Plastidipped and then painted! With a few light splashes and dips of red around the blade that I hoped would add some more character to it. On the whole I like this except the guard. But as something I tried to throw together pretty quickly for the AnS contest I only have myself to blame. I like how it looks like from a distance but up close it looks pretty bad and is very fragile. Thankfully if I don't make another one before Drachenfest I think it would survive just fine being brandished and maybe RP stabbed/slashed against some wounded man-thing. And its really nice to see something you 'made' be finished like this. :)

As you probably saw in the previous pictures I added some tally marks and the Skaven Triangle to the blade. Gota make sure everyone knows who owns it! With the colors mainly being green and yellow so all the Skaven know whoes blade it is! Not nearly as curved as the blade Grizzle has been drawn with before but if time allows I'll probably try to make one like that too. The extra felt on the handle was to try to add some more color to it and it does make it less slippery in the hand as trying to hold onto acrylic painted plastidipped foam can be hard. The snaps in the sheath hold it just fine its just very snug even with the longer foam straps. But hey it should stay in the sheath really nice!

I really should have taken a picture of it in my hand to share as the entire dagger is about sixteen inches / 40 cm long. So think of holding a ruler plus another third. A big blade for a big rat! Not legal for Amtgard as its not padded enough and has a wooden core but I may try to make a legal one like this for heavier use. Arristillius at one of the parks had some great ideas of how to make one legal. Just gota do a nicer guard.

In addition to this blade for the AnS I also wrote some words to go along with the submission. Grizzle going to check out Clan Skab, under the Human city of Nuln. As featured in Skavenslayer with Gotrek and Felix. So it didn't go well for Skab - at all. But the Seerlord wants a report he can totally 100% trust. So sent in the Chief. Only one though. Surely the injured clan will be happy to report on what happened! I know a plague was what ripped through the city in the book but I imagine the mercs would want something a bit more explosive to deal with the infestation below them.

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Title: Bleeding Skab
South Western Empire - Great Man-Thing City of Nuln
Under-Nuln - Skabs' Ruin

The Clanrat had seen better days for sure. As had this area. But a mission-task was a task. And given what had happened here it was more important than normal to ensure things here were now running at the level his boss wanted. Zero. And while Grizzle could respect the Clanrat for moving to try and block his entrance being almost two full heads taller than him and likely almost double the weight the Chieftain had little issue grabbing hold of his flimsily chain chest armor and lifting him off the ground.

"I heard what you squeak-chittered," Grizzle calmly explained as he pressed his forehead against the Clanrats he was now holding up. "But clearly you did not hear me-me. So again." Narrowing his eyes under his hood as his other hand thumped the halberd butt into the ground. "Report-tales are wild. Wavering. Muddy-obscured. So I will be examining your clan-lair here.” Crouching down before pushing forward and up tossing the unfortunate Clanrat about five feet back into the start of the Warren itself. Grizzle even kind enough to toss the chipped axe back toward him as well after the Clanrat had dropped it. "Got-got it?!" He snarled at the end as he rested his none polearm hand on his belt.

"Y...yes-yes Chief! I'll go inform the Warlord-master!" A potential issue. Griznekt at least was confirmed dead. But the Seerlord wanted to know who the new boss was here. So a future assault and cleansing could be worked out if required. Or looting. Grizzle just nodding as he watched the Clanrat skitter off. Missing a good chunk of fur from one side of his body. Like it had been burned off. Another nod. Just like the initial report. But how bad it was needed to be confirmed. It wasn't like the Councils /pet/ was going to give a report more elaborate than it wasn't his fault. Never his fault no-no! So it fell to others like him. Rolling his shoulders the Chief would take his first step into what used to be a thriving Warren to begin his observations.

Keeping his ears on a slight swivel as well as his face the first thing one could notice was the smell. It wasn't full Skaven. Full of fear, fur, blood, and death. No it was more...military. Not Skaven. More metallic. Acrid-strong. Man-thing guns. With a hint of Dwarf-scum as well. The fact it was this deep underground was fascinating. Had Skab really been pushed back that far that the stench of the surface had gotten this deep? Had they been attacked from the Underground as well?

Raising up a foot to turn a full 180 back toward the entrance Grizzle would cast his eyes over the walls down then up. Many small holes. But not that close together of a Ratling-gun. Or deep enough for a Jezzail. But why so high off the ground? Taller than even his halberd. Skab were known for their Stormvermin and standard rat-man fighters. Not monsters tall enough to be fired at and missed. So why...If only Viskrin was here - he was much better at figuring out these mysteries. But thoughts like that wouldn't get this sorted out. So instead the next best thing!

"Slave!" Making the scrawny rat who was trying to sneak past his roving eyes jump almost three feet off the ground before he turned with his fact almost touching the ground.

"Yes?! Oh greatest and mighty-strong Warr,"

"Enough-stop that." The Slave glancing up now looking more confused that he had been stopped heaping praise on before Grizzle continued as he pointed up at the bullet holes. Mission-time wasn't praise-time. "Why so high-tall. Did the Man-things really make it this far deep-down?"

"Err oh. Not the main-big group. A small one. With a bomb. And it uhh-umm." He pointed up at the ceiling where now Grizzle could see some hastily tied and secured boards strewn this way and that were trying to cover a hole. "It fell."

That was lucky for Skab if it blew up down here and didn't seem to make anything collapse. Another for the report. From what he could remember that was the main storeroom above for the Warpstone fuel and the stolen Powder. Very lucky if true as if the bomb had gone off inside of all of that the entire Warren would likely collapse. Grizzle rolling his red eyes as he turned and headed for the ramp up. "And the tall-city over it too most likely." Typical Man-things not even considering that. For all their building up-up they never seemed to care about foundations.

The Slave quickly running off as Grizzle picked up the pace to jog up the ramp. Glancing back to see that from a high position the earth and dirt down there did have a circular push pattern on it despite all the claw-paw traffic over it. Before finding himself in the chamber above the lower entrance. Not needing to smell anymore as the pools of hissing green liquid slowly being scooped and pushed around by rats in gasmasks showed that the intelligence report had been correct. Storage. But still. If the Man-things from above had gotten this deep...why did they leave? Did they really just run down a bomb and then run out? That didn't seem very thorough.

And meant they would likely be back if they knew all this was here still. But there had been a lot of trash left behind in the Underway tunnels before getting here. So Skab had fallen back before hopefully for their sake rushing back in. But the rat bones and skulls out there proved that not to be true. They waited. Got hungry. Some rats were not important enough to be hungry. Before finally filing back in. What in the Horned Ones name had pushed them so hard and not finished the job? As he turned that over in his mind the Chief would lean over and look down at the impressive hole the bomb had fallen through. It almost looked like it had been drilled straight down past the forest of beams. Very impressive!

"Done by our hand-paws Scruten Stooge!" Hissed at Grizzle from across the hole as he glanced up to see a full armored large Skaven flanked by a Stormvermin on each side. Grizzle just side mouthing a little as he pushed his plan forward a good six steps. Before another three as the Warlord spoke again. "Thanquol told us that Eshin-shits like you would be here soon. Snoop-spying around," his helmet handed to him from one of the Storms and secured over his head. "Seeing how weak we are. To steal our work!"

"The Man-things seemed to do that well enough," Grizzle would retort as he took a step forward - onto the planks over the hole as he pointed his halberd at the Warlord. Wishing he had put on his shoulders and helmet for this but no time for that now. So now to adjust the battlefield to make the armor less important.

"Man and Dwarf-thing! Stupid Slayer and his pet-slave!" That got Grizzle to widen his eyes. Before squinting. Those two? And they didn't finish the job? That was unlike the tall-tails that followed them. But no time for that now. It was stab-kill time. Since this new rat clearly didn't want him in /his/ Warren and he didn't even need to look back to know full well that the ramp would have extra bodies on it now too. The Clanrat he had thrown eagerly watching Grizzles back now. Another reason to be over the hole. He was going to have a long talk, as much as he could, with Viskrin about splitting up again. Stupid-shit like this always seemed to happen when they tried that. The report would have to be cut short but even just in two rooms it was clear Skab was struggling. Likely forced to keep their forces near the surface if they had any to keep Gotrek and Felix up there. If those two cared anymore. If Skab had any forces left to hold them back. But fire and explosions had scarred the clan badly. And hopefully allow his escape too.

The Warlord hissing at the challenge that Grizzle was sending his way as he waved off the pistols that were aimed at the Scruten. Lucky or Grizzle was going to have to try to bail under fire. Thank the Horned One for the Warlord being an idiot-fool. But as the other moved onto one of the boards Grizzle was looking down at the spiderweb of wood below him. Trying to follow the securing ropes to ones that were staked solid into the earthen wall and not just wrapped around the wood. Spotting two potentials before the Warlord made his wobbly way over. Focus time. The Warlords eyes locked on Grizzles extended Halberd as Grizzles were flicking all around the Warlords body.

Sword and shield, heavy armor, fingers covered, toes exposed, tail exposed, almost full wrap armor. Very heavy. Second weapon, axe, at side. Right-right. And due to the high stress the new Warlord was under, missing the fur on his left arm, he moved first. The boards were wide enough that the two could stand shoulder to shoulder and fit. Not much but it would have to do. The Warlord holding his shield toward Grizzles Polearm as he kept his sword tight in and trying to stab forward!

Now far enough from his clan it was lucky that neither of the now dueling rats could hear the Skab rats already betting on the winner. Grizzle quickly given 3 to 7 odds for winning as a new rat none of them knew. White fur and a Chieftain, supposedly, sure but still.

As he was currently not wearing his shoulder armor Grizzle needed to keep the stab-cutting lower on his body where he still had the armor. So he left his halberd be pushed up and even brought it up and back to make it easier. Easier for the butt of the weapon to swoop down and around as hopped his hands up to slide down the pole to clash against the sword as it jabbed forward.

Now in a bind the two rats would grunt and strain as they tried to push the other back. But with two separate tools the Warlord was able to adjust and spin his shield around to push it around and punched toward Grizzles face. But it only met air as the Scruten ducked low and sucked in a breath as he held his Halberd to keep the sword away before driving forward with his shoulder into the Warlords chest. Sending him hopping backwards. And unfortunately for Grizzle he had shouldered right into a corner of that crude armor.

Now 2-8. Especially with a limp looking arm.

Halberd dropped down the hole to clatter and vanish from sight Grizzle hissed and pulled out his own longer blade as his left arm could only really grab onto his belt to control it as he kept his eyes on the Warlord. Who cackled as he spread out his own arms. "Thats it-it Scruten?! Pah!" Before he charged forward again. Grizzle more angry at how much harder it was going to be to grab onto the ropes with one injured arm but no time to complain. Just act-fight. Now full of confidence the Warlord was rather open as he made a wide swing toward Grizzles bad arm. The Chief moving his blade across his body to work on blocking that before the Warlord shifted his shield arm to grab onto the sword with two paws. And the impact was enough to throw Grizzles blade entirely free from his paw and the Chief spinning to almost fall off the beam. More clattering and clanging as it fell from board to board.

The Clan now cheering and chanting, besides those quiet ones who had bet on Grizzle, as they called out for "Khrut Khrut!". At least he had a name to go with now as Grizzle would crouch without a weapon at the edge of the beam. A shield over his back but that wasn't his goal as the Warlord roared and raised up his sword.

0-10! Warlord Khrut was the best-strongest Skaven!

"Die-diAGGH!" A great benefit of small blades. Quick to ready and slash. Khrut now missing three of his four toes on his right foot as Grizzle looked up and smirked. As he had hoped the base instincts had taken over as Khrut was lowering down his right, sword, hand toward his now badly injured foot. As well as lowering his head to look at the wound. It would not last but quick-fast the Chief would hop up and bring down the bloody dagger down somewhere around Khruts neck? The White Fur wasn't paying attention. Grizzles eyes were fixed on a board below him and to the side. Before in one motion tearing the dagger out sideways and leaping in the same direction off the beam. He didn't even care if the Warlord was dead. He just needed the shock factor.

Clang-banging onto the board below him that was just barely holding his weight Grizzle quickly transferred the dagger to his teeth to have his still fully active arm free as he scampered toward and reached the dirt wall. The former cheers for Khrut now replaced by screams as the hisses of warpstone and man-thing firearms being readied filled the air. Grabbing the staked in rope Grizzle glanced down and offered a mental prayer to the Lord of the World Below before he jumped and stamped down hard with both of his feet to break the board he was standing on. A loud snap added to by several others as the support beam Grizzle had broken had several other boards start to fall as well. Taking down one of the Stormvermin who had started to run toward him. Grizzle himself hissing in pain as the rope bit deeply into his hand and arm that wasn't covered by his bracer but he kept his eyes downward at the quickly approaching lower level. Bracing his shoulders as much as he could as he was jerked to a sudden stop about ten feet from the ground. It would have to do and despite now not being able to feel either of his arms that well the Chief would manage to just barely let go and drop down the remaining distance to the floor. Trying to roll to the side as soon as his feet hit the floor. Now thankful he wasn't wearing the full armor as the gunfire started down at him.

But honestly it was hard to really hear that over the falling of the forest of beams as well as they cascaded down. As well as the body, alive or dead, of Khrut and his Stormvermin. But Grizzle was only focused on the exit as he ran as quick as he could. Able to grab his knife with his still good arm and shove it toward the Slave from before who just cowered away from the bleeding blade as Grizzle ran out into the Underway. A small head start but it would have to do - and that setback should put them back at zero more than they already were. And he had some things to report at least and a new tally mark to add.