No Quarter - 60

10th Anniversary Edition
Heroes Will Rise

Or Darkness
Will Fall.
Evil lurks beneath the city of Corvis, famed city of the Iron Kingdoms.
Descend into the treacherous Undercity, a decaying labyrinth of tunnels
and caverns that is home to all manner of vice and villainy. Work as a
team and utilize your heros unique strengths to battle the Undercitys
deadly denizens and expose the dark conspiracy festering in the citys
underbelly. If youre tough and smart, youll gain valuable experience
and equipment you need to destroy the evil threatening Corvis. Fail, and
death will be the least of your concerns.
Adventure through the infamous underground

labyrinths of the Iron Kingdoms!
Preorder Now!
www.privateerpress.com/undercity
20012015 Privateer Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privateer Press, Iron Kingdoms, Undercity and their logos are
trademarks of Privateer Press, Inc. This advertising is forward looking and subject to change without notice.
Credits
President: Sherry Yeary
Chief Creative Officer: Matthew D. Wilson
Creative Director: Ed Bourelle
Director of Business Development: Will Shick
Director of Operations: Jason Martin
Project Director: Bryan Cutler
Publications Manager: Aeryn Rudel
Art Director: Mike Vaillancourt
Lead Developer: Jason Soles
Graphic Design Director: Josh Manderville
Marketing Manager: Lyle Lowery
RPG Producer: Matt Goetz
Editorial Manager: Darla Kennerud
Studio Director: Ron Kruzie
Hobby Manager: Stuart Spengler
Playtest Coordination: Jack Coleman
Editor-in-Chief: Michael G. Ryan

Editing: Michael G. Ryan, Michael J. Sanbeg
Proofreading: Matt Goetz, Aeryn Rudel
Continuity Editors: Matt Goetz,
Douglas Seacat, Jason Soles
On the Cover
Graphic Design: Richard Anderson,

Matt Ferbrache, Laine Garrett, Josh Manderville
Perfect Ten by Matthew D. Wilson
Juggernauts Journey:
The Eiffel towerparis, France
Its with much enthusiasm that

our Juggernaut makes the journey
through the Chunnel to explore Paris,
La Ville-Lumire. While here, a quick
visit and prompt ejection from the
Moulin Rouge is in order. Ces la guerre.
Photo by Guillaume Leguyader
Photography:
Ryan Cooper, George DeStefano,
Matt DiPietro, Matt Ferbrache,
Laine Garrett, Guillaume Leguyader,
Allie Rose-Marie Leost, Marisha Ray
Studio Miniatures Painting: Matt DiPietro,
Geordie Hicks, Ron Kruzie
Contributors
Ed Bourelle, David DC Carl,
Josh Colon, Matt DiPietro, Andy Gill,
Matt Goetz, Orrin Grey, Miles Holmes,
William Hungerford, Allie Rose-Marie Leost,
William Overstreet, Michael Plummer,
Marisha Ray, Aeryn Rudel, Michael G. Ryan,
Michael Sanbeg, Douglas Seacat,
William Shick, Tim Simpson
Illustrations
Mike Capprotti, Chippy, Alberto Dal Lago,
Ivan Dixon, Luis Gama, Mariusz Gandzel,
Laine Garrett, Mark Gibbons, Marcel Mercado,
Nstor Ossandn, Karl Richardson,
Brian Snoddy, Hugo Solis,
Andrea Uderzo, Chris Walton,
Matthew D. Wilson, Kieran Yanner
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All content copyright 20012015 Privateer Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privateer Press, Iron Kingdoms, The Witchfire Trilogy, Monsternomicon, Five Fingers: Port of Deceit, Full Metal
Fantasy, Immoren, Unleashed, WARMACHINE, Forces of WARMACHINE, WARMACHINE High Command, Steam-Powered Miniatures Combat, WARMACHINE: Tactics, Convergence
of Cyriss, Convergence, Cryx, Cygnar, Khador, Protectorate of Menoth, Protectorate, Retribution of Scyrah, Retribution, warcaster, warjack, HORDES, Forces of HORDES, HORDES
High Command, Monstrous Miniatures Combat, Circle Orboros, Circle, Legion of Everblight, Legion, Skorne, Trollbloods, Trollblood, warbeast, Orgoth, cephalyx, War Room, Lock & Load,
Steamroller, Hardcore, Iron Gauntlet, No Quarter, Formula P3, Formula P3 Hobby Series, Bodgers, Heap, Infernal Contraption, Infernal Contraption 2: Sabotage!, Scrappers, Zombies Keep Out,
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property of Privateer Press, Inc. All other trademarks appearing are property of their respective owners. First printing Vol. 10, Issue 60: May 2015. Printed in the USA. This magazine contains works
of fiction, any resemblance to actual people, organizations, places, or events in those works of fiction are purely coincidental. Duplicating any portion of the materials herein unless specifically
addressed within the work or by written permission from Privateer Press is strictly prohibited. In the event that permissions are granted such duplications shall be intended solely for personal,
noncommercial use and must maintain all copyrights, trademarks, or other notices contained therein or preserve all marks associated thereof. LEVEL 7 is a registered trademark of Matthew D.
Wilson, Individual. Used with permission.
Table of contents
New Releases
Nerves of Steel: An Interview with Miles Holmes
10
The Art of Cosplay: Allie Rose-Marie Leost
14
Battle Report: Sister Act 3
24
Modeling & Painting: Major Prime Victoria Haley
40
The Art of Cosplay: Marisha Ray
50
The Gavyn Kyle Files: Vinter Raelthorne IV
56
Scenario: Assault on Blackrock Island
67
Devastation Fiction Extra

Ill Omens
74
Unleashed: Chasing the Dragon

Legion of Everblight Warlocks
Table Of Contents
102
The Gavyn Kyle Files

Vinter Raelthorne IV
The Art of Cosplay

Marisha Ray
56
50
Forces of Distinction XIX
71
Devastation Fiction Extra: Ill Omens
74
Scoundrels & Sell-Swords: Witchfire Rogues Gallery
80
Quick Shot Scenario: 1 AR
88
Unleashed: Chasing the Dragon, Part One
102
Around the World
118
The First Anniversary of Privateer Pins
119
Drawn and Quartered/WARMACHINE Challenge
The Art of Cosplay

Allie Rose-Marie Leost
Scoundrels & Sell-Swords

Witchfire Rogues Gallery
14
80
120
88
Quick Shot
Scenario: 1 AR
Modeling & Painting

Major Prime Victoria Haley
40
Table Of Contents
New releases
WARMACHINE: Reckoning
The rising threat of the Cryxian armies has become
too great. Death permeates the war-torn region,
and Empress Ayn and King Leto themselves
chance incredible danger to meet and coordinate
their stand. The Protectorates Northern Crusade
joins Khador and Cygnar in a final alliance of men
against the unending armies of the Dragonfather.
As these armies combine to expel the deathless
forces of Cryx from the mainland, in tunnels below
the battleground a lone Khadoran soldier fights to
save one of the Motherlands greatest legends.
release: june
PIP 1060 $31.99 (softcover)

PIP 1061 $41.99 (softcover)
Extreme Titan Gladiator (metal/resin)

game: hordes/skorne
sculptors: jason hendricks and
sean bullough
painter: matt dipietro
release: june
PIP 74093 $69.99
NEW RELEASES
WARMACHINE: All-in-One Army BoxCryx

release: may
PIP 34126 $129.99
HORDES: All-in-One Army BoxCircle Orboros

release: may
PIP 72092 $129.99
NEW RELEASES
New releases
No Quarter Presents: Forces of Distinction
Ripped from the pages of No Quarterand presented for the
first time in a single volumecome over thirty theme forces
for WARMACHINE and HORDES to add thematic depth and
all-new strategies and tactics to your game.
In addition to rules for fielding famous forces straight from
the battlefields of Immoren, each theme force also includes
fiction written by Privateer Press top authors, providing an
intimate view of the origins and actions that have made these
units famous.
Whether you want to unleash the feared Claws of the
Dragon, an elite regiment composed of the best that Khadors
Iron Fang Pikemen have to offer under the leadership of the
terrifying Butcher of Khardovtake a trip with the greatest
heroes of the Northern Kriels, bound by blood to Dhunias
favorite son Borka Kegslayer in Family Reunionor run
Cygnars journeyman through the gauntlet under the nononsense eye of Major Markus Siege Brisbane in Trial by
Fire. Forces of Distinction has theme forces for every faction
to challenge your opponents and inspire your hobby.
release: june
PIP 1064 $19.99
Brennos the Elderhorn (metal/resin)

game: hordes/circle orboros
sculptor: brian dugas
painter: geordie hicks
release: may
PIP 72079 $54.99
6
NEW RELEASES
Ruin (metal/resin)
game: warmachine/khador
sculptors: ben misenar and dave kidd
painter: geordie hicks
release: may
PIP 33108 $64.99
Wolves of Orboros (plastic resculpt)

sculptor: todd harris painter: matt dipietro
release: may PIP 72082 $54.99
Reeves of Orboros (plastic resculpt)

sculptor: todd harris painter: geordie hicks
NEW RELEASES
New releases
Iron Fang Pikemen (plastic resculpt)

sculptors: todd harris and nate scott painter: geordie hicks
release: june PIP 33104 $59.99
Black Dragon Iron Fang Pikemen (plastic resculpt)

sculptors: todd harris and nate scott painter: matt dipietro
NEW RELEASES
Into the Storm: the malcontents, book 1

trade paperback
by larry correia
The year is 606 AR, and Cygnar is sorely pressed by

its enemies both at home and abroad. The Cygnaran
military is desperate for soldiers with the skill,
strength, and bravery to take up the devastating
galvanic weaponry of the new Storm Division.
Every soldier is valuable, even those fallen from the honor
expected of a Storm Knight. A group of such menthieves,
drunkards, and worsecomprise the Sixth Platoon.
All they need is someone to lead them.
Lieutenant Hugh Madigan, a peerless warrior knighted
during the reign of the deposed king, has spent years
in obscurity, punished for his loyalty to the former
monarch. Now he has been ordered back to the front and
given command of the Sixth, his task to turn a platoon of
miscreants into elite soldiers fit to be called Storm Knights.
Time is short, and war is coming. One way or another,
Lieutenant Madigan must lead his men into the storm.
release: june
PIP 601 $14.99
WARMACHINE: All-in-One Army Box

Retribution of Scyrah
release: june
PIP 35074 $129.99
Classic WARMACHINE and HORDES Models Now Available in Full-Size Units
Revenant Crew of the Atramentous
game: warmachine/cryx
Tharn Wolf Riders

NEW RELEASES
Behind the Scenes of Cold Steel
with Miles Holmes

By Michael G. Ryan
10
nerves of Steel
Mercenary Nicolas Verendrye began his career as a

refugee from Llael following the devastating attack by
Khador against his homeland in 605 AR. Four years later,
he had become a leader in the Steelheads after battling
his way across much of western Immoren in search of
revengeand his true self. And as Nicolas considers
a young recruit eager to embrace his own opportunity
to seek revenge against Khador, the mercenary finds
himself reliving how he got to where he is and why
it might not have been the right path for himor the
young recruitafter all.
In No Quarter #58, Author Miles Holmes (The Way of
Caine) introduced the first part of his serialized novella,
Cold Steel, tracing Nicolasa former doctorfrom
the devastation in Laedry to his imprisonment aboard
a slave ship to his ultimate enrollment in a chapter
of the Steelheads mercenaries. In No Quarter #59,
he gets his first taste of battlein the service of the
Protectorate of Menoth.
The people you want to kill? Holmes says of Nicolas
goals. As a mercenary, you might end up working for
them one day.
Leaving Holmes
By the time Nicolas Verendrye settles into his role as a
mercenary, he will have come a long way from where he
began, and many of his worldviews are likely to have
changed. He starts with a middle class upbringing,
and hes in the middle of a slow moral slide, Holmes
says. As the Steelheads becomes his home, his moral
compass shifts. The way mercenaries are treated by their
employers, the way theyre viewed by their enemies, the
politics of that way of life, these are the things I wanted
to have an effect him and change him gradually.
Its a hard row to hoe for Verendrye; his expectations
of immediate, albeit undefined, revenge against Khador
are thwarted almost immediately, and the men who
becomes his brothers-in-arms each have their own
reasons for doing what they do. Some are in it with
similar intentions; others, for the money. And still
others for the lifestyle that a hired soldier can only
experience if his sword and gun are up for sale. So, while
the Khadorans are his immediate nemeses in the tale,
Nicolas finds himself dealing with dangers far closer to
home. Its a man-against-self kind of storytheres no
individual he can go after. He joined the mercenaries
because he knows he can fight against Khador. But as
the story advances, the antagonists sort of emerge from
the chapter of Steelheads that hes joined. Hes going
to have these polarizing moral elements represented
by his fellow mercenaries, and hes going to be pulled
in different directions. Hes going to have to make
decisions about what kind of man he is, who among his
brothers-in-arms will have the stronger influence.
To offset Nicolas from the other mercenaries and their

disparate personalities, Holmes deliberately chose a less
than martial beginning for him. He wanted his hero to
begin as an everyman, the doctor, someone the reader
might identify with.
You associate someone in the healing arts as having
compassion, he says. He begins essentially harmless.
By the time we get to the end, though, history is not at
all harmless.
Nicolas Verendrye thus needed influences; Holmes
ominously cites the television series Breaking Bad and
its main character, cancer-victim-turned-drug-dealer
Walter White, as one of his inspirations for the good
doctor. White is an average everyday man who becomes
a badassand the moral shift that goes with that, he
says. Yet the story of Cold Steel goes well beyond the
rise and/or fall of Nicolasin fact, it serves as much as
an introduction to the Iron Kingdoms for readers who
might not yet know the lay of the land.
We wanted it to be a tour of the IK and the factions
in it so new players and readers could get a sense of
what this world is like, and align themselves, if they
are so inclined, to want to find out more about a faction
or a place or a time, Holmes explains. The format
of publishing a new part across multiple issues of
No Quarter, he says, helped immensely with that
construct. With every chapter, he works for a new
client; he finds himself in a new battle zone. This way,
youd get that sweeping tour. And each time, these
battles grow Nicolas character as well, taking him from
a wandering refugee victim to where he ends upand
each of those chapters is integral to making that happen.
Is it safe to assume that the first-person narrative indicates
Nicolas will survive until the end? Holmes neither
confirms nor denies, instead focusing on how Nicolas
develops. While hes quite content where he ends up,
he explains, Nicolas entered the mercenaries under false
pretenses. He justified to himself why he was joining,
never considering that the mercenary path might not take
him where he wanted to go. So, what he sees in the new
recruit at the beginning of the story is a mirror image of
himself. And hindsight gives him the benefit of doubting
the wisdom in the decisions hes made.
Raising Caine
That journey from victim to mercenary leader is a new
approach for Holmes writing in the Iron Kingdoms. His
past venture, the novella The Way of Caine (skullislandx.
com/warmachine/the-warcaster-chronicles/the-wayof-caine), was a much more rough-and-tumble approach.
Caines story is one of rising up to fight his way to his
destiny, Holmes notes. He already had talenthis
time on the street made him a fighter.
nerves of steel
11
Holmes says he approached Caine very carefully during the

writing of the warcasters story. One of the things that makes
the Iron Kingdoms so attractive is the depth of interaction
between characters; the depth of the world and the events
that unfold in it mean you cant come in freewheeling and
do whatever you want. You have to be very respectful of
that characters history and where hes going.
A lot of the books had hinted at Caines past, so we saw
that as an opportunity to build backstory, to begin there.
We had talked about his future as well, and we had to
sort out how to balance my thoughts with the future
thats already been developed for him.
Author Authority
A tabletop player since 1995,
Miles Holmes first discovered
WARMACHINE in 2004
the way it introduced the
focus system was particularly
appealing to him. I didnt need
so many models to play, and so I
got into it pretty quickly. You get
in for the miniatures; then you
get inspired by the setting, and
the more depth you find there,
the more you want to play.
From the beginning Cygnar
was his faction of choice, and
Allister Caine was his early favoritesort of a mix of two of my
favorite rogue characters, Han Solo and Wolverine.
His days of gaming go back even further, all the way back to
Car Wars. Over the years, he has worked on a high-profile Sonic
the Hedgehog game and Mass Effect for BioWare, as well as
creative work for the Full Auto franchise. And in his spare time,
he writes books for his personal website (infinitygate.com) and
develops his own gamesincluding a recent game, Road/Kill.
Infinitygate.com is where everything Im doing creatively
ends up going, he explains. You can download Road/Kill
there; all my sci-fi theme stories are there as well.
Currently, Holmes is ambitiously developing his own coherent
universe of stories. Its epic. I wrote a few cornerstones that
range from 70,000 BC to 4,000 AD, and Ive written stories in
between as important beats. His first book in this venture,
Tales of the Invisible Hand, is a prehistoric adventure.
I started with the genetic bottleneck. Sometime around 70,000
BCD, its thought a super-volcano trigged an early Ice Age,
bringing us to the brink of extinction. In fact, our population
was reduced to only a few thousand people worldwide! My story
injects a science-fantasy context into that event, complete with
lost civilizations, vintage aviation, and forgotten technology.
Its been an absolute labor of love to create.
12
nerves of Steel
Part of Caines future includes crossing paths with

the Steelheads, Nicolas Verendrye among them. The
encounter between Cygnars most unpredictable
warcaster and the main character in Cold Steel provided
Holmes with his favorite scene in the entire novella.
My reward was a cameo for Caine. Caines one of my
favorite characters, and he seemed like an ironic person
for Nicolas to befriend in any capacity, given Caines
direct involvement in the fall of Llael.
Miles to Go
Whether Nicolas lives or dies by the end of Cold Steel,
Holmes still sees great possibilities in the story hes in
the midst of telling (the remaining parts of primarily
finishedsome revisions are still being ironed outand
will appear in No Quarter issues #61, 62, and 63). I have
considerable notes from the early discussions about
the rogues gallery of Nicolas brothers-in-arms. I have
supporting characters who bring skills and personalities
to the mix, and Ive plotted these people out.
That includes the as-yet unnamed young recruit Nicolas
is narrating his history to. That character, the young
recruit, is kind of a blankhe starts off as sort of the new
player coming to the game or the world, and Nicolas is
making a case for why he wants to be a part of this. Ive
told you everything, now what do you want to do? Do
you want to play? That sort of thing. But the young
recruit is more than just a conduitonce this story is
done, that character has a future.
And just what sort of future might Holmes be considering?
The dark side always interests me, he says. Ive put
some time into Cryx via the WARMACHINE: Tactics PC
gameI did some writing for the extended campaigns.
So, Id love to spend a little more time with the darker
forces of western Immoren. I would love to get my head
into different perspectives, especially the skorne way of
thinking. With characters like Nicolas Verendrye and
the new recruit, its always fun to create their history in
the Iron Kingdoms because you know youre leaving a
small mark in a big world.
Model Mercenary
Sergeant Nicolas Verendrye is coming to a tabletop near you.
The Mercenary Steelhead character solo model is
scheduled for its official release in early 2016, but
attendees of Lock & Load GameFest 2015 will get a special
advance shot at adding Nicolas to their armiesand the
mercenary will work with a host of different factions.
Its a chance to get him into play while waiting to see
how his story unfolds, Miles Holmes says. Personally,
Id add him to my Cygnar army and go after Khador.
But thats just me.
model will work for Cryx, Cygnar, Khador, and
SERGEANT NICOLAS VERENDRYE
the Protectorate.
MERCENARY This
NICOLAS
HALBERD
FIELD MEDIC While within 3 of this model, other friendly living

non-warcaster, non-warlock Faction warrior models gain Tough .
FLANK [STEELHEAD] When this model makes a melee attack against
an enemy model within the melee range of a friendly model of
the type indicated, this model gains +2 to attack rolls and gains an
additional damage die.
HOLD THE LINE [STEELHEAD] While B2B with one or more Steelhead
models, this model gains +2 ARM.
LEADERSHIP [STEELHEAD] While in this models command range,
friendly Steelhead models gain Defensive Line. (While a model with
Defensive Line is B2B with one or more models in its unit, it gains
+2 ARM.)
POW
HALBERD
FA
C
DAMAGE
11
P+S
10
13 14
RNG ROF AOE POW
PISTOL
SERGEANT NICOLAS VERENDRYE
MERCENARY STEELHEAD CHARACTER SOLO
NICOLAS
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
A mercenarys path is neither black nor

white; he must find his truth in the grey
spaces between.
Sergeant nicolaS Verendrye
PC
2
POWERFUL CHARGE This model gains +2 to charge attack rolls with

this weapon.
SET DEFENSE A model in this models front arc suffers 2 on charge,
slam power attack, and impact attack rolls against this model.
Illus. by Johan Grenier Privateer Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

All faction names, logos, warjack, warcaster & warbeast are TM of Privateer Press, Inc.
13
nerves of steel
BY ALLIE ROSE-MARIE LEOST
Allie Rose-Marie Leost

Allie Rose-Marie Leostbetter known as AllieCat Cosplay (or that
Lylyth cosplayer) is a twenty-two-year-old Canadian who works in
Vancouver, BC, as a CG animator for television and film. In her spare
time, she draws, games, animatesand builds cosplay outfits.
Her boyfriend Brad, who she met while attending animation school
in 2011, introduced her to WARMACHINE, HORDES, and the Iron
Kingdoms. As Brad showed me his tabletop armies and explained
his painting techniques the backstories of particular characters, he
handed her a model of Lylyth, Shadow of Everblight.
I knew from that moment I had to do more than just play these
characters; I had to be them, Allie says.
When she graduated from animation school began her first job in
the animation industry, she became great friends with a coworker,
Sam, who had been making her own amazing costumes for years.
Inspired by Sam, Allie built her first simple cosplay and won her
first competition all in August 2013. But only two weeks later, Brad
suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage, and cosplay pursuits had to
go on the back burner while she supporting Brad through long months
of recovery. Once he was back on his feet, she was ready to start
14
the art of cosplay
again, this time with her first

armored cosplay: inevitably,
Lylyth, Shadow of Everblight.
Lylyth was my first time
using the material Worbla,
Allie says, and I constantly
learned new things along the
way. But after five months
of burning my hands and
the midnight oil, Lylyth was
finally completeand it
won me first place in Lock
& Load GameFest 2014s
Costume Contest.
In the fifteen months since returning to cosplay, Allie has made five
builds, the most recent being the one shell display at this years Lock
& Load: Lieutenant Journeyman Allison Jakes.
Allisons build to date has already required over 400 hours of hard
work, she explains, but the important thing to keep in mind while
considering my process is that there are 101 ways to make almost
anything, so these are just the methods and materials that worked
best for me.
In the Beginning...
Eyes on the Prize
An Artist Is Only as Good as Her Tools
The first step to making any cosplay is reference, reference,

reference, and even more reference; I cannot stress anymore how
important reference is to your build. Making a game plan and
breaking down how to build each piece and figuring out what
materials work best is also critical. Do your homework before
jumping in headfirst and realizing there were faster, cheaper,
easier ways to make your piece.
One of the nice things about cosplay expenses is that youll

hopefully only have to pay for your tools once. Depending what
you chose to use when deciding on materials, youll also need the
appropriate tools to work with them to their fullest potentials.
For this build, I chose to use Worbla, Transparent Worbla, EVA

foam, and craft foam. For reference , I based Allison on a mix of
concept art, miniature, and in-game visuals. Always feel free to
mix and match the parts you like the most and truly make it yours.
During my Allison build, I used a heat gun, a Dremel, hot knife,

glue gun, sharp scissors, X-ACTO knives, a rivet hammer, a
hole puncher, many types of paint brushes, and, the best tools
of all, my own two hands. Make sure you wear safety goggles,
dust masks, and proper gloves when sanding, airbrushing, or
working with chemicals.
Forms, Forms Everywhere!
Your Body is a Temple,

Not an Amusement Park
Once I started using Worbla, I realized how many objects would

make fantastic base forms. I have never been more excited to
enter the fake floral section in my life to collect all the wondrous
Styrofoam forms. Not only that but vases, toys, sculptures, sports
balls, horns, bottles, skulls, baskets, almost anything. So, in this
build I used a cashew bottle, shampoo bottle, Styrofoam egg,
Styrofoam head, Styrofoam cone, baseball helmet, and multiple
sizes of Styrofoam balls.
Finally, its easy to get caught up in the mayhem of time constants

that come with cosplay design, especially if you want it done by
a certain date or for a specific convention. Make sure you always
take time to take care of yourself, too. Go for walks. Drink water
like its your job Try to eat veggies as often as you can to keep
energy levels high and yourself focused. And get plenty of
sleepyoull be far productive if you have the clear head that
comes from getting enough rest!
the art of cosplay
15
Arcane Turbines
I used a big plastic cylinder and covered it in Worbla, then closed
it off and used a big round ball to form the raised ends.
I repeated the process to make two smaller inner circles for detail
and used decoration nails for the bolts. I measured out strips
of Worbla and laid them over top the tank to add more depth/
detail. I then opened the back of the tank and measured roughly
where the pipes would go in.
For the exhaust pipes, I used PVC pipe and cut them down to a
40-degree angle for easier insertion into the tank. I then measured
out roughly the size of the vents I wanted and using 1/4 (6 mm)
craft foam and a circle pattern to cut out two rectangles four inches
longer than the PVC pipe, and after I was all done cutting out the
shapes from craft foam, I covered it in Worbla.
I needed enough space for the LEDs that would sit inside to be
easily accessible if I needed to change their batteries or put in new
lights, so I made the bottom out of the same 1/4 (6 mm) craft foam
and traced out a circle for the vent and the pipe. I cut two small slits
and put the power switch through it so I didnt have to open and
close them to turn on the lights. I then closed off the top with Worbla
I shaped along a foam cone and made the PVC pipe appear to get
smaller at the top. I then cut out 12 squares and glued two apiece
together to make the coils for around the base of the pipes and after
covering them in Worbla I used my Dremel to smooth the edges.
I then made another simple box base around the entire tank,
careful to follow the reference, and opened up the back to ready
it to hold the electronics for the smoke machine.
Next, I moved to the bottom of the tank where another
small furnace sits and, using the same egg foam shape as the
breastplate (see below), made the furnace. I drew out the rough
shapes of the vents and used my hot knife to cut them out. Then
to get the right sizing for the trim, I used Scotch tape to cover
the areas of furnace I wanted the design/trim and drew the
rough trim on top. I then cut out all the shapes from the tape
and transferred them to Worbla and cut it all out again. I then
heated them to the edges of the furnace.
I then added one more strip of Worbla for decoration and to
secure the pipes to the furnace then twice around the edges of
the base tank for a firm hold.
Once the trim was done, I used the same tube from the breastplate
piping, I heated globes of Worbla to each end and attached them
to the bottom of the furnace. I then cut out two U shapes and
used them to cover the Worbla globes and furnace to make it
appear as if its running into it.
I moved on to adding the final gauges, piping, and screws. I
bought two simple gauges, one big and one small, and covered
them both in Worbla before attaching them to the tank.
I then heated together my Worbla scraps and rolled them into
tubes and attached them to the tank as piping.
I added some extra Worbla strips as details and then bought
some large screws from my local hardware store and screwed
them on either side of the smaller gauge on top.
16
the art of cosplay
Breastplate
I bought a Styrofoam ball from my local craft store that was a
good-looking breast size.
I covered it in cling wrap and used my heat gun to heat both
sides of the Worbla until it was malleable. I then carefully
stretched it across the Styrofoam ball, rotating it slightly as I
went to help with tearing instead of stretching it directly from
the top down. After a bit of wiggling it popped out, and all I
still needed to do was trim the excess Worbla, repeat, and tahdah! Allison boobs.
I used tape and cling wrap to make a dress form of myself,
covering my torso first with the cling wrap and then with the
tape. After I was completely covered with tape, I drew the shape
I needed the plate to be, then taking the cup from earlier, I traced
around the bottoms of where I wanted my breasts to sit. After
I was done drawing the patterns, I cut it out and transferred it
to craft foam. I covered it in Worbla, tucked the edges, and after
carefully reheating it all, I formed it to the shape of my body. I
then popped the cups in from the back.
I covered the base plate in tape in order to create trim from Worbla.
I did it slightly different for the trim around the breastsinstead
of transferring it directly to Worbla, I instead transferred it to craft
foam first so it would have more of a raised edge.
I moved onto the center furnace and, using an egg shape, I made
a Worbla form of it. I cut it in half and slightly overlapped it for
a raised edge, then I traced out where I wanted my vents to go
and cut them out. I covered the edges in tape and drew out the
trim, transferred the pattern to Worbla, and heated it all together.
For the bolts, I traced out the same circle pattern as the vents and
cut it in half, covered them in Worbla, trimmed and tucked the
edges, and then heated them onto the baseplate.
I used a tube meant for cable organizing as the piping and heated
globes of Worbla to each end before attaching them to the center
of the furnace. I then cut out two U shapes and used them to
cover the Worbla globe and furnace. I added one more strip of
Worbla for decoration and to help secure the pipes against the
breastplate and again in the back.
LEDs
I purchased coin battery LED strands and used them to save time
on wiring them myself.
I covered the areas I wanted my LEDs to shine with Transparent
Worbla and heated it against the Worbla. I then covered the inside
with transparent colored vinyl and lined it with tissue paper to
help diffuse the light. Next, I lined the inside where my LEDs
would go with tinfoil and closed it all off leaving a hidden craft
foam ports to easily access the LED strands to change batteries
or replace lights.
the art of cosplay
17
Allison Jakes Painting Tutorial

MATERIALS USED
Airbrush
Iwata Studio Series
Smart Jet Air
Compressor
Iwata Eclipse Gun
Hot Knife
Drybrushes
Rust-Oleum Black Primer
Spray Paint
Createx Airbrush Paints*
P3 Paints*
FolkArt Acrylic Paints
LePage Wood Glue
Scotch Tape
Paper
*I mixed Createx and P3
together for the perfect
shades of Cygnar Blue/
Yellows
One note: Paint all your armor

first to make sure its all
matching before putting on the
final finishes.
1. Before painting your armor piece, be sure to clean the surface of
any remaining residues. For the damage or scratches, use a hot
knife to cut into the Worbla and be careful not to cut too deep.
PSA: If youre not sure if the hot knife is on, DO NOT TOUCH IT.
A good way to test it is to flick a bit of water on it to see if it sizzles.
2. To begin priming your piece smooth, use four layers of wood glue.
The advantage to wood gluing is that the drying time is much
faster (though you cant sand it) while Gesso takes longer to dry
and requires more coats (but can be sanded).
3. After the wood glue has dried, smooth out any lumpy surfaces by
wetting your fingers and buffing it out or sand it smooth if you
used Gesso.
4. Prime the whole piece black with the Rust-Oleum spray paint as
a basecoat.
5. Switch to the airbrush to create the darker blue basecoat and
be careful to not go too far to the edges to create the black-blue
gradient.
6. Next, airbrush on a lighter shade of blue as the middle highlight.
7. Then airbrush the white highlights.
8. Mask off the inner areas you want to keep blue with the Scotch
tape and paper , and then airbrush the inside edges white.
9. Airbrush black in the corners and create a white-black gradient on
both edges.
18
the art of cosplay
10. Remove the tape and make sure everything looks nice. Dont
worry too much if some paint seeped through because you can
take care of it in the drybrushing stages.
11. All the airbrushing is complete now, so you can switch over to
your Acrylic paints and drybrushes. Paint all the detailing bolts
and trim silver.
12. Use black drybrush along all the edges and create a drop shadow
around each bolt and all of the trim, cleaning up any white around
the edges.
13. Paint the Cygnar crest black and added all the drop shadows
around it. Then paint in the damage/scratches with more black
and subtle white/light blue highlights along the edges of the
scratches to make them pop.
14. Paint the crest in with yellow; it takes about eight coats to make it
really pop.
15. After the crest is done, outline it again with black to make the
edges crisp and drybrush in some brown for low lights.
16. To finish it off, drybrush on a few white highlights to the crest and
voila! Painting complete!
Now the only thing you have to decide is if you want a gloss, semigloss, or matte finish to your armor. I personally use semi-gloss, but
it depends on what kind of sheen you want on the armor or prop
youre painting.
Pauldrons
I made templates from a baseball helmet and measured out
where to sit my crest. I then covered the whole thing in plastic
wrap and tape before drawing out my template.
I cut out the tape template and used it to measure out two sides
of Worbla and a piece of craft foam. I sandwiched the two pieces
for both sides, leaving the center out.
Next, I heated and formed both pieces around a baseball helmet
and pieced it together like magic. I finished it off with a strip of
Worbla smoothed down to a nice finish. The second pauldron
was much easier because it was all one piece. I covered the entire
helmet with Worbla, trimmed the excess, and tucked the edges.
The hole in the first pauldron was meant to proudly house my
Cygnar crest, which I cut out from craft foam and then glued to
another piece of craft foam as a base.
I sandwiched this between two pieces of heated Worbla and then
shaped out the crest.
Next, I formed it to the top of the baseball helmet to make it fit
nicely into my shoulder.
To make the under-detail vents, I measured out how big to make
it based on the bottom measurements from my pauldrons, cut
out the shape from 1/4 (6 mm) craft foam, and then measured
out where to put all my holes.
I traced all the holes from a simple circle pattern and used an
X-ACTO knife to cleanly cut them out.
I sandwiched it between two pieces of Worbla, poking holes with
a pin to let all the air out while shaping them in. After I was done,
I trimmed the excess Worbla off the edges, tucked the edges in,
and loosely rounded them to fit nicely under my pauldron.
I then roughly traced the edges around the pauldron and got
the right sizing for the raised trim. I cut it all out of craft foam,
sandwiched them in Worbla, trimmed the excess, tucked the
edges, and attached them around the edges.
For the rank, I measured out the size proportionate to the
pauldron and cut it out from 1/4 (6 mm) craft foam, sandwiched
it with Worbla, trimmed the excess, tucked the edges and
attached it to the pauldron.
To get the right sizing for the inner trim I used Scotch tape to
cover the area of the pauldron where I wanted the design/trim
and drew the rough trim on top. I then cut out all the shapes
from the tape, transferred them to Worbla, and cut them all out
again. I attached them to the pauldron and then used upholstery
decorative nails for the bolts, attaching Allisons rank to her
second pauldron.
And in the end, I used my hot knife to create random scratches
and damage all along the armor.
the art of cosplay
19
Sewing
I took all my measurements to insure a perfect fit and gave
everything a little extra just in case things dont work out right
its easier to make things smaller than it is to make them bigger.
I bought and altered patterns, but sewing is not my strong point,
so I had to get help. My good friend and fellow cosplayer Andrea
from Forever Dreaming cosplay helped me by hand drafting the
pattern for Allisons jacket; she taught me how to sew everything
After the patterns were figured out, I had to find all the right fabric
and notions. Normally youd make a test pattern out of scrap
fabric before starting your actual piece but with time constraints,
we had to make do with one pass. I used vinyl for the jacket, belts,
and pants, and cotton for the skirts, centerpiece, and pants.
Skirts
First I measured how long I wanted the skirts to be out of the
cotton fabric, then I measured out the widths of the top and
bottom, the bottom being wider than the tops. After I was done
cutting out the patterns, I measured out a border for the skirts,
making them 2 inches along the sides and 4 inches at the bottom
After the edges were all sewn together, I sewed it to the backside
of a belt to hold it around my waist.
Torso Piece
To sew together the centerpiece, I did the same steps as the skirt
with the same fabric and measured how long I wanted it to be. I
then measured out the widths of the top bottom and center, the
bottom and top being wider than the center. After cutting out
the patterns, I measured out a border for the torso piece, making
them 1 inch along the sides and leaving the bottom open for the
Worbla detail. I measured the bottom for the right shape and cut
out a triangular piece of craft foam for the bottom, covered it in
Worbla, tucked the edges, and used decorative nails for the bolts.
I used nails and super glue to hold it to the bottom of the fabric. I
then attached D-rings to the back of the torso piece and attached
the belts to the D-rings using rivets. After that, I added Velcro to
the back to secure them around me snuggly.
Pants
I took all the measurements for my legs, cut out pre-quilted
cotton fabric and vinyl from a modified pants template, and
sewed them together. To add the belts, I measured where I
wanted them to go and sewed the premade belt ends into my
seams. To finish it, I added an elastic band around the inside of
the waist belt and sewed it shut. I then added a few rivets on the
belts at their connecting points.
Jacket
Using the patterns Forever Dreaming Cosplay drafted for me,
I cut the patterns out of vinyl and sewed them together. I then
topstitched and closed all the edges. Next, I added loops around
the bottom of the jacket and the top of the collar for my belts.
I cut out a simple sleeve pattern from the same pre-quilted
material I used for the pants, and I sewed them together. I then
added rivets for detail and stitched the sleeves into the armholes
of the jacket, leaving the top open for the pauldrons strapping.
20
the art of cosplay
Smoke Machine
A lot of planning went into my smoke machine. After the first
failed attempt with a childrens toy, I had to look into small
components to make a custom smoke machine. Once e-cigarettes
were determined to be a small, cheap, and viable method, I just
needed to figure out a way to pump air threw them. With some
help from a friend, I found aquarium tank pumps that make
bubbles, and as luck would have, they used the same voltage
as the e-cigs. I then had some help figuring out how to wire
the proper power circuit and battery source before added my
wireless trigger.
Everything was wired into a fitting case, and tubes connected
the e-cigs into my PVC pipes. When making the turbines, I had
left enough space for the case and the battery to sit snuggly. So,
with the custom smoke machine finished and mounted, all that
was left to do was test them out, and ta-dah! Smoking turbines!
Swords
To begin the swords, I took a large piece of paper, folded it in
half lengthwise down the center, and then used references to
freehand draw a template proportionate to my body along the
folded line of paper. I cut it out so it was equal on both sides.
I then traced the paper onto EVA foam and used a hot knife to
cut out two base shapes for each sword. I then cut out a 1/4 (6
mm) craft foam as my centerpiece guideline and hot glued it to
one of the pieces.
I then measured how far to insert the doweling to double as
support and a hilt. I marked where it would sit.
I then smoothed out the marked lines careful to not press through
to the other side on both pieces, and I inserted the rod.
I then hot glued the whole thing together and marked out where
to sand down. I then carved out the base shape with my Dremel.
After it was even on both sides, I covered the whole thing in
Worbla, being careful to overlap the edges just enough, and then
smoothed down all the edges to a nice even blades edge.
Next, I got to work on the swords furnace. This is another fine
example of forms being everywhereI actually used the form from
my body soap bottle to get the perfect shape for the swords vents.
I then used tape to cover the area of the vent where I wanted the
design/trim and drew the rough trim on top. I then cut out all
the shapes, transferred them to Worbla, cut it all out again, and
heated them to the furnace. When the furnace was complete, I
measured where the vents would go and, using a hot knife, cut
out all the shapes where I had marked. Then I heated the top of
the furnace to the bottom of my guard piece and attached both
top sides of the swords blade.
the art of cosplay
21
Using Worbla, I filled in all the gaps with strips and was careful
to leave half of the top open to easily access the on switch for the
LEDs and then smoothed down all the Worbla edges to a nice clean
finish. I then made the outer guard pieces following the reference
with 1/4 (6 mm) craft foam. Once they were covered in Worbla,
I added the detail strip and used decorative nails to finish it off. I
then measured where they would sit and traced out guard piece to
cut openings into either side of the main guard and pop them in.
After the guard was complete I move onto the pummel and,
using the same form as I did for my exhaust pipes, I heated a
piece of Worbla and wrapped it around. To get the raised top,
I used the same egg shape as the bracers and used the top part
of the egg. After trimming and carefully heating the two pieces
together I roughly traced vents on the pummel and using my
hot knife cut them all out. I then used scrap Worbla pieces as a
backing to create insets all around the pummel.
Using 1/4 (6 mm) craft foam, I made rings to go around the
pummel using the doweling, and I traced the ends and made
rings to snuggly fit around it. I covered the ring in Worbla and,
using my hot knife, cut out the centers and heated the edges as
best I could to the inside to hide the seams.
I then attached one to the top of the guard and, using the same
vinyl fabric I used for the belts/jacket/pants, I wrapped a scrap
strip all the way around it until I got to the top, then I used the
ring I had made for the pummel to hold it all together.
Once the vinyl was set the way I wanted it to be, I fixed the
pummel ring in place and trimmed off any excess vinyl before
heating the pummel to the ring to close it all off.
For the bottom detail beneath the vent, I used the same method I
did to make the bullets and used the small foam ball I found, cut
in half. I then covered them in Worbla, trimmed and tucked the
edges then cut out rectangles of Worbla and attached it along the
bottom of the rim on the ball.
After the Worbla process was done, I used my hot knife to create
random scratches and damage all along the armor.
In the End
To follow the rest of Allisons progress and see more final images, check out my progress page, AllieCat
Art & Cosplay, on Facebook. Ill be regularly posting my WIP as I finish the last few pieces leading up to
Lock & Load, and once Allisons complete, Ill be gearing up to build Allisons counterpart, Commander
Dalin Sturgis, for Brad to wear. Itll be his first time cosplaying and my first time building a male armor
set, so Im really excited to get started! Feel free to message me on my page or email me at alliecatcos@
gmail.com for any questions you might have or if you have any cosplays youd like to share with me. Id love to hear from you!
Thank you so much to all my family (especially you Oka-San and Grandma-Grandma!) and to all my friends and to everyone in the
Privateer Press community. Thank you for all your kind words and support along the way of my cosplay journey. A special thank you to
Andrea at Forever Dreaming Cosplay for all the life-saving sewing advice, and more special thank yous to my photographersRyan Cooper
at Vancouver Cosplay for all the stunning photos of Allison and Kevin Free at Kevin Free Photography for the gorgeous photos of Lylyth.
Thank you also to all my fellow cosplayers who keep me inspired and forever challenging myself. Thank you Scarlette Cosplay, DV8
Props, Kamui Cosplay, Pipa Wolf Cosplay, NefeniCosplay, Armed & Dangerous, Lightning Cosplay, Tara-Rex Cosplay, Kayla Rose
Cosplay, Enayla Cosplay, Rawarhii Cosplay, Ibelinn Cosplay, Murmeltierchen Cosplay, Shokei Cosplay, Cyehra Cosplay, and many,
many more for all the wonderful tips and motivation during Allisons progress.
22
the art of cosplay
the art of cosplay
23
By Ed Bourelle and Michael Plummer Art by nstor ossandn and Andrea Uderzo
Scenario by william hungerford Chronicled by Michael Sanbeg
or this very special No Quarter tenth anniversary

Battle Report, we were determined to pull out all the
stops and give you, our faithful reader, a fight to truly
remember. Thankfully, the timing could not have been better.
With WARMACHINE: Reckoning about to hit the shelves
of game stores across the world, this is our last chance to
reveal an advanced look at a pair of that tomes amazing
new warcasters. We could not have hoped for a better pair
of models to present than the third incarnation of two of the
Iron Kingdoms most iconic characters: Deneghra and Haley.
24
Battle Report
When it came time to select a player to take the reins

of Deneghra, the Soul Weaver and her Cryxian forces,
an occasion this big called for none other than Creative
Director Ed Bourelle. On the other side of the table, Major
Prime Victoria Haley and her Cygnaran army would
be commanded by Convention Coordinator Michael
Plummerallowing us to call on the power of the
longstanding blood-feud between these two combatants,
which readers may recall from the Hell & Dawn Battle
Report in No Quarter #52.
Scenario: Wasteland
The rivalry between the twin warcasters Haley and Deneghra
has become legend in the Iron Kingdoms. Rumors coming from
Ternon Crag place the location of their last battle along the
western border of the Bloodstone Desert, and they say it was a
bloody one. Only time will tell if these tales are truebut they
sure do make for a good story.
This scenario is intended to be played between a Cygnar
army led by any version of Haley and a Cryx army led by
any version of Deneghra.
The Cryx player is the first player and has a deployment
zone of 7 and an advance deployment of13 . The Cygnar
player is the second player and has a deployment zone of
10 and an advance deployment of16 .
When placing terrain, players cannot use shallow water
or forest terrain features. No terrain feature can be placed
within 3 of another terrain feature or within any players
deployment zone.
Special Rules
Players can use two new terrain features during this
scenario: Cactus Patches and Water Towers.
A Water Tower is an obstruction. When a model begins its

activation within 4 of a Water Tower, it can run or charge
without being forced or spending focus.
Victory Conditions
The Cygnar player is attempting to cross the desert to
deliver vital intelligence Haley has acquired. Time is
of the essence, and Haley must hurry before Cryxian
reinforcements can arrive! The Cygnar player wins the
game if Haley ends her activation completely within her
opponents deployment zone.
The Cryx player is trying to stop Haley at all costs to
protect the secrets stolen from the Nightmare Empire.
Reinforcements are already on the way to overwhelm
Haley and her escort, so she must be stalled until they
arrive. The Cryx player wins the game at the end of the
Cygnar players 6th turn.
Additionally, a player wins if he has the only warcaster(s)
or warlock(s) remaining in play.
Obstruction
Obstruction
Player 1 AD Line
Obstruction
Cactus
Patch
Obstruction
Player 2 Deployment
Water
Tower
Player 2 AD Line
Player 1 Deployment
A Catcus Patch is rough terrain that provides concealment

to a model with any part of its base inside the Cactus
Patchs perimeter. Models that are knocked down while in
a Cactus Patch suffer d3 damage points.
Cactus
Patch
10
Battle Report
25
Cryx Army ConstructionEd
eneghra, the Soul

Weaver is great
at
supporting
her army, and her forces
can play a pivotal role in
fueling her to frightening
levels. When it came
time to put together
an army list, first and
foremost I knew I would
want models with the ability to harvest souls to allow
Deneghra to take full advantage of her extremely potent
Soul Weaver ability.
For my battlegroup, I started with a Harrower. This is
an excellent all-purpose helljack anyway, and it has the
added benefit of the Soul Taker ability. Cryx loves its
bonejacks with arc nodes, and this game would prove no
exceptiona Deathripper and a Defiler were the order

of the day. I rounded out my battlegroup with a pair of
Stalkers to provide an excellent flanking threat to divide
Michaels army before it could get too close.
I added a full unit of Mechanithralls with a full complement
of Brute Thrallsnaturally using the upcoming
Lock & Load exclusive Femme Fatale variantas the only
unit in my army. For solos, I snapped up two Pistol Wraiths
primarily for the benefits of Body Count. I also added a pair
of Necrotechs to keep the Harrower in good shape and a
single Warwitch Siren because, well, shes just a handy bag
of tricks to have on hand. Finally, I added a Wraith Engine.
The huge base on this guy would block charges against
Deneghra until shes ready to come out and play, it has
excellent threat potential against a Cygnaran gun line, and
its Soul Collector ability has the potential to provide rocket
fuel for Deneghra.
S
S
N
N
WE
Dr
WS
Df
ST
ST
26
Battle Report
Model/Unit
Deneghra,
The Soul Weaver
Points
+4 warjack pts
Dr
Deathripper
Df
Defiler
H Harrower
10
Stalker x2
8 (4 each)
Mechanithralls (10)
BT
Brute Thrall x3
ST
5
3 (1 each)
Necrotech and Scrap Thrall x2 2 (1 each)
PW
Pistol Wraith x2
6 (3 each)
WS
Warwitch Siren
WE Wraith Engine
Be sure to pick up your own

Brute ThrallFemme Fatale variant,
available at Lock & Load GameFest
and in our online store, June 57!
Total
50
H
BT
PW
PW
Battle Report
27
Cygnar Army ConstructionMichael
hen I found
out I would
get to play
Major Prime Victoria
Haley for this Battle
Report, I practically
jumped for joy. This
version of Haley is
an amazing toolbox
warcaster with answers
to a lot of situations. Because of this versatility, theres a lot
of room for personal preference when constructing a list,
which allows for significant leeway to play models that
mesh well with your own particular play style.
I knew I would want a lot of infantry for significant
board presence, so when I started thinking about
warjacks, I decided to save points and not to take a
colossal. I immediately added Thorn to my battlegroup.

Haley Past packs a lot of punch, and the extra range
Thorns arc node can give me will be infinitely useful in
securing victory over Eds Cryxian horrors. I wanted
at least one heavy-hitting warjack, too, so I picked up
Ol Rowdy for its high power and focus efficiency.
To stretch my focus even further, I gave Haley a Squire.
I definitely wanted to take advantage of Cygnars ranged
superiority over Cryx. A full unit of Tempest Blazers can
take out a lot of infantry in a turn or put some hurt on lowARM warjacks in a pinch, and theyre also an excellent
target for Revive. I wanted to add even more ranged output
without spending too many points, and the Black 13th Gun
Mage Strike Team fit the bill perfectly. They would give me
even more magic gunshots to deal with Incorporeal models
along with a nice suite of special abilities.
OR
S
RC
TB
13
FG
28
Battle Report
With my ranged firepower taken care of, I turned my

attention to melee troops to round out my forces. Im
expecting hard targets on the other side of the table, so I
decided to take a full unit of Horgenhold Forge Guard as
my main melee threat. With Captain Jonas Murdoch added
as a unit attachment, I would be able to bring them back
with Revive as Ed picks them off. Rhulic troops are not the
fastest, so Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord was an obvious
choice to get them through rough terrain in a hurry.
With all these bodies on the table, I reached for
Alexia Ciannor & the Risen. Arcane Disjunction is a real
issue for Cryx, and she can put out major damage when
she wants to. Dominate Undead might also come into play
against the Nightmare Empire.
HP HF
Model/Unit
Points
Major Prime Victoria Haley +3 warjack pts

Thorn
OR Ol Rowdy
Squire
Alexia Ciannor & the Risen (10)
13
Black 13th Gun Mage Strike Team
FG
Horgenhold Forge Guard (10)
JM
Captain Jonas Murdoch
S
A R
With 3 points left, I was looking for a general support

piece. A Journeyman Warcaster rounds out my force
quite nicely, providing a little more ranged oomph
when I need it along with an Arcane Shield to bolster my
defenses. This is a very well-rounded army, and I think
it can counter almost anything Ed wants to throw at me.
I know its going to be a bloody slog against one of my
favorite WARMACHINE opponents, and I cant wait to
see how it turns out.
TB Tempest Blazers (5)

J
RC
10
Journeyman Warcaster
Rhupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord
Total
HP
50 Points
HF
JM
Battle Report
29
Deployment
Advanced Deployment
Cryx Ed
Cryx Ed
My deployment would have to be based solely on the

terrain, since I was going first. For pre-deployment, I put
Deneghra just right of center where she could move toward
the Cactus Patches. I didnt want the buildings on the left
limiting where her base would fit if I could avoid it. I then
pre-deployed the Wraith Engine left of center, leaving
enough space for a large base between it and Deneghra.
Michael had a pretty even spread of forces, so I placed my

Stalkers as far forward as I could get them on either side.
With no pre-deployment from Michael, I began placing the

majority of my force. The Mechanithralls went to the left of
the Wraith Engine where they could surge ahead and jam
up the buildings on that flank and possibly find cover. I
placed the Harrower with a Necrotech behind it between
the two huge bases. The Defiler took up position left of
the huge-base formation, and on the right side I dropped
the Deathripper. I added one Pistol Wraith to each flank
and finished things off with my second Necrotech,
the Warwitch Siren, and both Scrap Thralls in the open
space to the right of Deneghra.
Cygnar Michael
Ed has his forces spread pretty evenly throughout his deployment zone, so I knew I would need to build a wide frontage
to take him on. His Mechanithralls were on my right, so I deployed my Tempest Blazers and the Black 13th in a good
position to take them on. All his heavy armor was on my left flank, so I responded with my Forge Guard and Alexia &
the Risen across from those threats. Haley took her place in the center of my force with Thorn, Ol Rowdy, and the Squire.
This should offer me tactical flexibility to deal with whatever threats I need to counter. I put Rhupert in place to buff my
Forge Guard and the Journeyman Warcaster at the center of the table to support Haley.
30
Battle Report
Round 1
Cryx Ed
I allocated 1 focus to each of Deneghras five warjacks,
leaving 2 on her. I then used the Wraith Engines Apparition
ability to place it 2 forward. Time for the turn-one-run!
On the flanks, both Pistol Wraiths ran forward, one into
the Cactus Patch on the right and the other behind the
forward-most building on the left. In the center,
the Harrower ran to within 4 of the Water Tower.
On the right flank, thanks to Pathfinder, the Stalker ran
straight through the Cactus Patch as far as it could go.
Also on the right, the Pistol Wraith and Warwitch Siren ran
into the Cactus Patch, the Necrotech ran just ahead of the
rock obstruction, the Deathripper ran behind the Cactus
Patch, and the Scrap Thralls ran forward.
Over on the left, the Stalker ran up and around the corner
of the closest building toward the far flank. The Defiler ran
next to the Water Tower followed by the Mechanithralls
that filled the passage between the Water Tower and the
left-most building. I was careful to leave enough space for
the Defiler to move forward, should I choose to activate it
before moving the thralls.
In the center, the Wraith Engine advanced straight
up the middle toward the Water Tower, followed by
the last Necrotech running up behind the Harrower.

Lastly, Deneghra cast Grave Wind on herself for +2 DEF
and Poltergeist. She then advanced as far forward as she
could get behind the Wraith Engine and Necrotech.
Battle Report
31
Round 1
Cygnar Michael
Ed took a pretty standard first turn, and I wasnt really
surprised about where he was going with anything in his
army. I decided not to allocate any focus to my battlegroup
this turn, so I wouldnt be tempted to over-extend too early.
The Tempest Blazers activated and advanced to
put themselves in a strong shooting position next
turn, hopefully without taking a charge before then.
The Black 13th followed suit, getting themselves a bit
forward and into cover to avoid coming under fire from
the Pistol Wraith on my right flank.
On the other side of the battlefield, Rhupert Carvolo used
his March ability on the Horgenhold Forge Guard before
advancing. The Forge Guard ran to put themselves as
far forward as they were able, through the Cactus Patch
thanks to Pathfinder from Rhupert.
Center-stage, Thorn advanced forward but not too far
forward. I kept him at the center of the table so I could
divert him to whichever side of the field would most
need his support next turn. Next, Haley Prime advanced
and spent 4 of her 8 focus to utilize her Time Walker
ability twice, adding both Haley Past and Haley Future
to her unit. These models cant activate on the turn they
come into play, but I needed them to set up for Round 2.
Haley Prime then cast Tactical Supremacy on the Forge
Guard to get a little more distance out of them and
Temporal Flux to give a defensive boost to any models
close by.
Alexia & the Risen ran in behind the Forge Guard, ready
to pick up any corpses Ed might create and to act as a
second wave in case he wipes out my dwarves. The Squire
advanced behind Haley to allow her to benefit from its
various abilities. Ol Rowdy ran up behind the Tempest
Blazers without spending focus, thanks to Aggressive.
To finish things off, the Journeyman Warcaster advanced.
Looking at how this is all playing out, I realized Haley
wasnt going to be sitting on very much focus this
game, so I cast Arcane Shield on her unit. After all of my
activations had completed, the Horgenhold Forge Guard
made their Tactical Supremacy move, and I sat back to see
what Ed had in store for me.
32
Battle Report
Round 2
Cryx Ed
Deneghra upkept Grave Wind and allocated 1 focus to each
Stalker. I then used Apparition to place the Wraith Engine
2 forward, after which it became Incorporeal thanks to its
Wraith Walker ability.
Now it was time to put the Wraith Engine at the center
of the battle. It ran forward, cutting through the Water
Tower, thanks to Incorporeal. This would make it a big but
tough-to-crack target and put it in prime position for Soul
Collector. To take advantage of that right away, I advanced
the Warwitch Siren to the center and cast Venom at a pair
of Forge Guard. Hitting their low DEF was no problem,
and thanks to a couple of high damage rolls, both died to
the corrosive spray. The Wraith Engine gained their souls,
but over on Michaels side, Alexia picked up two corpse
tokens. We literally split the spoils between us.
When it comes to WARMACHINE, I do not like to share.
I was going to have to get Alexias attention in the backfield.
To that end, I ran the Stalker on the right flank a full 14 to
pose a threat from behind in the hopes that Michael would
decide to deal with it sooner rather than later.
Also on the right, the Pistol Wraith advanced through
the Cactus Patch and shot down another Forge Guard.
Soul to the Pistol Wraith, Corpse to Alexia. Grrr The
Pistol Wraiths second shot hit another Forge Guard but
failed to kill him. Maybe thats a good thingI had enough
souls for the turn.
The Scrap Thralls ran around each side of the Cactus
Patch and forward of the Pistol Wraith to create targets
for the Forge Guard and hopefully to take attention away
from the Pistol Wraith. Wrapping up activations on the
right flank, the Deathripper advanced along the outside
of the Cactus Patch.
Thanks to its proximity to the Water Tower, the Defiler
was able to run to the front of the obstruction without
spending focus. Deneghra then used her Soul Weaver
ability to remove two souls from the Wraith Engine and
place them on herself. This is where Deneghra becomes
deadly efficient. Using her Soul Mastery ability, I removed
one soul token from her to trigger Arcane Spirits, which
allows her to cast a spell with COST 3 or less without
spending focus. Mortality is my spell of choice in this
case, which I cast through the Defilers arc node, targeting
Thorn. Using a focus point to boost, I hit the high DEF
warjack and caused it to suffer -2 DEF and ARM. Again
using Soul Mastery, I removed a soul from her. This time
I triggered her Vengeful Spirits ability, which allocates
up to 3 focus to a warjack in her battlegroup within her
CMD range. I chose the Harrower and filled it with focus.

Deneghra then advanced up behind the Wraith Engine.
Between Grave Wind and the 3 focus on her, she was
sitting at a respectable DEF 17 and ARM 19.
Next up was the Harrower, which advanced before
boosting a Mortifier shot at Thorn. The shot connected,
and thanks to Mortality, the boosted damage roll inflicted
8 damage despite mediocre dice results.
On the left flank, the Mechanithralls ran forward to the
midline of the battlefield, engaging one Tempest Blazer
in the process. The remaining Stalker then ran around
the far building, keeping close to its edge to gain as much
distance around it as possible. The Pistol Wraith followed
up, taking shelter from all the magelock pistols behind the
same building. Lastly, the Necrotechs advanced toward
the Harrower so they would be able to move into base
contact for repairs next turn.
Overall, this felt like a pretty good turn. There was a lot
pressure on Michaels army, and it was coming from a lot
of different directions.
Battle Report
33
Round 2
Cygnar Michael
That could have gone a lot worse! Thorn took a pretty solid
hit, but I only lost three Forge Guard to Eds onslaught.
My Tempest Blazers were a little gummed up, but I was
pretty sure I could get them free. To start things off,
Haley Prime spent 4 focus to upkeep Haley Past and
Haley Future. Haley Future had some work to do this turn,
but with some quick math I realized she would be the
one to handle my focus allocation as well. She allocated 2
focus to Thorn. The Journeyman Warcaster upkept Arcane
Shield on Haley. Alexia discarded three corpse tokens and
added three Risen to her unit. That Stalker on my left was
getting too close for comfort, and she would soon need
those Risen to buy extra attacks and boosts. I really needed
to think about how I was going to get Haley across the
board. It was starting to look like my ticket would be to
blow a hole in Eds flank.
To get things started, Thorn charged the Defiler and
boosted to hit with its Disruption Spear. The attack
struck true, and it dealt 14 damage to the bonejack.
Not enough to take out its arc node, but this was a good
start, and it was disrupted. Thorn then used its Shock
Shield to dispatch the nearest Mechanithrall.
Alexia & the Risen activated next. I really wanted to use
Dominate Undead on the Wraith Engine to force it out
of its Incorporeal state, but the threat of the Stalker on
my flank was too great to ignore. The unit charged into
the Stalker, and two of the Risen attacked and missed.
Alexia then made her charge attack, removing a Risen
from play to boost the attack roll thanks to Death Magic.
The attack hit and dealt 11 damage to the Stalker.
She removed another two Risen from play for a second
boosted attack, which missed. I really wanted this Stalker
out of my hair, so I removed two more Risen for another
boosted attack, which hit. One more Risen bought me a
boosted damage rollenough to destroy the bonejack.
With everything converging on my forces so quickly,

I decided it was time for Haley Prime to use her Arcane
Singularity feat. This immediately gave each of my
Haleys +2 FOCUS and 2 focus points. Because of Thorns
affinity with Haley, Haley Past was able to channel a
Force Hammer through the engaged arc node targeting
the untouched Brute Thrall. I spent a focus to boost, just
to make sure it would hit. It did, and it slammed the
Brute Thrall 3 over two Mechanithralls to destroy both
with collateral damage. Haley Pasts Raw Talent ability
meant I would roll an additional die on her damage rolls,
which I expected to be more than enough to take out the
Brute Thrall. I had just watched my dice fail me twice with
the Black 13th, though, and I had nothing to do with her
last focus point, so I boosted the damage roll to crush the
Brute with impunity.
Along my right flank, I activated the Black 13th.

Ryan advanced to deal with a few Mechanithralls
while Lynch and Watts stared down the Stalker on my
right flank. Ryan used a Mage Storm attack targeting
a Mechanithrall right in the middle of its group.
The massive 4 AOE destroyed three Mechanithralls.
My dice absolutely exploded on damage rolls against the
Brute Thralls, killing one outright and leaving another
with only 2 damage boxes remaining. I love the Black 13th;
they do great work every time I play them. Moving on to
Watts and Lynch, both fired Brutal Damage shots at the
Stalker. . . and brutally missed. This wasnt going to be
pretty
Ed took out a few of my models last turn, and I wasnt

too happy about that. Haley Future did her bit to fix that
problem, casting Revive to return one of my Forge Guard
to the fight. With her 1 remaining focus, she boosted
a Phase Bolt against the Warwitch Siren. A few good
dice rolls later and the warwitch was undone. Haley
Primes Reiteration ability allowed her to cast Revive
as well, bringing another Forge Guard back to the unit.
She used her last 3 focus to cast Domination against
the Harrower to turn it around and swing at Deneghra.
The Harrower missed, and Deneghra chose not to push it
back with Poltergeist. I was pretty satisfied with Haleys
activation, and I felt set up for success.
34
Battle Report
The Tempest Blazers activated next, advancing or aiming

as needed. My first aimed shot was a Brutal Damage
shot targeting the last remaining Brute Thrall. It inflicted
0 damage. That was okay, though. These things happen.
My second Tempest Blazer fired an Electro Leap shot
targeting a Mechanithrall . . . and missed. This was not
okay. This does not happen. The third fired an Electro Leap
shot at another Mechanithralland missed. I was starting
to feel a little ill at this point. My last two Tempest Blazers
fired Electro Leap shots into Mechanithralls, wiping out
three of them and finishing off the Defiler. I immediately
started to feel a little better about my life choices.
I only had a few activations left, and I started with Rhupert

using Heroic Call to assure the Forge Guard wouldnt
fail any command checks and to give them Tough.
The Forge Guard charged several targets, resulting in two
demolished Scrap Thralls, 6 damage for the Harrower,
one dead Forge Guard, a soul for the Wraith Engine, and
hopefully some tough choices for Ed on his next turn.
Rowdy advanced toward the Stalker to threaten a counter
charge, while the Squire and Journeyman advanced to
hopefully block line of sight to Haley Prime.
Round 3
Cryx Ed
I had expected to take some losses, but 15 models? Damn.
There was now a big hole in my left flank that Michael
could potentially take advantage of to move Haley into my
deployment zone for a scenario victory. I hoped I could
count on my speed to cut her off, if it came to that.
I started things off by upkeeping Grave Wind on
Deneghra and allocating 2 focus to the remaining Stalker.
The now-corporeal Wraith Engine used Apparition to
start the turn 2 to its right and no longer engaged by any
Forge Guard.
The Pistol Wraith by the Cactus Patch aimed a shot at
Jonas Murdoch. He was just barely within range, and I spent
the Wraiths soul token to boost the damage, but Murdoch
managed a Tough roll and survived. With the second shot,
however, he wasnt so lucky. Thanks to his proximity, the
Wraith Engine sucked up Murdochs soul while his corpse
stayed right where it was, far from Alexias reach. No sharing.
On the right flank, the Deathripper advanced and attacked
the nearest Forge Guard in hopes of adding yet another
soul to the Wraith Engine. But dice happen, and the attack
missed. The left Necrotech advanced to the Harrower
and performed a Repair special action, which also failed.
I was starting to feel a touch of desperation creep in.
I took a breath and walked around to Michaels side of the
table to activate my Stalker. Using its SPD 7, I was able to
take the long route around the back of The Black 13ths
Watts and Lynch to stay out of Counter Charge range
of Ol Rowdy. Two boosted Eviscerator attacks later,
and Watts and Lynch were lunch.
Battle Report
35
Round 3
Cryx Ed
I spent a few minutes thinking about what to do with
Deneghra and almost decided to charge up the center.
In the end, I opted to play a bit more conservatively.
I pulled both souls off of the Wraith Engine using Soul
Weaver. I spent the first to cast Mortality on the Forge
Guard, softening them up before charging forward
and right, over the Wraith Engine, at one of them.
The hit landed, netting Deneghra another soul and sending
another corpse to Alexia. I cast Mortality a second time
using a soul, this time hitting Thorn. I boosted my third
casting of it, spending my final soul instead of focus to strike
the nearest Tempest Blazer.
The Pistol Wraith on the left flank advanced through the

front corner of the building and eliminated two Tempest
Blazers to end its activation with one soul. To follow that
up, the remaining Mechanithrall and Brute Thrall charged
the Tempest Blazers and eliminated two more of them.
Next up, the Wraith Engine advanced to engage the three
Forge Guard it had Apparitioned away from during the
Control Phase. The first one it killed passed his soul to the
Harrower, which was closer, while the second netted the
Wraith Engine a soul it then spent to kill a third dwarf and
gain yet another soul token. No corpses for Alexiathe
sacrificial Stalker had paid off.
Did I say I spent my final soul token?
The second Necrotech advanced and successfully repaired

3 damage points to the Harrower. The Helljack then
advanced into melee with Thorn, destroying it with two
hits and boosted damage from its Perisher and suffering 1
point of Cortex damage from Thorns Shock Shield.
At this point, Deneghra used her feat, Hell Gate, to

immediately gain 7 soul tokens. I then spent one of the
soul tokens to allocate 3 focus to the Harrower and ended
her activation with 6 souls and 3 focus sitting on her. I love
her so much.
36
Battle Report
It felt like a good response to the devastation Michael had

unleashed on me the previous turn, but I wasnt confident
it would be enough.
Cygnar Michael
Well, things were starting to look a little grim. I had been
hoping to hold out for an assassination attempt on Deneghra,
but that was looking less and less possible every turn.
If I was to have any hope of winning this game, I was going
to have to get Haley across the board. After replenishing
my focus, I used the Squires Reserve Accumulator to give
Haley Prime an additional focus point. I spent 2 focus
to upkeep Haley Future, but I let Haley Past phase out.
Haley Present also allocated a single focus to Ol Rowdy.
Alexia gained another Risen for her unit.
First off, my Journeyman Warcaster advanced and fired a
boosted Hand Cannon shot at a Mechanithrall, dispatching
it quickly. Ryan, the last surviving member of the Black
13th, took aim and fired a Mage Storm shot at the last Brute
Thrall. My dice cooperated this time, killing both the Brute
Thrall and the Pistol Wraith.
Haley activated next, Prime advancing and Future aiming.
Haley Future cast Revive to bring back a Tempest Blazer,
then fired a Phase Bolt shot at the Harrower, boosting the
damage roll for 8 points of damage. Haley Present cast
Temporal Flux and took a potshot at the Harrower with
her Hand Cannon. She hit and boosted the damage, doing
another 3 points to the helljack.
Rhupert advanced and used Dirge of Mists on Haley,
increasing her DEF to a whopping 19! I was feeling pretty
safe sitting on DEF 19/ARM 20, and I expected to be able
to clear some serious board space next turn. The Forge
Guard activated next and charged. The first attacked the
Deathripper and scored a Critical Smite, slamming the
Bonejack 2 and dealing 9 points of damage to take out its

Cortex, Arc Node, and Movement. The three remaining
Forge Guard all missed their attacks against Deneghra,
and one was pushed back with Poltergeist. My Tempest
Blazers then advanced and fired Brutal Damage shots at
the Harrower. The first dealt 5 damage and the second did
another 6, but the Helljack was still standing! They used their
cavalry movement to engage enemy models and hopefully
block some enemy movement. Alexia & the Risen activated
last and ran toward the center of the board, hoping to fill
space Deneghra would need to land, or at least to make her
spells cost more focus thanks to Arcane Disjunction.
I was left with nothing to do but hope Haleys impressive
defensive stats would keep her alive long enough to start
hoofing it into Eds deployment zone.
Battle Report
37
Round 3
Cryx Ed
While my casualties were only moderate, I found myself
starting this turn with only seven models on the table.
One of those models, however, was Deneghra, and after
converting her soul tokens she was sitting on a hefty 13
focus. Due to Alexias Arcane Disjunction, I had to pay 2
of those focus to upkeep Grave Wind. I allocated no focus,
as Deneghra was going to need everything she could get.
The Wraith Engine became Incorporeal but did not use its
Apparition ability.
The Pistol Wraith aimed and fired, killing the two Forge
Guard on the far right and picking up two soul tokens.
The Wraith Engine took a free strike from a Tempest Blazer
despite being Incorporeal, thanks to the cavalry models
Gunfighter ability and blessed Magelock. But the attack
only inflicted 3 damage, and following its movement the
Wraith Engine, still in Reach range, killed the Tempest
Blazer with a Scything Blade attack. Due to proximity,
the soul token went to Deneghra. With its second attack,
the battle engine killed the Tempest Blazer engaging the
Harrower and Deneghra picked up the soul once again.
The Deathripper sacrificed its action to stand and advanced
into melee with one of the nearby Forge Guard.
With the Wraith Engine blocking the Necrotechs from
repairing the Harrower, everything rested on Deneghra
to pull off an assassination against her twin sister.
She used Soul Weaver to pull two souls off of the
Pistol Wraith behind her for a total of three, then spent

one to circumvent Alexias Arcane Disjunction and cast
Ghost Walk on herself. Free strikes were a small risk,
given all her focus, but I didnt want to take any chances.
She then charged Haley, using her full 12 of movement to
get as close as possible. Before making the charge attack,
she spent 8 (yes, EIGHT!) focus to cast Scourge on Haley.
She did not boost the attack, and though it did not hit
directly, the deviation was so minimal it didnt matter.
Haley and the Squire were both knocked down by the
spell, and although Deneghra was also in the 4 AOE, she
could not be knocked down because shes a battle engine.
The blast did not damage any of the three models within it,
but Haley was on her ass. She spent one more soul to get
around Arcane Disjunction and hit Haley with Mortality
to drop her ARM and DEF by 2. Finally, Deneghra
made her charge attack, which hit the knocked-down
Haley automatically and delivered 9 points of damage.
With only 3 of her original 13 focus left, she bought another
melee attack, which hit automatically, and boosted for 5
more damage. This left Haley at 1 damage box remaining.
Using her final focus, Deneghra was able to hit and break
Haleys armor without boosting to end the game.
I would like to imagine that Deneghra cut Haley in half.
What comes around goes around, and all that. Deneghra
will be sure to save Haleys soul for something special.
38
Battle Report
Conclusion
Cygnar Michael
ARRRRRGH!
The
agony
of defeat, once again! In all
seriousness, Ed Bourelle is
one of my all-time favorite
WARMACHINE opponents.
I know whenever I sit down to
a game with him, Ill have to
think a lot, talk a lot of smack
I probably cant back up, and laugh more than I later
think was appropriate.
Major Prime Victoria Haley is incredibly versatile and
fun to play! She took practice to master, but once you
have a few games under your belt, her bevy of tactical
options really opens a lot of doors in any given game.
Im really looking forward to getting some more games in
with this deadly trioand hopefully taking my revenge
against Eds Deneghra!
Cryx Ed
I love playing WARMACHINE
with Michael Plummer. We always
have a good time and a great
game, and theres always plenty
of smack-talk and squirming as
we go back and forth bashing one
another to pieces.
Deneghra, the Soul Weaver is an amazing warcaster,
elevated by her army as much as her army is elevated by
her. The ability to dish out Mortality all over the place for
just one soul token easily makes up for it not being an
upkeep spell and allows even MAT 5 Mechanithralls to hit
reliably (at least, the ones left after getting the crap shot
out of them). Having access to multiple soul-gathering
options really props up Deneghra with her Soul Weaver
ability, allowing her to pull them off one model each turn,
but even against a soulless army her feat would still let her
capitalize on one big turn.
For me, the Wraith Engine was the MVP in this game, and
I think players will be gunning hard for it whenever one
takes the field with Deneghra, the Soul Weaver.
Battle Report
39
Major Prime
Victoria Haley
By Matt DiPietro
For this special ten-year anniversary issue of No Quarter, were going to take you inside the P3 Studio for an in-depth look at the
process and techniques used to paint the official studio version of one of the incredible new warcaster models featured in the upcoming WARMACHINE: Reckoning. We could think of no better subject than the latest incarnation of one of the Iron Kingdoms
most iconic and beloved warcasters, Victoria Haley.
Painted by none other than Matt DiPietro himself, were proud to present Cygnars own Major Prime Victoria Haley.
40
Modeling & Painting
Haley Past
Skin
paintS Used
1) Basecoat the skin with Midlund Flesh.
Battledress Green
2) Mix Midlund Flesh with small amounts of Battledress

Green and Skorne Red, then shade the flesh.
Midlund Flesh
Ryn Flesh
3) Apply highlights of Ryn Flesh.
Skorne Red
4) Mix Midlund Flesh with Skorne Red and pick out the details.
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Fabric
5) Basecoat the trousers with Bootstrap Leather.
paintS Used
6) Shade the trousers with Battlefield Brown.
Bastion Grey
7) Mix Exile Blue with Umbral Umber and shade the clothing.
Battlefield Brown
8) Apply highlights to the trousers using a mixture of Bootstrap Leather and Khardic Flesh.
9) Continue highlighting the clothing areas with a mix of Bootstrap Leather and
Rucksack Tan.
10) Basecoat the hood and bodice with Trollblood Highlight.
11) Shade the cloth with Bastion Grey.
12) Use a 2:1 mixture of Menoth White Highlight and Trollblood Highlight to
highlight the cloth areas.
Beast Hide
Bootstrap Leather
Exile Blue
Hammerfall Khaki
Ironhull Grey
Jack Bone
Khardic Flesh
Menoth White Base
Morrow White
Rucksack Tan
Trollblood Highlight
Umbral Umber
Modeling & Painting
41
Fabric Continued
13) Add Morrow White to a small amount of the mixture from the previous step, then highlight the cloth.
14) Basecoat the cloth wrappings on Haleys arms with Hammerfall Khaki.
15) Shade the wrappings with a mixture of Beast Hide and Ironhull Grey.
16) Highlight the wrappings with a mixture of Jack Bone and Menoth White Highlight.
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18
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Details
17) Basecoat the belts and satchels with a mixture of Gun Corps Brown and Traitor Green.
paintS Used
Beast Hide
18) Shade these portions of the model with a mixture of Cryx Bane Base and Umbral
Umber.
Blue Ink
19) For further shading, pick out the edges and lines of the belts and pouches with a
mixture of Brown Ink and Exile Blue.
Cryx Bane Base
20) Highlight the satchels and belts with Gun Corps Brown.
21) Basecoat the scarves with a mix of Greatcoat Grey, Trollblood Base, and a small
amount of Cygnar Blue Base.
22) Add Exile Blue to the previous mixture and shade the scarves.
23) Apply dark lines and final shading to the scarves with Exile Blue mixed with a small
amount of Thamar Black.
24) Highlight the scarves with a mixture of Greatcoat Grey and Trollblood Base.
Brown Ink
Cygnar Blue Base
Exile Blue
Greatcoat Grey
Gun Corps Brown
Jack Bone
Thamar Black
Traitor Green
Trollblood Base
Umbral Umber
Underbelly Blue
42
Modeling & Painting
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25) Add Underbelly Blue to the previous mixture and apply line highlights to the scarves. Glaze thinned Blue Ink on the
scarf around Haleys neck to increase the saturation and draw attention to her face.
26) Pick out the remaining details with Beast Hide.
27) Apply Jack Bone highlights to the details and ropes.
Haley Prime
1
paintS Used
Battledress Green
Midlund Flesh
Ryn Flesh
Skorne Red
Thamar Black
Traitor Green
Skin
1) Basecoat her skin with Midlund Flesh.
2) Shade her face and skin with a mixture of Midlund Flesh, Skorne Red, and Traitor Green.
3) Line her face with a mixture of Battledress Green and Skorne Red to define her expression. Black out her eyes with Thamar Black.
4) Highlight the face with multiple glazes of Ryn Flesh.
Fabric
5) Basecoat the cloak with Trollblood Highlight. Apply multiple coats to achieve a
solid color base.
7) Use Ironhull Grey to apply final shading to the overhanging areas of the cloak.
Bastion Grey
Beast Hide
6) Shade the cloak with Bastion Grey.
paintS Used
Bootstrap Leather
Brown Ink
Cygnar Blue Base
Exile Blue
Frostbite
Greatcoat Grey
Ironhull Grey
Menoth White Highlight
Trollblood Base
Umbral Umber
Underbelly Blue
Modeling & Painting
43
Fabric Continued
8) Highlight the cloak with a mix of Frostbite, Menoth White Highlight, and Trollblood Highlight.
9) Mix a small amount of the previous mixture into a larger quantity of Menoth White Highlight, then apply final highlights to the cloak.
10) Basecoat the trousers with Beast Hide.
11) Basecoat the remaining leather areas with Bootstrap Leather.
12) Shade the trousers and leather with a mixture of Brown Ink and Umbral Umber.
13) Basecoat the remainder of the clothing with a mixture of Greatcoat Grey, Trollblood Base, and a small amount of Cygnar Blue Base.
14) Add Cygnar Blue Base and Exile Blue to the previous mixture and use this to shade the clothes.
15) Highlight the clothing with a mixture of Greatcoat Grey, Trollblood Base, and Underbelly Blue. Apply glazes of Cygnar Blue Base
to heighten the saturation.
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Armor
16) Basecoat the armor with Cygnar Blue Base.
17) Shade with a mixture of Exile Blue and Umbral Umber.
18) Apply lines and dark shading to the armor with a mix of Brown Ink, Exile Blue, and a small amount of Thamar Black.
16
44
Modeling & Painting
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
19) Apply highlights of Cygnar Blue Highlight.

20) Use a mixture of Cygnar Blue Highlight and Frostbite to increase the highlighting.
21) Apply Frostbite in small lines and points to imply glinting highlights on the metal.
22) Basecoat the glowing areas with Arcane Blue.
23) Use a mixture of Arcane Blue and Menoth White Highlight to add points of light
in the glowing vents.
24) Add lines of Meredius Blue to the edges to make the vents and the textures of
the glowing areas more distinct. Define areas of the most intense glow with dots
of Menoth White Highlight.
paintS Used
Arcane Blue
Brown Ink
Cold Steel
Cygnar Blue Base
Cygnar Blue Highlight
Exile Blue
Frostbite
Meredius Blue
Thamar Black
Umbral Umber
Modeling & Painting
45
Haley future
Skin
paintS Used
1) Basecoat the face with Midlund Flesh.
Battledress Green
2) Shade the skin with a mixture of Gun Corps Brown

and Midlund Flesh.
Gun Corps Brown
3) Use a mixture of Battledress Green and Skorne Red to

line and define the facial expression.
Midlund Flesh
Jack Bone
Ryn Flesh
4) Highlight with a mix of Jack Bone, Midlund Flesh, and

Ryn Flesh.
Skorne Red
Arming Doublet
5) Basecoat the quilted armor with Bootstrap Leather. Sketch the lighting highlights
onto the underside of the cloak with Arcane Blue.
paintS Used
Arcane Blue
Beast Hide
6) Shade the quilted armor with a wash of Umbral Umber.
Bootstrap Leather
7) Highlight with Beast Hide.
Brown Ink
Fabric
Umbral Umber
8) Basecoat the cloak with Cygnar Blue Base. Use thin layers of paint to let the sketch
of the lighting pattern show through.
9) Define the lines and overhanging areas of the cloak with a final shading of Exile
Blue and Umbral Umber.
10) Begin highlighting with Cygnar Blue Highlight. Use a mixture of Arcane Blue
and Cygnar Blue Highlight to blend the lighting sketch into the blue of the cloak.
10
paintS Used
Arcane Blue
Bastion Grey
Cygnar Blue Base
Cygnar Blue Highlight
Exile Blue
Frostbite
Greatcoat Grey
Ironhull Grey
Trollblood Base
Umbral Umber
Underbelly Blue
46
Modeling & Painting
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
11) Continue highlighting with a mixture of Cygnar Blue Highlight and Frostbite. Give the glow effect a highlight of Arcane Blue.
12) Add Frostbite to the previous mixture and apply edge highlights to the cloak. Mix Arcane Blue and Menoth White Highlight
and highlight the glowing areas.
13) Basecoat the bodysuit with a mix of Cygnar Blue Base, Greatcoat Grey, and Trollblood Base.
14) Add Exile Blue and Umbral Umber to the previous mixture and shade the bodysuit. Add Underbelly Blue to the previous
mixture and highlight the bodysuit.
15) Basecoat the remaining portions of the cloak with Trollblood Highlight.
16) Shade the cloak details with Bastion Grey. Shade some of the overhanging areas with Ironhull Grey.
17) Highlight the cloak details with equal parts Frostbite, Menoth White Highlight, and Trollblood Highlight.
18) Mix Menoth White Highlight into the previous mixture and apply the final highlights.
Armor
19) Basecoat the armor with Underbelly Blue.
20) Shade with a wash of Greatcoat Grey and Underbelly Blue.
19
20
paintS Used
Frostbite
Greatcoat Grey
Ironhull Grey
Morrow White
Underbelly Blue
Modeling & Painting
47
Armor
21) Apply Ironhull Grey line shading.
22) Blend highlights of Frostbite to the armor.
23) Apply final highlights with highly thinned Morrow White.
21
22
23
Metals
1) The metal on all three models is painted using the same techniques. Start by
basecoating the steel with Cold Steel.
Battledress Green
Brown Ink
2) Shade the metals with Greatcoat Grey.
Cold Steel
3) Shade further with a mixture of Exile Blue and Umbral Umber.
Exile Blue
4) Add a small amount of Thamar Black to the previous mix and use it to apply
extreme shading to the steel. Use this mixture to define the lines of the sculpture.
5) Basecoat the burnished brass areas with multiple layers of Rhulic Gold.
6) Shade the Rhulic Gold with a mixture of Battledress Green and Brown Ink.
48
paintS Used
Frostbite
Greatcoat Grey
Quick Silver
Rhulic Gold
7) Highlight the brass areas with Solid Gold.
Solid Gold
8) Apply a matte sealant to flatten the metallic sheen and protect the models. Once
this is dry, highlight the steel areas with Quick Silver. Use a mixture of Solid Gold
and Quick Silver to highlight the gold areas.
Thamar Black
Umbral Umber
Modeling & Painting
hair
1) Basecoat the hair of both Haley Past and Haley Prime with
Rucksack Tan.
2) Shade the hair with Gun Corps Brown to define volume.

3) Use a mixture of Battledress Green and Brown Ink to define
individual strands of hair.
4) Apply highlights to the hair using a mixture of Menoth
White Base, Moldy Ochre, and Rucksack Tan.
5) Apply glinting highlights to the hair with a mixture of
Menoth White Highlight and Moldy Ochre.
Haley Futures Hair

Haley Future is painted with grey hair. Use Bastion Grey, Ironhull
Grey, and Trollblood Highlight to achieve this hair color.
paintS Used
Battledress Green
Brown Ink
Menoth White
Highlight
Gun Corps Brown
Moldy Ochre
Menoth White Base
Rucksack Tan
Conclusion
To wrap up the models, finish off their remaining details such as goggles and eyes. These are quick steps that require minimal effort. And
with these steps complete, your Haley models are ready to hit the field of battle against any of Cygnars numerous foes at any timein
the past, in the now, or in the future. Major victories await you!
Modeling & Painting
49
BY MARISHA RAY
marisha ray
Marisha Ray brings a unique quality to her cosplay:
shes an actor with an IMDB pedigree the Privateer Press
community is sure to find impressive, with a professional team
supporting her. She discovered WARMACHINE through a
friends Khador army. This soon evolved into her fielding her
own army: Cryx.
It wasnt really a hard decision for me, she explains.
Youre saying I can play as an undead, uber-metal,
soul-sucking, dragon-slave army? Im there faster than the
average person can say, Marisha, you lost me ten minutes ago.
Over time, more and more of our friends started picking up the habit.
Next thing I know, I look around and my apartment looks like
its one shout-caster shy of becoming a national tournament.
Soon, her apartment became the focus of gatherings that turned
each WARMACHINE night into an epic miniature adventure.
50
the art of cosplay
The whole room would

participate
in
this
shared pseudo-reality of
competitive
storytelling,
balanced by the tandem
weight of strategy,and
sheer
dumb
luck.
A critical fail would
produce a cacophonous
wave of battle cries;
while those incredible
high-risk maneuvers that
realistically
shouldnt
have worked would be
immediately reenacted in my kitchen like an elementary
school production of Les Miserables. Hell, Im pretty sure half of my
Bane Thralls were named Steve at this point, because... I mean,
lets face it; Steve is a pretty funny name when describing how your
Bane was so needlessly trampled.
Youd never know that under that epic paint job, I used Hello Kitty
stickers to make the rivets. Yup, armor building is quite deceiving! We
used craft foam that I mounted onto an old bra and rubber tubing for
the trim. From there, we coated the whole thing in a two-part resin to
give it a hard but still flexible surface.
This steady influx of entertaining WARMACHINE gaming

inevitably led Marisha to consider combining her enjoyment of
the game with her skills as an actor.
The backpack was foam fabricated by Kai and then airbrushed with
P3 Paints for extra authenticity! Kai also crafted the sword, the blade
being made from PVC board sandwiched together and then carved,
PVC piping for the handle. The hilt was sculpted from clay, molded
and then cast with lightweight fiberglass, and all of the pieces were
designed to slot together perfectly.
One fateful evening, while we were enjoying our postWARMACHINE afterglow, she says, I mentioned to sculptor
Kai Norman how incredible it would be if we could pull off a
Skarre costume. After a moment of staring at the Skarre art, or
Skarte, as I like to call it, he confidently stated, Someday, Im
going to make you that sword. Two years later, and here it is in
my living room.
Her enthusiasm for cosplay has grown ever since that first step,
and it has been underscored by her even deeper enthusiasm for
gaming itself. Im one of those people who believes that games
and gamers can save the world; maybe its because, in more ways
than one, they have already saved mine. This project was about
bringing a new reality to an incredibly crafted world that, for the
most part, lives on the table and in our imaginations. Its hard not
to have that urge to share a fandom you love so much to those
who might otherwise miss it if not presented in their chosen brand
of nerdom. Personally, Im keeping my fingers crossed that this
passion project builds into something even more...epic.
the art of cosplay
51
The horns were made to be lightweight, constructed with a thin resin

skin and then backfilled with pourable foam.
The pauldrons were created much the same way, sculpted, molded in
silicone, and then cast from resin and reinforced with fiberglass, before
finally being lined with felt to prevent wear on the leather coat.
Marisha and I started with various photo references of the character.
From there, I draped the basic coat pattern on Marisha to ensure the
custom fit to the actress/model. The coat was then cut and sewn from
deer leather. Nick Bauman
Real evil is in the eyes
We actually celebrated our St. Pattys Day by doing one of my final

fittings, which is why I am so fashionably holding that glass of Irish
whiskey. Turns out alcohol and pirate coats go quite well together!
Everything got a healthy wash of various colors to add realism; really

a lot of techniques you learn painting minis can be applied to larger
objects as well. Little details count for a lot though, and I added small
areas of patina, rust and salt damage to the parts we worked on. Skarre
is a pirate, after all, and that profession is not kind on ones belongings.
Kai Norman
The weapon of a pirate

queen comes together.
52
the art of cosplay
the art of cosplay
53
From top left to bottom right: Original image shot in studio on a gray background to be cut out, test composite for basic framing and
concept, building the composite with reposed arm and leg, final color graded and integrated composite.
From the outset, I knew this would be an amazing but complicated shoot. Kai, Nick, Chrissy, and Marisha did an amazing job bringing Skarre to life
in our world, and it became my task to bring Skarre to life in the game world. I chose to shoot Marisha in-studio but lit her to match the background
plates of a volcanic crater I would be compositing her onto. I also utilized several types of rocks to better emulate the ground of the volcanic image as
well. In Photoshop, I composited Marisha into the volcanic world and added the green poison gas cloud utilizing many layers of smoke and gas
images. Because I lit her to match the background from the onset, compositing was fairly easy. The hard part was giving it the painterly feel to make
her image feel like it was the game brought to life. Greg De Stefano
54
the art of cosplay
Marisha Ray
Greg De Stefano
Kai Norman
Nick Baumann
I could not have done this without the

help of my amazing boyfriend, Matthew
Mercer. He built the dagger, the armored
necklace, and helped me tag-team
the breast plate. I can only assume he
gets his infinite wisdom straight from
Menoth himself. You can hear his prolific
voice acting in WARMACHINE: Tactics
(Asphyxious, Stryker, Kreoss) and can
follow his antics @matthewmercer.
And a huge shout out to my team!
If it werent for their collaborative
creativity, this never would have
happened! As for myself, I was
responsible for altering the boots,
building the leg armor which is crafted
out of leather, the chainmail garters,
crafting the skirt, altering gloves and the
wig, and last but not least, organizing
this beast! Follow me for all of my voice
acting, and hosting work, and hear me
as the voice of Haley and Deneghra (as
well as various others) in WARMACHINE:
Tactics.
I am a geeky fashion photographer and I

have been a miniatures wargamer since I
was fourteen. I am actually sort of new
to WARMACHINE; I have been recently
brought into the fold by my parents. Both
my father (who plays Tactics) and my
mother (who paints the miniatures) gave
me my current starter armies. My main
role in this project was photographing
and retouching Marisha to bring her
into the world of WARMACHINE. Also in
collaboration with WhiteMoon Dreams,
we will be rendering and compositing
a Cryx Deathjack into an image with
Marisha leading her army into battle!
Im the armor and weapons guy on

this project. I got to build parts like
the sword, backpack, horns, and the
pauldrons. I also rigged things to be
comfortable and wearable for Marisha
while also being in charge of painting
and detailing.
I am a specialty costume fabricator

with over fourteen years of professional
experience in the entertainment
industry and have worked with
such companies as Jim Hensons
Creature Shop, Stan Winston Studios,
and
Walt
Disney
Imagineering.
Specializing in Foam Fabrication and
Custom Leather goods, I contributed
to this costume build by creating the
leather coat.
Actor; Project leader
@Marisha_Ray
www.marisharay.com
Photographer; Digital Photographer
@gregdestefano IG;
@gdestefano TW;
Greg De Stefano Photography on FB
www.GregDeStefano.com
Greg@GregDeStefano.com
Sculptor; Prop Fabricator
Ive been working in the SFX and

entertainment industry in Los Angeles
for about three years now, with costume
design for several years before that.
(Some of my work can be found in VGHS
or Fallout Nuka-break.)
Ive been playing WARMACHINE for a
couple of years. Im an exclusive Khador
player, converting almost every mini I
own, adding battle damage and variant
weaponsand Im still not done painting
them all! I grew up in a geek household,
so wargaming and RPGs have always
been a hobby of mine, especially since I
cut my teeth on painting with miniatures
before escalated to full-sized props and
costumes.
Kai aka Kommissar or @KommissarProps
online most places, like Facebook and
Instagram
Costume Designer; Prop Fabricator
Im also an Iron Kingdoms player, making

one more fan for the team!
You can see more of Nicks work online at
www.facebook.com/salacioushydes
Salacious Hydes is Nicks company
that creates custom leather products
and accessories; his work can be seen
at various fairs and festivals around
Southern California.
Chrissy Lynn
Makeup Artist
Chrissy Lynn is a professional makeup

artist in the film industry. She is blessed
with the opportunity to bring many
fictional characters to life for many
cosplayers in the community through
wig/hair styling and SFX make-up.
www.facebook.com/MissChrissyLynn
@catwomancosplay
the art of cosplay
55
dossiers give a
s premier spy. Gathered at great expense and risk, these
Take a look inside the files of Gavyn Kyle, the Iron Kingdom
WARMACHINE and HORDES.
in
ers
charact
nt
importa
of
ions
motivat
and
s
behind-the-scenes look at the historie
d. wilson
las seacat
k and dougalton, and matthew
ic
sh
m
a
li
By wil
chris w
ea Uderzo,
r
d
n
A
i,
t
t
o
cappr
Art by mike
Vinter Raelthorne IV
I can think of no one whose actions have had a
greater impact on the modern landscape than
Vinter Raelthorne IV, a man whose influence has
been felt across the entire continent. Many might
claim to know the story of this most infamous of
personalities given the sheer number of official
(and unofficial) accounts of Vinters rise and fall,
but I know you wanted something that went further
than these surface insights. I have endeavored to
assemble documents that shed special light on this
singular figure and his ongoing legacy.
GK
To understand Vinter Raelthorne IV, it is crucial
to understand the household he was raised in.
His father, Vinter III, is well known as the
Stoneheart for his cold and uncompromising
domestic policies. While such cool detachment
might serve a king who seeks to strengthen his
country at the expense of his peoples comfort, it is
another matter entirely to raise a child under the
same calculating and cold doctrine.
Despite Cygnars liberal view on the rites of royal
succession as established under King Woldred, the
common conceit is that the monarchy is best kept
within a sufficiently esteemed bloodline. Vinter III
had been handed the crown by his own father Vinter
II, after all, and it is clear that at least early along
it had been his intention to continue the succession
with his firstborn son Vinter IV.
Given the stern letter Vinter III sent to Archduke
Gibbon Laddermore, the man royal historians
consider the kings closest friend, it is clear Vinter
IIIs pragmatism allowed for no sentiment or
compromise even when it came to his own flesh
and blood. Whatever his faults, Vinter III was an
uncompromising ruler who took his responsibilities
very seriously indeed.
Archduke Gibbon Laddermore,

First and foremost, I offer my sincerest thanks
for your kind letter and gifts in recognition of
the birth of my newborn son.
While I realize the customs of our country
dictate you should visit the royal court and pay
respect to my first born, I urge you, as I have your
peers, to refrain from taking time away from the
governance of your lands to do so. That the child
was born is no cause for pomp and circumstance
nor is it sufficient reason to divert attention
away from the important tasks at hand. Indeed, I
find the sentimentality attached to this event by
our capable leaders most perplexing. The simple
act of being born is not one of personal strength
or accomplishment. Thousands of children are
born each year, brought kicking and screaming
into this world through no effort or action of
their own.
I have had many ask about the pride I feel for
my new son, and I have sternly reprimanded each
for such preposterous statements. Pride must be
Gavyn Kyle
57
Vinter Raelthorne IV Timeline
554 AR: Vinter IV is born to King Vinter Raelth

orne III
and Queen Elspeth.
559 AR: Two years earlier than is custom
ary, Vinter
begins training as a royal page. He receives
intensive
sword training with a variety of palace tutors
enlisted
for his education.
560 AR: Vinters brother Leto is born.
Though his fate is unknown, he is initially

presumed to
have perished somewhere in the harsh Bloodstone
Marches
or Deser t.
594 AR: Vinter survives a crossing from wester

n to easter n
Immoren, passing over the deadly Stormlands
and the
Abyss before crashing on the other side. Emerg
ing from the
desert, he encounters the outskirts of skorne civili
zation.
Realizing he must have an army to reclaim
566-572 AR: Vinter is squired to one of his father
his throne,
s lord
Vinter begins to systematically conquer outlyi
generals, though his training is left to others
ng skorne
. Vinters
villages, gathering an army, and then engag
regimen includes weapo ns instruction and
es the more
exposure to
powerful skorne houses, beginning with what
moder n military tactics. This eventually includ
the skorne
es officer
refer to as the First Unification War.
training at the Caspian Strategic Academy. Leto
follows a
similar course, starting as a royal page in 567
595 AR: Vinters forces secure the skorne
AR.
city of
Halaak and subdue it over the following year.
572 AR: After being knighted and formal
The most
ly entering
difficult battle is won against Makeda of House
military service as a junior officer, Vinter sees
Balaash,
his first
who subsequently becomes one of Vinters most
military action. Over the next three years, Vinter
effective
serves
and powerful suppor ters.
tours with each of Cygnars armies.
597 AR: In the last major battle of the unific
574 AR: Vinters mother Elspeth dies.
ation of the
Skorne Empire, Vinter defeats Archdominar Narku
575 AR: While statio ned with the First
uru of
Army, Kademe. Subsequently,
the remaining skorne houses pledge
Vinter is involved in border skirmishes agains
t Khadors their fealty and ackno
wledge Vinter as the Conqueror.
infamous 5th Border Legion. During one of the more
volatile
598 AR: Vinter takes the title Supreme Archd
clashes, Vinter strikes down a junior Khadoran
ominar and
warcaster,
creates the Skorne Empire. He is also referr
Tarnik Volstadt, in single combat.
ed to as the
Reborn by many skorne, a title derived from the
576 AR: Vinter IV is recalled to Caspia. King
religious
Vinter III concept that Vinter
s spiritual essence is actually a
dies a short time later under mysterious circum
stances. great skorne ancest
or. This facilitates widespread skorne
His death is eventually deemed of natural causes
, but his acceptance of a human
leader and gives rise to a sect
terms of succession cannot be found. As heir
apparent, devoted to his worsh
ip.
Vinter IV is crowned.
598-602 AR: Vinter creates a national
579 AR: Vinter assumes direct control over
system of
his fathers governance and
adapts traditional skorne house armies to
network of spies and informants and broade
ns their create a unified army
of conquest.
purview. This organization is initially a shado
wy order
603 AR: While still building the infrastructu
with no official authority, but this is considered
re required
the start
for a larger army to invade the west, Vinter travel
of the Inquisition.
s with a
smaller vanguard to attack and seize the city
582 AR: Vinter passes Edicts of Unlawful
of Corvis.
Sorcery and He intends to use
Corvis as a mustering point for a
Witchcraft, which formalizes the Inquisition as
a branch of subsequent attack
on Caspia. The skorne are driven out of
the Cygnaran government under Head Inquisitor
Dexer Sirac. the city under myster
ious circumstances, which includes
584 AR: Escalating attacks and raids on Cygna
the fulfillment of an obscure Morrowan prophe
r prompt
cy, by which
Vinter to muster both the Cygnaran Army and
the Legion of Lost Souls marches against the skorne
Navy to
under
retaliate. This begins a four-year series of
the command of the necromancer Alexia Cianno
conflicts
r, wielder
later called the Scharde Invasions.
of the Witchfire.
587 AR: Vinter personally leads a massiv
During Vinters absence, many major skorne house
e military
s rebel
expedition to invade Blackrock Island and destro
against his government. A few houses, most
y Cryxian
importantly
industrial industry there. Despite heavy casua
House Balaash under Archdomina Makeda,
lties, the
resist the
missio n is a success and is considered a turnin
rebellion, providing Vinter time to return and
g point in
rally the
the war. Before this expedition, Warmaster
loyalist houses against the usurpers. The Second
General and
War of
Archduke Carsto n Laddermore expresses doubts
Unification begins.
about
upcoming military plans and is imprisoned for
sedition.
604 AR: Vinter defeats the usurpers and has
the ranking
588 AR: Shortly after the end of the war, Vinter
members of the rebellion slowly tortured to death
promotes
by the
his brother Leto to warmaster general. Leto had
paingiver Master Tormentor Morghoul in a length
previously
y public
served as a lord general during the Scharde Invasi
display. This brings the Second War of Unification
ons.
to a close.
587-593 AR: Vinter expands the manda
605 AR: Vinter and the skorne begin a new, larger
te of the
invasion
Inquisition, and his fear of conspiracies result
of wester n Immoren. Viktor Pendrake is captur
s in a dark
ed by the
and brutal reign of terror against the people
skorne and made a guest of Vinter Raelthorne
of Cygnar.
so he may
Rather than preventing rebellion, his excess
act as a chronicler for the deposed king.
ive actions
create widespread dissatisfaction with his reign,
including, 607 AR: After a tour
of the skorne dominion and outlying
most critically, among many ranking military
officers led regions, Victor Pendr
ake escapes and returns to report his
by his brother Prince Leto.
findings to Cygnar.
594 AR: The Lions Coup occurs. Leto utilizes
his position 608 AR: Cygnaran
intelligence reports suggest Vinter no
as warmaster general to organize a palace coup,
and Vinter longer leads the
Skorne Empire. As to the exiled kings
is overthrown. Though imprisoned, several agents
of the current whereabouts,
little is known. Rumors place him
Inquisition secure Vinters release by kidnap
ping Letos within the border
s of the Protectorate, though such claims
wife Danae Cresswell and holding her hostag
e. Vinter is are unsubstanti
ated.
last seen fleeing east in an experimental balloo
n craft.
58
Gavyn Kyle
earned not simply granted out of hand. What is

there to be proud of? Vinter is barely a week into
this world, his only accomplishment surviving
birth without killing his mother.
When I look at him, I only think of the immense
trials he must overcome to be a worthy heir to
my familys legacy. Though he seems strong for a
babe, I worry he may lack the monumental resolve
required of him. It falls to me to instill in him
such strength. This is a task in which I am willing
to invest a great deal. I will tolerate no laziness,
cowardice, or stupidity in my future heir.
Though much has been written about Vinter III, few
have truly delved into the personality and life of his
wife, Queen Elspeth, a member of the Davinsfeld
family. Most historians simply view her as a nonplayer in the rule of Vinter III, as she maintained a
low public profile throughout her husbands reign.
The truth is that Queen Elspeth is the only person
Vinter III trusted and confided in. He is known to
have said of the woman, She is of my same mind.
This statement sheds new light on his standard
rebuke of those who sought to influence him on
matters of policy: The only council I will keep is of
my own mind.
This is important to understand, as it was clear from
the outset Vinter IV could hope for no tenderness
from his father. Unfortunately for Vinter IV, his
mother was just as stern, if not more so, when it
came to the uncompromising expectations for the
future heir.
Queen Elspeth wrote the following letter to Roger
Colburn, an acclaimed scholar and mentor whose
services were in great demand among the royal
courts during the late 500s. Given his esteemed
reputation, he was hired by the royal family to
oversee Vinter IVs education from the time he could
walk. I was able to discover a veritable treasure
trove of insight on Vinters formative years through
diaries Colburn kept until his death. I have included
these for your perusal separately from this dossier.
From the documents I uncovered, it is clear Colburn
served as a warmer and more approachable father
figure to the young prince.
When Vinter IV was eight, Queen Elspeth dismissed
Colburn from the royal court following an incident
at a state dinner. Vinter had turned his attention
from the royal guests to play with his favorite dog
who had snuck into the reception room. The queen
was furious at the breach of etiquette and ordered
Vinter to put the animal down. Colburn objected
and received his dismissal in the following letter.
GK
It should come as no surprise to you that I am
deeply upset by last nights events. While you may
argue this behavior is to be expected of an eightyear-old boy, I find such excuses weak and in poor
taste when in defense of a one who is to someday

rule this nation. This is not an ordinary child,
and he must prove worthy of his great lineage.
His father and I have placed a great deal of trust
in you to help shape our son into the man he must
become. I believed you shared a similar vision
and the uncompromising will to see this done.
I thought you understood sentimentality had no
place in the rearing of a future king. Clearly, I
was wrong.
Given your objection to my orders last night,
I am formally removing you from your royal
appointment as Vinters chief tutor. I am sure
there are many others among the aristocracy
more willing to indulge your approach. The crown,
however, is done with you.
With the removal of Colburn, Vinter lost the only
source of compassion in his world. The next several
years saw his parents bring in a string of tutors
and instructors who were, by all accounts, strictly
professional in their dealings with the young prince.
And it would seem they were quick to report to Vinters
parents any failing, regardless how minor. I have
no doubt this atmosphere of constant surveillance
during these formative years had an impact on the
king Vinter would become, a man who saw enemies
and conspiracies against him everywhere.
It was only within his younger brother Leto that
Vinter would find some manner of traditional
familial connection. The six-year age difference and
their very different temperaments may have limited
the scope of their relationship, but there is every
sign these brothers shared a true fraternal bond.
Several documents suggest Vinter IV felt an
attachment to his younger brother and that this
affection was returned. There are numerous
accounts of Leto standing up to his father in defense
of his brother. It is likely this sentimentality was
part of what distanced Vinter IIIs from his younger
son, as he viewed him a lost cause, too soft for the
throne. Though he still demanded much from the
young Leto, the boy was given considerably more
latitude than his brother.
His brothers loyalty was not lost on Vinter.
The following account was difficult to find, even
by the standards of Cygnaran bureaucracy. It was
only through considerable digging I was able to
uncover this official report, which may have been
intentionally hidden.
GK
As ordered, I am submitting my official report
concerning the skirmish that occurred on the
royal training grounds on 6 Cinten, 570 AR.
Instructor Marten and I were overseeing dueling
practice between the young Raelthornes and
Yancy, the eldest son of Duke Farnsworth, and
his personal instructor Ethan Greymoore. While
Gavyn Kyle
59
I may be officially reprimanded, I want to make

it clear that I view both young Farnsworth and
Greymoore as little better than bullies. As
you know, sir, Marten and I have been working
diligently with young Leto on his swordsmanship
and the lad has shown great progress.
To the matter at hand; while we were engaging
in the princes daily training regime, young
Farnsworth and Greymoore interrupted our
session. Being three years Letos senior, Yancy
pressured the young prince for a sparring
match. Marten and I tried to dissuade the young
Farnsworth, having heard tales of the boys
cruelty. Leto, as polite and generous as ever,
accepted the challenge. It was clear the boy was
expecting an honorable match. What he received
was quite the opposite. Ive no doubt youve seen
the results of what Yancy and his instructor
named friendly sparring.
Marten and I ended the match as quickly as proper
etiquette would permit, but it was still long enough
for Yancy to bloody and bruise Leto. Unfortunately
for Yancy, sixteen-year-old Vinter was quick to
capitalize on the boys swelled arrogance after
defeating an opponent half his size and skill and
challenged him to a duel.
Perhaps I should have spoken up at that moment,
sir, but Morrow help me, I couldnt help but
smile as the Dukes son nearly fell over himself
accepting Vinters challenge. To be fair, I knew
Vinter would trounce Yancy, but I never expected
the lesson to be as severe as it was.
The pair had barely squared off before Vinter
was on Yancy, faster than the eye could track.
In seconds, Vinter had broken the boys wrist,
cracked three ribs, and smashed Yancys nose into
mush in just as many hits. As the Farnsworth boy
lay mewling on the dirt, Vinter bent over him and
whispered something in his ear. I couldnt hear
what, but I could see terror in the boys eyes as
Vinter spoke to him. Whatever pain the beating
caused, it was nothing compared to the threat the
prince delivered.
It took Marten and I a few more seconds to regain
our wits and call for the surgeon. Thankfully,
Sister Calea was able to knit Yancys injuries by
prayer and application of clean cloth and pressure.
If I may be frank, sir, anyone who steps into the
practice circle understands the risks. Were not
giving them pillows, after all. Injuries happen.
They are part of the learning experience.
Given the vast improvement in Yancys manners
since the incident and the fact he suffered
no lasting injury, youll excuse me if I count
the incident as another successful day in the
practice circle.
60
Gavyn Kyle
Upon his eighteenth birthday, Vinter was formally

knighted, given an officers commission, and deemed
ready to put his training to the test alongside the
Cygnaran Army. The king was keen to see him
gain practice commanding men and to spend
time with the various armed forces of the realm.
Prior to this, a portion of Vinters training had been
to attend lectures and drills at the Caspian Strategic
Academy, though his course in this regard was
an abbreviated if intense variant of the standard
officer training. Being dispatched for actual military
duty seems to have been something of a test of the
princes mettle, one that would determine whether
he would be worthy of the crown. Evidence of
this can be seen in the fact that, though knighted,
Vinter was frequently assigned to serve alongside
regular enlisted infantry rather than accompany
his aristocratic peers.
By all accounts, Vinter IV acquitted himself well
during his time in the army, though his time with
the Second Army was relatively uneventful. While
Vinter did see some action with the Third Army
against Cryxian raiders, his shining moment was
with the First Army. Though officially at peace
with each other, this period marked a long string
of violent and intense border skirmishes between
Cygnar, Llael, and Khador. It was during one such
clashby all accounts a full scale battle given the size
of the forces involvedthat Vinter demonstrated
his legendary resolve and prowess in combat, even
against seemingly insurmountable odds.
GK
To: Commander Gerard Thamesworth
From: Captain Bethany Rawls
Commander,
Enclosed you will find my official report
concerning the events of 18 Casteus, 575 AR when
my company engaged a force from Khadors 5th
Border Legion approximately twenty-six miles
east of Northguard while on a routine patrol.
As you are well aware, sir, my company had the
distinct privilege of being assigned Lieutenant
Vinter Raelthorne IV. Per instructions, he was
afforded no special treatment and given standard
duties for a junior officer.
Im not one to beat around the bush, sir, so when
they assigned the prince to my company, I voiced
some concerns. This assignment wasnt going
to be like his previous tours. The Khadorans
have been testing our defenses for months now.
While the brass may be taking all possible
measures to hide the extent of the conflicts
up here from the common man, as far as Im
concerned, we are as close to war as we can be
without calling it such. The last thing I needed
was to babysit the royal heir.
Id heard the rumors about our new prince and his

skill with the blade. Fifteen years with the army
has taught me to take mess hall chatter with a
big grain of salt, so I expected the prince would
know enough not to stab himself and maybe how
to stick the pointy end in his opponent. Youll
likely want to keep this letter for posterity, sir,
because I am officially declaring I could not
have been more wrong in my beliefs.
I knew it the second I met the prince before we set
out from Northguard. He wasnt what I expected
from an heir to the throne of Cygnar in the
slightest. Just the look in his eyes told me this
was a man of grit. He had steel in his spine, no
question. You know as well as I do how hellish
the border is during this time of year. Cold, rainy,
and muck up to your eyes. Lieutenant Raelthorne
didnt say a word about it. In fact, it seemed like
the shite didnt touch him at all. Like he just
willed it away, and it damn well listened rather
than risk inciting his displeasure.
It was a week into our patrol when we saw signs
of warjacks in the distance. You can always tell
a Khadoran jack from the plume of its stacks,
thick and foul, just like the personalities of
our northern neighbors. I wont lie and tell you I
didnt consider just avoiding them given who was
with us. But I wasnt about to let those bloody
northerners have a pass just because I had
royalty with me. Besides, the king had put him
with us for exactly this reason.
The Khadoran fired a pistol straight into his face,

dropping the prince with a single shot. A great
shout of dismay went up from our line, even as the
warcaster turned to direct his machines. Not a
second later, our shout became a roar as the young
lieutenant stood, blood dripping down his face,
and resumed his attack. His charge rallied my
men, and we rushed forward, taking advantage of
the havoc the prince was causing to close the gap
with the reds. I caught sight of the prince and the
enemy warcaster crossing blades. To his credit,
the Khadoran lasted the longest of any of his
men against Prince Vinter. The warcaster scored
the princes breastplate deeply with his blade and
made two more deflected strikes before the prince
took off the mans head, cutting straight through
the Khadorans power field.
After his victory, when the lieutenant came
to report to me, I saw the princes left eye was
filled with blood. He was unfazed, but I knew
the warcasters bullet had lodged in his eye,
destroying it, yet miraculously leaving him alive.
He never complained and began wearing a patch
from that day forward. Whatever the results of
this report, were he any regular soldier, I would
endorse the princes actions as deserving of the
Royal Order of the Cygnus. With a company of men
like him, I could drive the reds all the way back
to their sad excuse for a capital.
By the time we came upon the Khadorans, it was

clear they were expecting us. While our scouts
had estimated the Khadoran force was of
similar size to ours, they had missed the
fact the company was led by a warcaster.
Ill leave the particulars of the
engagement for the after-action report,
but suffice to say, we took a serious
pounding in the opening minutes of the
battle. Not willing to throw my company
away on a lost fight, I was about to
call a general retreat when I saw
Lieutenant Raelthorne discharge
his pistol at the enemy and then
charge the Khadoran lines.
Just like the muck, it was as if
the ordinance and bullets of the
Khadorans dared not touch his
royal person.
He cut straight through their
lines like a lightning bolt,
leaving a trail of corpses
in his wake. He pushed
right through to
the warcaster, and
for a moment it
seemed his death
wish was answered.
Gavyn Kyle
61
It is possible Vinter might have carved quite a name

for himself during his time with the First Army if not
for the fact that the majority of these engagements
were quickly swept under the rug. Neither Cygnar nor
Khador was willing to risk open warfare with the other
despite the reality of the situation along their border.
Underreporting or intentionally misattributing these
engagements was common on both sides.
Vinters father recalled him to Caspia in 576
AR. This was the first correspondence, official or
otherwise, that Vinter III had sent his son since the
prince departed for his military tours four years
earlier. Even the news that his mother had passed
in 574 AR had been delivered by his brother Leto.
I see myself as a man of facts more than conjecture,
but as you specifically requested my expert opinion
on the matter of the death of Vinter III, I will relate
what I have deduced. Just be aware there is no
conclusive evidence. All I have is a few intriguing
but circumstantial suggestions and hints.
There has always been suspicion that his passing
was not by natural causes, which was the official
decree. It was held on good authority that Vinter
III had drafted terms of succession several months
before his death, but they were never found.
Given how fastidious he was in managing his royal
responsibilities, the vanishing of this document is
troubling. But it is also worth noting that much of
the suspicion directed at Vinter IV over the death
of his father came much later, after he became a
widely despised king.
While most of these rumors are based on little more
than the common mans love of conspiracy, I believe
there is a plausible case to be made. For one, there are
suggestions in several pieces of correspondence that
Vinter III was not pleased with his sons progress as
a potential heir. He thought his eldest had become an
effective officer and soldier, but praise of his military
accomplishments included criticisms of his judgment
and temperament. The incident where Vinter IV lost
his eye, while lauded by many, resulted in a sharp
rebuke from the king. If we postulate that Vinter
III intended to choose a different heir than his son,
as allowed by Woldreds Accord-by-Hand Covenant,
the question becomes: who might the Stoneheart
consider a suitable replacement?
Given the evidence, the only man of prominence in
Vinter IIIs eyes was Archduke Gibbon Laddermore,
one of his closest allies and friends. Laddermore
was married to Vinter IIIs sister, and the kings
correspondence with the archduke increased
dramatically following the death of Elspeth.
Vinter III had also increasingly begun to rely on
and utilize the network of informants and spies
originally established by his father, and which
would later become the Inquisition under his son, for
nearly all matters of state. If the terms of succession
were written, it would logically follow they may
62
Gavyn Kyle
have been safeguarded by someone within that

same spy network. Following this line of thought
further, the man who would become Vinter IVs
grand inquisitor, Dexer Sirac, was stationed within
the palace in a position with close proximity to the
king as an adjunct to a higher-ranking member of
the organization at the time.
Thanks to my prodigious network, I was able to
uncover that the man who would one day become
the most powerful and feared man in all of Cygnar
was considered at best a capable minion within the
growing intelligence organization but certainly not
a person marked out for inheriting its leadership.
This correspondence is admittedly from early
in the mans career, but I find its assessment
interesting nonetheless.
GK
S.F.A. Ulbright,
Normally you would find attached my official
appraisal of Initiate Dexer Sirac. However, I feel
that such an extensive report is unwarranted;
instead, I will convey my overall assessment
here in respect for both your time and my own.
In short, while he has the gift, Sirac is an
arcanist of mediocre skill at best. While he
seems willing to dedicate himself to diligent
research and study, he shows no significant
aptitude or talent for the arcane arts. I expect
little of him beyond his current position. To his
credit, he does seem possessed of a strong drive
to increase his personal station and has shown a
level of determination and adroit thinking in his
few assignments that compensates for his lack of
innate talents.
While unlikely to see significant advancement
in our organization, his personality and
cunning can certainly make him a useful tool
for his superiors to utilize. I recommend he be
assigned a post that makes use of his clerical
or analytical capacities, such as helping to
compile and organize records and reports. He is
quite skilled at decrypting and encoding ciphers,
a very useful talent. Making use of this skill
would be a better use of our time than trying to
nurture his limited arcane talents.
Regards,
A.R.A.A. Patten Fuller
It seems at least possible that Vinter III named
Archduke Laddermore his successor, and
this fact was then discovered by Dexer Sirac,
who was languishing within the organization.
Sirac may have come across the document as part
of his responsibilities over the organizations vital
document archive. Sirac, seeing an opportunity,
could then have allied himself with Prince Vinter
in a conspiracy to take the throne. The final piece
of the puzzle would be the untimely death of

Archduke Gibbon Laddermore, which occurred
just weeks after the death of Vinter III. This death
was deemed accidental, as the archduke fell down
a steep staircase attached to the battlements of
Castle Raelthorne. The more momentous passing of
the king overshadowed this incident.
In such a scenario, one can only imagine Vinter IVs
fury at discovering, after all he had been through,
a lifetime of training, that he was to be denied the
throne, deemed unworthy yet again in the eyes of his
stern father. If this were the case, the act of patricide
and regicide carried out by Vinter would have been
less a calculated move to claim the throne and more
an act of long-repressed rage over failing to impress
the man who should have loved him most.
The truth or falseness of this conjecture is at this
point impossible to determine. But this chain of
events seems more likely than other conspiracies
I have examined. The elevation of Dexer Sirac
to grand inquisitor has never been adequately
explained, and I could find no concrete mention of
former favors or contact between him and the king.
GK
I have prided myself and built my formidable
reputation by not wasting my clients money on
frivolous intelligence. Vinters time on the throne
is well documented and has been highly scrutinized
since the Lions Coup by just about every scholar
to wear the mantle of historian. However, I was
intrigued by Vinters role in the Scharde Invasions.
For such a martial paragon, Vinters reign was
marked with only one major military campaign. This
is in spite of the fact that Vinter was certainly aware
of the Protectorates illegal armament and growing
war industry. As well, Cygnar was facing increasing
hostile acts by Khador along the northern border.
Had Vinter acted as one would have assumed a man
born to the sword should have, its very likely Cygnar
could have intervened to bring the Protectorate
to heel before it had accumulated its full military
arsenal. By the same token, one has to wonder why
he did not take a more openly aggressive stance to
Khadors encroachment into the Thornwood.
Historians have given many reasons why Vinter chose
to retaliate against Cryx rather than these other
adversaries. Documents suggest Vinter may have
intended to eventually confront the Protectorate,
but that he did not believe the need was urgent.
The Cryxian incursions were nearly impossible
for the Cygnaran government to cover up, unlike
the secret border wars occurring in the north.
Public opinion demanded a response to the Nightmare
Empires escalating coastal raids. Secondly, Vinter
likely knew an invasion on Cryx, while not without
considerable risks, presented a campaign against a
universally despised foe and one where he expected
to control the scope of the conflict.
It is worth remembering that at this time there

was no intelligence suggesting Cryx possessed a
cohesive army, and many of the outer Scharde
Islands seemed vulnerable. His generals were
confident they could significantly impair Cryxs
ability to launch coastal raids without landing on
the main island. This war would only last for as
long as Vinter wished to pursue it. Later in the war,
Cygnars intelligence erroneously concluded that
the most vital war industry on Cryx was focused on
Blackrock Island, which gave Vinter a potentially
attainable goal.
Through my network of contacts, I was able to
track down one of the few surviving veterans of
the Scharde Invasions who served with the Third
Armys 98th Infantry Battalion, subsequently
referred to as Vinters Bastards. They were
personally assigned to Vinter and fought at his side
in one of the most climactic engagements of the
war: the Battle of Devils Gorge during the Assault
on Blackrock.
I was in a trencher company attached to the 98th
Battalion during the Scharde Invasions. We had
the notorious distinction of being assigned
to King Vinter Raelthorne IV. Though Vinter
was seemingly everywhere during that hellish
campaign, during the Battle of Devils Gorge, my
company found itself right at the tip of the spear,
directly alongside our king and commander.
You arent the first to ask me about my
recollections from that day. Ive spoken to a
few other so-called historians as well, all of
them wanting to glean some insight from my rare
experience for their own gain. Of course, just
like you, they dont really give a damn about my
experience, about the blood and guts my comrades
and I spilled all over those cursed isles.
They dont want to hear about the stories of
men and women struggling in the muck, just
desperately fighting to survive one more hour.
So Ive told them each to bugger off. The last
thing I want to do is remember. I like sleeping
through the night. Unlike you, though, they
never dropped a kings ransom in my lap.
If you ever take a look at the casualty rate for
that engagement, youll be scratching your head.
The numbers dont add up. Youd get wounded and
the surgeons would just patch you up and send
you back to the front. Turn em and burn em, that
was the medic motto at the time. Knew a guy who
said he should have died five times on Blackrock.
Claimed by the end, he wished hed died in the
beach landing.
By comparison, do you know the final total of
warjacks lost during the campaign. Twenty bloody
percent. Lives were cheap. Warjacks werent. The
brass under Vinter didnt tell the people back
home what was going on. Might have made them
think about the real cost of the war.
Gavyn Kyle
63
But I can tell that isnt the information you are

interested in.
For all his questionable traits, Vinter wasnt a
soft man or a coward. The whole engagement he was
at the forefront, cutting down scores of Cryxians
and daring more to come on. Now I was just as
happy as any when his brother ousted him from the
throne, but the fact of the matter is that we won
that battle because of him. He carried the army.
You may be aware that Lich Lord Terminus himself
was there at the battle. Well his personal presence
should give you all the information you need to
know about how serious Cryx was about ending
our little excursion. They threw everything they
had at us, but in the end we stood victorious with
Vinter at our head. It was Terminus who ran away.
After the battle, there was plenty of chatter about
how Vinter had crossed blades with Terminus
himself at some point or another during the
engagement. Personally, I never saw such a thing,
and I was as close to our former king as any man
could have been, but I didnt see everything the
king did that day. I was too busy trying to stay
alive. Whether the story did or didnt happen
doesnt really matter. The fact is that after
fighting side by side with Vinter, Id never bet
money against him, whether he was fighting a
lich lord or Toruk himself.
64
Gavyn Kyle
The success of the war and the stories of Vinters

part in them earned him much public good will,
a currency he quickly began spending upon his
return from the front. In the years following the
Scharde Invasions, Vinters paranoia grew, likely in
part thanks to the counsel of his Grand Inquisitor
Dexer Sirac, who used Vinters paranoia to increase
the mandate of the Inquisition, and by extension,
his own personal power.
What follows is a letter to one of Prince Letos
closest friends in the wars aftermath, noteworthy
for representing the princes viewpoint before he
lost faith in his brother.
GK
My Dear Runewood,
First, thank you for the kind words concerning my
promotion to Warmaster General. I realize many
may view this as nepotism, given the relationship
I have by blood and bond to my brother, the king.
Such beliefs are like a cancer that eats away the
bodys strength. While I have accepted my new
station with a resolve and belief that I can use
its power and influence for the good of the nation,
the circumstances surrounding my promotion
cause me considerable distress.
Despite the failings that caused my brother
to strip Carston Laddermore of his rank and
imprison him on grounds of treason, I cannot
help but see all the good that man has done in
service to the kingdom. He helped reshape and

reform the army in countless ways. It is thanks to
his foresight that we rely on the Militant Order
of the Arcane Tempest, which he brought formally
into the military, protecting them from the
Inquisition. This decision has already proven its
value in our recent struggles, but more than this,
it would have been wrong to hunt such upstanding
soldiers for nothing more than being born with
an arcane gift.
While I will always count you as my closest friend
and confidant, I must rebuke your statements
from your last correspondence. While I will admit
I too have wondered about the effort my brother
has invested in rooting out unlawful sorcery and
sinister agents within our kingdom, I stand by
the fact that my brother earnestly believes he is
protecting Cygnar.
I realize it is difficult to see beyond my brothers
stony exterior. Indeed, our father and mother
fashioned him at every step to be as cold and
calculating a king as ever there has been, having
little use for warmth or softness. I was fortunate
enough to be born second, and therefore allowed
to find such traits within the hallowed walls
of the Sancteum. For my brother, understand he
has no knowledge of those qualities and seeks to
fulfill his duty in the only manner for which he
was trained.
While they win him no friends and much criticism,
these are the traits that make him a strong king.
Trust me when I say that I believe my brother has
the best interests of the kingdom at heart within
every difficult decision he makes.
Sincerely,
Leto
Vinters upbringing had clearly established in
his mind the notion that everyone was an enemy.
His parents had used everyone in his life as an
informant upon his actions, and only his younger
brother Leto had proven to be immune to their
machinations. The extent of Vinters paranoia
went far beyond what can be explained from his
upbringing, eventually reaching a scope where he
saw all of Cygnar as conspiring against him.
It is ironic that every step Vinter took to cut off the
heads of imagined conspiracies only served to feed
and grow the one that would see him overthrown.
Through it all, his brother remained his most steadfast
ally. It was only near the end that Leto could find no
way to apologize for the kings cruel excesses.
GK
The Lions Coup is another matter that has been
well documented, and, I believe, it is beyond the
scope of this contract.
Following his imprisonment and subsequent

escape, Vinter was believed lost to the dangerous
Stormlands. His ultimate fate would remain
unknown until his sudden and shocking emergence
at the head of a skorne army that captured the city of
Corvis in 603 AR. Though he was eventually driven
out, the momentous events of that year marked a
turning point in the geopolitical landscape, not just
for Cygnar, but for all of western Immoren.
Given their geographical isolation and extremely
hostile nature, little information was available
about the skorne or Vinters relationship with
them, even for a man of my singular talents.
Serendipitously, Professor Viktor Pendrake of
Corvis University was captured while trying to
learn more about this mysterious eastern empire.
Instead of being killed or enslaved, Pendrake
was brought before Vinter by the exiled criminal
Saxon Orrik. Pendrake was told he would apply his
scholarly acumen to chronicle Vinters greatest
achievementthe subjugation of the skorne people
and subsequent founding of the Skorne Empire.
The Cygnaran Reconnaissance Service has
jealously guarded Pendrakes full report on his time
in eastern Immoren, but I was able to acquire a
copy. I have attached the full report for your review,
knowing you would be more than willing to cover
the increased fee.
The following is the cover letter Pendrake included
with the full report.
As you are well aware, I have spent the better part
of the previous year as an esteemed guest among
the skorne and their new Supreme Archdominar,
Cygnars former king Vinter Raelthorne IV.
Vinters connection with the skorne was
originally documented following their sudden
emergence in 603 AR, when he led a force
alongside former Grand Inquisitor Dexer Sirac,
then calling himself Vahn Oberen. The deposed
king captured the city of Corvis, which was to
become a staging area for his eventual campaign
to seize the capital.
For reasons I am sure relate to some lasting
torment planned for me by my former mentor and
nemesis, Saxon Orrik, following my capture,
Vinter decided I was to become his chronicler.
I was dragged before him at the Abyssal Fortress
in the Stormlands and given this charge.
He hoped I would serve as a vessel through which
his greatness could be conveyed to his former
people, so they might better understand his
strength and, dare I say, the necessity of his
rule. During my time with him, one fact remained
undeniably clearVinter will not rest until he
has reclaimed the throne.
Gavyn Kyle
65
I soon learned that following his escape by hotair balloon from Castle Raelthorne in 594 AR,
Vinter found himself adrift above the Stormlands
with no control over his vessel. He apparently
crashed on the eastern side of the Abyss, somehow
surviving the fall. When Vinter first stumbled
across the skorne, a minor house by the name of
Kardesh on the western fringe of the established
empire, I doubt he envisioned himself as a future
emperor. As he was likely met with immediate
violence, he responded in kind. The skorne had not
counted on our former kings prodigious martial
prowess. The skorne have a singular weakness in
their dubious political systema man who bests
a houses leader in combat may seize the warriors
and assets of that house. Even being ignorant of
their language, Vinter found himself as House
Kardeshs new dominar, their ruler.
Soon enough, Vinter learned enough of the skorne
tongue to comprehend their devotion to a warrior
philosophy called hoksune, as well as their
practice of ancestor worship. Seeing a culture
for which his own talents made him especially
well suited, he believed this race would make the
perfect weapon to retake what had been stolen
from him. Vinter set out upon what the skorne
now call the First War of Unification, whereby
he conquered one skorne house after another,
accumulating an ever-increasing army, until he
united them all as a single kingdom. This was
an exhaustive and lengthy process, as I have
detailed in the attached report, but that is the
bones of it.
His rulership proved to be not fixed in stone,
however. Skorne society thrives on strife, and
so when he marched on Corvis in 603 AR, the
greatest houses in the capital rebelled during
his absence. Thus the Second War of Unification
was fought and eventually won by Vinter, thanks
in no small part to the efforts of House Balaash,
led by their Archdomina Makeda, who remained
loyal to Vinter during his absence. It was after
this second war that I was brought before Vinter.
In the intervening period he had created a tenable
supply chain to allow subsequent skorne armies
to more easily cross to western Immoren. This
was done in preparation for his new and vastly
ambitious invasion.
Though I found the idea of stoking our former
kings ego quite distasteful, I will admit
access to the fascinating culture of the
Skorne was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Given that your concern is first and foremost
that of military intelligence, I have refrained
from pontificating on matters of skorne myth and
legend or deconstructions of their sociocultural
establishments. Such items, while absolutely
fascinating, I have saved for a longer, unabridged
work I have just begun.
66
Gavyn Kyle
Beyond the knowledge I was able to gain of the

skorne however, I feel it also important to note
that it is clear Vinter has retained several
agents from before the Lions Coup, specifically,
the noted outlaw Saxon Orrik. He has taken charge
of ensuring safe passage for skorne forces across
the dangerous Stormlands and Bloodstone Desert.
I believe the wanted criminal Asheth Magnus is
also actively working to further Vinters goal
of retaking the throne. Though I never saw the
warcaster personally, his name was mentioned
in several hushed conversations during my
imprisonment.
I have read the most recent CRS reports
concerning the mysterious absence of Vinter from
among the skorne. What became of Vinter and his
pre-eminent position among them, however, I
cannot say, as my escape occurred before whatever
internal strife brought about his downfall.
That a human could rise to such heights within
their society was astounding enough; I am not
surprised his tenure as emperor was short-lived.
Wherever he is now, I have no doubt Vinter
continues to pursue his obsession of reclaiming
the crown and punishing those who brought about
his downfall.
Since leaving the skorne, Vinter has almost
vanished. There have been few reliable reports of
him I can find. One rumor I cannot entirely discount
is that Vinter may have met with Feora, Priestess
of the Flame, somewhere on the outskirts of the
Protectorate of Menoth. What this meeting might
have established or pertained to is a mystery to me.
Vinters background suggests a strong antipathy
toward religion, so it is hard to imagine common
ground with the Priestess of the Flame.
Another, more plausible possibility is that Vinter is
in hiding with one or more notable Cygnaran noble
families who remain sympathizers and loyalists.
While Vinter loyalists were scarce in the days after
the Lions Coup, the recent years of warfare and
strife under King Leto have seen a reemergence
of this faction. There is a strong undercurrent
of unrest within Cygnar, especially in the north
among those nobles whose lands were until recently
occupied by several displaced trollkin kriels and
which have been most affected by the ongoing war.
Asheth Magnus has been seen in the now-isolated
city of Fellig, but there have been no indications
that Vinter is in this vicinity.
Regardless of where the former king of Cygnar is,
there can be little doubt of the danger he poses.
It seems unlikely Cygnar could long survive any
extended internal conflict without being devoured
by its hungry enemies. However, unless King Leto
mobilizes an Inquisition of his own to root out and
eliminate internal threats, such a conflict may be
inevitable.
assault
on
Blackrock islanD
Scenario 1: Landfall
King Vinters hawk-like eyes scanned the gathering of Cygnaran officers before him aboard the HMS Vengeance. The massive shipof-the-lines cannons boomed as it, along with its sister ships, engaged smaller Cryxian vessels as the Cygnaran fleet made its way
toward the coast of Blackrock. Vinter motioned to the map laid out before the assembly. We have solid intelligence of numerous sizable
factory complexes within the interior of Blackrock Island. We will make our landing, advance inland, and annihilate these facilities with
overwhelming force. Vinters powerful voice cut easily through the sound of battle around him. Make no mistake: we are about to
invade the most heavily fortified and significant Cryxian holding outside Scharde itself. The fight will be fierce and casualties will be
high. His eyes bored into the men around the table and his voice took on a dangerous tone. But we will succeed, whatever the cost.
Special Rules
Army Composition: The attackers army consists of the following:
King Vinter Raelthorne; 10-man unit of Sword Knights with a Sword
Knight Officer & Standard and a marshaled Ironclad; 10-man unit
of Trencher Infantry with 3 Trencher Infantry Rifle Grenadiers, a
Trencher Infantry Officer & Sniper, and a marshaled Defender
The defenders army consists of the following:
Iron Lich Vitiosus (represented by Iron Lich Asphyxious model
and stat cards) with a Defiler, a Harrower, and a Reaper; 10-man
unit of Bloodgorgers; 5-man unit of Black Ogrun Boarding Party
All models lose Advance Deployment. Before deployment, players

should take turns placing obstruction, rubble (rough terrain),
and shallow water terrain features until each player has placed
3 terrain features. Terrain features cannot be placed within 10 of
either players table edge or within 5 of another terrain feature.
The attackers deployment zone is comprised of two areas that each
measure 4 x 10 and are 12 from the left and right table edges. All
other parts of the board within 10 of the attackers table edge are
shallow water. The attacker deploys first and takes the first turn.
The defender has a 10 deployment zone.
10
Defender Table Edge
Victory
Conditions
Defender
Deployment
Zone
The attacker wins if Iron Lich Vitiosus is

destroyed or removed from play or if King
Vinter Raelthorne is completely within the
defenders deployment zone at the end of
the fourth round of the game.
The defender wins if King Vinter Raelthorne
is destroyed or removed from play or if
King Vinter Raelthorne is not completely
within the defenders deployment zone at
the end of the fourth round of the game.
Spoils of War
16
10
Attacker
Deployment
Zone
ATTACKER Table Edge
12
If the Trencher Infantry Officer model is in

the defenders deployment zone at the end
of the game, the attacker gains a 6-man unit
of Trencher Infantry in the Perilous Ascent
scenario. For each wreck marker on the
table at the end of the game, the defender
gains d6 Scrap Thralls in the Perilous
Ascent scenario.
If the attacker wins, the attacker gains +6
to his deployment zone in the Perilous
Ascent scenario.
If the defender wins, King Vinter Raelthorne
begins the Perilous Ascent scenario with five
damage boxes already marked and loses the
Ancient Mail ability until the end of the game.
scenario
67
Scenario 2: Perilous Ascent

King Vinter scanned the steep rise ahead of his army, his fierce eyes narrowing as his raptor gaze fell upon the distinct distended shapes
of bloat thralls atop the rise. Behind them he could see the thick, noxious plumes of oily smoke from the necrofactoriums farther within
the interior of Blackrock. It was a visible marker of where his ultimate objective lay.
Raising Kingslayer to point at the rise, Vinter called for the charge. His cry was met by the distinct sounds of the bloat thralls corrosive
cannons firing into the onrushing Cygnaran lines. He knew his forces had already sustained significant casualties in the push toward the
interior, but such sacrifice was as necessary as it was unavoidable. The steel resolve required to see through such a course of action was
the foundation of a true monarchone who was willing to do what must be done to assure victory.
Special Rules
King Vinter Raelthorne; 10-man unit of Sword Knights with a
Sword Knight Officer & Standard and a marshaled Defender; 10man unit of Trencher Commandos with 3 Trencher Commando
Scattergunners; Crew Chief Rogers (represented by Captain Arlan
Strangewayes model and stat cards) with a marshaled Sentinel;
6-man unit of Trencher Infantry, if earned in Landfall
Lord Exhumator Scaverous with a Corruptor, a Leviathan, and a
Nightwretch; 2x 10-man units of Mechanithralls; 2 Bloat Thralls;
2 Warwitch Sirens; d6 Scrap Thralls for each warjack destroyed
in Landfall
All models lose Advance Deployment. Before deployment, players
should take turns placing obstruction and rubble (rough terrain)
terrain features until each player has placed 3 terrain features.
Terrain features cannot be placed within 10 of either players table
edge or within 5 of another terrain feature.
If one or more Trencher Commando Scattergunners are within 12

of the defenders table edge at the end of the game, the attacker
gains a Trencher Survivor (represented by Captain Maxwell Finns
model and stat cards) in the Showdown scenario. If seven or more
of the Trencher Commando models are destroyed or removed from
play, the defender gains a Pistol Wraith in the Showdown scenario.
If the attacker wins, King Vinter Raelthorne gains 1 additional
power token during the attackers Control Phase each round in
the Showdown scenario (for a total of 6 power tokens).
If the defender wins, Lich Lord Terminus gains 1 soul token at the
start of his activation each round in the Showdown scenario.
Highest Elevation
Elevation
24
Spoils of War
Deployment
12
The area of the table extending out 24

from the defenders table edge has a higher
elevation than the attackers side of the
table. The area of the table extending out
12 from the defenders table edge has an
even higher elevation than anywhere else
on the table.
Defender
Deployment
Zone
12
The defender has a 10 deployment zone.
Spoils of War
Defender Table Edge
10
The attacker has a 6 deployment zone (or

a 12 deployment zone if the attacker won
the Landfall scenario). The attacker deploys
first and takes the first turn.
The defender wins if King Vinter Raelthorne is destroyed or

removed from play or if King Vinter Raelthorne is not completely
within the area of the highest elevation at the end of the fourth
round of the game.
When a model makes a ranged attack against

a model on lower elevation, the attack gains
Snipe (an attack with Snipe gains +4 RNG).
Victory
Conditions
The attacker wins if Lord Exhumator
Scaverous is destroyed or if King Vinter
Raelthorne is completely within the area
of the highest elevation at the end of the
fourth round of the game.
68
scenario
Attacker
Deployment
Zone
ATTACKER Table Edge
Scenario 3: Showdown
Arcane fire streaked through the sky as the roar of chain guns and cannons beat out a steady rhythm of destruction, and the screams of
the dead and dying mingled to form a macabre chorus to the cacophonous symphony of death. The battle before the necrofactoriums
had become a maelstrom as living and undead clashed in bitter combat. And at the center of it all stood Vinter Raelthorne IV, Kingslayer
flashing like a thing possessed in his hands as it cut down any opponent within reach.
Suddenly, the sounds of battle were silenced by an ancient and terrible sound, a howl that seemed to resonate with the souls of a
thousand damned. Looking toward its source, Vinter saw the massive shadow of Lich Lord Terminus rise into the sky, borne aloft on a
set of tattered, leathery wings. The lich lord paused for a moment, searching for its prey, and Vinter felt the heat of the balefire that filled
its empty eye sockets fall upon him. He met the creatures gaze unflinching and banged a mailed fist against the ancient plate upon his
chest in clear challenge to Terminus. As the lord of undead swooped toward him from the heavens, Vinters hands tightened about the
grip of Kingslayer, but even before this ancient terror, he felt no fear or apprehensiononly a desire to meet his foe and leave its broken
body vanquished at his feet as he ground the Cryxians beneath his indomitable heel.
Special Rules
King Vinter Raelthorne; 10-man unit of Trencher Infantry with
3 Trencher Infantry Rifle Grenadiers, a Trencher Infantry Officer
& Sniper, and a marshaled Ironclad; Trencher Cannon Crew;
Trencher Chain Gun Crew; Trencher Master Gunner; Trencher
Survivor (represented by Captain Maxwell Finns model and stat
card), if earned in Perilous Ascent
Lich Lord Terminus with a Slayer and a Seether; 10-man unit of
Bile Thralls; 10-man unit of Mechanithralls; Skarlock Thrall; Pistol
Wraith, if earned in Perilous Ascent
Mark a 10-wide area in the center of the table extending from the
attackers table edge to the defenders table edge. This area is the
Path to Glory. King Vinter Raelthorne and Lich Lord Terminus
must be deployed within the Path to Glory. Additionally, both
models must remain completely within the Path to Glory at all
Defender Table Edge
Defender
Deployment
Zone
times. If a model would move beyond the area (from a slam, for
example), it stops at the edge instead, remaining completely within
the Path to Glory.
Before deployment, players should take turns placing forest, hill,
and shallow water terrain features until each player has placed 3
terrain features. Terrain features cannot be placed on the Path to
Glory, within 8 of either players table edge or within 5 of another
terrain feature.
The attacker has an 8 deployment zone. The attacker deploys
first and takes the first turn. (Yes, models can finally use Advance
Deployment.)
The defender has an 8 deployment zone.
Victory Conditions
The defender wins if King Vinter Raelthorne is destroyed or
removed from play.
The attacker wins if Lich Lord Terminus is destroyed or removed
from play.
Spoils of War
The winner of Showdown wins the
campaign.
Path
to
Glory
19
Advance
Deployment
Attacker
Deployment
Zone
10
ATTACKER Table Edge
scenario
69
VINTER
model cannot be used outside of specified
KING VINTER RAELTHORNE

CAMPAIGN MODEL This
scenarios.
KINGSLAYER
ANCIENT MAIL This model automatically heals d3+3 damage points

at the start of each of its activations.
ARCANE ASSASSIN When making attacks, ignore focus points
overboosting the targets Power Field and spell effects adding to its
ARM or DEF.
INSPIRATION [CYGNAR] Friendly Cygnar models/units in this models
command range never flee and immediately rally.
MARTIAL PRODIGY At the start of each of your Control Phases,
this model gains any number of power tokens until it has five.
During its activation, this model can spend power tokens to gain
additional attacks.
MASTER SWORDSMAN When this model makes a normal melee attack
during its activation, it makes one melee attack against each model
in its LOS and melee range. If there are no enemy models in this
models melee range after resolving a normal melee attack in which it
destroyed one or more, it can spend a power token to advance up to 2.
PARRY This model cannot be targeted by free strikes.
SACRIFICIAL PAWN [CYGNAR] When this model is directly hit by
an enemy ranged attack, you can choose to have one friendly, nonincorporeal Cygnar model within 3 of this model directly hit instead.
That model is automatically hit and suffers all damage and effects.
POW
FA
C
DAMAGE
15
P+S
15 18 10
KINGSLAYER
9
KING VINTER RAELTHORNE
CYGNAR CHARACTER SOLO
VINTER
SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD
PC
a critical hit, the model hit by this

weapon loses Tough, cannot heal or be healed, and cannot transfer
damage for one round.
WARMACHINE
CHALLENGE
OF
THE
CRITICAL GRIEVOUS WOUNDS On
scenario
70
Illus. by Mike Capprotti Privateer Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

All faction names, logos, warjack, warcaster & warbeast are TM of Privateer Press, Inc.
THE RETURN
BEFORE YOU READ THIS, CHECK OUT THE WARMACHINE CHALLLENGE ON PAGE 120
Our Solution
Activate Shae first and cast Coup de Main followed by his feat, Godspeed. During the feat movement you need to first move the Press Gangers forward
and into a better position to charge at least two of the Winter Guard Infantry closest to the Sea Dog Crew unit leader, then use the feat movement to
put the Commodore Cannon & Crew into a better position to shoot the Behemoth, and finally move Lord Rockbottom into a better position to use his
Coins on all three friendly units. Rockbottom activates next and uses Money Shot on the Commodore Cannon & Crew and uses Payday on both the
Sea Dog and Press Ganger units. Then the Commodore Cannon activates and shoots the Behemoth with its Cannonball shot, which slams the warjack
over Sorscha and deals a significant amount of damage. Next, the Press Gangers charge the unit of Winter Guard, making sure to get at least two
Press Gangers in melee range of the Winter Guard model engaging the Sea Dog unit leader and the winter guard model directly between the Galleon
and Sorscha. When the Press Gangers Shanghai these two Winter Guard the Sea Dog models they create should be placed to have a charge lane to
Sorscha. First Mate Hawk now actives and runs into a position to provide Object of Desire to those Sea Dogs. Finally, the Sea Dog unit activates and
the two newly created Sea Dogs easily kill Sorscha with their charge attacks.
FORCESOFDISTINCTION
Forces of
Distinction XiX
By Orrin Grey Art by Chippy and Mark Gibbons
In his thirty-plus years, Pytor had heard many things

compared to bears: men, warjacks, even the engine of a
train. He had done it himself, whenever he wanted to
convey that something or someone was particularly big
and strong and vicious, though he had only ever actually
seen a bear once in his life, when he was a boy and a
traveling menagerie had passed through his hometown.
The creature that huddled in the cage had seemed
ragged and worn down, not at all the roaring predator
the comparison was meant to call to mind. Now, as the
monster bore down on his squad, a living wall of blighted
flesh, his first thought was that he would need to think of
something much bigger and more ferocious to compare
it to than a bear if he hoped to
describe it.
It was not the first dragonspawn he had seen. A few of

the smaller ones even lay in the bloody snow behind
him, carved apart by his annihilator blade or those of his
brothers-in-arms. This, however, was the largest animal,
natural or otherwise, he had ever encountered. It crashed
upon the Man-O-War shocktroopers like a wave of claws
and teeth, and they set their armored feet in the snow,
locking their shields together to stand against it, but
Pytor felt in his heart it was like trying to stand against
the ocean.
His impression of the beast was jumbled. The blighted,
ice-colored skin; its eyeless face filled with jagged teeth;
arms like tree trunks, ending in blunt but brutal claws.
He felt the impact of its body against his shield, a
glancing blow that still caused the metal of
his heavy armor to groan and squeal.
Through the thin visor of his helmet he
could see nothing but the writhing
wall of flesh, massive and yet
so much quicker than any
Khadoran warjack. To his left
came a cry, and the shield
next to him unlocked
Theme forces offer players the opportunity to play thematic armies that spotlight particular aspects of a warcaster or warlocks
character or history. From time to time, Privateer Press will introduce new theme forces in the pages of No Quarter.
These theme forces are fair game upon publication and usable in our organized play events.
Forces of Distinction
71
Above the roaring of the creature, Pytor could hear the

shouts of Grigory, his kovnik, and with a sound like a
massive drum, Grigorys jack-marshaled Kodiak crashed
into the blighted monster. The Kodiak was perhaps the
most apt thing Pytor had ever known to be named for a
bear, and though it had already lost one of its arms earlier
in the battle, it drove its remaining armored fist into the
creatures flank hard enough to draw black blood.
The sight of the Kodiak filled Pytor and the other
shocktroopers by his side with renewed hope.
At Grigorys shouted orders, he and the others raised their
annihilator blades and let them fall in unison, stepping
forward in a coordinated march of iron and steam that
was strong enough to push the monster back a step.
The creature let loose a shriek that pierced Pytors helmet,
a noise like how a hunting bird must sound to a field
mouse, and sheared the Kodiaks remaining arm from
its metal body with one sweep of its huge claws. Grigory
was standing alongside the jack, roaring like a wounded
bear himself, and his axe chopped viciously into the flank
of the monster, blighted blood spattering the gold and
red of his armor. The Kodiak staggered and then tumbled
to the snow like a fallen tree, a crash sending earth and
white powder into the air, and Pytor felt the hope that had
bloomed within him withering.
Other men might have fled at that moment, but Pytor was
a true son of the Motherland, and though he now believed
the battle to be hopeless, he would fight it until his last
breath. He stepped forward in unison with the men beside
him and raised his weapon once again.
The quiet that followed the beasts death was eerie after
the cacophony of the battle. The snow fell silently around
them, flakes gathering in Grigorys broad black beard as
he held his helmet in his hands and looked down at the
mangled remains of the Kodiak; it had been entrusted to
him by Kommander Harkevich. Next to it lay the twitching
mass of what had once been the enormous dragonspawn,
hacked to pieces by their annihilator blades, though at
great cost.
What had once been three squads was now reduced to
one, further diminishing Grigorys already decimated
command. Now the men who stood shoulder to shoulder
with Pytor were men he had seen before, fought beside,
but not the men whose shields had locked with his on
so many other occasions. Those men, the ones who had
served beside him in countless bloody campaigns, now
72
FORCESOFDISTINCTION
from his own as its wielder was carried into the air on one
of those claws. Pytor saw Kiryls armor fall to the ground
in two parts, blood and gore painting the snow.
lay dead behind him, their bodies being slowly covered

by the snow.
None of them needed scouts to tell them the battle was

over or perhaps had left them behind. They could hear
nothing save the familiar hiss as snowflakes melted
against the heated boilers of their armored suits; they
could see nothing but bodies and the drifting curtain of
snow. Behind them stood a river of blood and a valley
of corpses, both human and blighted, along the trail they
had carved through the enemy army. Pytor felt a swelling
of pride in his chest, the same pride he felt when he heard
the familiar refrains of The March of Mikhail Vanar,
a song that stirred the hearts of all patriotic soldiers.
Even if they perished out here in the cold, they had struck
a mighty blow for the Motherland before they would go.
Come, Grigory said, fastening his helmet back on after

only a moments silent contemplation. We have a long
way to march.
Pytor knew what their orders were, should they become
separated from the rest of the army, and knew them
as well as his kovnik did. In fact, every soldier in the
battalion knew them, such that if any of them should fall,
those who remained could finish their mission.
They had agreed on a rendezvous point before the battle
had been joined, though as they marched through the
freezing air, Pytor looked across the field of corpses and
wondered if there would be anybody but the six of them
left alive to reach it.
72
FORCESOFDISTINCTION
vladimir
tzepesci, the dark champion
STEAM AND STEEL
by Orrin Grey
Warjacks
Khador non-character warjacks,
Drago
Tier 1
Benefit: Reduce the point cost of Man-O-War Kovniks

and Man-O-War units by 1.
Tier 2
includes
Solos
Man-O-War solos
Tier 3
Requirements: The army can include only the models

listed above.
Requirements: The army

Man-O-War Kovniks.
Units
Battle Mechaniks,
Man-O-War units
Requirements: The army includes two or more units.

Benefit: One Man-O-War Kovnik and one unit gains
Advance Deployment
.
Tier 4
Requirements: The army includes two or more warjacks.
one
or
more
Benefit: Warjacks gain +2 SPD during your first turn of

the game.
Benefit: For each Man-O-War Kovnik in the army,

you can redeploy one model/unit after both players
have deployed but before the first players first turn.
The redeployed models must be placed on the table in a
location they could have been deployed initially.
The snow rendered their march strangely timeless, turning

the now-quiet battlefield into a scene out of a dream or a
nightmare. Ruined warjacks loomed out of the snow like
ships in a fog. For periods of time it was possible to forget
the battle entirely, and around them they could see only a
world turned to shades of white and grey. Then a bloom
of red would appear to cover the ground before them, and
their boots would sink down into pools of frozen blood.
Normally, the heat from the boilers turned their armor into
furnaces, kept them sweating even in the worst Khadoran
winters, but now as they marched rather than fought, the
cold outside began to seep in. Frost formed on their visors
and in their beards. Pytor felt the tips of his fingers and
toes growing numb. He thought of men hed known who
had lost their extremities to frostbite, a fate those in ManO-War armor rarely had to fear. Still, he marched onward.
They heard the sounds of battle before they reached

the rendezvous, and without having to even exchange
glances, all of them picked up their pace. The heavy
Man-O-War suit suddenly felt lighter on Pytors
shoulders; the annihilator blade and shield seemed almost
weightless in his hands. Even if he were to march over the
ridge and into the mouth of death, it was better to die in
battle than to perish from exposure.
What he saw when he crested the rise kindled a fire in

Pytors breast that he hadnt felt since before the battle
with the dragonspawn, possibly since the day he was
selected to become a Man-O-War. It was not the ragged
remnants of their army in a suicide battle against the
blighted hordes, as he had expected; instead, he saw a
veritable sea of other Man-O-War soldiers, dozens upon
dozens of red-armored shapes moving in a concerted
wedge of steam and steel that plowed their enemies
under. Armored fists swung ice mauls, and in the distance
was the stutter of bombardiers firing grenade cannons
mounted atop their chain blades.
At the head of the army, at the very point of the spear
being driven into the flank of the blighted forces, stood
Great Prince Vladimir Tzepesci. Though the last thing
Pytor had heard, Tzepesci had been killed in battleyet
there he stood, larger than life, his blade cutting down the
enemy like a scythe through wheat. Pytor found he wasnt
surprised to see the warcaster alive. Like the Motherland,
the Great Prince seemed eternal.
For a moment they all stood atop the ridge in silence,
the six of them who were left, who had lived this long.
Then Grigory said, Will you let them take all the glory?
And Pytor smiled as they charged down the slope to join
their brothers and sisters in battle.
73
By Aeryn Rudel
Art by Mariusz Gandzel
Northeastern Ios, early 609 AR
The night wind howls. It whispers your destiny. It whispers
vengeance, by the winds edge.
The words hung in Supreme Aptimus Zaals thoughts, lingering
like an unwanted memory. His mind was unsettled, and he felt
something immense looming in the ether, like a spiritual echo
he could neither locate nor define.
This premonition was sparked by the utterance of a long-dead
skorne ancestor. The ancient exalted warrior was Xycus, and his
essence was housed in a the sacral stone of an ancestral guardian
Zaal had brought from the east. As the supreme aptimus, Zaal
often communicated with skorne whose spiritual essence
inhabited and animated the powerful forms of immortals and
ancestral guardians. The words and guidance of these ancestors
was considered invaluable to the war in the west, but often,
especially with the oldest of the preserved, their words were
riddles whose meaning was open to many interpretations.
Making sense of the statements of the exalted dead was part
of his role as leader of the extoller caste, but he had never been
given a message of such a personal nature.
The night wind howls. It whispers your destiny. It whispers
vengeance, by the winds edge.
He had spent many cold hours in meditation upon these
words, forgoing sleep and sustenance to learn their meaning.
They hung over him like a miasma and sapped his strength and
will. Xycus had given no answers to his questions; in fact, the
exalted within the ancestral guardian had been altogether silent
since uttering the cryptic words. Zaal had questioned the four
other ancestral guardians with him, but they, too, were silent.
The ancestors could not always be forced to speak.
The supreme aptimus pushed these troubling thoughts away
and focused on the task before him. He would soon meet up with
Tyrant Xerxis to bolster the war leaders dwindling forces. The
tyrant had been sent by Supreme Archdomina Makeda on what
might appear to be a death march. They were in a strange, cold
74
Ill Omens
landan enemys landyet his own forces had encountered

little resistance; Xerxis passage and subsequent raids had left the
Iosan border forces ragged. While the tyrant drew the defenders
attention to himself in the north, Makeda had struck from the
south, breaching the impenetrable mountain fortress to invade
Ios interior and advance toward the heart of the nation.
There is a force of toksaa moving swiftly toward Xerxis. They

will reach us soon.
Zaal had thought he would find Xerxis besieging the fortress of

the Dawnguard and occupying the warriors there. The tyrant
had clearly adapted his plans. His small force of soldiers had
endured an exhausting march around the Iosan border. They
had fought in this cold climate without the support of supply
lines and against a numerically and technologically superior
foe. Known for his clever tactics, Xerxis had somehow
endured, though Zaals scouts reported his forces had
suffered heavy casualties. Before the ancestors went silent,
Zaal had confirmed through them that additional Iosan forces
were marching even now to finish this threat to their northern
border. Xerxis was in a very vulnerable position.
Zaal felt the looming shadow that had followed him for weeks
suddenly intensify, as if whatever it heraldeda dire event or
the appearance of a tremendous enemyhad drawn closer. But
within this shadow, there was a hint of light, a subtle glow that
promised a path, however narrow and fleeting, through the
adversity to come.
Zaal had brought few living warriors with him; his force was
composed almost entirely of the silent forms of immortals. They
marched in perfect unison around him, immune to the chill,
tireless, and deadly, each obsidian body housing the essence of
a formidable skorne warrior who had proven himself worthy
on the field of battle. Zaal could hear these spirits in his mind,
a dull susurrus of indistinct voices forging an eager chorus.
Ancestral guardians moved among the immortals, their bodies
festooned with sacral stones to catch the fleeing spiritual essence
of worthy mortal skorne. Their voices were clearer when they
wished to speak, but the exalted that animated each guardian
were enigmatic and aloof, and many had spent centuries, or even
millennia, enshrined in stone.
He was not surrounded entirely by the dead. Zaal could feel his
warbeasts at the edge of his consciousness. He had with him a pair
of titan gladiators, and a single aradus sentinel. The titans were a
familiar presence, and their simmering rage could be unleashed
to devastating effect on his enemies. The aradus was a different
matterits mind was more primitive and alien, and Zaal had
little experience with the insectile creatures. Still, he had seen the
aradus in battle, and its effectiveness could not be denied.
In addition to his beasts and immortals, Zaal commanded a small
coterie of extollers, a unit of paingiver beast handlers, and two
squads of paingiver bloodrunners, who acted as forward scouts
for his somewhat slow-moving force.
They were currently traveling through a heavily wooded area,
and the titans were having trouble navigating through the
tightly packed trees. It was slow going, and Zaal had sent his
swift bloodrunners ahead to scout the way and locate Xerxis
if they could. One, the most senior among them, was moving
through the trees toward Zaal now.
Supreme Aptimus, the bloodrunner said as he reached Zaal
and bowed low. We have found Lord Tyrant Xerxis.
How far? Zaal asked.
A few miles, the bloodrunner answered. He has found
defensible ground.
Enemies?
The bloodrunner nodded. I sent two scouts to the south days
ago. One has returned. Zaal could see the paingivers essence
through his oculus, and it darkened with fear and doubt.
Return and tell Xerxis I will join him before days end, Zaal
said. The bloodrunner bowed again, then turned and sprinted
away, disappearing in the thick gloom beneath the trees.
He drew in a deep breath and took another step into uncertainty.
Kaelyssa looked down on the corpse and frowned. Were there

others, Commander?
Eyvash swallowed and looked away. One more, he said. The
mage hunter commander kicked the rapidly cooling body at his
feet. Ive never seen skorne like thisvery quiet and fast. Still,
we should have gotten the other one as well.
He will have reported back to his superior. This Xerxis,
Kaelyssa said, the name alien on her tongue. She shook her
head. I dont need to tell you what that means.
No, Kaelyssa, Eyvash said. You do not.
Did you learn anything else?
Eyvash nodded. Yes. We followed the second scout, and he
returned to another force of skorne.
A second force? Kaelyssa said. Who led them?
We saw what appeared to be one of their spiritual leaders: old,
hunched, and carrying an elaborate staff, Eyvash said. His right
eye had been removed and replaced with some sort of device.
Kaelyssa drew in a deep breath. We have scant intelligence on
that one. He is called Zaal, and he is reported to lead an army of
stone warriors that house the souls of the dead.
They say skorne magic does not threaten Scyrah in the same
way as human magic, but do we know this for certain? It
feels... foul, Eyvash said.
Even if their magic does not directly harm Scyrah, they
certainly threaten Ios. Our methods to eliminate human
arcanists should still suffice for them, Kaelyssa said. Take
your mage hunters and scout ahead. I must speak with Ravyn.
Her fellow warcaster was an accomplished leader and a mighty
warrior, and although their roles within the Retribution were
quite different, Kaelyssa had much respect for her.
It shall be done, Eyvash said before hurrying off.
Kaelyssa turned and surveyed the force accompanying them.
She wondered if it was enoughnot that they had more to
spare. Those with Kaelyssa had pushed themselves hard
over the last several weeks, hastening to return to Ios from
Khador after word of the god Nyssors successful recovery. On
reaching the Gate of Mists they had discovered their nation had
been invaded by skorne in their absence. Retribution leaders
had agreed to lend their might to the nations defense where
Ill Omens
75
possible. Most of Ios strength was concentrated near Shyrr,

the capital. It had been Ravyns decision to lead a small force
together with Kaelyssa to head off those skorne pillaging the
north, where the remaining garrisoned Dawnguard had failed
to stop them.
Kaelyssa had already harbored doubts about the many unknowns
of their mission when they had expected to confront only one
skorne leader. Now they faced two, plus reinforcements.
The Iosan force included five myrmidons, multiple teams of
mage hunters, and a sizable number of houseguard warriors led
by Fane Knight Skeryth Issyen, whose presence would bolster
their morale and fighting spirit. Still, she felt unprepared.
She set out toward the center of the Retribution force, where a
command tent had been erected. When she stepped inside, she
found Ravyn bent over a table strewn with maps, her ebon hair
pushed behind her ears.
Ravyn, Kaelyssa said. I have news.
Ravyn looked up from her maps and grimaced. I can tell by
your tone you do not have good news.
Kaelyssa shook her head. My mage hunters caught and killed
a scout. Then followed another, who returned to a second
contingent of skorne, likely dispatched to reinforce Xerxis. This
second force is led by one known as Supreme Aptimus Zaal.
Analysis? Ravyn asked.
The skorne are likely aware we are coming, Kaelyssa said.
I fear the presence of another of their leaders may shift the
balance. This may change our mission parameters.
My mission is to eradicate the skorne from this region, Ravyn
said. Are you telling me that is no longer possible?
With respect, I do not believe our force is sufficient to crush
the skorne entirely. Kaelyssa said. Ravyn was in command of
this mission, but Kaelyssa knew she could be candid with her.
I assume you have a recommendation for me and are not simply
here as a bearer of bad tidings, Ravyn said with a sour smile.
I do, Kaelyssa said. I think our goal now is to remove the
skorne leaders. Cut the head from the serpent.
I do not doubt your abilities, Kaelyssa, Ravyn said, but these
are not human mages. Their magic is different, its practitioners
less vulnerable to our tactics. Can you and your mage hunters
kill both the tyrant and the supreme aptimus without engaging
their respective forces?
Kaelyssa might have bridled had another leader been so blunt
about possible deficiencies among the men and women she
led, but Ravyn was not seeking to humble her. Yes, Kaelyssa
answered. I think we can, though it will likely require us to
divide our forces, leaving some vulnerable.
Ravyn stared at Kaelyssa, the war leaders eyes flat, cold, and
appraising. I believe you, she said after a long pause. And
I think I can get you close to them. I do not think the skorne
leaders will expect immediate assassination. There are reports
indicating Xerxis may be wounded, and Zaal is not of their
warrior caste. If the bulk of our forces engage theirs in a direct
assault, both skorne leaders may be behind their lines.
76
Ill Omens
And less protected than they would otherwise be, Kaelyssa said.
Yes, Ravyn said. Their forces are slow; ours are not. We
could engage them, give you the time and opportunity you
need for the assassinations, then withdraw once you are
successful, before we suffer heavy casualties. If you believe
you can remove two of their most powerful leaders in a single
stroke, it is a chance we must take.
I appreciate your faith in my team, Kaelyssa said, and she
meant it.
We will delay our attack until twilight, Ravyn said. Let them
fight in the dark and in unfamiliar terrain.
The sun was setting in the west and the chill air becoming even
colder when Zaal reached Xerxis forces. The tyrant had made
his camp beneath a cliff face, with his back to the sheer rock
wall. It was a sound defensive position that kept him from
being flanked and forced his enemies into the spears of his
Cataphract cetrati. Zaal could not fault Xerxis for his choice
the tyrant was wounded, short of men, and could not outrun
the Iosansbut the supreme aptimus could not help but see he
was adding his forces to what might be a last stand.
Zaal followed a young Cataphract named Loraak to Xerxis
tent, where he found the tyrant seated on a short stool stripped
to the waist, a chirurgeon applying salves and bandages to a
wound on the big skorne warriors chest. At the back of the tent
stood an extoller, Aptimus Sarangerel, who bowed low as the
supreme aptimus entered the tent.
Supreme Aptimus, Xerxis said. He inclined his head a fraction,
a gesture of respect that was not lost on Zaal. As a tyrant of the
warrior caste, he was not obliged to do even this for Zaal, but
the standing of supreme aptimus held weight among those who
properly revered the extollers and the exalted. What news do
you have of our enemy? Xerxis waved away the chirurgeon,
who withdrew.
Zaal found another stool and sat. A sizable force moves in this
direction, he said. My scouts reported they had many war
constructs with them, which likely means they are led by one or
more of the Iosan warcasters.
Xerxis nodded, then stood. A grimace flickered over the tyrants
face. For him to show any sign of pain meant he was wounded
more gravely than Zaal had anticipated. Nephew, Xerxis said
to the Cataphract who had led Zaal through the camp, assist
me with my armor. Loraak moved to a nearby armor stand
and began to remove the heavy plates of Xerxis armor from it.
Xerxis turned to Zaal. Our position is strong, he said. Your
beasts and immortals make us stronger. We will turn them aside.
Zaal shook his head. The night wind howls. The ancestors have
spoken to me, and I am troubled, he said. A darkness hangs
over us, and we must be prepared for more than a clash of arms.
Loraak settled Xerxis breastplate over his uncles wide
shoulders and began to buckle the armor into place. What
darkness? Xerxis said. We do not have time for riddles,
Supreme Aptimus.
Yet riddles are all I have to offer, Zaal said. Until the exalted
speak again, we must be wary.
I understand. But you tell me the enemy will soon be upon us.
We must focus our strength there.
Zaal could not argue with the tyrants straightforward logic. He
knew it was not a matter of Xerxis believing himthe tyrant
was no stranger to the ways of the exalted, and the ancestors
were sacred to him, even if they did not speak to him directly. It
was simply a warriors pragmatism: fight the enemy standing
before you.
Zaal said nothing for a moment and watched Loraak fit the rest
of Xerxis armor into place. When the tyrant was fully armored,
he went to a rack that held his heavy flail and long spear.
Perhaps you are right, Zaal said as Xerxis hefted his flail,
but I counsel you to let your primus command in this coming
battle. Stay behind your Cataphracts, and let them shield you.
Xerxis turned toward Zaal, his black eyes hard and angry. I
am Xerxis of House Kophar! he said. I lead from the front.
You are wounded, and we face an enemy of unknown
strength, Zaal said. The archdomina would not thank you
for throwing your life away needlessly. You may yet die in this
land, but let that death have greater purpose.
Your wounds have grown worse, my lord, Aptimus
Sarangerel said from the back of the tent. You are strong, but
you must allow yourself time to heal.
Through his oculus Zaal saw Xerxis anger and frustration
bloom in the air as a haze of scarlet energy, a restrained
spillover of his mortitheurgical power, invisible to most eyes.
He wondered if Sarangerel would have dared speak without
Zaal in the tent.
Xerxis anger quickly faded. The tyrant was no fool, nor was
he reckless; Zaal guessed his fury had as much to do with the
truth in Sarangerels words as with the thought of leading
from the rear rankling his warriors pride. He had been
dispatched on this mission before he could heal and disliked
the idea of being weakened.
The tyrant stared down at the heavy flail in his hands, seeming
to draw strength from it. Without looking away from the
weapon, he said, Loraak, tell Primus Vulto to assemble the
dakars and then bring them and himself to my tent.
Zaal felt no relief at Xerxis decision to heed his advice. Nothing
had changed.
It whispers vengeance, by the winds edge.
Eyvash appeared out of the forest gloom like a white specter.

Kaelyssa had not seen the senior mage hunter approach. You
are a shadows whisper, Eyvash, she said with real admiration.
My apologies if I startled you, Eyvash said, smiling slightly.
Report.
The mage hunter wasted no time. The skorne have taken a

position beneath a cliff face four miles from here. It is a very
defensible location made stronger by the presence of their
heavy infantry. They are arranged in concentric half-circles
around the inner camp, with heavy infantry in the front and
ranged troops behind. I also saw many of the stone warriors we
were told to expect.
What of their beasts? Kaelyssa asked. She had heard many
tales of the monsters skorne sorcerers commanded in battle
towering armored horrors able to tear apart a heavy myrmidon
or slaughter dozens of enemy troops.
I counted three of the big ones called titans, Eyvash said,
and a strange giant insect-like creature.
Did you see the tyrant or the supreme aptimus?
Eyvash nodded. I saw Xerxis in the main camp, behind the
troops and beasts. He was hard to miss astride that creature
of his. I did not see Zaal, though I did see more of the stone
warriors he is said to command.
Good, Kaelyssa said. Xerxis position seems to confirm he is
wounded. From what I have heard of this warrior, there is little
else that would keep him from leading from the front.
Agreed, Eyvash said. It is time to strike.
Send a runner to Ravyn, Kaelyssa said. Tell her to begin
her attack.
The titans became aware of the enemies first. The titan gladiators
picked up the strange smell of their machines moments before
the attack. Zaal felt the anxiety of both beasts grow from a mild
presence in the back of his mind to a searing peal of alarm. He
was standing in Xerxis tent, the looming shape of the ancestral
guardian Xycus visible through the flap. He took a single step
toward the entrance, intending to warn Xerxis, when the night
erupted into chaos.
Two thunderous explosions shook the ground, followed by
screams and the shouts of skorne warriors. Zaal strengthened
his mental link to the largest of his gladiators and tightened
down on its rage as he looked through the creatures eyes. It
towered above a line of Cataphracts, their long spears pointed
toward the forest. White shapes moved through the trees,
enormous things alive with light and power. Blasts of energy
arced from the enemy machines, striking the ranks of skorne
warriors and detonating in brilliant flashes of radiance.
Zaal pulled his consciousness back from the titans and moved
outside, briefly touching the mind of Xycus and requesting that
the ancestral guardian follow him. The silent obsidian warrior
did as bid.
The roar of battle intensified, and he heard the sound of Iosan
ranged weapons as well as the buzzing hiss of Venator reivers
returning fire. The camp was dimly lit by guttering torches
sunk into the ground around the orderly rows of tents. The cliff
face soared above it all, and the entire camp was swallowed
by its shadow, making the twilight gloom thicker. Zaal spotted
Xerxis astride his cerops, shouting orders down to a Cataphract
Dakar, who then ran toward the front lines just a few hundred
yards away. The tyrants mount pawed the ground and leaned
Ill Omens
77
toward the battle as well, but Xerxis held it in check as he began

shouting orders to the small contingent of bloodrunners and
Cataphracts that had remained back from the main force should
the skorne lines be breached.
Zaal hurried to the tyrant, gathering four immortals he had held
back as a personal guard as he went. The lines are holding,
Xerxis said when he approached, but their machines are taking
a toll. The tyrants eyes became glassy, and he stared off into the
distance. Tiberion destroyed one.
My gladiators have felled another, Zaal said, relaying the
information hed received through his link to his beasts. He had
sent the aradus sentinel to their right flank, and it was firing
globs of acid at the incoming enemy troops.
They outnumber us, and they can shoot us from the cover of
the trees at greater range than we can return fire, Xerxis said. It
will take time, but theyll wear us down.
Zaal opened his mouth to respond but caught movement from
the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a figure move from the
shadows near the cliff face, tall and lithe. He heard a loud snap
and something flashed past his head. A crossbow bolt struck
one of the immortals behind him and bounced away.
Assassins! The thought flashed through Zaals mind as more
shapes moved from the long shadow of the cliff: Iosans clad in
light armor and armed with long blades and crossbows. The air
buzzed with more bolts. Some found their marks, dropping a
Cataphract and a bloodrunner nearby.
Xerxis took charge immediately. To me! he shouted, wheeling
his cerops toward the threat. Cataphracts in the area moved to
form a defensive line in front of him. Bolts hit skorne shields
but were unable to penetrate.
Zaal reached out to his beasts and instantly knew the titans were
too far away to aid him; only the aradus was close enough. He
summoned it to him. The slow-moving insectile creature would
take time to reach him, but he would soon have need of its rage.
Then another presence entered his mindan ancient, almost
alien mind that drowned out all other thoughts.
The night wind approaches. Set free the Fury of Halaak. It was Xycus.
The ancestral guardian had moved closer to him, a presence
simultaneously reassuring and imposing. Zaal felt clarity in the
words, felt their former mystery unravel.
Xerxis! Zaal called out. You must withdraw!
The Cataphracts had engaged the Iosan troops, pushing them
back with spears. The toksaa seemed willing to give ground;
Zaal suspected they were meant to draw away the warriors
around him and Xerxis.
The tyrant looked up at something over Zaals shoulder. Even

before he turned, he knew. A tall female toksaa moved between
the tents with inexorable grace and the swiftness of the wind,
her armor the dull white of old bones. She was the one foretold.
More assassins followed her.
Go! Zaal shouted over his shoulder. He heard Xerxis curse in
disgust, but the tyrant wheeled his cerops around and urged it into
a charge, bellowing a war cry that was echoed by the remaining
Cataphracts. If he did not fully withdraw, at least he might escape
this noose and reposition. Zaal had done what he could. He would
hold the night wind at bay.
The four immortals and Xycus moved ahead of Zaal, creating a
wall of stony bodies in front of the supreme aptimus. The Iosan
warcaster had drawn her weapons, a long curved sword and a
short-barreled firearm. She aimed and fired her gun as she ran. It
unleashed a sizzling line of blue-white light, and the head of the
immortal directly in front of Zaal exploded, pelting the supreme
aptimus with shrapnel. The immortal toppled.
Zaal summoned his will, focused it, and unleashed his magic
at the charging enemies. The hex blast detonated in their midst.
The night wind and three of her assassins leapt clear, but two
of the attacking Iosans were flung backward, their bodies limp
and charred. The spell had blunted the Iosan charge, and they
now approached more cautiously, spreading out to avoid being
caught by another spell. Zaal took the slight reprieve to bolster
the strength of his immortals with protective magic, hardening
their already formidable stone bodies. He also reached out to
the aradus sentinel moving toward him as hed commanded it,
stoking its rage and then siphoning that energy away to replenish
his mystical reservoir.
The night wind and her three assassins had engaged the
immortals and Xycus. Zaal backed away, hoping the aradus
would arrive soon enough to join the battle. In his mind, he felt
one of his titans die beneath a hail of rifle fire. The other was
sorely wounded, and through its eyes he could see the skorne
line buckling.
Then I will die, Xerxis said, his face suggesting no alarm.
The clash of steel on stone pulled Zaal back to the battle at hand.
The immortals were laying about with their obsidian blades,
which the Iosans nimbly avoided as they struck the exalted
warriors with their own curved swords, to little effect. Xycus
fared better, drawing on centuries of battlefield experience.
With a speed and precision that belied his ponderous body, the
massive ancestral guardian thrust his glaive forward to skewer
an Iosan and then pitched the mortally wounded foe away with
a deft flick of the glaive.
No! Zaal replied, knowing Xerxis gave the only answer the
hoksune code allowed. You must retreat to the south. Gather
what troops you can and smash through the Iosan line. This war
has need of you. The supreme archdomina has need of you.
The night wind showed her own skill, dodging a heavy blow
from an immortal, then removing its head with a backhanded
slash of her blade. There were only two immortals left, and
one of the Iosan assassins dodged around them and charged
Xerxis turned toward him, his face a mask of anger of and

confusion. I will not
The ancestors have spoken, Zaal said. You will die if you
stay here.
78
Xerxis glared at him with the fury of a superior, but Zaal met
his eyes and said, I swear this upon the ancestors we both
revere: today I will die, but you must live. Go from here and
spend your death where it will buy the most glory for the
Skorne Empire. Zaal could feel the battle behind him growing
in intensity, and he could see more of the assassins emerging
from the shadows. They had climbed down the cliff face in the
darkness, using the noise and distraction of the battle to cover
their infiltration.
Ill Omens
straight at Zaal. The supreme aptimus focused his oculus on

the onrushing enemy, seeing the Iosans spirit, ephemeral but
vigorous, shifting within the fleshy confines of his body. Zaal
lashed out with a mortitheurgical pulse channeled through the
oculus, shredding the assassins spiritual essence to drop him
lifelessly to the ground.
The supreme aptimus nodded in satisfaction. Perhaps Xycus was
wrong. Perhaps I will The thought was annihilated by a cold
sliver of agony in his back. He looked down to see the point of
an Iosan sword protruding from his chest. As the sword was
withdrawn, Zaal transferred the wound to the approaching
aradus and felt its anguish as the mortal injury extinguished
most of its life force. It would be of no use to him now.
Zaal whirled on the assassin, swinging his staff in a wide arc
and drawing on his mortitheurgy to lend strength to the blow.
The staff cracked the Iosan warriors skull like a rotten egg. His
attacker fell, but three more were moving from the shadows
toward him.
He was alone, trapped between two groups of enemies.
He needed to give Xerxis as much time as he could, and he
channeled another spell, one of his most potent. He cast it upon
Xycus, momentarily strengthening the ancestral guardians
martial prowess tremendously... at the cost of its bodily
destruction. He flung another hex blast at the new group of
assassins, killing one and pushing the rest back. He turned
and saw Xycus had killed two Iosans in a blur of black stone
and had pinned the night wind down with the aid of the two
remaining immortals.
Hope awakened within Zaal, but the ancestors prophecy
would not be denied. The night wind ducked a strike from an
immortal, rolled forward away from Xycus, and sprang to her
feet. The guardian might have cut her down then, but the spell
that had made it so formidable ended and devoured the exalted
warriors animating energy. Xycus body shattered and fell to
the ground in multiple chunks.
Zaal feel to his knees, the enemy sword still lodged in his body,
the night winds hands still gripping the hilt. He looked up into
her face, alien and graceful, and saw a warriors stolid calm.
No anger, no hatred, no joy at her victory. This one would likely
find some truth in the hoksune.
He opened his mouth and blood cascaded down his chin. Your
name? he said in Iosan, his voice a liquid croak.
The night winds expression changed for a moment, and Zaal
saw surprise register on her face. She put her foot on his chest
and yanked her sword free, but he managed to stay upright.
Your... name? he said again, feeling the life force draining
from his body along with a river of blood.
The Iosan said, I am Kaelyssa, Nights Whisper.
Zaal uttered a short, gurgling chuckle. Of course, he said in
skorne.
Behind the Iosan warcaster he saw more assassins moving to join
their leader. He could hear the sounds of battle continuing in the
distance, and he wondered if Xerxis endured. He still had one
more way to help the tyrant. Zaal could feel the essence of Xycus,
hale and whole in his sacral stone despite the destruction of his
obsidian body. With the last of his strength, Zaal reached out
with his mind toward the stone, focusing his will on the vibrant
spark of the skorne soul within it. Then he sent an immense pulse
of malignant energy into the stone, shattering it. One final and
powerful intentional desecration.
Xycus spirit became a white-hot mote of rage and fear in Zaals
mind, and behind him he heard a long, tortured shriek. Xycus
was ancient and powerful, his crystalline stone a reservoir
for vast accumulated mystical energies. Driven mad by the
shattering of his sacral stone, he would seek to deliver only
vengeance and death.
Kaelyssa jerked her gaze away from Zaal, and her face went
white. She backpedaled, shouting at her underlings in Iosan.
Where Xycus had been, a huge nebulous form arose amid a
cloud of stone and dust, a whirling tornado of baleful green
energy. Kaelyssa leapt away from it, but two of her assassins
were not as quick. The kovaas lashed out at them, raking talons
forming from its spectral mass. They screamed, and their flesh
blackened and withered. The corpses that struck the ground
were twisted, shrunken things that barely resembled the living
creatures they had been. The energy of the kovaas pulsed red
and it began to increase in size and ferocity, swirling faster. Zaal
felt bitter pride as he watched it rise; such a baneful spirit had
not been seen since Lord Tyrant Norvaaks curse released three
great kovaas to destroy half of Halaak.
Xycus moved swiftly toward the front lines where the battle
was still raging, hungry for more victims. Zaal reached out to
the kovaas mind, braving the furious storm of hatred to deliver
a final message.
Kill them all.
He was not yet dead, but death was very near. His
mortitheurgical skill had kept his heart beating and his lungs
full of air despite his terrible wound, but soon even that would
not be enough. The camp was empty of everything but corpses.
Zaal crawled among them, pulling his body over the dead,
leaving a trail of crimson.
He found Sarangerels corpse just outside the tent that had
belonged to Xerxis. The aptimus head was missing and no
fewer than eight crossbow bolts jutted from his corpse. Zaal
had to be quick. He ran his hands over the body, searching,
hoping. He found what he was looking for in an inner pocket.
The empty sacral stone was a perfect egg of grey crystal, dull
and lifeless.
Zaal rolled onto his back, holding the sacral stone to his chest.
His mouth was full of blood and his thoughts were ebbing
away in a swirl of pain. His vision was dimming. Death would
claim him soonbut not the Void. His last coherent thought
was part of Xycus prophecy.
It whispers your destiny.
Ill Omens
79
he Iron Kingdoms abound with people both good and evil, but many others live, survive, and even
thrive in the grey shadows between heroics and villainy. Social misfits but not always social outcasts,
they make their way through the world any way they caneven if it results in hardship for others. In
the end, even scoundrels and sell-swords feel justified in doing what they must to stay alive. These kinds of
characters make excellent NPCswhether as antagonists or alliesfor your Iron Kingdoms RPG campaign.
This time, you'll be reintroduced to a trio of characters you may remember from The Witchfire Trilogy.
Witchfire Rogues
Gallery
By Josh Colon, Andy Gill, and Tim Simpson ART by ivan dixon
Draegyn,
the Black Bastard
The Black Bastarda nickname Draegyn wears with a certain pride
is a perfect representative of the undesirable elements in Corvis. He is
a businessman, manipulative and savvy; he is a politician, balancing
disparate parties in Corvis hierarchy to ensure everyones needs are
meteven when they are at cross-purposes; and he is a criminal,
willing to double-cross or kill those who threaten to his position and
power. In the end, Draegyns greatest concern is himself, and he has
spent years cultivating the reputation that earned him his nickname.
DRAEGYN: A BRIEF HISTORY

Draegyn first arrived in Corvis as a young boy with nothing to rely on
but his own wits. He survived as a petty thief, taking what he needed
through his skill as a pickpocket and, eventually, as a second-story
man. After years of simply scraping by, Draegyn picked the pocket
80
of the man who would change his life forever: former mercenary
Hamil Bodak, today an influential arms dealer in Corvis.
Bodak caught the boy, but instead of killing him decided to train
Draegyn as an agent in his illicit dealings within the City of Ghosts.
Draegyn came to serve as Bodaks representative, becoming increasingly
esteemed among the citys criminal element. He also found work as
a hired gun with various criminal organizations in Corvisa sideline
Bodak encouraged. The more Draegyn worked among the other gangs
of the Undercity, the more detailed information he could provide to his
primary employer, Hamil Bodak. Over time Draegyn found his own
station enhanced, earning him an even greater role in Bodaks operations.
His skill as a pistoleer and his willingness to kill any who crossed him
earned him the moniker the Black Bastard. Even hardened thugs
knew to proceed cautiously in Draegyns presence.
Draegyn didnt start actively pursuing his own ambitions until the
events of the Longest Night of 603 AR, in which Alexia Ciannor attacked
Corvis with a horde of undead. Draegyn was in the process of obtaining
information from a competitor of Bodaks when both were attacked by
thralls, which Draegyn dispatched with considerable effort. In gratitude,
Bodaks competitor not only gave Draegyn the information he needed
but also said he owed Draegyn a favor. It would be only the first of
many such favors Draegyn would accumulate.
Corvis was later overrun by an invading army of skorne, led by
none other than Vinter Raelthorne IV, the dethroned king of Cygnar.
With their alien presence in Corvis, most of the populaces efforts
centered on how to avoid attention or get out of the city alive.
During the invasion, Vinters agentsthe inquisitorscombed the
city in search of any potential threats to Vinters conquest.
After Alexia Ciannors second undead army, the Legion of Lost
Souls, defeated the skorne and forced Vinter to flee the city,
Draegyns business gradually returned to normal. He soon crossed
paths with Lorimer Kex, a disgraced member of Corvis Fraternal
Order of Wizardry and a collaborator of the Inquisition, now seeking
the Black Bastards help in escaping the city. It was an easy choice to
refuse the renegade arcanist, as the Fraternal Order of Wizardry and
the city watch were both hunting Kex. Draegyn and Bodak made no
attempts to help Kex, leaving him to his own devices.
Draegyn continued working for Bodak while using his connections to
set up his own business within the Undercity, and Bodak supported
Draegyns ambitions as long as they didnt interfere with his own
dealings. Meanwhile, Bodaks operations grew quickly, requiring his
presence away from Corvis for extended periods of time, and the one
person he could trust to oversee his ongoing work was the Black Bastard.
As the premier information broker in Corvis, Draegyn has expanded
his power and organization tremendously in the past few years.
While a major player in his own right, he still works as Bodaks
right-hand man. He has consolidated his own power and position and
is considered by many to be Bodaks peer rather than his subordinate.
Still, Draegyn remembers well the gutters Hamil Bodak pulled him
up from, and he treats the man with a deep and unwavering respect.
Draegyns penchant for discovering and exploiting a persons
weaknesses and vulnerabilities has even reached into the Corvis
legislature and the city watch. Several important families are now
in Draegyns employ, allowing him influence over much of the citys
infrastructure. The Khadoran occupation of Llael has only increased
opportunities for the Black Bastard, both among Llaelese refugees
and the Cygnaran military. As there is now a major garrison stationed
at Corvis, putting strain on local supplies, Draegyn has set himself
up to provide beleaguered refugees and city officials much-needed
resources. Most have no idea what Draegyns assistance will truly cost
themor how long it will take to repay it. With his leverage in Corvis
larger than ever, the Black Bastard will exploit this however he sees fit.
81
draegyn
OUT IN THE WORLD
Skills:
Name Stat Rank Stat + Rank
Bribery SOC 2
Command SOC 2
Deception SOC 2
Detection
PER 3
Gambling
PER 2
Pistol
POI 2
Sneak AGL 2
Streetwise
PER 3
PHYSIQUE
PHY 6
SPEED
SPD 7
STRENGTH
STR 5
AGILITY
AGL 5
PROWESS
PRW 4
POISE
POI 5
INTELLECT
INT 5
ARCANE
ARC
PERCEPTION
PER 4
repeating pistol
rat Rng AOE POW

7 10 10
Abilities: Replacing this weapons ammo
wheel requires a quick action.
holdout pistol
rat Rng AOE POW

8 4 8
Wrist-Spring Holster: The character can draw
this weapon without spending a quick action.
INITIATIVE
INIT 15
DEFENSE
DEF 15
(Armored Great Coat -1)
ARMOR
ARM 11
(Armored Great Coat +5)
WILLPOWER
WILL 11
AGILITY
PHYS
3
ECT
IQ
TE
LL
Command Range: 7
Base Size: small
Encounter Points: 20
Equipment:
Ammo bandolier, armored great coat,
holdout pistol, repeating pistol, wristspring holster
82
*
*
*
7
6
7
6
7
Abilities:
Conniver The character is wellskilled in the arts of deception.
The character can reroll failed
Bribery and Deception-based
social skill rolls. Each roll can be
rerolled only once as a result of
Conniver.
Dodger When this character is
missed by an enemy attack, he
can immediately advance up to 2
after the attack is resolved unless
he was missed while advancing.
He cannot be targeted by free
strikes during this movement.
Fast Draw A character with this
skill gains +2 on initiative rolls.
He also gains an additional quick
action during his first turn of
combat each encounter that can
be used only to draw a weapon.
Feat Points This character
starts each encounter with 3
feat points. He is allocated 1 feat
point at the start of each of his
turns. He can only have up to 3
feat points at a time.
Feat: Flawless Timing The
character can spend 1 feat point
to use this benefit during his turn.
When he uses Flawless Timing,
the character names an enemy.
The next time that enemy directly
hits him with an attack that
encounter, the attack is instead
considered to be a miss.
Feat: Quick Thinking Once per
round, the character can spend
1 feat point to make one attack
or quick action at the start of
another characters turn.
Gunfighter The character
does not suffer a 4 penalty on
ranged attack rolls with pistols or
carbines while engaged.
Intellectual This character and
allies in this characters command
range gain +1 to attack and
damage rolls.
Street Shadow This character
gains an additional die on Sneak
rolls while in populated urban
environments.
PCs working in or around Corvis could have dealings with

Draegyn, the Black Bastard, either as paid informants or unwitting
pawns in one of his schemes. Draegyn is always on the lookout for
talented individuals he can hire or coerce into doing his dirty work.
Once Draegyn has his hooks in someone, he rarely lets them go without
a fight, and the Black Bastard is not known for fighting fair.
Draegyn may be a bastard, but he does operate with a code.
If PCs are working for him and dont betray him, he treats them well and
rewards them for their hard work and loyalty. Business is not personal,
but betrayals of what little trust he extends can classify a person as an
enemy of his widespread criminal network. Draegyn prefers to work
through intermediaries and proxies whenever possiblemuch as he
once worked as Bodaks proxybut those who remain in his employ
are sure to eventually meet the Black Bastard face to face. If PCs cross
him, Draegyn prefers to let a thug or hired cutthroat do his dirty work
for him, but he will address the problem firsthand if he must.
PCs will rarely, if ever, see Draegyn outside of Corvis. He is well
protected within the city, and all his needs are met there. Even if
the skorne were to return or another nation were to invade the city,
he would almost certainly remain. That brand of chaos would simply
create new opportunities for him to exploit.
Should Draegyn have critical information or resources the PCs
need, obtaining it wont be as simple as paying a sack of coin.
Characters might actually find it easier to work through Hamil
Bodaks organization to reach Draegyn than to approach him directly.
Through his spies and guttersnipes, Draegyn has eyes everywhere.
Once he knows the PCs are talented and possess abilities he can use,
he will go to great lengths to keep them in his sphere of influence,
taking over contracts they have established with other groups in the
city, putting pressure on them through corrupt watchmen or smaller
gangs over which he holds sway, or possibly even outright threatening
them into working for him.
The PCs should be careful when dealing with Draegyns part of the
underworld. While he can provide them with opportunities as an
employer, he also makes a powerful enemy. The wrong side of the
Black Bastard is a place few survive for long.
THE WITCHFIRE OTHERS

While Draegyn has a history with Lorimer Kex, he has classified it as
a minor incidentbut one he hasnt forgotten. He is always aware of
business relationships that were fraught with tension, and he would
not be caught off guard if the arcanist came looking for payback over
Draegyns unwillingness to help him escape the city. Seth Alkot, on the
other hand, is someone Draegyn has found to be a reliable resource,
and he finds the monster hunter to be useful in a handful of different
rolesguide, hunter, and assassin. On the other hand, he knows Alkot
has some shortcomings. Draegyn is aware that Alkot once hunted Kex,
and his failure to bring down the arcanist is what ultimately convinced
Draegyn to elevate his opinion of Kex and view Alkots skills in a
slightly diminished light.
(Tim Simpson)
Seth Alkot,
Monster Hunter
Grim Shadow, Hoof-Breaker, and Tusk-Takerjust a few of the names
the farrow tribes of northeastern Cygnar have for the man who has hunted
down many of their most vicious warriors and bloodthirsty chieftains.
For Seth Alkot, this isnt a mission of cold vengeance or mindless rage but
one of bringing justice to a cruel world. Most believe the aged monster
hunter has chosen a life of reckless danger in the face of terrible odds,
but Seth Alkot has managed to survive alone in the wilds for over two
decades despite unforgiving conditions and countless predators.
Seth Alkot has given up all hope of a normal life, vowing to spend
whatever time he may have left on Caen to honor the loved ones he
lost by ensuring no other innocents fall prey to a particular strain of
violence and greed: that of farrow brigands and marauders.
SETH ALKOT: A BRIEF HISTORY

In his youth, Seth Alkot was a scout in the Cygnaran Reconnaissance
Service assigned to the 17th Blue Specters, a team of rangers patrolling
the wilds of Cygnar. He spent time on extended missions that saw
him distinguished on many occasions but also kept him away from
his beloved wife Ilya for months at a time. This changed in 580 AR,
when Ilya gave birth to Seths daughter Liara, prompting him to retire
from military service. Soon after, Seth found work with a fledgling
caravan guild traveling between Fort Falk and Corvis. During one
of these trips in 583 AR, the caravan was attacked by farrow raiders
of the Korhoof tribe. Alkot had brought his wife and daughter
along to attend a festival in Corvis, and he fought desperately
against the savage attackers with his entire family at stake.
By the battles end, the farrow had slaughtered everyone
except Seth, whom they left for dead. His immeasurable
grief fueling his will, the former ranger dragged
himself back to civilization as a changed man.
Alkot was able to keep the demons at bay only
by hunting the farrow who destroyed his
world. After several weeks of relentless
tracking, Alkot ambushed the Korhoof warband,
though several the tribes foremost warriors managed
to escape his carefully planned slaughter.
Alkot vowed to remain in the wild until the Korhoof tribe and all
other bloodthirsty farrow in the region were destroyed. This obsession
led him into countless battles in the Northern Midlunds over the next
two decades, combatting not only farrow tribes but also powerful
beasts and even other intelligent races such as bogrin.
Over time, Seth Alkots one-man war against the farrow became
infamous among the savage peoples of the wilds. The Korhoof tribe
had spent years conquering weaker farrow tribes in an attempt to gain
dominance in the region, and Alkots persistent attacks undermined
their successes. Finally, as the Korhoofs influence began to falter, their
chieftain initiated a final bid for glory. Gathering his surviving allies,
the chieftain prepared to march on Corvis through the surrounding
swamps and into the Undercity, where scavenged barrels of blasting
powder would blow a hole to the surface for an attack on the city itself.
Alkot learned of this plan through one of his gobber contacts, and
though he knew the farrow could never take the city, he vowed they
wouldnt do to any other family what they had done to his.
83
seth alkot
PHYSIQUE
PHY 7
Skills:
SPEED
SPD 6
STRENGTH
STR 5
AGILITY
AGL 4
PROWESS
PRW 5
Climbing AGL 2
Craft (skinner)
INT
2
Craft (leatherworking)
INT
2
Detection
PER 2
Hand Weapon
PRW
3
Lore (Ex. Zoology)
INT
3
Rifle
POI 3
Sneak AGL 2
Survival
PER 3
Tracking
PER 3
POISE
POI 5
INTELLECT
INT 4
ARCANE
ARC
PERCEPTION
PER 5
scattergun
rat Rng AOE POW

8 10 12
Scope: +3 RNG on turns this character
forfeits movement to aim.
Frangible Rounds: While loaded with
frangible rounds, this weapon gains
Critical Brutal Damage. (On a critical hit,
gain an additional die on this weapons
damage roll against the target directly hit).
MAT
POW P+S

8 3 8
Abilities: Gain +1 on Craft (skinner) skill rolls
INIT 16
DEFENSE
DEF 14

(Armor Great Coat -1)
ARMOR
ARM 12

(Armor Great Coat +5)
WILLPOWER
WILL 11
AGILITY
PHYS
3
ECT
IQ
TE
LL
Command Range: 4
Base Size: small
Equipment:
Armored great coat, Boar Hunter (repeating
heavy carbine), 30 cased light rounds, 10
cased light frangible rounds, 2d6+10 gc
84
Abilities:
Animosity (Farrow) The character gains +2 on damage rolls against characters of the listed type. The character rolls 1 fewer
die on non-Intimidation social skill rolls made against characters of the listed type.
Camouflage The character gains an additional +2 DEF when benefitting from concealment or cover.
Fast Reload The character gains one extra quick action each turn that can be used only to reload a ranged weapon.
Feat Points This character starts each encounter with 3 feat points. He is allocated 1 feat point at the start of each of his turns.
He can only have up to 3 feat points at a time.
Hunting Ground (Mountain) This character gains +2 to Sneak and Tracking skill rolls while in the listed environment.
Pathfinder The character can move over rough terrain without penalty.
Skilled This character gains an additional attack during his activation phase if he chooses to attack that turn.
gutting knife
INITIATIVE
6
6
6
7
8
7
8
6
8
8
Survivalist This character can reroll failed Survival rolls. Each failed roll can be rerolled only once as a result of Survivalist.
Targeteer When the character hits with a ranged attack, he chooses the branch of the targets life spiral or the column of the
targets damage grid that is hit, if applicable.
Traceless Path Though he can move at only half his usual rate of speed while using this ability, either on foot or horseback,
anyone attempting to follow his trail has +3 added to his skill roll target number.
Tough When this character is disabled, roll a d6. On a 5 or 6, the character heals 1 vitality point, is no longer disabled, and
is knocked down.
Alkot gathered a small but powerful fighting force comprised primarily of swamp gobbers, to whom
he promised all scavenged farrow weapons. As the farrow marched through the swamps, they found
themselves set upon by Alkot and his allies. The farrow fell in swaths long before reaching the city.
Once again several members of the Korhoof tribe were able to escape, this time fleeing south to the
mountains. Though wounded, Alkot left his gobber allies behind to follow them into the Dragonspine
Peaks where, at long last, Alkot destroyed the final remnants of the tribe. In the aftermath of this
battle, Alkot sought shelter in a cave to recover from his wounds, where he came upon a discarded
journal, one he eventually gave to a group of mercenaries. This would prove invaluable in finding the
Tomb of Lost Souls and saving Corvis from Vinter Raelthornes skorne invasion of 603 AR.
His family avenged, Seth decided to return to Corvis. Tales of his exploits had spread, and after
his reintroduction to civilization, his skills as a guide and monster hunter were in high demand.
Eventually, his reputation began to attract all manner of powerful and at times unseemly clients within
the city. One of these was the notorious pistoleer Draegyn, the Black Bastard. Over the years, Draegyn
has used Seth Alkots skills in a variety of ways, employing him to lead smugglers in and out of the
city through the surrounding swamplands or to provide information about local wilderness tribes.
Alkot is known to sell his services to the other side of the law just as frequently, however, such as when
he helped the Fraternal Order of Wizardry track the arcanist and Vinter loyalist Lorimer Kex through
the Corvis Undercityone of the few times the tracker failed to catch his prey.
While serving as a monster hunter and guide for an expedition out of Corvis University in 606 AR,
Alkot encountered a farrow warbeast unlike any he had seen previouslyone with mechanikal limbs
and other enhancements. He soon learned these warbeasts were employed by a growing army of
farrow known as the Thornfall Alliance. With renewed purpose, Alkot

began selling his services as a mercenary to any military organization
looking to battle this new threat. He vowed to assassinate the Thornfall
leaders, hoping to destroy their power structure and force the allied
tribes to return to their primal, disorganized ways. Ultimately, he
knows he is unlikely to ever achieve this goalbut Seth Alkot will
continue to put bullets in farrow skulls until he is reunited with his
wife and daughter in Urcaen.
OUT IN THE WORLD

Seth Alkot is an experienced monster hunter who has dedicated himself
to eradicating any and all violent and aggressive farrow. Any PCs
who ally with farrow, especially members of the Thornfall Alliance,
may find themselves on the wrong end of his carbine, Boar Hunter.
Over the years, Alkot has learned a great deal about the many cultures
of the wilds, and he often works alongside members of various wild
races to achieve his goals.
Given his background, Seth will treat any PCs with connections to the
Cygnaran military amicably. He will not personally work with farrow
party members, whom he treats with either quiet disdain or outright
hostility, but neither will he attack them outright. Any farrow Alkot
interacts with is regarded as a disposable resource to be observed
closely. At any sign of such a character threatening innocents,
Alkot will shoot that character down without hesitation.

Seth Alkot considers himself a lonerhis relationship with Draegyn
is one of mutual benefit, not one of friendship or even shared goals.
Alkot has, in fact, rejected certain jobs Draegyn offered him in the
past because Draegyn wanted some of his own people involved
in the job. Alkot does not feel beholden to the Black Bastard,
despite Draegyns powerful position in the underworld of Corvis.
Lorimer Kex, however, has earned a grudging respect from the
monster hunter for successfully evading capture. Once the hunt for
Kex was called off, Alkot remained attentive to any rumors he heard
about the mad arcanist. While he is no longer interested in capturing
or killing Kex, he would certainly like to understand more about the
rare target who evaded him.
LORIMER KEX: A BRIEF HISTORY

Once a member of the Fraternal Order of Wizardry, Lorimer
Kex's notoriety rose when he served as a collaborator with
Vinter Raelthornes second Inquisition during the early days of
603 AR. In the weeks leading up to the skorne attack on Corvis,
Kex handed over many rival arcanists to Vinters agents in the city,
falsely accusing them of acts of rebellion. Once these arcanists were
locked away, he sought them out solely to taunt them, outlining his
grand plan to leverage his loyalty and the elimination of powerful
dissenters into a position of authority when Vinter reclaimed the
throne. His rivals were tortured and many were brutally killed
by Vinters inquisitors and the skorne paingivers, much to Kexs
satisfaction.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Corvis, the inquisitors and paingivers
were forced to abandon their strongholds within the city, leaving
their prisoners behind. Among the survivors were several Kex had
betrayed, and because of his megalomaniacal boasting, these newly
released arcanists identified him as their accuser. He soon found
himself wanted for treason, hunted not only by the city watch but by a
special task force recruited by the Fraternal Order of Wizardry.
After laying low in the Undercity for several days, Kex sought
out the notorious gangster Draegyn for help. Draegyn was well
aware of Kexs situation, as one of his own informants was a part
of the force the Fraternal Order had formed to capture the arcanist.
Draegyn understood aiding Lorimer would attract too much of the
wrong kind of attention, and he refused the fugitive.
Kex had little choice but to make a desperate run for the city gates.
In the dead of night, he crept out of his hiding place in the Undercity.
Though the watch identified him as he attempted to flee Corvis,
he used his magic to defeat several guards and escape without
pursuit. He then made his way to Ternon Crag, where the Vinter
loyalist Asheth Magnus was said to reside.
(Josh Colon)
When at last Kex met Magnus, the outlaw warcaster refused to help the
arcanist directly. Magnus did, however, profess to know the location
of a skorne outpost in the Bloodstone Marches where he suggested
Kex might find sanctuary among the remnants of Vinters forcesand,
if he played his cards right, where he might even gain an audience
with Vinter Raelthorne himself.
Lorimer Kex,
The Mad Arcanist
Kex made his way into the hostile desert, following the retreating
skorne force. After weeks in the harsh wastes, he was taken in by a
skorne patrolthough as a prisoner, not an ally. He pleaded with
his captors to speak of him to the man they knew as the Conqueror,
a man he thought would spare him, but his protests were ignored.
Instead, the skorne treated him as a font of information they could
exploit as they devised a new plan of attack.
At one time, Lorimer Kex was part of a proud order of arcanists,

driven by a desire to rise above them all. Yet his betrayal of that order,
combined with his arrogant assumption that his loyalty to a fallen
king would pave his way to power, led him to become who he is now:
a madman plagued by a single-minded vision of vengeance at any cost.
Kexs time among the skorne and his fortuitous escape from them has
brought him full circle, back the western Immoren, and stripped him
of his loyalty to Vinter Raelthorne. His only loyalty now is to himself.
Kex found himself subjected to the paingivers arts as they tortured him
for information regarding Corvis. Through a combination of chemical
concoctions and paingivers barbs, they nullified his magical ability
and eventually broke his mind. He became an empty shell, telling his
captors anything and everything he thought they might want to know.
The process took yearsevery bit of information was squeezed from
him until the paingivers at last decided he had provided all he knew
and forced Kex into slavery.
85
While enslaved, Kexs fantasies of revenge bloomed. He imagined

caving in the skulls of the task masters, slaughtering all who stood in
his way as he returned to Corvis to reap his terrible vengeance against
the arcanists of the Order. Kexs fantasies soon became plans, and as
his plans became more intricately detailed and insanely
precise, Kex was at last able to find a secret
means of overcoming the magic-nullifying
concoctions forced upon him by the skorne.
He then killed his skorne master with a
blast of his newly returned magic and
fled into the Bloodstone Marches.
Now covered in scars, partially lamed,
and nigh unrecognizable, Lorimer
Kex has returned to Corvis for revenge
against all who have wronged him.
OUT IN THE WORLD

Kex might contact the PCs to enlist their aid if
he becomes aware of their capabilities. He relates a
false version of his flight from Corvis and years of torture
and slavery, blaming his downfall on false accusations made against
him by jealous arcanists of the Order. If the PCs believe his story,
he requests their help in his plans of revenge. Eventually the PCs
should discover the truth of what happened between Kex and the
Order, at which point the arcanist will turn on them. Similarly, if Kex
ever feels the PCs might betray him or are in some way endangering
his plans, he wont hesitate to betray them.
Kex may begin his interaction with the PCs as a villain. Draegyn might
ask the players to eliminate Kex before the mad arcanist decides to take
vengeance against him. Similarly, Commander Helstrom or agents of
the Order might ask the PCs to investigate a series of murders in which
arcanists were the victims. Investigation into the victims will reveal all
were survivors of the Inquisition. If the Game Master is looking for a
more personal connection to the PCs, an NPC they had previously met
might make an excellent victim of Kexs vengeance.
Ultimately, Lorimer Kex is interested in one thing only: revenge.
He has a long list of people he wants to kill, but his biggest targets
those he feels are the cause of his years of torture and slaveryare the
survivors of the Inquisition. He will view the PCs as allies in gaining
his vengeance or as enemies who need to be destroyed before they
jeopardize his schemes.

Kexs relationships with Draegyn and Seth Alkot are at best indifferent.
Kex hasnt forgotten Draegyns refusal to help him in Kexs hour of
need, but he has also learned to pick his battleshe would rather
have Draegyn as an ally than an enemy, giving him a resource in the
shadows of Corvis. But if he senses Draegyn feels threatened by him,
hell use that to his advantage, his mind again turning to revenge.
As for Seth Alkot, Kex is aware of his existence and his skills, but
he has no knowledge that Alkot was previously employed by the
Fraternal Order of Wizardry to hunt for Kex himself. So, should Alkot
express any openness to hunting arcanists, skorne, or fallen kings,
Kex would be interested in working with him, unaware that their
paths nearly crossed before under less pleasant circumstances.
(Andy Gill)
86
lorimer kex
PHYSIQUE
PHY 6
Skills:
SPEED
SPD 6
STRENGTH
STR 5
Cryptography
INT 2
Deception SOC 2
Disguise
INT 1
Lore (history)
INT
2
Research
INT 2
Sneak AGL 2
Streetwise
PER 1
Survival
PER 1
AGILITY
AGL 4
PROWESS
PRW 4
POISE
POI 4
INTELLECT
INT 4
ARCANE
ARC 5
PERCEPTION
PER 4
dagger
MAT POW P+S

5 1 6
INITIATIVE
INIT 14
DEFENSE
DEF 12

(Custom Armor -2)
ARMOR
ARM 12

(Custom Armor +6)
WILLPOWER
WILL 10
Spells:
SPELL NAME COST RNG AOE POW UP OFF
Arcane Bolt
PHYS
3
ECT
IQ
TE
LL
12
11 No Yes
Aura of Protection
2 SELF CTRL Yes No
While in the spellcasters control area, friendly characters gain +2 ARM.

Death Field
4 SELF
No No
The spellcaster gains Dark Shroud. While within eighteen feet (3) of the spellcaster,
friendly characters also gain Dark Shroud. (While in the melee range of a character with
Dark Shroud, enemy characters suffer 2 ARM). Death Field lasts for one turn.
2
6 yes No
This character gains stealth and +3 on his Sneak rolls.
AGILITY
Magical bolts of energy streak toward the target.
occultation
6
*
5
6
6
6
5
5
Zephyr
6 No No
Target character can immediately advance up to 5. A character can be affected by Zephyr

only once per round.
Abilities:
Excruciator The character does not suffer the effects of crippled aspects.
Feat Points This character starts each encounter with 1 feat point. He is allocated 1 feat point at the start of each of his turns.
He can only have up to 1 feat point at a time.
Great Power This character can upkeep one spell each turn without spending a focus point or gaining a fatigue point.
Command Range: 4
Iron Will The character can reroll failed Willpower rolls. Each roll can be rerolled only once as a result of Iron Will.
Base Size: small

Shadow Play This character can spend a feat point to use Shadow Play for one round. While using Shadow Play, this characters
spells produce no spell runes.
Equipment:
Will Weaver This character is a will weaver.
Somnolence elixer (5), traveling clothes
87
QUICK SHOT SCENARIO
1 AR
The Synthesis of Rebellion

By michael g. ryan and michael sanbeg
Art by chippy, alberto dal lago, luis gama, marcel mercado, and brian snoddy Map by hugo solis
The following Quick Shot Scenario takes place in the year that will
eventually be known as 1 AR, at the height of Orgoth power in western
Immorenand when the roots of rebellion were beginning to grow.
Due to the differences between the modern world represented in Iron
Kingdoms Full Metal Fantasy and Iron Kingdoms Unleashed
and that of these events now six centuries past, players should not use
their existing characters. This scenario takes place before the advent of
firearms, warcasters, mechanika, and other staples of the modern age.
Each player is encouraged to use one of the pregenerated characters
designed for this scenario or to discuss with the Game Master which
careers are appropriate for the game.
These pregenerated characters, the adventures villains, encounter
maps, and a scale map of the Orgoth fortress are available for download
at privateerpress.com/no-quarter/web-extras/no-quarter-60.
Though the true Rebellion has yet to begin, the inhabitants
of western Immoren have long resisted their brutal Orgoth
overlords. But now the Orgoth suspect a true uprising is coming,
and they mean to stop it with brutal efficiency by creating unead
creatures called dread out of certain locals and using those dread
as terrifying enforcers, thus sparing Orgoth soldiers for battle
instead of crowd control. Each PC has already been captured for
acts of rebellion and awaits torture and certain deathor worse.
Players, Beware!
The Orgoth were notoriously cruel, but they reserved their

most severe punishments for players who read ahead in a
scenario their Game Master planned to run. Unless youre
interested in meeting an excruciator head-on, dont spoil the
surprise for yourself.
88
Quick Shot scenario
The Orgoth
Fortress
The fortress contains a torture facility for an Orgoth excruciator,
some of whose victims are converted to dread to serve under the
command of an Orgoth captain, Ryark VI, in quelling a potential
uprising among the nearby populace.
The walls of most chambers and passageways are roughly carved
from the caverns stone. Their walls are not entirely flat but run
relatively even and straight. Many others are more natural, with
ceilings anywhere from 7 to 10 feet above the ground. The walls
of all the various chambers and tunnels are perpetually damp
and streaked with mineral deposits. With a few exceptions, noted
in the individual area descriptions, the floors of both the carved
and natural areas have been paved with wide, flat stones.
The fortress halls are lit with torches racked on the walls at
irregular intervals. Areas within 18 feet (3) of a torch or fire are
bright light, and there are patches of dim light between most of the
torches. PCs gain +2 to their Sneak rolls against most characters
while within dimly lit areas, but note that warwitches can see
perfectly in even complete darkness. A torch can be pulled from
the wall sconces to serve as a source of light. A carried torch
produces bright light up to 18 feet (3) and dim light up to 36 feet
(6). A torch can be used as an improvised hand weapon with
POW 1 and a 2 attack modifier. On a critical hit, the target suffers
the Fire continuous effect.
Most of the various doors stand open, with the exception of those
leading to the Armory (Area 5) and Captain Ryarks Quarters (Area 6).
Wandering Patrols
Fortunately for the PCs, most of the Orgoth stationed within the
fort are occupied fighting off an Immorese attack throughout this
adventure. There is always the chance that PCs might encounter
someone passing through the halls, however. Such patrols are
not intended as random battles but as potential threats to avoid.
The Game Master should employ these encounters to encourage
PCs to use stealththeyre best used when the PCs have a place
to hide. If the PCs make too much noise during their escape, such
as trying to chop down a locked door, fight a guard, or shatter
a series of wooden chests, roll a d6 immediately and assume
the Orgoth indicated overheard the disturbance and set out in
search of its source. Any Orgoth arrive one game round after the
disturbance.
Roll
12
34
5
6+
Encounter
Scene 1
The adventure begins with the characters imprisoned in the
Jail of the Orgoth fortress. They have been beaten unconscious,
stripped of their weapons and equipment (with the possible
exception of hidden thieves tools), and brought through the
wilderness beyond the city of Corvis. Left to the care of an
Orgoth torturer, all seems lostuntil a sudden attack as rebels
fall upon the fortress en masse, trying to liberate key members of
their rebellion also within the fortress.
Note that while the following scenes contain specific rooms
in the fortress, the players may choose to investigate them in
no particular order. Still, the conditions within the fort evolve
over the course of the adventure. After every three to four new
rooms the PCs explore, see what new conditions apply to the
following scene.
Each PC regains consciousness at roughly the same time, though
characters can awaken one by one based on PHY stats, with the
highest PHY characters rousing first.
Area 1: The Jail

The Jail is a 20 x 30 foot rectangular room carved into the stone.
Small alcoves line the perimeter of this room, barely tall enough
for a man of average height to stand, and a pair of manacles hangs
from the upper rear wall of each alcove. Each of the PCs is locked
in one alcove, and NPC prisoners currently occupy two others.
Read or paraphrase aloud the following:
You slowly regain consciousness, aware that you no longer in your home
or in your own village, uncertain if youre even in your own world anymore. Your hands are manacled to the back wall in a black stone alcove
like a vertical casket. Moans around you suggest youre not the only one
to awaken in a chamber that stinks of spoiled blooda place that may be
the last room youll ever see.
The door to the chamber opens, and two men stand the torchlight beyond
one wears the long grey robe and distinctive metal mask, twisted into
a scream, of an excruciator. The other wears armor that marks him as
a captain in the Orgoth army. Broad-shouldered and a head taller than
most men, the captain wears no helm and carries no shield. Hes armed
with a long dagger on his belt and a massive sword across his back. A thin
scar runs along the left side of his face, narrowly missing his eye.
He speaks to the excruciator in a tongue the Orgoth reserve to intimidate
those whose fates are in the hands of the conquerors. It mixes the native
Orgoth language with key words you can understand. Dismember.
Flay. Dread.
No Encounter
All, the excruciator responds so you will understand him.
1 Orgoth Soldier
The captain nods curtly at the excruciator, gives you one last hateful
glare, then leaves the chamber.
2 Orgoth Soldiers
Orgoth Lieutenant and 1 Orgoth Soldier
The excruciator scans the walls, clearly meeting not just your stare but
those of the other prisoners as well. You look like other people who died
Quick shot scenario
89
90
Quick Shot scenario
in these rooms, he says. He begins to remove a pair of curved metal

shears from his belt. They are bloodstained. Your parents, some of them.
Your children, the others. Their souls hearts are now in our keeping.
They screamed, your families, they begged. They did not know about
Iron Fellowship. But you do. I know you do. And you do not need your
hands and arms to tell me. So. First your amputation, then my questions.
Then, the next amputation. Just to be sure you tell the truth.
Excruciator Aexon, an Orgoth torturer charged with extracting
information from captives, is cruel and merciless. He reveals his
name if asked and speaks calmly with the PCs. Everything he
says is designed to weaken their resolve and remind them of the
hopelessness of their situation and of the agonies awaiting them.
He uses terms that describe pain, horror, and physical violence.
As the excruciator moves across the chamber toward the PCs,
a tremendous alchemical explosion from just outside causes the
entire cavern to tremble. Bits of stone crumble from the walls and
ceiling, raining down on the excruciator. The fortress is under
attack by rebels seeking to free the PCs fellow captives, though
even the prisoners in question are not aware of that fact.
Your rebels. The Iron Fellowship, the excruciator says, cocking his head
as if to listen; the twisted face of his mask continues to stare at you despite
the gesture. They come to save you? Well, if that is so, then you must see
them. And you will. I promise. But they will dread seeing you.
The excruciator turns his attention to one of the rooms two previous
prisoners, who attempts to struggle free as the excruciator unlocks him.
The torturer easily overpowers the man, weakened from neglect and
confinement, and drags him toward the chamber door. As they move, the
prisoner reaches for the excruciators mask, but theres a snicking sound
and the prisoners forearm suddenly lies on the floor in an expanding trail
of blood. As the now-screaming prisoner is dragged away by his torturer,
his dismembered limb twitches, the fingers tightening then loosening,
and you can see something metallic gripped in the dismembered hand.
The door to the next chamber slams shut and the locks tumblers fall.
Excruciator Aexon remains in the Interrogation Room (Area 2)
for about an hour, during which time the PCs can question the
remaining prisoner, a man named Renwald Corley, and attempt
to break free while listening to the screams of the torturers
current victim.
Renwald reluctantly admits membership to a rebellious group
known as the Iron Fellowship, which the PCs have heard of, and
confesses involvement in last years pivotal uprising in Fharin.
He was brought to Ryark, the captain who just left the PCs in the
excruciators hands. Renwald shares important information if the
PCs deal with him respectfully: he has heard of a secret escape
route somewhere at the far end of the cavern. He does not know
what area it is in. If asked where he acquired this knowledge, the
prisoner nods toward the interrogation room.
That dead one, he says.
He then says something to the PCs that he refuses to explain:

Kerwins Oath and Golden Order? Regardless of what the PCs
say in response to this, he stops talking, only claiming that to say
more is certain death for everyone.
Getting Free
There are several methods to escape the manacles, one of which
depends on the partys composition:
If Ghort is with the group, the Orgoth failed to notice thiefs
tools concealed up his sleeve. He is able to draw them out
one-handed by making a POI roll against a target of 10. If the
roll succeeds, he can attempt to pick the manacle locks with
a Lock Picking roll against a target of 14. If either roll fails,
he drops the picks at his feet. If Ghort is not in the group,
Scarlata Drastini has thiefs tools instead.
Any character can make an Escape Artist roll against a target
of 19 to free himself from one manacle per successful roll. The
Orgoth manacles are barbed along the outer edges to dissuade
such escape attempts. For each failed roll an attempting
character suffers d3+1 damage points.
The explosion that rocked the fortress loosened the stone
around a single manacle chain trapping one character
the Game Master should choose which PCs manacles
are weakened. This character can pull the chain loose
from the wall by making a STR roll against a target of 15.
If the roll succeeds, the character pulls the stone free from the
wall, though it is still attached to that characters manacle.
When the excruciator returns to the jail, not having expected
any of the PCs to freed themselves, he does not notice such
a change if the PCs take any reasonable measure to hide it.
A PCarmed with the loose chain can wield it as a POW 1
Hand Weapon with a 1 Attack Modifier. If the excruciator is
attacked on his return, even if the attack misses, he is surprised
and stumbles into range of a one or two other PCs, who can
then attempt to disable him. Though their arms are shackled,
the PCs may kick at the excruciator or attempt to grapple
him. A character grappling the excruciator can also attempt
a chokehold against him by making a successful Unarmed
melee attack followed by contested STR rolls each round.
If a PC can maintain the hold for 3 rounds, the excruciator is
knocked out. The excruciator has keys on his belt that can be
retrieved with a successful AGL roll against a target of 12.
A character who frees himself from the manacles enough

to move around the room can investigate the severed limb.
The hand clutches a key made of black stone of Orgoth manufacture,
carved with a wailing face. This key opens any lock it is pressed to,
though it emits a short, terrifying scream each time. If the PCs do
not escape their manacles before the excruciator returns for one of
them, he picks up the key himself and snaps it in half.
If a PC uses it, the key screams and alerts the excruciator to the
escape attempt. One round after he is alerted, the excruciator
calls out, summoning 2 Orgoth soldiers to deal with the PCs as
he escapes the Interrogation Room. If he does so, he runs to the
Corpse Pit (Area 4) to join his apprentice.
Quick shot scenario
91
Area 2: The Interrogation

Room
Two things happen in this room beyond the simple torture
of prisoners. First, blood is collected that is used to quench
fellblades in the Smithy (Area 14). Second, victims are prepared
for conversion to dreadundead soldiers Captain Ryark plans
to wield against the increasingly rebellious slave population.
This involves flaying flesh (performed in this location) and
severing arms at the elbow; from here, victims are taken to the
Chamber of Awakening to have their living heart encased in
boiling metal, their flesh studded with armored plates, and their
forearms replaced with weapons.
If the excruciator successfully transfers a PC from the jail, he

shackles the PC to the wall and begins to torture that character
by cutting away strips of the characters flesh. Initially, the
excruciator does not ask any questions. He divides his attention
between the NPC captive and the PC in the room, torturing each
character for one half-hour at a time. When the questions begin,
they focus on the roots of the uprising in Fharin, a rebellion the
Orgoth believe is growing, which the PCs likely know nothing
about. After each hour with any one character, the victim loses
1 PHY. If a subject is reduced to 0 PHY, he dies. Lost PHY
returns over time, but not during the course of this adventure.
At the Game Masters discretion, a character tortured in this way
automatically receives Battle Scars.
Manacles hang from the upper walls around the perimeter of

this room, each above a shallow indentation carved in the floor,
red-stained and scattered with scraps of cleanly stripped flesh
in twisted shreds. Blood channels lead from each of these areas
If all of the PCs are locked up in the Interrogation Room, the

Game Master should provide a circumstance similar to those
presented in Scene 2 to allow them to free themselves. Otherwise,
the adventure ends here.
Area 3: Main Barracks

Overcoming the
Excruciator
If the PCs miss their opportunity to strangle Excruciator Aexon

in the jail and instead engage him in melee in the Interrogation
Room, he uses his torture instruments to defend himself. Aexon
is a formidable combatant and does not hesitate to battle a
single PC. If he is forced to face multiple opponents, however,
he attempts to escape and summon help from any soldiers he
can find outside the main doors or within the Entry Hall.
Of interest should a PC search him, either here or in the Corpse
Pit, Aexon carries a tattered list of names, most of which are
scratched off. Only one name remains: Grenaldt.
This large, natural cavern serves as the fortress primary barracks.

A small chest stands at the foot of each bed. If PCs search these
chests (they will first need to be unlocked, broken open, or
Orgoth Chests
The main barracks is only the first location wherein PCs

may search the personal belongings of the Orgoth soldiers.
Most of such chests contain only mundane items such as
clothing, coins, cups, utensils, small knives, and various
personal mementoes. Here are a few specific items the Game
Master can allow the PCs to discover as desired:
A small clay pot containing human teeth and bone
fragments. They appear to be a soldiers trophy collection.
to a central channel carved into the floor, which empties into a

semicircular pool. Empty earthen jars lie on the floor near this.
A rack alongside the door contains various torture implements,
some of which are unclear in their precise purpose. Under the
rack are several severed forearms, many of which stink with rot.
A small table is loaded with used, bloody tools, most of which
are equivalent to a dagger. A PC trained in the Medicine skill
recognizes that some of the tools are medical in natureto
surgically flay skin, saw through bones, pull apart ribs or
ligaments, or encircle organs in adjustable bowls rimmed with
razors that can remove them intact.
If the PCs fail to escape the jail, Aexon brings them one by
one into this room. Upon entering the room, a PC can attempt
to take the excruciator by surprise and seize one of the torture
implements from the rack or the small table, overpower him, or
otherwise prevent him from performing his work.
92
Quick Shot scenario
A black iron medallion depicting a vaguely human face,

its mouth stretched wide to consume a field of stars.
An Orgoth knife functionally equivalent to a modern
trench knife.
A small packet containing a single dose of healing
ointment. This foul-smelling substance temporarily turns
flesh a pale, deathly pallor where applied, and anyone who
uses it heals 1 point to each aspect of his life spiral but also
suffers 1 to Sneak rolls for 2d6 rounds.
A glass jar containing d3 doses of burn cream.
This cream produces a stinging sensation when applied,
which then intensifies for a short time. A character who
applies this cream suffers distracting pain for d6 rounds after
the first round, resulting in a 1 to PER checks and making
it impossible to upkeep spells. It also immediately heals 2d3
points of vitality, provided the damage was inflicted by either
fire or corrosion and occurred within the last 5 rounds.
opened using the screaming black stone

key found in the Jail), they can discover 1
assassins blade and any number of minor
valuables, as detailed in the Orgoth
Chests callout, according to the Game
Masters discretion.
Scene 2
After escaping from interrogation,
the PCs are free to move into the
main
fortress,
though
the
Game
Master should ensure they feel hunted,
discouraging them from roaming about aimlessly.
A battle between Orgoth and Immorese rebels rages on
outside, but there are still a few Orgoth soldiers within the fort
the PCs must avoid as they attempt to find a way to freedom.
Whenever the PCs move into a new room make a roll for a
wandering patrol, not just when the PCs make noise or draw
attention to their location. The members of that patrol, if any, are
in the current room.
These Orgoth are likely not aware of the PCs presence.
Unless the PCs do something to draw their attention, treat the
Orgoth as distracted for the purpose of determining the results
of the PCs Sneak rolls.
Area 4: The Corpse Pit

Four human Immorese slaves occupy this cavern, guarded by
a single Orgoth soldier and Excruiciator Aexons apprentice,
Galiz. Galiz wears a half-mask that covers him from the middle
of his forehead to just above his upper lip, yet the masks face
is complete, giving the impression that the apprentice has two
mouths. If Aexon fled to this area after escaping the PCs earlier,
the soldier is on the alert, which prevents the PCs from gaining
a surprise round. If Aexon did not make it here, the soldier is
bored and only vaguely interested in the work of the slaves.
A deep sinkhole fills most of the chamber, and there is a pile
of corpses just left of the entrance. On the opposite side of the
corpse pile, the slaves work removing valuables from the bodies
and piling them against the east wall before casting the corpses
into the pit.
At the opposite end of the room from the entrance, eight captives
have been impaled on long iron spikes etched with arcane
Orgoth runes. A PC can make a Medicine roll against a target of
10 upon seeing the prisoners. If the roll succeeds, the PC realizes
these men have been impaled through the heart and should
be dead, but they writhe in agony still. If he was not alerted
to the escaping PCs, the apprentice excruciator stands nearby,
holding a massive soul cage in one hand and a blade in the other.
He carves into the impaled bodies, eliciting tormented moans
from them. Death provides no comfort to these impaled men
from the torturers blades. Galiz is torturing these captives in
order to strip their souls of sanity before capturing

them in the soul cage for transfer to the Smithy, where
they will be used to fashion new fellblades.
The Call to Rebellion

The
apprentice
interrogated
these
prisoners before their impalement,
as reflected in a small notebook he
has scribbled questions and answers
in. His notes are in a jumbled mix of
the Orgoth tongue and stolen words
and phrases from the local language,
Thurian. A PC who reads these notes
can make a Cryptography roll against a
target of 14 to parse out the gist of the interrogation,
which has been heavily focused on a phrase the excruciator
learned from a prisonera spywho died during torture.
Now the apprentice has been attempting to find out what it
means and to whom.
Kerwins Oath and Golden Order...
By interrogating prisoners destined for the sword, the
apprentice has learned this expression was to be conveyed from
the dead spy to someone he was to meet in the forest beyond this
Orgoth fortress, a member of a rebellious group called the Order
of the Golden Crucible, who was working alongside the Iron
Fellowship. Patrols have been stepped up. But the apprentice has
learned there is to be a counter-phrase from the one to be met to
ensure the right connection has been made:
... give us light against the conquerors darkness.
He then goes on to detail the tortures many have died from
without being able to explain the significance of the phrase and
counter-phraseuntil the one he just killed. The unfinished
notation suggests the apprentice was writing it when either the
PCs or the excruciator entered the room.
They confess this is their call for rebellion. Words from those who seek
to overthrow us and believe they have the means to stop us. Ryark keeps
the spys book in his quarters, and with it we will crush this new Order
as we did the last.
Fighting the Orgoth Soldier and the

Excruciator Apprentice
The Orgoth soldier attacks the PCs on sight, targeting whoever
appears most formidable, then attacks the surviving prisoner
Renwald Corley, if he joined the group. Renwald Corley is
sufficiently weak that he dies immediately after being attacked.
The Orgoth soldier fights to the death, and once hes reduced to
half his Vitality, he commands the slaves to take arms against
the PCs. The slaves require one round to arm themselves from
the pile of weapons. If the PCs attack the slaves or make an
Intimidation roll against a target of 13, they withdraw from the
weapon pile. Unarmed slaves fight only if confronted directly
and unable to retreat.
Quick shot scenario
93
If Excruciator Aexon is present, he fights as well, with no

intentions of retreating a second time now that he is not so
heavily outnumbered.
Terrain
Corpse Pile: The pile of bodies is 5 feet tall and can be climbed
with a Climbing roll against a target of 15. Any time a character
on top of the pile moves, even if only to change facing, he must
make an AGL roll against a target of 13. If this roll fails, the pile
shifts and collapses, leaving the PC knocked down on the nearest
spot on the cavern floor.
The Sinkhole: The top of the corpse pile in the sinkhole is
currently 4 feet below floor level and does not sink appreciably
during the course of this encounter. PCs can enter the pit and
move across the corpses, treating this as rough terrain. Each time
a PC moves within the pit, he must make an AGL roll against a
target of 13; if the roll fails the character partially sinks and must
use a quick action to extricate himself from the bodies.
The Soul Cage: Galiz carries a soul cage during this encounter
and gains 1 soul token for any living character that dies within
twelve feet (2) of him. Galiz begins the encounter with 2 soul
tokens. The soul cage can carry up to 5 soul tokens at a time.
An Orgoth character wielding the soul cage in one hand gains +1
ARM for each soul token it contains and can spend soul tokens to
boost attack or damage rolls at one soul token per boost.
PCs in their escape attempt. It is critical for the PCs to stress that
the outside attack has created a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
escape the fortress. If the slaves are left behind, one among them
has second thoughts about letting the PCs go and seeks out an
Orgoth soldier to report them. A wandering patrol immediately
hunts the PCs to kill or recapture them and attacks at an
inopportune moment of the Game Masters choosing.
The PCs can find several suits of tattered leather armor among
the pile of stolen valuables, including those sized for a trollkin
and a gobber, along with a rapier, a bow and quiver, 27 arrows,
and a few common hand weapons like axes, daggers, and swords.
A PC examining the corpses within the pit can make a Detection
roll against a target of 15 to discover an assassins blade strapped
to the ankle of one of the bodies.
Area 5: The Armory

A stout, metal-bound wooden door seals off this room, though
a narrow iron-barred window allows the PCs to look inside.
Within, they can see a sizable collection of Orgoth arms and
armor, most of it identical to that used by the fortress soldiers.
Aftermath
A PC who searches the Orgoth soldiers body discovers a hammered
black iron key on his belt. This unlocks the Armory (Area 5).
The PCs can remove the masks from either excruciator, revealing
the faces of the men beneath. Both have colorless skin deformed
by the restrictive iron masks. A character wearing one of the
excruciators masks and clothing gains an additional die on
Disguise rolls, but suffers 1 Willpower for every five minutes
spent wearing the mask as he begins to experience auditory
and visual hallucinations of torture and dismemberment. If the
characters Willpower is reduced to 0, the character treats all
other characters as if they had Terror [Willpower +8].
Though the slaves are desperate to escape the fortress, they
are far too frightened of the remaining Orgoth to aid the PCs.
Their own work is a daily reminder of what happens to those who
defy the Orgoth. The slaves are terrified of later being suspected
of collusion with the PCs, even if only by inaction, and they take
any means short of armed conflict against them to flee the room
and report the PCs to the first soldier they see. The slaves feign
cooperation to avoid conflict, but if they are forced to fight they
seize weapons from the pile of captured goods beyond the corpse
pile. The slaves use Simple NPC stats (Iron Kingdoms Full Metal
Fantasy Core Rules, p. 330).
PCs can attempt Intimidation, Negotiation, or Oratory rolls
against a target of 12 to convince the slaves to overlook their
presence or against a target of 14 to convince the slaves to join the
94
Quick Shot scenario
The door can be opened with a Lock Picking roll against a target
of 20 or with the screaming black stone key from Area 1. Using the
black key on the door or any attempt to break it down draws the
attention of soldiers passing through the Entry Hall long before
the PCs can escape into the room to hide. (Use the Wandering
Patrol chart, p. 89.) The Orgoth soldier at the Corpse Pit
(Area 4) has a key that allows the PCs to unlock the door silently.
If the PCs gain access to this room, they can procure enough
Orgoth infantry armor or warwitch leather armor to outfit the
human members of the partythough none of the armor here
fits a character without human proportions. Characters who don
Orgoth armor gain a +2 bonus to any Disguise attempts to pass
as an Orgoth, though they are not fooled by a male in warwitch
leathers or a female in Orgoth infantry armor.
The Armory also contains 6 combat shields, 12 spears, 8 halberds,
32 Orgoth blades (equivalent to the Caspian battleblade), and 1
assassins blade. Also stored in the room are 2 fellblades and
1 warwitch sword. Fellblades are described on p. 184 of Iron
Kingdoms Full Metal Fantasy: Kings, Nations, and Gods as well in
No Quarter #46.
Warwitch swords function as described in the Warwitch entry, but like
the fellblade they carry negative effects to any non-Orgoth who wields
them. Each warwitch sword is imbued with the following curse:

Slave Collar
A character wielding this item must make a Willpower roll
against a target of 18 once per hour or feel an overwhelming
compulsion to surrender to any Orgoth individual, regardless of
that Orgoths station or position of power.
A character already affected and preparing to surrender may
spend 1 feat point to regain control of himself. A character may
also spend 1 feat point to resist this urge for d3 +1 hours. At the
end of that time, a character may make another Willpower roll to
resist the effect of the sword.
Note that while the PCs are familiar with the existence of
fellblades, they do know them by that name. A PC can make a
Lore (Orgoth) roll against a target of 12. If the roll succeeds, he
is aware of the negative side effects of handling magical Orgoth
weaponry, though given the circumstances, the risks of wielding
such weapons may be justified.
The room also contains savage metallic prosethic forearms.
These range from curved blades and scissor-like constructs to
claws and hooks. Old blood and rotted flesh on the bolts and
clamps meant to attach these to a body suggest they have seen
usage before. The PCs can also wield these weapons, using the
same rules as a cutlass.
If the PCs stay in this room for more than a few minutes, another
alchemical explosion from outside causes the cavern to tremble
again, jarring the armory door off its hinges. It can still be
opened silently to avoid detection, but just a few minutes later
(at the Game Masters discretion), a second explosion wedges
stones and debris into the doorframe, making it impossible
to open without a great deal of noise and drawing guards
(see Wandering Patrols, p. 89).
Area 6: Captain Ryarks

Quarters
The door to this room is locked, but it can be opened with a Lock
Picking roll against a target of 17 or by using the screaming black
stone key from Area 1. It is a well-appointed chamber befitting
the man who dwells in it, containing a black stone altar, weapon
rack, chest, and a bed.
Altar
On the wall beside the door is a black stone altar carved with
leering faces over a field of stars. Anyone passing within a few
feet of the altar feels an unnatural chill. If a PC touches the shrine
he immediately loses 1 PHY, which returns after d3 consecutive
rounds without coming into contact with the altar.
Atop the altar is a book of Immorese origin. A PC who picks
up the book suffers the effect of touching the altar. The book
is Sebastian Kerwins Synthesis. The PCs are likely to know of
Sebastian Kerwin, founder of the Circle of the Oath, a pioneer in
Immorese understanding of the arcane world. Though Kerwins
order was destroyed and the man himself vanished, his legacy
lives on. Looking through the book reveals the expanded
hypotheses Kerwin developed regarding the development
of mechanika. It is clear that this book has been analyzed and
annotated by Captain Ryark. A scrap marks his place in the book,
on which the following is written in Orgoth:
If the slaves can develop this, then surely we can discover a means to
combat it. I must bring my findings to the prelate. If left unchecked,
these weapons may empower the chattel against us.
Following the note, several pages have been ripped cleanly from
the binding. A character can make an INT roll against a target of
14 to recognize that those pages must contain critical summaries
and conclusions to hypothesis posited in the preceding pages.
Chest
The chest is unlocked and contains 4 doses of healing ointment and
an Orgoth dagger. This dagger is a POW 4 magical Hand Weapon
with an attack modifier of +1 and is engraved as follows: For my
son, Ryark. May your blade always strike true. Gen. Orvos XIII.
The blade is a family heirloom passed down from the former
governor of the region who reigned nearly 100 years ago.
Armor and Weapon Stand

The armor stand is empty, but the weapon rack contains a maul
and a halberd.
Area 7: Commons
This is a common area used by the soldiers. Large stone tables
with wooden benches run the length of the chamber, and there is a
fireplace in the north end of the room with cabinets on either side
of it. A metal cauldron hangs simmering above the flames. There
are d3 large knives on the tables that can be used as throwing
knives, and the iron fire poker is equivalent to a banded club.
At one end of the room is a large circular stone carved with a ring
of leering faces on its outer perimeter. Characters in the room
can hear soft whispering emanating from the stone, distorted
and unintelligible. If a non-Orgoth character touches the stone,
it begins to wail in multiple voices, shrieking and bringing a
patrol of Orgoth guards (see Wandering Patrols, p. XXX).
While in this room, non-Orgoth characters suffer 4 Willpower.
Scene 3
As the PCs leave the Commons and continue further down the
hall, they come to an intersection leading in two directions: south
to the main entrance door and west, into a separate part of the
fortress. The southern route straight ahead is better lit by torches,
suggesting a higher traffic area, and from the west echo the sounds
of helpless screams and periodic clangs of metal on metal. The
battle outside continues, but even without seeing the fight, the PCs
can hear things are not going well for the Immorese rebels.
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95
The sound of alchemical explosives going off is frequent during

this stage of the battle, and can cover the noise of the PCs actions.
A PC can choose to make an INT roll against a target of 10 and
spend a quick action during his turn to wait for the sound of an
explosion before acting. If he does, do not roll for a wandering
patrol for that PCs action.
Area 8: Entry Hall

This area begins where the rough, natural cavern passage gives
way to a 10-foot-wide carved stone hallway. A heavy iron
portcullis blocks the way, though this can be opened using a
winch set into the wall alongside it.
As the PCs approach the intersection of halls leading to the
Barracks (Area 9), the front door to the complex swings open to
admit a pair of Orgoth soldiers. When the doors open, read or
paraphrase the following:
The front doors swing wide to let in a pair of armored Orgoth. During
the short time the door stands open, you see more than a dozen soldiers
accompanied by a warwitch locked in heated battle with a ragtag force

of armed Immorese just outside the fortress. The forest floor beyond
is slick with blood, and the air is thick with the smoke of alchemical
explosives.
Walking out through the unguarded front door brings the PCs
into the heart of a losing battle. If the PCs venture this way, they
cannot avoid being engaged.
The soldiers who just entered the fortress rush deeper inside,
toward the PCs, though if the PCs are wearing Orgoth armor,
the soldiers do not immediately notice anything amiss. This
subterfuge does not last if the soldier passes the PCs and interacts
with them. If the PCs quickly enter either Guard Room (Area 9)
they avoid confrontation with the soldiers, who do not follow.
If the soldiers do discover the PCs, they attack
immediately without seeking reinforcements
among the Orgoth fighting out front, believing
themselves more than a match for a small band of
escaped prisoners.
If the PCs join the battle, they quickly find
themselves facing off against the Orgoth alone, as
the Immorese rebels die just a few minutes after the
PCs arrive. In those few minutes, if a PC speaks the
first part of the passphrase Galiz recorded, one of the
Immorese combatants responds with the counter-phrase,
Give us light against the conquerors darkness, and
then immediately asks, Did you recover the secrets of
synthesis?
As the PCs respond to this, one way or another, a trio
of Orgoth soldiers interrupts the exchange to attack
the rebels. If the PCs immediately retreat back into the
fort, the soldiers focus on the rebels instead of pursuing
the PCs. If the PCs stand their ground, the soldiers attack
them, effectively ending the exchange either way. The
Immorese combatants die beneath Orgoth blades within
moments, and the soldiers deal with the PCs immediately
after.
Area 9: Barracks
Each of these rough-carved chambers has a large fire pit
in the center, surrounded by soldiers cots, and there
is a torch sconce in each corner of the room. As in
the Main Barracks, each cot is accompanied by
a chest. PCs who take the time to search these
chests can find any number of small items, as
detailed in the Main Barracks. Additionally,
one of the chests in the Barracks to the west
contains a heavy golden chain, its links
designed to look like human arms grasping
and clawing at one another. A character
wearing the chain gains +2 to WIL rolls and
may reroll failed rolls to resist Fear.
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Area 10: Lieutenants

Quarters
Directly across from the entryway to this room stands a black
stone slab carved with a leering Orgoth face over a field of stars.
The chamber also contains a bed, a locked chest, a small table,
and an empty weapons stand and armor rack. The chest can be
opened with a Lock Picking roll against a target of 15 or with
the screaming black stone key from area 1. If that key is used, its
scream then triggers a scream from the leering Orgoth face across
from the entryway, which serves as a sentry. After two rounds
the scream from the face destroys the black stone key, shattering
it like glass. The scream from the face also brings a random
patrol (see Wandering Patrol, p. 89). If a PC uses the whistle
(see below) to stop the face before it screams or during the first
round, the patrol doesnt respond to the sound.
Within the chest, PCs find a small shaft of bone carved into a
whistle. Flesh yet remains clinging to the holes, flapping like
grotesque tongues if a PC blows into it. A character can spend
a quick action to play the whistle. Rather than emit any sound
it produces a sphere of complete silence for 18 feet (3) in all
directions, which quiets the Orgoth face before a patrol can
hear the scream, and this also protects the black stone key from
destruction. Characters within this radius of silence gain and
additional die to Sneak rolls, have their command range reduced
to 0, cannot hear, and automatically fail all Detection rolls based
on sound.
Area 11: Kitchen

A huge fireplace fills the width of an alcove on the east end of
the rear wall. Across from the alcove and alongside the door is
a well. Large wooden tables occupy much of the center of the
room, while rows of shelves filled with cooking pots and other
kitchen implements take up the entirety of the western wall.
As the PCs leave this room, the first two characters to enter the
hallway should immediately make Detection rolls against a
target of 12. Those who succeed hear footsteps coming from
down the darkened west corridor. This marks the approach
of a single warwitch accompanied by a pair of Orgoth soldiers.
If no PC succeeds on the Detection roll, the Orgoth gain a surprise
round.
If the PCs immediately retreat back into the kitchen, stand clear
of the open doorway, and do not make noise, the Orgoth proceed
past them and turn to exit the fortress and join the battle out
front. If the PCs are observed retreating to the kitchen, however,
the Orgoth enter to investigate. The warwitch automatically
succeeds on rolls to see through a PCs disguise. She and her
companions attack immediately.
Terrain
Fireplace: A large fire has been built up, and anyone forced into
the fireplace immediately suffers 1 point of fire damage and the
Fire continuous effect.
Tables: These large, solid wooden tables provide cover.

Well: The top of the well is 3 feet above the floor and 7 feet above
the surface of the water below. Anyone falling or climbing into
the well can climb out with a Climbing roll against a target of 17.
A character in the well must make a successful Swimming roll
against a target of 8 at the beginning of each turn or suffer d3
damage points.
Aftermath
Once the Orgoth are defeated, if the PCs do not conceal the
bodies a patrol of d3 Orgoth soldiers soon discovers their dead
comrades and begins to search for the killers. These soldiers
begin searching Areas 1215 in numerical order and respond
quickly to any clues as to the PCs locationsuch as the sound
of combat. If alerted to the PCs presence, the patrolling guards
arrive 1 round after any such disturbance occurs.
Scene 4
The battle beyond the entry hall rages on, but unless the PCs
have been careful to cover their tracks up to this point the Orgoth
within the fortress may be suspicious (or even alerted) to their
presence. During this scene the PCs can hear patrols moving
more quickly and searching more thoroughly. From this point
forward, add +1 to all d6 rolls made to determine the composition
of a Wandering Patrol.
Area 12: Warwitch Lair

A narrow tunnel runs southwest for nearly 60 feet through total
darkness before widening into this large cavern. The flagstone
flooring runs up to a large pool of water taking up most of the
cavern.
Though there are no interior walls within this cavern, the
floored section is clearly divided into two distinct living spaces.
Nearest to the entry, five beds are arranged in a semicircle
around the northwest corner. Each is accompanied by an empty
armor stand and by a locked chest that can be opened with a Lock
Picking roll against a target of 15. These chests contain minor
valuables similar to those found elsewhere in the fort. Deeper
into the room at the southeast end is a living area similar to the
first, though with only a single bed. Separating these two sections
is a common area furnished with a fire pit and a large table.
If the PCs do not make any loud noises as they advance down
the tunnel into this cavern, as they enter the cavern Kalisti and a
pair of subordinate warwitches are standing at the waters edge,
with their backs to the entrance, pouring blood from a bronze
bowl into the water as part of a dark rite of divination. When
the blood strikes the water the room begins to glow. Faces rise
from the water, screaming and hissing secrets to the coven. If all
characters who enter the room succeed in a Sneak roll against
a target of 13, the warwitches do not notice their arrival and
continue their work. Utterly focused on their magic, a light
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97
source such as a torch being brought into the room is not be as

immediately evident to the warwitches as it would be to most
others. PCs in the room can make an INT roll against a target
of 12 to identify key words whispered by the faces in the water.
Spies
Grenaldt
Synthesis
Genocide
Warwitches Tactics
If the warwitches are attacked or if they discover the PCs,
they break off from the ritual to fight. The warwitches focus
their attacks on whoever appears most formidable, paying
particular attention to Gifted characters. One witch casts
Star-Crossed each round; provided she has no fatigue remaining
from the previous round, she then casts Influence against
targets of opportunity. The remaining warwitches cast Venom,
boosting attack rolls against targets with high DEF. Any time
Kalisti is wounded, she attacks with Bleed until shes regained
all her vitality. The warwitches engage the PCs in melee, hoping
to trigger Blood Boon, if they can do so without endangering
themselves too greatly.
Terrain
Darkness: Unless the PCs bring their own light source into the
cavern, the area is pitch black when they enter.
Fireplace: The central fireplace is burned down to coals that
provide almost no light. A character entering or ending an
activation in the fireplace suffers 1 point of fire damage.
Furniture: Beds provide cover. PCs can flip either table onto
its side as a quick action, after which it also provides cover.
The bookcase can be pulled down with a quick action and
overturned with a second quick action to solid cover.
The Pool: This 15-foot-deep, roughly 30 x 30 foot pool is deep
water. Once the witches begin their ritual, a character entering
or ending his turn in the pool suffers the Corrosion continuous
effect. There is a narrow passage beneath the water at the
southwest edge of the pool. The underwater passage becomes
too narrow for a PC to travel through after 24 feet, but there is
a body lodged in the silt 12 feet beyond the opening. Sent to
recover the rebel spy, he drowned attempting to enter the fort
through the underwater passage. A satchel on his belt contains
two explosive grenades.
Area 13: Chamber of

Awakening
A row of tables lines the center of this oblong cavern, three of
which have mutilated bodies held fast with savage-looking
spikes driven through the joints in its ankles, knees, hips,
shoulders, and elbows. These bodies have armored plates affixed
to them, and their hands have been replaced by large blades of
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various types. These are slaves converted to dread, a fate the PCs
were destined to share before escaping Aexon.
On a table at the far end of the room, a human captive struggles
weakly against his bonds, begging a nearby warwitch to release
him. Much of his skin has been flayed off of him, his forearms
have been removed, and his chest has been cracked open
to expose his still-beating heart. A warwitch stands nearby,
studying the wounded man with detached calm. A vessel of
molten iron stands next to the bed, ready to be poured over the
captive mans beating heart.
If the PCs enter the room, the three dread on the tables turn
their heads toward them and begin to struggle against their own
bonds. If the PCs made any attempt at stealth as they entered the
room, the warwitch has not noticed them up until now; however,
she looks up from the captive immediately as the dread react to
their presence. If the PCs are not in her line of sight, she begins to
actively search the room for them.
Warwitch and Dread Tactics

Once the warwitch spots the PCs, she immediately moves to the
nearest dread, pulling a lever beneath the table that yanks all
the spikes completely through the table, freeing the dread with
a quick action, after which the dread takes 1 round to climb off
its table to attack the PCs. While the PCs defend themselves from
the dread, the warwitch attempts to move down the line and free
the remaining dread in a similar manner, casting Influence to
force PCs away from her or, if necessary, Wings of Air to escape
them. Once all the dread are free, she contributes to the fight
directly through a combination of spellcasting and melee attacks.
The dread attack the PCs relentlessly, engaging whoever is
closest at hand unless directed to do otherwise by the warwitch.
These creatures target anyone attacking the warwitch and defend
her without consideration of their own survival. If possible, they
attempt to force the PCs further into the room to prevent their
escape and to facilitate the warwitchs retreat if the battle should
turn against them.
Terrain
Cabinet: The cabinet cannot be pulled down. Any character
pushed or slammed into the open cabinet takes d3 damage points
from the exposed blades within it.
Dim Light: Unless the PCs provide a light source, the entire area
is in dim light.
Tables: PCs can flip any table onto its side as a quick action, after
which it will also provide cover. The retracted spikes in the tables
pose a risk, however, to anyone hiding behind them.
Aftermath
Though the dread fight the PCs to the death, the warwitch
withdraws from combat if the battle appears to be turning against
her. If she does manage to escape, she moves down the main
corridor to the Warwitch Lair (Area 12) to recruit the rest of her
coven. If the PCs have already killed the remaining warwitches,
she leaves that chamber and heads outside through the main
door at the far end of the Entry Hall.
Once outside, she spends 2 rounds gathering reinforcements. If
the PCs allowed the warwitch in the Kitchen (Area 11) to escape,
these reinforcements consist of that warwitch and 2 Orgoth
soldiers. Otherwise it will be an Orgoth lieutenant and 2 soldiers.
The warwitch from this area accompanies any reinforcements,
leading them first to the Cavern Shrine (Area 15), then back
through Areas 1412 in descending order in her search for the
PCs, spending 2 rounds at a location before moving to the next.
If the PCs set the human captive free, he collapses as far away
from any fighting as possible. The injuries inflicted on him are
so severe that he is beyond medical aid; only the dark arts of the
Orgoth are keeping him alive now.
The captiveArno Medalierimparts one important piece of

information before he dies: the location of the secret tunnel in the
Cavern Shrine (Area 15). A few days ago he had been brought
to the altar in that room, where some of his blood was drained
for a rite conducted by the warwitches. While he was there, he
observed several soldiers enter the cavern through a secret door,
which the Orgoth didnt bother to hide from him, as theyd not
expected him to survive long.
Arno thanks the PCs by telling them that Alest Grenaldt waits in
the forest, ready to escort any who escape bearing the book the
Orgoth stole to safety.
If pressed on this matter, Medalier responds that Captain Ryark
believes he can comprehend the secrets in Kerwins book and use
them to destroy the uprising, and then closes his eyes and dies.
Area 14: The Smithy

Crude stone tables line the perimeter of this room. In the center of
the room is a large stone fire pit built with a blacksmiths bellows
alongside a pool carved into the floor. A huge anvil and a rack of
smiths tools stands between the fire pit and the quenching pool,
and a large soul cage, glowing with sickly green light, hangs
above the anvil. The pool is filled with a mixture of water, blood,
and oil. Lying near the anvil is an Orgoth fellblade, though it
lacks the characteristic faces that normally line the surface
of such a weapon, not yet fully imbued by its Orgoth makers.
This weapon uses great sword rules.
Scene 5
In this scene the PCs finally find their route of escape but must
first confront the powerful Captain Ryark and his cohort of elite
warriors, who intend to stop the PCs from reaching salvation
in the forest beyond the fort. The Orgoth fighting outside have
routed the main body of Immorese rebels and have begun
returning to the fortress. Twenty-two Orgoth soldiers and two
Orgoth lieutenants enter the halls of the fort and are on alert once
they discover any sign of the PCs passage; if the PCs attempt to
go back the way they came, they face an insurmountable fight.
If they live, so does the rebellion.
Area 15: The Dark Shrine

This large, natural cavern has a lower ceiling than most of the
fortressin most areas, this caverns ceiling is only about 7 feet
above ground level. Two large rock formations reach up from the
uneven, earthen floor.
A row of torches stretches out to the right, continuing around the
southern end of the room and back to the far side directly across
from the entryway. The northern end of the room, to the PCs left,
is shrouded in complete darkness.
There is nothing of interest in the dark side of the cavern, but
the PCs find a stone shrine and sacrificial altar upon a circle of
Quick shot scenario
99
stone flooring against the south wall. The altar is carved with
leering faces similar to those found in the Lieutenants Quarters
(Area 10) flanking an assortment of soul cages. The altar in front
of the shrine is carved with similar details, and features deep
groves that channel blood into stylized drains set into the floor.
your kind with your own secret synthesis? No. You have found your
way to me. He gestures to the soul cages mounted atop the shrine.
And I will gorge myself on your souls.
The shrine has papers scattered across it that, upon closer

examination, have obviously been torn from a battered copy of
Sebastian Kerwins Synthesis. If the PCs are still unclear as to
its significance at this point in the adventure, a character who
glances through the pages will readily realize the gist of the
text is to outline how magic can be focused via arcane lore to
create engineered powerthe foundation for mechanika, which
Kerwin describes as a likely turning point in our subjugation by the
Orgoth. These pages are key elements of Kerwins dissertation
on creating mechanika; without these specific pages, Kerwins
theories are almost impossible to apply.
Orgoth Tactics
The PCs are forced to guess the location in order to search for the
secret door Medalier (Area 13) told them about before he died. A
PC needs to make a successful Detection roll against a target of
15 to find the door (on the flat span of wall between the last two
torches), and each PC can search a 12 foot (2) span of wall with
a single roll.
After 4 rounds of searching, or when the PCs discover the door,
Captain Ryark and his soldiers reveal themselves.
As you search the chamber where escape is supposed to be, torches
suddenly flare to life on the opposite side of the cavern. Five warriors
stand within the entryway, seeming to strain on the end of invisible
chains with their bloodlust to murder you. The man at the front of
the Orgoth ranks appears to be holding them back. He is armed in one
hand with an evil Orgoth blade engraved with tortured, ghostly faces
and with a large spiked shield strapped to his other arm. He wears the
horned helm of an officer, and though it conceals the top of his face you
nonetheless recognize him as Captain Ryark, the man who left you to
the excruciator Aexon.
He speaks clearly now, in contrast to the indecipherable words he chose
to speak when you first awoke.
Escaping Aexon means nothing, he hisses. Defeating my warwitches
means nothing. And stealing back your plans means nothing. You
think you have found your way to our plans to destroy every last one of
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Quick Shot scenario
With that, the Orgoth rush forward to attack.
Captain Ryark and his men rush to engage the PCs. Each believes
he is capable of besting any PC and selects his own individual
target. The Orgoth do not attack any of the PCs noncombatant
allies, if any accompany them, preferring to recapture those
slaves for later use. At the beginning of each of his turns, Captain
Ryark uses his Fearsome Howl ability to gain Terror [17].
Until he is struck down as a living Orgoth, Ryark fights with
complete abandon.
Whenever anyone dies in this cavern (the Orgoth soldiers, a
fellow PC, or Ryark), PCs can observe that individuals soul as
it is pulled from his or her body and dragged into one of the
soul cages on the shrine. Any cage containing a soul begins to
emanate a pale glow.
Each Orgoth soldier and Captain Ryark fight to the death, but 1
round after the last of the soldiers have been killed, all the souls
in the soul cages flow into Captain Ryarks body. The cages cease
to glow, and Ryark rises up as Undead Captain Ryark; if he is not
yet dead at this point in the battle, the transfer of souls seems to
kill him, dropping him in his tracks for only 1 round before he
rises. In addition to his own soul, he will possess up to 4 souls
of any characters who died in the room during the first stage of
combat, which he can spend to boost attack and damage rolls.
Terrain
Darkness: Areas more than 3 (18 feet) from any torch are in
dim light, while those more than 6 (36 feet) from any torch are
shrouded in complete darkness.
Rock Formations: These rocks are not tall enough to block LOS
for human-sized characters; however, anyone firing a projectile
weapon over them does so at a -2 penalty. Spellcasters can cast
spells past them normally.
Shrine: Any non-Orgoth character within 12 feet (2) of the
shrine suffers 1 DEF. If that character touches the shrine,
he immediately loses 1 PHY, which returns after d3 consecutive
rounds without coming into contact with the shrine or altar.
Aftermath
If the PCs defeat Ryark a second time, he speaks as he dies
permanently.
Ryark dies.
Yet even as he falls to you, he seems to see something you cannot.
I see souls surrendering, he whispers, clearly wanting you to
understand. I cross the black waters where those souls float. I am come
home.
Once Ryark has been defeated a second time, the PCs should
have sufficient opportunity to discover the secret exit before
any more soldiers enter the cavern. This door opens to a rough,
narrow passage that runs approximately 150 feet to a second door
that opens from a rock outcropping into a dense patch of forest.
From the other side, this door is similar to the first and would
likewise require a Detection roll to discover.
Conclusion:
The Forest
Having at last escaped their captors, the PCs need only make their
way out of the forest while avoiding any Orgoth patrols. As they
begin their trek toward freedom, they find themselves trailed by
an unknown individual, one who doesnt attempt to evade them
if they move to confront him. If they try to escape him, he chases
them down and hails them.
You discover the man is not an Orgoth soldier but an Immorese man
dressed in thick leather armor, armed with a long-shafted woodsmans
axe. He raises his hands.
of the recently formed Order of the Golden Crucible and the

prisoner the PCs met in the Jailwhom he knew had been
carrying a copy of Kerwins seminal book to Alest and his rebels.
As long as Alest Grenaldt and the PCs remain on amiable terms
during their meeting, he will tend to any injuries while escorting
them to safety, but he often inquires about what they discovered
in the fortress during their escape, asking if they encountered
anything that seemed unusual for the Orgoth to possess.
He is trying to coax the PCs into speaking about Kerwins book.
If they offer it to Alest, he then invites them to join his growing
revolutionary army.
Read or paraphrase aloud the following if the PCs failed to
recover Synthesis or do not give it to Alest Grenaldt:
Youre lucky to have survived as long as you did. Well get you home
wherever home may beand if youre even
more lucky, youll hear about us again.
The revolution has begun. Youll live to
see its outcome, I hope, and your kin will
tell the story of your escape from certain
death for decades to come. Well done.
Read or paraphrase aloud the following
if the PCs offer him the book:
Our resistance has been growing since Fharin.
Everyone in Orgoth shackles is watching us, and
theyre starting to realize the Orgoth can be killed.
The Iron Fellowship could use people like you, and
Im sure you know youll be more effective against
the killers of our kin with an army beside you. What
do you sayhave you developed a thirst for Orgoth
blood? There will never be enough to quench your
needbut we can damned well try.
Easy. Were on the same side, I think. He pauses before he says

pointedly, Kerwins Oath and Golden Order And then waits
expectantly.
If the PCs can answer with the counter-response (give us light
against the conquerors darkness) or something comparable, the
man relaxes and continues. If the PCs cannot or will not answer,
he shakes his head sharply, which attracts eight other rebels
hidden among the trees. Their intent is to take the PCs prisoner,
albeit without killing them, and set them free after questioning
them. The specifics of such an encounter are left to the Game
Master to decide.
If the PCs answer with the counter-response, he visibly relaxes
and welcomes them, calling his comrades out of the trees.
This is Alest Grenaldt, a member of the Iron Fellowship and an
influential figure among Immorese rebels in the region. Alest
initiated the attack on the Orgoth fortress with the intent of
fighting his way inside and freeing Renwald Corleya member
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101
CHASING
THE DRAGON
PART ONE
Legion of Everblight Warlocks and Warbeasts

By Matt Goetz Art by karl richardson, andrea uderzo, and kieran yanner
102
Though the body of the dragon Everblight was destroyed

after he attacked the Iosan city of Issyrah, his malice lives
on. After luring the ogrun Thagrosh Hellborne to free his
athanc from its icy entombment, Everblight set in motion
plans to create an army. He quickly corrupted the nearby
Nyss of the Shard Spires, confident these elves would
be as responsive to his blight as the Iosans he had once
experimented upon had been. Having now destroyed and
absorbed the Nyss culture, his blighted legion sweeps across
western Immoren, growing in strength and numbers with
each victory. Commanded by powerful warlocks who bear
a shard of his athanc within their hearts, Everblights evergrowing arsenal of blighted warriors and unique warbeasts
are a deadly threat to all who face them.
The following pages contain the first installment of a multipart series that adds the blighted legions of the dragon
Everblight to your games of Iron Kingdoms Unleashed.
These individuals and creatures make for perfect antagonists,
particularly for adventuring companies that include
non-blighted Nyss refugees.
Note that as the first installment in a series, this article
contains certain references to material that will be available
in upcoming issues of No Quarter.
Blighted
Characters
Even before Everblight was freed from his imprisonment,
the dragon had decided against re-forming his body, which
would leave him weak and vulnerable to his draconic
brethren. Instead, he had arrived at an unconventional and
unprecedented plan to divide his essence and act through
pawns who would lead an army devoted to his preservation.
Ordinarily, dividing an athanc would spawn other dragons,
but Everblight devised a means to avoid this. Thus, the
pieces of his divided athanc were inserted into mortals
who, with draconic blood flowing through their veins, were
empowered to act in his stead.
This coterie of warlocks enabled Everblight to circumvent the
limitations of his physical form, including allowing him to
proliferate dragonspawn in far greater number. Furthermore,
while individual warlocks were not invulnerable, the loss of
any one would not eliminate Everblight himself, who could
persist so long as even one warlock survived. Nonetheless,
not wishing to diminish his power by even the least degree,
Everblights chosen warlocks raised an army of blighted
warriors for their protection and to allow the dragon to wage
war against his numerous enemies.
Even before becoming one of these warlocks, the sorceress

Vayl Hallyr betrayed her race and aided in the corruption of
other Nyss, afflicting many with the dragons transformative
blight. By corrupting the drinking water of the major shards,
Everblight amassed a sizable force. The dragons blight
bound the Nyss to his will, giving him the tools he needs to
achieve his goals and altering the Nyss both mentally and
physically. In time his control extended to other races as well,
like the isolated ogrun tribes of the northern mountains, who
were in turn marked by the dragons blight.
Effects of Everblights
Dragon Blight
All characters created as part of the Legion of Everblight are
blighted characters. Blighted characters roll one fewer die on
non-Intimidation social skill rolls made against non-blighted
characters. Blighted characters affiliated with Everblight
automatically fail non-Intimidation social skill rolls
made against characters affiliated with any other dragon.
Blighted characters are viewed as monsters by nearly all other
inhabitants of western Immoren and are likely to be attacked
on sight. Blighted characters of the Legion of Everblight gain
the Blight Gifts racial trait in addition to any other racial
traits they possess.
Gifts of the Dragon

Of all the dragons, Everblight has the most refined control of
his blights effect. Over the centuries, he has learned to wield
his blight like a sculptor wields a chisel, carefully reshaping
creatures into forms he finds pleasing and useful.
The Nyss proved to be especially well suited to Everblights
work. Centuries spent studying and manipulating
kidnapped elves from Ios provided Everblight with a basis
of understanding upon which he was able to sculpt the Nyss,
the Iosans close cousins, to his desires. The dragon can affect
the Nyss with great precision. Of all the races, the Nyss have
the greatest diversity of Everblights gifts, from the subtle
manipulation of rank-and-file warriors to the profound
changes worked upon the succubi. Since losing his body,
Everblight has not yet had the opportunity to bring blighted
Iosans into the ranks of his legion, but they would be affected
similarly to the Nyss.
Other races also receive the gifts of the dragons blight, but
the manipulations he performs on them are cruder and less
predictable. Blighted ogrun, for instance, are on the edge of
insanity, given to bouts of unquenchable bloodlust. Though
other races can still benefit from Everblights gifts, they are
more subject to the random vagaries inherent in the blight.
Nyss see themselves as especially favored by the dragon
because of this.
103
Blight Gifts
Blight Gifts is a racial trait unique to blighted characters
affiliated with the dragon Everblight.
Blight Gifts manifest as special abilities bestowed upon
characters in service to Everblight. For every 25 experience
points a character earns, he rolls once on the following table
to determine which gifts, if any, the dragon bestows. These
changes are permanent. To determine which gift a character
receives, roll 3d6 and consult the table below.
Blight Gifts other than No Effect are not cumulative. If a
duplicate result is rolled, reroll to determine which blight gift
a character receives.
Due to the Nyss compatibility with Everblights
manipulations, a Blighted Nyss or Strider character can
choose to add or subtract 1 from rolls to determine which
Blight Gift the character receives.
3D6
3
4
No Effect The character does not receive a Blight Gift at this time.
Blight Senses The characters senses become unnaturally acute, making him a flawless hunter and tracker.
The character gains an additional die on Detection and Tracking skill rolls. Discard the low die of each roll.
Regeneration The character regains d3 vitality points per hour in addition to any normal healing.
Blight Reflexes The characters reactions are hyper-attuned, letting him leap into combat with blinding
speed. The character gains a +1 racial bonus to Initiative.
Horns Tough, black horns sprout from the characters head. In addition to his normal attacks, once per
round the character can make one unarmed melee attack with his horns. This attack uses the Unarmed
Combat skill and is POW 3. On a critical hit, the target is knocked down. If the character uses his horns to
make a knockout strike that damages his target, add +2 to the target number to avoid the knockout.
9-11
104
blight gifts
Blessed Host The character becomes the host for an incubus that emerges if he dies.
Talons The characters nails grow into long talons capable of rending flesh. The character gains +2 to
punch and kick unarmed melee attack damage rolls.
12
Ripping Jaws The characters teeth and jaws become ideal for rending flesh. The character gains +2
to bite unarmed melee attack damage rolls. On a critical hit against a living character, this character
immediately regains d3 vitality points.
13
Bone Spurs The characters skin sprouts dense growths of hardened bone. The character gains a +1 racial
bonus to ARM.
14
Voice of the Dragon The characters voice takes on an unnatural resonance that evokes Everblight himself.
The character gains +2 to command range and +2 on social skill rolls made against characters affiliated
with the Legion of Everblight.
15
Dragons Grace The character is instilled with an unnatural, sinewy grace that allows him to deftly avoid
attacks. The character gains a +1 racial bonus to DEF.
16
Eyes of the Dragon The character no longer requires the use of eyes to see. The character gains the Eyeless
Sight ability.
17
Wings of the Dragon The character gains Flight. A character with Flight can advance through terrain
and obstacles without penalty and can advance through obstructions and other characters if that character
has enough movement to move completely past them. The character ignores intervening characters when
declaring its charge target.
18
Sorcerous Blessing If the character is a Gifted character, the character gains +1 ARC and +1 to racial
maximum ARC at each level. A non-Gifted character gains ARC 2 and two COST 1 spells from the Blighted
Sorcerer spell list. A non-Gifted character casts spells as a will weaver.
Warlock: Legion
Prerequisites: Nyss, Chosen by Everblight
Starting Abilities,
connections,
skills, and spells
Abilities: Athanc Shard (p. 106), Resonance: Everblight Warbeast, and Warlock Bond
Military Skills: Archery 1, Great Weapon 1, or Hand Weapon 1
Occupational Skills: Command 1, Detection 1, Lore (dragons) 1
Spells: Draconic Blessing and Razor Wind
Special: Change the characters arcane tradition to harnesser if she has another
arcane career. A warlock can only boost with magical weapons.
Starting Assets
25 gc and a medium-based Everblight warbeast or two lesser warbeasts that begin

the game bonded to the warlock
Legion Warlock Abilities
Athanc Shard, Empower Weapon, Field Marshal: Sprint (p. 106), Resonance: Everblight
Warbeast, Riposte (p. 106), Spawning Savant (p. 106), Swift Hunter, Warlock Bond
Legion Warlock
Connections
Connections (Blighted Nyss shard), Connections (Legion of Everblight)
Legion Warlock
Military Skills
Archery 4, Great Weapon 4, Hand Weapon 4
Legion Warlock
Occupational Skills
Legion Warlock Spells
Animal Handling 2, Command 4, General Skills 4

Spells from the Legion Warlock spell list
The warlocks of the Legion of Everblight are bestowed with a

small shard of the dragons athanc, which binds them to the
dragon, bestows blighted arcane power, and gives them the
ability to control his dragonspawn. Each is a chosen general
in Everblights growing legion, obeyed by the strike forces
under their command as an embodiment of the dragons will.
Dragon blood comingles with Nyss blood, empowering the
warlock to spawn any of the dragons carefully engineered
spawn. The shard also gives each warlock an unbreakable
connection to Everblights mind, a vast and alien intellect
with thousands of years of experience and memories.
This connection also extends to Everblights other warlocks,
allowing these generals to communicate at a distance and
coordinate their actions.
uniquely able to give birth to warbeasts from their spilled

blood. This process is far faster than that of other types of
warlocks who can create warbeasts, and a fallen beast can
be replaced with relative ease. As the Legion Warlock gains
experience, she can pick up the Field Marshal: Sprint ability
that makes her warbeasts far more maneuverable on the
battlefield, as well as a number of potent spells that tap into
the essence of the dragons blight. A Veteran-level Legion
Warlock should pick up the Spawning Savant ability, which
allows her to create dragonspawn more easily, giving her
access to greater and deadlier warbeasts.
Each warlock of the Legion of Everblight is responsible for the

command of a force of warriors, but they also have individual
responsibilities. These Nyss are selected for their individual
talents and may be called upon to perform specific tasks, such as
the elimination of a particular threat or the acquisition of objects
of great power. When a warlock receives such a mission, it is not
a request; these commands are imperatives, spoken directly into
their minds by the disembodied dragon, who can watch and
gauge their progress to evaluate their success or failure.
Playing a Legion Warlock: If the idea of playing a character
empowered by a fragment of an ancient and horrible dragon,
capable of spawning monsters from your own spilled blood
and wielding them against the kingdoms of men and tribes
of the wilderness alike appeals to you, choose the Legion of
Everblight Warlock career.
Unlike the other Warlock careers in Iron Kingdoms Unleashed,
the Legion Warlock is made, not born. Legion Warlocks are
105
New Abilities
Athanc Shard
Prerequisite: Nyss, Chosen by Everblight
This character is endowed with an athanc shard. For more
information, see p. 108.
Field Marshal: Sprint

Prerequisite: ARC 5
The warlock can spend a fury point during her turn to use
this ability. Characters in the warlocks battlegroup currently
in her control area gain Sprint for one round. (At the end of its
activation, if a character with Sprint destroyed one or more
enemies with melee attacks this activation, that character can
make a full advance.)
Riposte
Prerequisite: None
Once per round when this character is missed by an enemys
melee attack, immediately after the attack is resolved she can
make one normal attack against the attacking enemy.
To make a ranged attack, the characters ranged weapon
must be loaded.
Spawning Savant
Prerequisite: Athanc Shard, ARC 6
Reduce damage the character suffers by half due to creating
dragonspawn. Dragonspawn created by the character do not
begin with the Runt template.
Warlock: Legion of
Everblight Spells
Legion of Everblight Warlocks can learn spells from the
following list. A Priest of Nyssor character who becomes a
Legion Warlock loses her previous spells and cannot learn
new Priest of Nyssor spells.
106
Cost 1
Dragonsight, Protection from Cold,

Protection from Fire
Cost 2
Ashen Cloud, Bad Blood, Blight Field,

Carnivore, Draconic Blessing, Dragons Blood,
Forced Evolution, Leash, Occultation,
Playing God, Unnatural Aggression
Cost 3
Awareness, Blood Rain, Entropic Force,

Eruption of Spines, Flesh Eater, Mystic Wards,
Rampager, Respawn, Wind Wall
Cost 4
Blight Bringer, Hunters Mark, Obliteration
New Spells
Name Cost RNG AOE POW UP OFF
Blight Bringer
4 10 5 12 No No
Blight Field
2 CTRL 4 No No
Blood Rain
3 8 3 12 No
Yes
Center a 5 AOE on target friendly warbeast. Enemies in the AOE when it is put in play
are hit and suffer a POW12 corrosion damage roll. An enemy character or friendly
non-blighted character entering or ending its activation in the AOE suffers d3 points
of corrosion damage. Blight Bringer lasts for one round.
Place a 4 AOE anywhere completely in the spellcasters control area. While in the
AOE, enemies cannot be used to channel spells, be forced, or be allocated focus.
The AOE remains in play for one round. Blight Field can be cast once per round.
Blood Rain causes corrosion damage. Characters hit suffer the Corrosion continuous
effect.
Draconic Blessing
Yes No
Target friendly blighted character or dragonspawn gains +2 STR and Terror

[Willpower + 4].
Dragons Blood
Yes No
Target friendly character gains +2ARM. When an affected character is disabled by a

melee attack, roll a d6. On a roll of 5 or 6, the attacker suffers d3 damage points and
the Corrosion continuous effect.
Dragonsight
No No
Target friendly character gains Eyeless Sight. A character with Eyeless Sight
ignores cloud effects and forests when determining LOS. A character with Eyeless
Sight ignores concealment and stealth when making attacks. Dragonsight lasts
for one round.
Eruption of Spines
Mystic Wards
10
10 No Yes
If target character is hit, d6 nearest characters within thirty feet (5) of it suffer a
POW 10 damage roll.
Self Ctrl
No No
Enemy animi and enemy upkeep spells on models in the spellcasters battlegroup in
its control range immediately expire. While within 5 of a model in the spellcasters
battlegroup in its control range, enemy models cannot cast, channel, or upkeep
spells. Mystic Wards lasts for one round.
Playing God
Yes No
Target warbeast in this characters battlegroup can make power attacks without
being forced and gains Terror[Willpower + 4]. Its melee weapons gain Open Fist
andbecome reach weapons.
Respawn
Yes No
When target warbeast in this characters battlegroup is disabled by an enemy attack

any time except while it is advancing, place the warbeast anywhere within 18 feet (3)
of its current location. It heals 1 damage point in each aspect, then Respawn expires.
Wind Wall
Self
No No
This character cannot make ranged attacks, and non-magical ranged attacks
targeting it automatically miss. While completely within 18 feet (3) of the spellcaster,
characters cannot make ranged attacks and non-magical ranged attacks targeting
them automatically miss. Wind Wall lasts for one round.
Athanc Shards
In the heart of each of Everblights warlocks lies a shard of the
dragons athanc, the crystalline essence of Everblight himself.
The fragment is the source of the warlocks power over the
dragonspawn, transforming the bearer into a living vessel of the
dragons will. Unlike other dragons, Everblight knows how to
keep his splintered athanc from forming into new dragons, and
he retains control over their power even when they are divided.
The largest and central shard is kept by the blighted ogrun,
Thagrosh the Messiah, the leader of the Legion of Everblight.
Through these shards, Everblight can communicate
instantaneously with the generals of his Legion, and can even
experience the world through their senses or take control over
their actions. With the speed of thought he can issue orders
and alter battle plans to respond to changing circumstances.
The many warlocks under his command are appendages of a
great, decentralized body, able to feel one anothers presences
despite physical barriers or distance. Through this connection,
his warlocks are also capable of sending their thoughts to one
another, mediated by Everblight himself. Most of the time this
connection does not rob the dragons chosen of autonomy,
however. Everblights chosen instruments are valued for
their minds as much as their abilities. He selects each to fill a
unique role in acknowledgment of the individuals competence.
Everblight rarely interferes in their actions directly. He shapes
each warlock in a different direction, though all must sometimes
overcome setbacks or failures in order to become greater than
the mortal flesh into which they were born. Warlocks can feel
the intensity of Everblights regard when he is with them or his
remote distance when he is not.
Possession of an athanc shard bestows its owner with many
benefits. Those chosen to bear a piece of the dragon are
invested with great arcane power. Their flesh transforms as
Everblight gifts his warlocks with greater physical prowess,
speed, and cunning, sculpted to bear the marks of his gifts.
Scales, horns, and talons are common gifts bestowed on
warlocks, though he works invisible changes on them as well.
The blood pumping through the warlocks veins transforms,
becoming intermingled with superior draconic blood. With
this blood, his warlocks can create dragonspawn as needed,
spilling it to give birth to one of the dragons crafted spawn.
Everblight can also deign to give his warlocks insight earned
over millennia of existence, such as bestowing instant
understanding of a previously unknown language.
Athanc Shard Rules

To become a Legion of Everblight Warlock,
Everblights athanc must be inserted into a
heart. Everblight is jealously protective of his
does not allow it to be split carelessly. Only
selected by Everblight through Thagrosh the
a shard of
characters
athanc and
a character
Messiah is
Being Chosen by
Everblight
After Thagrosh, the majority of those chosen by

Everblight to become his warlocks have been female
Nyss. Nyss are preferred due to compatibility with
the dragons blighted energies. Being female is not
a requirement. Unless otherwise specified, Legion
Warlocks are presumed to be female Nyss.
worthy of bearing a piece of his essence, represented by

characters who are either created as Legion Warlocks or
who select the Legion of Everblight Warlock career through
character advancement.
A character with the Athanc Shard ability has the following rules:
Blighted Character: If the character was not already a blighted
character, that character becomes one and gains the Blight
Gifts racial trait. The character does not gain a blight gift
until reaching the next increment of 25 XP but takes on the
distinctive pallor of a creature blighted by Everblight and
exhibits minor physical blight immediately, such as patches of
black scales, elongated nails, and fully black eyes.
Communication: The character can silently communicate
with any other character who possesses the Athanc Shard
ability or with Everblight himself. This communication
is not limited by distance and occurs instantaneously.
The Game Master determines howand ifa non-player
character responds to communication. Everblight can ignore
a warlocks requests or prevent communication between
warlocks if he wishes. Since all such communication passes
through Everblight, warlocks do not utilize this ability for
idle conversation lest they risk enraging their master.
Legion of Everblight Warlock: The character gains the
Legion of Everblight Warlock career. If the character is not
a starting character, the character treats the warlock career
as if the character had gained the career through experience.
If the character was Gifted, that character retains any previous
ARC score and her arcane tradition is changed to harnesser.
If the character was not Gifted, that character becomes a Gifted
character with an ARC score of 2. Change the characters
archetype to Gifted. The character retains any archetype
abilities she had prior to gaining the Athanc Shard but can no
longer gain abilities from her previous archetype and can gain
abilities only from the Gifted archetype.
Spawn Creation: The character can create dragonspawn as
detailed on p. 109.
107
Instant Career:
Just Add Athanc
The Game Master should be cautious about letting

established characters receive a shard of Everblights
athanc, as it effectively transforms that character
into a Legion Warlock, which can unbalance a game.
Game Masters are encouraged to reserve the gift
of an athanc shard to character creation or when a
character would normally gain a new career through
advancement. Everblight selects those who will
receive a portion of his essence carefully and chooses
only individuals who have proven themselves worthy
of becoming vessels of his great power.
Athanc Shard Removal

Removing an athanc shard requires a character to have
access to the warlocks heart. This removal is a violent and
potentially deadly process. To do so without killing the
warlock requires a character with the proper tools to spend
one hour working. At the end of this time, the character
makes an INT+Medicine skill roll against a target of 18.
If the roll succeeds, the athanc shard is removed. The character
is immediately reduced to 1 vitality point and suffers slow
recovery. If the roll fails, the character is grievously injured
and dies if she is not stabilized within a number of rounds
equal to her PHY.
If the character ever loses her athanc shard for any reason,
she cannot benefit from any of the abilities or spells provided
by her Warlock career and cannot control warbeasts.
She also loses the Communication and Spawn Creation
abilities. She cannot gain any new Blight Gifts but remains
a blighted character and retains any Blight Gifts she had
previously received. If she gained the Gifted archetype from
receiving an athanc shard, she immediately reverts to her
previous archetype and loses any ARC stat she possesses.
If a characters shard is returned to her, she regains all lost
capabilities. The rejuvenating effect of the athanc shard
prevents her from suffering injury from the operation if the
shard is properly inserted into her heart.
The Knowledge of the Dragon

Everblight has learned many things over his long existence, and
his link to his warlocks allows him to share that knowledge. At
the Game Masters discretion, a character with an athanc shard
can understand any language the character is exposed to,
including ancient and dead languages. This requires specific
108
attention by the dragon, and so translation could be delayed if

a Game Master prefers to temporarily withhold information.
Additionally, Everblight can bestow the character with
information related to a specific task or subject. When the
Game Master determines it is appropriate, the character can
gain an additional die on a skill roll or even automatically
succeed on the roll, thanks to Everblights assistance.
The dragons attention can be drawn away from a character
for any number of reasons, so the Game Master has final say
on when such benefits are bestowed. Furthermore, Everblight
is far from omniscient and has had a narrow perspective for
the majority of his existence, paying little attention to mortal
activities. His areas of particular knowledge include the
ancient kingdom of Morrdh and the nation of Ios.
Athanc Shard Abilities

Warlocks who gain Everblights favor find themselves
bestowed with even greater gifts than other blighted
characters. These favored generals of Everblight manifest
potent abilities.
When a Legion Warlock would gain a Blight Gift, her player
can choose to select a unique athanc shard ability instead.
The character must meet all prerequisites of the ability.
An athanc shard ability can be taken only once.
Draconic Eminence
This character can upkeep spells on members of the
characters battlegroup without spending fury points.
Energy Siphon
When this character hits an enemy character with 1 or more
focus or fury points on it with a melee attack, that character
loses 1 focus or fury and this character gains 1 fury point.
Mend Flesh
Prerequisite: Athanc Shard
When this character spends fury to heal damage, this
character regains d3 vitality points per fury point spent.
Range Amplifier
When this character casts a spell and is the point of origin for
the spell, the spell gains +5 RNG.
Serenity
At the beginning of the characters Control Phase, before
leaching, remove 1 fury point from a friendly warbeast
within six feet (1) of this character.
Spiritual Harmony
Prerequisite: Athanc Shard
Once per activation, reduce the cost to cast the animus of a
Legion warbeast in this characters battlegroup as a spell by 1.
Tap Fury
After leaching, this character gains 1 fury point if the
character has fewer fury points than her ARC stat.
Blighted Warbeasts
Unlike the warbeasts used by many of the primal cultures
of western Immoren, the living weapons of the Legion of
Everblight are spawned for the express purpose of war.
Behaviorally, they have more in common with the wolds
fashioned by the blackclads than they do with creatures
born to a natural environment. Each is engineered for a
unique purpose by the genius of the formless dragon. These
creatures inherently share a link with the dragons warlocks
and do not require any time or effort to train. Instead, they
come into existence ready to receive the bond of a warlock,
already possessing whichever arcane gift Everblight deems
as an inborn animus.
Though they are alive in the most basic sense of the word,
Everblights warbeasts are not natural animals but rather
organic constructs, biological machines created to serve
their masters. They have familiar bodily structures such as
muscles, skin, blood, internal organs, and bones. They need
food to fuel their powerful bodies, but they do not require
sleep or other aspects of normal animal activity cycles.
Even deprived of sustenance, a dragonspawn can endure far
longer than ordinary creatures, atrophying and diminishing
in size yet not expiring. When given ample food, they can be
restored to full vitality and size with alarming alacrity.
Spawn of other dragons slay indiscriminately and can
draw unwanted attention, but Everblight knows the power
of remaining unnoticed. He builds his spawn to wait inert
but aware, conserving energy until they are needed for a
specific task or prompted into action by the appearance of
enemies. The creatures are far from mindlessthey possess
sophisticated instincts that help them excel at the tasks for
which they are designedbut their true potential is reached
only when directly controlled by a warlocks will. They have
no true will or drive of their own and similarly do not react
to pain like natural creatures, ignoring even drastic damage
to their bodies without flinching and possessing no sense of
self-preservation.
The Power of Their

Source: The Crystal
Warlocks granted larger fragments of Everblights

athanc possess equivalent amounts of power. They
are not necessarily subject to the limitations of those
who bear only a small piece, and they can manifest
greater abilities, some of them unique. Thagrosh
Hellborne, who bears the largest piece of Everblight
in his heart, is so empowered by the dragon that
the wounds he suffers in battle immediately create
dragonspawn, an ability unique to the Messiah of the
Legion of Everblight. Another warlock, Absylonia, can
create seemingly limitless dragonspawn.
Spawning
Dragonspawn are birthed from the blood of Everblights
warlocks, who spill it for this purpose and choose the form of
the beast at the time of its creation. The athanc shard within
the warlock possesses transformative properties, causing the
blood in the warlocks veins to become the blood of the dragon.
Although still only half-formed, a newborn dragonspawn
already possesses the formidable natural weaponry, nearinsatiable hunger, and honed instinct to kill and feed that is
characteristic of all dragonspawn. Freshly spawned beasts are
taken on immediate hunts to slake their appetite and add the
mass necessary to reach full size. If given access to an adequate
supply of ready flesh and blood to consume (generally from
victims of recent battle), even the largest warbeasts can
attain full size within hours. This unnatural maturation
makes it possible for a lone warlock with a spawning vessel
to greatly augment her fighting force and replace destroyed
dragonspawn by creating warbeasts in the field.
Spawning Rules
To create a dragonspawn, a blighted warlock must sacrifice
blood and select which dragonspawn she is creating. Sacrificing
blood causes damage dictated by the size of the spawn being
created. The warlock suffers damage equal to the selected
dragonspawns PHY stat. Roll to determine which branch of
the life spiral suffers damage as normal. Roll a separate location
each time damage is suffered due to spawning. Spilled blood
forms into a dragonspawn in one round.
109
Unlike other warbeasts, a dragonspawn does not require

conditioning. Dragonspawn created by a blighted warlock or
spawning vessel begin the game with their animus, full FURY,
and Threshold. If the warlock has an available Warlock Bond
slot, a newly formed dragonspawn is automatically bonded to
her, though it can be transferred to a new warlock as per the
normal bonding rules. If the warlock does not have an available
bond slot, dragonspawn she creates are uncontrolled warbeasts.
Spawning Limitations
Dragons draw upon the power of their blood to produce
dragonspawn, and Everblight is no exception. The primary
difference, aside from Everblights control over the form of his
spawn, is that he is capable of producing much greater volumes
of them via his warlock proxies. The athanc shard causes his
draconic blood to intermingle with the mortal blood of the
Nyss. This grants Everblight the power to produce hosts of his
spawn far beyond what he would normally be capable of.
New dragonspawn are weaker and smaller than normal and

must feed to reach their full potential. Each dragonspawn
has a Feeding cost. Larger and more powerful spawn have
higher Feeding costs. A newly made spawn must consume
its Feeding costs worth of vitality points before it grows
to full size. Fresh meat provides a dragonspawn with the
eaten creatures full vitality score toward the dragonspawns
Feeding cost, while meat from the undead or otherwise
spoiled source provides half the spoiled creatures total
vitality score.
Until a dragonspawn consumes meat equal to its Feeding
cost, it has the Runt and Starving creature templates (see Iron
Kingdoms Unleash Core Rules, p. XXX). Once a dragonspawn
has consumed its Feeding cost, it grows to full size and
capability and loses those templates.
Unnatural Beasts
Remember that dragonspawn are not considered

beasts native to the wilds of Immoren. Abilities that
reference such beasts do not affect any dragonspawn,
regardless of its progenitor.
110
Creating dragonspawn taxes a warlock, and without the aid

of a spawning vessel the process is subject to certain limits.
A warlock must fully recover damage suffered after creating
a dragonspawn before it can create another. If a warlock
suffers sufficient damage from spawning to disable her, she
is automatically incapacitated and suffers the Spitting Blood
Injury Table result.
Spawning Vessels
Creating warbeasts from the blood and will of Legion
warlocks is a taxing process that removes them from the
field for a time. Spawning vessels allow for creation of
warbeasts with a fraction of the normal resources. As the
blighted Legion ranges ever farther across western Immoren,
Everblight has come to rely increasingly on these vessels.
Spawning Vessel
Cost: These items are never available for sale
Description: Spawning vessels transmute lesser flesh into
fully formed spawn. Common spawning vessels produce only
the least of Everblights spawn in this manner, but larger, more
powerful vessels exist. These are reserved for the greatest of
the dragons warlocks and exist in limited number.
The fabrication of spawning vessels is a difficult and timeconsuming process requiring arcane rituals by Nyss sorcerers
in conjunction with a warlock of Everblight. The vessels are
inscribed with Aeric runes to channel the powerful blighted
energies they will draw upon to complete the transformation
of bodies placed within. The warlock contributes a small
quantity of draconic blood both to empower these runes and
to serve as a transformative base lining the bottom of the
vessel. Vessel attendants can reactivate the patterned energies
to transform ordinary blood and flesh into dragonspawn
without additional athanc-empowered blood.
Special Rules: A spawning vessel requires a blighted warlock

to sacrifice 1 damage point worth of blood to empower. A
spawning vessel remains empowered for two weeks before a
blighted warlock needs to sacrifice additional blood.
Once empowered, a spawning vessel can create small- or
medium-based dragonspawn. To create a dragonspawn, the
vessel must be filled with the creatures Feeding cost worth of
blood and meat. Spawn created in this manner do not need to
consume their Feeding cost to reach full size; they begin the game
fully formed. Creating a creature consumes its Feeding cost worth
of raw material from the vessel. A standard-sized spawning
vessel can contain 12 vitality points worth of material at a time.
Fabrication: Fabrication of a spawning vessel requires access

to metalworking tools and an ample supply of metal and
arcane minerals and can be performed only by a blighted
Gifted character. Once the character has the raw materials,
she must spend five weeks shaping and engraving the
vessel. At the end of this time, she makes an ARC+Craft
(metalworking) skill roll against a target of 16. If the roll
succeeds, the vessel has been successfully manufactured and
is ready to be empowered. If the roll fails, the character can
spend an additional week adjusting her work and roll again.
111
SHREDDER
Anatomically bizarre, these small dragonspawn are little better than fanged mouths propelled by clawed limbs. If you encounter these
dragonspawn you know to turn and run, for while they are dangerous themselves, they are precursors to nightmare creatures far worse.
Viktor Pendrake, Monsternomicon
Physique
PHY 6
Speed SPD 6
Strength STR 6
Agility
AGL 4
Prowess
PRW 3
Poise
POI 1
Intellect INT 1
Arcane aRC
Perception
Bite
MAT
5
PER 3
POW
4
P+S
10
Initiative
Init 12
Defense
DEF 13
Armor ARM 12

(Natural Armor +6)
Willpower
GI
LI
Will 7
TY
Description
These creatures are the smallest and
simplest spawn to arise from the blood
of Everblight. In the ancient days of the
kingdom of Morrdh, they were known
as akriel. Spawned with an unnatural
and unquenchable hunger, these beasts
are compelled to latch onto any living
flesh they can fit between their serrated
jaws and gorge on it, prompting them
to very swiftly reach their full stature.
The simplicity of the shredders design
perfectly echoes its straightforward
purpose: shredders exist to feed on
the armies of Everblights enemies and
nothing more. Only a warlocks direct
command can compel them to ignore
their hunger. They have been employed
as much for the terror they inspire when
let loose on unsuspecting civilians as for
their effectiveness as weapons of war.
Fully grown, a shredder is several

feet long from nose to tail, with most
4
of its mass taken up by its head and
jaws. The mouth is a shredders most
prominent feature, taking up the
PH
YSIQUE
majority of its face. Its jaws produce a
powerful bite force for a creature of its
6
5
size, and its widely spaced teeth have
an inward curve and sharp cutting
FURY: 2
edge that allow it to pull hunks of
Threshold: 7
flesh away with each bite. Shredders
Command Range: 1
latch onto prey with these jaws and
Base Size: small
pull away using their muscular legs,
Encounter Points: 5
digging into flesh with hooked talons
Feeding Cost: 6
at the end of their appendages to get
purchase. Along its spine, a row of
horns protect the shredder from retaliation as it feeds. In combat, a shredder
prefers to rely on its oversized maw while its many bony protrusions and
thick scales afford it a degree of protection.
INTELL
EC
Like all dragonspawn, a shredder is eyeless, relying on other senses to detect

its prey. All dragonspawn emit weak waves of blight into their surroundings
that allows them to extend their awareness. Additionally, a shredders sense
of smell is preternaturally acute, and its skin is sensitive to minor variations
in air pressure. Anything moving in a shredders vicinity draws its predatory
attention. Natural camouflage provides no protection, and even supernatural
obfuscation has limited effectiveness against a shredder on the hunt.
112
Shredders are prevalent among Everblights

forces. Their insatiable hunger and rapid
metabolism mean they are almost always
in a feeding frenzy, constantly hunting for
meals, a trait that allows them to be released
to sow terror with little guidance. Dozens of
shredders might be loosed into the wilderness
as a preliminary attack wave. Of all the
dragonspawn, they are viewed as the most
disposable, an easily replaced commodity.
Combat
Driven by ravenous hunger, shredders leap into
combat without hesitation against any creature
they detect. Shredders do not possess a sense
of self-preservation and do little to avoid harm,
instead snapping with their jaws at anything close
enough to attack. When shredders bring down
prey, they fall upon the carcass and consume as
much flesh as possible. Another creature stirring
nearby distracts shredders, giving them another
meal to fall upon. Immature shredders are
naturally prone to cannibalism and in moments
of frenzy might attempt to consume others of
their ilk. This impulse can usually be controlled,
however, particularly once they reach full size.
Shredders fight well in packs that swarm their
hapless victims and tear them apart.
Lore
A character can make an INT + Lore
(extraordinary zoology or dragon) skill roll to
determine what he knows about this creature.
He learns all the information up to the result of
the roll. The higher the roll, the more he learns.
13: Shredders are small, vicious dragonspawn
known for their unquenchable appetite for
flesh. Lacking eyes, shredders are able to detect
their prey through other, ill-understood means.
15: Shredders often indicate a larger force
of blighted creatures is nearby. These small
creatures are capable of incredible bursts of
speed and savage biting attacks.
17: Warlocks among the blighted Nyss are able
to produce shredders quickly, creating the small
dragonspawn from their own spilled blood.
Abilities:
Blighted This creature is a blighted creature.
Those who Ignore

History...
Blood Creation This creature never attacks friendly Legion warlocks and cannot
choose them as its frenzy target.
Eyeless Sight This creature ignores cloud effects and forests when determining
LOS. This creature ignores concealment and stealth when making attacks.
A character can also make an INT + Lore (ancient

history or Morrdhic) skill roll against a target of 14 to
learn the following:
Fearless This creature never suffers the effects of fear.
Shredders match descriptions of a creature found

in legends of the Black Kingdom of Morrdh. These
small but deadly creatures once presaged attacks by
Morrdhic warriors.
Rabid This creature can be forced during its activation to gain +2 SPD,
Pathfinder, and boosted attack and damage rolls for one turn.
Lesser Warbeast This creature cannot make power attacks. A warlock can bond
with two lesser warbeasts for each available bond slot.
Resonance: Everblight This creature can be bonded only by a warlock with

Resonance: Everblight Warbeast.
Soulless This creature does not generate a soul token when it is destroyed.
Creature Templates:
None.
Animus:
spell name Cost RNG AOE POW UP OFF
Tenacity
1 6 No No
Target friendly character gains +1 DEF and ARM. Tenacity lasts for one round.
Skills:
Name
Stat + Rank Total
Detection PER 2
5
Tracking PER 2
5
113
raek
My proficiency is foremost the natural world, though I regard history as an equally important study. The only thing more disturbing
than confronting these beasts in the modern world is discovering, through research of history, that they have been hunting us from the
shadows for centuries.
Physique
description
PHY 8
Speed SPD 7
Strength STR 8
Agility
AGL 5
Prowess
PRW 4
Poise
POI 1
Intellect INT 1
Arcane aRC
Perception
Bite
MAT
6
PER 3
POW
3
P+S
11
tail strike
MAT
6
POW
4
P+S
12
This weapon has reach. This creature gains

+2 on attack rolls against characters it first
hits with a Bite attack.
Initiative
Init 14
Defense
DEF 15
Armor ARM 14

(Natural Armor +6)
Willpower
2
1
GI
LI
Will 9
TY
3
INTELL
EC
PH
YSIQUE
FURY: 3
Threshold: 9
Command Range: 1
Base Size: medium
Encounter Points: 9
Feeding Cost: 12
A sleek and agile predator able to

outpace and bring down the swiftest
prey, the raek is a terrifying form
of dragonspawn. First conceived
by Everblight when he hid away
beneath Morrdh, raeks are swift
and stealthy dragonspawn ideal for
surgical strikes against the dragons
foes. While Everblights athanc lay
dormant in the Shard Spires, memory
of the raek faded from the world,
the creature gradually taking on a
mythical status in the minds of men.
After taking control of the blighted
Nyss, Everblight has resurrected these
ancient horrors to once again stalk
the wilds. Wherever the Legion of
Everblight travels, raeks have risen to
hunt the enemies of the dragon.
The anatomy of a raek is superficially
similar to that of a large predatory cat.
Quadrupedal and lithe, a raeks body
is powerfully muscled, particularly its
chest and limbs. Its primary weapons
are long incisiform teeth and a spearshaped chitinous blade at the tip of
its long tail. The tail tapers sharply to
the tip and is moderately prehensile,
making it a swift weapon that can strike
from unpredictable angles of attack.
A raeks back and head are sheathed
in plates of protective armor, swept
back to deflect incoming blows. The
dragonspawns underbelly, limbs, and
tail are similarly protected by smaller
overlapping scales. Shorter, sharper
scales shaped like teeth protrude from
the creatures skin along the ridge of
its back plates and at its shoulders.
A raeks scales articulate with its body,

fluidly shifting as it moves. Its four legs
end in broad talons that afford it purchase on the most treacherous terrain,
and combined with the raeks natural agility the dragonspawn can negotiate
nearly all surfaces. A running raek can scale the slick stone sides of a fortress
wall or bound across deep drifts of snow with equal speed.
114
Raeks alternate between complete stillness and

bursts of blinding speed. They are patient and
stealthy hunters, using their agility to negotiate
dense underbrush or shadowy defiles to close
on prey. When a raek closes to short distance,
it moves explosively forward, sprinting toward
its target. A raek closes the last distance to its
prey by leaping an incredible distance. This
jump has sufficient height to bring it over a wall
or clear a towering dire troll. It can even pluck
a flying creature out of the air at the apex of
such a leap, snatching the unfortunate beast in
its jaws and wrenching it back to earth.
Combat
Raeks use their stealth and mobility to outflank
prey. Thanks to the raeks agility and climbing
ability, it can scamper unnoticed over physical
defenses to tear apart its chosen prey or to
disable a creature and carry it off to consume at
a safe location. A raek will stalk from a distance
and stay hidden, waiting for an opportune
moment to leap from hiding and pounce
upon an unsuspecting creature. Raeks seem to
enjoy leaping down on prey from an elevated
position or lurking below to snag flying beasts
that pass overhead. A raek bites down with its
jaws, holding prey in place to skewer it with the
sharpened tip of its long and powerful tail.
Lore
13: Raeks are lithe and agile four-legged
dragonspawn. Raeks hunt in the shadows,
stalking their prey before they strike.
15: Raeks can climb exceedingly well, even up
slick or sheer surfaces. A raek is also capable of
leaping an incredible distance.
17: The raek is a single-minded and patient killer,
one that ignores all outside distractions and knows
none of the concerns for self-preservation that
might hinder a natural predator. It will relentlessly
pursue prey for many miles without tiring.
Abilities:
Those who Ignore

History...

Beasts like raeks were found among the horrors of the
Black Kingdom of Morrdh. The dark masters of Morrdh
used the creatures as grisly tools of assassination,
sending them against rivals and enemies when a
straightforward death was deemed too gentle a fate.
Deft This creature gains boosted AGL rolls.
Fearless This creature never suffers the effects of fear.
Pathfinder This creature can move over rough terrain without penalty.
Pounce Once per activation, after making a full advance but before performing
an action, this creature can be forced to be placed completely within 5 of its
current location. Any effects that prevent charging also prevent this creature from
using Pounce.
Stealth This creature has stealth.
Creature Templates:
None.
Animus:
spell name Cost RNG AOE POW UP OFF
Shadow Shift
2 SELF No No
This character gains Parry. Shadow shift lasts for one turn. (A character with Parry
cannot be targeted by free strikes.)
Skills:
Name
Stat + Rank Total
Climbing
AGL 3
8
Detection PER 2
5
Sneak
AGL 2
7
Tracking PER 2
5
115
carnivean
Physique
We had broken away from the enormous dragonspawn and taken cover in a natural ice fissure,
pressed three men deep as it swiped at us with its broad, clawed limb. A moment later a spray of
draconic fire burned Parker up like a candle in a kiln.
PHY 11
Speed SPD 6
Strength STR 12
Agility
AGL 3
Prowess
PRW 4
Poise
description
POI 2
Intellect INT 1
Arcane aRC
Perception
PER 2
dragon breath
RAT RNG AOE POW

4 SP 10 14
Abilities: This weapon causes fire damage.
This creature must build up its reserves
between attacks using this weapon, therefore
this weapon can be fired only once per turn.
Bite
MAT
6
claw
MAT
6
POW
6
P+S
18
POW
4
P+S
16
POW
4
P+S
16
These great horrors are possessed

of a lean and muscular lower torso,
with four clawed legs allowing swift
movement across even the roughest
terrain, and with the strength to leap
over or barrel through lesser obstacles.
The bulkier upper body is massively
muscled and has oversized forelimbs
primarily used as weapons and to
grapple with larger prey. Like all of
Everblights spawn, the carnivean
possesses powerful jaws with teeth
designed for ripping and tearing.
Abilities: Open Fist
claw
MAT
6
Abilities: Open Fist
Initiative
Init 12
Defense
DEF 11
Armor ARM 18

(Natural Armor +7)
GI
LI
Will 12
TY
PH
INTELLEC
Willpower
YSIQUE
FURY: 4
Threshold: 9
Command Range: 1
Base Size: large
Feeding Cost: 16
116
The carnivean is a massive and

horrifying creature, one of the most
powerful beasts in the blighted
Legions living arsenal. Standing
a dozen feet tall, these enormous
dragonspawn were once rare gifts
bestowed on the warlords of Morrdh.
Now they stride alongside the blighted
Nyss as beasts of pure destruction.
Consumed by a desire to fight and
slaughter, carniveans are among the
deadliest of Everblights spawn.
The carniveans most devastating

weapon is its ability to disgorge a
scorching but rapidly consumed
naphtha from its mouth, a fiery acidic
mixture that quickly melts flesh.
While this is nowhere near as powerful
as the dragonfire a dragon can produce,
it serves well to annihilate lesser
creatures the carnivean is sent to destroy,
and this is particularly disruptive to
the morale of those who witness the
gruesome deaths of their allies.
A carniveans body is covered with
dense scales and thick armored
plating that is far stronger than
natural equivalents. The plates
are overlapping and articulated to
allow a carnivean to move with a
sinuous grace uncharacteristic of
such a large creature. Long, serrated
spines growing from these plates serve as a

defensive weapon, and a warlock can impel
the beast to undergo a rapid transformation
that causes countless others to erupt from its
flesh. Anything that attacks the dragonspawn
when it possesses these spines is sure to suffer
trauma from the tangle of thorny blades
growing from every inch of its body.
Combat
When a carnivean detects prey or is commanded
to attack, it charges forward, spraying gouts
of draconic flame. Creatures that survive this
fiery attack are pummeled with talons and
ripped at by the carniveans oversized jaws.
The carniveans many legs allow it to move
over broken ground without slowing down,
which lets it slam its great mass into lesser
beasts and drive them to the ground. Fearless
and durable, carniveans are not concerned by
incoming strikes. They only wish to destroy
and devour all the flesh they can.
Lore
13: Among the largest and most formidable of
dragonspawn are the carniveans. Able to kill
at a distance with burning breath and even
more formidable in melee, this spawn is best
avoided. Carniveans possess no particular
weaknesses, having a toughened scaly hide
that is difficult to penetrate.
15: Carniveans are quite stable, thanks to
the four limbs used for ambulation, and also
demonstrate great balance and ability to cross
difficult terrain, including ice and snow.
17: Warlocks among the blighted Nyss cannot
quickly or easily create these hulking spawn,
as they require a great investment. This not
only explains their rarity, it means their loss
is a serious blow to those who employ them.
Abilities:
Those who Ignore

History...
Assault As part of a charge, after moving but before making its charge attack,
this creature can make one ranged attack targeting the character charged unless
they were in melee with each other at the start of this creatures activation.
When resolving an Assault ranged attack, the attacker does not suffer the target in
melee penalty. If the target is not in melee range after moving, this creature can
make the Assault ranged attack before its activation ends.

In a handful of legends that survive from the time

of the Morrdhic kingdom are descriptions of great
monstrosities that match the carnivean. These beasts
arose to destroy countless enemy warriors only in times
of the greatest peril to the Black Kingdoms masters.
Pathfinder This creature can move over rough terrain without penalty.
Animus Cost RNG AOE POW UP OFF

Spiny Growth
2 6 No No
Target friendly character gains +2 ARM. If a warjack or warbeast hits the affected
character with a melee attack, the attacker suffers d3 damage points immediately
after the attack has been resolved unless the affected character was destroyed or
removed from play by the attack. Spiny Growth lasts for one round.
Creature Templates:
None.
Skills:
Name
Stat + Rank Total
Detection PER 2
4
Tracking PER 2
4
117
Around The World

The battlefields of WARMACHINE and HORDES are everywherein homes, in conventions halls, in game stores.
Theyre in your hometown; theyre on the other side of your country; theyre on a completely different continent.
Because its not just a communityits the world.
Hobby Shop Arrows has served as a

miniatures game specialty store at Tokyo
Akihabara since 2014. While the Japanese
hobby scene is quite small compared to many other
countries, Hobby Shop Arrows hosts a wide variety of
playersfrom beginners to veteransin their gaming
spaces with events and tournaments every weekend.
In the last year, WARMACHINE and HORDES have
acquired a strong following in Tokyo, and owner
Ryota Tsuchiya is eager to meet and greet players
from all over the world who would like to participate
in his stores activities. Check out their website:
http://arrows-llc.com (Japanese only)
Last December, the official Spanish Masters event took

place at the Goblin Trader store in Madrid. The event
was run by Spanish distributor Lost Masquerade and
had almost 40 players from various European countries compete.
Jakub Irzyk from Poland with his Legion of Everblight army was
the ultimate victor.
The Spanish WARMACHINE community is growing rapidly as
more and more retailers stock the games. In 2015, Spain will host
an Iron Gauntlet Qualifier in Barcelona in October, and Spain will
also be represented at the WTC.
For Lost Masquerade, the Masters was the culmination of a great
deal of work, with support from the Spanish community, the PGs,
and retailers. This year, the event will again be in Madrid (December
46) in the new Goblin Trader superstore in central Madrid.
Details about the event can be found on the Lost Masquerade website
www.lostmasquerade.com
118
Around the World
This June marks one full year of Privateer Pins, and to commemorate
the occasion, a whole host of new pins will make their first appearance
during Lock & Load GameFest 2015, June 57.
Chibi Harbinger, Chibi Makeda, and Chibi Totem Hunter are bound
to be popular, says Will Shick, Director of Business Development,
and we know Khador players will be pleased to see the Old Witch
finally make it onto a pin. But this year, were also launching IK cereal
pins and our new map pin series, which breaks western Immoren
into pins that fit together to recreate the lands of the Iron Kingdoms.
Alongside the first of the cereal pins, which will be available at
the convention and on the Privateer Press Online Store the same
weekendattendees of Lock & Load will have access to new, limitededition pins available only at conventions Privateer Press attends.
We have a unique pin for the Standard Bearer ability icon, Shick
says, and we have a special Privateer Pins one-year anniversary pin
available only as a gift-with-purchase in the Lock & Load store and
other cons later in the year. Plus, we have a dated Lock & Load pin for
every attendee, something unique to commemorate the experience.
Additionally, a special product focused on the Cygnaran warcaster
Victoria Haley will contain two limited-edition pins unavailable
anywhere elsethe Major military rank and the Prime arcane rank.
With an edition run of only 500 each, these pins are likely to be
especially treasured by devoted Privateer Pin collectors.
The Privateer Pins Collection

For the first year, collectors formed their own lists of
Privateer Pins and shared them across the forums.
Now a definitive list is growing on the Privateer Pins
website. In addition to scheduled updates for new
releases, the site includes the over 150 pins released in
the collection since June 2014, many of which contain
links to purchase the pin if it is still available in the
online store.
Collectors can check out the alternate chibi Tyrant
Xerxes (available only through the Australian
convention CanCon), all four Path of Devastation
league pins, and out-of-print pins like Chibi Skarre.
Check out privateerpress.com/pins for the latest updates.
Tricks of the Trade

For pin collectors who have not yet had a chance to trade
with Privateer Press staff and volunteers, the guidelines
are pretty easy to master. Once you find a crewmember
wearing a lanyard with Privateer Pins on it, simply offer
an official Privateer Pin in exchange for a pin on the
crewmembers lanyard, and the deal is done!
A couple of things to keep in mind: your pin cant be
damaged, has to have its original backer, and cant be
a pin already on the crewmembers lanyard. You can
only trade with the crewmember once per day, one pin
for one pin, and you cant trade for a pin thats not on
the crewmembers lanyard (crewmembers often display
upcoming pins that havent been released yet).
for more pins visit: privateerpress.com/pins

privateer pins
119
Drawn and
Quartered Redux
The last time a cartoon appeared in No Quarter was way
back in early 2010, issue #29it was a gag about Stryker
and hair gel. The lesson: comedy and the Iron Kingdoms mix
like the Protectorate and tolerance. But it was a lesson we
have deliberately forgotten for this anniversary issue, so, as
George Santayana said, Those who cannot remember the
past are condemned to repeat it.
Here we are, condemned.
Our runner-up: an image of the Butcher with two
dismembered arms that he flails around gleefully as musical
notes dance around his head. The caption: You butcher left
arm in, you butcher left arm out, you butcher right arm in
Illustration by Laine Garrett
Well save that one for No Quarter #90, May of 2020.
THE RETURN
OF
THE
Its time to put your tactical genius to the

test with this perplexing battlefield puzzle!
You are in control of Captain Phinneus Shae and
his band of rowdy privateers. Your task is simple:
destroy the Kommander Sorscha this turn or
lose the game. All the tools are therecan you
achieve victory before its too late?
WARMACHINE
CHALLENGE
Instructions
It is currently your activation phase, and
your Galleon has already activated this turn.
1.5
Your dice are cursed, and always roll the

exact same result. If you roll one die your
result will always be 3, two dice will net you
a 7, three dice will result in a 10, and with
four dice your result will be 14.
If you cannot destroy Kommander Sorscha
this turn, you will lose.
S
HOUSE
3
1
W
D
120
NQ redux
10
9.5
Behemoth
Winter Guard
Sh
Shae
Hawk
Sea Dogs
Press Gangers
Rockbottom
Commodore
2.5
Sorscha
FOREST
D
H Sh
P P P P P P
R
Puzzle by William Overstreet.
For our solution, see page 70.
Unit Leader
Both Lord Rockbottom, Expedition Financier

and Captain Phinneus Shae have been
playing conservatively. Lord Rockbottom has
not used any of his 5 Coins. Shae has not
used his feat and did not allocate any focus
to his warjacks this turn.
Kommander Sorschas bloodlust may have
finally gotten the best of her. She spent all of
her focus last turn killing Doc Killingsworth
and Bosun Grogspar.
KEY
C
C
C C C
Galleon
Learn All Privateer Press

Dirty Little Secrets.
New theme forces, sneak previews, the future of WARMACHINE and HORDES
every secret is in
For more details on Privateer Press Digital and No Quarter subscriptions, visit
www.privateerpress.com and store.privateerpress.com/subscriptions.aspx
*While supplies lastand the clock is ticking! 20012015 Privateer Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privateer Press, No Quarter, and their logos are trademarks of Privateer Press, Inc.
Limited-Edit
ion Pin
with Subscri
ption!*
20012015 Privateer Press, Inc. Privateer Press, HORDES, and their logos are trademarks of Privateer Press, Inc.

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10th Anniversary Edition

Heroes Will Rise

Adventure through the infamous underground

Editor-in-Chief: Michael G. Ryan

Graphic Design: Richard Anderson,

Perfect Ten by Matthew D. Wilson

Its with much enthusiasm that

Nerves of Steel: An Interview with Miles Holmes

The Art of Cosplay: Allie Rose-Marie Leost

Battle Report: Sister Act 3

Modeling & Painting: Major Prime Victoria Haley

The Art of Cosplay: Marisha Ray

The Gavyn Kyle Files: Vinter Raelthorne IV

Scenario: Assault on Blackrock Island

Devastation Fiction Extra

Unleashed: Chasing the Dragon

The Gavyn Kyle Files

The Art of Cosplay

Forces of Distinction XIX

Devastation Fiction Extra: Ill Omens

Scoundrels & Sell-Swords: Witchfire Rogues Gallery

Quick Shot Scenario: 1 AR

Unleashed: Chasing the Dragon, Part One

Around the World

The First Anniversary of Privateer Pins

Drawn and Quartered/WARMACHINE Challenge

The Art of Cosplay

Scoundrels & Sell-Swords

Modeling & Painting

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Brennos the Elderhorn (metal/resin)

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The year is 606 AR, and Cygnar is sorely pressed by

PIP 601 $14.99

WARMACHINE: All-in-One Army Box

Tharn Wolf Riders

Behind the Scenes of Cold Steel

with Miles Holmes

Mercenary Nicolas Verendrye began his career as a

To offset Nicolas from the other mercenaries and their

Holmes says he approached Caine very carefully during the

Part of Caines future includes crossing paths with

model will work for Cryx, Cygnar, Khador, and

SERGEANT NICOLAS VERENDRYE

FIELD MEDIC While within 3 of this model, other friendly living

RNG ROF AOE POW

SERGEANT NICOLAS VERENDRYE

MERCENARY STEELHEAD CHARACTER SOLO

SPD STR MAT RAT DEF ARM CMD

A mercenarys path is neither black nor

POWERFUL CHARGE This model gains +2 to charge attack rolls with

Illus. by Johan Grenier Privateer Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

BY ALLIE ROSE-MARIE LEOST

Allie Rose-Marie Leost

the art of cosplay

again, this time with her first