thing they could do with it now was let it loose at the enemy and deal with it later, if it survived.
Amaranth watched from the confines of his tent, his newest ally Karliah had not shown her face on the field yet. Her deformed daomonic half demon half elf creatures were the only other things making a noise in his army. Haunting chants and the occasional scream of sacrificial slaves crying out and the sharping of wicked blades were all that could be heard. Like before every battle, the wizard's troops remained silent and did their duties to the letter.
His Shadow Guard, the equvilent of Malakith's Black Guard stood already at the location he had pointed for the start of the battle. Both armies had camped within bowshot, and the night before had been a bloody mess of back and forth with his scout riders and other troops.
The Asur had sent a number of eagles that night, probably hoping to destroy the cauldron he had discovered. His riders had ambushed three of them, killing them.
He had discovered the cauldron in the Lustrian Temple here, he had stolen a number of logs that pointed to this temple. A few hundred years ago, some Witch Elves had defected and headed here to set up a base of operations, hidden by the jungle they had taken years to find. But Amaranth was persistant, he wanted to ger his hands on one of their cauldrons but had never dreamed the Witch Elves would still be here after all this time.
They had been here for so long, and bred amoungst themselves and thier few soldiers that were loyal to them. Now they were little more than deformed savages that would very rarely see others of their kind or anyone else for that matter, at first they were hostile and it had been bloody for his troops. But they quickly saw a sorceror led his soldiers, and this intrigued them as they knew Malakith hadnt finnally sent this army to kill them.
After some debate, they agreed to join his ranks and all his prisoners and raiding parties would give them a generous share of the slaves. Happy for any slaves what so ever, they now also readied for war, though yet they were no where to be seen, just heard.
Soon enough two groups of them came wandering from the temple, the larger group consisting of perhaps two hundred elves clad in dark clothes and some wielding bloody weapons. The smaller group of about fourty carried the cauldron, which was also deformed to match thier style. Bright blue fires and sparks jumped from the boiling blood inside and the energy seeped all around over his soldiers.
Amaranth just hoped Khaine still favoured them.....
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Silver clad elves marched forward in the sunlight, the jungle clearing that they stood in had been the site of a battle with his Druchii against the lizard creatures only a week before. His soldiers had barely time to recover when the Asur appeared, without the Witch elves they would have been heavily outnumbered.
The heat was almost unbearable, but the enemy didnt seem to notice. It wasnt long before it started, a crash deep in the jungle followed by screaming and the clash of blades told him his dark riders had engaged the enemy somewhere, he left them to their own devices, he was sure they could protect themselves well enough, or at least he thought so.
A screech from high above saw a number of eagles dive towards the riders on his left flank, they quickly turned and began a retreat back to the main force. The eagles quickly gave up pursuit as a line of elves with crossbows aimed their way, awaiting them to come within range.
The dark riders quickly reformed their group and moved off again, they were well trained and knew where they were going, heading into the jungle, Amaranth wasnt far behind on foot.
Near to him, the slaves from the Asur he had captured long ago stood with their hands bound, but clad in Druchii armor. If he needed more power in this battle he could easily sacrifice them, but he had them clad in case he needed to make a distraction of some kind and the thought of the Asur when they realised they were killing their own people please him.
Branches and vines parted and a large group of swordmasters appeared, he felt the presence of another mage but knew he would have the power. Attempting to cast some useless energy at the main force, the enemy mage focussed his power on throwing the harmless magic aside. Quickly, the sorceror summoned a bolt of swirling black energy and launched it at the swordmasters. The enemy mage's powers slowed and dispersed the power, but it split into a shower of razpr sharp metallic rocks which rained down upon the swordmasters. Some of the ranks parted for a second as few of the comrades fell, moments later bolts pierced their armor and a few more fell, but it was less than could be hoped for.
The enemy wizard summoned up some kind of shield upon the swordmasters and Amaranth saw crossbow bolts hit flesh and bounce off for a second, throwing all his power at the protective spell the energies faltered for a second, holding on a little before collapsing and falling apart.
A large force crashed through the treeline, they were still a good hundred metres away and not an immdiete threat, but Amaranth wasnt taking any chances. He pulled a small amount of power towards himself through the void and then drew his dagger, thrusting it into a Druchii dressed slave, he felt his hold on the magic increase as their soul provided him with more power.
Hands outstretched, a great black stream of light propelled from his hands and struck the axe wielding elves. A shimmer of energy appeared, deflecting most of the great darkness. Amaranth quickly made a dagger stroke at a second slave and they fell, bleeding as their neck split from the thin dagger. The sacrifice's skin paled and he fell with a thud, the light coloured skin swiftly becoming grey and flayed.
The stream of dark light breached the magic protecing the large force, but it had been serious effort. Sweat was pouring from his head and he hadnt even noticed. The spell hit home and elves fell, but it was still few, perhaps five or six from the hundreds that marched forward, he would have to cast his magic elsewhere or he would lose this quickly.
He knew from experience, that amount of magical defensive power was not easy to come by and it would only cover a small amount of the enemy troops. His enemy was smart, protecting his elite troops from the Druchii magic.
Bolts were continously raining down upon the swordmasters, but the dark elf archers were few and their bolts did little to diminsh the enemy numbers.
Reaching out, the sorceror felt through the void with his mind, attaching himself mentally to as many of the swordmasters as he could. For a moment nothing happened, then there was a rush of panicked words from the Asur swordmasters as a number of warriors simply heeled over twitching. A white light left their body and was absorbed into Amaranth's own, followed by more and more. High Elves fell and green light surrounded them as their own mage tried to hold onto the souls of the warriors. For some it was too late and despite his efforts, they did not rise again, though some elves did.
From the trees sprang the light cavalry, making a bar between the wizard and the horde of white lions, those which he had not seen approaching while his concentration was on the swordmasters. The dark riders made a thin line, slowly the advance of the infantry as they peppered them with bolts from horseback.
On the left flank, the great horde of common levy warriors of the high elves began their advance, slowly they marched towards the unarmoured witch elves. Eagles soured above the craized elves, waiting to pounce upon them when the spears grew closer.
The riders on the right barely slowed the advance of the white lions, who pushed past them with little effort and carried on towards Amaranth, they were determined to reach him it seemed.
A howl erupted from the jungle and a small group of around twenty witch elves leapy from the trees at a sprint, crashing into the flank of the white lions, surprised only a few warriors turned thinking they could take them easily. With seemingly supernatural speed the charging elves evaded and weaved around the slow blows of the axes of the white lions, felling them easily. The insane half daomonic elves' surprise faltered the advance for some time, the great mass of troops turned to face them, but despite their small numbers and lack of armour something was watching over them as they held the white lions.
On the left, the hydra crashed into the waiting civilian unit and Amaranth's grin mealted away as their weapons shone with blue fire. Standing firm the spears impaled the hydra with a wall of spears, it crushed a number of elves as it fell on them, not complelety dead but gravely wounded from the fiery spears. The eagles had attempted to hold the witch elves......and it had worked. The spear elves stepped over the dying Hydra, slaughtering the beastmasters. They calmly walked into the flank of the witch elves, who were unphased and began a bloody whirlwind of blades and their ranks dispersed as they threw themselves onto the spears. Against anyone else, the spears would have caused a panic but the witch elves relentlessly charged over the wall of spears and shields, very few dying from the flaming blades. However Amaranth saw why the Hydra had failed so badly, not just because of the flaming spears being its main weakness, but witch elf blades were falling harmlessly on elven flesh again and again. Some kind of spell was protecting the spear elves, hundreds of warriors were invincible and easily holding them.
Amaranth stepped away from the slaves, leaving them tied there he slipped into the edge of the forest for cover and the Shadow Guard, fifty of his best warriors followed his lead to aid the Witch Elves who were now tearing apart a screeching eagle who was unaffected by the spell.
In an attempt to even the odds, Amaranth focussed on the spear unit, he felt the magic of the spell weaken, but only slightly. It was enough for the moment. A few spear elves fell, no longer under the influance of the spell were cut to pieces and the witch elves seemed to attack with even more ferosity.
As Amaranth knelt, focussing his magical power on the spear unit a cry rang out from the slaves. Glancing at them, he saw that two had broken free and proceeded to release the others, they had overpowered the two guards and were now heading towards the woods at a sprint. The crossbow elves raised their crossbows and released a hail of bolts at them, some fell but the trees provided cover for them.
The wizard rose his hand and shook his head, dissapointed, the crossbow armed elves returned to the battle and let the slaves hide in the woods. They were mainly unarmed and little of a threat to the overall outcome of the battle.
A shudder shook the earth and a scream that pierced the air caused even the Shadow Guard to falter in their pacing towards the enemy lines. The cauldron of blood, an altar to khaine himself and deformed beyond imagination was shaking violently and purple and red energy seeping out of it. In one final flash magical energy surged out and struck the Shadow Guard.
Amaranth knew some of the rituals of the witch elves, even in their corruption little had changed. This particular blessing was only given by khaine to the most worthy warriors of the battle, the Shadow Guard marched forward with newfound spirit, for they knew it to....
Khaine was with them.
The line of elite warriors clashed into the spear armed High Elves and despite the wall of spikes, the Shadow Guard twisted and dodged, their blessing from the altar guiding their minds away from the blows of the enemy, however the spell was still active and their blows struck open flesh only to shatter blades and bend halberds.
Amaranth pulled from his robes his orb, grasping it tightly a whirlwind of fire engulthed him and he leapt up to the mark. Wielding his sword he joined the fight, alongside his bodyguard he struck and weaved, his body tempoarily morphing into smoke as a spear struck where his neck would have been. The wizard struck back, striking an exposed arm but his blade buckled and broke, the blade flying off into the midst of the fight somewhere.
Two warriors broke through towards the mage, one was quickly set upon by shadow guard but the second ignored the blows struck upon him and lashed out with his spear. Amaranth melted away and teleported to the side of the enemy elf, grasping his throat he pushed him to the ground.
"Your skin may be as hard as dragonhide, but your soul is not,"
The Asur's eyes bulged as a white light left him, Amaranth absorbing his soul he let go of the lifeless corpse. Three Shadow guard stepped to defend their genearl as he closed his eyes and summoned forth his powers of darkness, he heard the swish of a blade cutting the air and a clang next to his face told him a blow had been parried close to his skull.
Elves started to scream all around him as their souls were ripped from their bodies. Countless of their numbers fell and as they did, witch elves moved in to fill the gaps and push back the enemy before they could understand what was going on.
When the wizard finished his spell, he opened his eyes to a new threat. Spear Elves were standing up again after suffering mortal wounds, the few that didnt still have tough flesh. And of course those without a soul still lay still, unmoviing in their death stance, many of them still, their mouths uttering one final silent scream.
The healing powers grew, and Amaranth let go of all his power. Just as he expected the enemy mage believed Amaranth's power was expended and focussed all his power on healing his soldiers, but it was a risk Amaranth was willing to take. Quickly, he forced all of his power upon the spell protecting the spear elves from harm. Unable to focuss all his power on two spells, the spell giving the elves stone like flesh snapped and broke, its weaving on the winds torn apart and scattering.
"The spell is gone!" Amaranth bellowed above the fighting.
Sure enough spear elves now began to fall faster than the magic healing them, witch elves dodged and darted in their dance with supernatural speed, though some fell, they slit throats and thrust their daggers and other assorted weapons into the weak points of the Asur warriors.
Shadow guard faired no less, their halberds and swords cut flesh and armour easily now. Their captin, spun and twisted, his great magical halberd severing flesh and cutting elves clean in two now killed them by the dozen as they bravely tried to hold on for some support, but even as the swordmasters approached they knew they couldnt hold. One by one, they started to fall back, when Amaranth spotted their battle standard bearer, not an ordinary warrior, but an elf of great skill.
Their standard bearer stood alone, surrounded by countless slain Shadow Guard and witch elves. Upon a mound of bodies he fought, twisting and flowing and well perfected art of war. His blade felling anything that came within a few metres of him. The lone elf for a moment looked back at the spears as they retreated, knowing his doom was sealed as the Shadow Guard surrounded him and closed in.
He ducked and severed the legs of a shadow guard easily, a second fell to a backhanded strike leaving the headless corpse to fall to the floor. Sheer numbers alone were enough though, faced by more than twenty shadow guard, they dragged him to the ground, halberds thrusting into his flesh from all directions, yet he made no death scream. His blade apeared in the throat of a shadow guard as a final stand and that warrior fell clutching the wound, but the blade was ripped from the Asur's grasp and he finally went down, cut to pieces to ensure no healing would ever bring him back.
Standing by his champion's side, Amaranth and the shadow guard observed in awe as the witch elves surrounded and dragged as many spear elves to the ground as they could, to keep for their own sadistic pleasures. Standing across the field were the swordmasters, silent and wary they simply turned and began to march away, not betting on their chances against the remaining soldiers. They like the spear elves has fewer numbers and they had witnessed the strength of the combined forces of shadow guard and witch elves.
The white lions had overrun the main forces, but the cauldron blocked their path between them and an easy charge from them. They too turned and headed back to their main lines.
At the last instant, Amaranth saw the Asur slaves running towards their lines, yet they were still in Druchii armour, most of them bound at the hands with no way of cutting them. As they approached they were hit with a hail of arrows from the high elf archers, who then drew their swords and charged at their own kind, unaware they were about to murder them.
One last look at the cauldron saw Karliah, the death had dragging a screaming slave to the altar, clearly agitated that her blades had not shed blood in this battle she savagly hacked at the slave's limbs as they struggled to escape, but it was no good.
All that mattered was one thing......Amaranth knew now that Khaine still blessed him and his army......and that kind of power would be the demise of his foes....
The blessing of Khaine
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