[center][color=9e0b0f][h1][b]The Under-Republic of Rodents[/b][/h1][/color][/center]

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[b]Several leagues north of Cornerstone Bridge, and the Commonwealth/Barak Kazul Territory Border[/b]

Rattus Regius Ignatius Fell-Eye had marched his army southwards steadily for the past few days, encountering scattered and weak resistance from what few Humans had not already fled west to the perceived safety of their more developed heartlands, his foraging bands had looted everything they could find, killing those who resisted, enslaving those who cowered, and burning what remained in their wake. Of their lesser-minded Kin within the Commonwealth, they had come across some and subsequently liberated them into their own forces (though their instincts compelled them to join their fellows more than anything), subsequently replenishing some the Rattus Commenus Packs he'd scattered when first entering Commonwealth territory.

When messengers came to his ear and told of Dwarven troops harrying his scouts, Ignatius grinned. The Dwarves had come to face his challenge to the Humans, and now the true mettle of The Vermintide would be put to the test for the first time in living memory. 

Less than an hour of marching later brought them over a hill and through a small woodland, and brought him face to face with the Dwarven Throng itself upon a wide field likely used to once allow herds to graze upon. Banners were flying in the breeze, the Dwarven ranged units and warriors all neatly assembled with their infamous artillery seting up on the rise of a hill on the western flank, he spied the whole menagerie of Dwarven troops, Rifles, Crossbows, Warriors of all stripes and experience, Catapults, and even the rarely seen Heavy Cavalry the Dwarves fared for supporting such large hosts. His past raids from years before had given him a knowledge of what heraldry represented which Dwarven clans, and he spied dozens of them represented here, but one in particular made him grin all the more, the banner of the Royal House of Thundrim Kadrin, the banner of the self-proclaimed High King of all Dwarves.

Hated enemy of him though he was, Ignatius could respect the Dwarf King's bravery and intent to face the threat to his people in person rather than leave it to lackeys. He would have to make it his job to not disappoint him and his eager Throng, then.

Putting aside his more amusing thoughts for the moment, Ignatius directed his orders to his fellow Ring Members who were with him. The Vermintide would form ranks and prepare for battle immediately, and the chaos of tens of thousands of Rodent-kin poured onto their side of the field, coalescing into semblances of order. Allowing the Rangers whom had harried their scouts to flee without pursuit as they readied their own lines. 

The Clan Packs gathered at the front, the freshly conscripted Rattus Irregulars and Militia all ready and eager to finally face a real challenge and earn glory and loot on the battlefield. With the various clan leaders all struggling to keep their troops in a semblance of order and stop them from breaking ranks and just rushing out with the help of slightly more experienced and better equipped Ironclaws. Their rag-tag groups of Hunters all gathered at their flanks and immediately behind them. Behind the lines of Clans, The Vermin Guard assembled in practiced and ordered discipline, their own banners and armour the uniform of the Under-Republic rather than clans, with their own Marksmen doing likewise in regular and practiced formations. The lines and gaps were punctuated by the massive towering forms of the Rattus Giganti, their handlers close at hand to lead them and the swarming packs of Rattus Commeni all about them and underfoot.

Bubonic Philosophers walked between the lines, preparing themselves to assist officers and lend their own aid to the fray when the time came, checking their potions, bombs, and other equipment they carried on their persons.

While in the center of the fray, surrounded by his own unit of Steel-Fanged Rattus Faber, Ignatius climbed atop the back of a Rattus Gigantus to survey the sight before him. [i]Retribution[/i] was sheathed at his side, he stood on the shoulders of his great and lumbering Kin and looked left and right at the massive number of Vermin assembled with him. A shrill horn blown by one of his Steel-Fanged silenced the mass of chittering and squeaks among the host.

Several hundred metres of plains separated the two huge armies, but even at this distance they could hear the warcries of the Dwarves. So, responding in kind, Ignatius let out a great hissing snarl, and the boom of nearly 60,000 rodents echoed him. He drew [i]Retribution[/i], the Adamanthine blade ringing as it did. Scanning the field, he spotted the area where the High King's banners would be, and glowered over in the High King's direction with the most carnivorous grin he could muster.

He shouted over the pall in the warcries, he spun [i]Retribution[/i] and pointed it at the Dwarven lines: 

[b]"Now my kin, let us exact our vengeance upon these Dwarves as your ancestors once did, so long ago. Clan Rats! Charge!"[/b] 

Shortly afterwards, the deafening cries intensified as the first lines of the Vermintide, some 20,000 strong, broke into sprints across the field towards the Dwarven lines, the mass of Clan Rattus Packs almost literally looking like a wave heading towards the harden point that the Dwarves had made for themselves. 

[@POOHEAD189]