Lucian sat in a tavern in the Neuestadt portion of Nuln, the acting capital city of the Empire following the Greenskins attack on Altdorf. It was common knowledge that this tavern was owned by the Schatzenheimer crime family but Lucian didn’t care when they sold such a good brew. And besides, he looked the part anyway. Lucian, commonly referred to as The Blade, was a Free Company Captain who had spent his life in service to the Empire, with nine out of ten of his missions being in service to the many armies of the Empire. His biggest accomplishment was before he became captain when his unit were enlisted into the defence of Ostermark which had been attacked by the Vampires of Sylvania. He quickly proved his skill with the blades that he carried, carving through the Undead with such skill that he found himself placed in charge of the company that he was leading, making him captain.

Shortly afterwards, he was granted a full set of armour befitting his position, and wore it proudly into battle. His company pressed forward into the thick of the fighting, cutting a bloody swath through the undead. Lucian eventually found and killed the vampire that had been leading the attack, and the undead forces scattered before the Imperial forces. Lucian’s men emerged from the battle mostly unscathed, and Lucian was summoned to appear before the Elector Count of Ostermark. However, rather than praising him, the Elector Count handed over Lucian’s fee and commanded him to disband his unit and return to his duties as a servant of the Empire. Lucian did as commanded, disappearing into the Empire before becoming a mercenary a few years later as the will to fight returned to him.

He still gets missions from Imperial officers when they don’t want to risk their own troops on suicide missions but even then they refuse to show him any sign of respect when he returns home. Just one look at Lucian’s chisel-faced visage sporting its tell-tale eye patch was enough to confirm their prejudice, that he was a scavenger, a penniless nobleman who turned his back on family honour and threw his lot in with the most unsavoury of characters for his own gain.They paid him for his work, but they never looked at him twice.

And so here he was, a mercenary sitting in a tavern within the murkiest parts of town. He was just chugging through his fourth pint of Troll Squirt, or Talabheim Special as it is normally known which he swore tasted just as metallic as the rivers that flowed through the city did, when he saw someone unexpected enter the tavern. An Eastern looking man with an interesting moustache in long robes. As the man walked further into the tavern in the direction of the stairs to the second floor, Lucian realised he had seen this man before. He was some kind of ambassador for the Eastern Empire known as Cathay. With the move from Altdorf to Nuln, Lucian had seen this man at the Blacksmithing Chapter House when Lucian went there to collect payment from its guildmaster. Perhaps, this man had been there to have a ceremonial sword crafted. But, what would a respectable diplomat be doing in a cesspit like this? Lucian decided to go follow the diplomat upstairs to see what he was up to. Sneaking at the bottom of the stairs gave Lucian the opportunity to see the diplomat’s legs below the robes. Why was this important? Well, they weren’t human feet. They were bird legs! It was at this moment Lucian wondered whether to attack or not, realising this man was probably a sorcerer of Tzeentch. Did Lucian really want to attack an opponent of unknown power?

Angry React – Lucian stumbled up the stairs, his two baldes at the ready to fight the sorcerer. When he reached the top of the stairs, he saw the sorcerer talking to a floating, hooded figure with several arms and wielding a strange staff with a snake and an animal skull on it. Lucian enraged and charged at the two only for the Eastern sorcerer to turn around and twist his hands in the air, as Lucian’s body was suddenly consumed by coruscating blue flames. As Lucian ignited, he stumbled back and fell down the stairs as he burnt to death. A barmaid ran over with a pale of water and threw it on the mercenary but as soon as the water put the fire out, the fire set itself alight once more. The hooded figure above vanished and Hong Fu Chu walked downstairs. As he walked through the room, his hand lit up in a green flame as he uttered the words “I was never here.” As soon as he left, the drinkers and tavern staff went about their business, not even noticing the man at the bottom of the stairs burning alive.

Laugh React – Lucian stood at the bottom of the stairs, wondering whether to attack Hong Fu Chu when suddenly he felt a bit odd and without warning he proceeded to vomit all over the lower steps in his drunken state. An angry barmaid walked over and with help from a few men from the bar, was able to lift the mercenary and throw him out of the tavern as he landed in a muddy ditch. The mercenary laid in the mud disorientated, his plate armour becoming filthy as it began to rain. Hong Fu Chu left the tavern unscathed, having completed his business some time later.

Wow React – Lucian decided to go upstairs and fight the Tzeentchian sorcerer. He charged at the sorcerer, who pulled out a ceremonial spellsword which he had no doubt gained from the Blacksmithing Guild as Lucian predicted. The two parried their blades repeatedly, Lucian having the advantage through his two blades but also being sloppy enough in his drunken state that the Cathayan man with one sword was able to equal him in combat while kicking the mercenary back with his surprisingly strong bird feet. Eventually, a hooded, floating figure appeared behind Lucian and cast a dispel mortal spell, as the hooded figure opened a portal and shoved Lucian into it. The Changeling returned to plotting with Hong Fu Chu for the will of Tsien-Tsin shall soon emerge. Lucian woke up inside the warp, surrounded by blue and pink horrors which tore the mercenary apart.

Sad React – Lucian stood at the bottom of the stairs, deciding whether to go upstairs and attack the suspected sorcerer of Tzeentch or not. Eventually, he decided there wasn’t any point in doing so. It’s not like he would get any thanks for it from this city’s bureaucrats anyway. “Another pint wench!” Lucian barked as he returned to his seat. “Don’t you think you have had enough sir?” the barmaid responded only for him to yell “Another!” By the time the Cathayan sorcerer walked downstairs, his business upstairs concluded, Lucian had passed out at his seat.

Love React – Lucian decided this was his chance to do something worthwhile. He ran upstairs and engaged the sorcerer who seemed to be alone, for the changeling had vanished the moment it heard footsteps on the stairs, in combat. The sorcerer pulled out a ceremonial blade, claimed at the Blacksmithing Guild, and proceeded to parry Lucian’s attacks while making unnaturally flexible movements for such a bloated man with his legs, even clinging sideways to walls. The sorcerer struggled to pierce Lucian’s armour and began casting a pink fire in his left hand to sunder it when Lucian suddenly parried the sorcerer’s blade with one sword and cut off the casting hand with the other sword. Hong Fu Chu yelled in pain as mutations began to sprout from his lost hand but before such a process could complete, Lucian thrust his blades in Hong Fu Chu’s chest. Hearing such commotion upstairs, the barmaid had gone outside to summon some city guards. The guards ran upstairs and were initially hostile when they saw what looked like a brigand killing a respected dignitary. However, this all changed when Lucian revealed Hong Fu Chu’s Tzeentch-mutated bird legs to them, causing everyone in the tavern and the guards included to celebrate Lucian’s actions. A few days later after Lucian had cleaned himself and sobered up, Lucian was invited to a meeting with the Countess of Nuln, Emmanulle von Liebwitz, who thanked him for vanquishing the Chaos Sorcerer and gave him permission to reform his Free Company unit, the first Free Company Militia unit to be officially thanked for their services by an Elector Count. An investigation was started shortly afterwards throughout the Empire to investigate whether any more politicians and civil servants were secretly in league with Chaos.