Hi all here is my latest attempt at a revising one of my old Warhammer fantasy timelines. This is set in the period leading up to the End Times of OTL warhammer fantasy set in the format of extracts from various written accounts and the idea is to show how a figure like Brunel (one of my favorite inspirational figures from UK Victorian history OTL!) in the Warhammer world could kick start industrialization and the associated social and military changes. This will hopefully save the old world from Chaos! or will it?
Taken from a report submitted to the engineer’s guild of Karak Norn by Daled Blackaxe recorded by the scribe Adamiter Carom in the year 2511
My quest went well at first; the expedition of myself, Ulan Blackstrap and Raman Sedronious made good time, reaching Nuln ahead of schedule meeting up with our guides as prearranged just west of the city meeting in a tavern called the Milkmaids corner, serving the usual weak coloured water the manlings called ‘Beer’. After greeting the three scruffily dressed men who were to be our guides to Greypeak, an overpriced meal and more ‘Beer’ our party went to sleep. A bad night followed in overlarge beds made for a wood elf complete with vermin as it turns out!
The day after we entered Nuln to buy supplies and so Raman could seek final instructions from his guild masters before we all set off for the journey to reach Greypeak. After his interview Ramon looked confused and he told us that ‘this Holden has some powerful friends and enemies for such a young fellow!’ we pressed him for more information but he only replied that ‘we would find out for ourselves if the information he had been given about the place was accurate’
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Our journey on the so called ‘highway’ took less than the anticipated twelve days for a change manling engineering influenced by good Dwai know how no doubt allowed swift passage. The towns and villages we travelled through along the way were typical examples of shoddy manling work, nothing that would last half as long as the work of the most incompetent apprentice builder in the poorest Karak!
Apart from their shoddy construction we were pleasantly surprised by everyone we met on the journey, merchant, peasant or laborer, none of the stares and odd looks greeted us here as it had in Nuln when we had entered the city to buy supplies before we set off on the final leg of our journey. The thing that puzzled me at the time was that the numbers of Dwai coming this way must be so great as to render us an everyday occurrence? Was there some hidden Hold or mine nearby that we are unaware of?
The road from Nuln to Greypeak was crowded with a heavy two way traffic, consisting of heavily laden wagons (which looked somewhat more sturdy than the usual run of manling waggons) intermingled with drawn out mule trains. Intermittently we passed stall holders at the side of the road in the frequent clearings living from selling to the travelers on this unnaturally busy roadway. they hawked their wares intermingling with caravan guards, travellers and soldiers. Some of these humans disappeared into the bushes with the painted harlots who shared space with the stall holders, just like the weak malings to dally with corruption! with others swigging from ale jugs, joining in impromptu games of chance or just watching as we marched past our two pack mules following behind us, Typical manling decadence!
My human companion from the Nuln engineers guild Raman Sedronious looked oddly at this sign of haphazard inhabitation telling me that such people would usually ply their wares and services within a walled town or city rather than along a road. When I questioned him about this he replied that there must be no beastsmen or Chaos lovers nearby otherwise all we would see would be corpses! Though he did not seemed concerned at their activities just the fact of their location! This whole journey was strange searching for answers to the question who was Master Engineer Holden?
