NOTICE: The following phrases mean "By this Standard will you conquer!" The second means "Kill them all, The Emperor will know his own!" Roughly, that is.

"In hoc signo vinces!" Brother-Captain Mikael pointed to the Aquila on his chest-plate.

"Caedite eos! Novit enim Imperator qui sunt eius!"

The shouting of thousands of the Scarlet Crusade met his ears. Their morale soared, the presence of the Angels of Death and their recent victories boosting it.

"AVE IMPERATOR!"

During their most recent victory, a group of what he was told to be adventurers escaped before they were slain. No doubt this would reach the ears of the Blood Elves.

No matter. It was the Emperor's will that these xenos be slain, and it would be done.

He looked at the cloudless sky. With the blessing of the Emperor, how could they lose?


Iruv'Tak gripped the arm of the final cultist, Redstar.

He slowly drew the mark of Tzeentch and the Eight-Pointed-Star on his arm, the warpfire marking it with it's unholy signature. Redstar flinched a moment as the scar slowly formed.

"From this moment on, you have sold yourselves permanently into the service of Tzeentch. You cannot leave. You have all agreed to this, and were warned beforehand..."

He waited for the silence to drag on dramatically.

"There is no turning back now. Soon we shall be prepared to restore your Sunwell." As well as exact my position of power...

"What more do we require?"

"We require more cultists. The power to restore it cannot be channeled by only us..."

In truth, the Sunwell could be restored, but Iruv'Tak had plans, plans like any proper Sorcerer.

"It shall be done."


Several hours passed. Word had spread throughout the undercity that a guild had uncovered the power to restoring the Sunwell. No one knew where the rumors had originated, Redstar did his work well.

It was the talk of taverns, the gossip of adventurers, and the merchandise of information brokers.

Meanwhile, Iruv'Tak had carried on training his Lieutenants. The Warlocks took to summoning Daemons from the Warp easily, although it was hampered by the distinct lack of daemons that roamed the Immaterium.

Currently, he and Flamebrook were carving sigils into the shrine.

"This is the sigil of Tzeentch, and this is one of the many depictions of psychic power."

"If I may ask, why are we adding these?"

"After I bestow the proper rites, they will enhance the channeling ability and overall power of the shrine."

"I see. Would it be possible to draw arcane symbols on it as well?"

Iruv'Tak paused. Intriguing... I am certain Tzeentch wouldn't mind a bit of otherworldly power.

"Very creative Flamebrook... Very creative indeed." Even though Winten hid it well, Iruv'Tak could sense through his psychic presence that he beamed at the praise. "Perhaps we could use sigils from the Book of Medivh..."

Flamebrook thought, and nodded.

"Flamebrook, I am not... adept in the arcane arts of this world." Winten's eyebrows shot up. World? "I may need you to explain these sigils to me."

"Certainly. Let's see... This here is the sigil of raw arcane energy, and these are fire and ice, un-edited if you will. They are the most basic of sigils, but are still the most fundamental. This is the sigil of form, without it, your spell will be "without form", therefore a must for any combat spells. Here are sub-forms, crafted by various mages in history. As sigils are the components of a spell, you must speak the correct incantations in order for them to form. So, for example, if I take Missile, Arcane, Form, and Directed..."

A series of magical bolts flew from his hand to the opposing wall. They vaguely reminded Iruv'Tak of Doombolts.

"Behold, Magic Missile."

"That's a fairly... Bland term." Iruv'Tak chuckled.

The banter was interrupted by someone knocking on the door above. Iruv'Tak stood up to leave.

"Carry on. I shall see what the matter is." He strode up the stairs and to the door, to reveal none other than Quimeron.

"I don't suppose there's a reason you're knocking on the door to a guild?"

Quimeron smiled. "As sharp a tongue as ever, Sorcerer, and fancy finding you in here. I've been instructed to inform the guilds that they should be ready for combat by noon." His smile faded, to reveal a frown. "There have been reports of a large army of Scarlet Crusaders, quite possibly their whole order, compiled into a single, combat hardened force. They've been razing village after village it seems, leaving no survivors. We only just heard about them from several groups of refugees that escaped their last attack. They're mobilizing again, quite possibly marching on Silvermoon itself. Normally I wouldn't bother the guilds for something as trivial as the Crusade, but their numbers have practically boiled over in the last few weeks. What's worse, there have been rumors of a group of nine foot tall warriors, that look..." He stopped for a moment. "Well, to be honest, their description sounds exactly like you, except maybe with different carvings in your armor."

Iruv'Tak froze. He found his voice a few seconds later.

"Space Marines..."

"What?"

"Space Marines. My hated foe. They are responsible for why I am here... They are a force to be reckoned with, and if the Scarlet Crusade is with them... They will be far stronger than ever before. The closest I can compare them to is perhaps an automaton giant, that carry repeating crossbows the size of your torso, and some even carry ballistae. They have martial prowess like none other. You were right in bringing this to my attention, this may be a fight your army cannot win. Nothing you have could hope to scratch them, except maybe some giant boulders..."

Quimeron's frown became even graver. "This is indeed troubling."

"They will stop at nothing. They have a fanatical hatred for xenos, so don't even bother trying to reason with them. Do you know how many there are?"

"From the reports, I've heard that there are at least four."

"Four is not too bad, so long as I am there... However, I doubt that that is all there is. You're walls will only give you a slight advantage before they decimate them entirely, it would be best to fight them in some terrain they won't be familiar with. An ambush, perhaps..."

"I shall bring this news to the Regency, see what they have to say about it. In the meanwhile, please inform this guild of the Regency's request. Can you stand as this guild's representative during a War Council? If you can, meet me in the barracks in an hour, otherwise, send someone else. I must be going now."

"Of course, Captain." As soon as the door had closed, Iruv'Tak immediately reached out with his mind.

"Redstar! We have a serious situation!"

"What is it? I'm kind of busy initiating cultists."

"The enemies of the Dark Gods approach. They will seek to do everything in their power to stop us. Oh, and they're a group of xenophobic fanatics that will stop at nothing to burn Silvermoon to the ground."

"Sounds like the Scarlet Crusade."

"It IS the Scarlet Crusade, along with my most hated foes, the Space Marines. We must prepare for war."

"Very well. I've been able to initiate several other guilds into our own. People take to Chaos quite easily it seems..."

Iruv'Tak smiled underneath his skull helm. It was so easy to spread Chaos and it's corruption. Blood Elves were drawn to it like flies to a corpse.

"Gather them in Falconwing Square, and send the Lieutenants, we must move the Shrine."

"Of course. It will only take me a moment, I am guessing I will see you there?"

"Indeed." Iruv'Tak cut the mental link.


Iruv'Tak frowned.

Even though he did not face him, he could tell that Sunreaver was throwing uneasy glances at his back.

He turned his attention back to the meeting, where Quimeron was informing the guilds of their objectives.

"-The Enlightened and Grayson's Scryers, per request, will be accompanying the Servants of Chaos-" His eyebrow shot up as he said the name, and he shot a glance at Iruv'Tak, who waved casually "-to the ridge just east of the main battle zone. You will be expected to be on the offensive as soon as their main combat group engages. The Enlightened and Grayson's Scryers will be supporting the Servants of Chaos in whatever course of action they choose, which from what I understand is engaging the enemy Space Marines?" He looked inquisitively at the three guild representatives.

Seeing that the other two expected him to speak, Iruv'Tak cleared his throat. "Indeed, they are a force which few in this world have the power to combat. It would be just like the Space Marines to commandeer something as ridiculous as the Crusade."

"Very well. This concludes the meeting."

Just then, a scout burst into the tent.

"Captain! We've spotted them."


How convenient that they are spotted right in time for a cliffhanger?

First of all, I would like to throw out a giant thank you to all my dear readers, who gave me te encouragementz! I'm officially declaring Hiatus over, and I'm ALOT more stable then I used to be. Didn't even have to lose my house, though it was VERY close.

Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to get this out as fast as possible, I'm sure you'll understand :D

"There must always be a Muffin King."

-SyntheticLegion