Lord Trueforge knew it was time to retreat. The warriors of Chaos that showed up hours again had penetrated the walls of Greywater Fastness and were going to battle with not only the denizens and protectors of the city, but the horde of unstoppable, frozen terror that is Lord Nimron's Beastclaw Raider army (which had appeared from a Realmgate that appirated earlier.) Stormcast, Ogors, and Slaves to Darkness clashed in a three-way frenzy of death. Anactos Trueforge fought side-by-side with the Free People of Greywater Fastness, but his Stormcast advisors had insisted he retreat and protect an item that very few in the city knew about: a strange artefact from the Forgotten Realm.
While his allies themselves couldn't recall the realm of Qhaysh, and the Free People leaders of the city refused to understand, they loyal Stormcast Eterna;s in his charge believed their superior, knowing him to be an honest man. The wizards that resided in Greywater Fastness could tell the artefact had immense power, but were unable to tell exactly what that power was. Lord Trueforge ran in a sprint up stairways and winding corridors to get to the dark tower on the east end of the Fastness. At the top of the tower, two wood aelves opened a large doorway upon his arrival, sensing his coming. Out of breath, the Lord Ordinator slammed the doors behind him before turning to face a room of stern visages.
A simple room with a tall ceiling was inhabited by a dozen Wanderers standing at the ready, all facing what appeared to be a giant egg! Trueforge felt a great unease every time he was in this room; and while the wizards of the Fastness sensed power, the Stormcast leader sensed doom. Dread. Horror. The Wanderers known as The Dreamwalkers the were the only living souls known to escape from Qhaysh when its Realmgate closed, and its most determined and capable guarded what it transported out of the Realm of Discovery. The aelves looked to the Lord Ordinator for direction.
"The city is failing, and even with most of our host here, the numbers against us are overwhelming," Trueforge said grimly. "We need to transport the egg elsewhere, but I fear we are too late."
"Rememberer," a Dreamwalker in white and blue started, "perhaps your Sigmar can call upon Dracothian for assistance in the matter."
Trueforge seemed unsure. "Several Stardrakes are here in the city already, and they are the only reason we still have a chance to hold Greywater Fastness and keep the artefact safe."
With those ill-timed words, rumbling could be heard from outside. The Wanderers took up arms and Trueforge - breath heavy - brandished twin hammers as he turned around to face the door. A bang against the massive doors nearly broke them apart, and a second one in quick succession did just that. The massive frame of the tyrannical Lord Nimron burst through the door, a massive spear in hand, and he immediately impaled a surprised Wanderer upon it with a scowl.
"I'VE COME FOR THE EGG, METAL MAN!" he shouted as half a dozen ogors ran into the room! The Dreamwalkers fought bravely, deftly dodging the clumsy attacks of the much bigger assailants.
"You won't take this tower, Nimron! Burn the city down, but this tower will not fall into your hands!" Trueforge charged Nimron, sending several hammer blows into the ogor, but all were blocked by a shield made of out human bone that Nimron carried on his forearm opposite his weapon.
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IS INSIDE THAT THING, FOOL!" Nimron sent a boot into Lord Trueforge, but it barely moved the Anvil of Heldenhammer at all. Trueforge feinted a hammer strike high, then connected with his other hammer to the knee of Nimron. Nimron stumbled out of the door and Trueforge was on top of him! The Dreamwalkers held their own against the ogors as the two heroes rolled around looking for a chance to kill one another.
Suddenly, a loud crack resounded through the high-ceilinged room and combat stopped.
"NO!" Nimron exclaimed, moving to his feet and bracing himself against a pillar just outside the room.
Trueforge looked on in horror as the egg started to shake, great fissures forming in its structure. A terrible howl came from the artefact, sending every man, aelf, and ogor to its knees.
"What have we done?" a Dreamwalker lamented. The egg cracked open, and a MASSIVE TERRORGHEIST expanded to fill the room!!! Nimron ran down the tower steps while Lord Trueforge looked on in horror. In what seemed like an instant, the Terrorgheist killed every living thing in the tower with a flurry of jaws and talons. Gore painted the walls, bits of aelven and ogor alike mingling unrecognizable in a macabre vision.
Lord Trueforge stood stunned, covered in blood. The Terrorgheist let out a furious roar and took out an entire side of the tower room, and flew out of it. Shaking his head to regain his composure, Lord Trueforge ran to the opening to see the Terrorgheist heading for the Realmgate.
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