Authors note: So I have quite an interesting story to make, a Star vs. The Forces of Evil Warhammer Fantasy AU… what a mouthful to read. But yeah, this is an alternate universe involving SVTFOE characters implemented in the Warhammer Fantasy universe, so expect it to be very bloody, gory, and all around M rated.
I hope I get stuff from Warhammer Fantasy right since while I am a fan of Warhammer in general, I don't know as much about Fantasy as I do 40K, so don't get too pissed off if I miss something or add in a few 'personal' head cannons here and there. I only know about so much Warhammer thought the video games and some lore read ups here and there.
BTW: Important Update, I want to credit MaxGentlman1 for helping out with the intro a lot, as in he pretty much wrote most of it. He will be my co-author through the whole story so I want to thank him so much for helping me out, and check out his stories as well.
But anyways, for people who know or don't know Warhammer, I hope you enjoy the intro.
Prologue: In Times of Chaos
O-O-O
The Old World is changing.
That is a fact that many refuse to accept within the Empire of Man. Change is a cruel mistress of fear and uncertainty, something with unknown power that few will truly understand. Such change may be the work of the Ruinous Powers at work in the Old World, weaving fates and plotting plans in such madness.
Darkness was rising from the North, the icy wastes teeming with new life not from this world: beings far worse than anything a mortal could comprehend. Norsemen were the only true threat of the North due to raiding, but their raids grow in size and frequency overtime, new powers from beyond inspire bloodshed further down through the neighboring kingdom of Kislev.
The influence of this new darkness has slowly crept down from the North for centuries, bringing about new beings of evil and malice to the Empire of Man: a lasting bastion of humanity surrounded by smaller independent kingdoms. Humans inhabit the Centre of the Old World and have since expanded their borders in the name of their Gods and Kings, but with great power comes great strife.
Whether it may be Ruinous Powers of the North corrupting Man or the greed and power hunger inside Man all along, the Empire currently suffers from constant civil disruption and war between the ten provincial states. The Empire may be a powerful nation, but the truth of its unity is that of a confederation, only together because of their common tongue of Reikspiel, shared belief of Imperial culture and the faith of their man turned God, Sigmar Heldenhammer. The man who created their Empire.
But since the election of their new Emperor, Karl Franz; Elector Count of Reikland, the other Counts throw out accusations of false claims to the throne at Franz, while others prepare weapons of war to overthrow their supposed new leader. Franz was a young and vigorous man, but through an understanding of leverage against his political opponents, he proved himself worthy of rising to the throne of Emperor and dedicated his time to helping the Empire and fixing its mistakes more than previous Emperors before his time; only comparable to Sigmar himself.
Despite this, the Empire still had a long way to go.
Civil war looms in the air as Man begins to prepare for themselves rather than the rising threat of the North, new beasts of savagery invade the wilds of the lands, rumors spread of secret cults that worship great evil, even the fairy tales of legendary Rat men have started to rise into relevance but have only been proven as fairy tales alone.
It was clear that a great darkness was coming in force, and many would have to prepare for its eventual arrival.
However, for the likes of Witch Hunters, the forces of Darkness was something they dealt with regularly. Master Ludwig Gehrman, Witch Hunter captain of the Mewni district, crossed the small countryside during the warm summer afternoon, looking across the farmland of the kingdom in indifference, not much caring for the scenery.
"I take it you never much cared for farm animals, eh, Master?" Ludwig's apprentice, a young man of about seventeen, said with a small smirk.
"As a matter of fact, Marco, I don't. They're filthy creatures. They smell, they bite, they spit. Disgusting." Ludwig said indignantly.
"Hehe, of course, Master." The young man named Marco chuckled.
Mewni was once an independent kingdom bordering the areas between the two provincial states of Talabecland and Stirland thousands of years ago. Now, the kingdom is a former shell of its past glory, its capital of Mewni is simply a border city that acts as a trade and resting area for merchants and other adventurers of the Empire, the rest of its lands annexed by diplomacy or force over the years.
Although the Empire has yet to completely annex the small kingdom within the Empire due to the population's fierce sense of independence and other more pressing matters outside of Mewni, there have been a steady amount of Empire supporters in the small kingdom that have allowed enough influence for the approval of a chapter house of Witch Hunters to aid in protecting the lands of Mewni from ferocious monsters: a problem that has plagued the land since its inception.
A few minutes of silence passed before Ludwig spoke again to his young apprentice.
"It shan't be too long before we reach the castle, Marco. I'm sure you're more than eager to see her again." He said.
"Yes, Master Gehrman, I am. It's been over a year since we last passed through the kingdom."
"Well keep those feelings of yours in check, boy, lest you fall and become corrupt like so many others before you." Ludwig warned.
"Yes, Master." Marco said compliantly.
Before they could continue their conversation, they heard the unmistakable cry of a person in danger.
"Please! For the love of Sigmar, somebody save me!" Came the cry of a man from the distance.
"Alright then, forward!" Ludwig yelled in a commanding tone, drawing his golden handled sword from its sheath and spurring his horse to charge.
"Hya!" Marco yelled, kicking his horse in its sides and causing it to charge forward toward the noise alongside his master.
They didn't need to travel far. When they came over a hill, they found the wreckage of a cart with its cargo spilled everywhere, the horses dead with deep gashes, and the terrified owner hiding beneath the flipped over cart.
To the Witch Hunters' surprise, the beast that was attacking the cart was none other than a Manticore, the horrifying lion/scorpion hybrid clawing at the sides of the cart, trying to get at the man below. The man looked to find the pair of Witch Hunters at the top of the hill, surprisingly relieved to see the dreaded inquisitorial monster slayers of the Empire.
"Oh thank Sigmar! Please, you have help me! Please!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the Manticore to claw at the cart with increased vigor, frightening the man to stay silent.
"Don't worry, we'll get you out of there!" Marco called to the man before drawing his weapon and spurring his horse into a charge. The beast was too preoccupied to see the young Witch Hunter heading towards it, more interested in its soon to be meal of Merchant Tartare. Once close enough, Marco leaped from his horse's saddle and came rolling to a stop on his feet, drawing his weapons, his rapier and pistol.
"Hey, ugly!" He yelled to get the beast's attention, which it did, "Your mother was a house cat!"
The Manticore didn't understand the young Witch Hunter's insult, though what it did understand was that he was a possible meal standing out in the open. The beast roared and leaped over the cart, landing before breaking into a dash at Marco.
Readying his rapier, Marco stayed put as the beast came charging at him. It was mere feet away when it tried to claw at him, only to hit nothing but air. It skidded to a halt and looked around to find Marco had dodged to its right and was now staring down the barrel of a pistol.
"You missed." Marco said simply, firing the sidearm straight into the Manticore's right eye, causing it to roar in intense pain. It wasn't dead, however, only seeming to infuriate it. Marco then attempted to thrust his rapier into the beast's eye, but was stopped by its giant stinger.
It tried to sting him, but Marco managed to back away from it, gaining some distance between them. He went for another one of his pistols and aimed it quickly but had it smacked out of his hand by the hybrid beast. Before he could defend himself, the beast tackled him to the ground. Just as it was about to deliver its final blow and Marco was saying his prayers, the beast suddenly grew silent. Its head slowly began to fall until it slid right off its shoulders and onto the young Witch Hunter.
Somewhat freaked out, Marco knocked the head away and looked back at the creature to see its decapitated body fall over, with Ludwig standing behind it, looking more angry than usual.
"Think of this as a test, boy. You failed miserably," He said irritably.
"How so?" Marco asked, receiving a glare from his master, "Well I mean besides the obvious part."
"Let's list them off, shall we? You rushed into battle, you were cocky, throwing out insults and one-liners, and most important: you let your feeling guide your actions rather than logic. You wanted to help that man so bad you leaped into action without a proper plan of attack."
"Any later and he could've been ripped to shreds, master."
"Could've been, but still insignificant to the bigger picture."
"But, master, I-"
"That's enough, Marco." Ludwig ordered sternly. Marco was about to say more, but knew arguing with Gehrman was next to impossible.
"Yes, Master Gehrman."
"Do not simply say yes and expect to learn from this," Gehrman replied sharply. "I noticed the tone of your voice grows more defiant with every breath. Weakness will not be tolerated by any force of evil, remember that."
Marco simply nodded, not daring to speak another word to incite an argument.
"E-excuse me," Came the voice of the merchant, "I-I must t-thank you, mighty W-witch Hunters, for saving me from that horrible b-beast."
Gehrman gave the merchant a glare of annoyance. "You were lucky to be spared that creature's meal. No thanks are needed."
"O-of course, sir. Forgive me." The merchant apologized, bowing his head.
The merchant felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he found Marco looking at him with a much calmer demeanor than his master.
"Please, forgive Master Gehrman, he's a bit of a cynic. But really, it's our job to deal with beasts, so your thanks and apologies are not needed."
"I take it you'd like a reward?" The merchant asked.
"You don't owe us anything. You were in need, we helped," Marco replied.
"And they call Witch Hunters heartless. Say they won't lift a finger to help the truly needy."
"They also say mice are born of rotting straw," Marco said with a chuckle.
The merchant nodded in agreement before turning to his wrecked cart, looking to see if he could probably salvage any supplies. After a quick once over, he turned back to the pair of Witch Hunters.
"I would offer you two and your men an escort into the city, but as you can see, my mares have become mincemeat," The Merchant said.
"That is no fault of yours, sir. Perhaps we could offer you a ride into the city? It's quite a ways away, and it'll be dark long before you reach it on foot. No one wants to be out here then," Marco said and before the Merchant could respond, Gehrman spoke up.
"No, we cannot offer him a ride. We have business of our own to attend to in the city, we can't have him slowing us down, not even a little," He said, glaring at Marco, as if he should have known better than to even offer.
Marco looked at him angrily, "We can't just leave him here like this, especially after that attack. There could be more than the one nearby and you know it. He could die."
"That isn't really our problem. If he really wants to get to town, he will, even despite this slight setback," Gehrman said simply, shrugging it off.
"Slight setback? This isn't a slight setback, Master. A few broken or stolen wares is a slight setback. A broken wheel on the cart is a slight setback. But nearly destroyed wares, dead horses, and a mostly wrecked cart is major. If we give him a lift he can at least start to rebuild his supply. If we don't, even if he makes it, and that's a big if, he may not be able to rebuild for a long time," Marco said.
"That is something he will have to deal with. The experience will be good for him, make him learn a thing or two about survival, and be a little more careful next time."
"We can't leave him here," Marco said, glaring at Gehrman, fists clenched at his sides. Ludwig chuckled.
"Alright boy, tell you what. Since you feel so strongly about it, I'll take the mounts with me to town and you can walk him there." Ludwig said, sliding back onto his mount and grabbing the reigns of Marco's.
"Wait, you'd just leave me here!?" Marco asked, surprised.
"If you're going to be so stubborn, then yes. I figure you must feel you can handle it, boy. Now are you going to stay with him or ride with me?" He asked casually, sitting on his saddle and waiting for a response.
Marco stared at Gehrman, and then looked back to the merchant. After a few takes he sighed, "I'm sorry, sir." before climbing onto his own mount.
"What!? You can't just leave me here!" The merchant called out.
As they rode away, he screamed in anger and fear, "They were right about you Witch Hunters after all! You are heartless!"
O-O-O
Disclaimer: I do not own Star vs. the forces of evil or Warhammer.