The Underdark Campaign, Sign Up Now~!

Over the past few moons, under the bleak surface of the Darklands, a maelstrom raged. The tunnels under the surface of the earth were filled with battlecries and screams, as creatures of all kinds threw themselves against eachother in an effort to wipe eachother from the face of the earth. The mighty Clan Kratok and Grey Seer Krittik had led the Dark Host from obscurity to dominance over much of the region, but they were soon challenged. A religious zealot by the name of Keal Ghostkiller rose to prominence, preaching of the Great Ascendancy, when Skaven would rise to the surface and take the world for their own. He and his followers, the Horned One's Chosen, made themselves a force to be reckoned with and challenged Grey Seer Krittik's might.

But that was not all. For in Clan Kratok's rise to power, they angered a powerful Chaos Dwarf by the name of Hekund Kron. Cast out by Astragoth himself, Hekund vowed to get his revenge upon the rat-men that threw him from glory. To accomplish these ends, he gathered a force of countless races, all drawn together by one goal: to annihilate the rat-men below the surface. Together, the Surface Warlords descended into the darkness below, casting themselves into the fray.

But, of course, the Council was watching. They sent an agent, Visket Halfblade, to track down the errant Grey Seer Krittik. When the Halfblade arrived, he set up a mercenary establishment, and after a visit from Krittik, the Deathcave Syndicate too became a force fighting to dominate the region. Gradually, however, the fighting eased as each group found a niche...

...until now...

***

Muttering to himself, the old Skaven wandered aimlessly down the deep, dank tunnels that were remembered only by the past… and him. He walked in an exaggerated zig-zagging pattern, often bumping into the narrow tunnel walls. His fur was damp and reeked of rotting moss and flesh. One of his eyes was glazed with white, and the other was constantly darting around, looking for… something. His tail twitched every few moments, sending shudders down his entire body. As the tunnel began to curve to the right, the old rat caught sight of a small lizard climbing a wall. Moving with a speed that his charatter would not suggest, the Skaven darted forward and snatched the lizard off the wall, popping it into his mouth. He stopped a moment, swaying gently, savoring the sweet juices that went down his throat.

Shaking his head, he continued on, humming a cheerful melody under his breath. As the tunnel took another sharp turn, he closed his good eye and whistled merrily. Due to having no working eyes available to him, he walked right over the edge of the pit that opened up in the ground in front of him. His eye opened immediately and he let out a shrill shriek as he plummeted down the pit. Everything went black as he hit the ground…

***

When he awoke, he found that there was light. He shook his head rapidly to clear it, and stood up. His jaw dropped as he took in the glorious sight before him. A Warpstone meteor… a large Warpstone meteor. Taking a closer look, he changed his initial reaction and sat down again. Part of a large Warpsptone meteor. He closed his eye and leaned back again for a few moments, contemplating his discovery. After several minutes, he stood up and walked around the pit he had fallen into.

The meteor had been here for a long time, he could tell. The earth above had been sealed shut already. Many tunnels snaked out of the pit, but as far as the Skaven could tell, they had been caused by shards of the exploding meteor shooting off in different directions.

He spent a long time exploring the area, finding enough Warpstone to make any Clan wealthy beyond their dreams. And it was all his. He chuckled to himself and sat down on the floor. All his…

Without warning, the earth began to shake, and the Skaven was thrown around as it heaved and trembled. He lost consciousness again, and awoke in a familiar-looking tunnel. Trembling, he stood up and took off towards civilization. He had big news…

***

“You! Rat! Stop!”

The Skaven skittered to a halt, and turned around. Facing him was the meanest-looking Dwarf he had ever seen. “Where do you think yer goin’, runt?”

The old Skaven stammered “N-nowhere.”

The Dwarf grunted, then grinned, revealing tusks hidden beneath his braided black beard. “Come with me.” He grabbed the Skaven by the wrist and dragged him down a side tunnel, ignoring the rat’s feeble protests and squirming.

The Dwarf dragged the Skaven for at least an hour, until the sounds of shouting and cracking whips reached the Skaven’s weak ears. He shuddered and tried to walk backwards, but the Dwarf laughed and tightened his grip, pulling him forwards. They rounded a bend in the tunnel, and stepped into a massive cavern. Innumerable warriors from countless species were gathered there. Massive fires and forges were scattered across the floor, and watchmen were stationed on ledges all over. Tent cities had sprung up all over, but in the middle stood a collection of the largest tents the Skaven had ever seen. The Dwarf dragging him allowed him only a moment to take it all in before grunting, “C’mon,” and pulling him into the mass of creatures.

The Dwarf made straight for the tents in the middle, but it took at least half an hour to wade through the masses. Looking around wide-eyed, he saw countless Dwarfs like the one pulling him, strange Centaur-Dwarfs, towering men in suits of rusted armour, animated corpses, pale fanged humans, greenskins small and large, and countless other things the Skaven could not recognize.

As they approached the largest tent in the center of the cavern, even the Dwarf’s steps began to falter. He stopped in front of the flap, inhaled deeply, and then entered.

The pair found themselves in a massive open space. In the center was a massive wooden table, with at least thirty imposing beings sitting around it. They all stopped their discussion and stared at the duo. The Dwarf bowed deeply and began to speak. “Great Lord Hekund Kron, I bring you-”

A bellow from a similar-looking Dwarf interrupted him. “What business do you have barging in on the Council of Warlords?”

Fear entered the Dwarf’s eyes, and he looked up at the bellower. He was large for a Dwarf, and his black beard covered most of his front, kept in order by jagged pieces of metal. He wore thick, black armour covered in glowing runes, and held a massive axe in one hand.

“Lord Hekund, forgive my obtrusion, but this vile rat-thing I found was coming from the area of the – the earthquake. I think it may have had something to…” his voice trailed off as the figure that the Skaven took to be Hekund stood and walked around the table, approaching the two. He stopped inches away from the rat, who cringed under his penetrating gaze.

“And you would have me believe this vile thing,” the Chaos Dwarf kicked the Skaven, knocking him to the ground, “caused the earthquake that destroyed half of my scouting parties?” The Dwarf that had captured the Skaven did not say anything. Hekund sighed in disgust and clapped his hands. Two more Chaos Dwarfs entered the tent. “Take this foolish Dwarf away. Send him to the mines.” The Dwarf-guards dragged the rat’s captor away in silence. Hekund looked at the pitiful mass under his feet and spat at him. The Skaven flinched, but did not otherwise move.

“Welcome to the camp of the mighty Surface Warlords, puny runt. Your kind ruined me, destroyed me on the brink of my rise to full power, and brought me crashing down. But I shall have my revenge, and the spoils and plunder from your entire underground empire will be ours.” He gestured expansively at the creatures sitting at the table, ranging from Orc to human, Goblin to Vampire, Dwarf to Ogre, and many others. Hekund closed his fist. “And your entire race shall fall under my fist.” He slammed his fist into his other open hand. He laughed and placed his foot on the Skaven’s ribcage. “Any last words?”

The Skaven shuddered, then whispered. “Warpstone…”

Hekund, ready to press his foot down and end the Skaven’s miserable life, stopped. “Warpstone, you say?”

The Skaven nodded. “Near the tunnels where that Dwarf found me… the largest meteor I’ve ever seen-seen… filled at least ten caverns…” Hekund looked at his generals. They all shared the look that had entered his eyes… greed.

Turning back to the Skaven, Hekund smiled, and pushed his foot down heavily into the Skaven’s body. Blood spurted onto Hekund’s foot and dribbled out of the rat’s mouth. “Thank you, my dear friend.” Hekund clapped his hands again, and two more Dwarfs appeared. “Throw this thing into the rubbish heap. I don’t want to see the hide of another one of these foul vermin for the rest of the day.” The guards nodded and dragged the carcass away.

Hekund turned to the Council of Warlords. “A supply of Wyrdstone like that the rat described would all but ensure our victory.” His eyes glowed. “We must reach the stone first, before any of the rats squabbling over this area get to it.” He whirled around and clapped yet again, summoning two more Dwarfs. “Fetch the Dawi I sent out a few minutes ago and bring him here. He has a job to do…”

***

The Skaven awoke to the stench of rotten food. He opened his one good eye and looked around. He lay atop a pile of rotting food, scrap metal, and various things he couldn’t identify. He rolled down the pile until he landed on the rough tunnel floor. He winced as the pain in his ribs shot through his entire body. His hear beat erratically, but against all odds, he stood up and began to stagger away. He collapsed again after a few steps, and lay there, bleeding, on the ground.

When he awoke, he was chained to a stone table. A white-furred Skaven with horns stood over him, laning on a staff. Over one eye was some strange Skryre device that looked like asmall telescope, and Kraven felt like it stared right into his soul.

“It is as I foresaw… the old, half-blind rat who knows the secret that lies in the deepest bowels of the earth. His name is Kraven. Kraven Halfwit.”

Kraven jerked at the sound of his name. “You know-know me? How did I get here?”

“Lie down and stop asking silly-foolish questions!” barked the horned Skaven. Kraven immediately lay back down. “I shall do the questioning here, as a member of the Order of the Grey Seers. You are just a lowly Clanrat, not even a warrior. You are Clanless, and have been reduced to wandering blindly through the tunnels. And if I am not mistaken, you tumbled into something…”

Kraven, surprised that the feeling in his torso had returned, was too busy marveling at his healed body to hear Krittik’s words. He yelped in pain as something exceedingly hot was pressed into the bottom of his foot.

“Pay attention, runtling!” snarled the Grey Seer. “Remember, you are worthless! What is it that you discovered?”

Kraven sighed. “Warpstone meteor. Under the Darklands. Some Dwarf knows about where…” Kraven squealed as something sharp slashed the sole of his other foot.

“Fool-rat! The Surface Warlords know the location of it?”

Kraven shook his head wildly. “No-no, Lord Seer. Just the general area…” He flinched, then screamed as something tightened around his toe, squeezing it until it popped off.

“You will call me Lord Krittik. Understood?”

“Yes, Lord Krittik.”

“Good-good. Now, where is it?”

Kraven flinched and did not answer. He screamed in agony as the top half of his foot was lopped off by some bladed instrument. It took him several minutes to regain coherency.

“I ask again… where is it?”

Kraven winced. “I… do not know…” he squealed as a needle was plunged into his bad eye, then removed, yanking the eye straight out of its socket. The squeak turned to a howl of agony, and Kraven’s vision faded to black.

He awoke again to Grey Seer Krittik standing over him. “You pathetic attempts to hide the information from me have proven to be ineffective. I have extracted from your unconscious the location of the meteor. Your services, Halfwit, are no longer needed.” Krittik smiled and turned to the shadowy figures standing beside him. “Do with him what you will, but make sure he does not leave this room alive. I do not want this information to be known to those factions who do not know already… although I would rather the Surface Warlords know nothing. This information should be for the Dark Host alone.” With that, the Seer strode out of the room.

Kraven’s screams of agony followed Krittik as he strode through the Darkpit towards his private chambers. Once there, he sat in his chair and brooded. He reviewed the memories of Kraven’s past that he had taken, and of the information he had told Hekund. This Halfwit was too dangerous to live… Krittik would personally make sure that he did not survive. Clan Kratok, and of course, Krittik himself, were the only Skaven deserving of the wealth the meteor promised. After all, who had led Clan Kratok from obscurity to power? And what greater power was there, beyond the reach of Clan Rictus, under the Darklands? As the Seer closed his eyes, he pictured his most hated foe, trying to scry his actions. As he slipped into a dream-state, he saw the massive visage of Keal Ghostkiller…

***

Keal surveyed the masses below him and smiled. He stood on a high ledge above a massive cavern, looking down on his gathered followers. They chanted prayers and recited incantations to call down the Horned One’s favor. Keal stepped forward and raised his mighty horned head. He towered over the Skaven standing behind, being nearly the height of a Rat Ogre. In his right hand he held a massive, bloodied axe, and bells hung from a belt helping to secure his massive suit of armour to his upper torso. A manic light entered his eyes as he prepared to address the masses. He threw back his head and roared, a bone-chilling sound that should never have emanated from the mouth of any Skaven. The frenzied crowd was silenced immediately, their eyes all focused intently on the massive Skaven standing above them.

“Brethren! Fellow children of the Horned Rat! I come to you today to speak to you of yet another vision that the mighty Horned One has sent me!” The crowd erupted into cheers. After a moment, Keal slammed his axe into the stone below him, the clang echoing through the cavern, and all was silent once more. “The Horned Rat has seen fit to bless his greatest of servants with a vision of how to come by the wealth that the Chosen Ones need to claim our inheritance!” Cheers erupted again, and Keal let them continue until it gradually died down. Once he had their attention, he continued. “The mighty Father of our race has chosen us to receive the gift he sent us – the largest supply of Warpstone the world has ever seen, or will ever see!”

Stunned silence greeted this pronouncement. “It is true, brothers. In a dream, an avatar of the Horned One visited me, and took me down many dark tunnels until I found myself at the center of a great source of light. Looking down, I saw myself standing on a field of Warpstone, stretching further than the eye could see. It lies buried deep beneath the ground, but I remember the way. We shall move and claim it as ours!” The cheers erupted again, louder than before. This time, Keal egged them on, roaring with them. It was several minutes before the chitters of joy died down.

“But, my brothers, we must first prove ourselves worthy of the Horned One’s gift. He has shown me that the location of the precious Warpstone is known already to the lowly creature Hekund Kron, and to the cursed Krittik, who continues to stand in the way of our inheritance!” Angry shouts and chitters broke out at the mention of the Grey Seer’s hated name. “Calm, brethren. This is a test that we can easily pass! We shall prove ourselves worthy of the endless riches that await us, and of our inheritance! The Great Ascendancy shall come, and those who follow me and the guiding light of the Horned One shall conquer all!” The chamber filled with the sounds of jovial chitters, and Keal Ghostkiller raised his axe above his head and let out a triumphant roar, goading the crowd to even greater heights. Lowering his blade, he stepped back, towards the cowled Skaven behind him.

“That should do it,” he muttered to the smaller rat. “Assemble our fastest scouts and have them report to the Assigning Chambers immediately. I will tell them where they need to go… now, I must return to my chambers. I feel a vision coming on…”

On the other side of the cavern, a figure in a thick black cloaked slipped into a side tunnel, scurrying in the shadows, away from the festivities and joviality behind him. He looked back not once, and was soon gone.

***

A sharp rap sounded on the door of the Halfblade’s chambers. A knife thudded into the wood of the door on the other side in answer. The door opened, slowly, and a black-clad Skaven slipped in through the crack he had made, and hurriedly shut the door behind him.

“What have-have you to report, Kazkikk?” The rat who spoke sat in a stone chair behind a desk, facing the door. He eyes glowed green, and he clenched a blade between his teeth, though he spoke around it like he was used to it. His tail twirled a dagger absent-mindedly as he watched Kazkikk intently. He was armed to the teeth (quite literally), with an odd assortment of throwing stars, daggers, poison vials, and other strange instruments scattered all over his clothing and body. His right hand fingered the hilt of a sword from which green smoke rose. His left stroked the steel of a blade that had been broken in half. His numerous piercings glinted as they caught the light when the rat cocked his head. “Well?”

Kazkikk bowed. “Lord Visket, I infiltrated the speech-grounds of Keal Ghostkiller. As you had suspected, he had yet another vision. He claim-claims that the Horned Rat showed him the location of a field of Warpstone, buried deep-deep underground.”

Visket Halfblade smiled around the knife in his mouth, and his eyes glinted cruelly. “A field of Warpstone, he says? A likely story. More likely some meteor, long buried beneath the ground, but only recently discovered.” He jumped to his feet, causing Kazkikk to flinch. “Ashekk and Zareth have brought me reports of some large quantity of Warpstone as well. One of Hekund’s brutes apparently stumbled across some crazy old Skaven who found the mine… but failed to properly dispose of the body.” He chuckled. “And our dear friend Krittik, using that damnable ability to guess what is happening, managed to pick up our dear friend in a rubbish-heap.” Visket snarled and spat the dagger out of his mouth. It shot by Kazkikk’s head and landed in the door with a dull thud. “And now Keal has a vision – I wonder how he actually came by this information? Maybe he truly does share Skavenade with the Horned Rat.” He laughed, and threw the dagger he had been twirling with his tail at the door, narrowly missing Kazkikk yet again.

“Whatever the reason, we need to get to that Warpstone first… it belongs, by right of arms, to the Deathcave Syndicate.” He smiled. “Of course, having your army composed entirely of greedy mercenaries does pose some challenges… if word of what we’re after gets out, it could very well turn into a free-for-all. I can’t let that happen.” Kazkikk began to back towards the door. “I’m sorry, Kazkikk…”

The Skaven whirled around and reached for the door handle, but Visket was too fast. The smoking blade he held in his right hand plunged into Kazkikk’s heart. The black-clad Skaven choked then slowly began to dissolve as the poison worked through his veins.

Withdrawing his blade, Visket smiled. “So the Tears of Skrittitch do work as advertised. I shall keep that in mind.” He sauntered back to his desk and inspected a smoking vial of green liquid on it. Satisfied, he put it back and sat down again, leaning back as his eyes glowed a sickly green.

The true war under the Darklands had begun.

**************************************************************

As you would have gathered from this announcement, The UnderEmpire does indeed have a new campaign in the works... The Underempire is proud to present a new skaven campaign, the UnderDark Campaign! Set in the Darklands, you are a general from one of four factions, leading your armies to conquest and glory across the map. But as war is not fought with arms and men alone, you will also have at your disposal tools of subterfuge and sabotage to scheme against enemy and ally alike, as everyone is fair game in your quest for supremacy. So stake your claim in this blasted wasteland and inherit!

We will be launching the campaign forum and beginning Sign-up on 13th August. The first turn of the campaign will begin on 6th September. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for more information. And hone your blades and unfurl your banners, for War begins soon.

Woah, long introduction I haven't read through it yet, but I promise to do so later

However, I would like to reserve a spot in this in advance.

MUTATE: I just read it, and can't wait for it to begin.

-Killfang

Just so to make sure I understand...

Campaign hook:
-Somewhere under the Darklands is a large deposit of Warpstone
-People want the Warpstone

Current Forces:
-Dark Host: A breakaway skaven faction led by Clan Kratok’s Grey Seer Krittik.
-Horned One's Chosen: A breakaway skaven faction led by the religious zealot Keal Ghostkiller.
-Surface Warlords: A non-skaven faction led by an angry chaos dwarf named Hekund Kron. Though he hates all skaven, it was Grey Seer Krittik that angered him.
-Deathcave Syndicate: A council of 13 sanctioned mercenary group set up by their agent Visket Halfblade.

I’m looking forward to the campaign, and definitely want to take part.

-Skitter

Ill read later, mght join if mercenaries can (dont have skaven)

Gotta give you cred for that introduction! Very well written.

Count me in! But how, where, when? As I am fairly new here in the tunnels, I have just about no clue at all how things like this work...

Read it all, awesome as always Mork!

I'm really looking forward to this.

Oh and yes, @newrats: What with the subtitle of the topic being 'Coming soon' I believe that there's no need for worrying about registration etc just as of now. Of course, I'm not part of the crew, it's merely a theory

still haven't read the intro-cant until after 4-but i might join that chaos dwarfs-or mercenaries

+1.
I'm looking foward to learn what it is all this about.

Of course, if I am of any need, I always be a humble servant of the Horned One

This is only a theory, but I think it will work much like the civil war campaign, with Real warhammer battles posted on the UE, and the results influencing the campaign.

-Killfang

sweat deal im in , cant wait for it to start

But what does this campaign mean? What do we do? xP

You fight battles in the name of your faction and upload the results, further details probably won't be up until the opening date.

-Killfang

expect it to be alot like the civil war, you play games with people you know, post a battle report (really short form) and ur faction gets better when you win...

Also, you can help your faction by writing fluff-atleast thats how the civil war worked

Great backstory to the campain. I can't wait for it to start.

Couple of questions, so no skaven armys are allowed in the Surface Warlords, and no other armys are allowed in the two non-merch skaven factions?

One more thing how soon do you think untill it will start?

I'll just leak out a small hint here: the system is a little more ingame this time, so things will be quite balanced for both active gamers and theoryhammerers.