Seraphon on the Slidecrown Isle

Triumph and Treachery

Kame recovered quickly under the attention of the Starseer the Temple-ship sent along with the reinforcements. They had brought with them a unit of aggradon lancers, in addition to a fresh fire-spitting salamander, and a unit of spears to replace those who had fallen when they were ambushed taking the beach. After the Deepkin had abandoned the ambush site, the Starseer took the salamander crew to the beach and began scouring all life from that part of the island with the beast's acidic flames.

Meanwhile, Kame sent her veteran spears out scouting for signs of the Viridian Crown or other sources of power that might be used to stymie the Great Plan. She took advantage of the wait time to drill her new lancers and spears. She needed to know what they were capable of before they went into battle together. The spears were up to scratch: nothing special, but capable. She was incredibly impressed with the lancers. The saurus themselves were capable warriors, but their mounts gave them the edge. Her carnosaur aside, she had never seen a more bloodthirsty and brutal beast.

The scouts returned with word of a strange confluence of power: a stretch of jungle that seemed to be a nexus for the four primordial powers: Order, Chaos, Death, and Destruction. The powers swirled and mingled in this space, and one source would occasionally take dominance. The Starseer suggested that perhaps they could harness these energies and make use of them to further their aims on the island.  

Kame agreed and gave the orders for the warband to set out immediately. With any luck, they could secure a hold there and an advantage in securing Kroak's vision of the Great Plan. They set fire to the jungle around them, and literally blazed a path towards this site of confluence.

When they arrived, a font of Order energy was spouting from the ground like a mystical geyser.  Kame sent one of her spears to defend the position while the Starseer tried to harness it. No sooner had she issued her commands than a small party of Orruks, likely scouts, set upon her.

They sprang from behind a ruined temple near the font, but Kame turned the power of her Sunbolt Gauntlet upon them, searing the flesh off several of them, and scaring the rest into ducking back behind the ruins. The Starseer noticed more Orruks deeper into the jungle beyond the font and Kame turned her carnosaur towards them.

A shout from behind distracted her, and she turned in her saddle. The lancers had sighted something none of them had ever encountered before: an army of transparent, floating beings. They appeared almost as cloaked humans, but Kame couldn't catch a good look at them: they seemed to fade in the light. She was committed to claiming the Font of Order and running down the Orruks ahead of her.  She chirruped a command to the lancers and remaining spears.  Whatever this new distraction was, she trusted them to deal with it on their own.

But before she could return her full attention to the Orruks, she heard the lancers scream in agony. She wheeled her monstrous mount around and watched in horror as her small cavalry was destroyed almost instantly. They clashed with their ethereal foes, spears finding their marks. Several of the robed figures burst apart in a flash of light and dust, only to reform a moment later. The aggradons tried to bite down on their mysterious enemies, but their jaws snapped shut on themselves, with no flesh or bone between them. Their foes could shift to become incorporeal!

As the haunts returned to corporeality, they struck back. Their bony fingers and long, curved blades ripped into the lancers and their mounts. Nothing was left of her lancers moments after they first engaged their terrifying new enemy. The remaining spears courageously turned to guard their rear from the approaching haunts.

No sooner had they done so than the Starseer shouted a warning: demons were encroaching on the site as well. Khornate demons: bloodletters. They were stymying their attempts to cast spells and would prove a fearsome enemy. Kame growled in frustration. They were already beset by foes on two sides, she didn't think they could handle a third at the same time.

A thick and murky fog rose up from nowhere, obscuring her vision of the battlefield and making it hard to navigate the jungle. This final distraction proved her downfall. The Orruks she'd attacked when they arrived sprang back from behind the ruins, viciously attacking her carnosaur. She held them off and nearly destroyed them, but they were quickly reinforced with another group of snarling warriors who appeared suddenly out of the fog. They pulled her from her saddle and beat her savagely while her theropod mount ran blindly deeper into the jungle.

She could hear the sounds of battle around her: the ghastly shrieks of the incorporeal haunts as they tore into the spears guarding their flank, the sizzling, hissing roar of the salamander as it spewed its acidic fire across their enemies. The clashing of celestite on leather shields told her that still more Orruks were clashing with the spears who were trying to claim the Font of Order.

The Starseer was chirping and growling, vainly trying to magic the fog away and summon it's legions of venomous snakes to turn the tide of the battle. But Kame could see the truth they could not: this battle was lost. They had managed to siphon off some of the primordial energy and hopefully it would prove enough turn the tide of the war for this miserable Isle, but if they remained locked in battle with Orruks, demons, and whatever those horrible incorporeal things were, they would all be lost. 

Kame might not have the Sight and wisdom of Lord Kroak, but she was certain her death over this tiny portion of some out of the way island was not in the Great Plan. She let out a roar almost worthy of her missing carnosaur, signalling her forces to retreat.