Background Backdoor: Epoch Hounds

- "Only the faithful", Tegrus murmured, and swooped into the path of the beam, hammers crossed. The energies tore at him as they splashed across his armour, causing the god-forged sigmarite to bubble and melt. The light from his wings grew brighter and brighter as he plunged through the beam. His hammer blackened and began to crumble in his hands, but he did not stop, or veer away. It was too late for that now. It was too late for anything except taking his foe down into death with him.

"Only the faithful."

Tegrus, moments before his last death,

 "War in the Hidden Vale" - Realmgate Wars

   I paint models only after deciding who they are, where they come from, which battles they have won and how, and which ones they've lost and why. Sometimes I create traditions, history, words with particular meanings and more... I know that many of us do the same, making wonderful backgrounds for our battles and campaigns on the tabletop. Well, this is our corner!

   This time we'll see the story around one of the most secretive and heroic stormcast chambers of the Guardians of the Ages, Vanguard's Epoch Hounds. In particular we'll get to know about them following the wanderings of their undomitable leader, Lord Aquilor Aefirin, seeing how his sad story is tied to that of his brothers Aefar.

     

Lord Aquilor Aefirin, Bane of the Immortals, riding Flere, his Gryph-charger

Bastet's Corner - Baptism (Performance)

Mission Entry: None
Log Entry N°: #01/001

Day 01, Hour??

It's not easy at all. Having to both keep up with my target's swift and erratic pace, and to stay as inconspicuous as possible is proving to be quite taxing, even for a scout as good as me.

Bastet's Corner - Baptism (Pursuit)

Mission Entry: None
Log Entry N°: #01/001

Day 01, Hour??

Well, curses.

The amount of curses my brain is making up out of nothing is impressive. The further I dash across this woods, trying not to lose sight of that creature while doing my best to avoid contact with... well, basically anything else, the more I tend to believe I'm trying to cope with a weasel, rather than a rat. Or, whatever that thing might be. Its agility is well beyond impressive, even for someone like me. Granted, the suit isn't exactly helping right now, but even if I was just wearing a normal one, I would still have quite a hard time in keeping pace.

Bastet's Corner - Baptism (Prelude)

Mission Entry: None
Log Entry N°: #01/001

Day 01, Hour 2235

Do you believe in Fate?

Do you think that prophecies, premonitions, and everything that goes with them, is it all to be considered of any value?

Do you think that things happen because they simply have to happen, that everything is predetermined, in spite of personal effort?

Imago: Octavius Baptist

-That then, is loveliness, we said,

Children in wonder watching the stars,

Is the aim and the end.

Being but men, we walked into the trees.

Dylan Thomas, Poet

Octavius Baptist, Ordo Xeno's psyker

Imago

Act I

Day one, Jactura

"The only way not to breathe the fog, is not to breathe" You would say, my beloved Lord and friend, Nicolas; and Your sentence suits perfectly to Verno's weather. Don't You think it is quite odd that this 
planet's name means, in ancient Terran, 'spring', while its elements behave as death?

Background Backdoor: Guardians of The Ages

  - Among my people, when I had a people, it was said that a man who had never felt fear was one who had never truly lived. [...] The fear of starvation, of daemons in the night. The fear of pain, as your enemy's blade draws close. The fear of... surviving, where others died. -

Zephacleas

  I paint models only after deciding who they are, where they come from, which battles they have won and how, and which ones they've lost and why. Sometimes I create traditions, history, words with particular meanings and more... I know that many of us do the same, making wonderful backgrounds for our battles and campaigns on the tabletop. Well, this is our corner!

   In this occasion we are going to see how, and why, a human tribe lost millennia ago in the waves of time, the Aefar, has been chosen by Sigmar himself to become a powerful Stormhost. Named Guardians of The Ages, they bear a strange bond with an ancient Realmgate: the Chrono Gate of Hysh, ultimately a Time's threshold.

Aefandrun Bear of Esca, Time Templars Lord-Celestant, with Veive, his merciless dracoth

 

Bastet's Corner - Operation: Smilebringer

Mission Entry: Extraction Rendezvous
Log Entry N°: #03/001

Day 10, Hour 2135

The sky is clear. There's a big, bright, full moon towering above the landscape, giving a peaceful, almost mystical, air to the moment. The snowstorm is now well past, leaving room for a gentle, if cold, breeze. As I glance down the valley, I play with my breath, letting puffs flow, big and small. The remains of the camp down below show no sign of last night's events. Had I been asked, no longer than ten days ago, that this would have been the outcome, I would have laughed my ass off. Boy, what a fool I would have been.

They should be here pretty soon. Better go check on the others and see if they're ok. I guess they'll be more than happy to meet their comrade, and leave all this behind them.

Bastet's Corner - Operation: Helping Hand

Mission Entry: Zone Scouting
Log Entry N°: #01/001

Day 1, Hour 0335

Successfully deployed. Minor hiccup with the dropoff coordinates, so the landing wasn't exactly smooth. The pod hull sustained minor damage, but nothing I should worry about. All the sensitive equipment is in working conditions. Rendezvous is in 48 hours. Since the main task is to make sure that the citadel is free of enemy threat before the main rescue platoon drops, I should have plenty of time to try and make contact with the survivors - provided I manage to locate them, of course. The distress signal is fleeting at best. Well, tough luck for them, but I'll see what I can do. Let's move out.

Bastet's Corner - Operation: Lurking Shade

Mission Entry: First Contact
Log Entry N°: #01/001

Day 1, Hour 0100

Mission Starting Zone clear. I got out of the portal without any sign of enemy activity. Actually, almost no sign of life around me, save for some small local fauna. After glancing briefly at my surroundings, I chose a secluded small cave as first base camp, to review my gear's condition and determine how to proceed. Atmosphere and temperature are both nominal. Dawn is nowhere near, but my Night Vision is excellent. As usual. Some sensors, though, are seemingly malfunctional.