The Galleon’s Graveyard, a churning maelstrom situated at the heart of the Great Ocean in which all the shipwrecks, plunder and dead of the seafaring world inevitably wash up and intermingle. It was here, at this sanctum to the ocean’s most discarded contents that the would-be vampire admiral Nyklaus von Carstein, also known as Count Noctilus, bided his time living inside the husk of a deceased sea monster once used by the Skaven as his crew of shambling zombie deckhands and Necrofex Colossi, pieces of ships crudely merged together to form monstrous creations, waded through everything and anything that washed up in favour of finding components of his flagship the Bloody Reaver that had been sunk following an altercation with Bordeleaux’s navy.

Noctilus sat on a seat of stone on a nearby island, watching from afar as his crew went about yet another day of searching for his ship, the nearby tides crashing against the island’s shores and revealing scarcely any of the great dark abyss below with every sun-ridden wave, when suddenly a carrion bird came flying toward the island. It perched itself near where Noctilus sat and proceeded to scrape its beak on a nearby stone having just devoured a fish whole on the way here.

“I see through your illusion. Why do you hide yourself? You have no business here, Lichemaster.” Noctilus stated, glamcing toward the carrion.

Just as Noctilus finished speaking the carrion immediately proceeded to transform, its bones reforming and reshaping as a foul necrotic mist descended until finally, the metamorphosis was complete and Heinrich Kemmler emerged. “O mighty vampire, I come bearing word from your master. He demands your service.” Kemmler began.

“You are mistaken for I serve no master. Go back to Sylvania snd tell Mannfred to pick on one of our brothers.” Nyklaus suggested.

“I come not bearing words from Sylvania O lord, but instead the instructions from the true ruler of the Unliving.”

“I do not serve Nagash either. That abomination is delusional and insane!” Noctilus stated before motioning for the Lichemaster to leave him be.

“With respect vampire, you have yet to realise how strong the bond between yourself and the master now is. Behold!” Kemmler spoke before suddenly casting a strange spell which instantly paralysed Noctilus and made him fall to the ground. The vampire’s blood began to simmer and crackle, causing such pain that even a dead man would feel terror in this moment as bones began to snap from the pressure and the convulsions continued.

“What is this sorcery?!” Noctilus yelled, demanding answers.

“Blood magic my dear vampire, you should know a thing or two about such gifts. Blood is lives and since your blood-father is ours, so too are you!” Kemmler responded, delighting in the torture he administered.

“M-make it stop!” the vampire yelled between piercing shrieks, his own fangs extended and scraping the island sands the way nails scratch against a chalkboard in a bitter effort for relief.

“Very well but do not think I would hesitate in repeating this treatment, vampire.” Kemmler replied as he cancelled the spell.

“What do you want from me?” Noctilus asked, having only just been released from his torment.

“A very long way South from here, on the impasse between the Great Ocean and the Far Sea, you will find the sea-borne lair of a mighty Seatitan. Inside his dwelling you will find something my master wishes to claim.”

“Which would be?”

“A book of power of course. The Tome of a Thousand Souls to be precise. Find this book and return it to us. You will be rewarded for your services to the Undying Empire.” Kemmler stated.

“I have terms.”

“State your price vampire.”

“I want my ship back … and I want a fleet under my control for that matter.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged in time.” Kemmler mused. “Though for now a think this could take some time to complete and I fear we have none to spare. The Doom Lord tells me an old friend has already set sail for the merman’s treasures as we speak. Jaego Roth his name is.” Kemmler then took a look at the husk of the creature Noctilus had been living inside as of late. “Hmmm… something like this might do the trick….”

———————————————————————-

Across the sea and with a good hundred nautical miles ahead of the would-be dread admiral, the mighty guilded vessel the Heldenhammer set sail toward uncharted waters. Yet the crew, weary of their path could not help but seek explanation from their captain.

Captain of the Heldenhammer, Pirate, He Who Stole the Grand Theogonist’s Pride, He Who Avenged Sartosa, Slayer of the Dreadfleet, a sailor of many titles sat in his quarters, his hooked hand wedged in his map, and heard his crew’s fears from his first mate Sigfried.

“The crew are restless captain. They spread rumours of ill heading and monsters.”

“Monsters? Tell me of these monster shipmate?” Jaego replied.

“Mermaids, sir.”

“Mermaids, yessss. Whether we call them sea-nymphets, Rusalki, Maidens of Tide or Harridans of Song, it seems we have always feared them. After all, what man wouldn’t fret at the thought of seeing his wife, or an elf seeing his she-elf, torn apart at the waist for their torso to then be plastered onto the hind fins of ocean bait? Call them what you wish but yes, mermaid waters are where we’re heading.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re guarding something I need. Something I consider precious.” Jaego replied.

“Gold? Treasure?”

“Even better. Forgiveness.”

“Eyh?”

“Think on it hard shipmate. When was the last time we could make landfall without looking over our shoulders? There’s no honest thieving in piracy nowadays. The world’s too small, the maps too filled in. Wherever we go, damned navy men come for me. I’m an old sea dog, shipmate. I’ve had my share of glory. But I can’t sail forever.”

“So, this thing they’re guarding… it’s your retirement plan? One final score for ol’ Jaego?”

“Indeed so. At the heart of mermaid waters lies their father, a great sea-man known as Triton. He is the last of his folk, no one living remembers what happened to them, not even the Elgi can think that far back. And in his possession he holds a book of dark magic, magic he uses to create his daughters in his never-ending quest to sire an heir. The Grand Theogenist has never been a forgiving man. He’s chased me halfway round these stretches for ‘borrowing’ his ship so many times. But if I can hand him that book so he can lock it away forever, he may just spare me a shed of mercy.”

“Well then. One last score it is.” the shipmate stated affirmatively before leaving the captain’s quarters to tell the sailors of their plan…

———————————————————————-

For twenty days and twenty nights the Heldenhammer continued its voyage, only ever encountering the odd whiff of Megalodon along its voyage, though such creatures were always swimming away from whence the ship laid its course.Finally, their target came into view in the distance somewhere off the coast of the fallen Lizard city of Chupayotl where the deformed offspring of the mermaids have made their home. Within the vast scope of the seas stood a complex series of jagged rocks and cliff-faces protruding from the water, all surrounding a churning maelstrom at the core of this labyrinth of stone and tide the merfolk called home.The ship sailed toward one of the many openings into the rocky maze and as they entered. they could hear the distinct tones of singing off in the distance.

….

• Love React: The ship entered the maze and as this occurred the distant song seemed to take an interest on the ship and its crews, sending its sweet cacophonies their ways and beginning to lull the crew on board into a state of relax. The sailors enjoyed themselves, cracking open a drink or two along the journey into the unknown, never taking any notice of the many shipwrecks around them.

As they ventured deeper into the labyrinth the mermaids themselves began to approach. They would swim up to the surface and huddle around the ship, each mermaid seemingly picking a single sailor she would regale with a personalised lullaby of his own. Many sailors left their posts, wandering over deck-side to take a glimpse at the shimmering beauties bobbing up and down along the tide in mid-song. Some sailors declared their feelings then and there, as if by love at first sight. Others, took more time to inspire yet by the time the ship finally cleared the rocks, all crew members even Roth were under the nymphets’ spells.

The ship emerged from the labyrinth of rock and proceeded to be drawn into the churning maelstrom at its core, its wooden boards collapsing under the sheer weight of the sea’s pressure. As the ship submerged beneath the sea, the sailors all jumped overboard into the loving arms of their fish-formed damsels and proceeded to make love to them, filling the mermaids with their seed to create new merfolk in the future…all taking place mere seconds before the enchantment broke and the sailors realised the newly impregnated mermaids had swam off and left them to drown in the open sea.

….

(Prelude to Wow, Angry, Sad, Laugh and Like React)

Upon hearing the sweet calls of the Rusalki, Jaego Roth instantly new of the bewitchment his crew would soon find themselves under. As such, he ordered all his crew to fill their ears to keep out the piercing love-song of the mermaids. His crew obeyed the veteran pirate and sailor’s instructions to the letter, stuffing everything from coins to candlewax to bits of fruit in their ears to keep the mermaid’s call out.

What followed was a very different voyage to those normally experienced by people sailing these straits. The sight of shipwrecks reminded the sailors to stay vigilant, to renew their faith in the Gods of Old and to never leave their posts. When the mermaids swam up to see the sailors, the crew could not help but look on them with disgust. For though some glimpses of the beauty these creatures had known in life still lingered, such carnal offerings were heavily diluted by the stench of dead fish that could be picked up from several paces away, from the seaweed caught in their matted hair, from their claw-like hands and the telltale signs of barnacle infestations entrenched in their skin.

The sailors gave the mermaids little to no attention and merely passed through, safely navigating the ship through the causeway into the waters around the Maelstrom. Toward the other end of the divide Jaego could see a cave through his spyglass, no doubt the resting place of the tome he’d come to collect and so he proceeded to chart his ship’s way safely around the vortex to the cave.

A disturbance broke from deep beneath the waves as a gushing geyser marked forth the arrival of Triton, last father of the Merfolk. The sea giant’s upper body burst through the waves to smite his foes for like any prouder father, he could not bear to see his daughters so easily rejected. He cursed the ship’s crew as he summoned forth his ancient trident, ready to mark the ends of his foes.

….

• Angry React: The ship’s crew made their way to their cannons, hoping to line themselves up for a broadside when suddenly, Triton raised his trident to the skies and called down a lightning bolt which proceeded to zap the ship, lighting its sails on fire and substantially limiting their ability henceforth. Unable to steer their ship into position, the crew instead tried to wheel their cannons over to a spot whose bearing would face the great sea-beast.

Nevertheless, Triton was well ahead of them, effortlessly deflecting the first cannonball which came for him with a swift swipe of his staff, before anchoring it once more to summon forth a heavenly comet which he guided straight into the back of the ship, demolishing a path both through the helm’s area as well as the captain’s quarters below, leading to Jaego only narrowly avoiding the strike as he leaps to the lower decks.

Finally, with the ship completely immobile Triton submerged once more before reappearing mere moments later as his trident struck through the ship’s hull from below. As Triton rose out of the water, he proceeded to lift the ship out on the end of his weapon before finally chucking the ship into the rocky cliffs of the cove, killing any human still living instantly.

….

(Prelude to Like, Wow, Laugh and Sad React)

Sensing Triton’s attack would be imminent, the sailors proceeded to circle their vessel around the waters of the cove’s centre, enabling them to maintain mobility thus avoiding the sea-giant’s spellcasts while the ship veered outwards to blast Triton with blow from its broadside. As each cannonball hit the sea giant, Triton veered backwards for a moment, allowing the ship to continue to circle around the Merfather until finally, the ship was close enough for Jaego to disembark and enter the cave to steal the book once and for all while his crew continued to delay Triton and keep his daughters at bay.

Jaego searched through the cave, a labyrinth of golden treasures taken from shipwrecks and wild gemstones plucked from the giant clams which resided along the sea floor, until Jaego finally came across the necromantic tome he was looking for, a tome located upon a pedestal inside an altar with the book’s pages permanently turned open as the enchantment kept the mermaids “alive.”

“Stop!” Jaego heard as He was just about to lay his hands on the tome and take it for himself. “If you take that book, you destroy the Mer-people. We will never produce young again!” Triton pleaded at the top of his lungs, his screams piercing the lining of the heavens and making Jaego’s eardrums expand.

….

• Like React: Perhaps Triton had a point. After all, Jaego was a pirate, not a mass-murderer and with all this treasure just waiting to be taken, he would be a fool to miss out on this opportunity.

Retirement could wait for another day. In the meantime Jaego and his crew set off from Triton’s cove with a full ship of treasures at their disposal, having robbed everything from that cave except the book.

After coming so close to annihilation, Triton instructed his daughters to recall their spawns from their sunken city at Chupayotl and prepare a defence against Noctilus’ vessel. By the time the Undead/Skaven arrived, they realised they were hopelessly outnumbered and retreated before ever opening fire on the Sea Giant and his kin.

….

(Prelude to Wow, Laugh and Sad React)

Jaego thought for a moment before concluding that any race which required good and innocent men being drowned just to reproduce had no real right to exist. As such, he ignored Triton’s warning and removed the book from its pedestal and made a run for it as the cave proceeded to collapse around him and the sea giant let out a shriek of ear-shattering sorrow that hurt Jaego’s ears even with the wax lodged inside them.

As Triton screamed and yelled in anguish before diving back beneath the waves to cross Roth’s path again in the future, the enchantment which created his daughters disintegrated, causing the mermaids to tear apart in two and leave hundreds of women’s torsos floating upon the water as their tails morphed back into semi-living fish capable of swimming away.

The cove collapsed all around the Heldenhammer as whole ridges or rock & limestone cracked and fell into the sea. Jaego Roth ran back to his vessel with the book in hand and ordered the crew to sail away…

…———————————————————————-

But the danger hadn’t dissipated just yet for as the Heldenhammer emerged from the crumbling edifice of stone so too were the ship’s crew invited to witness their new foe off in the distance.

The Skabrus, the undying cadaver of a Skaven sea-monstrosity the size of an entire under-warren and the personal ‘flagship’ of Skretch Half-Dead, Warlord of Clan Skurvy and member of Count Noctilus’ original Dreadfleet, approached from off in the distance with Noctilus standing on the beast’s head and clinging to its bell-mast.

Indeed, while Kemmler’s aid couldn’t help Noctilus raise his entire fleet immediately, the Vampire Count and Lichemaster’s combined efforts had been enough to bring one of its strongest crews back from the Graveyard. As it stood the Skabrus’ warp-lighting cannons remained inoperable due to not having enough warpstone available to fuel theme. However, as Skretch and Noctilus alike gave the order for the Skabrus to close in on its orey, its crew of semi-undead Skaven buccaneers seemed completely unfazed by their lack in artillery. Numbers alone would win them this fight.

….

• Wow React: Upon seeing the Skaven beast appear off in the distance the Heldenhammer immediately took a starboard turn to line up its cannons. As this was happening, Jaego’s crew set about in retrieving any and all pistols they could find below decks and lining them up on the deck’s rafters.

“Boom!” the cannons sounded upon unleashing their first volley of gunfire before rapidly reloading and firing another volley. The impacting cannon-fire tore through the feeble shell of the Skabrus’ broken body and began to tear the necromantic creation apart as it approached, incurring heavy losses for the crew within. Still Noctilus and Skretch continued their advance, prompting Roth’s crew to line up their rifles and await the Skaven boarding attempt.

The rats approached and the riflemen opened fire, massacring any rat which dared pour out of the Skabrus’ mouth or eyes while simultaneously, Jaego Roth took up an entire brace of pistols, holding them and then discarding them one by one with his right hand and firing wildly as he relied on his first mate to reload the pistols between shots so he always had a loaded pistol or two available to him. The bloodshed continued, with the pirates blasting anything that moved within the Skaven monstrosity. Even Noctilus himself, fast though he was, could not make it through the gunfire unscathed. For just as Noctilus was about to board the Imperial ship, he took a rifle-blast to the head and fell into the murky depths of the sea below.

Upon seeing Noctilus shot dead, Skretch gave the order to retreat. He wasn’t willing to die for some vampire’s last wish. The Skabrus turned tail and swam off and the Heldenhammer continued its voyage back to the Old World, back to redemption with their necromantic tome in his possession.

….

(Final prelude to Sad & Laugh React)

Upon viewing the Heldenhammer turn to deliver a broadside, Skretch immediately gave the order to submerge the Skabrus once more. The undead sea-beast descended, allowing it to evade the ship’s fire and swim closer until finally, it pounced.

The Skabrus reached the port bow-side of the vessel and locked in, digging its teeth into the Heldenhammer’s hull to remain firm as the Skaven emerged from its jaw brandishing harpoons and billhooks with which to climb up onto the ship’s deck.

The vermin ascended up the ship’s side and descended upon the human crew, most rats attacking the sailors with nothing but their claws and teeth while the pirates desperately sough to keep them at bay with their rifles.

However, the tide of battle truly turned once Noctilus and Skretch emerged from the Skabrus’ gaping mouth. Skretch delighted in gunning down the human sailors using a pair of still-functioning warplock-pistols while Noctilus rushed past the sailors with unnatural haste in search of Roth and the Tome.

Jaego locked sight with the fallen admiral and opened fire, unleashing a volley of ammunition as he switched from pistol to pistol, but Noctilus’ charge was so quick Jaego could scarcely manage an accurate aim.

Noctilus came into melee range, tripped up Jaego’s first mate with the end of his halberd before impaling the sailor beneath him as he then turned to Jaego.

The ol’ pirate stood his ground, stuffed the tome within the fold of his belt and drew his cutlass. He lunged forward and swiped his blade toward Noctilus’ left shoulder while he angled his own steam-powered sickle to slice the vampire at the kneecaps. However, Noctilus was prepared. As the vampire angled his halberd to divert the sickle-arm into the doorway of his cabin, Noctilus grabbed Jaego by the shoulder and pulled him in against his breastplate. Jaego fell for Noctilus’ trick and found the spike protruding from Noctilus’ chest piercing his ribs mere seconds later.

Blood spouted from the pirate’s wound and Roth fell to the ground in his cabin. He reached for one of his pistols with his one free hand but Noctilus was too close and merely cast it aside. Noctilus knelt over Roth’s bleeding body, held Roth down by planting his halberd through Jaego’s shoulder and finally, sliced Roth’s throat open with the sharpened ends of his gauntlets…..

• Sad React: With Roth dead at his knees and the Skaven overrunning the Heldenhammer’s crew, Noctilus removed Jaego’s belt and untied the Tome of a Thousand Souls from Roth’s person before making his way back to the Skabrus.

With his treasure claimed, the Skabrus returned to the Galleon’s Graveyard where Kemmler would continue to assist them in raising more of his Dreadfleet.

….

• Laugh React: As Jaego Roth gasped for breath and died, Noctilus attempted to take the Tome of a Thousand Souls from Roth’s belt. However, it was gone!

Roth’s belt laid bare with nothing but ammunition pouches for his pistols remaining. It was then that Noctilus turned around to see one of Skretch’s clanrats running off back to the Skabrus. Not only that but Skretch was calling his crew back!

Noctilus rushed towards the vermin to reclaim his treasure but it was all for nought, as the Skabrus released its bite and detached itself from the Heldenhammer’s hull before submerging once again. The Skaven were gone.

Noctilus pondered on what to do next. He had no means of tracking the Skabrus nor could he catch up to his treasure even if he could. Still, with Roth’s moondial onboard as well as a whole crew of dead sailors at his feet, it wouldn’t be too long before Noctilus took to the waves once again…