Estaria tried to get over her despair at Filnon leaving by taking over Dietershafen with the remaining soldiers and a very large group of mercenaries, humans and ogres and dwarves alike. But, it didn’t really work, and so she sat in Dietershafen for a few days after. Just, staring out to the sea. She flicked through the building options without really looking at them, and just stared. Filnon had been there for a long time, and while they had a very creepy starting, something that anyone on the outside would be really confused, put off and possibly disgusted by, this system had messed with her head and made it really mean something to her. Chalk that up to another part of her lost humanity. Still, on the fourth day, she was brought out of her emotional pit by an imperial fleet coming up the Sea of Claws. Large Greatships backed by Bretonnian Galleons, the force was considerable, and probably the largest that could be gathered by The Empire. What it was doing here rather than reinforcing the front of the embattled Empire, she didn’t know,but that was a question for later.
Running out to the docks, she watched them pull in and seem somewhat surprised. Which,was to be expected, considering that she had only just taken this place a few days ago. The men coming off the ship were not Empire though, not all of them. A decent number of mercenaries to be sure, but most of them were armed and armoured very differently to Empire troops. And then, standing at the top of one of the Bretonnian gallons, Immediately recognizable, he looked beyond mortal. Power gleamed off his ornate armour, and the name above his head was coloured such that he was of equal level to Estaria. Stepping off and approaching Estaria, it became clear who he, and the people he brought, were.
“I am Sir Vallai De Luc, of Bordeleaux. I have been sent as a relief force to reclaim the North. But it seems, I am late to this duty” The man, tall as a Norscan, looked upon Estaria, and took her hand, placing it to his helmet. “May I know the name, of such a beautiful woman?” he asked. The flirting did play a bit on her ego, but not quite enough to really pull her out of her despair. That, came a second later.
“Estaria!” the voice was booming and powerful, and the man who had shouted it was no less so. Thundering down the docks, his full plate making a clanking cacophony as he arrived and swept Estaria off her feet, laughing and spinning with her. Shocked and stunned to see who was doing such a thing, it turned out to be her friend and companion in the siege of Middenhiem, the great human mountain that was Borrago Beast-Eater!
“Borrago” Estaria’s voice was soft, and she gave a slight smile. She could remember how she felt about him once, but now it was like coming home from campaign to meet your pet. That was better than what she had feared, so she’d take it and try to get better as the day went. “Sorry, Sir De Luc. This is my friend and once sergeant, Borrago Bellari, known to most as Borrago Beast-Eater. It has been two years since we have seen each other” she explained, getting put down by the giant man. “As he most loudly exclaimed, I am Estaria. Estaria Nightfury, Elector Countess of Middenland. A great many titles have been given, such as Scion of Ulric, Savior of the North, Defender of Middenhiem, Mother of The Snow Dens, Terrifying slaughter monster, and that crazy thing with the flails.The last two coming from our Chaos adversaries”
The Grail Knight smiled at the last two titles, and then waved his arms to the ships still pulling into the shore.
“We are the Northern Liberation Union. Empire soldiers lead by Sir Borrago here, Bretonnian soldiers by me, and the undead forces by Count Acula, have come to free The North and pull Chaos warriors from the Southern battleground. I will admit to being wary of the Vampires. But your Emperor Franz decrees them allies, so I shall stand by them” De Luc explained, which was always good. Estaria’s screens told her that roughly twenty thousand men had come aboard for this goal. Added to Estaria’s slowly growing forces, and they could take the North by storm.
“Excellent. I welcome you to Nordland, Sir Vallai De Luc. The previous Elector Count was put to sword, so I am the closest there is to authority here. Chaos Reavers have stripped the place, but the castle itself still stands, we can occupy the War-room there, and discuss our plans” Estaria then turned, her dress billowing gently in the wind as she moved.
On her way to the War Room, she spoke with Borrago, and learned of his life since her absence. He had been commended from the siege, and after Estaria’s “death” at Marienburg, his company had been merged into several other companies to make an Army. From there, a large contingent of Beastmen came from Drakwald to raid the Empire, and Borrago was part of the forces to fend them off. The fighting was harsh, but they managed to fend them off, with Borrago tackling a Minotaur off its hooves to save the commander of the forces. He had taken a wound that, for weeks looked like it might cost him his eye, but fortunately recovered. Added to his earlier commendation, he had been promoted as Estaria was, to the Greatswords, where he served with great pride and valor in multiple fields of battle. The most notable was the siege of Altdorf, were Archeon himself came to the walls. The army was tremendous, and notably a giant Troll, twice the size of normal Trolls. There was some conflict in the camps outside Altdorf between this Troll and a man of great grace and beauty. Nobody could hear the words, but they did see the argument escalated to the point the Troll picked the man up and bit his head off. A watchman made a glib comment about effective ends to an argument, and everyone was in uproarious laughter. The Troll in question was killed later as the Imperial School of Engineers launched a rocket at him as he stormed into the fortified yard. The rocket exploded the creature into chunks that spread across the yard and the substance they had made the rocket out of clung to every chunk and burned it to a crisp.
Archeon, for his part, battled Valten on the walls of Altdorf. Borrago did not see it as he was with The Emperor, pushing back the enemy from the School of Engineers, but there were mixed reports of what happened. Some say that Archeon jumped from the walls when the battle turned against him. Others say that Valten knocked him from them with Ghul Muraz. Either way, Chaos retreated, but left the city half-razed and unable to stand against any reprisal. So they emptied all the valuables and departed to Nuln, where they currently stood planning the defence of the Empire. It was nice, for Estaria to catch up on what had happened. Gave her a grounding in the place that she had felt somewhat lacking. The conversation was great, and the arrival at the War Room was swift for her. Count Acula had met them on route, but Sir De Luc and the Count were growing in inhospiliable behaviour as they walked, which added some tension.
Arriving at the War Room, they gathered around, and the Count was the first to speak.
“We engaged some Chaos vessels on our way here, and my ship was damaged, losing some supplies. We will need to replace them soon if my men are to make a difference” The count spoke. He was surprisingly...civil. And spoke normally. And didn’t burst into bats or flames for doing so. Estaria really had a lot of perceptions of the undead that were being challenged here.
“Before you attack the peasantry for your unholy needs?” De Luc responded, surprisingly uncivil. But maybe Undead didn’t count for civility.
“My needs are no difference to yours or any living creature. We merely take a different part than is normal” Count Acula responded. Didn’t help to soothe his temper, as a gauntleted fist was clenched and he stepped towards the Vampire.
“You would compare me to a vile abomination as yourself? I shall see your head on a pike, Vampire!” De Luc moved towards Acula, but found himself blocked by Estaria’s hand on his shoulder. A very firm and powerful hand.
“You can’t fight here, this is the War Room. Calm yourself, De Luc” Estaria told him, staring him down before getting down to tactical planning. There was still tension in the air, but with Estaria, she managed to prevent blows from being thrown, and they actually created a proper plan for the Counter-Invasion of the North. Estaria adding her strength and forces to the Northern Liberation Union was something that was a boon, and allowed for more ambitious plots than before. The warriors of Chaos would not know what had hit them, and losing the North would cut off their supply lines and open their flanks to assault. It was great, and only something that could be done by the grace of the Bretonnian and Sylvanian allies. Mercenaries alone would not have cut this, and Estaria would have taken a long time to free the whole North by herself.
