Boyzilla: Berseker Lancelot will find a sigmarite steam tank or a dwarf gyropter to transform into a Noble Phantasm. It's worth an F-15.

For the management of Bretonnian territories, it is planned. You will have before the end of this Fanfic the opportunity to see Hakuno at the command of a state.

I played a bit of all the factions of Warhammer Total War but I prefer the Bretonnians, playing with the Empire is too easy, the high Elves exasperate me, but the dwarves are good, I also love the Kings of the Tombs and the Lizardmen. The Skavens are totally disgusting... These are the bad guys we like to hate.

In fact, I simulate the battles of this Fanfic with WTW II and two other Warhammer games.

Liber Malefic

(The Malefic Book)

"We are at the heart of the cult that has made Marienburg what it is – all that we are, we owe it to the Lord of Waves and Storms! However, we are governed by coin counters that consider the Great Sea as one of their property! Blasphemy! We are in the age of decadence, the Maelstrom is waiting for us, and even our Archpriest is too blind to understand that the time has come to revolt."
- A Manaan's priest preaching in the square of the cathedral

Alvarez Carpio ended his story of the day before. In fact, he merely had meeting people and making contact with the Guild of Enterprising Gentlemen... as the Marienburg thieves were called.

Three people listened to him... in fact four (but Alvarez was unaware of the existence of the Black Knight since he had not left the astral form since his arrival). As always, Hakuno Kishinami showed an absent expression, as if she were about to fall asleep. In fact, the Sovereign of the Moon Cell would probably have been able to repeat Carpio's day without being mistaken for a word. Standing behind her, hands crossed on the pommel of his sword, Sir Gawain did not give the impression of much attention either. In fact, only Sir Bedivere seemed to concentrate on the sailor's words. Rubbing his chin with his only remaining hand, he sometimes nodded to show that he was following his explanations. As The Estalian Sailorman interrupted, he took upon himself to summarize:

"Sir Carpio, you went out to meet your friend Lucie. However, you finally gave up talking to her as she was with a worshiper of the gods of Chaos, right? "

"Yes, Sir knight. I think Lucie wanted to introduce him to me but..." He grimaced with disgust. "I am a faithful of Myrmida. I refuse to deal with the slaves of the Ruin."

The one-armed knight smiled briefly:

"Well, that's very honorable of you. And since you were in the den of the thieves of Marienburg, you took the opportunity to ask to meet their leader, right?" As Alvarez nodded his head, Bedivere continued: "What do you hope for?"

Alvarez Carpio hesitated for a moment and sighed:

"Everything and nothing, the Marienburg's thieves have a very long reach. If they help us, we can hope to have an asset to overthrow the Directorate. Otherwise, I hope they at least allow us to contact the rebels my informants have told me about."

Bedivere's green eyes shrunk:

"Let's go back to your friend Lucie. There's something I don't understand. Her name is Bretonnian?"

"She's a Bretonnian. There are a lot of Bretonnians in Marienburg... Oh, I see what you're getting at." Alvarez had a little laugh and shook his head with an amused expression. "It doesn't make much sense, does it? The Directorate organized a pogrom of the Tilean and Estalian minorities, on the pretext that the 'foreigners' were spying for Bretonnia and the important Bretonnian community living in the city is not worried. It sounds perfectly absurd."

Sir Bedivere confirmed with a dry nod:

"You take the words out of my mouth, Sir Carpio. Would you be so kind as to offer us an explanation that we can understand?"

"Do you prefer the short answer or the long answer?"

Bedivere turned to Hakuno Kishinami who listened without intervening. The Master blinks understanding that her Servant asked for her opinion:

"The long answer."

"All right, damsel Kishinami." Alvarez coughed in his fist and sat for a few moments thinking about how to present the situation and make it understandable." First of all, you have to understand that the Directorate is not a stable system of government. Each administration is a political battleground. Some branches of the bureaucracy are the stronghold of a Director while others are disputed among several. He is not a Director who does not seek to increase his influence. The garrison in charge of the defense of the city is undoubtedly the main bone of contention between the Directors. Theoretically, Marienburg is defended by a militia of crossbowmen formed by the inhabitants of the city. Yet, for some reason, the idea that the population can own weapons and have military training makes nervous our dear (non-)democratically elected Directors."

Alvarez had said the last words with heavy irony and Bedivere could not hold back an amused smile.

"So, without touching the institution itself, the Directors have transformed it into a sort of 'shooting club' that meets every festag (1). The militia, upper and fat bourgeois who have the means to buy the equipment, are content to shoot on target with their crossbows and to drink beers between friends. In other words, they no longer represent any military value. The Directorate may no longer have anything to fear from the militia, however, this was not really a victory since they still had to protect Marienburg from external dangers. For this, the directors exhumed an old law allowing the rich citizens of the city to raise their own militias in times of crisis... before redefining 'time of crisis' so that their militias become permanent. They even managed to give their troops police rights. However, another problem arose. The mercenaries hired by the rich were... how to put it... afflicted with appalling myopia. They never noticed an offense that took place more than ten meters outside the possession of the wealthy man who employed them. Strange, isn't it?"

Bedivere slightly spread his eyes in an expression of doubt. Alvarez raised his hands in a gesture of helplessness:
"I swear I'm not making this up. You must be wondering what the relationship is to the relative impunity of the Bretonnian population of Marienburg. I'm getting to it. The main problem with this arrangement was the Island of Rijker."

Hakuno nodded. She had seen the island when she arrived at Marienburg. It was a huge fortress with no free space. Everywhere it was only big round towers with conical roofs or heavy walls of chalk whiteness. The whole was rather intimidating. Alvarez confirmed it:

"Rijker is impregnable. In fact, the Bretonians briefly captured Marienburg during the last war, except for this island. When the population turned against the invaders, Rijker was still under siege. For each Director, it was obvious that their own militia and not that of another Director should occupy Rijker. The situation was completely blocked, and Marienburg on the brink of civil war when Viscount Louis de Beq arrived."

The typical Bretonnian name seemed to surprise even the impassive Gawain. Only Hakuno showed no reaction.

The Estalian sailor had taken a short break as much to spare his effects as to gauge the reactions of his audience. He was probably not disappointed as he spoke again with a slight smile:

"Louis de Beq is a Bretonnian noble... but also a scoundrel of the worst kind who was banished for life from the kingdom of Bretonnia by King Louen Leoncoeur. This lord had behaved more like a brigand than a knight, plundering his neighbors, plotting, and murdering. Finally, the king took his castle and Louis de Beq owed his salvation only to the flight. He took refuge in Marienburg with what remained of his army. This model lord, a paragon of chivalry, immediately understood all the advantages he could derive from the situation. He proposed to defend the Island of Rijker. And the Directors agreed. After all, Louis de Beq was perfectly neutral in their conflicts, he had as much to lose as the Directorate if the Empire or Bretonnia seized the city and he was a talented warlord with loyal troops. The icing of the cake, employing a Bretonnian renegade was taken as a true slab in the face by King Louen. I even suspect that this was the main reason why the directors agreed to install de Beq to Rijker. No doubt, the idea that King Louen choking' on his own rage every time he thought about this fortress must relieve their self-esteem' wounds for not having succeeded in setting up their own militia on the island. Thus, as a large part of the Bretonnian population of the city is made up of the sons, daughters, wives, or sisters of the soldiers of the garrison. Such the Directorate ensures that this neutral faction is left in peace by the populace... hence the need to redirect the Marienburger aggressiveness against other less politically sensitive targets."

Sir Gawain shook his head with a dazed look:

"God knows I have traveled to strange lands, where whimsical forms of government were exercised by sovereigns who were not always human. Yet I have never witnessed such absurdity!"

Alvarez burst out laughing:

"You should have been satisfied with the short answer!"

Hakuno makes a head tilt:

"The short answer?"

Alvarez could not restrain a smile. The expression of this child was strangely adorable when she did this. She looked like one of those porcelain dolls offered to the girls of the bourgeoisie:
"You want the short answer? Here it is: 'Don't try to understand politics in Marienburg. Anyone who is not born there gets a headache to try'. And this answer works for any question". (2)

Quite shaken by Alvarez's explanations of the domestic policy of the Marienburg Republic, Bedivere remained for a few moments massaging his temples in obvious pain... migraine had not spared him.

King Arthur's Stewart ended up clearing his throat and reorganizing his thoughts:

"Sir Carpio, so you're going to a meeting with the chief of thieves."

The sailorman simply nodded:

"First I will meet one of his lieutenants to convince him to let me meet Müser. We're talking about the Marienburg mob boss... you don't just knock on his door to meet him. It will probably take several days for Müser to receive me. This means that we have time to follow other leads in the meantime."
Sir Gawain had returned to his customary impassibility. Perfect image of the knight watching over his lord, he stood behind Hakuno, staring into space. If he thought about the situation, he would not show it. On the contrary, Sir Bedievere struck the edge of the table with a thoughtful air, eyes up at the ceiling beams, like in search of inspiration.

However, it was the voice of a teen girl who broke the silence:

"Is there a library with books about demons in Marienburg?"

The three men present turned to Hakuno, while a grunt echoed in her mind:

[RRrr... rrRR... rRrrR? ]

Carpio shook his head:

"Yes, the Verena Cathedral, goddess of justice, is associated with a library -specialized in law- which also contains the Marienburg archives. I mean, this is the public part of the library. Priests can also access a forbidden part that contains many rare manuscripts. But... why this interest in books?"

Hakuno remained impassive for a few moments and then replied:

"Books gather knowledge and never forget anything."

Alvarez gave her a strange look:

"What I meant to say is, what do you expect to find in books about demons?"

"You are all talking about overthrowing the Directorate. But they are not our main adversaries. It was the demon sent by Slaanesh who drove them mad. We must defeat him to save this city. Otherwise, it is likely that the people who will replace the Directors will likewise fall into madness."

Tempelwijk, like all the districts of Marienburg, was a series of islands connected to its neighbors by several bridges. In these places, the intellectual and spiritual life of the city was concentrated. In fact, the district of the temples was not far from the den of Hakuno. The Doodkaanal threw itself into the main canal just opposite Heiligieland ("the Sacred Island") the island where was the great cathedral of Manaan. Because Marienburg was the center of the veneration accorded to the gods of the oceans. The roofs of the god motherhouse crowned by his trident were visible from afar.

In fact, only one temple in the city competed with its splendor.

In the Empire, Hændryk, the god of commerce was only a minor deity. Not in Marienburg. The foreigners could only remain stunned in front of this masterpiece of bad taste which spread over an area barely inferior to the Cathedral of Manaan, but surpassed it by the excess and the richness of its ornaments which proclaimed to all: "Look, I don't know what to do with the gifts of my faithful." Because - who would have thought? - Hændryk was the favorite god of the Marienburgers and the rapid fortunes of some citizens were rewarded with substantial gifts. Moreover, the temple of Marienburg was the motherhouse of all the temples of Hændryk (3), which proved that the preference was mutual.
Unique in the history of religions, the temple of Hændryk was also a... bank (!). This did not lack a certain logic. Who better than the god of commerce could grant loans and watch over the money of the merchants?

While Alvarez introduced Hakuno to Tempelwijk, the Victor of the Moon listened with no apparent emotion. Nobody saw them, but Gawain and Berserker stood near her in astral form. As for Bedivere, he preceded them, opening the way. Around them, priests, teachers, and students crossed paths. The crowd was dense and Black Hats patrols prevented the sailors from Manaanshaven (4) and the students from meeting... the two groups being particularly brawling, local authority preferred to avoid incidents. Nevertheless, the streets were lined with printing houses, scriptoria, well-stocked breweries, and luxury hostels. Any kind of business that attracted rich, educated people.

As they passed by the forecourt of Manaan Cathedral, Sir Bedivere looked up at the rose window in the center of the impressive facade. He smiled at Hakuno:

"It's been a long time since I've seen Manaan son of Ocean."

His Master gave him a puzzled look:

"Have you met a god?"

"Oh, yes... you should tell my king, Manaan and her have a long shared history. The god was with us at the banquet where Culhwch came to seek the help of King Arthur to marry the beautiful Olwen (5). Manaan was one of the participants in the Twrch Trwyth sow hunt.

Sir Gawain, listening to the conversation, replied under the protection of its astral state:

[Master, I take advantage of Sir Bedivere not hearing me point out his great humility. He forgets that he covered himself with glory on this occasion and that Sir Kay was far from being ridiculous. ]

In the same fashion, the Sovereign replied to the Knight of the Sun:

[You participated in this quest, Saber?]

[Of course, I was then Arthur's best knight. Lancelot joined us much later. ]

Intrigued, Hakuno turned to Sir Bedivere:

"Lancer, you seem to suggest that Arturia had trouble with Manaan?"

Bedivere gave her a puzzled look. His Master had noted his reserve against the god of the oceans:

"Her Majesty had no problem with Manaan himself... but she was imprisoned for three days in a prison made of Roman legionaries' bones that this god had raised. She had fallen into a trap set by Gwen Pendragon." (6)

As they continued to walk through the crowded streets, the ruins of the temple of Myrmidia appeared between the houses. Alvarez breathed a sigh. The almost numbing exchange of memories - when we forgot that we were talking about legendary quests and divine old friends - had made him forget that the Estalians, the Tileans, and even their goddess were outlawed in Marienburg.

Sign of the times, the cathedral of Verenia was strangely empty. Normally, her priests, who were also judges and lawyers, advised the inhabitants and rendered justice. But who still cared about justice? The Directorate imprisoned and executed without trial while the crowd lynched foreigners...

With the help of the Servants, it was not difficult to deceive the guards and the few priests who still worked with an anxious expression. As for the locked doors... Alvarez pulled out a long steel needle from one of his boots and crocheted the locks with a dexterity that indicated a long practice.

It was in the forbidden section of the library that the small group found books dedicated to these children of Chaos called demons or daemons. The most terrifying of them was the Liber Malefic written by the medium Marius Holseher. This manuscript's original was held in the Great Temple of Sigmar in Altdorf, the capital of the Empire. It was said to be a huge black book weighing eight kilos... but the descriptions were so horrible, so frightening and so despairing that the copies available elsewhere had been carefully redacted from the most shocking passages.

The chapter devoted to the Kingdoms of Chaos, by far the longest and densest one, was a vivid description of the visions and dreams of Marius Holseher.

As Hakuno read the lines devoted to demons, her throat shook and her hands began to tremble. What threatened the Old World had enough to terrorize the strongest souls. The dislocated portals of the Slanns disgorged an inexhaustible tidal wave of horrors and abominations. The Daemons were beings who defied the common rules and limits of the human intellect. Even demonic beasts and minor Daemons were able to defeat troops of armed men without suffering an injury. Some daemons existed since a time before the memory of elves and dwarves, others were mortals that the Gods of Chaos had transformed. Freed from mortality, holders of powers beyond the human imagination, the most powerful Daemons were monstrosities capable of ravaging entire countries, changing the very substance of reality, and exacerbating human passions by their mere presence. Fish could fly in the air, birds could breathe in the water and the effect preceded the cause if they so desired.

Hakuno Kishinami swallowed, seeking to remember everything she knew about the Marienburg's Daemon. It was a Slaanesh demon capable of exacerbating the desires of all the inhabitants and it had long tentacles made of a sort of pink gelatin. Gawain's sword had been unable to inflict wounds on him.

The Guardian of the Secrets, the major demons of Slaanesh, had the power to exacerbate the desires of mortals. But this effect was limited to mortals who were in the immediate vicinity... and those who had the misfortune of meeting them in a dream.

Hakuno turned a few pages, went back to the table of contents, quickly flipped through several chapters before pausing on an abominable illustration.

He was a colossus with a perfect male body, his chest bare and muscular. His legs were concealed by a long kilt. His skin was gray like the powerful bats' wings on his shoulders. He also had heavy horns, more majestic than a regal crown, and a long serpentine tail. From his whole being emanated an impression of insurmountable force and his hands seemed able to grind a stone effortlessly. But the worst was his face... his eyes were cruel abysses of white light and his demented laughter revealed dentition only made up of sharp fangs.

The page opposite was dominated by a title written in large letters: The Demon Princes.

Every Chaos' God could create Demon Princes. Unlike the ordinary demons, all the Demon Princes had been mortals, Champions of Chaos who stood out among the other worshippers. They had received the Mark of Chaos and endured an orgy of mutations. Where most humans died, went mad, or turned into slobbery monsters devoid of intelligence, perhaps one in ten thousand Chaos Champions reached the supreme reward.

The appearance of each Prince of Chaos was unique. Some were granted an unparalleled beauty, others an inhuman ugliness. However, they were still of great size. All also had in common that they had received powers granted by their god himself. Their devotion to their master, the torments they had gone through, like their stature, made it easy for them to dominate the crowd of ordinary Daemons, who obeyed the slightest of their whims.

True living weapons having sold their souls and their will to a God of Chaos, the Demon Princes used the most powerful mysteries of black magic and immense cursed weapons forged in the depths of Chaos by the sacrifice of thousands of souls.

Some Demon Princes were the generals of the Gods of Chaos, others their champions, and some even proved that their power was sufficient to fight against a god rival of their master. The oldest Demon Princes have long held the title of god, ruling their own sub-factions of demons or mortals.

The weakest of the Demon Prince could sweep an army into a display of martial fury, or unleash in a day a thaumaturgic power superior to what a whole college of witchcraft had been able to use in a century.
Skipping some passages, Hakuno focused on the lines devoted to the Demon Princes of Slaanesh.

According to the Liber Malefic, the lieutenants of the god of suffering and pleasure were renowned for their beauty, contrasting with their vile and corrupt souls. They wore jewelry marked with symbols of their master. Their bodies were often pastel or in electric tones. If their appearance was usually magnificent, they were always found with a repugnant trait, such as a hideous mutation, androgynous characteristics, or even a part of the body replaced by that of an animal, usually a snake tail or crab claws.

Unlike the other Demon Princes, Slaanesh's lieutenants were supple and graceful. They often wore magnificent armor or splendid robes. Thirsting for souls, they indulged in hedonism and corruption.

They had been worshipers of Slaanesh until they annihilated themselves in debauchery of suffering and enjoyment that culminated in their rebirth. The process of their creation was particularly abject and went through a metamorphosis as painful as it was ecstatic. Their skin and human flesh tearing to bring out a monster adorned with horns and wings three times larger than the men they had been.

Hakuno closed the Liber Malefic, wiping her sweat-soaked forehead with a shaking hand:

"He is a Demon Prince! Only a Demon Prince of Slaanesh can influence an entire city!"

The next day, Alvarez Carpio returned to the Marienburg Gentlemen Club. The tavern was practically empty and it was really surprising. At the counter was Schieller, one of the lieutenants of the leader of the Guild of Thieves. As he sat beside him, the thief leaned over him to speak in a tired voice:
" I heard you wanted to see Müser."

Alvarez looked at him, surprised by the feeling of despair that emanated from the thief:

"I was told I had to convince you to let me see the head of the guild. But you don't like me very much..."
"I love the Directorate even less!"

Schieller got up before turning to the sailor:

"The city is changing and not in a good way. Yesterday, the public shouter announced that the inhabitants of the Border Principalities were also agents of the Bretonnians. You may not know this, but my wife was born there."

"I was not aware of this, but I am convinced that the Directorate will order even more radical measures. I must tell Müser about it. I know what's going on, why the Directorate seems to have lost its mind. Müser has to listen to me."

Schieller agreed to that:

"Follow me".

Following the thief, Alvarez Carpio sailed through the shadiest streets of the neighborhood. Yet the house in front of which Schieller stopped was a magnificent villa of ostentatious luxury. Müser was the king of thieves and he wanted everyone to know. After all the bribes he gave to the Black Hats made him untouchable, he had no reason to hide.

Introduced by a middle-aged mobster dressed as a butler, Alvarez met Müser in his large library with black wooden shelves and hundreds of rare books and trinkets stolen from the rich bourgeois of the city.
Müser looked like a wrinkled and unimpressive little man... An impression that we keep only until we crossed his eyes. His eyes were blue in the sky above the ice floes of the far north, also devoid of heat and emotion. In contrast to the luxurious display of the room where he welcomed him, Müser clothes were ordinary. He did not seem armed.

Passing one hand through his rare hair, the king of thieves pointed with one hand the armchair on the other side of the coffee table.

Taking place, the Estalian sailor explained the discoveries of Hakuno. Many citizens disappeared, kidnapped by a Demon Prince. The creature, a lieutenant of Slaanesh, is said to have caused the madness that had seized the Directorate.

Müser listened without interrupting him once and rubbed his chin:

"You are not the only one who has become aware of the presence of the demon, Carpio. I thought about it carefully, its presence destabilizes the city and it hurts my business."

Intrigued Alvarez Carpio listened to the king of thieves. He tells him that more and more Marienburg thugs were beyond his control, behaving in an increasingly brutal and impulsive manner.

"If this continues, the city is lost. Only one thing can save it: the Fire of the Elves!"

Alvarez frowned:

"The Fire of the Elves?"

"Yes, you know that Marienburg was founded by the High Elves. Far below the present-day city lies the ruin of the former port of Sith Rionnasc'namishathir. Legends say that at the height of the elven port a brilliant gem lay in a tower, protecting the city from the Chaos' horrors. It was a wonderful object as only the High Elves were able to build at their peak. When the humans returned to settle on the Elven ruins, there were already only a few buildings left. And after thousands of years, they too have disappeared. However, thieves know passages that lead to places where enchanted glyphs forbid the water from the marshes to enter. I spent years mapping these caves, hoping to find the Fire of the Elves. And I found the buried tower."

The sailor had never heard this legend, but the story had everything to enthuse him:

"You found the Elf Fire?"

Müser answered with a negative sign:

"All the thieves I sent to this part of the ruins have disappeared. I knew some of them personally, brave and cunning men. None has ever returned. But if the legend says true, the Fire of the Elves would hold the power to destroy even a Demon Prince."

The sailor thinks quickly. The Elven Fire had to be defended... with traps or maybe a guardian. Perhaps the task was beyond the capabilities of an ordinary human. Except that the Servants of Hakuno Kishinami could hardly be considered ordinary. He straightened himself up:

"Do you have a map of the underground?"

Without a word, Müser got up. He opened a drawer of his desk to take out a collection of old yellowed plans.

"Carpio, you must succeed. Otherwise, this city will be ruined. We can fight the Directorate... not the demon. If anyone does not stop him, even Müser the king of thieves will soon be a dead man."

(1) Sunday equivalent in the imperial calendar.

(2) The author of this fanfic is generally considered to be a very imaginative person... nevertheless, I am not twisted enough to imagine such a wonky system. Everything I say about Marienburg is from Warhammer's encyclopedia. Obviously, not all madmen are in asylums, they fill the streets of Marienburg.
(3) To my knowledge, Marienburg is the only city in the Old World to be the mother-house of two cults.

(4) This is the town's seaport. Manaan Cathedral was built next to the harbor more than 2,000 years ago, and the other temples were later added.

(5) Culhwch and Olwen, the Mabinogion. Manaan appears under his Welsh name (Manawyddan Fab Llyr). He is not the only Irish mythological "incognito" character in the audience. We also recognize Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulates, the uncle of Cù Chulainn. But Irish mythological characters are often found in Arthurian legends.

(6) A very mysterious episode of the Arthurian legend, we no longer know who Gwen Pendragon was and why she imprisoned Arthur. The only memory of this story is told in the Triads of the island of Britain: "There was one more eminent than the three of them, who was three nights in prison at Kaer Oeth and Anoeth, three nights in prison because of Gwen Pendragon, three nights in the enchanted prison under the stone of Echymeint: that was Arthur. It was the same man who delivered him from his three prisons: Goreu (the Best) son of Kustennin (Constantine) his second cousin."

Anoeth is a prison erected by Manawyddan Fab Llyr with the bones of Roman enemies killed in battle. As for Goreu, he is an Arthurian hero now completely forgotten, yet he plays an important role in Culhwch and Olwen. It is he who kills the giant father of Olwen and allows Culhwch to marry her.