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Beneath the Rust – Extract

A Black Library Publication

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Beneath the Rust

Graeme Lyon

The Rusted Wastes stretched out before Borri Kraglan.

The name was appropriate. The landscape was the colour of rusted iron, something that made Borri instinctively uneasy. No self-respecting duardin, particularly a Kharadron of Barak-Nar, would ever allow rust to mar any of their equipment. The reason for the colouring had become clear as soon as Borri and her fellow endrinriggers had started to excavate the area.

In the realm of Chamon, metal infused everything in one way or another. There were forests of silver trees that shed golden leaves in the autumn. There were oceans of mercury and molten lead. Further out from the realmsphere’s core, where the magic was wilder and the laws of nature more malleable, great creatures of living metal stalked the landscape like technological marvels of a bygone age. Here, in the Rusted Wastes, the ground itself was like solid iron.

That was what made their discovery all the more perplexing.

‘You had no idea this was here?’ she asked her companion, looking up at the impassive mask he wore.

‘None,’ replied Ferram Drakesbane, shrugging. As he did, the great golden frames on his back stretched, and wings of the purest light briefly flared, haloing his armoured form. ‘I would not have thought the daemon-worshippers capable of such a feat.’

‘We can’t be sure it was them,’ said Borri. ‘It was fairly deep beneath what used to be their camp.’

The Kharadron Overlords had retrofitted a drill cannon from one of their sky-vessels into an excavation tool – much to the consternation of the ship’s captain – and used it to begin digging in the area the Stormcast Eternals of the Sigmarite Brotherhood wished to build their Stormkeep. To their surprise, they had been beaten to it. Beneath a deep layer of ironearth, they had broken through into an existing tunnel, nearly losing the drill and its operator in the process.

‘How far down does it go?’ Drakesbane asked.

‘Far,’ Borri replied. We sent some arkanaut privateers down to see if it was a limited space. They say the tunnels reach a huge shaft that goes down a considerable way.’

‘Can it be filled? Or covered and ignored?’

‘Probably…’ Borri mused. ‘We can certainly cap it and cover it, and work the foundations on top of what’s there. But my worry would be why it’s there. Did the tribe who lived here build these tunnels? Were they there already? And in either case, they must have a purpose. They’re definitely artificial. You can see from the–’

The Knight-Venator held up a hand. ‘I trust your skills, my friend. Now I must trust to mine. I will lead an expedition into the tunnels and discover their purpose.’

‘Aye, that sounds like a plan,’ Borri said. ‘Will ye be needing a wee hand down there? I mean, you Stormcasts are good in a fight and all, but you don’t know tunnels like a duardin.’

‘Have you spent much time in tunnels, my friend?’ Drakesbane asked, amusement behind his words. ‘I wouldn’t think there are many in the wide skies of the realms.’

‘Aye, well, maybe we’re not quite as used to tunnels as some of our distant kin, but still. A duardin is a duardin.’

Drakesbane nodded slowly. ‘And what payment will your people expect for this service, Borri Kraglan?’

Borri cleared her throat. Under the dictates of the Kharadron Code, she could, and almost certainly should, ask for remuneration for such a potentially perilous task. The Admirals’ Council back on Barak-Nar had been very clear that this entire expedition was about forging relations with the Sigmarite Brotherhood. Still, it never hurt to push for a little more.

The Stormcast Eternals had appeared across the Mortal Realms in recent decades, bringing the wrath of the God-King Sigmar to those who followed the Dark Gods of Chaos. They had fought the Realmgate Wars, dealing the so-called Everchosen a blow that had sent him back to his infernal fortress to lick his wounds. And more importantly, they had opened near-infinite new avenues for trade, and resources that the Kharadron Overlords could exploit.

The Sigmarite Brotherhood had chosen to situate themselves here, on the shores of the Stratis Skull, where lines of power apparently converged. From here, the constellations of Azyr, the Celestial Realm, could be most clearly seen in the night sky. Drakesbane had explained that they were used for the divinations of the Stormcasts’ Lord-Ordinators. They were going to be a new power in the region, and the Kharadron sky-port that allied most closely with them would reap great rewards. Barak-Nar had been quickest off the mark, offering resources and expertise to the Sigmarite Brotherhood in exchange for future favour – as well as a hefty retainer in precious substances. They had a reputation to maintain, after all.

‘I think this would necessitate an amendment to the existing agreement,’ she said at length. ‘An extra twenty per cent on the payment should suffice. Besides, who knows what trouble you might get into down there?’

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A Black Library Publication

First published in the Age of Sigmar anthology Oaths & Conquests in Great Britain in 2020.
This eBook edition published in 2020 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd, Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.

Produced by Games Workshop in Nottingham.
Cover illustration by Dave Gallagher.

Beneath the Rust © Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2019. Beneath the Rust, GW, Games Workshop, Black Library, Warhammer, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Stormcast Eternals, and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, creatures, races, vehicles, locations, weapons, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © Games Workshop Limited, variably registered around the world.
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ISBN: 978-1-78999-343-1

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