#120 Battle XXXIII - The Ire of Wights

After his previous defeat at the paws of Krittix Leyshaper, Lord Elohiim had vanished into the shadows of Ulgu. The Gravelord had now been absent for weeks. This was not unusual, for the brooding Vengorian was prone to wild mood swings and would often seek solitude in his more melancholic intervals. Nonetheless, Viktor Bract was acutely conscious that his Lord's absence had left him in a difficult - and therefore dangerous - position: Should he now obey the King of Thorns and risk the disapproval of a vampire, or disobey the skeletal lord standing before him and risk the ire of a Wight King? Ever the coward, the old necromancer chose to shy from the more immediate threat (and trust to sycophancy to inveigle himself back into Elohiim's favour should the need arise).

And so he uttered the incantations and scattered the Shyishian grave-dust and a few moments later a wight stood glowering before him, tattered red robes fluttering in an absent wind.

"Who dares summon me?" his sheering voice was inaudible, yet deafening in Viktor's head.

A skeletal hand pushed the necromancer aside as the King of Thorns took his place. "I do," said a cold wind blowing through razor thorns. "I defeated you in life, and you will serve me in death.'

"I know you - Gulaab Kaphool!" screeched the silent voice, "And you know that I serve none but the Ruinous Powers!"

"The Age of Chaos is long over. You are my Vassal now, not theirs. You serve me, for Nagash is all, and all and one in Nagash."

The Vassal King's fury shimmered like a red mist in the gloom as he strained in silent fury, but he was powerless, suppressed by age-old magics and the purple winds of Shyish.

Viktor watched helplessly. It was clear that the Vassal King was safely bound. But not to his Lord Elohiim. It seemed the King of Thorns was rising up against the absent Vengorian's authority!

The Vassal King, one-time servant of Chaos defeated by Gulaab Kaphool

Having accrued enough Glory Points to recruit a Wight King on foot (a model I've had for a while but not yet used in a game), I needed a way to write him into the story. I also thought it would work well for the narrative to have him 'Seek Glory in Battle' as my new quest. My Order of Battle is now up to 1230 points while everyone else is still around 1000, so I decided to leave my warlord Elohiim behind to represent his Deathrattle subalterns attempting to usurp his position.

Steve and I played 'The Ritual' battle plan this time, with the Skaven trying to prevent the Soulblight Gravelords' mysterious rite. His shooting was the most devastating I'd witnessed, but the deathrattle just kept getting back up again and protecting the ritual site. Both the King of Thorns and his knights eventually fell to the ratmen's guns, but we won the day and the Vassal King survived to achieve his quest to 'Seek Glory in Battle'.

* * *

In the darkness of Ulgu, the sepulchre glowed with a cold, blue-white light, the like of which Viktor Bract had not before witnessed. It hurt his rhumy eyes and seemed more reminiscent of the lightening of Azyr than the mauve glow of Shyish. What was this diabolical rite that the King of Thorns had performed? Once the old necromancer had made the most basic of preparations, the ancient wight had ordered him to leave. He had not allowed Bract to approach the tomb again, although Viktor had been able to see the King scattering tomb dust and scratching sigils on the walls with his skeletal fingers.

Now, the glow from the crypt was gradually fading and the shadows of Ulgu encroaching once more. But suddenly, a blinding pulse of blue-white light shot out from the sepulchre and sped off into the darkness in all directions. Viktor felt its chill as it passed through him.

The ritual had ended and all that remained was darkness and silence. And yet, even in the dark, the necromancer could sense the triumph in the rictus grin of the King of Thorns.