Stormward Front
| Conflict | Great Rift | |
| Date | ???.M42 | |
| Location | Örgvayr region | |
| Outcome | Successful Squat withdrawal wider campaign ongoing | |
| | ||
| Leagues of Votann | Forces of Chaos | Imperium[2a] |
| | ||
| Kâhl Ûthar Kâhl Hynnvyr Präk[2b] Kâhl Ymmâ the Stoic[2b] Voidmaster Hèmmyk Kâhl Svêkh Thúrkann Grimnyr Khôhn(KIA) Nôkh |
Chaos Lord Hakatar (KIA) Chaos Lord Urthak Skullripper |
Unknown |
| | ||
| Several Oathbands Kindred of Vôrtun[2a] |
World Eaters elements The Purge elements |
Unknown |
| | ||
| Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
The Stormward Front is a war being waged by the Leagues of Votann, the Forces of Chaos, and recently the Imperium.[1][2a]
History
The emergence of the Great Rift shock the Leagues of Votann to their foundations. During this time of great calamity, the Kin refused to give the Great Rift an overarching name, believing it would lend further superstitious menace to it. They choose instead to name the greatest of the component Warp storms that have opened within the Galactic Core, treating each as a separate peril. One such raging maelstrom opened up in the northeastern fringes of the Greater Thurian League and was soon named Örgvayr or "The Ogre".[1]
As the anomaly opened, the Void Strider and Låkhryr's Kindred were swallowed up. A ragged flotilla of refugee ships soon limped from the fringes of the Storm days after its emergence, their passengers telling of Holds dissolving into madness and overrun by Daemons. Close on their heels came Chaos warfleets, falling upon the Greater Thurian Systems bordering the storm zone. As more Chaos worshipers poured out of the Storm by the day, it became clear that a new terrible threat had emerged to the Greater Thurian League.[1]
Those Kindreds whose Holds lay directly in the invaders path were faced with an option to hold their ground, or fall back in the face of a growing enemy. The Kindred of the Deeprock, Vortun, Khald's Star Breaker, and Crimson-Two all elected to hold fast, while the Grimnyr interfaced in their Fanes with the Greater Thurian Ancestor Core to ask them to communicate their plight to the wider League. Swift merchant craft and scouts hips plunged into the Warp, bearing the same messages to neighbouring Kindreds. Those facing the invasion would stand firm until reinforcements arrived.[1]
By a stroke of good fortune, Kahl Ûthar the Destined had recently returned to Obsyd Gate, Hold of his own Kindred of Vôrtun. Uthar convinced the Kindred of Vôrtun Hearthspake that they could not afford to simply sit behind their defences and await the enemy attack. The voice of the Destined carried great weight amongst his Kindreds, and the Kin mustered a Kinhost into a number of Oathbands. Some would remain to garrison Obsyd Gate, while the rest would sally forth under the command of Uthar and other prominent heroes to launch counterattacks. Their role would be to slow the enemy wherever they could, evacuate all resources and Kin, and destroy any facility they could not rescue lest it fall into the hands of the enemy.[1]
Uthar's Oathband deployed to the outlying world of Törg, a hostile mass of jagged stone, exposed magma veins, and super-volcanoes. Several immense Chaos warships had already settled into the world's orbit and disgorged warbands of Chaos Space Marines of The Purge and World Eaters, overrunning the worlds void docks and cutting off bands of Miners within their harvester fortresses. Uthar quickly formulated a battle plan and set his forces into motion without delay.[1]
In the void, Uthar's ships under the command of Voidmaster Hèmmyk engaged Chaos vessels, utilizing mighty Conversion Beam batteries and salvos of Drill Torpedoes which mauled the Grand Cruiser Abomination and forced other Chaos ships to break off orbital bombardment and respond. Hèmmyk coordination her small but potent fleet, fending off each Chaos assault and scoring heavier losses than she took.[1]
Meanwhile, Nôkh's Hernkyn Pioneer bands, supported by light gunships and Sagitaur ATVs, swept through the high passes of the Fumarok Range to attack the World Eaters from the rear. They launched swift hit-and-run strikes, using their Pan Spectral Scanners to maintain a fix on their enemies amidst the toxic murk. Goaded into action, the World Eaters Berzerkers broke off their assault on Harvester Fortress Five and pursued the Kin into the hazardous passes.[1]
Uthar next separated his forces into several smaller Oathbands, launching a massive drop offensive into the Shatterfields. Uthar himself led an armoured spearhead against the World Eaters Lord Hakatar. Kahl Svêkh Thúrkann and her oathband met The Purge head-on. As orbital fire from both sides rained down, the two battles erupted into a brutal melee. While the foe was engaged to the north, Grimnyr Khôhn led an elite force of Einhyr and Hearthkyn to evacuate the Cthonians at Harvester Fortresses Two, Three, and Four. Guildkin and great quantities of raw materials were loaded aboard Hekaton Land Fortresses and the armoured carriages they drew behind them. Sensing their prey escaping, Urthak Skullripper led a massed teleport assault of World Eaters Terminators that cut off the Grimnyr and her bodyguards off, even as Kin forces were pulling out. Though many Cthonian Beserks turned back to hurl themselves into the fight, the Living Ancestor could not be rescued. The surviving Cthonians and many of the Hearthkyn subsequently formed a Grudgeband to take vengeance upon Urthak Skullripper.[1]
At the same time, Uthar met Lord Hakatar upon the stone span bridging the Chasm of Embers. The two warlords battled back and forth along the crumbling expanse as their warriors fought and died around them. Wounded but unbowed, Uthar at last wrong-footed his foe and took off Hakatar's right leg with a sweep and threw him into the flames below. After several hours of rapid armoured warfare, and with the vast majority of Kin assets ferried up to waiting ships, Uthar commanded a full retreat as the Khornate hordes howled accusations of cowardice. The Kin fell back in good order, with Voidmaster Hèmmyk giving the enemy a finally devastating volley to scatter their formations before commanding their ships to move into the Warp.[1]
The tragic death of Grimnyr Khôhn aside, the offensive against Chaos proved successful. However the wider warzone is still becoming more fraught and violent by the hour, and great battles lay ahead for the Greater Thurian League.[1]
Recently due to the Warp Storm, Kin of the Greater Thurian League have continued a westward migration to claim new worlds and purge territories of Chaos forces. This has brought them into the Imperial Marsalis and Sepulchor Sectors. The response from Imperial officials to this encroachment has been a panicked zealotry, and they have launched furious counterattacks to try and drive the Kin back.[2a]
