The Black Gulf Campaign – Part II: Red Sails at Dawn

 

The Black Gulf Campaign – Part II: Red Sails at Dawn

“The dead hold the river... but not without a fight.”

 

The dreaded warship The Carrion was spotted moored near the town of Matorea, anchored in a misty inlet along the Tana Dance River. Its decks groaned with treasure, its perimeter guarded by undead marines and cursed cannons. At its prow stood Fleet Captain Mario, overseeing final preparations to follow his master, Fleet Admiral Vincenzo Gambi, deeper inland. But just as the last crates were loaded, the warhorns of the Anti-Piracy Alliance (APA) sounded through the morning fog.

 

 

 

From the western horizon, warriors surged—dour dwarves, howling undead, scaled lizardmen, chariot-riding elves, madcap goblins, and skittering skaven. What should have been a swift assault descended into bloody chaos. The wilderness betrayed them. Dwarves sank in quicksand. The forces of Ghoulstone Keep blundered into a Garden of Nurgle, unleashing toxic spores. Giant Chaos Toads devoured Lizardmen alive. A shambling hulk emerged to challenge the goblins. And on the northern flank, the Skaven collided with Montagna, the Necrofex Colossus.

 

Despite the carnage, the APA pressed forward. Elves drove back undead hounds and cut a path through pirate lines. Goblins overwhelmed the hulk, while the Lizardmen regrouped and struck with precision. The Carrion’s cannons thundered, cutting down warriors from afar. Yet the alliance endured—scattered, bloodied, but relentless.

 

Tragedy struck when the vampire countess of Ghoulstone Keep met an unholy end at the hands of a Nurgle-possessed outhouse, of all things. Her necromancer, fueled by grief and fury, led a final push against the Carrion. The elves, though battered, continued their assault. The goblin leader, lured by a trapped treasure cache, was vaporized. Montagna took damage, but remained standing.

 

By day’s end, the undead defenders lay in ruin. The necromancer claimed the Carrion. Fleet Captain Mario and Gunnery Wight Luigi, however, escaped—bribing goblins and skaven alike to ensure their safe passage through the wilderness and back to Gambi.

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Aftermath

The APA uncovered the true reason for Gambi’s presence: he was searching for the tomb of the long-dead vampire queen known as the Crimson Countess. Now it seems he’s found it—and has begun the work of recovering her remains.

The APA rallies reinforcements. Gambi must be stopped at all costs. But with factions already splintering, allies disappearing, and rumors of betrayal spreading like wildfire… the war for the Black Gulf has only just begun.