The Goretide

The Red Moon Rises part 2

Hjorvard woke. At least he felt like he'd just woken, but it was still dark? No, his eyes weren't open. He tried to open them, they wouldn't open. "Gods! I'm blind!" he thought. No, there's just something keeping them shut, he moved his arm to rub his eyes, and winced at the pain, oh it was sore, the wince caused more pain to shoot through his body. Everything hurt! As he moved his skin pulled and tugged, hairs tore out as something coating it cracked and clung and came apart as he moved. 
As he took off his helm and rubbed off the sticky crustiness caking his eyes shut he began to take in his situation. 

He was slumped against the wall of a cliff with a big rocky overhang blotting out the sun overhead. The ground was cold earth, and he appeared to be covered in a crusty substance that he realized must be dried blood, absolutely caked in it! 
Everything hurt! He was sore from head to toe with fatigue and exertion. He'd only just woken, but had he ever felt this exhausted before? 
On the plus side, apart from a lot of bruising, a few shallow cuts, and extreme ache in all his muscles, he did seem to be intact. There was a dent full of rock dust in his new helm and the back of his head was a little tender, but the helm seemed to have done its job, and was otherwise intact and still wearable. 
Oh! his legs hurt, and they wouldn't move. there was something pinning them down, he reached down and used the arrows sticking out of it to move the heavy body of the big hairy beastman aside, the source of the blood caking him, and squeeked as the returning circulation caused a 'pins and needles' sharp tingling sensation up and down his legs.
As his eyes grew accustomed to the gloom he could make out more shapes in the dark area under the overhang. There were robed bodies everywhere. skinny gangly limbs poked out from under the robes, one was face up he looked into lifeless beady eyes, sharp teeth, pointy ears... goblins! 
a sudden cold sensation of fear of the unknown trickled down his spine, and he looked for a weapon. one of his knives was under the beastman's chest, the other was nowhere to be seen but there was a heavy, brutal looking, crude axe nearby, so he took that. Feeling more secure, and a lot braver now that he was armed, he got, painfully, to his feet and began to investigate. It was time to find out where the Goretide had left him.

Through the gloom he could make out more corpses...lots of grots and the occasional other, thankfully no one he recognized, it had been a massacre!
He vaguely remembered Father Torpal trying to drum home an important point about grot encampments in some of their navigation classes, but the dull throbbing from the blow to his head was making it difficult to recall any details.

The camp was inside some kind of hap-hazard fence he guessed was a crude goblin attempt at a palisade wall. the tents looked to be some kind of hide, as he closed on the nearest one he noticed the unusual texture and realized it was the skin from a huge mushroom, adorned with trinkets, presumably of value...
Treasure Goblins!!! Hjorvard almost shouted out in excitement as he remembered. That must be it, the point Father Torpal had been making, goblin camps were famous for Treasure Goblins, they were in all his favourite heroic legends of the Tallowlands. A magically enhanced goblin who carried all the tribe's wealth and plunder, and if you could find its horde, or catch the treasure goblin its self you were rich!! Rich! Treasure! Magic items! the fabled stuff of heroes, this was clearly his destiny unfolding. He began excitedly searching the tents and stalking shadows, looking for signs of movement and anything that looked like a stash of treasure. 

He was moving some grubby blankets aside to look behind them when something moved! it shrieked as he looked at it then raced out of the tent entrance. it was  quick! he gave chase and made a grab for it, it jinked left dodging his hand, but he still had the blanket in the other and flung it as he dove in the direction the creature was going. 
it was definitely under the blanket, he could see it wriggling for the top edge, and he moved his arm to trap it. when it realized it was trapped it stopped moving. he gathered himself. got ready, flung the blanket aside and grabbed the creature underneath. 
the little blighter bit him on the thumb. he recoiled then grabbed it tight. 
"A Ha!" he exclaimed. "now lets see your treasures!" 
it squeaked, gasped... he realized he was squeezing very tight, too tight. ashamed he relaxed his grip so it wasn't crushing but was still too secure for the creature to struggle free. it was a small green humanoid creature with big ears and a huge nose. It looked at him forlornly, sobbed, and he realized it had wet its self. its big eyes had weren't full of menace, it didn't look very bright at all. where was its treasure? come to think of it this wasn't much bigger than a cat, it couldn't carry much treasure. bits of lessons returned through the murk of his memories, "you're a snotling aren't you?" he said. there wasnt a glimmer of understanding from the creature, it just continued to look forlorn. "well, on your own you are hardly a threat." he set it down and released it, it stood quaking for a moment, then realized it wasn't going to be eaten, and scarpered.   

He continued to look through the camp for something useful, and possibly a treasure goblin.

All he found was a box of dangerous looking mushrooms and a small silver sickle.  
he sat down on a rock, his head was clearing, memories of the lesson were coming back...

...it was sunny, the class was outside under the old tree. 
"...and what do we know about the Tallowland Grot...?" said Father Torpal. 
" treasure goblins!" blurted Hjorvard. 
the class laughed, he felt his cheeks redden. 
"that's just a fairy tale for children Hjorvard," Father Torpal tutted, "I honestly thought you were past that!" he shook his head. the mocking laughter increased,
Hjorvard wished the ground would swallow him up, some of his classmates were half his age!
"...but every fairy tale has a grain of truth in it somewhere." Father Torpal winked 
"I'll try again, if you'll let me finish..." he glanced at Hjorvard who hung his head. 
"What do we know about the Tallowland Grots, in reference to post goretide navigation?"
"they Follow the moon?" said someeon Hjorvard didn't see
"good!" said Father Torpal "many grot tribes throughout the realms are moon clan's, their religions believe they gain their power from a big bad moon. so they follow the moon hoping it will lead them to power and glory."
"which Moon?" Tova asked
"care to elabortate?" invited father Torpal
"which moon," she repeated"we have so many in the Tallowlands, there's, the Lady Lisu, Rorolorach, the Wyrdmoon, the Emerald beacon, Naethe's torch..."
"...And here we have the problem." interrupted Father Torpal. "some realms have just one moon, so the positioning of a moon clan grot encampment can be a useful navigation tool, if you are familiar with your almanac and know which phase of which season  you are in. but unfortuantely, in the tallowlands we had so many moons and they follow such a variety of bizarre paths that it it nigh on impossible to know which one, if any, the particular grot clan you have encountered was following. Indeed, some of the most zealous, or possibly daftest, moon clans chase them all! night after night they race back and forth, zigging and zagging across the Tallowlands, and sometimes spiralling if there are several moons waxing in conjunction. 
So, what we know about the Tallowland Grots in reference to post Goretide navigation and attainment of bearings is... that they are utterly useless!"

As the memory of the lesson finished playing back in his mind Hjorvard sighed and slumped despondently, alone on his rock.  

  

   

The Religions and Deities of the Tallowlands

Introduction

The Tallowlands is very poorly connected to the other realms and is often overlooked having limited value or resources by by the main alliance forces be they benevolent or evil.

As a result or perhaps for other reasons, a pantheon of gods, religions and deities have sprung up bearing little resemblance to their original patrons but in many cases either transparently or with more obscure connections.

Some exceptions remain. Sigmar and Alarielle (some aelves have long memories) are recognised and worshipped but on the whole many connections are tenuous. Although that may be the case this does produce some oddities, like some cults which cannot quite be given a label of order or chaos because they seems to act in different ways in different circumstances given their connection to a deity they believe does not fully parcel itself into one alliance or another.

The below is a list of deities with some sort of worship in the Tallowlands. There are sometimes many cults and groups and temples which follow a single one of these some of which bicker or fight even with each other. There are too many to list here.

Examples include the Watcher of the Ninefold Pact which pay homage to or believe they control Jethelech and the Celestial Pact which claim to worship Fyrek

Currently Known Deities

Sigmar - the God King

Artha – god of the high places.

Dairayon – god of wind and storms.

Vishkene – god of magic.

Mortaine – god of the dead. The Crypt Haunter. Some see Mortaine as a facet or connected in some way to Nagash.

Khând – a god from across the ocean.

Rorralarach – god of rage and war. Is there a connection to Khorne here?

Myrakos – beast-god of the wilderness. There are Orruk tribes who claim to worship Myrakos, some people think their tribe has a speech impediment.

Tidh – the Swift Hunter. God of the plains.

Hain’Amur – the Great Defender. Steward of Heaven’s Keep. The Armoured God. The Stormcasts of Heavens Keep do not see anything wrong with this homage, do they worship two gods or believe him to be a facet of Sigmar?

Jethelech – god of trickery and scheming. Definitely no connection to Tzeentch here. Shut up I said definitely not.  The number of letters in the name is a coincidence.

Arengee – god of luck and master of games, cursed and blessed in equal measure. Causer of lighter and less corrupt mischief than Jethelech

Ystara – god of mariners and fishermen.

Mithrest – god of merchants and traders.

Fyrek – the Astral Voyager. Benefactor of astronomers.

Caer-Nadhg – god of the woods. The Oaken Man. A summer god.

Alarielle – as above but for eleves and half elves. Facets of the same god.

Lystan – god of justice and fairness.

Shala - god of fertility and harvest

Shalu - twin god of Shala, god of decay, disease and rebirth. Some speculate a connection to Nurgle.

Naethe – the Shroud of Night and least trusted of the moons of the Tallowlans. God of veiled intentions. Sometimes called Mother night.

Ilù – god of the sun. Brother of Lisù. Some Lizardmen tribes venerate. Sometimes called Morning Lord.

Lisù – god of the one of the Tallowlands briughter moons. Sister of Ilù.

Gnos - god of secrets, including secret pleasures but also according to some hidden altruism.

Eyes of the Five?

Eyes of the Nine and AOS

And so wearily Nathaniel began his journey North.  Although the council never implicated him for anything wrong they had their suspicions and he couldn't risk continuing to base his now hampered operations in Alba Mesa.  And so he trekked North, past the Tolerance of Crows and into Chrysalis, the haven in the Charred Lands that he would make.  He was soon joined by his band of misfits and the retained services of a Gaunt Summoner.  

Binding those small ones was beneath him, he would leave it to the Summoner, he needed all of his focus on his big project and on carefully assembled contracts and bindings with the clever ones.

I really like the idea of a Tzeentch force in AOS, it appeals to my sense of efficiency as the PCRC tend to vary in enthusiasm between 40k and everything else so I reckon this significantly increases the probability of playing my army in whatever system they are excited by.

Eyes of the Nine* increases that efficiency further as it will play in AOS Tzeentch and Warhammer Underworld (Shadespire) which means my one army now covers three different systems.

*Are 4/5 of them missing?

The Watchers of the Ninefold Pact

The Watchers of the Ninefold Pact

Within the South Eastern Borders of the charred lands is a region called Chrysalis.  In this region is many things that normal regions contain, towns, castles, wildlife and some day to day life.  None of it should be there though because this region is in the Charred Lands.

At the magical center of this region is a tower, whose exact location seems to change from time to time.  This glimmering tower and its surrounding land appear as a beautiful place surrounded by a verdant garden and a town.  It is the home of the watchers of the Nine fold pact*, a sect of Jethelech whose followers truly believe that they are draining him of power.  Their goal is to push back and reclaim the charred lands from the taint of death.

Is Chrysalis easy to access?  Some who seek to find it never do despite its location on the border.  Others, perhaps by intent, find it easily, almost accidently as it is possible to get to it somehow without seemingly crossing the Tolerance of Crows.  It is said to be a beautiful and seductive place and even a reasonable place to do business.

The Watchers are led by the enigmatic Nathaniel Hultz, a man who rejected the shackles and strictures of the governing wizards of Alba Mesa and some say from the celestial council itself.  A man who believes himself to be the saviour of the Charred Lands.  A man for whom the ends justify the means.

If you are unlucky enough to go looking for trouble here you might run into Shanduko, a Lord of Change who appears in many forms (battle form below).  He fights only as a last resort, he will first give you an offer that you cannot refuse.  Shankduko seems to be bound to Hultz although it is not known whether this is by force or through a deal.

*Rumour has it that the Sigmarian cult of the Celestial pact is somehow linked to them although no evidence has emerged that was not circumstantial.

Alternate Tallowlands Maps

Alternate Tallowlands Maps

I have really been enjoying playing around with the mapping software the PCRC used to create the Tallowlands and I thought I would have a go at creating a few alternate Tallowlands maps.  Specifically a political map and an Underland map.  We do not want to exclude our skaven and goblin players (and anyone else who uses the underland) after all!

Inkarnate remains pretty easy to use although by using at such a high scale we are pushing it a bit.  I decided therefore to do the underland map in a bit more of a stylish rather than realistic mode.  As with everything it exists as a first draft. hopefully members of the PCRC will amend it or get me to amend it over time as we develop the Tallowlands further and we have our battles and roleplaying adventures.

Drawing the political map illustrated to me how big and empty the Tallowlands was at the moment.  I cant decide if that's a good thing or if it would be good to fill it up a bit more over time

Underworld Map

Political Map

Map Making -The Tallowlands

Map Making -The Tallowlands

I will get straight to the point.

The PCRC wanted to make a cool map of the Tallowlands.  As none of us are professional digital artists we went looking for a map tool and we think we found a good one:

https://inkarnate.com/

They have a big presence on social media where lots of really nice looking maps get shown off

There are a fair number of decent training videos and reviews on Inkarnate.  Here is one if you are just getting started:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww2TtTrvuLk

The official tutorials are here:

https://inkarnate.com/updates/

I found it easy to use although we have a long way to go before we produce anything really nice looking.

In the meantime I will continue using it for Tallowlands work and I am sure it will get more interesting over time as we expand the content of our area of the realms.

We have built the map up from this:

into this:

The Adventures of Nathaniel Hultz: Part IX

The Ends Justify the Means

The battle had not gone well. To see a force of chaos this large so far South of the Charred Lands was unexpected - they may be here for a purpose.  Were we their purpose?  Or had we been opportunistically attacked?

The 'Emperor Karl Franz'*, the Cosmic Smite was badly damaged, lying on its side, on top of one of its mechanical horses.  The Lord of Change that had attacked them lay dead, finally dismembered by Holgars axe, Holgar, injured lying close by.  The rest of the battle continued to rage with the sounds of the copper cavalry clashing with distant horrors in and among the smoke of battle.

I had just finished despatching one of the bird mutants that had somehow got onto the carriage when suddenly from out of the smoke came another Lord of Change and I realised that I had run out of options.  It changed direction and came towards us, staff raised it started casting a spell.  I had about 30 seconds to turn the tide of battle.  Time for Plan B, a plan I had never intended on using.

I wiped the blood off my hands and then I wrenched globes off of the 'Cosmic Smite' until there were 9 left and then I stood in the middle, pulled out my tattered copy of the Doctrines of the Purple Hand' and said those 9 unholy words which caused the greater daemon to freeze.  I then uttered the 9 commanding words in the common tongue: 'Stop.  Go home, stay there until I summon you'.  The Jethelech Daemon melted away and I could feel the tide of battle turning, I was fizzing with blue and purple magic.

'What have you done...'.  coughed Holgar, spitting up blood.

Oh no, Holgar was conscious, he had seen it.  What was I to do?  'Holgar, old friend, I had no choice, please forgive me'.  '

'You always have a choice Nathaniel'.  Holgar coughed again. 'A noble death is better than this, remember whose side you are on'.

'I am truly sorry Holgar'

'If you are sorry then you will confess to the council as soon as we get back, there may be a way back'

'I can control it Holgar, I saved us, doesn't that matter?'

'Give me the book Nathaniel'

It was then that I made my fateful decision.  It wasn't meant to be this way, I was a force for good and giving this up now would not help anyone. It would not help my people or the Tallowlands.

'Give me the book Nathaniel'

I picked up one of the dismembered talons from the dead Lord of change and walked over to Holgar, I pulled him close to me and I wept as I plunged the talon into the wound in Holgars back, cradling him as he died, a look of shock and terror on his face.  I knew that his principles would trump our friendship and it could be no other way.  I would have to deal with the guilt later.

When the others arrived I explained what had happened.  Holgar had valiantly given his life and killed the Lord of Change, turning the tide of battle, Holgar would be a hero, celebrated in song.

That night and the next 8 nights I dreamed of nothing but the laughter and cackling of daemons.  The others would never know of the sacrifices I had to make to keep them safe but my plan would proceed unabated.  There was a way of cleansing at least a part of the Charred Lands and I would be its master.

*Some people mistakenly call this a Hurricanum but what do they know, Sigmar told us what it was called centuries ago and we definitely accurately recorded what he said.

Profile: The Unslumbering

For over three hundred years the folk of south-western Rhô have told legends of a lizard-warrior who stalks the land ceaselessly, never sleeping, searching for something hidden or lost in ages past. Some claim that it has appeared suddenly to aid them against bandit attacks on journeys through remote places. Others swear that it can be seen skulking around unremarkable hillside caves and inland gorges.

Records show that these stories began at the same time that a lizard-noble from a distant land arrived in Rhô. Its purpose was never revealed, but it carried many titles and honorifics - Watcher of the Sun and Moon, Star-sentinel and Unslumbering One to name but a few. When - or even if - it ever left Rhô is unknown.

To those in its homeland, it is known as Sleepless Insi'atl.

Regions of the Dar'Koath Highlands: Wō

Situated in the central Highlands, between the lands of the Connaghi and the Jarlings, Wō is a small, densely-wooded and unpopulated region. Deep in the heart of this place is a tree, ancient beyond reckoning and imbued with a terrible and mysterious power. Possibly it is home to an elder fey, or maybe it contains a trapped daemon - in any case, aspiring champions of the Dar'Koath clans will undertake the perilous voyage to the tree in order to seek the blessings of the Wild Gods.

Occasionally, a clan will earn the favour of the greater powers and a host of wild beings will march from the forest's boughs to aid the clan in warfare. This is heralded by a mighty storm which blows leaves of magical and unnatural colours across the lands. These are known to the clans as the Tears of Wō.

The Tree of Wō

The Emperors Lost Mines - Recovery?

The Emperors Lost Mines - A Roleplaying Adventure

The Emperors Mines had been lost to time, the forges and production lines silent and buried.  Is it possible that their secrets would ever see Sigmars or anyone else's light again?

The PCRC decided that as an alternative to meeting up during the COVID lockdown we could engage in a number of other things we really wanted to do but had not got around to. namely:

• Fleshing out the Tallowlands a bit more
• Roleplaying
• Getting Excited about Age of Sigmar

In other posts Apologist has gone into detail on other aspects of this but here, well here is the story of the PCRCs foray into the Tallowlands as a party of Adventurers, using the D&D 5e rules to give us some structure.

We have had a ball so far, one of their quests involved rescuing a town near Narya:

from the clutches of an evil wizard, based in the dungeons of the local manor house:

The party itself consists of:

• Wutroth - A wandering Dwarf from the North West with a typical rich dawi outlook on life.
• Torquil - A human folk hero and swashbuckling rogue whose only weakness is a mirror.
• Lackjon - An Idoneth Aelf who is on a journey of self discovery as much as he is there to help his friends
• Balthazer - A Lumineth / High Elf Wizard
• Xali-Qhops - A 1 year old Lizardperson from a distant realm adventuring for posteriority, to discover the meaning of the twin tailed comet
• Oriorin - A Paladin who is devoted to Alarielle and to nature as much as he is to his friends.
• Alaster - A mysterious human Lockpick and rogue from the Sinian Empire before its fall

I am hoping that the PCRC edit this post and/or post their own updates on the adventures of their characters!

They were brought together by their Dawi friend Gun-dren who has caught wind of the Emperors lost mines.  After foiling an ambush and rescuing Sildar (who wishes to bring order to the town), they finally discovered the location of Krag-maw castle, the old ruling center of the vassal fief, from an old witch hunter, Josef. 

Josef was a mysterious man who seemed to know an awful lot about the Sinian Empire at its peak and even some of the characters visiting him.  He showed a keen ability to dispatch the undead with his gleaming antique pistols.

Josef shown here in his official capacity of a Sinian Empire With Hunter.  

That position no longer officially exists since the Empire fell.  Thanks to Apologist for the pic.

The group now seem to be hard on the trail of the mines and of those that are intervening to stop their quest...