Siege of Castle Eisenkrieg
On the edge of the Segmentum Obscurus, at the gates of the Halo Stars, there sits an unremarkable world of ice once brushed by the touch of the Ruinous Powers. As the sole structure in this forsaken realm stands the fortress of Eisenkrieg, a monolith of tainted mortar and cursed stone raised eons ago for a purpose now long forgotten. The few that know of the existence of this place have whispered that in ancient times the castle walls guarded an artifact, a weapon or a source of power so potent that only a fortification built with the dark powers of the Empyrean could be trusted to hold it secure from parties that would seek to exploit the nebulous relic for their own ends.
The first masters of the castle have been dust for uncounted ages, but rumours persist that the original purpose of the fortress remains true – that the secret of the castle still lies within its walls. Perhaps it was these rumours that lead a sizable force of renegades and their daemonic allies to occupy the ancient walls and towers in the late M41, seeking to uncover the mysteries of the old keeps. Their voyage to the world did not go unnoticed, however, and soon afterwards the reoccupied fortress was beset by warbands from the Iron Warriors and the Black Legion, as well as their auxiliaries. A brutal siege ensued, with the renegade guardsmen and their daemonic comrades managing to hold back the combined might of two forces of experienced traitor Legiones Astartes through constant and vicious artillery bombardment, as well as sorcerous trickery behind the besiegers’ lines.
Eventually the Black Legion and even the siegemasters of the Iron Warriors tired of the stalemate, disengaging their forces and quitting the field in search of better challenges. As the siege was lifted, the daemons turned on the renegade regiments and the forces inside the castle walls slaughtered each other in a swift storm of melee and warpfire, and the fortress of Eisenkrieg fell into silence once more.
