Donatos War - The Hubris of House Wyvorn: The great plaza known as the Square of Martyrs was the greatest open ground within the Valle Electrum. To the east and south, it harboured the primary and secondary generatoria that were responsible for powering the remaining Adamant Citadels. It was there that the Dark Apostle Varakh'Lorr had delivered his dark sermons to the uncounted masses of Donatos' population and soldiery, there where he had proclaimed the world's secession from the Imperium of Man.Lacking any grand cathedral to defile, it was also the location Varakh'Lorr had chosen to place his Beacon of Ascendancy, a bonfire whose flames burned both in this world and the Warp, for it was fuelled by souls, a pyre upon which countless men and women were being sacrificed to fuel his ultimate transformation into a Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided.The Dark Apostle was close to his ultimate goal, the baleful powers of the Warp already beginning to remold his body, filling his limbs with strength and enhancing his sorcerous powers. Protecting the Beacon was all that mattered now, for when he ascended his powers would be near-limitless. However, as long as his transition from mortal to daemon was incomplete, Varakh'Lorr would be vulnerable -- a fact his enemies did not ignore.Even as the High King launched his attack on the Valle Electrum's outer defences, the Square of Martyrs became a battlefield in its own right. Varakh'Lorr had recalled what warbands he could to resist the assault of House Wyvorn and House Chimaeros. Dug-in within the generatoria-complexes none of them could afford to lose, the Word Bearers' defence was costing the Renegade Knights dearly. The Word Bearers and their mortal militia made the Renegade Knights fight for every street they took, Predator tanks laying ambushes for the advancing Knights and even committing their air assets to the fight. Heldrakes and a trio of ancient Storm Eagle gunships hammered the Knights with their heavy weapons. His powered enhanced by the energies of the Beacon, Varakh'Lorr was strong enough to take on a Renegade Knight himself, one two-handed blow of his Accursed Crozius potent enough to shatter the Knight's knee before he killed the Knight's Noble pilot.In the direct line of sight of the Dark Apostle, Gerraint Tan Chimaeros witnessed the death and was furious. Clearly he and his queen had underestimated the Word Bearers' resilience and their fanaticism. Versed in sorcerous lore, Alicia had warned him that they could not allow Varakh'Lorr to complete his ritual, but what he saw made Gerraint's stomach heave. Word Bearer cultists taking their own lives above blood-drawn pentagrams and eight-pointed stars, the Chaos Space Marines abandoning their allies or willingly hurling them on the Imperium's guns, giving up ground they had fought so hard over just to rush back to the Valle Electrum.Spread across all of Donatos Primus, House Chimaeros' strength was much reduced. The fight for control of the Valle Electrum had cost Gerraint eleven Knights, leaving him with only nineteen scions of his House. House Wyvorn was similarly hurt, the last of their numbers falling back to the Square of Martyrs after their failed ambush against the boy-king. News of the boy's survival had upset Gerraint even further. Riding in his personal Knight Warden, Therianthros, Gerraint swore that he would personally kill both Varakh'Lorr and Danial Tan Draconis.He cursed Archduke Duncan Tan Wyvorn for not being present, the leader of House Wyvorn and his Exalted Court having left for the Angellum Stellar spaceport, where Duncan claimed he would awaken his House's hidden strength. But Gerraint could have used their strength in the Valle Electrum. With the Word Bearers and their own mortal troops holding out in the generatoria, even the additional manpower of the Donatosian rebels the Renegade Knights had gained control of did not turn the battle in their favour. The generatoria would have to be cleared out in hand-to-hand combat where the transhuman Heretic Astartes would hold the clear advantage.As Gerraint's consort Alicia finally joined the fight with the Word Bearers, hurling bolts of exotically-coloured Warpflame at the Chaos Space Marines, the pretender-king reassessed his situation. Fully engaged against the survivors of Varakh'Lorr's warband, he had few troops to spare to face the Adrastapolian Loyalists soon to enter the plaza. Yet, even if it pained him, defeating Tolwyn's son and securing his claim to the throne was more important than claiming the life of the Dark Apostle.As the last remnants of their armoured support were slowly destroyed, the Word Bearers retreated deep into generatorium two and the fighting died down. Empowered by the gifts bestowed upon her by the Architect of Fate, Alicia Kar Manticos comforted her lover and declared that she would face and defeat Varakh'Lorr on her own. Reluctantly, Gerraint Kar Adrastapol agreed to his consort's plan, readying himself for the next round of fighting.