NBR 40ss Perdita V Lillith

[Herbert West]

Hope. If ever a town was named in irony this was it. A dust swathed way station, built to supply the nearby mines. A den of charlatans, outlaws and harlots all aiming to relieve the workers of their hard earned scrip. That was before the Neverborn came. Before 200 of the most vicious settlers of Malifaux disappeared overnight. The former convicts that made up the population of Hope were never going to be missed by the Guild; but someone had to keep the supplies running out to the stone pits. The guild needed someone to sweep the area clean of Neverborn. There was only one family they could call.

40 SS Perdita vs Lillith

Perdita – Stake a Claim

Francisco

Santiago

Papa Loco

Peacekeeper

Nino

Guild Austringer

Lilith – Assassinate

Mature Nephilim

Young Nephilim x 2

Terror Tot Nephilim x 3

Black Blood Shaman

Primordial Magic

Perdita gazed out from under the wide brim of her hat. A general store to her right still had benches of goods undisturbed on the boardwalk. Away to her left the saloon doors stood open and a hotel across the square was eerily still. In the main square there were signs of hasty fortification. A redoubt of wagons, barrels and crates reinforced a corral. If there was to be any clue to what had happened it would be here. At an unspoken word the family swung into action. Santiago crashed through the door of the general store, twin peacebringers sweeping for targets. Nino scaled onto the roof of the store taking up position behind the sign. The mechanical peacekeeper that the Guild had assigned to them lumbered down the street towards the square accompanied by the capering form of Papa. Francisco advanced more cautiously, shadowing Perdita as she moved towards the saloon. The austringer released his raptor in a sweep above the buildings searching for any sign of life.

The Black Blood shaman looked up from the smoking crucible, ‘It is destroyed,’ he whispered. Lillith nodded with satisfaction. The human vermin had no concept of the danger this relic had posed. Dug out from the nearby crypts the Reanimator could have unleashed a plague of undead. As usual the humans had tried using the discovery for tawdry profit. If Lillith hadn’t stopped the attempts to hawk the artefact it would probably now be in the hands of a vile resurrectionist. With the bulk of her force sated on blood Lillith had remained behind with a few loyal minions to ensure the relics destruction. Now all that remained was to withdraw before the humans returned. The sound of mechanical footfalls signalled the return of the vermin, Lillith shifted her perception to gaze through the shoddy man made hotel. Her eyes narrowed and a low hiss escaped her lips as she spied the distinctive silhouette of Perdita: ‘Neverborn hunters,’ she spat. With a mental pulse she sent her brood scurrying to take up position. A swarm of terror tots dashed out from a nearby cactus grove, heading towards the saloon. A larger Nephilim spread its wings and leapt atop the hotel to perch gargoyle like staring out over the square. A snake like demon composed of raw magic, writhed mystical patterns in the dust; of a sudden a forest of unnatural trees sprung up in the middle of the main road. With a stone shattering bellow a gigantic demon grabbed hold of the Black Blood shaman and flew towards the enemy.

Turn one – Everyone moves into position. Nino climbs on top of the general store. Lillith moves into the hotel.

Lillith reached out with her mind’s eye. Detecting the presence of the Ortega sniper she tapped the inherent magic of Malifaux and pulled him through the Aether. The astonished Nino found himself materialising next to the towering Nephilim beast. With a flurry of claws the hapless youth was dispatched whilst the gleeful shaman soaked his blood from the air. The Austringer was horrified to see Nino’s form dissolve to be replaced by a twisting spirit; he hurled his raptor in to attack but had little effect on the ethereal form. The Peace keeper rumbled forwards, intent on pushing through the newly spawned woods. Perdita strode towards the tiny Nephilim as Francisco dashed back towards Nino’s suddenly vacant position. The magical totem slipped off of the roof trying to avoid the vengeful guns of the Ortega family. With a crash Santiago barged through the back door of the store and obliterated the spirit in a hail of lead.

Turn two – Lillith casts transposition on Nino and the Primordial Magic. Nino is killed by the Mature Nephilim. The Black Blood Shaman gains a blood counter for blood in the air, then juices Nino’s corpse. Santiago kills the Primordial Magic.

Shouting vengeance for his fallen nephew Papa Loco charges towards the Nephilim. Attempting to isolate her enemies Lillith reaches into the Aether; Papa Loco begins to dissolve as his form is shifted but an unexpected burst of resistance from the Austringer holds the Ortega in place. Frustrated Lillith stamped her foot, a mini earthquake driving back Papa and the Peacekeeper. The terror tots realise the gun toting mad woman who hunts their kind is bearing down on them; seriously outclassed they turn to flee. Perdita glides forward and coolly levels her pistol on their retreating forms, one Nephilim dissolving into a puddle of ichor. With a screech the young Nephilim on the hotel roof swooped down on Papa Loco. However the capering madman proves hard to grab hold of as he easily avoids its attacks. Frothing madly, Papa strikes the Nephilim with a stick of dynamite, wounding himself in the process. The Black Blood Shaman shrieks inhuman words in a language redolent with evil. A nearby young Nephilim grows into a hulking form and strides into the mystical forest to support its brethren. Francisco moves up to assist his papa.

Turn Three- Lillith tries to cast transposition on the Austringer and Papa. Even with a spirit stone she fails to get a high enough cast to challenge the Austringer’s resist role. One of the Young Nephilim grows into a Mature Nephilim. The second Young Nephilim uses diving charge on Papa Loco but fails to hit with either of its attacks.

With a victorious shriek the young Nephilim flayed the flesh from Papa Loco; the cry of victory turned to one of shock as the old man let go his final stick of dynamite immolating his opponent and seriously wounding the newly matured Nephilim and Francisco. Attempting to finish off the wounded beast the Peacekeeper levelled its harpoon gun. However the mystically shifting trees shrouding the Nephilim confused its logic engines and it sunk into a state of paralysis. Enraged by its wounds the Nephilim beast charged out of the forest into the malfunctioning construct a series of heavy blows scoring the armour encasing the Peaceskeeper. The second Mature Nephilim leapt over the building and descended on the Austringer who had moved up to assist the badly wounded Francisco. The Red Mist that remained from Papa’s explosion provided sustenance for the Shaman as he strode forwards. The Shaman injected a small amount of the blood into the scorched Nephilim ahead of it sealing up its wounds, then with a wicked flick of his knife he cut a vein in the arm of the beast directing a spray of blood onto Francisco. Francisco screamed as he fell to the ground his features ravaged by the acidic qualities of the black blood. Perdita, seeing the tiny beasts fleeing before her headed back towards the main fight.

Turn Four – The Young Nephilim gets severe damage and flay on Papa killing him. Papa’s death explosion kills the Young Nephilim and does five wounds on the Mature and Francisco, leaving Francisco on one wound. The Peacekeeper tries targeting the Mature Nephilim but the negative flip for cover results in a malfunction. The mature charges the Peacekeeper but does little damage. The second mature charges the Austringer but misses. The black blood shaman retrieves corpse counters from Papa’s explosive end, heals the Mature then inflicts two wounds on the Mature to kill Francisco with spill black blood. The Lillith player forgets to activate her!

Winding back its mechanical claws the Peacekeeper unleashed a flurry of blades on its opponent, felling the Mature Nephilim. The acidic blood hissing on its carapace the Peacekeeper looked around for its next opponent. With a piercing cry a feminine form charged through the door of the hotel, swinging her great sword in a wide arc Lillith cleaved into the construct shattering the soul stone that powered it. The Austringer stepped away from the towering demon facing him, his raptor distracting it long enough for him to disengage. He dived to the side as he heard a shouted `Vamos’ from behind. Rapid fire from Santiago’s pistols tore into the Mature Nephilim sending it crashing to the ground. Shocked by the demise of his brethren the Nephilim shaman retreated towards the cowering Terror Tots hoping to mature them. Perdita serenely surveyed the carnage around her; Santiago’s frenzied firing could not drown out the war cry of Lillith as she exulted in the defeat of her foes. Recognising the leader of her enemies she calmly levelled her pistol blowing a chunk out of the brood mothers shoulder.

Turn Five – Peace Keeper kills Mature Nephilim, Lillith kills Peacekeeper. Austinger disengages from the seconfd Mature Nephilim and wounds it with a raptor attack. He then uses ‘deliver orders’ to activate Santiago who kills it with ‘rapid fire’.

Lillith looked up shocked as she felt the sting of Perdita’s bullets. The Ortega leader showed no emotion as she continued to pump bullets into her foe. Reeling under the impact Lillith pulled the fabric of Malifaux around her like a cloak and disappeared into the Aether leaving the field in the hands of her enemies.

Turn six – Perdita gets the initiative and pumps 3 shots into Lillith, easily eliminating her. Reduced to a black blood shaman and two terror tots the Neverborn concede the game.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Wonderful read.

[M_Ruckuss]

Enjoyed that, great recount!!!