what are some subfactions that (compared to their original factions) are completely opposite or simply choose to exsplore another lore detail compared to the rest?

Hi everyone,

As you are all probably aware, Warhammer lives from its manifold of interesting characters. A major reason why so many people engage with this hobby, be it via games, books or the tabletop games, is due to the many unique entities that inhabit the setting.  And in this minor series I would like to discuss some of these. Talking about their history, what makes them awesome IMO, and what potential they hold for the future. I would not talk about gods, because I have my “Fun with Flags Gods” series for them, but instead any mortal/semi-mortal/immortal entity from WFB and AoS fair game.

Previously I talked about Azhag the Slaughterer, my favorite Orc and a being which could be a good inspiration for Mortarch coming from a destruction species. This time however I want to talk about Eltharion the Grim. Or Eltharion the Blind. Or Eltharion the Light. No wait the other way around, becuase why invert a good naming scheme. Anyhow Eltharion, the armour made from light. Or simply Eltharion in all his forms.

I hope you enjoy this introduction and overview to this character, and I would love to hear from you what you think of any of these Eltharions, or the other characters based on him.

1. Who is Eltharion?

Eltharion is a high elf prince from Yvresse. On the island continent of Ulthuan Yvresse is the south-eastern kingdom and is known to be a rough place. It is constantly drenched in fog and damp, rainy weather, essentially making it the Wales or north-west pacific of Ulthuan. But bad weather is the least of their worries. In WFBs background the world was flooded with magic from the realm of chaos, causing madness, mutation and demons overrunning every inch of soil. To stop this the Great Vortex at the centre of Ulthuan sucks in the excess magic and sends it back into the aether, like a giant kitchen sink. The system that transports the magic towards this Vortex is a bit loose in Yvresse. Which means demons can manifest within the fog of the region. In addition, lots of wars and catastrophise left it even more thinly populated that most kingdoms. Due to this constant threat, general decline and harsh conditions everyone from Yvresse is a hardy and stern warrior.

Eltharion was the prince of this region, though his father Moranion ruled. And he is arguably the best tactician and general of the Asur. Because Eltharion was able to besiege and raid the capital of the Witch King of Naggaroth himself! Which involved sailing to Naggaroth, i.e. chill and frozen non-northarmerica, naviagitng its treacherous sea lanes, evading fleets of dark elf corsairs and rival druchii cities, landing in Naggaronds domain and from there beating dark elf army after dark elf army until he stands before the capital of the greatest monster known to the high elves. Which is comparable to a single province of Numenor sending a small army which besieges Barad-Dur in Mordor. However, an assassin poisoned Eltharion and his forces retreated. In his feverish state Eltharion had a vision of the ghost of his father, who said that he is dead and that their home was under attack by Grom the Paunch. After this vision Eltharion was healed and his family heirloom by his side.

Eltharion returned to Yvresse to find it in chaos, as Grom the Paunch’s horde ravaged the landscape. Indeed, Groms horde was destroying way stones left and right, which were channelling the excess magic into the Great Vortex. Grom, who started as a mere goblin, almost did what no Everchosen achieved thus far and destroyed the world. Because if he destroyed one more waystone, the magical network around the Great Vortex would break and demons would flood the planet. At the last second Eltharion was able to defeat the goblin and to save and stabilize the Waystone.

Eltharion was known after this tragedy as The Grim. And among fans he became known as High Elf Batman. Eltharion then ventured out into the Badlands to kill as many greenskins as possible, so that they could never be a threat to Ulthuan again. And Eltharion was very successful in this regard. His elite high elves and superior tactics destroyed greenskin tribe after tribe. Indeed, Eltharion became highly respected by the dwarfs, who could reclaim some lost holds during his campaign. Because he knew how to hold a grudge against greenskins and lacked the arrogance and foppishness of your typical high elves, being instead stoic and focussed. In short, he may have been as close to a dwarf as an elf can be. However, Eltharion had to learn the hard way, that if you destroy greenskins, other tribes will learn of this “pointy ‘ead who knows how to fight” and evermore greenskins attacked him. Ultimately Eltharion realized his campaign was fruitless and returned to Yvresse.

From there his life splits in two. In 6^th edition, there was a story of Malekith attacking Ulthuan again, trying to conquer his old homeland of Nagarythe and the city of Anlec. Eltharion tried to stop him, but Malekith learned from their last encounter and Eltharion was defeated, imprisoned and tortured by the Witchking. Eltharion was blinded and only released as mockery and threat to other elves who would oppose him. But Eltharion was determined as ever and learned among the Swordmasters of Hoeth to fight even whilst blinded, in addition to increasing his skill as a sorcerer. Eltharion the Blind, as he was known then, engaged Malekith again and managed to wound him in a duell IIRC.

Eltharion the Blind was retconned in later edtitions. Instead he was sent out during the End Times to free the daughter of the Everqueen. Eltharion found her as Arkhan wanted to sacrifice her and others to revive Nagash. Eltharion fought through the undead host and almost reached Arkhan, but Arkhan summoned a curse which aged Eltharion to dust, moments before the elf could strangle the undeath out of Arkhans husk.

Eltharion then reappears in AoS. Teclis had the theory that special souls would survive eternity and believed Elthraions soul to be so special. So, he found the fragments of Eltharions soul and put them together. Why was Eltharion not consumed by Slaanesh upon death like the other Old-World elves, or a member of one of the various underworlds? shrug Then Teclis created a new body for Eltharions soul to inhabit. But Arkhans old curse was so strong that even this new body aged to dust. However, the armour the elf wore started to move and Eltharion, now a being of pure light, used the armour to walk around. One of Eltharions crowing moments would come in Broken Realms Teclis, where he hunted Arkhan around the edge of Hysh, where regular mortals would perish due to the wild magics. And in a series of battles Eltharion would throw Arkhan over the edge of Hysh into the aetheric void.

2. What makes Eltharion special?

Eltharion has many talents and character traits. He is a brilliant general, a dangerous fighter, in WFB he rides ontop a huge griffon, he is skilled in magic etc. But all this pales in comparison to his most important trait. Determination. Eltharion will suffer great hardships but will power through all of them to reach his goal. His father is dead and his home under attack. He will stop the invasion! He is broken and blinded by his archenemy, reduced to a husk of his former self? He will recover as best as possible and learn to fight without his eyes. His body crumbles to dust? His spirit will just inhabit the amour like a spooky ghost.

However, this determination is not without costs or flaws. Eltharions hyperfocus does cause him to neglect other things which bite him in the back. Such as how Eltharions attack on Naggarond was the primary reason why Groms invasion was successful and caused the death of his father and brother. And he still feels and suffers these and other losses and is deeply traumatized by them. People compare him to Batman (or Daredevil when talking about Eltharion the blind) and this mixture of determination and trauma is one of the primary reasons for it. He is like an old cuirass, full of marks of past battles but still holding and protecting what he loves.

In addition to this great determination Eltharion is an expert general. Arguably one of the top tier military commanders in WFB. Not only was he able to raid Naggarond, the heart of the Dark Elfs, but this feat included him evading all the other dark elf cities, armies and fleets. Essentially, he marched straight into the heart of an enemy nation, nearly undetected to raid the heavily fortified capital. And this was not a grand high elven host, but just a force form Yvresse, one of the smaller kingdoms in regard to its population. This feat of organisation, navigation, campaigning and co is not to be underestimated. If I compare Eltharion to Hannibal Barca, I fully mean it, because marching elephants form Spain over the Alps into Rome is the only similar feat from the top of my head. And the other thing I want to compare Eltharion to Hannibal Barca is his tactical brilliance on the battlefield. Even with an exhausted elven force, which suffered two campaigns against the Witch King and Groms forces on Ulthuan, he sailed into the Badlands and started killing tons of orcs. Allmost always outnumbered, but only with comparatively minor losses on his side in each battle. However much like the historical romans, the orcs too spawned new armies in a rate their opponent could not fathom. And the proper tactic, scaring the enemy out of the war, worked neither with the romans nor with the orcs. So Eltharion was forced to retreat too.

And in addition to being an expert general, Eltharion is also a solid fighter (though arugbly not on the level of Tyrion or Imric) and a competent sorcerer, though far from being as skilled as a proper Loremaster of Hoeth.

However, this campaign is also hints at another part of his character. His no-nonsense attitude, which extends to the eccentricates of regular high elves. Character wise Eltharion is probably as close to a dwarf as an elf can be. He does not care for pomp, for gossip, nor does he care much for elven superiority. Indeed, his campaigns against greenskins, as well as his character, made him somewhat respected amongst the dwarfs. Eltharion is stern, rough and unpleasantly direct to elves, but these same traits make him much more readable and reliant to any of Eltharions non-elven allies. He is not as silver-tonged as Teclis, but still can be a decent diplomat to non-elves as a result.

 Though to be frank beyond this colourful and rich background, I as an Eltharion fan do not really know what his character is in AoS. Because to my knowledge he does not really speak nor appears as a proper character. In his AoS backstory only his rebirth is covered. But it ends at the moment Eltharion commands the armour as a light spirit. The story ends, before we have a proper dialogue between him and Teclis or other elves. And in Broken Realms his main task is to hunt down Arkhan, to end the End Times rivalry of the too. But again, we gain no insight from him, just an outward description of events. How does he react to the realms or his new state? How much did his new existence change his character, how much of the old Eltharion is still within him? As far as I am aware this is never really covered.

3. What is Eltharions legacy?

The funny thing about Eltharion is that there are three characters in AoS based on him.  First and foremost, we have Eltharion the living armour. As mentioned previously, his reappearance is a bit vague and one of many plot points were the End Times and AoS do not really align. His soul pieces being just randomly dispersed across the setting is a weak reason for his return if I am honest. Indeed, I am unsure whether GW really knows what they want to do with his character, especially now where he got his vengeance on Arkhan. How much is he still the Eltharion of old? A tricky question, because two other characters are also Eltharion-coded.

Lyror Uthralle is essentially Eltharion 2.0. Much like the original, Lyrior is a brilliant strategist and fighter, whose home was attacked and destroyed by greenskins and his family slain. Like Eltharion, Lyrior has a deep hatred against greenskins ever since, and is still haunted by his loss. With him we have essentially Eltharion who is not named Eltharion. So, if we return to Eltharions old character of hating greenskins and sulking over the death of his family, then it comes into conflict with Lyrior Uthralle.

And in addition, we have Tyrion, who is very strongly coded after Eltharion the Blind. Yes, Tyrion is a god now, but he is a blind swordsman after all. And much like with Eltharions determination to stop Malektih, it was Tyrions determination which caused his blindness, as he travelled Hysh looking for his brother.

So, we have two characters in AoS who follow or are inspired by Eltharions WFB iterations. Any potential author now faces the challenge to separate AoS Eltharion form his roots and steer him into a new direction. Either to avoid overlap, but also because it is distracting if Eltharion constantly refers to events AoS fans may be wholly unfamiliar with and which are largely unimportant in the current setting. Which leaves the question what will the future hold for Eltharion the Light in AoS? Until Arkhan returns, their rivalry is over. Does he still hate greenskins? If yes, how does he compare with Lyrior? Do the two interact with each other and perhaps bond over this shared issue? What about Tyrion? Does Eltharion meet with his old friend now god? What is his relationship with Teclis, who resurrected him? His opinions about the Lumineth? Does he still hate elven arrogance? Does he even remember much of his old life? Does he still hate Malerion/Malekith? How much do past traumas still haunt him? Is he a relatable elven soul in armour or more akin to an aelementor in mindset and character, due to his light spirit nature? All questions which are important due to the background of his character but are not addressed to my knowledge. I would hope that they are tackled at some point in the future, but I am unsure whether this happens.

But as I mentioned, many intriguing things could be done with Eltharion in AoS. It would be interesting to see him interacting with Grombrindal as both are survivors of the Old World and both were once known for their desire for vengeance and grudge holding. But Grombrindal has moved on from his old self. So, an interaction between the two could be interesting, depending on how much Eltharion changed himself.

Eltharions interactions with the undead or people of Shyish could also be interesting. Because Arkhan will want his vengeance. But Eltharion is technically undead too, a spirit controlling a suit of armour. And he is not enthralled by Nagash. This makes him a strong symbol to the denizens of Shyish, both dead and living. Indeed, as he was recreated by Teclis, he reinforces Teclis role as a deity who restores the natural order of death and represents rebirth or reincarnation. Teclis, the grand alternative to Nagash, and Eltharion as the herald of this belief, would be something worthy of exploring. Not that Teclis or Eltharion actively persue this thought. But Teclis saved many underworlds, defeated Nagash, dispelled the Necroquake, recreated entire civilizations from dead souls, revived and killed Nighthaunt so that their souls are free form the nighthaunt curse in death and again created his own “undead” minion with Eltharion. Religions started with much less, and people would naturally start venerating Teclis in the fashion of god of death and rebirth, with Eltharion has his primary herald.

How would Eltharion react to this status of worship from mortals of all kind? Or his status as a demigod among the Lumineth? What is his opinion on the Idoneth, Teclis first creation? There are so many ways in which this character could be explored. Lets hope GW commits at one point in the future.

4. The End

So, this is my somewhat exhaustive rant about Eltharion the whatever. IMO he is quite a intrueging figure and even in AoS there are many avenues to further evolve and establish him. But what do you think about him? Do you like Eltharion? Think he is overrated? That the armour belongs into a museum? Or do you want him to raid Malerions home turf once more?

Back in the Old World, it was basically just goblins, hobgoblins, and gnoblars. There were different flavors of goblins, from multi-eyed forest goblins to night goblins, etc., but at the end of the day, they still largely looked the same.

But in AOS, grots have much more distinct appearances. Gloomspite gitz tend to resemble the old world goblins the most, but the grots that accompany kruleboyz tend to be larger and lankier. Likewise, the new wolf loving grots have their own distinct look.

So is there any mention of unique gnoblars or hobgrots that look different than the ones we're used to seeing? I know hobgrots are pretty new, so I'm guessing its just the kruleboy vandals and the "better" equipped Helsmith allies (which look the same, they're just equipped differently).

So im through with Blood of the Godeater by Noah van Nguyen, i've just wanted to write down some of my thoughts. Ill keep it general then go into a bit of Spoiler territory.

I liked the book, it is a good continuation but i'll argue the book could have been released earlier in the Edition, more on this later. The books prose is very similar to the first books, same first person perspective with Heldenarr Fall telling his story with colourfull descriptions of some things which can be a bit confusing if you dont concentrate a 100% on it or arent a native speaker, as i listened to the Audiobook, i had to rewind some times to check if something is a important detail or just a description of the wind. The Audiobook is good with Timothy Watson returning as the reader.

I mentioned timeline before, the beginning of the book is basically right after the ending of the first book but jumps in time a bit before it lands on the main story, 20 years. Then the whole rest of the story happens in 8 days. The Vermindoom happens at 3/4 of the book. It came as a bit of a surprise because we are already 2/3 into the Edition.

As per the books description, Heldenarr finds two orphans and he takes them in, wanting to make the realms better for them which of course, as you can expect works great as a kingdom worshiping the god of slaughter and blood.

In the end Hero-Fool Fall choose the wrong side for his goals, even in the book people tell him that his conquest wasnt necessary to make the realms a better place as the Ser Royce Company would have been punished and has been punished for acting outside of Hammerhalls and in extension Sigmars will. Its a good thing this comes up in my opinion, achieving your noble goals through chaos will only poison your accomplishments and leaves the whole place worse than it was before.

The Kingdom of Heldenarr is quite interesting as it has lords and vassals and an economy, yes it is martial and murder isnt illegal, vengeance neither, but compared to the savages of Khuls horde it is a functioning society. If you were to connect miniatures, Slaves to Darkness and Warcry Warbands would be closer than the typicall Blades of Khorne.

The twists and ending are, while not too predictable, good but not the greatest ever. Maybe if there will be another book we can finally expect some more interconnection with the Godeater himself, while the first books ending had me thinking we would get a more "Call of Archaon" or "Scourge of Fate" like story. The ending of book two, ending spoilers, wipes the canvas, which allows future Heldenarr stories more opporturnities.

Hi lads, longtime 40K player here discovering AOS.

Is there in the official lore already, or the lore space to make it, a sort of free city where « evil » factions converge ? The sort of dark backstabbing city where you get humans bandits, a skaven underground, chaos dwarf slavers, etc, that hate each other a bit less than they hate not making a profit.

It’s mostly to get a lore fitting or lore plausible excuse to make a mixed race army, using the Skaven codex I think.

Hi everyone,

It has been awhile since I wrote my "wildlife" series of the Mortal realms. And with the ogre release and the upcoming gargants and their unique cattle, I was reminded of some older thoughts of mine. Namley how would an in-universe scholar, with the limited ressources the has, interpret the cosmology around him and explain the variety of life therein. Because even if you believe in one or multiple gods, scholars have always speculated where life could have come from and how it could have reached its manifold forms.

Contrary to popular views on the past, what religion preached about the origin of the world was rarley a hard-truth among scholars and even theologians themselves. Because the RL contains many things religious stories cannot explain. Such as how shark teeth are found within the bedrock of the Alps. Some of these theories are nonsense, such as the theory of rock-animals which live within the rocks. If they hear miners approaching, the run away (through the rock). Only the dead ones can't, which is why we only find their sceletons. But many others had ideas much closer to the truth. Such as when Georges Cuvier acknowledged that species can go extinct and there are prehistoric animals we only find the remains of. As always, science is not "great man figureing stuff out by themselves", but a collaboration. Building on previous assumptions and understandings. Even Darwin build his theorems on previous scholars. And he was not the only one at this time. Darwin only published his findings because Alfred Wallace sent him notes for proof-reading and essentially figured out the same thing on his own journey through Indonesia. And many more were investating similar things at this time. Which was why Darwins theory found so much acceptance and support across the world.

So I figured; how would Iskander Dimerce, my in-universe scholar, or his colleagues explain the origin of life within the Mortal Realms?

I hope you enjoy the following read, and may let me know what you think of it. And as always have fun reading through my ramblings :)

Also if you are interest the wildlife series: Gloomspite Caves and Idoneth animals, the animals of the orruks, the ecology of ogres and thier mounts, Hyshs wildlife, Seraphon Dinosaurs, Stormcast Warbeasts. I may have to make some updates to them due to recent developments.

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Rejection of the World-That-Was, an overview over the origin of species in the Mortal Realms

Welcome dear readers to this latest essay of mine. Its title is surely a provocation in the eyes of many a gods fearing soul, but it is not without reason. I am not a theologian, nor am I an arcanologist and I am sure that my critiques will defame my writing because of this perceived lack of expertise. But no mortal can be an expert on these matters. And I can assure my dear readers that I travelled the realms and sought out a variety of sources myself, and be they such strange oddities. Contrary to other so-called scholars, who merely regurgitate but are unable to evaluate what they read properly.

But surely the reader will ask how I, and various other scholars and learned minds, can reject the “World-That-Was”, when it is so integral to our cosmos? Because this WTW being so important is the first fallacy. The WTW is not integral to our universe, nor do we have substantial proof that it ever existed. Indeed, we do have gods and entities which claim to be from this reality before our own. Eyewitnesses so to speak. But in every court each witness is tested on its reliability. And what is apparent very quickly is that even the gods themselves are not reliable in this regard. Each god has their own agenda, their own biases. They are not neutral fountains of truth. Not even beneficial ones like Sigmar, Teclis or Alarielle. Indeed, as it is attested even in the scriptures of many religions, even the gods themselves are fallible, forgetful and misremember things too, and therefore do not have a proper recollection of the reality before our own. A handy excuse. The same goes for artefacts which are claimed to be from this previous era, though we have no way to verify any of them.

But it goes further. Official Sigmarite doctrine states that Sigmar was a survivor of the WTW, clinging to the core of Mallus, before he was revived by Dracothion and entered the Mortal Realms a god. But this story has many discontinuities and incoherences. It is stated that the old reality died and the Mortal Realms formed with a massive span of time in between them. What was Sigmar on Mallus doing all this time? How did he transition from one reality to the other? Where was he in between? Going further, the old stories state that the WTW was a sphere, which circled around a much larger burning sphere, the “sun”, and was itself circled by smaller moons. Many other so-called planets circled this “sun” too. But whereas Mallus hangs now in Azyrs firmament, what happened to the other planets and the sun of this reality? Why should they be gone or trapped in a reality-between-realities, but Mallus is not? And indeed, why is Sigmar so special that he travelled through realities and is revived by Dracothion, when the other gods of his pantheon simply awake in their realms, according to their cults? The Teclian Cutlass states that if two explanations exist for a phenomenon, one simple and one complex one, then the simple explanation is most likely the correct one. And in this case, it is far more likely that Sigmar was not a legendary survivor of a previous reality. Instead, we have plenty of occurrences in which mortals ascend to godhood within the realms we know. Such as the dreaded Kragnos, who arose in a time long before Sigmar or the other gods. So, it is much more likely that the story of Sigmars arrival in the realms is an embellishment of his cult. Based on real events, but an embellishment, nonetheless. As my esteemed colleague, Iondina Noguta hypothesized, the true Sigmar may have been a regular mortal man, who impressed Dracothion so much, that the godbeast granted him immortality. Perhaps Mallus was once a moon of Azyr and livable like the Orbs Infernia, before disaster destroyed it. Though it makes sense from a religious and ideological point of view to stylize Sigmar as a survivor of a grand fight against chaos, who then rebuilt civilization. Yet it is unlikely.

But even if we ignore these more plausible explanations and would belief in the WTW, what would it matter? Every scholar who studies the universe can only study the universe they themselves exist in. Empiricism, the crown discipline of understanding natural laws, works only by measuring and observing reality and adjusting our theorems based on these factual observations. As we cannot measure other realities or times before time, these things are hollow thought experiments left over to self-important philosophers. And even if we would belief in them, what about the reality which came before them? And the one before that? And so on. And endless and ultimately senseless speculation of things existing before things, which bear little to no practical value nor any better insight into the world we face.

It is for these and a multitude of other reasons that other scholars and I reject the World-That-Was. Due to it being most likely a fabrication by divine and mortal minds. And even in the case it is not, then it is so immeasurable to us that thinking about it is time wasted in the most unproductive manner. Still the WTW is used as a shorthand to explain so many phenomena. Including the origin of a variety of species, which are shorthandly claimed to have appeared as “survivors” at some indeterminate point of time in the realms. This is as unlikely as the WTW is itself. And it does not answer the question of where the origin of life or of the various species lies but just moves it to another place. Even if all life originated from the WTW, how was it created there, how did humans, aelves and co came into being there? No answer but a pointless sidestep. And indeed, other alternatives exist for the origins of the various species of the realms.

Of these, I want to present two hypotheses regarding the origin of the humanoid species. Humanoid as in men-alike includes not just man, but also aelves, ogres, duardin and gargants, as well as some other creatures. Even if either species is denying it, the similarities between them are manifold. Sure, they have a different size, different lifespan and a different mentality, but they are still as akin to each other as deer, stag and moose are to another. Thus, these humanoids can be categorized into the same group, much like how deer stag and else are classified as Cervidae. But if not survivors of the WTW, then what can explain the origin of ourselves? There are two theorems I want to present here.

The first comes from my previously mentioned colleague Iondina Noguta. She studied a variety of species and came to the conclusion that nearly all lifeforms have a godbeast as an ancestor. Morbheg as the ancestor to all bat-creatures for example. Or Dracothion, whose spawn includes stardrakes, draconith and dracoths. Each as distinct from the other as a gargant is from an ogre is from a human. Noguta then speculates further in her treaty “the shared origin of men, aelves and else” that all humanoids of the realms also have a godbeast ancestor of which they are descendant. And the ideal candidate Noguta presents in her writing is the legendary world titan Ynmog. Much like how Dracothion spawned a variety of offspring, so did Ynmog apparently spawned not just gargants via Behemat, but also humans, dwarfs and aelves.  This happened directly or his offspring slowly changed into their current forms via the magics of the realms and other gods interacting with them. It is an interesting position, and much more believable than our ancestors being survivors of some quasi-fictious world. Though it is staunchly refused by cultists of Sigmar who cannot bear the idea that their god slew their own primordial ancestor.  

However, the counterpoint is made by Sanjam Phur. He rejects the notion that godbeasts are the legendary ancestor of modern species. Instead, he points to the ascended gods themselves, who achieved godhood as mortals, and speculates that many of the entities we label as godbeast could similarly once have been mortal creatures. Creatures, who became part of the realms to such a strong degree, that they became the godbeasts we know them as today. The best points he makes in this direction is in my opinion the similarity of life. Sanjam Phur is an expert taxologist and has catalogued life from across all the realms. What he discovered in his travels and research is that most lifeforms can be easily sorted into similar categories. I mentioned how aelves, humans, duardin, ogres and giants share many features. This includes amongst other things the same type of foot, a mostly hairless body, a vertical spine and bipedal walk, fingers and feet with five or less appendices, a similar skull feature, breasts which produce milk to feed their young and others. But apes share many of these features too. Only that they do not walk bipedaily, have feet better for climbing than walking and are covered in more hair. So, apes and humanoids are more similar to each other than either is to stag and deer. Therefore, humaniods and apes form the group of Primates.  But even stags and deer are more similar to primates than either are to snakes. And indeed, as whales have finger-like structures in their fins, lungs and produce milk, they too are more similar to deer and primates than to fish.

By sorting life by its similarities and differences one can create a network which connects nearly all known species. And even far-removed groups are suddenly connected. This pattern is too thorough to explain with singular deities creating species in their likeness. Instead Phur concludes that all species have a shared origin. But the transformative magics of the realms, which are well attested, caused creatures to change and evolve into new forms. The Ymetrican Longhorn in Hysh, the Stonehorn in Ghur and the Ghyrochs of Ghyran show this pattern greatly. All three are different versions of mountainous bovines who incorporate stone into their very skeleton. Likely there was one original ancestor, probably from Chamon, who then ventured into each of the three realms and transformed into the three species we know today. According to Phur the same applies to humanoids. Some primates, either from Ghur or Ghryan, ventured into Hysh. Hysh transformed these apes, making them more intelligent and changing them physically. Some of these proto-humanoids then ventured into other realms again. In Ghur these proto-humanoids became ogres, in Ghyran gargants, in Ashqy or Chamon they became duardin etc. Only the ancestor of aelves stayed the longest in Hysh, before they spread across the realms too. Which makes Hysh the origin point of humanoids according to Phur. Personally, I find his conclusion the most logical and verifiable.

But what about greenskins then? Aren’t they humanoids too? No. Whilst they share the same body structure in rough sketches, their internal organs and reproductive system are too different and alien. Even the innards of a fish align more closely with a human or aelf, than with an orruk. Indeed, it seems greenskins form an entirely different branch of life, unrelated to the vertebrates and most invertebrates. Andoro “Orcsbane” Lever, an expert in all matters greenskin due his earlier veteran career in Excelsis, has stated that the greenskins most likely started as a parasitic type of plant or fungi from Ghur. Perhaps related or akin to Itcher Moss. As humanoids spread and evolved, these plants started to parasite them more and more. Until the plants/fungi took on characteristics of these humanoids, evolving into the greenskins/goblinoids we know today.

Here does this scripture ends. I hope it can convince some of my dear readers of the implausibility of the World-That-Was. It is at best an entertaining but ultimately worthless idea, but most likely a falsehood. Of course, the two theorems over the origin of humanoids I present here are not perfect either. But it is not knowing the ultimate truth but trying to understand and explain the world to the best possible degree. Future studies and new research methods may shift things again. Which is important in the process of understanding and learning. I hope that my dear readers will continue this process and share their findings with the rest of the academic community.

Iskander Dimerce

Both start as hopeful conquests to bring enlightenment and order to a chaotic era (Age of Chaos/Age of Strife). While it's still a time of hope and mythic figures we are slowly seeing the cracks and how not even the immortal Stormcast remains untouched by this endless war.

So as the title says i want to understand the difference between these two worlds because i pick up the war for the mortal realms book and I am currently playing Warhammer 3 and want to understand before reading the book.

So far everything (correct me if I am wrong)I know is that old world is set years before Warhammer Fantasy and that the end times destroyed the whole setting to become Warhammer:Age of sigmar with the mortal realms ( I know there is more than one realm ) .

What I don't know is the origins of the mortal realms, Is old world a realm and chaos is now trying to destroy every other realm at the same time or are the mortal realms what remain of the old world after the end times ?

Fell in love with the maps of age of sigmar but when I dug a bit deeper I found out that these maps are said to be like photos of a continent taken at one moment. Mortals on the realms didn't rely on maps because the nature of the realms often made them a misleading tool. Is it true ? How much of a nightmare are the realms for traveling people like merchants ?

My assumptions were that a human could not see a realm evolve enough for them to be noticeable in a single life, but I am still very new to the lore of aos and would gladly accept recommendations to learn more about the realms.

Warp stone is very dangerous for a majority of races in the setting, but could magic resistant species like the HoH and ogors invade this territory?

I thought I had a pretty fair grasp on AoS lore, especially destruction factions since it’s where I started. Though it seems that I fundamentally never understood Gorkamorka.

With the most recent Ogres Battletome, it states the ogres worship “the gulping god”. Which is an “aspect” of Gorkamorka? Then I went down the rabbit hole finding out that apparently all destruction factions worship these different aspects but it’s all just Gorkamorka.

Honestly, I’m not really a fan of how I’m understanding that. I enjoyed the idea that Gorkamorka was a singular god the other destruction factions appreciated but weren’t beholden to.

So can someone explain this to me like I’m 5 in case I’m wrong. Also, what the hell is an “aspect” of Gorkamorka. It seems like it’s either him or not, right?

You know ironically I think we talked only about "Warhammer Survivors" when this was revealed, even though this is the game that promises more narrative and lore.

I just picked up this up and wondered what yall think about the collection?

Is the order in the omnibus the best or intended order? In particular, I’ve always felt The Old Ways fits better between City of Secrets and The Silver Shard. No idea about the others.

I’m also curious whether there’s anything outside the omnibus worth reading alongside it For these stories.

Are there any other Callis & Toll or witch-hunter stories that add anything or continue these characters? Love learning about the Cities of Sigmar.

If you were putting together this reading list, what would you add?

For the last two millenia, scholarly consensus has been clear: time flows uniformly across all of the Cosmos Arcane, with the exception of localized freak occurences due to powerful magics or Chaotic corruption. All the legends of people leaving for long journeys across the realms only to find their twin sibling spry and youthful whereas they have become old, or of sylvaneth spiriting people away to Ghyran for a night only for them to age to death as they returne and so on were just that, legends. This was proven thanks to a simple expirment: two clocks set on either side of a Realmgate would remain synchronized no matter how long you waited.

However following Sigmar's Tempest and the unprecedented logistical effort that is the coordination of a war of Reclamation across seven major Realms (and countless sub-realms), anomalies began to accumulate: discrepancies in records, supply wagons moving faster than they should, campaigns lasting much longer than expected without their commanders' notice, people ageing slower than they should (even accounting for use of aqua ghyranis and other magical treatments), events on different fronts happening in different orders depending on the report. What at first was dismissed as results of the confusion inherent in warfare and attempts to defraud Sigmar's paymasters became too widespread to be ignored and, following the Necroquake, the Solemn Lycaeum of Gravewild was tasked with investigating the matter.

After decades of research, we have come to the conclusion that the previous scholarly consensus was wrong and the legends based on reality. While it is true that two clocks set on either side of a Realmgate will remain synchronized, should either or both of those clocks be moved away from the Gate and brought back, a discrepancy will appear, the further the clock was moved into the Realm, the greater the discrepancy.

From these observations we can conclude that not only is time not uniform across the cosmos Arcane, it is not uniform across a single Realm (the unstated assumption that previous experiments had failed to examine). Instead, it appears that while each Realm possesses its own "natural" flow of time, and that on those locations where two Realms meet (in other words, at Realmgates) the slower flow will speed up and the faster one will slow down so that there is an unbroken continuum at the point of contact. This phenomenon appears to be influenced by the nature of the Gate and its circumstances (its size, its location relative to either Realms' Edge, important deposits of Realmstones or geomantic nexuses, and so on).

Greater funding is critically needed so that the phenomenon can be properly studied. As it stands we yet lack the vocabulary or measuring methods to properly assess it, despite its obvious importance and the major influence it has on Sigmar's holy war. It is also imperative that we understand better the effects that closing a Reamlgate or redirecting it to the timeless Realm of Chaos has on local time.

However our limited research has already allowed ust to describe the Realms' flows of time relative to each other in a crude manner.

Time flows slowest in Shyish, befitting the domain of finality and memory. By contrast Ghyran posseses the fastest flow of all eight Realms, as things are born, live, die and are born again in a never-ending rythm. It is ironic that, for an hypothetical outside observer, the people of the Realm of Death would seem to live longer than those of the Realm of Life.

The second slowest realm is High Azyr itself, the Realm of calm and dispassionate imaginings. Aqshy, the Realm of energy and emotional extremes is the second fastest.

Perhaps surprisingly Hysh and Ulgu, despite being the Realms most opposed to each other seem to enjoy nigh identical "native" time-flows. However, Hysh seems to be the most "stable" in this regard (by which we mean that time distortion appears to always be lesser on the Hyshian side of a Realmgate than on the other), Ulgu by contrast appears to be the Realm most prone to stretching its flow to meet another's. Perhaps this speaks to the Realm of Light's association with the notion of a singluar truth while Ulgu thrives on ambiguity and confusion.

We have not yet succedded in placing Chamon and Ghur in this ordering. To the best of our ability to measure it, time in the Realm of Beasts seems to speed up and slow down without warning, much like an ambush predator may lay motionless for hours before accelerating to great speeds. Likewise, time in the Realm of Metal appears to slow down and accelerate at random. However careful readings of our measurments have shown some minor patterns repeating .We therefore theorize that there exists a larger pattern through which the rythm of time in Chamon may be predicted.

Finally we have been unable to conduct any experiment in the Eightpoints for obvious reasons, but we speculate, that prior to the Age of Chaos, its timestream was the "average" of the Cosmos Arcane and that the many tears in that subrealm towards the Domain of Chaos have likely done terrible damage to the nature of time there.

I mean think about it despite being called Chaos, Chaos Factions are a lot closer to Order. After all you require civilization to make wide-spread war and not just small tribal conflicts, you need civilization for complicated plots and scheme and to study complexity of magic, you need civilization to keep people in unsanitized and poor living conditions for plagues to be born and spread wide, you need civilization to endulge in every and all kind of excess, and you definately need civilization for rats to breed fast and disseminate.

Unlike the Destruction Faction that either want to destroy it all and bring all of the mortal realms back into its original primitive state or take whatever they want from it.

Read Last of the Volari and Bad Loon Rising.
Was wondering if there were any other novels where the main characters are of the death or destruction factions? The grand majority of AoS books have order or chaos as the main characters and while some are fun to read, I want more greenskins in my life.

Hi everyone,

As you know, Warhammer is a collection of tabletop IPs with creative (and less creative) armies to fight each other. But each army has a plethora of colourful and interesting characters. It is these characters that fuel a significant part of the enagement in this hobby. Best seen with TWW games where legendary lords and heroes are among the main pillars of new content and adored by the fans. Even or especially for those fans who had no prior interactions with Warhammer. But of course there are also sometimes novels for characters to follwo through their various adventures. Not to mention what they provide to collectors and how it fields to field this legendary figure as part of your army on the battlefield (only to loose said legendary figure due to a bad dice role agianst some brainless undead or a lucky peasant).

However, GW is a miniature company first and foremost. Therefore, it frequently happens that they release a character as a splendid miniature and with a paragraph of lore to justify their existence, and then nothing is done with them for decades. But even with this limited official support, it is frequently enough to have  a very intriguing and suspenseful figure. Either because the background is that interesting, or because of the implications this figure has within the wider context of the setting.

So I want to have a little chat about characters I like a lot from WFB and AoS. Primarily about the characters themselves, what makes them intrueging to me, but also how they reflect on other figures, or the setting at large, and what legacy or future adventures could await them.

And the character I want to discuss first is Azhag the Slaughterer, my favourite greenskin lord of all Warhammer IPs. More than Grimgor Ironhide or Grom the Paunch, more than Gobsprakk, Skumdrekk and who else you may call out. Indeed, he is thus far a very unique figure, both in WFB and AoS standards. And his legacy is something I would ultimately like to see in AoS too.

So, without further ado, lets beigin with the question

1. Who is Azhag the Slaughterer?

Azhag the Slaughterer started as the leader of a minor orc warband in Troll Country. An inhospitable, frozen area which was the frontier between the human land of Kislev, Norsca and the chaos wastes. It is a realm full of trolls (hence the name), roving bands of chaos tribes and chaos-mutated monsters. Also, Clan Moulder has its capital here. Which means either their forces venture out to catch research material, or some nasty creation of theirs escapes and joins the various beasts of this area. Naturally Troll Country is a silly place you’d best avoid. But orcs like it for this very reason. Still, Azhags band was driven underground after loosing a battle and down there they stumbled over the ruins of an ancient city. After beating up some chaos trolls which nested down there, Azhag found a shiny head, i.e. a crown, and put it on. However, this was not just any crown, but the Crown of Sorcery. Forged by Nagash and containing part of his essence, worn by Kadon, Ushoran and Sigmar in later millennia, and somehow sitting here in the most remote place possible for nearly 2400 years.

This single item turned Azhag from one of minor chieftain into one of the most dangerous warbosses in recent history. Because Nagash spirit influenced the orc, as soon as the orc put the crown on his head. And Azhag probably thought two voices in your brain are better than one. Due to the essence of Nagash Azhag became a strong sorcerer, having access to the lore of death (and in some lore variants also necromancy) despite having no magicla talents before. In addition he recieveid glowing eyes, could speak with two voices (his own and the shard of Nagash in the crown), and gained a fiendish insight into tactics and strategy. In short Azhag became dangerously smart for an orc, arguably too smart. Because he was able to plan proper battle and campaign strategies and started using weird and sophisticated expressions, which the regular orcs could not understand. And he started to explain his plans to his underlings, instead of bashing the head in and yelling to go into that direction. Arguably that made him the smartest orc warlord of all time. However, the issue was that his tactics were too confusing to his greenskin underlings and thus executed in a lacklustre fashion. But orcs who pull of a decent strategy in a rough, half-arsed manner are still leagues more dangerous than a green horde without any plan at all.  Especially as the human armies were not prepared to fight such organized greenskins. Especially not one lead by a dangerous wizard too!

So, Azhags Waagh! ravaged Kislev and the northern Empire. With every victory more greenskins joined, and Azhag became more physically powerful too. Sure the orcs were weirded out by his glowing eyes and that he would speak with two voices, which argued with each other, but the results were great. Even the night goblin of Red Eye Moutain, one of the biggest goblin tribes of all, joined his WAAGH and gifted Azhag a fearsome, massive wyvern. Wyverns are dragon-looking flying reptiles with a very ferocious temperatement. If raised from a hatchling they can be somewhat tamed. But it is almost impossible to break and ride a feral adult one. Yet Azhag was able to do just that with a single glare (and Nagash and magical shenanigans behind it). Thus, it became his mount Skullmuncha. From there Azhag really got going. To the point where the humans gave him the title of slaughterer, after Azhag devastated an empire army with his magics and smart tactics, leaving no survivors. To reiterate, the humans gave him the title Slaughterer. How dangerous and deadly does an orc have to be to be given this title out of all greenskins? The short answer is very.

However, Nagash essence urged him to go south to present the crown to its master. Kind of like the One Ring from LotR. (Prior to the End Times Nagash was implied to sit in Nagashizzhar on his throne, either recharging for his comeback, or plotting throughout millennia. Indeed, in TWW2/3 if you conquer Nagashizzhar as Arkhan, Nagashs corpse is sitting there on his throne as some building descriptions). However, orcs are thick and Azhag is one of the thickest of all orcs. He reissted where most humans and vampires failed and even Sigmar struggled immensly. So, Azhag did not listen to the crown that much. Therefore, it was a constant struggle between Nagashs essence in the crown pulling him south, and Azagh wishing to randomly raid and pillage like orcs want to do. Indeed, the only reason why Azhag was stopped came from this weakness. Because in the middle of a great battle this tug-of-wills between Nagash and Azhag ensued again, making him stop fighting and arguing with himself mid battlefield. Essentially, he failed his stupidity test. A commander of the Knights Panther was able to use this to slay the orc. And after the battle people realized what kind of crown Azhag wore. So, it was immediately looked up by the Cult of Sigmar.

But to reiterate, a random orc became one of the most dangerous foes the empire faced, due to this crown. And he could only be stopped, because Nagash tried to take over in the worst possible moment.

In recent times Azhag became more popular due to Total War Warhammer, where I was also introduced to him. He was the second starting lord in the first game, next to Grimgor Ironhide, but his campaign rules were… not well. It took until the greenskin rework in TWW2 that he recieved his own, interesting campaign, starting in the Northern Worlds Edge Mountains between Kislev, Ostermark and Karak Kadrin and is a very interesting campaign. And you can go south as Azhag and occupy Nagashizar, as the crown always wants too. Which offers you with a unique building with a nice line: “Aright metal ‘at we’re ‘ere. Now what?” Because in the game Azhag can only use the lore of death, not necromancy, and thus cannot revive Nagashs husk. Will things change with him in the End Times with Nagash proper return? Who knows...

2. What makes Azhag special?

So Azhag is an orc with the supreme necromancer of the setting in his head. Well part of him. This makes him very unique by Warhammer standards. He is an orc warlock, an extremely powerful spellcaster, whilst also being tough in combat and riding a powerful draconic behemoth into battle. And in addition to all this he is terrifyingly smart as well. If you want to draw parallels to other works, you can find them with Azog from the Hobbit (similar name) or conceptual wise from orc death knights in Warcraft 2 or Arthas from Warcraft 3. One could even argue Azhag is the WFB orc-equivalent of the Witch King of Angmar from LotR. Because like the Witch King Azhag is a sorcerer-warlord flying on a massive reptilian monster and is connected to an offscreen evil master via a magical artefact.  Except that Azhag is still his own character and tries to ignore orders. I do not want to talk about potential inspirations or who did something first with these comparisons. Instead, I just want to illustrate what archetypes feed into Azhag and how this is a prominent one throughout different settings.

And within Warhammer Azhag is the weird one among the orcs as he is an outlier in terms of mentality, skill and attitude. Which makes him a foil and reflection of the greenskin culture. But he also showcases the potential of greenskins, as many of his successes arise from just being smarter than the regular orcs, and therefore multiple times as dangerous. In this Azhag represents the same threat potential as  Gorbad Ironclaw, who was the most dangerous orc waaghboss' within the settings history. Indeed, Azhag is likely smarter or as an individual more dangerous than this legendary orc. However, Gorbad was better in inventing strategies, which orcs could actually understand and execute. Thus, Gorbads armies were likely more devastating in comparison. But Gorbad also had a head start in terms of army size before Azhag. Indeed, even compared to other Greenskins Azhag excelled. Such as him being a quasi-native to Kislev and being able to raid it, whereas Grimgor Ironhide was famously repelled by Kislev. The primary issue of Azhag was essentially that he died early into his Waagh, whereas Grimgor is still alive and Gorbad was able to do more with the time he was given.

But Azhag goes even further. Because Azhag can easily be seen as a Mortach of Nagash, even if just an honorary one. In WFB Mortarchs were not well defined as in AoS, especially not in the End Times. During the ET any semi-popular and named undead character was given the title of Mortarch. Meaning the group had no cohesion or strong identity, like it has in AoS. And before this random group Azhag even stands out as one of the more competent/loyal servants of Nagash IMO. Like them he was empowered by Nagash significantly and was supposed to perform Nagashs plans. Yes, Azhag had some obedience issues, but which Mortarch did not have them? In addition, Azagh never outright betrayed Nagash, unlike some other Mortarchs in the End Times.  One may imagine what would have happened if Nagash was really able to pull Azhag and his massive greenskin hordes into his service. And Azhag as a mortarch pontential is quite the unique and thus interesting addition. I frequently complain how the AoS Mortarchs are primarily vampires, but this was even worse in End Times.

And indeed, through his crown Azhag is also connected to a much larger legacy. After all, even Sigmar himself wore this crown once. The crown is a well recorded artefact, due to Sigmar wearing it for years and it being the reason for his clash with Nagash. So, one of the most important artefacts of the Cult of Sigmar was found and used by this greenskin, the archenemies of Sigmar. This gives Azhag a great symbolic threat to the Empire and the Cult of Sigmar at large. One may imagine the dread the humans felt, when they identified the crown on Azhags head, combining the threat of greenskins with the threat of Nagash. Add to this how Azhag came from the north, i.e. chaos lands, and he combines the three greatest dangers of the setting in one being. Almost as if this orc was the anti-christ of the sigmarite cult, or something akin to it.

3. What could be Azhag legacy?

Ok I talked about why I like Azhag. But this is an AoS forum and Azhag is dead, even in WFB. A few years after Karl Franz Coronation and long before the End TImes start. This is true, but being canonicly dead was not an issue for the TT game back then. Unlike in AoS, plenty of characters in WFB are canonically dead but still playable. Sometimes even figures that lived centuries ago, like Grom or Gorthor. If you bring them, it is just for fun/ your battle is set during an era where this being was still alive/ the figure represents some homebrew character with similar skills etc.pp. Indeed, Azhag being dead in the present of WFB may have been good for Azhag (and other characters like him like Grom and Gorbad). Because GW is/was very careful of changing the status quo, and they love to keep things open-ended in case they want to do stuff in the future. Which can be seen in current AoS, where many characters did not have new lore for years and are not allowed to influence the setting in massive ways. But deceased characters are allowed to go crazy, as all their events cannot change the present anymore. See Grom the Paunch razing many Karaks, half the Empire and even invading Ulthuan and allmost destryoing the world on accident. Deeds most living characters are not allowed to commit, even though the story implies they may go into this direction in the future. And even if you keep Azhags death intact, there are plenty of ways to expand upon him, such as via a novel set during his terrific period. Or, as the End Times are rewritten, so could Azhag play a legacy role as he is the source of Nagash crown which is somehow used to revive or revitalize Nagash.

But what does Azhag mean to AoS? Well the potential he represents is still untouched in AoS. Among the current orruk warclans there is no character really fitting his niche. But there could be. Such as by having an Azhag expy appear leading the orruk warclans. I.e a sinister orruk who is both a sorcerer and a warlord and rides a massive flying monster. Something of a fusion of a Kruelboy and an Ironjaw. Indeed such a figure would be even more dangerous in AoS as the Kruelboyz are actually smart enough to follow compelx instructions and especially if the instructions cause suffering. And a kruelboy would be open to use sinister artefacts, which manifold their strenght, their intelligence or give them extra powers, as we have seen with multiple examples. If you would drop Azhag into AoS he would quickly have a Kruelbyoz Waagh around himself. Though for similar subversions as in WFB greenskins this archetype would also work well for an Ironjaw character.

But the more intriguing option to me would be a Mortarch of Nagash who incorporates elements Azhag represented. One common criticism I have with the current Motarchs is the following: They are Old World heavy (4 out of 6 known Mortarchs are Oldworlders) and they are too vampire heavy (3 out of six Mortarchs are vampires) and they are too human heavy (all Mortarchs are of human origin). This is not good to either represent the manifold forms undeath can take in AoS, not how death is the great equalizer everyone is subjected too. This is where an Azhag-inspired character could shine. Such a Mortarch does not have to be an orruk necessarily, but being a former member of destruction would be great. It could be a giant, and ogre or something else too. Even a monstrous beast like Shordemaire would work well.  Because currently Death has very little connections or storylines with destruction, compared to chaos or order. Such a mortarch could bridge the gap and create more story lines between Death and Destruction. This character could be the scourge and archenemy of orruk kind, as the Mortarch kills greenskins and rises them in Nagash service again, compromising Gorkamorka and the Great Green. An orruk, who may have glimmers of his old self still, but is ultimately broken and remade into an unorky form, such is the power of Nagash. Or an ogre who submitted to Nagash as their version of the Gulping God, as death is the great devourer. A blasphemy to other ogres then, but a dangerous servant who acts as Nagash brutal fist. Such a Mortarch could then represent the inversion/perversion of destruction, as Nagash takes a simple brutish being and turns it into an ordered, intelligent nightmare. A dastardly fusion of brawn, sorcerers might and brutish, yet organized armies. Such a “Mortarch of Calamities” could represent the sudden catastrophes and the death they inflict, as their armies raize the land like natural disasters and essentially work as Nagash attack hounds. In my opinion such a being could be a reinterpretation and reconfiguration of what Azhag represented

4. The End

So, this was with me fan-ranting about Azhag the Slaughterer. IMO he is quite the awesome character. From the wacky, yet dangerous greenskins arises a wacky, but simultaneously much more serious and dangerous threat. But what do you think about Azhag? Do you think he is cool? Boring? That I am talking nonsense? Would you like a Moratch inspired by him, as I suggest, or are you fine with more dead humans? In short, what do you think about all this?

In AoS the way the afterlife works is that if enough people believe a certain thing will happen when they die an underworld will be created that represents that.

The thing that makes me like this concept a lot is that it gets around a potential worldbuilding obstacle while still fitting into how the setting works. Belief has power. More importantly it allows the writers both official and homebrewers to create factions that have their own beliefs regarding what happens when they die while not having to be forced to confirm to a specific type of afterlife. Or create a belief that the readers know is flat out wrong.

What are peoples opinion? Would people have preferred a more strict interpretation of how the afterlife works or do you like the concept because it allows the existence of multiple beliefs that even when contradictory are all right?

Hello there general AoSlore cominity.

I have to call it lightly a limited intresst in the 8 realms and have been working to change that.

From my love Thw daughters of khain best faction, Anvilguard was an inside job. Morathi cant do no wrong.

I habe been branching out, going thro7gh Thalias books which even made me pick up her model, the toy advertisment worked lol. For the CoS as well as on the shoulder of giants.

To grombrindals books making me fall in love with the guy amd the rest of the dawei to a lesser extent. Though the 3rd book while cool is weaker because there is such a focus "antagonists" wrong word dont know thw right one.

So i am looking for more books to enjoy and get a feel for more faction.

Preferably not order but doesnt have to be.

Factions i already like are lumineth and Stromcast and have read about.

With the caveat that while i like the idea of the lumineth almost every depiction of them in book i habe read makes me wana kick teclis in his magic orbs. They habe difficult personalitys. So a book that can change that and that isnt Godsbane might be cool.

And a book that isnt Hamilcar for Stormcaat i have gottwn through that one.

Also i am looking for full books not short storys.

Perhaps a cool chaos book as Noah van Nygens Godeaters son is such a delight. The man can write.

Thank you all and i hope this wasnt to incoherent.

It was all she could do not to scowl at the cathedral’s impractically high spires. The whole structure had been built of white marble, imported at great expense from Azyrheim. Vast windows of stained glass competed with intricate mosaics of hammers, comets and other equally gaudy Sigmarite iconography. Tahlia would have been tempted to dismiss the cathedral entirely if not for the battle priests patrolling its crenellated battlements and the glint of Ironweld cannonades atop the tall towers. A full squadron of Deaconite Guard warded the gold-filigreed gates, pikes sharp and eyes wary despite the garishness of their blue-lacquered plate.

Tahlia passed the time by imagining how she would besiege the place. Although the walls appeared sturdy enough, all that stained glass would shatter at the first volley, subjecting the cathedral’s innards to sustained bombardment. Except that the windows did not seem to open on anything important. The more Tahlia studied the supreme pontifex’s residence, the more defences she noticed – such as how the walls were arranged to funnel attackers below the towers’ field of fire, or how the many courtyards and fountains provided natural choke points.

‘The supreme pontifex will see you now.’ A dark-robed priest with a missing eye ushered them through the gates. Inside they were flanked by a small army of shaven-headed initiates bearing bowls, trays and jars of scented oil. Lord Myravel availed himself of a glass of pale wine, but Tahlia waved the attendants away, feeling like a warhorse who had accidentally trotted into a dressage ring.

Lord Myravel remarked upon the finery, twittering away like an Azyrite finch as they crunched down white-gravel paths and crossed half a dozen tiny bridges. Tahlia was about to add a few choice descriptors of her own when she noticed the high, columned galleries ringing the gardens. Ostensibly, they provided visitors with a fine view of the carefully cultivated beds. They would provide an equally fine view for the score of fusiliers patrolling the elevated walkways.

Lioness of the Parch, Chapter Five

There's a lot to love and appreciate about the Tahlia Vedra stories. But today I wanted to highlight this scene where Tahlia takes stock of the Cathedral of Elethrus Vinx, Supreme Pontifex of the Cults Unberogen.

As befitting the abode of the Pope of Popes for Sigmar's faithful, this marble and gold and glass edifice is a thing of finery... all of which disguise the fairly well thought out defenses of the structure.

Sigmar is a God of War as much as one of Civilization, so it is nice seeing this reflected in what's essentially one of the most important temples dedicated to him.

In this episode Fish knows everything about Underworlds lore, our special guest David knows everything about Age of Sigmar lore, and Thomas has an approximate knowledge of many things! We then have two in depth debates. Bladecatcher vs Illusory Fighter? Are the Flesh-eater Courts Bretonnians?

So I been reading the lexicanum and found Life-quake, it’s natural phenomenon in Ghryan that “leading to miraculous conceptions” is their any more information on this because I’m thinking if you get hit with this you get pregnant.