Gotrek & Felix- the First Omnibus - William King

by Warhammer

  The remaining Kislevites raced across their front to the enemy line. More fanatics were tempted forth by the easy targets presented. Felix watched two of the whirling maniacs collide. Their chains became hopelessly intertwined as the wrecking balls hurtled around in an ever decreasing spiral till they smashed their hapless bearers between them.

  From the right there was a crash as the volley gun essayed an experimental shot. Even at this long range it cut a bloody swathe in the green line. The crossbowmen fired again, killing two of the fanatics. At this range that was good shooting. A cloud of arrows disposed of the remainder.

  ‘For Sigmar and Karl-Franz!’ The warcry went up from the Imperial line. The orcs chanted their bestial battle cries. A howling green wave broke on the steel wall of the Imperial line. A swirling melee erupted covering nearly half a league of ground.

  Felix’s keen eyes scanned the battlefield, looking for Gotrek. There! He could just see the frenzied dwarfs cutting a path of bloody ruin through the goblins towards the trolls. Gotrek’s great axe rose then fell in a bloody arc destroying everything in its path. He was causing barely less havoc than the steam tank as it rolled forward, crushing everything in its way. Around the tank men and greenskin clashed in furious conflict. The White Wolves surged into a band of bellowing orcs, sending them fleeing in utter confusion.

  Having silenced the enemy artillery the cannons were now free to wreak havoc on the rear of the enemy formations. Looking down into the howling maelstrom of conflict Felix was glad of his safe position on the hill. Down there the casualties were horrendous. Many of those who were not killed outright would die later from their wounds. Many more would live on in the half-life of the terribly maimed. Down there he could see spearmen and halberdiers breast to breast with steel-thewed orcs. In the tight press of bodies there was barely room to swing a weapon. Many would die beneath the trampling feet of their comrades as the melee swept backwards and forwards.

  Felix congratulated himself on the fact that for once he was in the right place at the right time. For once he had avoided the brutal hand-to-hand fighting. With the enemy stone throwers gone he was safe and in a position to observe the fighting. Now all that was needed was for the Imperial army to carry the day. Well, the cannons could see to that now.

  Suddenly a wail of terror went up from the nearby gunners. Felix followed the pointing hand of the gun-captain. In the sky a small dot was swiftly expanding as it descended towards them. It was the wyvern! By Sigmar, no! This couldn’t be happening.

  With a snap the wyvern opened its mighty pinions, slowing its meteoric descent. All around the gunners turned to flee in abject fear. The grey-clad wizard looked up and began to chant a spell. He was too late. The thing descended on him crushing the mage beneath its ponderous bulk.

  Too numb to move, Felix stood frozen on the spot. It grew suddenly cold as the wyvern loomed over him. He stood in the titanic shadow of those leathery wings. The musty leathery smell of the beast filled his nostrils. The creature’s long scaly neck snaked round and a head nearly as large as a man looked down on Felix. He stared upward into cold reptilian eyes. The creature gave its croaking roar and its snarl revealed teeth as large as daggers.

  By Sigmar, the thing was big. As it reared upright it was nearly five times as tall as Felix. It lashed a tail as thick as a battering ram. The whip-like crack was as loud as a musket going off. Poison dripped from the barbed stinger. As the droplets touched the ground the grass blackened and died. A long tongue, glistening with mucous, flickered out and Felix flinched.

  Enthroned on the monster’s back was the largest orc Felix had ever seen, obviously the general of this warhost. In his left hand he held a scimitar that probably weighed as much as Felix. In his right he brandished a bizarre daemon-headed staff. He glared down at Felix with yellow hate-filled eyes. Felix knew he was going to die.

  Swift as a thunderbolt the wyvern’s head snapped forward. Mighty jaws gaped. A blast of stinking breath seared Felix’s face. Instinctively he leapt backward and the jaws snapped closed right in front of his face. He was reminded of a beartrap closing. Felix turned, filled with an urge to put something big between him and the monster. Swiftly he vaulted the cannon, feeling the thing’s cold breath on his neck with every step. Now he turned at bay, knowing there was no way he could out run the monster. It was too late for that. In a futile gesture of pointless bravado, he drew his sword, determined to at least go down fighting.

  A sweep of the wyvern’s giant claw knocked the cannon over. Felix barely had time to spring clear. He fell back into a defensive posture as his fencing masters had once taught him. It was a reflex drilled into him by long hours of practice.

  ‘Now you die!’ grunted the orcish chieftain in bad Reikspiel.

  ‘Come down here and say that,’ shouted Felix with more bravery than he felt. The wyvern’s jaws gaped. Now, thought Felix. One good thrust and he could ram his blade right down the wyvern’s throat, maybe punch up through the soft inside of the jaw into the thing’s tiny brain. The beast’s death-throes would probably kill him but what else was there for him to do? He was going to die anyway.

  Everything seemed to slow down. He felt everything with utter clarity, sensed his own movements with utter precision. In the distance he could hear the cries of the embattled and the screams of the dying. The smells of blood and gunpowder and fear filled his nostrils. Cold sweat ran down his back. Any second now the thing would strike, and, like a dying scorpion stinging, Felix would strike back.

  A shadow fell on the wyvern. Mighty pinions beat the air. A white thunderbolt fell. A golden-armoured warrior struck. A titanic hammer swung in an irresistible arc. The head of the orc general was knocked clean off his shoulders. The wyvern turned, whining. A green fountain of blood spurted from the orc’s neck and the body toppled forward from its throne. With its rider’s weight gone, the wyvern bellowed once and leapt into the sky, free to seek out its mountain home.

  Felix found himself facing the Emperor Karl-Franz over the corpse of the orc general. The Emperor opened his visor and gazed down on Felix with keen, far seeing eyes.

  ‘That was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen,’ said the Emperor.

  ‘It was nothing,’ said Felix, then reaction swept through him and he fainted clean away.

  The huge red sun set over the battlefield. By its ruddy light the scene was like a picture of hell. Mauled bodies lay everywhere. Imperial soldiers heaped the corpses of dead orcs on great pyres for burning. The cries of the wounded and the dying drifted up like the pleas of damned souls. The frenzied howling of the flagellants mocked any pretence of victory. Felix passed a dying man who begged him for water. Not having any, Felix averted his eyes and walked on.

  He found Gotrek on the cold hillside. The Trollslayer was tamping down the last clods of earth on a gravesite. He didn’t look up as Felix approached, seemingly lost in his own inhuman and bitter thoughts.

  ‘Evening, manling,’ Gotrek muttered. He leaned forward on the handle of the spade and turned his head to survey the scene of the carnage. Suddenly he looked very old and very tired. He gestured to the grave with his broad right hand.

  ‘Snorri Nosebiter lies there. He killed three trolls.’ The Slayer laughed bitterly. ‘The last one fell on him.’

  ‘I met the Emperor Karl-Franz today. He saved me from the wyvern. I thought I was going to die.’

  In the distance the steam tank hauled the bodies of the barded horses from the field. Sparks flared from its chimneys, and glittered like fireflies in the gathering darkness.

  ‘We’re all going to die, manling. It’s the manner of our going that’s important.’

  ‘We won, Gotrek. The White Wolves broke the savage orcs. The cannons smashed those big goblin units. Even those flagellants played their part by taking the gobbos in the flank. Or so Eusebio told me.’

  Felix flushed. He had already decided not to mention the embarrassing fact of his fainting in front of Karl-Franz.

  ‘Another great
victory over the forces of evil,’ Gotrek said mockingly. He shook his head. The golden chain that ran from his nose to his ear jingled. ‘By Grungni, even when we win, we lose. There is no end of orcs and Chaos warriors and other enemies. One day they will sweep through the Kingdom of Dwarfs and the Empire of Men and all will end in blood and darkness.’

  ‘You’re beginning to sound like a flagellant,’ said Felix. He was still alive when he had expected to be dead. He found it hard to share the dwarf’s gloomy thoughts. ‘We won here. We turned back the orc army. The Empire is saved.’

  ‘For now, manling. For now.’

  A GOTREK & FELIX GAZETTEER

  A

  Adolphus Krieger

  A vampire. He was one of von Carstein’s most trusted minions but vanished after the battle of Hel Fenn and von Carstein’s defeat, only to resurface in Praag centuries later. Tall, dark and thin, he speaks with a noticeably foreign accent. He will also stop at nothing to get his hands on the Eye of Khemri, a deceptively powerful artefact.

  Alberich

  Prior of the Schrammel monastery.

  Albericht Kruger

  The Mutant Master. He was a mild-mannered mage who attended Altdorf University at the same time as Felix Jaeger but he has now become corrupted by the Dark Arts he practises.

  Albion

  Reputedly a land of perpetual rain and mists, very little else is actually known about it, mainly because it has always been surrounded by spells of great potency intended to ward it from the eye of outsiders.

  Aldred Keppler

  Known as ‘Fellblade’, a knight of the Order of the Fiery Heart. He journeyed to Karag Eight Peaks to retrieve the blade Karaghul.

  Aldreth

  One of the oldest servants of Teclis and his brother.

  Altdorf

  Greatest city in the Old World, Capital of the Empire, and seat of the Emperor Karl Franz II.

  Anya Nitikin

  A Kislevite woman, author of Call of the South, said to be one of the finest writers in the Empire. She is taking her younger sister Talia to the Kingdom of the Dragon searching for a cure for her out-of-control behaviour.

  Arek Daemonclaw

  A formidable Chaos Warrior who has succeeded in uniting the four different factions of the Dark Powers to march down from the Chaos Wastes and lay siege to Praag. He is superstrong, superfast and near invulnerable.

  Axe of the Runemasters

  Also known as the Axe of Valek. An ancient artefact of immense power, previously wielded only by the High Runemasters of Karag Dum.

  B

  Baldurach

  A member of the Council of Truthsayers in Albion.

  Barak Varr

  ‘Torrent Gate’, the dwarf port lying on the mouth of Blood River. Being not only a lowland fortress but a haven for ocean-going vessels, more traditional dwarfs consider the locals a little touched.

  Belegar

  Nominal ruler of Karag Eight Peaks, he led the expedition to reclaim the lost stronghold.

  Bjorni Bjornsson

  Bjorni is a squat, muscular, repulsively ugly dwarf with a gruesome collection of warts on his face and a particularly huge and hairy one right on the end of his nose. He is crude, lewd and tells some exceptionally tall tales about his sexual conquests, though admittedly he does enjoy surprising success with women, a fact which never ceases to amaze Felix Jaeger. He is first encountered by Ulrika at Karak Kadrin and introduces himself by propositioning her. Though she rejects him, he joins the party on their quest anyway and is one of the seven slayers who go to confront the dragon Skjalandir in its lair.

  Black Coach

  Unmarked coach that travels the Bögenhafen road on Geheimnisnacht, said to be driven by daemons.

  Blind Pig, The

  A tavern on Commerce Street, Nuln, owned by Heinz. Gotrek and Felix were employed as bouncers and it is here that the gutter runners stage their daring attack.

  Blutdorf

  A small and particularly squalid village located between Fredericksburg and Nuln.

  Blutdorf Keep

  Rundown castle overlooking Blutdorf, inhabited by the wizard Albericht Kruger.

  Boneripper

  Thanquol obtains a succession of unfortunate rat-ogre bodyguards from Clan Moulder, at great cost. Finally, he has a mechanical version constructed by a warlock-engineer, but even this proves unreliable.

  Borek the Scholar

  Also known as Borek Forkbeard because he has a huge forked beard which reaches all the way to the floor before being looped back up into his belt

  He is the ancient dwarf scholar who organises an expedition to the Chaos Wastes to try and find the lost citadel of Karag Dum. It was Borek and his brother Vareg, who brought the last message from Karag Dum before it was swallowed by the Wastes, and though he tried to return at the time, the first mission failed and he was one of only three survivors.

  Bounty Bay

  Location where the combined fleets of Estalia finally defeated Redhand’s pirate fleet. Redhand is believed to have escaped.

  Bran Mac Kerog

  The bear-like chieftain of the mountain men of Carn Mallog whose main passion seems to be greed.

  Brocht

  Huge circular stone tower.

  Broken Pickaxe, The

  Inn situated in the small town of Gelt. Gotrek, Felix and their party stay there en route to the Dragon Mountain.

  C

  Cabbage

  A gnoblar in the service of the ogre Gutsnorter.

  Captain Ahabsson

  Captain of the Storm Hammer. He has a hook to replace his lost hand, and a letter of marque from Barak Varr.

  Carn Mallog

  A settlement of brochts on a ridge top and home to Bran Mac Kerog’s mountain men. They are massive structures designed to resist siege and are engraved with runes similar to the tattoo patterns which adorn the faces of the warriors.

  Caspian Rodor

  Former grandmaster of the Order of the Black Bear. When he died, Rodor had his body sealed up in a cask of Wynters XVI. On the anniversary of his death, it became the tradition for every man in the order to take a ceremonial drink from his grave-cask.

  Cauldron of a Thousand Poxes

  A hideously powerful artefact for brewing diseases. Reputedly stolen from a temple of the Plague God, Nurgle and reconsecrated to the service of the Horned Rat.

  Chang Squik

  Of Clan Eshin, the assassins. Trained for years in the delivery of silent death. 3rd Degree adept in the way of the Crimson Talon and black belt in the Path of the Deadly Paw. Pupil of the infamous skaven assassin, Deathmaster Snikch.

  Chaos Wastes

  A hellish land to the far north beyond Kislev and Blackblood Pass. The armies of the four ruinous powers of Chaos reside there.

  Count Andriev

  Ulrika’s distant cousin, a collector of antiques and curiosities. He hires the slayer and his companions to protect his collection and in particular, the Eye of Khemri.

  Countess Gabriella of Nachthafen

  A beautiful woman of indeterminate age. Sister-in-law to Rudgar. She also appears to have a mysterious connection to Krieger.

  Count Hrothgar

  Nobleman and member of the Order. He wants the Children of Ulric dead.

  Crannog Mere

  A strange floating village built in the middle of a lake. The somewhat primitive houses appear to be either on stilts or situated atop small artificial islands and are linked by causeways of mud and logs. The only way of getting out to them is by way of a narrow, winding causeway, cunningly concealed just below the waterline so that it can only be seen from close at hand.

  Culum

  A massive and extremely well muscled Albion tribesman who challenges Gotrek to an arm wrestling competition. He is related to Murdo MacBaldoch in some way and married to Klara.

  Cult of Slayers

  Dwarf cult which has its spiritual home in Karak Kadrin, where the Shrine of Grimnir is located.

  D

&
nbsp; Darkstone Ring

  Stone circle lying between Blutroch and the Standing Stones Inn, to the north of the Bögenhafen road.

  Detlef Sierck

  Greatest playwright in the Empire, and known associate of the vampire Genevieve.

  Dieter

  A stern, grey-haired man, who looks after the von Diehl entourage. He employs Gotrek and Felix as mercenaries.

  Dog and Donkey, The

  A tavern in Guntersbad, and the scene of Gotrek and Snorri’s epic drinking contest.

  Dragon Crag

  Another name for Karak Azgal.

  Dragon Mountain

  Under this peak, in an extensive cave system, is where the dragon Skjalandir has made his home.

  Dragon Vale

  The valley leading to the Dragon Mountain, which has been devastated by Skjalandir since it has made its home there.

  Drakenhof Castle

  A huge castle in Sylvania, it is said to be built on a particularly ill-omened site, a nexus of terrible dark energies, and is a sacred place to the Arisen.

  Drexler, Doktor

  A physician and scholar in Nuln. He studied medicine in Kah Sabar, Araby. Felix is referred to him by his brother when he starts displaying what could be possible symptoms of the Plague.

  E

  Echter

  A witch hunter Thanquol locks horns with when his mind is temporarily trapped in Boneripper’s body.

  Elissa

  Barmaid at the Blind Pig in Nuln and Felix’s love interest for awhile.

  Emperor’s Griffon

  Tavern in the Human quarter of Karak Kadrin.

  Enrik Kozinski

  The Duke of Praag. A middle-aged man with greying hair, his tendency to see the works of Chaos around him has led to rumours that he shares his father’s insanity. His curt manner and fiery temperament belie a gentle and caring manner.

  Eye of Khemri