Seeds of Empire
Unknown Location
It had been three hours since the scouting party left the encampment. So far, they didn't find any sign of civilization. Fortunately, there was also no sign of the Beastmen or Greenskins. Still, they need to find a settlement fast. The supplies in the encampment were enough only for a week. With this progress, they will run out of food first before being able to resupply.
"Dear Sigmar, I have been on a scouting mission at Kislev and finding a civilization there was easier than where we currently are!" Complained Karl.
"Be patient, Von Richthofen. We've no idea where we are and even with compass, without knowledge of surrounding topography, it's easy to get lost." Said Father Erich, the Warrior Priest in the party. "We could have been walking in circle."
"I know, Father. But this entire event…it's just frustrating."
"I agree. I've spend two decades of my life fighting against the corruption of necromancy, Chaos, and countless other. And yet none of them is as strange as this one." Said Marius Boromin, the Witch Hunter in the party.
"So, still no clue on what happened?" Asked Karl.
"Nope. Not even the wizards in the camp know what's going on." Replied Marius. "But that's not as important as finding some place where we can resupply at this moment."
"We pass through a river at least an hour ago. And I noticed some of the trees that we pass by have fruits on them. Granted, I am not sure whether they're poisoned or not, but at least we're not completely hopeless." Said Father Erich.
"That's quite a knowledge, Father. I am sure the Church don't teach that."
"When you spend most of your time with the soldiers, you'll pick something or two from them."
The three of them continued their conversation to pass some time. However, Karl raised his hand to signaled the end of the conversation. He took out a spyglass and observed the horizon. He put it back and informed what he had seen.
"Smoke."
"Smoke? That means either forest fire or settlement. I believe the latter is the answer." Said Marius.
"In that case, we better increase the speed of our march. Clearly, the Ur-Emperor has shown as salvation." Said Father Erich.
With the possibility of settlement in their sight, the scouting party immediately fasten up and marched towards the source of the smoke.
Several minutes later…
When the scouting party finally see the source of the smoke, they found out that while the smoke really did indicate a settlement, it didn't come from chimney or firework.
Rather, it came from several burning buildings.
"By Sigmar, what's going on over there?" Commented one of the Pistoliers.
Karl took out his spyglass and looked at the settlement. He could see walking around there were several people armed with various weapons and armors. They also acted in a rather unprofessional way. From his experience, he knew who these people are.
"Bandits. The settlement is under attack by bandits." Said Karl as he put back his spyglass.
"Bandits, huh? As much as I hate to say it, this raid serves our cause." Said Father Erich.
"Father?"
"If we drive off the bandits from the settlement, then the people that lived here will be grateful. In order to repay our help, they will give us some of the food that they have…provided those bandits don't destroy the ones that they don't steal."
Karl thought about it for a while. While what Father Erich said was rather cold, it was logical and often correct. This settlement looked nothing like something the Empire will build; it's too Bretonnian in style. There was a high chance that the local wouldn't know who they are or even speak Riekspiel. They need to make a bridge, building trust. And what better way to do that than rescuing them from the bandits?
"Alright then." Karl pointed at a Pistolier captain. "You, I want you to harass the bandits while the main forces closing in. Once we reach the settlement, fall back and provided fire support with the Handgunners."
"Yes, My Lord." Replied the Pistolier as he gathered his men.
Soon after, the Pistoliers rode off to the settlement first as Karl, Father Erich, and Marius led the foot soldiers, following the cavalries from behind.
Burning Settlement
Near an entrance of the settlement, a farmer was being cornered by three bandits. He only had a pitchfork in his hands while his opponents had swords and armors. Things were looking grim for him.
Then, the Pistoliers finally arrived at the settlement and fired their pistols to any nearby bandits. The shots killed many of bandits, among them the three that trying to kill the farmer. With that, he immediately ran away from the fight.
Hearing the gunshots, the bandits from the deeper part of the settlement came to the entrance. The Pistoliers keep firing their pistols and reloading. When the bandits were getting close, they rode away from them while keeping their fire.
Suddenly, one of the bandits took out what appeared to be a long stick. It was then revealed to be a wand when he created a fireball and incinerated two unfortunate Pistoliers. By that time though, the main party had arrived and Marius saw what happened.
"By Sigmar, there is a witch in their rank!" Exclaimed the Witch Hunter.
Marius immediately galloped towards the witch with a pistol drawn.
"Face your punishment, witch!" Said Marius as he shot the witch in the head.
He, however, didn't stop galloping and continued deeper into the settlement.
"Boromin, get back!" Shouted Karl.
"It's useless, Von Richthofen. One of the flaws about some Hunters is that they will stop at nothing to purge corruption. Even if that means walking directly into a trap." Replied Father Erich as he dismounted from his horse.
The soldiers of the Empire immediately sprung into action. The Halberdiers made a line and acted as barriers between the approaching bandits and the Swordsmen and Handgunners behind them. The bandits tried to fight their way through the pointy ends of halberds, but only few succeed only to be immediately cut down by the Swordsmen behind the Halberdiers.
Some of the bandits were smart enough to ran through the long way and try to attack from the flanks. However, both flanks were covered by the remaining Swordsmen and Halberdiers, led personally by Karl and Father Erich.
"FOR SIGMAR!" Shouted the Warrior Priest as he crushed a bandit's head with his hammer. "He is the rock upon which the unclean will be broken!"
Erich smashed another head before a bandit tried to impaled him with a spear. With an armor that's supposed to make his speed impossible, he smashed the hand of the bandit before ending his life with a strike to the chest.
"The Light of Sigmar shines through me!" Another bandit tried to strike him, but the Warrior Priest dodged the attack and broke the bandit's kneecap. "And through me I shall fear no darkness!"
As he finished the bandit, the men of the Empire cheered at Erich's words. This gave them a boost of morale and they started to attack the bandits with fiercer than ever. Slowly but steady, they began to make a push to the center of the settlement.
John the Elder looked at the dying face of the bandit before he pulled his blade from the throat. He looked around and saw nothing but the corpses of the bandits and fellow villagers.
It was a nice, normal sunny day in his village when these bandits appeared from nowhere and attacked. Ever since the civil war between King James and the Reconquista started, life has been hard for almost everyone. Both sides employed mercenaries and when they were unable to pay them, those mercenaries became bandits and sacked any settlement that they found. This time, his village is the target.
A bandit with a large axe charged at him. John tried to parry the attack, but the attack was too strong and his blade got thrown. The bandit raised his axe and was about to end the life of the village elder when suddenly a gunshot can be heard. The bandit dropped his axe and fell to the ground, revealing a man with strange hat armed with a sword in one hand and pistol in another.
The man approached John while saying something. It sounded like Germanian, but not the one that he recognized. Then again, he couldn't speak the language. When he was in front of John, he offered his hand, which he took.
The man then turned around almost immediately to parried an attack. John went towards his blade as the man cut off the bandit's head.
As they make their way to the center of the settlement, the men of the Empire killed any bandits that they found with impunity. They also encountered two or three witches, which they decided to either trapped inside one of the burning buildings or crippled to be handed to the Witch Hunters later.
"Go forward, men of the Empire! Drive these bandits from the settlement!" Shouted Karl before killing one of them.
"OOORAAH!"
At the entrances of the settlement, the Pistoliers keep running around and gunned down any bandits that tried to escape. Some of their horses however had gone tired and forced some of the Pistoliers to fire stationary.
When Karl and Father Erich finally arrived at the center, they saw both Marius and an armed villager fighting against a group of bandits back-to-back. The Handgunners took aim and killed most of them, with Marius and the villager eliminating the rest.
"You seem to have your hand full, Boromin." Said Karl as his men spread out.
"Indeed, Von Richthofen. It is however, worth it. I managed to purged those damned witches." Replied Boromin.
"Well, not all of them. We found several on our way here. We let some of them burned inside one of these buildings and crippled the rest. We'll leave their fate to you." Said Erich.
"It is a good day, then. Our actions surely satisfy the Ur-Emperor."
Karl diverted his attention from Marius to looked at the villager.
"Is he one of the locals?" Asked Karl.
"He is. A pretty good fellow if you asked me. Good with sword." Replied Marius.
Karl walked to the villager and introduced himself.
"Greetings, Brave Villager. I am Karl von Richthofen, the third son of the Duke von Richthofen, of Wissenland, of the Empire of Man."
Karl could see the confused look at the villager's face. He seemed trying to say something, but whatever it was sound unfamiliar to him. His prediction was correct; they were nowhere close to the Empire.
So, where they were?
"Captain, I want you to sweep around the settlement and finished off any remaining bandits. After that, order some of the Pistoliers to go back to the encampment and guide them to here." Ordered Karl as he walked towards said captain.
"At once, My Lord." Replied the captain before starting to do the tasks.
It will take half an hour before the bandits were driven off.
The next day…
The Settlement
After the news of the discovery of the settlement reach the encampment, the main army packed up and marched to the settlement. Once they reached their destination, they set up their encampment just outside of the settlement, with the locals helping them as the show of thanks.
While the encampment was being built, Marius and other Witch Hunters interrogated the witches amongst the bandits. However, the language barrier prevented from gaining any information. It was the decided that at the least they should burn the witches, the fate that they deserved.
While the burning went just like in the Empire, the locals seem to be shocked by what they were doing. So much in fact that they keep starring at the ashes of the witches. The soldiers then dispersed the locals and everything went back to normal.
Perhaps they didn't purge their witches with fire.
Right now, inside a hut, the nobles, priests, and Wizards were trying to pass through the barrier that was language. So far, the process went smoothly.
The Amethyst Wizard calling upon the souls of the fallen bandits, and, through speaking with them, gained the basic knowledge of the language help quite a bit.
"OK, I managed to gain several information from the villager, John his name." Said Adolf Kahler.
"Great. Can you tell us where we are?" Asked Leopold.
"According to him, we're at Albion."
"Albion? There's not rain at the moment. Albion is supposed to be raining every day." Said Franz.
"That's…where thing gets strange. According to John, Albion is a…floating island."
Silence fell to the group as they heard what the Wizard had just said. A floating island? By Sigmar, is there something wrong with this place?
"Are you sure?" Asked Father Erich.
"Well, there might be some mistranslation. But when I asked about the Empire, Marienburg, or Norsca, the man had no idea about what I said. About the Empire though, he asked if I am trying to say the Germanian Empire." Replied Kahler.
Soon, the group started to conversating among each other. It was clear that the situation was not as simple as they thought it will be. Could they end up in a place far, far away from the Old World? If so, is there a chance to return back?
"Alright, alright. We'll discuss about this later." Said Leopold as he calmed down the others. "What does he know about the current situation?"
Kahler translated the question to John who then explained the overall situation of Albion.
"He said there's currently a civil war between the nobles. One side is being led by the monarch, King James, while the other side is being led by Oliver Cromwell. Both sides are currently trying to gained an advantage against the other." Replied Kahler.
As soon as the Wizard stop speaking, Leopold immediately went outside and approached one of the soldiers.
"Soldier, I want you to deliver a message to the captains; tell them to gather the men and set up defenses around the encampment as well as the settlement. And do it fast."
"Sir?"
"Just do what I said!"
"Y-Yes, Sir!"
The soldier immediately ran off to deliver the message. Leopold could hear that someone was approaching him from the back. When he turned around, he saw Wolfgang approaching him.
"You seem to be in hurry, Leitdorf. Is there something wrong?"
"There is, Von Bildhofen. If my feeling is true, then it's only a matter of time until either the Reconquista or the soldiers of King James reach this settlement. When they arrive, we need to be ready."
And the chapter is done.
The Empire unit roster:
Lords:
Generals of the Empire
Heroes:
Empire Captains
Warrior Priests
Witch Hunters
Amethyst Wizard
Bright Wizard
Celestial Wizard
Melee Infantry:
Empire Greatswords
Empire Halberdiers
Empire Spearmen (Shields)
Empire Swordsmen
Missile Infantry:
Empire Crossbowmen
Empire Handgunners
Cavalry:
Empire Knights
Pistoliers
Outriders
Artillery:
Great Cannons
Helblaster Volley Guns
Helstorm Rocket Batteries
Mortar
As for the amount of men, it's full two Total War army size. The exact number is something I am still thinking about.
If you have question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.
Review please!