Slaughter at the Six Spikes

Deep in one of the most dreadful vales of the Great Forest, a place overridden with predatory monsters, there is a miles-wide clearing hidden by dense groves of gnarled and sickly trees. No paths lead to this darksome site, so to reach it requires hacking through the undergrowth of thorn-ridden brambles. So quickly does the entangling brush grow back that it could cover up the passage of an army overnight. If a traveller were to perservere, they would stand on the edge of a wide open expanse, once encircled by the Six Spikes. Rumoured to be the fallen splinters of the moon Morrslieb, each spike was made of single hunk of meteoric black rock, and together they appeared as the jagged fangs of a gaping maw, or perhaps a ring of gigantic spearpoints. Greenish mist rose from their rough surfaces like steam, and even under the light of day the spikes seemed to absorb light rather than be illuminated by it, their unnatural darkness overpowering the sun's rays.

The Six Spikes were sacred to teh Beastmen that roamed the Great Forest, a gathering point for foul rituals. It was known amongst the warherds that when the light of the fully waxed Morrslieb struck the obsidian columns, the spikes would whisper dark secrets to the Bray-Shamans and that if enough blood washed the base of the Six Spikes, a mighty gift of power untold would be given to the true children of Chaos. Many herds had come to pile the severed heads of the foe against the base of each spike, but no gifts were ever bequeathed in return. That is, until the ratmen came...

The Tribute of Blood
The Skaven sought to undermine the Six Spikes, dropping the great stones into the Under-Empire for their own greedy consumption. The nefarious ratmen had long spied upon their prize, timing the Beastmen migrations. They knew that by acting quickly, the stones could be pilfered long before any herd returned. In their wanderings, the Beastmen regularly left the Six Spikes unattended for many erratic cycles of Morrslieb, but at the urgings of his Bray-Shamans, Beastlord Brrak Gorehorn had been convinced to return to the site. Pushing through the razor-sharp brambles, the warherd arrived in time to see the great stones covered in guide ropes, and multitudes of ratmen straining to shift the rocks into tunnels below. Enraged at the violation of their sacred grounds, Brrak Gorehorn led his warheard into battle - but it was no real battle; it was more akin to butchery.

Stunned at the fury of the sudden assault, the Skaven could not retreat, as their underground tunnels were packed, teeming with the slave labour needed to halt the massive monoliths. The Beastmen slaughtered the Skaven in numbers beyond count, hunching into the underground passages to continue the mauling. Morrslieb, which had been sliver-thin the previous night, rose now, mysteriously full, shining its green-tinted light on the carnage below. The Bray-Shamans, their fur bristling in anticipation, ordered the offering begin. Piles of mangled and blood-matted corpses were stacked against the Six Spikes. Thus began a grim ceremony which lasted for three nights and three days. Awash with quantities of blood as never before, the Six Spikes emitted clouds of veiling dark which, picked up by the rising wind, began to cloak the Great Forest in a mist of gloom.

The Storm Gathers
Pending...

Source

 * : Storm of Magic (supplement)
 * : pg. 16
 * : pg. 17

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