The Battle of the Boatbreakas
The Betrayl of Lethisand its fleet had been growing steadily, stocked with gravepowder explosives and countless bones dredged from the island of the Eye of Shyish. And it was on one of its stops to resupply that the fleet was caught unaware.
With half of the fleet’s ships running transport of goods and away from the Betrayal’s docksite, Waaghleader Kargatu the Beast-Tamer chose his time well. He advanced his troops quickly to the dockyard, sending Gurak Gargantstabba and his Orruks skulking in from the river and climbing onto the dockyard by surprise. And his Gluttons were backed up by a Gargant and his pet merwyrm, Sourmaw. Kargatu came prepared. He had his eyes not only on a good scrap, but on these shiny trinkets the fleet had been collecting from the nearby settlers. He would have a fight, and a prize. After the Great Hunt of the Mournguls, this is exactly what he needed to keep momentum going, and grow his legend: raid the great fleet of the Betrayal of Lethis. Oh, the tales they’d say after this one.
Captain Numan was unprepared. But reinforcements were on the way, and he had a recently captured Moungul at his beck and call. These marauders would find that the Betrayal was more than they could chew. He would hold them back.
Kargatu’s gargant and ogors made quick work of the barricades and their defenders, but the Orruks that sneaked onto the dockyard tasted the ravening maw of the Mourngul quickly enough. Their corpses feeding the giant ghoul, and their souls bartered to the Maelstrom in exchange for bringing the fleet’s crewmen back. The barricades still stood.
Numan himself burned a few holes in the ogors’ souls with his Soulwrought pistol, but when he called on the power of the Maelstrom, his magic was unraveled by Kargatu’s Wurrgog prophet Zagak Groundtappa. The undead Magister still had a few tricks up his sleeve, and retreated behind his giant pet wraith. Where his newfound haul of arcane resources and research was waiting to be loaded into the betrayal… but until then, Numan would make use of them in this fight. He called the Maelstrom onto the ogre gluttons, felling yet another one.
Kargatu and his forces smashed through the defenses of the zombie bloaters, and the Jaws of the Ravenak were summoned by Zagak to harass Numan’s Mourngul.
Things got grim as Kargatu’s pet Merwyrm pounced onto the dock and lunged at the Mourngul. Numan was becoming cornered, but his pet ghoul monster came through and devoured the sea creature!
Swiftly, they retreated to the Betrayal before they were overrun, and taking time to recover, the captain used the opportunity to influence the Ravenak’s flight, sending the monstrous Jaws through Kargatu’s forces!
With the gargant and the Warrgog climbing on deck, and more of Kargatu’s warband quickly approaching, The Countess Isabella parted the fog and arrived on the scene! At her helm, Skellan Mac Bonnar quickly assessed the predicament his captain was in, then ordered for a volley of soulstorm cannonshot, and aimed his rifle. The ogor gluttons, about to walk up the plank to The Betrayal, were cut down where they stood, two panicked ogors running into the ship’s aftcastle lower deck.
The Countess Isabella sailed straight onto Kargatu, her skeletal corsairs jumping over the deck while the cannon fire raked across the Betrayal’s aftcastle, shredding the ogors. The Betrayal can always be repaired, but it shall never be despoiled by the likes of these. The ship was their oath, their anchor against oblivion.
With Kargatu surrounded and the supplies secured, quartermaster Mac Bonnar disembarked and walked into the aftcastle rifle in hand. Captain Numan barged through the door from the upper deck, flowing the waters of the Maelstrom into the ogor’s lungs. A few shots later, the last ogor lay dead.
Zagak and the gargant, seeing their backup in disarray, made a quick escape into the water, wondering if Kargatu would manage to sneak out of this alive.
The Beast-Tamer managed an impressive feat, almost wresting Captain Numan’s flagship from his cold dead hands… an event the Betrayal’s fleet will not forget soon.
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