“Women and children to the lower decks!”

“Every man, arm yerselves!”

“Prep’ the gunpowder pouches and man the cannons!”

A flurry of orders was sent across the ship. Men ran in all directions. Some climbing the masts to unfurl the sail at its maximum. Some ran down towards the armoury and grabbed a weapon of their choice and armour. Barrels of gunpowder were carefully poured into their pouches and loaded inside the cannons.

Amidst the chaos, a man and a woman argued.

“Emma! You can’t be serious!” A man with a coal black hair shouted.

“Damn right I’m serious! Hervig, you know I’m the best archer in Marienburg. Must have humiliated those Directorate sycophants a couple of times!”

Hervig gritted his teeth and heavily sighed. He quickly took a step forward towards his wife and gently caressed her bulging belly and raised his hands to her light brown hair. He stared at her green eyes and tried to look serious.

“I know… You’re a damn good archer. But you’re pregnant. And the captain ordered all women to go down the ship.”

“And what! Let you die here when I’m cowering down below!”

Hervig noticed Emma was more irritable than usual and tried to think of something to placate her. Instantly, his eyebrows quivered and he smiled. “Emma… I’m not going to die. I promise.” He pointed down the stairs and towards the growing number of women and, children huddling about in panic and gave her a bow and a dagger. “Take these and go down. Protect those kids and their moms. Someone needs to protect them.”

Emma was about to angrily retort when she was interrupted by an ear shattering broadside.

Hervig nudged her down and ran towards the side of the ship.

He saw an abomination of a ship. A ship made with parts metal and wood and stitched clumsily together with huge holes in their lower decks. Their masts furling a sail showing a triangle with a horned rat in the middle. Bloody skavens! Hopefully, this should be an easy fight. Their ship is already starting to take in water!

Metal tubes rapidly displayed themselves across the sides of their ships and suspiciously pointed at them. A green tinge of light glowing faintly.

What the hell are those! They look like handguns!

The grizzled and scarred captain jumped down from the aftcastle and shouted to the men. “Get down! The lot of ye!”

Suddenly, green fire spewed out of the tubes and blasted their starboard. Few unlucky people were caught by the fire and their skin melted off and their clothes rendered non-existent. Screams rang out across the decks and burnt flesh assaulted Hervig’s nose. He was about to rise when he heard multiple thudding. Thudding followed by chips of wood flying about.

He looked back and saw the mast taking the brunt of the hit. Are those green bullets… Dazed and shock, he was brought back into reality by the captain yelling orders.

“Handgunners! Give those ratmen a taste of their own medicine!”

Red cladded men hefted their handguns and rose in perfect sync and gave the skaven a full score of lead. Several ratmen lurched back or directly fell into the ocean. Some of their monstrous machinery not attended.

Another broadside sealed the skaven ship towards the belly of Mannan.

The whole crew cheered and shouted and celebrated their victory. But it was short lived.

Hooks connected to the ships and dozens of ratmen threw themselves towards them and a brutal melee ensued.

A massacre… For the skaven.

Hervig grabbed his greatsword and remembered his lessons. The Hanoschafts may be merchants, but it doesn’t mean we neglected our martial might!

He took a large swing and caught two clanrats in surprise. He decapitated one and lacerated the other in the stomach. He stepped over their carcasses and joined up with a group of swordsmen.

He thrusted, stabbed and slashed. Killing dozens in his way. But the tide of skaven was unrelentless. When one dies, another ten pops out.

‘Tch,’ Hervig loudly clicked his tongue. This is never ending! At least they don’t have armour. He realised the group of swordsmen he joined earlier were now staring at him in awe as he stood in a pile of rat carcasses; three piles deep.

They probably thought I was just an ordinary civilian. Which I am. I’m not wearing the greatswords attire after all. He gazed back towards them and pointed towards the group of skaven wearing armour. I’m not sure if they’re stupid or confident in their swimming.

The bloodied swordsmen nodded in understanding and grouped up and formed a shield wall. Advancing towards them, Hervig, noticed a queer thing right by their hips. Those look like pistols! With greenstones embedded inside it. What is with those rat scum and their obsession with green! He sneered in the back of his head and brandished his greatsword once more.

The armoured skaven noticed them and pulled out their pistols and fired. Green stones flew out of the barrels and knocked down a half of a dozen men. Fortunately, for Hervig and the Empire swordsmen, half of those that pulled the trigger had their pistols explode and showering them with green fragments. Screeches and hisses of anger erupted within the armoured skaven group.

Hervig took advantage of the chaos and lead the swordsmen towards them. His steel sword cutting their armour as if it were made of Bretton cheese. Scores of skaven were killed and were shown no mercy.

The remaining survivors scurried about and tried to jump out of their ship, killing their fellow skaven along their way.

Hervig took a chance to survey his surroundings. Dozens of piles of rat carcasses with a few human corpses littered the deck. Entrails, both human and skaven, bits of body parts lay scattered about. He noticed the mast that was previously being shot at, in a rapid rate earlier. That mast is going to collapse soon. I hope this galleon can sail just as fast with only three masts left.

The captain of the galleon ordered them all to dump the dead into the sea as if nothing significant has happened. This must be a normal day for them. Marienburg really hasn’t been raided for a while. Dark Elves and Norscans that did raid were often repelled by the defences built by dwarves.

The black-haired man stared at his hands tainted with the blood of skaven and his fellow men and sighed. Emma is going to pester me to have these washed off. He grimaced not liking the way salt water irritated his skin.

Well… We just repelled thousands of skaven scum and we’re barely halfway through the Great Ocean. Now we’re sailing at a reduced speed. Hopefully the rest of the expedition fleet slows down for us.

He noticed about three dozen ships from clippers, galleons and caravels with various degree of damages within his eyesight. Looks like we lost no ships. Thankfully, those damn scum wanted to raid. If they were intending to sink ships… His mind wandered towards the skaven’s version of a hellblaster volley gun and squirmed.

I just hope we suffer no more attacks like this for the rest of the journey. For the sake of Emma and the unborn child she’s holding.

He went towards the stairs and couldn’t help himself from grinning. Below the stairs lay her pregnant wife surrounded by a dozen skaven with arrows penetrating through their bodies, with some having their throats slit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the journey towards Lustria was thankfully devoid of violence. The fleet continued going south west, narrowly missing the land of the High Elves. Asur they called themselves and would annoyingly insist you call them that after meeting you. They talked about their sacred Ulthuan as if it’s Sigmar’s paradise. Hervig scoffed at that. He didn’t like the arrogance that the High Elves conducted themselves in. A few trade deals, here and there, cemented his belief. He would rather deal with Nordlanders than with them.

“Land spotted!” A yell rang out from the crow’s nest.

Instantly, a massive cheer and loud applause came from the ship and then the ships behind them. Families hugged each other and fathers lifting their children to see the land beyond. The land of wealth and opportunities.

“Emma we’re finally here!”

“Don’t get too excited. I’ve been doing my research and that harbour and the… City behind it must be Skeggi. We’re probably here just to resupply and move across the coastline.” Emma frowned as she looked at the city. Poorly built shanties stretched towards the ocean supported by dead, beached ships. Algae, seaweed and barnacles infested them. The harbour didn’t look like an improvement. “We’re staying on this galleon. We’ll only help with loading supplies. Got it?”

Hervig playfully elbowed his wife and giggled. “I thought you wanted off this ship as soon as we see land?”

“You know how pregnancy makes you irrational? I scoffed at it at first when learning about it but now… I feel like I should’ve scolded my younger me. And take a good look at that atrocity!” She pointed at the disordered mess.

“It does look pretty… Unhygienic- “

“Unhygienic! Well yes! But much more than that! After a millennium of that city being built by those Norscan savages, it probably doesn’t have running sewage like those in Marienburg.” The pregnant lady puckered her face in disgust and pinched her nose.

“I sometimes wonder why we chose to leave the luxurious conditions of Marienburg to here. For the past month, we’ve done nothing but whinge!”

“Knock it off you! You know why…Those Directorate idiots drove us to bankruptcy. At the end of the day, they’re exactly like those Nordlander nobles demanding their ancient rights to the city. Those fools with a huge stick stuck up their arse probably can’t comprehend that being part of the Empire would be hugely beneficial to the city.”

Hervig gritted his teeth and clenched and unclenched his fists. He hugged Emma and whispered to her ears. “That’s all in the past now. We’ve promised to each other that we would move on.”

Emma smiled and brusquely pushed her husband off her. “Your fault. You shouldn’t have brought up why we whinged so much!”

“But it’s true!”

Their banter was cut short when the harbourmaster guided the ship to dock. The captain then gave out dozens of orders. Cranes were assembled in the deck and manoeuvred them to starboard.

The married couple split off to do their different tasks. I forgot to tell her to rest easy! Shit! She’s bloody pregnant yet casually kills a dozen rat scum and hauls pounds of timber and foodstuffs. He looked back towards her and was amazed by her enthusiastic vigour. She probably won’t listen anyways. Hervig noticed a bunch of people staring at him oddly and occasionally looked back towards her wife. His cheeks reddened which spurred him off his idleness and dutifully did his tasks.

The fleet continued to sail across the Settler’s coast and docked and stocked up in supplies in two identically hideous cities. Port Reaver and Swamp town. Port Reaver… Judging by the name; shouldn’t it be full of dark elves? Sartosa pirates? Maybe those sadists elves have magic that would disguise them as human? His spine tingled and back swiftly straightening, which alerted the person with a spyglass next to him.

“I’m sorry my good man. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Ye sound like a noble youn’ lad. Where ye from?” A man with a thick Reiklander accent curiously asked.

“I’m no noble. And I’m from Marienburg. My name is Hervig Hanoschaft. Notice how there’s not a ‘von’ in my name.”

“Aye I do. Marienburg eh?” He paused and stared at him in thinly disguised suspicion, but suddenly stopped when remembering his manners. “Me name is Erick. Erick… Erick Schmidt. Yeah… I think that’s what I put into the expedition’s census. As ye should know from me name, I’m a smith. A damn good one at that! Made this me self!” He boasted his spyglass.

That’s actually pretty well made. Much better than the ones I sold in the past. “That’s very impressive Erick. A fine and intricate spyglass. Say, what made you want to join this expedition? You could’ve easily sold this at a reasonable amount of money in Altdorf, maybe made a living.”

“I could’ve. I could’ve. Aye… But, what’s the fun in that? Livin’ in peace and safety from the comforts of Altdorf’s walls. Maybe startin’ me own family in one of the stone houses. That’s not for me!

“Me and my dad, survived in the Drakwald just by ourselves! We slaughtered hundreds of those beastmen and the occasional greenskin. We were the backbone of the militia that formed in the Drakwald!” Erick boasted and started to wave his spyglass around. “So, when news got out to colonise the untamed lands of Lustria. I was excited. Me poor dad died of age. He died peacefully.” He mournfully paused. “After he died, there was nothin’ tyin’ me back to there. Well… Except for him. But he’s fine. Probably, one of the best archers and monster killers out there, and me and me dad raised him! The villages in Drakwald forest would be fine without me if he’s there.”

A blacksmith and a good killer. I hope he’s telling the truth… The whole truth and not just arrogantly boasting his talents. He hid his frown when remembering about his fellow burghers back at home. “It seems we are lucky to have you in this expedition then, Erick. Your skills in forging and killing would serve us well.” A nice bit of flattery doesn’t hurt anyone, and my instincts is telling me to befriend him. My instincts are never wrong.

He guffawed and laughed at that. “Aye! Hopefully, we could scour this land clean of the Empire’s foes! The Empire endures!”

“The Empire endures!”

Erick pulled out a map and continued to use his spyglass. He jittered about and looked repetitively at the map. “We should be in the Scorpion’s coast right by now. I heard some gossip from the officers. We may be settling right here.”

Hervig looked to where he was pointing and was a bit confused. The rumours I heard was that we would be settling further down near the Brettonian settlement. Looks like we’ll settle just north-east of that. Just north of the abandoned city. What was the name again? Tlaxtlan? Emma should know.

The giant reiklander continued. “Lucky fer us! There seems to be abandoned temples and a city layout near there. The lizardmen call it ‘Temple of Tlencan’.”

Hervig scoffed and dismissed what he said last. Lizardmen? Those norscans must’ve been drunk when they saw them. It must’ve been a group of dumb giant lizards. But to call them lizard-men…

“Young’un! I know that look. That look of scepticism.” Erick pointed his scarred and burly finger at Hervig. “If those abominations in Drakwald exist and those rat scum attackin’ us, then the lizardmen must be real! Tilean, estalian and brettonian have all reported them, and I’ll wager at least some of them is sober. They seem to only attack when they took somethin’ important.”

“So, we must make sure not to take anything important? Surely, those temples must’ve been looted dry. We’ll be safe from their wrath. I’m sure.” Hervig tried not to be sarcastic at a man who’s a half foot taller than him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma quickly stuck her head out of the cannon hole and vomited.

Irritated, she got up and wiped her mouth and remembered her appointment. She steadied her breath and calmed down.

The brunette waved through the intricate maze of the galleon and spotted her destination and knocked at the door. She was bid to enter by an unfamiliar voice. That’s not Marlene.

She entered and noticed the familiar Shallya priestess dressed in a white hooded gown with a key strapped to her waist. The priestess was busy talking to a green-cloaked fellow.

“Ah! Emma! May I introduce you to Sigismund. A jade wizard.”

The Jade wizard's body tensed up.

Emma's eyes widened in relief at that. Good. A priestess and a jade wizard. Both dedicated to healing. She tried to forget her morning sickness and soothed her belly. She was signalled by Marlene to have a sit.

“There seems to be a lot of pregnant ladies on this ship Marlene.” The thin, blond haired man said.

“That’s why I was assigned to Mannan’s Servant in particular.”

Wait… This ship has a name. ‘Mannan’s Servant’. Very auspicious.

Both looked at Emma. Marlene bid her to lie down on the bed and inspected her stomach. “How do you feel Emma?”

“The usual. Dizzy and sick as soon as I wake up. You know. But I’m now used to being miserable.”

The white-haired priestess chuckled at that. “At least your wit has improved. Fortunately, nothing is wrong here, so you won’t need to use your magic Sig’.”

“Hopefully, I won’t need to use it at all. The Winds of Ghyran tend to be weak at sea.” Sigismund’s back straightened in surprise and gulped and took a few careful glance at Emma’s bulging belly.

“I hope it’s not weak enough to not save a pregnant lady and her babe.” Marlene said with worry.

“Fret not my lady. It’s the dawn of Spring. Where the winds are the strongest. It should be enough to heal someone close to death. Even at sea. Thankfully, in his majesty’s wisdom, we sailed at the end of winter. It would be different if it was autumn.” He mumbled in the end.

“Your magic is very fickle Sig’.”

Emma ignored them and attempted to stop her baby from kicking her. He must be quite bored inside there. Wait… How do I know it’s a ‘he’? Motherly instincts perhaps? And why is the wizard acting strange?

“Looks like there’s nothing wrong with me then. Thank you.” Emma hesitated and stood up. Why was the wizard staring at me? She walked towards the door but was interrupted by the priestess.

“The usual Emma. You should know by now. No alcohol. So, no wine and beer and always drink boiled water.”

“Alright, alright.”

She went up the decks where she saw her husband talking to a scary looking man. A scar extended down his cheeks and reached his chin and seemed to tower above Hervig.

“Hervig, how nice of you to abandon me in bed.”

“Um…” He squirmed. “I didn’t fancy being puked on every day, every morning. So, you must understand.”

“Of course… Your nonchalance is very annoying. You know that.” She spat.

“Well… I don’t know what else to do.”

“Maybe, carry me towards Marlene’s hospital ward.”

“I could do that. But please stop yourself from puking on me. Try to puke over the decks.” He resignedly compromised.

“I can’t help it. Just now, I vomited through a cannon hole. At least half a dozen were there to see it. You know what that means right?”

Hervig fidgeted and squirmed again. He couldn’t be seen as a neglectful husband, he couldn’t be like his father.

“I’ll help you from now on.”

Emma harrumphed in success and turned her head towards the giant. “Who’s this?”

“Oh… He’s called Erick Schmidt. A skilled blacksmith and a beastmen slayer.”

Emma held her hand which prompted Erick to kiss her hand and boisterously laughed.

“Ye must be Hervig’s wife! Pleasure meeting ye.”

She assumed a rictus smile. “A pleasure indeed Herr Schmidt.”

“Me and yer husband were just talking about where to settle.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took a few days to reach their preferred location.

A giant ruined pyramid lay on the horizon. With a massive arch at the very top, spiralling towards the sky. Vines covered the surface and made it green with huge gaping holes ruining the symmetry. Those look like cannon fire.

Men, wearing intricate red doublet with puffed out shoulders, rapidly blew at their trumpets and waved their flags.

A few minutes later, dozens of boats filled to the limit, rowed towards the ruined temple.

“Men! Pitch your tents quickly and arrange them in orderly fashion. You there with the shovels! Dig a ditch a quarter of league away from here. That should be our latrines! Anyone caught shitting anywhere but there will be flog! Does everyone understand!” The aristocratic looking sergeant yelled.

A hive of activity instantly started as the men disembarked from their boats and followed the sergeant’s orders.

“Our priority should be building a pier. Enough to dock thirty-six ships. Once the men finished pitching their tents, order my brother to yell at them to start cutting down the trees near here.” The messenger looked confused at that. “My brother. The sergeant with a tunic displaying a gryphon. The one that yelled earlier.”

The black-haired man adjusted his Imperial bonnet by tightening the lace and walked across the beach. Casually staring at the ruined city. At least the stone hasn’t been pilfered and looted. They’ll at least accelerate the construction of houses. Maybe use it to build a wall?… No. it’d be too unpopular with the colonists. I would be quite upset too. I prefer it to be used to build my house.

The Emperor expects a lot from me. Leading thirteen thousand souls into a new land… I hope the pressure is not enough to break me.

Klaus von Stanhelm looked at the group of labourers with state troopers lending a hand. What should I call this settlement? Emperor’s Landing? Gryphon’s Town – Gryphonton. No. He signalled at his page to bring him the census. He noticed how many of the colonists came from Altdorf. Desperate beggars and street urchins hoping for a new life without starvation and poverty.

As if lightning struck his head, he thought of a name. Perhaps we should call this city… Hamlet for now. New Altdorf. That should give the peasants some motivation.

“My lord. Shall we arrange an exploration team to... to- “

The peasant was interrupted by Klaus. “A bit too eager aren’t you, young man! Unlucky for you, we’re not the first ones here. Therefore, the place must be ransacked by now. No loot for you or anyone else. But I’ll send men to be our sentries if you want to volunteer.”

The posh speaking peasant hesitated at that. “I’m sorry my lord. I can’t volunteer for such a task. I’ve got a pregnant wife back there.” He pointed towards the ships.

The nobleman nodded sympathetically towards the young man and patted him on the shoulders. “It’s quite alright. I’ve noticed you don’t speak like a peasant. What’s your name my good man?”

“Hervig my lord. Hervig Hanoschaft. Used to be a merchant and a burgher in Marienburg.”

Klaus slightly took a step back. Why is there a Marienburger in this fleet?

Hervig noticing the nobleman’s apprehension instantly continued. “My shop was burnt down by an unknown arsonist. Causing me to be bankrupt, therefore losing everything. I suspect the Directorate was the one that burnt it down due to my sympathies with the Empire.”

Klaus sighed in relief. An Imperial loyalist in that den of thievery and corruption. Looks like there’s always a Sigmar’s blessed in a cursed land… Except Sylvania.

This is good news! He must be quite good with his arithmetic and trained in bureaucracy. Much better than my pages and scribes. Well they’re barely men. Just boys. I should give them some slack.

“It’s nice to meet an Imperial loyalist. The Marienburg Directorate isn’t smart enough to unite under Karl Franz’s rule, but you seem intelligent. So well done!” He patted him again. “Say… I’ve got a bit of a problem.” Klaus pointed at the boys. “Those are supposed to be my record-keepers since they’re at least literate and probably won’t do a good job… So, I’ve got a job for you. Why don’t you be my treasurer or something similar. I haven’t exactly worked out the wheels of bureaucracy, you see.”

Hervig’s eyes lit up. “I’ll be honoured my lord.”