The Storm of Chaos had finally passed! Or at least it appeared so for the people of the little Middenland town called Untergard. Two months before they had been receiving more and more reinforcements from the Imperial Army as the attacks from bands of Mutants and Beastmen got more frequent. It was clear that the minions of Chaos wanted the safe passage through the River Taub that the town bridge guaranteed.
Then Chaos finally hit hard. The warhorde lead by the infamous Bestman Lord Khazrak One-Eye made a surprise night time attack against the town. They came from the eastern side of the river, breaking the town walls and devastating everything. The defenders rallied at the bridge and the battle lasted for nine days. The eastern part of town turned to ruins and all seemed close to doom when the enemies lost their persistency. As the siege of Middenheim started in the north, the tactical position Untergard represented lost its appeal. So Khazrak left with it's followers to participate in that greater battle.
Having lost many to the forces of Chaos, the town's defendants were relieved that they had endured this damned probation. And they actually managed to hold out their foe, so the bridge and most of the town's innocent people still lived.
Getting more and more assured that the danger had really left this parts of Middenland, the contingency of Imperial Troops located in Untergard started to head north to help in the Battle of Middenheim. One month after the end of the town's siege, there were few soldiers still located there, and those were the most injured in the battle.
Among these soldiers were some outsiders who had a large participation in the town's defence. Chades Knigway, a Reiklander Verenean Initiate who had the strange disposition of studying Chaos war tactics to enlighten the Empire about it's ways and thus be better prepared to fight it in it's many forms. Thorne, a young human hunter from the region, who used to live deep in the Drakwald with his family and related people, until the strengthening creatures that dwelled there made they run from their homes, getting separated in the process. And Magnus “Nightwalker”, a Middenland Roadwarden who had helped a Middenheim group of soldiers get to Untergard as reinforcements. Being strange to the people of the town, they had forged bonds of friendship among themselves as they helped each other live through the ugly fights of the battle.
In charge of Untergard was Watch Captain Gerhard Schiller, for the town remained in martial law. He was one of the few native soldiers, and the high ranking survivor that remained. Around his 50s, Captain Schiller was much trusted among the townsfolk, being the greatest responsible for their endured defence, for he was the one who organized the common people to defend themselves. Being a just man and capable leader, even if a rough one, Captain Schiller had the respect of the three outsiders as well. And they had his gratitude. So he let the stay at the Watch headquarters, a converted substantial warehouse with strengthened doors and windows. The Watch Captain himself made the second floor of the warehouse as his living quarters.
Only the Verenean Initiate Chades declined the Captain's offer. That because he had another one that he felt could not be diplomatically negated. Chades was a tough man, almost a military type, what was uncommon among Verena followers (and, any Middenlander would add, among Reiklanders). She is the Goddess of Knowledge and Justice, after all. What is singular about this Initiate is the strangeness of the Call of Knowledge that he answers. That of a Chaos researcher, a war observer… and then, a Chaos foe.
So, being a religious servant, Chades had another invitation. It so happened that the town's Priest was another Reiklander. His name was Father Dietrich, and he was Sigmarite. He had arrived at Untergard not long after the end of the big battle, for his predecessor had been killed in that bloodshed, and so his Church sent him to guide the masses. Being the only outsider except for the three, he had yet to make his place among the townsfolk. In a land in which the people dedicated themselves so much to Ulric, a Sigmarite Priest did not find the same fast prestige and adorability, even if they were still respected. Untergard was almost an exception to this, for it had known a Sigmarite Priest, and the only Priest of the small town, for decades. But then, he was a local.
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