WAO: The Imperial Civil War

by Commissar Brackett

After nearly a year of tension in the Empire the nation is on the brink of an all out civil war. Battle lines have been drawn, old friends and new will declare their allegiances and the heirs of Sigmar will fight for freedom from the death game and the throne of the Empire. Find out who will stand at the end of this war! Discontinued, life has gotten in the way.

2. Warhammer Appropriate Odd 2

A/N: See first chapter for disclaimer, see chapter 8 for further disclaimers and no I don't own the History Channel show depicted in this chapter. Alright folks here are a few little stories to lighten the mood. Non canon ones at that, though that doesn't mean they can't be.

/

A Wishful Ending
June, 2026

Rufus Adler had driven home from another day of work in Concord. There he worked as a counselor to the survivors of WAO at the North East Reintegration Facility. There were a few reasons why he worked there, not least of which was that his position back at his last work place had been filled while he was in the game. The other reason was that he had taken psyche classes when he went to college and had some understanding of the human mind. The last reason was an old one, he had gone through much of the same trauma.

Since the days of Joshua soldiers who had fought side by side and experienced horrors together gathered in groups to give each other comfort and ease each other's nightmares. These groups were usually from the same towns or provinces for most of history, where these men could gather at the taverns or festivals to relive their experiences with all those who would listen. This continued even into the rise of nation states with the cycle being broken in the 20th century when nations no longer raised province based military units save as militia. In fact the act of warfare was shamed in many countries by the mid-20th century, during America's Vietnam war these soldiers who had been forced to fight were spit on, beaten and discarded because of power players in Vietnam and both sides of the political spectrum in the US. There was no safety net available to these men either, many of their squad mates returning back to their separate parts of the country. They only had their own families who didn't go through what they had gone through, the VA if they were lucky and the VFW.

Since the many wars in the middle-east however an awareness about this effect had gain acceptance and was now known under it's new name of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Those ancient techniques, briefly discarded in favor of medication or little treatment were discarded and group therapy was implemented. Oddly enough the same techniques soldiers had used for centuries had carried over into other trauma groups for rape, AA and accident's after the Vietnam war.

In the wars of WAO, which were as violent and destructive as any in the real world, these survivors needed to have the ability to readjust to their old lives. Some had taken to writing about their life or the lives of their guilds/factions/friends as a way to deal with the stress and adjust to the real world. In addition to many other duties Adler had joined in and was part of an ongoing project to create a live action series based on the events of WAO with the survivors being both the partial funders (with the rest coming from crowd sourcing) and actors in it. There was already an anime based on one survivor's experience, a dark elf kid that he had met by the name of Kirito. Though the live action series was… it was going to be easier to make than many other fantasy creations, if only because the actors fit into their rolls by virtue of saving on stuntmen and prosthetics.

The various governments that WAO survivors where they were from had set up facilities, some like in Japan, the USA, Canada and the UK were well organized to treat the incoming victims PTSD. While the others were second rate at best and little more than mental wards at worst. This was compounded because of the changes to the player's bodies.

The Nerve Gear it appeared could do more than just transport a wearers mind to a new world, it also transformed the players bodies over the years. For the human players of the Empire and Bretonnia that meant greater strength and agility which made their adjustment to their home world fairly easy. The other players from different races not so much.

The elves were the easiest off of the non-human races, all they needed to do was go into surgery and have work done to their ears and they would be considered exceptionally tall humans. The dwarfs were not so lucky, but at the same time they didn't suffer many of the same challenges real dwarfs faced since they were properly proportion and had enhanced strength and toughness, they were just shorten to around four and half to five feet tall. The chaos warriors were a sad bunch, most had undergone some sort of mutation while in game, while these may be minor ones most had major problems with tentacles and their bodies being misshapen. The poor bastards that were turned into spawn were mercy killed when they regained consciousness and realized what form they would take now. While these three groups could eventually integrate in their societies again and in fact could live in the big cities. The last three races were having a much more difficult time.

The Lizardmen, Skaven and Beastmen could never return to their old lives. Their bodies were transformed into the half human forms that they had in WAO and no amount of plastic surgery could change that. In fact they were horrified by what they had become in the initial days, a couple dozen had even committed suicide in those first few days of awakening. Many of these countries offered, through their own WAO facilities, a chance for a new life in the United States and Canada. Since there was plenty of space where they could be hidden away in more remote parts of the country, thus avoiding causing bigger problems if they were in a major city or their home countries. They were spread out for the most part, a few in the town's around the states a couple hundred in a city like Concord.

The lizard men were focused in Florida; this was as close to the jungles of Lustria as they could get without going into South America. They had found lives in the swamps and parks. In fact an enterprising few along with investors were planning on creating an entire lizardman theme park meant to re-create Lustrian-Aztec culture and give them a stable source of income. From the sketches Rufus had seen it looked like there was going to be shows involving lizardmen vs 'conquistadors' (a thinly veiled version of Bretonnians and Empire), a roller coaster styled on a serpents back and highly advanced robotics' for full scaled dinosaurs.

The Skaven and Beastmen were more difficult to integrate into modern society, but still it was possible. Working from home was a major source of employment for these people. They settled up in Northern New England and Upstate New York, where there was still good services while still remote. The Skaven were also finding themselves in a new line of work in law enforcement, their skills at stealth and enhanced scent with drug detection were welcomed at the police departments once they went through the proper courses. The beastmen had also found employment as forest guides and for the American citizen's as trappers, that way they could stay in their forests and be more at home. There was also the popular prank of pretending to be bigfoot to scare unwary hikers and poachers.

For the young though that were trapped in WAO there was a special school set up in Concord, in his state alone, where they would go to finish their education and not be ostracized for their past. It also gave them their own therapy in the class room where they would be kids again and not just something 'special' or given unwanted attention. Rusty was there as well, he was learning to be a kid yet again. It was odd seeing the boy living the life of child after going through and causing so much havoc.

Rufus opened the door to his two story home saying aloud." Heya honey."

He then heard his wife's voice, in her accented English." Welcome back Rufsky." Tatianna waddled out from the kitchen dressed in her loose fitting orange dress. She then leaned down and kissed her husband, one which she traveled half way across the world to be with.

She had left Russia almost as soon as soon as she heard about the option to live a life in America where she could be accepted by the populace and be loved by a true man. They were married before in the game for over a year before they met in real life and within a few days they set up a ceremony where they would get a legal license from a justice of the peace. The ceremony was attended by Rufus's family, Rusty's family and what friends they could scrape up. The ritual was based on the Sigmarite marital rites they had gone though in WAO. Her father was furious about learning of his daughters marriage and threaten to cut her off… but he learned about it only 6 months ago and by that time it was a bit too late for a divorce….

Rufus kissed her back, feeling her belly against his chest. The belly which had a pair of twin minotaur's, a boy and a girl growing within it. She was about 8 months along now with the kids ready to pop in another month. There names would be Irina and John, the latter named after Titanna's father Ivan.

Life would go on.

/

Magical World Online
August 2023

Asuna Yuuki yawned as she listened to the history class. Her teacher was an American by the name of Rufus Adler and he was giving a speech about the Napoleonic Wars. Some of the boys looked interested but for the most part the class was working through boredom. She looked out of the window at the city outside. The city was a medium size one with room for a quarter million people. It had it's sky scrapers and residential blocks, it's shopping centers and it's work business district. Around the city was 600 square miles kilometers of forest, mountains, small villages, beaches and tourist trap historical sites. Madokaton was a nice prefecture to call a prison.

Ever since Magical World Online launched trapping a quarter million men, women and children in a virtual realm, its inhabitants had adjusted to their prison. The adjustment had come fairly easy in fact once people got over the first few chaotic months. Those months were bad when the gangs tens of thousands strong went to war over shopping centers.

Order was only restored with the creations of three groups. The Guard, a military/police force guild of 2,500 players who were also some of the most disciplined people she had ever seen. The Committee of Vigilance was a group of vigilantes who took the law into their own hands, which given there wasn't any before they came along, were welcomed. They had sheltered a huge swath of people from the roving gangs. Out of the refugees a government was formed to organize the sheltered people.

But what bound these three organizations was a movement that had frighten many players in the beginning. The movement was called the Griffons and they were fascists who were focused on bringing order to the city. The movement was truthful in it's intentions and what it was, which may of turned many of it's members away had they not given the example that they kept order in their areas. The Griffon's grew rapidly and were self-policed by commissars who kept their dogs leashed when needed.

It was under the Griffon's banner that the city was tamed. Yes there was still organized crime, but it was not as overt and it was kept low key. Otherwise the hammer would come down hard on the gangs. It was an equilibrium that kept the peace. Without the Griffon's instead of there being 200,000 surviving players there would be far fewer people.

Asuna heard a ring of a bell in her ear and sat straight up. She had received a call to action. That was an alert that there was a Deamon near the school and an opportunity for her to grind her level. She shot her hand up and asked." Heer Professor Adler."

Adler turned around and blinked." Why yes Miss Yuuki, is there a question about the Battle of the Nations you would like to ask?"

"No, may I please be excused to use the bathroom?" Asuna asked. At that Adler waved her off, a silent go ahead before he went back to giving his lecture.

Asuna stood and walked at a fast pace out of the school room transforming in the hall way. In shower of light her school uniform was replaced by a white and red frilly mini skirt and corset/shirt combination. In her right hand was a silver rapier like wand.

Asuna was one of four races of magically infused people. Her race were called the Mahou Shoujo and were one of the most popular kinds of races that a player could choose when MWO started last year. Of course in the beginning it was assumed that 95% percent of the actual players of this race were female, but then it was revealed it was only 40 percent after the mirror inventory item was added.

After her race the Furkin were the second most popular choice and had a gender ratio of about fifty-fifty. This race had animal like traits such as tails and ears along with the elemental powers of wind, air, fire and water. They relied on physical attacks with their elements. They constantly had those traits on display and could not turn them off like the Mahou Shoujo and Sentai.

Then there were the Tulath De Duanna, this race comprised of mostly girls and was the third most popular choice. These players much like the Furkin had traits they could not make disappear. Luckily the pointed ears were the only attributes that were permanate while their wings, which were color coded to their refined magical element, disappeared when in active. While the Furkin relied on the physical aspect of their elements in combat the Tulath De Duanna had refined the elements into more advance forms of magic.

Then finally there was the smallest group of players and the one with the largest male population, the Sentai. While they did lack in magic, they made up with it in science and power armor. The sentai worked best as a group, each member playing a role that increased their combat, defensive and supporting capabilities tenfold. It was especially impressive to see their giant robots march to war.

The enemies that the four races faced were called Deamons, monsters and mobs who threaten the city of Madokaton. Their master Mala was the greatest boss that threaten the prefecture and if he could be defeated then then all of the players would be able to escape the game. Of course there was another way to escape, to join Mala's ranks as a Witch and defeat all the remaining players. To become which a player had to murder 10 players out of battle or a sacrifice to the Deamon Lord Mala. After that they could serve undivided or as a follower to one of his four aspects. Luckily they were few in number especially after the Griffon's came to power where the open Witches were hunted down forcing them to go underground in their covens. There was a large bounty for the capture or death of any witch.

Asuna wasn't concerned about witches, the other races or getting home at the moment. Her mind was instead on hunting down a demon and getting to level 50.

/

Thank God the Game Wasn't Totally Realistic

December 2023, Nuln

Tatianna Adler had a large baby bump poking over her pants as she walked the shopping district, a pair of bags under her arms. The father of her child, Rufus, was currently working at the moment and couldn't be with his wife as she did Christmas shopping. As she walked along she saw dozens of other couples with their infants and other expecting future children.

It came as a shock to hundreds if not thousands of men and women that there was a feature in the game that women could get pregnant, which became apparent after the signs of which started to appear. Most couples stuck together during this time but many were one night stands, rapes or passing acquaintances. That was a feature not publicized much when the game was being promoted as a war game, while in fact it was closer to life simulator. Apparently it was a way to keep players invested in the game via parenthood.

There was potions which could medigate and remove the child but there was also a 'pregnancy xp bonus' as well. That granted an XP bonus for actions taken while being pregnant, there was a debuff on dexterity and attack speed, then there was archery as well. But at nearly double the rate of normal XP gain many women had decided to keep their unborn young. When they were born the mothers could then decide to put the children in orphanages or keep them as their own.

While walking Tatianna spotted a familiar face and waved to her. Argo waved back and walked up to Tatianna, two of her children in a carriage and another on her back. The father of her children and Tatianna's was the same man." Well long time no see Tati." Argo said as her half Skaven young squirmed against her.

Tatianna nodded and said." Ever since the siege." She then smiled at a memory from a few months ago. It was at the siege that she found out she was expecting when she realized her xp gain was higher than usual. After the battle she had married Adler right off and now they were happy together.

Tatianna scratched the back of her head and said." Uh I hope there are no hard feelings since I married Adler?" To Tati's relief Argo shook her head.

Argo then said." No what we did last year was nothing more than a one night stand. We did have a hell of talk on the PM when we found out though and there have been rough patches especially when at the time that these three were born. But I've never been jealous of him or you." She then chuckled." I had a good laugh really when he was automatically billed for alimony." Then she paused." That was part of the reason why the PLA lost the siege to. Their leadership had so much money and slept with so many digital whores that when the kids were born they lost thousands of gold pieces when the payments started to pile up."

Now it was Tatianna's turn to chuckle, but this time nervously." It wasn't the PLA leaders who also lost a lot of gold from alimony either Argo…."

Hergig, outside of the city walls.

Rufus Adler breathed into his hands to keep them warm. He was walking up and down the road outside of the city looking for work. On his chest and back was a broadside board which read." Will Witch Hunt for Gold. Need money for alimony payments."

While he walked the witch hunter thought.' Five hundred bastards and five thousand gold a month… goddamn it if I'd know I wouldn't of gone to all those whore houses!'

/

History Channel Meets WAO 1

Imperial Pickers

Mike Wolfengard and Frank Fitzgerald rolled their cart into the courtyard of the Slyvanian castle. Mike was a Witch Hunter of Altdorf and Frank was an Engineer of Nuln. They left the cart and walked to the door of the castle. Mike knocked on the door and the pair waited for a reply, Frank pulled a piece of paper from his inventory while they waited.

The door creaked open and an old man, with a long hooked nose, elongated fingers and slit pulpil eyes appeared before the two travelers." Good Evening I am Count Orlock how may I be of service?" He spoke in a dusty voice.

Mike smiled and tipped his hat." Hi I'm Mike and this is my friend Frank. Were Pickers and were wondering if you had some old stuff you were thinking of getting rid of, like that hearse out front?" He then pointed to the stables where an old nearly broken down black coach sat covered in dust and mold.

Frank then handed the paper to the count." These are the sort of things were looking for." The paper then listed off many of the items that the two would be interested in. From old furniture to signs to even weaponry.

Orlock cracked a wide smile, his teeth razor sharp." Ah yes I do… please come inside." He stepped out of the way for the two travelers to come inside his castle.

Mike looked around the Gothic architecture and said Orlock." Wow look at this place. It's looks really cool. You made all of this?"

Orlock was pleasantly surprised by the question and spoke." Yes I've collected this all over the years from all over the empire. Trophy's and souvenirs from over the Old World I've earned."

Frank then said to Orlock." Oh when did you start collecting?" He looked at him, looking out for certain bottles. On the table were.

Orlock thought." Ah yes that was when I was a young nobleman, I could half remember the days of when I had my friends… fighting and looking for treasure. Then I took an arrow to the knee and became more of a scholar."

Mike said." Oh I Know how that is when I slipped a disk and had to run the shop." He then pointed to the a pair of crossed swords on the wall, One was an orcish blade and the other was a chaos blade that whispered demonic words." Those look cool, what is the story behind them?"

The count gave a broad smile." Those I earned in fighting. The orc I slayed while adventuring with my friends and the chaos blade I found on my own when I was looking for a particular book." It… warmed his heart talking about those weapons and the memories behind them. Which was odd since it had long since turned to dust.

Mike nodded." I see so I'm not going to give an offer for it. But what about that book you were talking about? Can we see it?"

Orlock was taken aback but he felt welcoming to the visitors and said." Of course you may." He then lead the dou into his dungeon.

"Hold up." Frank said and stopped Orlock from walking any further.

The old count was wide eyed." Why shouldn't I?"

"Watch this." Frank then shot the floor where the count was about to step. It hit a pressure plate that caused a gigantic axe to fall down right infront of him.

The count blinked." I forgot about that trap… thank you two." As he spoke he thought to himself.' No… I don't think I'll devour them.'

Frank tipped his cap." Hey your welcome. I'll just lead the way for now on." He reloaded his pistol and then continued down the dungeon, leading the way to avoid the traps. The count then lead them to a bared gate and a dusty book on a pedestal. Orlock opened the gate and they walked in.

Mike then looked at the book and after a moment he started to speak." Oh cool man it's a black book of Arkan. Is it alright if I pick it up?" Orlock nodded and motioned with his bony hands for him to do so. Mike then picked it up and said after looking through it." Hmm… it's a copy, but it is made of real human skin so that's bonus." He looked at Orlock and said." How about 500 gold for it? "

Orlock thought about it and asked." I spent a long time and a lot of effort in finding that book. At least a thousand gold."

Mike then countered." Dude when was the last time you read this book? It's covered in like a quarter inch of dust. Plus it's a copy. How about 650?"

Orlock shook his head." No I can't go that low, 750 gold."

Frank then stepped forward." How about we bundle instead? Remember that hearse? Well how about we make a deal of 650 for the book and an additional 150 gold for the hearse? That's 800 gold right there."

Orlock was intrigued by the offer and thought.' I like these two… they have been nice to me and made me feel welcomed by their presence.' He then spoke and said." Very well I'll take your offer."

Frank extended his hand and Orlock shook it." Hey thanks, I'm glad we could come to a deal." Mike then shook his hand as well.

Half an hour later Mike and Frank were riding away with their cart and the black coach. Their cart filled with other items bought from the count. The count stood on the door step of his castle and waved good bye to them after they were out of sight. 'They were so nice to an old vampire like me. Maybe I shoul-' His line of thought ended when a silver bullet hit him in his brain pan.

There was a witch hunter with a smoking pistol in his hand. Which he holstered. He had been waiting in ambush for the count to make a mistake. Which as it turned out was to stand outside of his castle and not looking to the side." Now then lets see what sort of loot do we have here." He said to himself and started to loot the vampire's corpse.

/

Behind the Scenes Naming Conventions

One day Rusty came up to Adler while off the set of WAO and asked." So I have a question." He said while looking up at the older man.

Adler looked at the boy, he was drinking an orange soda and was wearing a red sox baseball cap instead of his witch hunters broad brimmed hat, the rest though he was in costume." Shoot kiddo." He said to Rusty.

Rusty then asked." So I've been thinking, but why is it that the author of this fic reuses some words and names? I find it confusing at times to follow along if he's talking about a place or a certain person. I want to know why though."

Adler thought about it then cracked a smile. "Well that's simple he's a TV tropes user and knows about 'The One Steve Limit'." Stephan, de-facto leader of Altdorf was walking by in half plate armor and running shoes.

He looked at the pair and said." Are you talking about me?"

Adler shook his head." Sorry Steve not yet. Though how's that battle of the Wasteland coming along?"

Steve gave a thumbs up." I'm going over the chorography with the rest of the team, I think using a bolter while riding a mechanical horse might be too much for me to handle though." He then looked at the time." Well gotta get back to the set." He then ran off.

Adler then turned back to Rusty." Any way the One Steve Limit is a trope used in a lot of media. You see lot's of authors use creative names for their characters, but at the same time it seems un realistic that with a large cast you don't have a repeat of certain names, since in any given real life setting you're most likely going to have a repeat of names. So by not having just one Steve you show that you have somewhat of an understanding that the real world things are not as simply cut like that in a book. Like with Gerry the Chaos Warrior and Gerald the Imperial Emissary. Totally different people but at the same time it shows that people with the same name are not especially the same person. I think Brook's set the record with having an entire town with the surname Johnson."

He paused in thought after a reflection." Of course it could back fire horribly as well. Especially when you repeat names in a certain race, since allegations of racism could be used against the author with the two Sanjay's being an example. It could also be said he has a lack of names for other cultures or even a lack of creativity. A way he could avoid this is to give nick names. So like if you had someone named Pippin and he had a son named Pippin, the elder would be Big Pip and the younger after a character such as hair color or his size like Little Pip... no offense to the Fallout Equestria crew of course."

Rusty then said." I see but where does that leave something like Hard Oak and the artillerist Oak?"

Adler had to think a little more." Ah yes. Well how this work is that with Oak it was chosen as a shout out to S.M. Stirling's Emberverse since the author knows there's a character who took the name and had the original name that was his own. With Hard Oak though the Author tried to translate it into German to make it sound a little cooler for the Empire but when he tried it he didn't get what he wanted."

Rusty tilted his head to the side." Why is that?"

Adler chuckled." That's because when translated in separate words Hard Oak spells Fest Eiche, not so imposing now is it, though it sounds like something a Nurgle Fortress would be named. But the second way to spell it is even worse, once he put the two words together as Hardoak, he got Hardon."

Shipping Services Provided by… 2

The dwarven girls giggled as they entered the hot spring. All of them were from different parts of the world and of different races. There was Desiree, the red head and most developed of the girls as well as the eldest in her mid-twenties. Then there was Roshi, who was dark skinned and somewhat lighter topped then the other girls, but made up for it by her exotic eyes and dark skinned body. Finally there was Lizbeth who was the youngest of the group and somewhere between well-developed like Desiree and having the beauty of an easterner.

The girls stripped of their towels and entered the pool that served as the hot springs. They groaned in relaxation as they sunk their curvaceous dwarven bodies into the water." Ah yeah, this feels so good after a day of hard battle." Said Desiree.

Lizbeth added, as she sunk down to her chin." And not a single boy around asking if 'we can work his bellows'. Tis a glorious day."

Roshi then waved her hair forward, strands covering her breasts. She ran her hands through her long black hair and said." Yes. I hav't felt this good in years. Just me and my friends all alone, free to relax."

That was when a tentacle chaos spawn then broke down the wall to the hot springs and its tendrils shot out at the girls an-

And then Adler got conked on the back of his head by his bride Tatianna." And what are you doing with that?" She then ripped the book from his hands. The title being 'Forge of Love' and featured three manga styled drawings of Roshi, Desiree and Lizbeth in panties in a forge with Desiree's tits on the anvil, Roshi with his legs open sharpening a blade and Lizbeth bent over a forge.

Adler chuckled." Uh… I can explain… you see this company is making these doujinshi's based off of some famous people in the game… like me, Jack and others and pairing them up. I went to go shut them down but… well lets just say I found a new... way to enjoy the game."

Tatianna then looked athim hard and spoke." Very well, we will go together to this company and we will have a long talk about using people without their permission." She then grabbed him by his collar and dragged him away, book in hand.