The Quest for Power

The Quest for Power, also known as the Coming Storm, was a lengthy campaign following Warhead's rise to power in Northeros and allying with the Immortals. The goal of the campaign was to collect pieces of a long-forgotten Majistik artefact, which when reassembled, could be used as a device to unleash powers stored by the prismatic crystal.

The prismatic crystal was created by the Majistik during the War of Unification as a source of immense magikal power if needed. Afterwards they hid it along with the components of the device that was used to charge up the crystal to various places within Northeros. This was the first large-scale event that affected all warring sides of Northeros.

The Undead learned the existence of the artifacts via their leader, Warhead, who had a sudden vision which turned out to be Malekim's memory: this revealed that the original intent of Malekim going rogue was to acquire said crystal for himself. The Imperial forces were warned about the artifacts by Majisto the Blue, the wizard who tried to halt his treacherous brother but failed. Now he wanted to put an end to the chain of events before they went out of hand. The Orks got involved by nothing else but sheer luck initially.

Act 1 - Power Unlimited

The battle for the first artifact component came soon. Undead, ork and Imperial forces clashed for the power generator piece of the majistik machine, which could provide unlimited energy by itself once activated, but without a control mechanism, it would let loose the excess power in the form of explosions. Deadlock led the undead charge along with Ezra the Corrupted, while the imperial forces were marshalled by Sir Fabio and Blaze Ironbreaker, veteran dwarf warmaster renown for his great fighting capabilites.

During the battle, Karl von Bragstein joined in, attempting to claim the artifact for his own purposes. The ork and imperial forces were both crushed by the undead army, whose leaders in the meantime settled some personal conflicts.

In the end, Deadlock emerged victorious from the battle, seizing the artifact, eliminating his rival Ezra, and capturing Karl. Blaze was almost mortally wounded but taken from the field and later healed. Fabio went missing.

Act 2 - Power Play

Soon the second artifact was located. However, the undead were far too weakened to interfere after the previous battle, thus the warring sides were only orkish and imperial this time. Deadlock convinced Warhead to allow him to embark on a secret mission so that he could seize the second piece of the artifact.

To accomplish this he used von Bragstein as a living power source for an infernal device, with which Deadlock intended to kill both clashing armies from a great distance. The plan seemed perfect...

While the Ork Horde, led by Kensai whose ideals were warped by a recent and unexplained hunger for power; and the Imperial Army, led by Runeknight Niol Crowclaw clashed, Deadlock was eager to put his plan in motion...

... but he did not expect the appearance of a small rescue team, led by imperial scout and intelligence agent, Jean-Francois. The battle raged on two fronts now, and Jean-Francois had to race against time. Luckily, the rescue team successfully thwarted the evil plans of Deadlock, who was forced to flee. Karl was recovered, but his mind suffered serious damage.

Meanwhile, the Imperials literally obliterated the Ork Horde and slain Kensai. However, this was not without a price; to accomplish victory, Niol activated the artifact not knowing of its powers, which took a heavy toll on his health and rendered him unable to participate in combat for a while.

Act 3 - Power of Destruction

Prelude: Prelude to Destruction

Deadlock decided that it was time for him to take the initiative. After returning to the fortress of evil, Warhead blamed him for causing major setbacks. Deadlock reminded Warhead that he is an ally to the Undead, but not his pawn, and deduced that their lack of success was in fact because of their incompetent leader.

Warhead couldn't tolerate such insolence and attacked the Immortal. Their duel ended with Deadlock winning: he banished the beaten Warhead to the Abyss. Deadlock knew Warhead would have no means of return, so he left him to rot and disperse away there. Deadlock took over the undead and issued his allies to lead armies towards the third artifact.

With the Undead under new rule, and the emergence of the third artifact piece, all 3 forces have met again on the fields of battle. The Imperial Forces, in the absence of Niol, were led by mysteriously returned Sir Fabio, and Rune Paladin Apollyon, a high-ranking Runeknight. The Orkish horde reformed itself under the new leadership of a megalomaniac shaman, and their new demonic allies. Deadlock dispatched Fink and Ghoul to lead the charge.

While the armies were fighting for the next artifact piece in Northeros, Warhead found himself in the hellish realm of the Abyss, severely weakened from banishment. The Abyss was a savage plane of demonic beings; here the broken and battered Warhead was simply one of the many powerful beings. Doomed to struggle in a wasteland like this, Warhead's chances of survival were slim until Zahru intervened. In an ironic twist of fate, Warhead's mortal enemy asked him to escape the demonrealm and put an end to the Immortal usurpers. Warhead, fueled by vengeance against both Deadlock and Zahru, answered the call. To escape, Warhead had to defeat the demon Hellzebub Lucitar and obtain the Staff of the Underworld: a terrible weapon capable of ripping realities apart.

Decisive battles were fought on both worlds; the Immortal-commandeered Undead forces were utterly destroyed by Apollyon's brave sacrifice. However, the Orks were the ones who got their hands on the artifact in the end. Imperial Forces withdrew from the field by the command of Sir Fabio. Meanwhile in the Abyss, Warhead managed to best Hellzebub and brutally dismembered him; to further enhance his suffering, Warhead used demon's body as a living anvil on which he forged his new set of armor. Fully restored, Warhead used the Staff of the Underworld and returned to Medivo to settle his score with Deadlock.

Warhead easily overcome and slain his Immortal allies, although Deadlock threatened him that they will eventually return. Warhead did not care though, he needed was to rebuild his army after the recent defeat.

Act 4 - Power Up North

Prelude: Crossing roads and parting ways

Warhead gained old allies, with the Cult of the Corrupted returning to serve under him. He was also approached by an ork simply called 'Warlock', who wished to ally with the Undead.

The Warlock was far more powerful than any ork spellcaster before; he was also cunning, as he lead the orkish horde to victory in the last battle under the guise of a mere warlord. As a strong will-user, he also had the power to fuse artifact components together, which convinced Warhead to form an alliance. To keep an eye on him though, Warhead summoned a blood demon called 'Hemotaros' to watch over his newfound ally.

Meanwhile in the Imperial Castle, Majisto located the next artifact up in the Northern regions of the Empire. He had to hurry with his report to king Mondaine though: as soon as he handed over his findings to the king, other Majistik wizards have appeared in the castle. They got past castle defenses easily and captured their wayward brother Majisto: because he was helping the Empire, he violated the pact of neutrality just as much as Malekim did. Majisto was taken away to the wizards home realm for trial, which was a huge blow to the Imperials.

Sir Fabio and Arthel Wolfsbane were sent out to recover the artifact up north, they were followed by Warhead and the Warlock. The artifact was atop a mountain; Fabio decided to go and retrive it while Arthel had to hold the undead at bay at the base of the mountain, much to his dismay. Thankfully, Karl von Bragstein has come to his aid with equipment from the Engineer Guild. Upon noticing the blockade, Warhead instructed Warlock to teleport with a few units on top of the mountain, and seize the artifact while he defeats the Imperials. On the mountaintop, Sir Fabio ran into Blaze Ironbreaker, together they found out that the artefact has already been claimed by a corrupted titan called Serphos.

Sir Fabio and Blaze successfully claimed the artefact by defeating Serphos and the Warlock's party, and Warhead was successfully thwarted by Arthel and Karl as well. Warhead did not leave empty handed though: he unleashed his wrath upon Karl von Bragstein, tearing him apart. He claimed his remains before he left. Even though the Empire had won that day, their victory was a bittersweet one.

Act 5 - Ultimate Power

Prelude: Disposable Hero

The Empire suffered yet another loss in its ranks when Sir Fabio has mysteriously disappeared. He was taken to the court of Warhead by cultists. Warhead revealed to Fabio that he has been dead ever since the first artifact battle.

His corpse (along with Ezra's remains) was reanimated and kept alive by Deadlock via a strange item known as the Heart of Darkness. Deadlock's future intents with Fabio remained unknown, as he was disposed by Warhead. The confused and horrified Fabio had his substitute heart ripped out by Warhead; without it, the mortal shell of Fabio rapidly dissolved.

Warhead had his own plans with the Heart, but those for the time being had to wait.

Thankfully, Niol has recovered from his wounds just in time: now that all artifact components have been gathered, the last piece of the puzzle, the prismatic crystal resurfaced in Direwood. Both factions stormed the area to claim it: this time, the Empire received aid from the elves of Evergreen Woods and their Enchantress.

The Majistik wizards, with the aid of the captive Majisto, were the first to reach the crystal; they reasoned it would be best to take it from the inhabitants of the land and end this farce. The wizards were overconfident though, believing that they could fend off two full armies at once. Consequently, they have been crushed and forced to retreat, leaving Majisto behind.

The Imperials did their best to halt Warhead's horde, however they suffered heavy losses and were eventually crushed by the onslaught of Ork and Undead: both Niol and the Enchantress had fallen in combat, in the end, only Arthel, Blaze and the elven commander survived, only to be executed by a final barrage.

Warhead was victorious, and as the winner, he took it all: the artifact components, and the prismatic crystal. Leaving a sea of corpses behind, the Undead-Ork alliance returned to the Fortress of Evil.

Aftermath

With the device fully assembled, Warhead was ready to siphon the energies of the prismatic crystal for himself. Before doing so, he broke the Warlock's magic staff, so that he wouldn't get double-crossed during the process. Absorbing the prismatic crystal's energies, Warhead's power rose to a thousandfold, turning him into one of the most powerful entities on Northeros. With such awesome power at his hands, Warhead decided to leave this realm behind and conquer other worlds. Before he left though, he augmented the Warlock's powers greatly, and gave him the Staff of the Underworld. He also revealed his final creation: Ezra von Bragstein, a horrific creature made from the remains of Karl and Ezra, powered by the Heart of Darkness.

Warhead left his empire in their hands, and left Medivo to conquer realms beyond.

Alone on the battlefield, Majisto was horrified by the casualties and death of great heroes. After giving them a proper burial, the wizard vowed to cast aside neutrality and aid the Empire, as it was the Majistik's carelessness and passive attitude that caused all this bloodshed.

Somewhere in the wilds, Arthel, Blaze and the elvenknight have awakened. Surprised that they were still alive, the elvenknight explained that it was due to a teleportation gem the Enchantress gave to him. He also revealed that in fact, he was no elf, but Apollyon himself, much to the surprise of the other two. Their relief was short-lived though, as they soon discovered that they got teleported into enemy territory, and without their weapons.

Overall, the campaign ended with the Forces of Evil being victorious and powerful than ever, while the Empire suffered heavy losses and was about to face its greatest threat ever since its founding.