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THE BARAN WARPROLOGUEWAAAGH! ARBUTTZ Amongst the Orks, it is inevitable that from time totime a great and fearsome leader will arise to sweepaside all rivals and unite countless warring tribes underhis brutal leadership. Arbuttz the Incredible was onesuch Ork who, in 914.M40, emerged from the wild andprimitive worlds of the galaxy’s south-western rim.Here, Ork battled Ork, just as they had done forcenturies on a dozen worlds infested by Greenskinssince an age no one could remember.

Arbuttz at first swept over his own world and others inthe same system, sweeping aside rival warlords andtaking their followers for his own. The Orks revelled inthe uproar caused by this ambitious warlord and hisceaseless invasion of other tribal territories. Formonths tribe gleefully battled tribe, eagerly hurlingthemselves into the tumult of battle with the kind ofabandon only Greenskins are capable of. With eachnew battle formed, Arbuttz proved his dominanceanew, effortlessly defeating all comers.

Now the tide changed. Where once each new warlordhad battled and resisted Arbuttz, now they each in turnfell in behind him, joining his warband and bringingwith them their own greenskin tribe, keen and hungryfor war. Ork battled Ork no more. Tribe after tribeflocked to the ascendant Arbuttz, until at last theyformed a great unruly mass, barrelling along to thesound of a single monotonous chant.

Waaagh!

Waaagh!

Waaagh!

Now Arbuttz was unleashed upon the galaxy at large.In such an ancient and distant corner of the galaxy,Arbuttz was first forced to cross thousands of lightyears of wilderness, rampaging across one uninhabitedplanet after another, his boyz chasing and hunting anylarge predators or ‘uge beasties they could find,desperate to get to the proper scrappin’. They wouldnot have to wait long.

In the Zypher sub-sector, Arbuttz and his Waaagh!swept across several ancient worlds of the Eldar. Heresurvivors of the long-ago fallen race lived in their so-called Exodite communities, the last sorrowfulremnants of the once great Eldar empire. As thegreenskins poured across the system, the Eldar rode towar, mounted atop great beastly lizards, armed withweapons far beyond the technology available to theOrks and moving with a graceful ease that thelumbering greenskins simply could not hope to match.But for all this, Waaagh! Arbuttz was vast, and in its sizeunassailable, and the ancient Eldar were swept away inthe few short months it took the Orks to cross thesystem.

Arbuttz and his boys marched on, and here, on themost distant boundary of the Imperium, the Orkscrashed into a dozen worlds of man as violently as thelargest and most unstoppable of waves might smashasunder the shore. Arbuttz’s boys cut a bloody swathethrough the Imperial defenders until finally runningout of steam on the Imperial Deathworld of Gorang,where they were brought low fighting the indigenouslife-forms as much as they were by the Imperialdefenders. By the end of the fighting the entire Zyphersub-sector had be overrun and conquered by the Orks.

EAGLES & RAVENSFor almost 300 years this new Ork empire was leftunmolested, until a campaign of re-conquest wasfinally begun in M41.204. The re-conquest was led bytroops of the Marauders, Eagle Warriors, Raven Guardand Revilers Space Marine Chapters, supported by overtwo-dozen Imperial Guard regiments. In a long, hardfought campaign these troops battled to reclaim theplanets lost to Warlord Arbuttz, until finally in M41.224the Zypher sub-sector was declared free of the taint ofalien infection.

But the Imperium pushed on. Not content merely withreclaiming those worlds lost to Arbuttz three centuriesprior, the Imperial war machine raged across thedozens of other worlds which the Ork Waaagh! hadclaimed, conquering worlds never before touched bythe boot of man. An Imperial Guard regiment wasassigned to each of these planets and ordered tocleanse the planet of Ork infestation. Troops from the127th Death Korps of Krieg regiment, commanded byGeneral Himmel von Paulus, were assigned to cleansea backwater planet named simply Baran. In return theDeath Korps veterans were granted rights of settlementon the planet.

Baran was a wild and uncultivated planet, covered bydense forests, rolling steppes, and craggy mountainranges. Little could these valiant frontiersmen haverealised that the soil upon which they now stood wasthat same ancient soil onto which the brave EldarExodites had bled as Waaagh! Arbuttz stole their worldfrom them…

The now Feral Ork tribes that inhabited Baran werequickly driven from the open steppe-lands by the initialDeath Korp assault. The surviving Orks scattered andhid in the forests and mountainous areas of the planet,where they proved extremely difficult to eradicate.Lacking the huge numbers of troops needed to destroythe Orks by weight of numbers, von Paulus decided tocontain the Ork threat instead, building a series ofinterconnected fortified positions to hem the Orks intotheir wilderness retreats. These fortified positionsquickly grew into the first major Imperial settlementsand cities on the planet.

With the Orks still a major threat, the colonists wereunder a state of constant siege on a dangerous frontierplanet. New cities were built as a curious amalgam ofmilitary and civilian structures, where the ImperialGuard’s trenches, bunkers and other defences wereslowly pushed out to incredible distances so thatwhole cities could be built amidst them, civilianbuildings replacing the old fortifications as these citiessnaked outwards.

OLD ENEMIES, NEWBEGINNINGSOver the course of the ensuing generations, thesecolonies grew, and although never populous, and underconstant threat of Ork assault, Baran thrived. Once thecolonies were large enough new Imperial Guardregiments were raised to replace the Death Korpsveterans who had long since aged and died. These newrecruits were to become the first and foremost ofBaran’s defenders – the Baran Siegemasters.

Alongside them, the Raven Guard remained, though inprecious few numbers, and concerned themselvesmostly with hunting down those cunning Ork warlordsbelieved to be in possession of Imperial technologystolen during the initial Waaagh! On one of Baran’smoons, the black rock known as Coron, the RavenGuard established a fortress monastery from wherelittle more than a hundred of their brethren couldcontinue the struggle against remaining Ork elements.The men of Baran and the aloof Raven Guard sharedlittle contact, though the Raven Guard watched theirhuman charges closely, for they realised that such aharsh world as Baran would breed hardy stock – stockfrom which the Raven Guard might one day drawinitiates fit for their own superhuman ranks.

For decades the Siegemasters and the Raven Guardstood guard over Baran and the handful of valuablenearby worlds required for the mining of metal ores,minerals and other precious resources. The Orksremained a threat, and from time to time claimed greatsuccesses of their own, though the resoluteSiegemasters and the grimly determined Raven Guardtime and again proved themselves equal to any threat.Equal, that is, to any threat the increasingly feral Orkscould throw at them…

THE ELDAR EXODITESDuring the Fall the degeneration of the Eldar did notgo wholly without resistance. Some, the more far-sighted, began to openly criticise the laxity of theirfellow citizens, and to warn against the effect of Chaoscults. These people were mostly ignored or else treatedas narrow-minded fools and fanatics. Soon the generalcollapse of society convinced even the most resoluteamongst them that there would be no end to the reignof death and depravity. Some decided to leave the Eldarworlds, and settle new planets free of the creepingcorruption. They were the ones still untainted by thetouch of Chaos, and by now they were few.

These Eldar are known as the Exodites. Of all the Eldarrace they were uniquely far-sighted. Amongst a racenaturally indulgent and hedonistic they were reviled asdour fanatics obsessed with misery and self-denial.

In an assortment of spacecraft the Exodites abandonedthe Eldar homeworlds and upon the fringes of thegalaxy the Exodites made new homes. The worlds theysettled were savage and life was often hard for a peopleunused to physical work and self-denial.

When the final cataclysm erupted most of the Exoditeworlds were far from the psychic epicentre andsurvived. The resultant psychic implosion wiped outthe rest of the Eldar, but out on the fringes of the galaxythe Exodites were safe.

Since they were first settled the Exodite worlds havenot changed a great deal. The Craftworld Eldar regardthe Exodites as rustic and rather simple folk, vigorousand wild in a way that is quite unlike their ownintroverted societies. Craftworlders and Exoditestravel within each other’s realms, but theirdifferent mental outlook and way of lifemeans that they have their own concerns.

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THE TALONS OF BIEL-TANThe Craftworld of Biel-tan does not journey aimlesslyas it glides through space. It does not wander as alonely and frightened exile might, fleeing constantlyfrom danger, finding itself ever battered, bullied andcast out. This is not the way of Biel-tan. Biel-tan isguardian and conqueror to its people, ceaselesslypatrolling all those worlds that lie within the bounds ofits ancient route, the same route it has ploughed eversince the Fall of the Eldar ten thousand years ago. Thisis the Kingdom of Biel-tan, or so they would have itknown. Not an empire unto itself, but a great andpowerful bastion of the larger Eldar Empire as theproud and warlike ruling Court of Biel-tan see it.

As it journeys silently through the void, Rangers stillloyal to their former craftworld roam far ahead,scouting the way to those worlds which lie next uponBiel-tan’s route. Alongside their craftworld, thewarfleets of Biel-tan streak through the stars,overwhelming any resistance which might endanger orimpede the gargantuan craftworld as it sails oninexorably.

Many worlds lie upon this ancient route – worldspopulated by men, overrun by Orks, infested by crudeand primitive usurpers or else barren, uninhabited andforgotten. But no matter their fate, to the Eldar of Biel-tan these are Eldar worlds once and former, presentand future. In the eyes of Biel-tan, the young races whonow populate the galaxy are not the natural successorssome would claim them to be, springing up to fill thevoid left by an Empire which long ago betrayed,defeated and destroyed itself, but rather they aregreedy and savage usurpers with no right to take theseworlds from the Eldar. So it is that as Biel-tan soarseffortlessly through the stars its talons fall hungrilyupon the Eldar’s foes, crushing their primitive coloniesand dragging their filthy carcasses away from thebeautiful, verdant worlds of the Eldar. No matter that

Familiar landscapes remained, though the forests ranwild and uncultivated, ragged and imperfect. Rivers randirty, littered with ugly black rocks, while chokinggrasses covered the hills which Mauryon hadremembered as lush, green and fair. Mauryon’s ragewas unleashed and he plunged his Burning Spear intothe green savages that swarmed about him. The firewith which the Burning Spear raged was Mauryon’sown, the fire of rage immolating the Orks all abouthim, but he and his Aspect Warriors were few and evenin his fury Mauryon realised little good would come ofremaining amidst the slaughter. Mauryon departed viathe newly opened gate. Upon his shoulders he borethe body of the largest Ork, all the proof he wouldneed that the Eldar had been done a great injustice.

On Biel-tan, Mauryon cast the Ork’s stinking carcass tothe floor as the Court of the Young King gathered in acircle about him. Few words were spoken, none wereneeded. With a single nod of derision at the corpsebeneath him, Mauryon declared his Autarchy andthoughts turned to preparation for the coming war. Ashad happened a thousand times before, the entirecraftworld was suddenly alive with a singlemonotonous chant…

Khaine!

Khaine!

Khaine!

handful of his most faithful acolytes. Mauryon felt hisnumbers too few to risk journeying the Baran directly,and instead Ilethryr was hidden in orbit around thesilver moon of Ephos. The gate to the silver moon hadlong been barred, but Mauryon hoped that the gatebetween Ephos and the planet below might remainopen, and fortune was with him.

As predicted, the gate was closed (for none had beenable to reach it from Biel-tan), but it’s structure stillstood. All about it were carved runes of doom, frantictestimonies speaking of the last desperate Eldardefenders swept away by the greenskinned menace.These same runes barred the gate tight, sealed by thoselast brave Eldar so that the ancient webway might notbe tainted by the Ork filth. Mauryon ordered thatElasthith, a seer, a steersman, be brought up andunfasten the magics which bound the gate shut. As hedid so, he found many of the roads from the gatecrumbled and impassable, so that there was still nodirect way to Biel-tan. Yet one path remained open –the path to Baran itself, albeit by only the smallest andhumblest of gates.

A GATE UNBARRED, A FURYUNLEASHEDOn Baran, Mauryon’s rage was given a face, a shapeand a name. Hordes of wild Orks, naked or clothedonly in the skins of animals rampaged about him.

these societies have dwelled for centuries upon theseworlds, no matter that the last flame of Eldar life onthese worlds burned out millennia ago, no matter thatmany of these so-called usurpers have taken nothingwhich they did not find unused. None of this mattersto the proud Eldar of Biel-tan. The mere presence ofthese young races brings only one outcome – war. Warwith the Swordwind of Biel-tan.

And so it was that as Biel-tan drew silently through theZypher sub-sector after long centuries of absence, itsscouts ranged far ahead, abroad in all the worlds onceheld dear by the Eldar, and one by one their sorryaccounts returned to the ears of Biel-tan. World afterworld lay ruined, its people, its culture and its ancientEldar heritage swept away into nothing. Such tales areones that the Eldar of Biel-tan have had to endureoften in the millennia of their Long Winter, returningto worlds unseen in lifetimes to find them morbid anddesolate. Yet for all the familiarity of these tidings ofsorrow and despair, the Eldar resented them no less,and the fire of war burned brightly in the hearts of Biel-tan people as all the Craftworld talk turned tovengeance and reclamation.

Of the worlds still known to them, the Rangersreported that no living Eldar now survived. Yet theyspoke also of some gates within the webway barred sofirmly that they had been unable to pass, and thatbeyond these might lie worlds yet untouched, orperhaps embattled worlds where the valiant Eldar stillfought on. The Exarch Mauryon, Burning Spear of theFire Dragons, met this news with both fury anddetermination, and travelled at once to a world he hadknown as a child to see if it still endured. Taking itupon himself to unearth the fate of his people,Mauryon travelled at once to the world of Baran.

Just as the rangers had attested, no gate now remainedopen and Mauryon took instead to the DragonshipIlethryr, Chariot of Khaine, accompanied by only a

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THE SWORDWINDDESCENDS…Finding himself without the means to transportanything larger than a man via the single wraithgateopen to him, and not yet willing to reveal himself in anall-out assault from space, Mauryon was left with nochoice but to begin his war with his Aspect Warriorsalone. His entire army on foot, Mauryon and severaldozen Aspect Warriors journeyed to Baran and theSwordwind was begun.

THE GATE OF DEATHThe Gate by which Mauryon first journeyed to Baranwas known as the Gate of the Dead, the Banshee Gateor the Hag Gate, for it was this ancient gate to whichthe Exodites of this and other worlds had journeyed inorder to convey their dead to sacred barrows which laynear by.

Emerging from the Gate of the Dead, Mauryon foundthe barrows broken and defiled. Their great structureslay hidden beneath the ground, yet they containedmuch wealth and Orks have a keen scent for plunder.The great sweeping hills which formed the surface ofthese barrows had been cracked open by the Orks whonow infested them, littering this sacred place with theirown filthy greenskin mess, disturbing the spirits of theresting and causing much damage to the delicatewraithbone fronds of the world spirit which formedthe barrows’ architecture. A whole tribe had made itshome within the barrows, just as simple creaturesmight populate caves and tunnels for shelter. Thegreatest and most magnificent of the barrows, theresting place of the ancient Exodite Kings of Baran, hadbeen claimed by the tribe’s own Warlord, the bloatedBogga-Bogga.

WORLD SPIRITS OF THE EXODITESThe wraithbone core of each Craftworld acts as arepository and conductor of psychic power. It is alsothe ultimate refuge for the spirits of its people indeath. Every Exodite world has its own equivalent tothe infinity circuit which is called the world spirit.This is an immense store of psychic energy wherethe minds of dead Eldar are preserved forever.Exodites too wear a spirit stone and when they diethey are taken beneath the earth into one of thegreat tribal barrows. They are laid to rest there andtheir spirit stones are broken upon the altars of theworlds spirit.

The world spirit extends over the entire planet,stretching between the tribal barrows, stone circlesand standing stones. These important places arewhere the spirit world and the material world caninteract, where they spirits of the dead canflow together and where the living can talkto the dead if they have the power.

These bodiless spirits surged and rushed around thebarrows and cairns, their formless voices ringing outfrom the walls and pillars of their ancient tombs, callingin voices of thunder and terror, startling the Orks as thebattle raged all about. Their deathly wails stopped theOrks dead with fright and the Aspect Warriors foundtheir blows striking home effortlessly as all fightdrained from the terrified greenskins. In the GreatCairn of Kings, Bogga-bogga’s Wyrdboy, Zoombanga,began his own invocation to the spirits, casting his headupwards, shaking his primitive fetishes and totems in asavage dance before a single, barking howl from thedead shattered the Waaagh! energy building up aroundhim and dropped the Shaman lifeless to the floor.

As he watched Zoombanga assailed by the screamingEldar spirits, Bogga-bogga himself fled from thebarrow, surrounded by his Nobz and Grot attendants.Striking Scorpions of the Grieving Shrine surroundedthe Warlord at the entrance to the Great Cairn and cuthim down in an instant. With Bogga-bogga slain, thesurviving Feral Orks broke and fled, seeking refuge inthe great forest which lay in a circle all about thebarrows. Mauryon had come for more than simpleslaughter though, and with his objective in his graspthe Autarch ordered no pursuit. The Eldar abated theirattack and a silent, deathly calm once more fell overthis ancient resting place.

But Mauryon had not arrived as some reverentialliberator, returned to lay his people to rest – his wardemanded greater sacrifice than that. Mauryon calledforth the Spiritseers and Bonesingers which he hadordered accompany him from the craftworld. With themthey carried the humble beginnings of wraithbone, afew component psycho-plastics, nothing in and ofthemselves, but it was all that the powerful Seers wouldneed to begin fashioning their intricate constructs.

From the broken tombs, from the scattered bodies andthe partly buried wraithbone cores which lined thebarrows the Seers plucked all the spirit stones theycould find. The Seers muttered words of comfort andforgiveness as they went about their task, for this wassacrilege to them, an affront to the peace of death – anatrocity, some might say – but such was Mauryon’scommand.

Alongside them, the Singers’ voices boomed out as thewraithbone shells of great walking machines sprungupwards and were one by one assembled into silent,motionless ranks in front of the gloating Mauryon.Here and there the line was broken by the outline of atrue giant, twice the size of a man, towering over therest of these automatons.

Into these same husks were placed the spirit stonestaken from the barrows, and as the deathly Bansheesdanced and wailed about them, these tired andreluctant spirits were slowly coaxed from their slumberand brought once more to life inside their newwraithbone bodies.

Larger than anything Mauryon could have hoped to getout of the solitary gate available to him, now beforehim stood Wraithguard and Wraithlords. As Mauryonand his army emerged once more from the barrows, anarmy of the dead now walked alongside them…

The Eldar were far outnumbered by the Orks, but cameupon them unawares, moving swiftly up to the barrowsthemselves. Each barrow was guarded by the same Orkmob who had taken it for their den, and even with theadvantage of surprise the Eldar found resistance fierce.Orks are always ready for a fight, and bare momentsafter the Eldar revealed themselves a great shout,accompanied by a bellowing roar of Waaagh! energyswept over the landscape, rousing the Orks to battle.

The Orks rushed from the barrows, but the AspectWarriors moved swiftly and hemmed them in, chargingright up to the entrance of the barrows so that the Orkscould not pass cleanly, cutting down the greenskins asthey filtered into the narrow tunnels and archwayswhich led up from below ground. By means of cleverfeints and faked retreats, the Eldar cleverly drew theOrks to push against themselves, or else drew them toone side so that Eldar themselves could advance a littlefurther into the barrows. Each and every one of theAspect Warriors knew full well that their ultimate goallay deep within these cairns, and that no time could bewasted in reaching it.

As the Aspect Warriors hacked a way through to theBarrows, the handful of Seers who had been willing toaccompany Mauryon broke through and took theirplace within one of the newly recaptured barrows.Here they paused for some moments to read of thefame and repute of those spirits which rested here, sothat they might know them by both name andcharacter, before solemnly turning their minds tocommune with the dead. As the Seers spoke, the spiritsawoke, drawing forth from the deep and hiddenrefuges to which they had fled when first thegreenskins came.

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THE WAR GOES ON…With a swift and decisive victory under his belt,Mauryon wasted no time in persecuting his warfurther. More Aspect Warriors were brought forth fromBiel-tan, though as yet Mauryon still lacked any meansof deploying larger vehicles to aid his cause.Nonetheless, taking the ancient barrows as their camp,Mauryon divided his forces and began a program ofcleansing in battles across much of Baran.

The Barrows had been the resting place of Eldar fromall over Baran, and from other nearby worlds. Manywraithgates surrounded the barrows – avenues leadingto dozens of ancient Exodite colonies across theplanet. Mauryon’s seers unbarred these gates anddispatched forces through each of them.

Invariably, the Eldar emerged to find yet more FeralOrk tribes encamped around ancient Eldar colony’s,monuments and sacred places, knowing nothing of

The Orks, as ever, proved themselves eager for a fightand rushed forwards in great numbers as soon as theycaught the sent of the Space Marines. Moradius,however, saw little benefit in sending yet more Orksfleeing across Baran and, after a cursory skirmish,withdrew his men, leaving the Orks to bludgeon theirway across the plains as ever they had. His scoutsremained close however, hoping that whatever fate hadbefallen the Ork settlements would soon reveal itself inpursuit of these nomads.

Some days later, Moradius was once more provedshrewd. His scouts returned to report the Orks underattack and Moradius at once led his Raven Guard totheir position. Six Thunderhawk gunships skimmedrapidly over the plain, following the signal sent by theremaining scouts, though even in the short time it tookthem to arrive, the Orks were overwhelmed and slain.Instead of Orks, as Moradius and his Raven Guardemerged from his gunships they were confronted bythe Swordwind of Biel-tan.

Recognising the Eldar for the elusive opponent theytruly are, Captain Moradius ordered an immediateassault lest the Eldar simply vanish before he return.The Eldar, perhaps, had not intended to engage theImperium so soon, let alone the Space Marinesthemselves, and the Raven Guard’s first strikes tookheavy tolls.

Relying on their favoured hit-and-run tactics, the Eldarrapidly fell back, though not nearly so swiftly as theycould. Not so swiftly, more importantly, that the Raven

A FOE REVEALEDArriving on Baran, the Raven Guard chose to makeonly cursory contact with the Men of Baran and theirCommander Asaberra, choosing instead to movevirtually unknown amongst the deepest and wildestreaches of Baran, rooting out the Orks in their ownlairs, searching for the source of their sudden ferocity.They would not wait long to find it.

At a dozen sites across Baran the Raven Guard foundthe remains of Ork camps, littered with burned-outhuts and dozens of Ork carcasses. Indeed, Moradiuscould find no Ork settlement standing at all.Something, it would seem, had driven every wretchedgreenskin from their lair and sent them hurtlingagainst the fortress cities of Baran. It was quite possiblethat the Orks themselves had wrought suchdestruction, but to have done so spontaneously acrossthe entire planet seemed too organised for them.Moradius feared that something more deadly lay at itsroot.

Reconvening the scattered scouting parties, Moradiusled his hundred or so men across the Voltus Plains – agreat, windbeaten steppe where even the Orks did notsettle, but instead prowled in nomadic, predatorypacks atop boars, squiggoths and other fungalmonstrousities. After a week’s hard march, the RavenGuard at last encountered Orks – a curious kind ofrelief to Moradius. It would seem that the nomadicOrks had proven more elusive than their encampedcounterparts, and so here had yet evaded attack.

their value, but drawn to their riches nonetheless.Without hesitation Mauryon’s armies fell vengefullyupon the Orks, butchering them in devastating hit-and-run raids before vanishing once more through theancient wraithgates. Ocassionally, however, the Eldarwould emerge to find themselves greeted by thecolonies of Man, rather than Ork, and here underMauryon’s specific orders the Eldar retreated, slippingaway without ever their presence being made knownto the men of Baran.

Mauryon’s attacks caused much upheaval amongst theOrks, and whole tribes fled away from their tribalhomelands, migrating hundreds of miles across Baranbefore again finding refuge amongst the wild andforgotten places of the world where their simple feralminds felt comfortable. Some tribes survived in suchnumbers that even as they fled they invaded theterritory of rival warlords, taking land from their rivalsas their own land was taken from them. In theirhurried migrations, other Orks were flung against thecities of the Imperium, putting a great strain on Baran’sbeleaguered defenders. So it was, that even as theEldar remained unseen, war still came soon enough tothe Baran Siegemasters…

The Orks cared not who they fought and, driven fromtheir own lands, many fell more hungrily than everupon the cities of Baran. Great tides of Feral Orksswept down out of the wild places of Baran andsmashed against the fortress-cities of the Imperium. Ineach of these cities, the Baran Siegemasters struggledto repel the attackers, though the greenskins surged innumbers never before witnessed, great massed tribeswhere once they had been scattered warbands. Threecolonies were overwhelmed completely andCommander Asaberra, Governor of Baran, faced thegreatest test of his time. From his capital at Enderra,Asaberra dispatched extra regiments of Siegemasters,including the few Baran Cavalry regiments available tohim to reinforce the most distant and beleagueredcities. Some time was bought by this action, but withAsaberra’s forces barely able to defend their owncolonies, little could be done in attempting to discoverthe cause of this great and unexpected Ork assault. Allacross Baran, in a dozen fortress cities, theSiegemasters were as prisoners, trapped in defence,able only to hold tight and attempt to repel each newwave of Orks with no hope of surging forwards andstriking out for themselves.

Such tactics, as Asaberra well knew, rarely suffice forlong, and so it was with some urgency that Asaberradispatched a plea for aid to his black-armoued allies onthe dark moon of Coron…

UPON DARK WINGSPurposeful, if not truly callous, the Raven Guardshowed little haste in their response. With their ownnumbers so few, their own Captain Moradius saw littlereward in seeking to defend the cities of Baran. Moretroubling to Moradius was the sudden onslaught of theOrks, and it was to this which he turned his attention,lest the danger grow and come to pose a threat to thewider Imperium. Intent on discovering the source ofthis greenskin assault, Moradius and his Raven Guardventured once more to Baran.

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Guard would not be able to follow. A running battleraged for hours as the Raven Guard, now heavilyoutnumbering the Eldar harried them from all sides.

At last, as the Eldar’s numbers dwindled ever more,they fell back finally into the midst of a great ring ofstanding stones, ancient monuments left from a timewhen the planet had been under the Eldar’s rule. Herethe Raven Guard resolved to wipe out the Eldar armyutterly, rushing against them with their full strength. Aswith so many things, it proved to be just as the Eldarhad intended.

Amidst the standing stones, Wraithgates opened. Smallgates by the Eldar’s standards, but more than largeenough for the Aspect Warriors of Biel-tan to pass.Mauryon’s armies who had been marauding all acrossBaran now reconvened amidst the standing stones,Mauryon himself arriving to take command momentslater.

Where the Raven Guard had thought they mightsurround and annihilate the Eldar, they now foundthemselves surrounded by a foe many times their ownnumber. Even for the sturdy resistance they couldoffer, the Raven Guard survived precious few hours inthe midst of the Eldar’s circle of stone.

The Raven Guard were gone, though the Men of Baranwould know nothing of their passing, for their mindsremained utterly occupied by the ever-growing hordesof Orks which hurled themselves at the Imperialcolonies.

THE HORDES GATHERElswhere, the savage displacement of the Orks hadcreated a near uncontrollable migration amongst theGreenskins. While some battled the BaranSiegemasters, others still warred amongst themselves.Ork fell upon Ork as tribes were driven from theirhomelands and sought to conquer the lands of others,or else were butchered as they fled through theterritories of neighbouring tribes. Amidst the carnage,one wily and ambitious Ork saw his destiny awaitinghim. Snagga of the Big Teef tribe spread his own hordefar and wide, using brutal displays of power tointimidate all the newcomers, all the rampaging,migrating hordes, before offering sanctuary to any whowould fight alongside him.

Many of the first to cross Snagga’s land rebuked hisoffer, and sought instead to take his realm from him byforce, but Snagga was cunning and defeated his rivalswith ease. Soon those that came upon his bordersrecognised his might and Snagga’s horde was swelledby the new arrivals. What’s more, word of hisburgeoning Waaagh! spread across Baran, carried faron the tribal drums, Suiggoth calls and Grot tellygraffzof the Orks. Word spread of this emerging Warlord, anddozens more tribes flocked to his banner. Many hadfelt the wrath of the Eldar first hand, and joined withothers of their kind only too gladly. Now a full-blownWaaagh! surrounded Snagga-Snagga (his namelengthened in honour of his victories) and the Eldarand Imperium alike had a unified foe to fear.

This unity brought no calm to the Orks, however, itmerely galvanised their thirst for war and now an evermore fearsome opponent descended upon the poor,beleaguered Baran Siegemasters.

Snagga-snagga unleashed his horde first against the cityof Enderra, one of the oldest and largest cities onBaran, occupying one of the original landing sites ofthe Imperium’s conquest of the planet. The Feral OrkHorde descended upon the city and bludgeoned itwith a weltering mass of fire, but the walls stood firm.Snagga’s horde was vast, and easily surrounded thecity, easily overwhelming any who attempted to breakout, but he yet lacked the punch to topple the walledfortresses for which the Siegemasters were rightlyfamed. Frustated, but not yet thwarted, Snagga-snaggaretired to plot his next move.

AN ENEMY MADEThe Eldar’s war, however, went on, and with his forcesnow gathered on the plains of Baran, Mauryonunleashed his largest attack yet upon the Orks. In hisrage, however, he had not reckoned upon the sheernumber of tribes now under Snagga-snagga’scommand, and as the Swordwind fell upon theencamped Orks, Mauryon felt his first taste of defeat.

Hundreds of thousands of Orks rushed to battle as theEldar sprung their surprise assault. Falcons and WaveSerpents scythed down wave after wave of Orks withtheir opening pop-up attacks, but nothing could haltsuch a mass of Orks. The Greenskins smashed into theEldar army and slaughtered hundreds – a bitter lossMauryon could little afford. Realising his trap was toosoon sprung, Mauryon reluctantly ordered the retreat.

As the Eldar fled, Snagga-snagga sat and gloated.Things were going very well indeed.

BIGGA & BIGGALike all powerful Warlords, Snagga-snagga foundhimself surrounded by a whole host of would beadvisors (or ‘Elperz) and sycophants, all vying for hisaffection. Amongst these were the boilerboyz Wurzbagand Durrboz. Wurzbag was a traditional boilerboy, aproven master of steam technology, while Durrboz wasonce a pigdok, and so sought fame for his legenday‘grot-engine’ with which he claimed to have oncepowered a gargant by the medium of dozens ofunfortunate Grots frantically leggin’ it inside greatcaged wheels whose motion powered the Gargant.

Snagga-snagga ordered that a machine be built thatwould allow him to topple the Siegemaster’sfortifications, and set Wurzbag and Durrboz to the task.But the pair were rivalrous, and simply would notwork together. Instead the pair conspired to hold agreat contest – each would build a machine, andSnagga-snagga and the tribe would choose which wasthe greatest and would hence win the honour ofleading the assault on Enderra.

For days the pair slaved away on their creations untilboth were unveiled to the startled gasps of the tribes.Alas, however, in typical Ork fashion no one couldquite decide which was the winning Gargant – no onecould quite decide which was the biggest (as is theOrkish way of deciding all things). The suggestion was

raised that the gargants simply be named Bigga andBigga, a suggestion loved by Snagga-snagga andloathed by the competitive boilerboyz. Still, twoGargants are better than one, and with his newmachines at the head of his army, Snagga-snagga’sHorde set off once more for the city of Enderra.

FORGOTTEN PLACESAs Mauryon’s army fled their defeat at the hands ofSnagga-snagga, not all had managed to follow theirleader. Smaller bands, cut off and forced to retreataway from the main Eldar army lest they besurrounded now dashed across Baran, desperatelyseeking to find a wraithgate by which they mightreunite with the main Eldar army.

SWORDWIND • 69

THE BARAN WAR • IVIV • THE BARAN WAR

68 • SWORDWIND

Mauryon was forced to wait some days as thesescattered elements gathered at the Barrows. Last of allcame the Striking Scorpions of the Grieving Shrine.Driven far to the south in their humiliating rout, theScorpions, led by their Exarch Suerymane, hadjourneyed to an ancient Aspect Shrine, long agohidden by the savage, cloying vegetation of Baran, butknown to the Eldar by some unbreakable empathy.

Here though, disaster was found and their doomnearly met. The temple’s wraithgate was barred with aforce that the Scorpions simply could not break, and aspursuing Orks descended upon them, hope lookedlost. As the Orks attacked, the Striking Scorpions hidthemselves about the shrine, lurking deep within itsruins where they stealth might aid them and their lackof numbers not so utterly undo them.

Suerymane himself crouched within the deepest anddarkest of the shrine’s ancient rooms, and here hefound a sorry totem indeed. Scattered about the placewere the broken forms and scattered spirit stones ofhis own kind. Still and perfect, they had lain in thislonely place of dying since Baran had first fallen to theOrks centuries ago. Just as Suerymane now intended,this place must once have been the site of his ownpeople’s last stand.

THE BATTLE OF VAUL’S GATEMauryon’s war had progressed well. With an army ofGhost Warriors taken from the Exodite Barrows, theRaven Guard utterly defeated and now the PhoenixLord Karandras at his side, the Autarch’s victories weregreat, but he nonetheless remained powerless to tacklethe human colonists in their heavily fortified cities.Without his vehicles and Titans, which had so far beenunable to traverse any of the wraithgates opened byMauryon’s forward forces, his efforts would all be invain.

As far as his Rangers could ascertain, only onesubstantial wraithgate survived on Baran – Vaul’s Gate,some several leagues away over the great plain whichformed the centre of Baran’s primary continent.Mauryon led his army on a swift overland march, theEldar’s swift feet covering the distance in mere hours.Despite their fleet footedness, such a large scalemovement could never go unnoticed, and Snagga-snagga soon assembled a great horde to meet them atthe edge of the great plain, where the land breaks intoshallow bluffs and hard, earthy ground. Upon thehighest of these bluffs stood Vaul’s Gate itself, atowering Eldar monolith, fully twenty times the heightof a man.

The Orks themselves clearly possessed no idea of thetrue value of Vaul’s Gate, though its meaning to theEldar was not lost on them, and out on the left flankthe Orks clustered all about the ancient monument forno other reason than wanting to deprive their enemyof it.

The Ork line was immense, stretched out for severalmiles across the plain. At its centre stood Snagga-snagga’s twin Gargants, Bigga and Bigga. At the farright of the field, a few scattered ruins concealed the

Barely had Mauryon taken a step before he felt asurging rush of energy behind him. The Gate was openand Mauryon knew victory was his. Raising his headskyward to look back towards it, Mauryon watched theshimmering portal roll and break apart as the figures ofthree great Phantom Titans stepped forth onto the fieldof battle…

Da Biggest lasted scant moments as the three Titansunleashed a co-ordinated burst of pulsar fire. Wurzbagwas launched skywards as his gargant’s head blew offand the machine came to a halt as a smoking wreck.Under the shadow of the burning gargant, Mauryonand Snagga-snagga met in hand-to-hand combat,though only one outcome was now possible. With theOrks fleeing all around him, and buoyed utterly by thecapture of Vaul’s Gate, Mauryon was undefeatable anddrove his Burning Spear through Snagga-snagga’sstomach. The Autarch cast Snagga-snagga’s body overhis shoulder and swiftly scampered up the creakingframe of the motionless gargant above.

From atop this smoking wreck, Mauryon launched thewarlord’s body earthward in a rampant celebration ofvictory. As the slain Ork’s corpses crashed to theground, his army broke and fled, utterly defeated.

wagons and boyz. Mauryon himself rushed to the footof the gate and stood guard over the small crowd ofSeers gathered there as they frantically began therituals necessary to re-open the long sealed gate. Evenas they did so, the first thunderous blasts from theOrks’ soopa guns slammed into the gate, shaking it toits very foundations and crushing two unfortunateSeers beneath the falling rubble.

At the Gate’s centre, the portal blinked slowly into life,a streak of glowing energy running from base to peak.The portal flickered and struggled to open wider asmore and more Ork fire flew about the heads ofMauryon and his Seers. On the slope below, the fastestof the Ork mobs were already deep in hand-to-handfighting with the Scorpions and Banshees Mauryon hadordered to guard the approach.

Now Da Biggest itself arrived. Mauryon spun about ashe felt the huge shadow loom over him and looked onin horror as all about him Aspect Warriors fell to theblaze of fire from the towering Gargant. At themachine’s feet, Mauryon spotted Snagga-snaggahimself, and rushed forwards towards him, fearingnow that the only way to victory might be to slay theOrk warlord himself. There would be no such need.

handful of Rangers who had joined the army, but apartfrom this Mauryon could simply not afford to face theOrks in a pitched battle. A single decisive attack was theEldar’s only hope, and accordingly Mauryon clusteredhis own forces near the Gate. Swooping Hawks andWarp Spiders formed a thin, broken line down thefield, for Mauryon feared the Orks might surround himif he allowed his front to become too narrow. Againstsuch vast numbers of Orks, however, those Eldar in thecentre would stand little chance.

Great clouds of dust and smoke arose in the distanceas the Orks began to bully their engines to life. Theirraucous whoops and shouts rose to a cacophony as theshambling mass prepared itself for battle, but Mauryonand his army, however, were already on the move.Flocks of Swooping Hawks took to the skies, rushingheadlong at the greenskins, drawing the centre of theOrk line forward, luring them away from the lumberinggargants behind. At the last possible moment theHawks turned and soared away as one, and Mauryonunleashed his only gambit. Nightwing fighters andPhoenix bombers burst from the clouds and streakedaround the Ork army, homing in on the now isolatedgargants.

Many of the Orks turned back to defend the great warmachines, racing backwards to turn their fire on theEldar flyers, but they were too slow. The Hawksswooped back towards them again, as effortlessly asthey had turned away in the first place and unleasheda withering hale of short-range fire into the back of theOrks. Bigga fell to the first Eldar attack run. Atop theother Gargant, Wurzbag beamed with perverse pride,gloating as his rival’s machine went up in smoke.

Seeing the fight take shape in the centre, Orks fromboth flanks rushed towards the embattled gargants. Onthe right, the Ork advance stalled as the Rangersopened fire from their unseen positions amongst theruins. Several mobs floundered and broke, even beforereaching the battle, but as screeching hordes of trukksand wagons arrived to aid the surviving Gargant, aPhoenix crashed earthwards, then a second, then athird and the Eldar flyers were at last forced to speedaway from the battlefield. They had already done morethan enough.

With the Orks’ attention drawn to the centre of thefield, Mauryon saw his chance to attack the Gatedirectly. The Autarch, the Phoenix Lord Karandras andhundreds of Aspect Warriors surged forwards over theshallow bluff betweem them and Vaul’s Gate. At last theOrks found themselves able to get to grips with theenemy up close and proper, and Mauryon’s first attackwas blunted by the sheer number of greenskins.Karandras and the Aspects close by him, however,battled on and quickly fought their way through to theGate. Mauryon pushed forwards again and this timebroke through the Orks, joining Karandras and theother Aspect Warriors atop the hill, at the foot of Vaul’sGate itself.

With the Eldar flyers gone, the Orks had won the battlein the centre ground and were quickly regrouping. Thehulking figure of Da Biggest (as the Orks had hastilydubbed the surviving Gargant) rumbled towardsMauryon’s position, surrounded by a rampant mob of