St. Peter`s Basilica , Rome 25.12.2017
Sancti Apostoli Petrus et Paulus: de quorum potestate et auctoritate confidimus, ipsi intercedant pro nobis ad Dominum.
Precibus et meritis beatae Mariae semper Virginis, beati Michaelis Archangeli, beati Ioannis Baptistae et sanctorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli et omnium Sanctorum, misereatur vestri omnipotens Deus; et dimissis omnibus peccatis vestris, perducat vos Iesus Christus ad vitam æternam.
Indulgentiam, absolutionem, et remissionem omnium peccatorum vestrorum, spatium veræ et fructuosae pœnitentiae, cor semper paenitens, et emendationem vitae, gratiam et consolationem Sancti Spiritus; et finalem perseverantiam in bonis operibus tribuat vobis omnipotens et misericors Dominus.
Et benedictio Dei omnipotentis, Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, descendat super vos et maneat semper.
May the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in whose power and authority we trust, intercede for us before the Lord.
Through the prayers and merits of Blessed Mary ever Virgin, Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint John the Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and all the saints, may Almighty God have mercy on you and forgive all your sins, and may Jesus Christbring you to everlasting life.
May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you indulgence, absolution and the remission of all your sins, a season of true and fruitful penance, a well-disposed heart, amendment of life, the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit and final perseverance in good works.
And may the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, come down on you and remain with you forever.
The man that had been known as Bergolio and was now known as Francis, the first Pope in history elected as his predecessor disappeared with his native country intoned the same "Urbi et Orbi" prayer as his predecessors since the 13th century .Standing on the logia balcony of St. Peter`s Basilica he faced a sea of faces that looked up at him and for a moment everybody was content. It was a good thing that the faithful were unable to see into the Pope`s mind as they would have learned things that would have deeply unsettled them. They certainly had unsettled him and it was only due to a lot of self-discipline and practice that he was able to fulfil his duties once more.
The many rituals and conventions that ruled the Vatican on such an important day that even after the address he could not simply go where his heart told him to without incurring unwanted attention to things that had to remain secret. The hours felt longer than usual but even they ended at the point where he could enter a simple conference room filled with soldiers of various kinds.
There was his own Swiss Guard, charged with the safety of the Pope and Church for more than 500 years. There were Italian soldiers representing the Esercito Italiano and the others. The others who stood out as they wore uniforms meant for the field, not an office but for one of them. Soldiers who wore no rank tabs, currently no weapons but for an axe and had a dwarf in their midst. Soldiers who had brought terribly unsettling news and maybe salvation.
Everybody rose when he entered, accepted his greetings and sat down again. Introductions were made from the various sides, but Francis was interested only in a few. There was the grey-haired captain of a ship call Juneau called Andrew Nivens, a few hard-as nails Frenchmen who seemed to have just first names, a lanky blonde named Felix Jäger and the fierce dwarf Gotrek.
There were a few pleasantries but they could last only for so long.
"Gentlemen, I appreciate that the Italian government approves your doings, I am very happy that a threat to the holy church has been averted and many people saved. Still I would like to know who you are, would like to know why you are here without informing us first and most of all I would like to know what this thing is that you killed in the Vatican Archives."
The photo slammed on the table depicted a huge creature that had been bipedal and probably walked upright in life. Far bigger than any man it combined the facial features of a goat with huge horns, a rats fur, bulging muscles and legs that bent backwards at the knee ending in hooves. If a film producer would have been asked to come up with a reasonable presentation of a greater demon he could have done far worse than this. Whatever "this" was it was, it was quite thoroughly dead with skull that was cleaved nearly in two halves that were barely connected to the neck.
It was the old man who sometimes took a second too long when addressed as Andrew Nivens who took up the mantle.
"Your holiness, Xenon Communications has specialized in neutralizing threats that have emerged from the so-called Wasteland that replaced Germany six years ago. Some of these threats are exotic but comparatively easily countered by conventional means like the Orcs that raided Belgium in 2012. Some of the threats have talents that some people call psychic and other magic, they are more difficult to combat and require a specialized skill set, this is where we come in. We were contacted by the Italian government who suspected that Skaven had crossed the Alps and used some of the catacombs as their new warren."
"These Skaven as you call them-they are the Ratmen?"
"Yes, they are. Individually they are not very dangerous, but they multiply quickly and often use primitive biological attacks. They should be suppressed as quickly as possible."
"I have heard of them but never could bring myself to believe the stories."
The red haired dwarf had a deep, rumbling voice and while his English was not the best it was easy to perceive that he was not cowed by his present company.
"The Tagoraki are real enough , better believe in them. They cowardly, weak, unclean, treacherous and sly. Stomp them when you can unless you want to see the plague in your city."
"They are children of god, like us all."
"They are the children of a god, the Horned Rat. Be happy that it is not your god because that one died. The Germans killed it."
There was an uncomfortable silence for long moments.
"And what then is this?"
"This was an Avatar of the Horned Rat. Half-magical, so here he was weak and sickly o this world without much magic, easily killed. Would never have made good doom."
"Uh-if you say so. So no demon from hell."
"Demon from Warp and Skavenblight. Do not believe this same thing but might be. Is no more."
"Well, thanks for protecting us from it when we even did not now it was here. But why did you not inform us in advance?"
When Gotrek searched for words his Captain managed to get into the conversation again.
"Our assigned area of operations were the Catacombs of San Sebastio which are in Italian territory. When my men pursued the fleeing enemy they followed the tunnels build by the Skaven, they terminated in the Vatican Archives. We had no way to anticipate that and decided that stopping the enemy was more important than gaining permission."
"I am convinced that all peaceful alternatives have to be tried before using force, but here it is hard to fault your courageous men. The Holy See would be most grateful if you could remain silent about what you fought last night. You have my thanks and those of the Catholic Church."
Before parting Francis blessed the men who had defended the small piece of earth so dear to the Catholic Church and most took up the offer. There was only one exception.
When it would have been his turn Gotrek lifted the axe that made everybody`s hair stand up.
"I`ve got all the God I need here, thanks."
Hospice of the Dove, Altdorf, Angertag 24 Vorhexen 2525
Ralf Winkler balanced precariously on the ladder, bending forward to the point where he was pretty sure another centimeter would tip him into the tree before him. Fortunately his lighter was long enough to reach that pesky candle and the wick caught after a moment of sputtering. Just too aware that his wife looked disapprovingly at anything that could put him in danger he went down and placed it closer to the tree before resuming his work. A few minutes later he was finished he was back on solid ground.
The tree filled the Sister`s vesper hall nicely, the candles gave a wonderful warm light and both Winklers were happy with the fruits of their labors.
"This smells nice Brother Ralf and I will agree that your wife and you decorated it well. Still I do not get how you combine such a tree with the birth of the Christian savior."
"Ah, we had some help from the younger Sister with the decoration Serena. As for the tree, there were celebrations in my old country before there was a Christmas. They were at the winter solstice-a very dark and cold place. These trees are green even in the dead of winter and were seen as a promise that spring would come again and that there would be light and green things."
"Ah, that makes sense-mostly."
"No matter, it is a holiday to celebrate family, friends, peace and compassion. I think we can all agree on that."
"Oh yes, don`t we all."
Both healer giggled a bit before returning to their duties. During the last months it had become pretty clear to the order that Shallya liked Christmas. More than a few Sisters had visions to that regard and given the cooperation between the Sisters and the Germans it had been pretty easy to make something of that. It did not really go against any traditions that the Order had, mostly celebrated the things that it stood for.
There were a few Sisters who were still convinced that this was a foolishness, an affront against the ancient order. They were happily ignored or received visions of their own.
There were also a number of priests who were less than happy that the Order took the holiday without the Christ in it and were mostly ignored as well. Some of them asked for answers to their questions in prayer and received the usual answer, silence. Some received an answer though, they would be a problem that would be dangerous to ignore"
Papenburg, same time
Wilhelm Martensen nursed his punch carefully, he knew the dangers of drinking when feeling melancholic too well. He had a marvelous Christmas, enjoying his family intensely and happily indulging in too much food and sweets. The kids were back in their rooms already, getting their fill of their social networks before the midnight mass. He sat in the living room with his wife, silently happy with her company and nursing his regret for the umpteen time.
This would be the last Christmas he would celebrate as commanding officer of the 31st Landwehr, the armed forces would not allow him to do so past 50. This was a post for a man of reasonable fitness and he would be the first to agree that he was slowly lagging behind. He would be offered a staff post, he could always make himself useful as a recruiting tool but e would never lead his troops in combat again. The finest Landwehr in all of Germany, a unit that others aspired to emulate would be his no longer. He would miss the camaraderie, the pride in what had been accomplished and the ambition to become better. Oh he could still visit them but he would never be a part of them again, not in the same way than before.
His wife rested her head on his shoulder and the smell of her clean hair derailed the train of morose thoughts. He would have more time for himself and his family, a lot more. He thought about his son who was looking forward to his stint in the army, something that Wilhelm was pretty sure would wane quickly during basic training and his daughter who thought about applying for the navy. He was rather proud of both and it would probably be a good thing to be able to enjoy the few time they would spend with their parents. Emptying the glass in his hands he was better off than a few minutes before. Not totally happy but content at what he had achieved.
Warren close to Landrel Barrow, same time
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined shined. 3You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. 4For the yoke of their burden burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. 6For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this this."
There was no Christmas Tree in the chapel, no gifts and no sweets. There was a rapt congregation though that packed the chapel to its very capacity and a preacher who believed that Isajha had known somehow about the Skaven and their plight when he wrote the words the true God had given him. And he was sure that these were the words of God as they had come true. Now that the true Skaven had accepted the Lord as their savior their lot had improved so much. No longer attempting to fall on each other's back, to climb upon the bodies of those successfully thwarted but working together to a common goal Sleenek`s congregation had worked miracles. They had restored the warren that had been emptied of sentient life when the death of the Horned Rat had thrown its denizens into a murderous madness without using the forbidden warpstone.
They had attracted Fuchs&Konrad, their erstwhile employer as an investor who rejoiced at the chance to have somebody work for them without the German government and the unions looking over their shoulders. And the members of his congregation were at piece. Great were the works of the Lord.
Neustadt, Naggaroth, same time
Homesickness and depression hit doubly hard around Christmas if you are not among loved, or at least respected, ones. Thorsten Breitkopf knew far too well that what he had done and supported put him so far beyond the pale that a return to Germany was out of the question. And such a return would be out of the question anyway as his liege, the bloody Witch King himself, would never allow that and a serious attempt would lead to consequences that penetrated even the engineer`s depressed mind.
He walked through the dimly lit main street of Neustadt, freshly fallen snow crunching under his boots, wine sloshing from his open bottle with the exaggerated motions of his arms and splashed the fine shirt that barely covered his ample chest and belly. The thousand regrets that governed his life occupied his brain sufficiently that he felt neither the bitter cold nor the looks shot at him when people thought he was not looking. The tinkering that he liked so much-gone in the daily fight to keep the factories open that already existed. The inventions he wanted to make, ignored in favor of making as many rifles and guns as possible right now. The camaraderie, the feeling of being appreciated and liked, gone with Silvar Bloodcrest and five tons of explosives. The harmless fun he had enjoyed with the slavegirls he rescued from their fate gone with too much stress and the mountains of food that he ate to make up for it all.
He ignored the screams at first, they were too common in Neustadt at times. The replacements for the Germans lost in Bloodcrest`s idiotic attempt to seize the Black Company were even worse than their predecessors in some ways and more Druchii lived in Neustadt these days. He had a hard time keeping them from his factory workers, trying very hard to ignore what happened to the other slaves brought in regularly and never leaving Neustadt.
They gained volume, the screams and their source came closer. The source was barefoot, petite and raven-haired. Blood seeped through a white shirt, huge eyes sought a way out that was not there and her voice cried for a rescue that was not forthcoming. In her wake followed a Druchii, slender as a rapier, beautiful and deadly with a hunger in his eyes that transcended physical needs.
Thorsten would never know what exactly made him step in their way, made him grab the girl and put her behind his broad back and step into the way of the Dark Elf. It was madness as even his alcohol and sorrow-soaked brain could see that the Druchii would not be stopped by words or he engineers station. He never attempted to utter any word or to prove his authority, he simply smashed the bottle in his hand against the side of the attackers head. The bottle broke into a thousand shards, mixing Druchii wine with Druchii blood. Breitkop had no eyes for his victim as he was far too busy to console the petite girl in his arms, to calm her down and to get her to follow him. Once he was at his house he started to scream himself, rousing his household for healers, clothes and eyes never left the frightened face of the girl in his arms and the eyes in which he could lose himself.
A hundred meters from him the Druchii carefully felt the bump on the side of his head and looked at the engineer`s home.
Mission accomplished.
Research facility, Wolfsburg
The time immediately after the Weltensprung had been hard for Germany and its population.
Many had felt the consequences, Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen group as one of its largest employers had been no exception.
While others still had been at odds with the changed situation, others had taken steps to make the best of it.
It had equaled a coup, as a rather small group within the higher echelons of the Volkswagen group had begun to propagate a large-scale reorientation of the group.
The days of Volkswagen as mainly being a company that mass-produced cars had been over.
There were not enough potential customers, connections to and knowledge at important sites abroad had been lost.
As the coup had taken up speed, it could no longer be stopped, as the arguments of the rebels were true they had to change with the situation or go down gloriously.
Today, the Volkswagen group still produced cars in large amounts, but the group had also taken up the task to produce many things Germany had once imported.
Construction of spare parts of all sizes and forms, entire products of companies remaining on Earth, and low-volume productions of individual designs were no also integral parts of the group.
It had been a risky maneuver, but today the Volkswagen group was once again one of the largest employers in Germany and was expanding again.
Just outside of Wolfsburg, Volkswagen had been erecting a new factory complex, planned as production site for low volume productions of replicas of specific cars, buses and trucks of former rival companies.
But the planned assignment had changed, and with it the factory complex.
The simple fences around the complex had been replaced by high-security walls, and armed checkpoints.
An only half erected hall was being demolished as another type of building would take its place.
Within the central building, operations already begun in the newly inaugurated Volkswagen R&D Department for specialized vehicles.
Workload and profit rate would be low for the first few years, but the same people that had managed the transition to this new Volkswagen group were now sure that this department would pay for itself soon enough.
Joshua Abel was standing on a glass gangway mounted to the ceiling of a large garage that was located in the central building.
While he was observing the actions down below, he had an uncertain feeling in his stomach region that he couldn't really determine.
The heavy inner gate of the lock had already closed again, and the alarm had silenced.
Right now, several engineers in hazmat suits were opening the seals on the large freight container that contained one of his three darlings.
Robot arms mounted around a parking space on the side of the large garage repeated complex movements, it seemed like the programmers were still testing the remote control for them.
Developments had been very fast in this past few weeks.
It had taken Joshua total personal devotion, most of his financial means and a lot of favors to be able to reach the point that his harvesters could drive in Sylvania.
Many had laughed about his silly delusion, but as soon as the first positive reports had reached Germany, the same people that had ignored Joshua months or even only weeks ago, now offered him money and support for shares in his project.
At that point, he had felt as if his hard times were finally over, like all his investments and efforts would finally be worth while, like his vision would become true.
And then, THEY had come – the government.
While he felt like his anger was resurfacing again when he remembered the friendly suggestions to hand over his project, he finally understood this uncertain feeling.
It was both fear and admiration.
A lot was possible if one had the backing of the right people and when money, personnel, even laws were only subsidiary.
That engineers down there would hardly sleep while they would examine every nook and cranny of his harvesters, learn from their experiences in the heather fields back in Sylvania.
Were he had needed nearly two years to form his project and built the first generation harvesters from scrap, this new and massively enlarged project wanted to finish construction of the first batch of twelve harvesters within two months.
They had nearly ousted him from his project.
Matter of national security, dubious criminal record certificate, and uncertain loyalty and ability to keep silent about matters of the highest security levels.
This had been only a few of the reasons why they didn't want him in the project.
But he had been lucky enough to win a benefactor that had allowed him to present his project to the people ranking above those that had wanted to take the project – and get all its credits – for themselves.
His eloquence and ability to excite and persuade had been natural for him, just a means to an end.
But his benefactor wanted to show him how much more he could achieve if he learned to master this disposition.
It already had allowed him to stay with the project as a leading advisory with extended veto rights for him and the small group that had continued to follow him even in the darkest of hours in the past.
Joshua pushed all this thoughts back, as he had work to do.
Then he turned to the small group of high-ranking visitors of politics and industry that had been invited to take part in certain governmental projects that would start with the construction of the next generation of heather harvesters.
For now, his part in this project was to win over these people for their project.
He put up one of his 'special' smiles, the one where his opposites felt like they were let in on one of the major secrets of life.
"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may introduce you?
This is harvester 01-B, the staff calls here lovely 'Dicke Bertha'.
Beginning her life as garbage truck, Bertha here survived the exertions back in Sylvania a lot better than poor Achilles that had to be dismantled in Sylvania as the warpstone corroded too much of his frame to allow his transport to this facility.
While we are speaking here, brave Caesar still continues his duty to harvest the warpstone heather.
These harvesters best demonstrate that prolonged exposition to large amounts of warpstone is not only harmful to organic matter.
The first goal here at Volkswagen will be to build better and more resilient harvesters, but the lessons we will learn from the first and several of the future generations of harvesters can easily be adapted to other vehicles and technologies that will operate in similar environments."
Now he changed to another of his smiles, the one where he looked like a little devil finally getting his long awaited revenge on his sworn arch rival.
He didn't have to continue speaking, just waiting for a few additional seconds.
Then, his guests finally understood his implication and had to laugh bemusedly.
Ostermark, Königstag 5. Nachhex
"Lager Nagenhof, this is Eagle 01, request permission to land and runway."
"Eagle 01, this is Tower Nagenhof, you are clear to land at Runway 01. Be advised wind is 11 knots from 092."
"Tower Nagenhof understood and thanks."
Andreas Hoppe brought his "Falke" into a curve that revealed the airfield, such as it was, below his left wing. It was still covered in lots of snow which hid the details, yet that the hangars were huge tents was visible even from here. There were a lot of low-slung buildings that his briefing stated were barracks and an equally wooden tower.
Yet bare-bones as the base might be, the crew had taken the pains to remove the snow from the runway, a task that was quite miserable given the lack of specialized machinery. The Colonel could appreciate that and brought his plane to a textbook landing after two more turns. He reversed prop pitch when the three wheels had the ground to slow the craft without engaging the brakes, something that did not bode well on the ice-cold pierced steel maps covering the ground. He followed a rider whose checkered vest and flag spelled "Follow me" till he stopped inside one of the tent-hangars.
He was awaited by a ladder, a small committee and a steaming mug of tea, which was all nice and good, but distracted from his most urgent need.
Saluting smartly before the Captain and warrants who greeted him he went through the introduction as fast as possible before he put up his most urgent question.
"Captain Rumpler, I do not want to appear impolite, but..."
"Sorry Colonel, I should have anticipated. The privy is over there."
He came back visibly relived, still regretting the strong coffee he had taken before going for the long overland flight from Nuln. He should have known better by now.
His luggage was taken care of effectively, he had a third of a barrack as living quarters and office and found he had acquired an orderly. Werner Nuln had a huge smile that displayed the plastic dentures he was so proud of easily, seemed to look forward to a life of cleaning clothing, bed and serving tea instead of slogging through the mud and came with the office and the airbase.
He spent the rest of the day in various meetings with the members of the "Eagle`s" ground staff and the local militia who made Lager Nagenhof a working airbase. He got the feeling that everybody had a lot of heart, that there was motivation by the ton but a certain shortage of knowledge and a dearth of experience. All of that made his decision to act as his own advance party a good one.
Some issues would disappear when more personal from Nuln would reach Nagenhof, yet he could not detach too many men from there as the training program had to be kept alive. It would be an interesting challenge, that was for sure.
The next day brought a couple of invitations, the name cards that Werner had distributed at his behest were just a formality as rumor had already spread the news of his arrival. An age-old "Iltis" picked him up from the airfield and brought him to the Dragoons base. An assembly of many barracks, tents, stables and equipment parks it was the mixture of the old and new that Hoppe had come to expect.
There was a round of introductions that came too fast for him to memorize everybody with a few exceptions, like Colonel Hemmler who commanded the Dragoons in the field, his chiefs of staff, the Dawi that headed the artillery and a seriously good-looking doctor.
He found himself in a briefing room where various officers introduced him to the situation using a number of carts. Karl von Rennenkampf who headed Hemmler`s staff did the presentation himself.
"Currently we have both the Dragoon`s and the 1st Ostermark Militia at winter quarters in Nagenhof. We are are currently at authorized strength and our equipment is in good repair. The militia is transitioning to modern weapons and one of our missions is to train them.
Our Area of Operations is from the River Aurith in the north to the Talabek in the south, Remer in the west and as far into the World`s Edge mountains as we care for in the east.
We are under the command of General Wolf in Bechafen, same as you will be.
Our main mission is to keep the Greenskins from raiding the Ostermark which happened with increasing frequency in the last 14 months. Currently we are at Nagenhof and will deploy forward once the spring floods are over. Until them we run a lot of patrols together with the militia and the local wardens to keep things under control.
There is a railroad planned, but it will take a couple of years to reach us. We are still well supplied currently as the Audrith is navigable most of the year, but once we leave the base things get much more difficult as the local roads are usually dirt strips and rarely paved. Then only vehicles that can use these roads are either animal-drawn or offload-capable. So we can not be reinforced quickly and we would have difficulties to supply a bigger force in the field if necessary.
Enemy forces are unknown in size, capabilities and intent. What we know is that both Goblins and Orcs try to raid the Ostermark in numbers not seen for a long time. We have seen many Goblins who do not seem to be warriors but to belong to other groups of their society. We cannot say for certain, but several incursions of the last year contained lots of individuals that did not wear arms or armor of any kind. We also found wagons that were not empty to bring back loot but filled with tools and materials."
"This is very unusual for a raid is it not."
"It is indeed Colonel and it makes us believe that the goal is not raiding but relocating. The Greenskins want to conquer ground in the Ostermark and settle here."
"Is this so unusual?"
"One would not think so but they got a serious drubbing in 2520 when we first acquired German weapons and they stopped such things then. Why they should resume when we are so much stronger is an open question. We hope that you will be able to perform recognizance missions to shed some light on this. So what do you bring to the table."
"As of Markttag, 26. Nachhexen the Young Eagles will be stationed in Lager Nagenhof. Current strength is 14 "Falke" fighter-bombers, five "Spatz" liaisons and one NZ-Zeppelin for resupply and SAR. Our equipment has mostly arrived and we will be able to conduct mission from end of Nachhexen."
"I have to admit that this "Falke" is unknown to us. The Dragoons have been supported by Tornado planes before, how does your plane stack up to them?"
"To be frank-poorly. A "Falke" is about a third as fast as a Tornado, and carries less than half the payload. Yet we can shoot down anything that flies hereabouts and we can drop three tons of ordinance on anything that you want removed. Best of all, we can operate from an airfield such as we have here and live on the few supplies shipped upriver, a Tornado cannot do that."
"That sounds very acceptable. I was told you would provide Forward Air Controllers?"
"Yes, they will arrive next week. We will station them with you, kindly integrate them into your forces."
"That we will do. I am sure it will be an interesting hunting season this year with your aid."
"I am looking forward to it."
On the High Seas, Southern Sea
Irglier the Impaler, one of Hag Graef´s best naval commanders no more, at least for the time being. Kaputan Liwa Irglier, 4th highest naval officer of the Sultanate Istrabul instead was quite active.
His experience and successful voyages had led to a steep rise in station for the Dark Elf. That had also led to more information he could obtain and flamed his anger and wrath concerning Hag Graef´s leadership and Teclis. The High Elf had saved Irglier´s life when he laid dying at the shore near Papenburg, but that had been to the advantage of the Master Wizard. Not that this was the reason for Irglier´s hate. He would have done no different, had he been in Teclis position.
No, it was the fact that Irglier could do nothing to bring down Teclis. The famous wizard had not gotten so old by being careless. With the means at his disposal Irglier could inconvenience Teclis, not more. So he had to live with his hate for now and concentrate on the other hate in his life, the leadership of Hag Greaf. Druchii society was cutthroat and treacherous close to and sometimes well beyond excess, but there were some few unshakable rules. Without them Druchii civilization would fall.
The circumstances of the Papenburg raid and how he and his crew were sacrificed and set up to fail, was something Irglier had only learned after the battle. And it had violated more than one Druchii law. So Irglier´s hate against everything that stood in his way concentrated on Hag Graef.
While more powerful than Teclis, bringing down other Druchii was something every successful Dark Elf knew how to do. Certainly, it would be a long way and difficult, but he would make it happen and become new leader of Hag Graef. Securing his place in the relatively powerful Sultanate of Istrabul was only the first step. For the next on, he brought his flagship to this extremely seldom travelled part of the Southern Sea. Everybody on board was a person he could trust to not rat him out. Making the contact was one of the hardest decisions Irglier made in his life. For the meeting to become a success, he had to swallow his third hate. Even if hate was a too strong word in this case. Irglier had hated the Germans in the beginning, blaming them for all the ill winds in his life. But after learning about the circumstances which led to his arrival in Istrabul, his hate lessened to a deep disdain. This enabled him to make the contact via the surprisingly able secret service of Istrabul.
Now he and his ship waited for the German ship to arrive, which had been recognised by the crow´s nest on the horizon. According to his intermediate in the secret service, a German named Ottokar Proktor would lead the negotiations. The Germans were powerful and part of their power would become his stepping stone to power over Hag Graef and by extension Istrabul.
In a way, Irglier anticipated the arrival of this Ottokar Prokot human. It would be refreshing different negotiations to the norm. Typical negotiation mass like gems, gold or other expensive things or slaves was nothing what the Germans would want. How refreshing. Irglier was happy preparing his negotiation team and some gifts, something Istrabul standards demanded, no matter hosw despised or well-liked the others were.
It would be a long day and night, but Irglier looked forward to "play" with his German toy-slave
