The Scent of Warpstone

e hated that city. It was a place of corruption and destruction. Adolphus Hexenbrenner tried to imagine, how the city was before the wrath of Sigmar came upon it. It must have been a powerful, glorious and rich city. A city with great palaces, fat merchants with full money-bags and jewellery-laden whores with painted faces. A city full of corruption and decadence. This was because the Lord Sigmar has cursed the city. And this curse was horrible: a large, twin-tailed comet fell from the sky into the very heart of the city, destroying nearly every live within it. But it seems that humanity will never learn from such punishment: soon after its destruction the Ruins of Mordheim began to draw the attention of Witches, Warlocks, Mutants, Chaos-worshippers and other Heretics. The ruined city became a hiding place for those outcasts of human society. This was the reason why Hexenbrenner and his followers where here. He and his men were the last bastion of humanity against the forces of the dark. Everywhere within the Empire the dark powers began to rise and the ruined city of Mordheim seemed to be the very centre of this corruption. The key to everything was a material known as Wyrdstone, splinters from the comet and filled with a dark corrupting power. The rich and powerful within the Empire were willing to pay much to get some of this Wyrdstone. It is said, that it has the ability to turn lead into gold and to lengthen the lifespan for centuries. Hexenbrenner hated the warpstone almost as much as he hated that city, but he had learned to search for it because it seemed to be the only source of money in this lands. And he needed money to pay his men. Although most of them were fanatic followers of Sigmar, voluntary fighting for their faith, with an empty stomach it was hard to fight.

exenbrenner stepped outside of the ruined church. He was a very tall man, clad in a long dark blue coat with golden buttons and broad brimmed hat. On a silver chain around his neck there hanged a small golden hammer, symbol of the followers of Sigmar. "Master! The dogs seem to be alarmed by something. They smell something…" The man in front of Hexenbrenner had long hair and a huge beard and was clad in a brown cowl. "They smell the presence of the foul ratmen.", another man, clad like a priest, said. "Well, in Sigmars name! We shall cleanse this streets from this skaven-plague!" Hexenbrenner said and the others nodded. "Hail Sigmar! Hail!" they cried as they prepared for the fight.

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anthings, over there! Near the place of old bones, oh most exceptional of all Leaders. Many, many Stake-burners." Squeeki Quickpaw licked his lips and his tail twitched nervously on the dirty floor as he reported to his master. He had a strong feeling of discomfort in the presence of the Assassin Adept. Their search for warpstone wasn't very successful and their Leader wasn't in the best mood. The dark figure in the shadow remained totally calm and the Shadowrunner was not sure if the other one had understand him. But he was too cowardly and of course, no fool, to ask his Master. " "How much?" Chien Leng Swiftpaw asked with a soft, whispering voice. "Seven. And two Barkers are accompanying them, o most kindly of Masters." "Humans!", Chien Leng, thought, Witchhunters if he wasn't wrong. Perfect! Perhaps the day wasn't lost. Perhaps the manthings have had more luck in finding Warpstone in the Ruins of the cursed city. Yes, ambushing the manthings and taking their Warpstone, that would be a good idea. Warpstone was power. The more Warpstone he would bring back to his Clan, the more powerful he will become. And that would mean influence and own hole with his own breeders. "Quick! Quick! Prepare your weapons," he said, "We will ambush the manthings." "A wise decision, wisest of the wise!" the small Skaven nodded und turned around. Everywhere in the dark, shadows began to move as hidden Skaven-warriors readied their weapons and began to move to get closer to their enemies. "Sorcerer!", Chien Leng turned to Quinquish Longtail, a small and mysterious looking skaven in a long dark cowl. "Let's see if the Horned Rat has a blessing for us!" "Perhaps, my lord, perhaps!" the Sorcerer hissed and began to chant an ancient formula. Suddenly the air began to flicker and in front of the sorcerer the form of a huge rat began to take shape. "The Horned Rat gave us some aid! Praised be his name!" "Very good!" Chien Leng nodded and then he turned and vanished with supernatural speed within the shadows of the ruins....