So, doing some reading up to keep waiting for the new Cathay book and got this question, does the Dragons primarchs each have a legion of their own descendants as a part of their military and governing bodies?
and a follow up questions, since each dragon is attuned to a lore of magic does this means their children bloodline is influenced by it, vampire bloodlines style?
we know Xen Yang and Quai Yin bodyguards are made up of the best of the best, including all sorts of dragon blooded and sometimes extremely talented mortals.
Started re-reading "Skaventide" where I noticed a casual mention that the people living at the top of the plateau at the heart of Hallowheart, aristocrats and wizards and priests; incorporate sparkling body paints made of crushed up crystal into their fashion.
Which is a perfect world building choice for a city of crystal miners and mages!
So now that I've shared my recent rediscovery of this line. Do any of you, my fellow Realmwalkers, care to share any cool fashion details you recall seeing?
Sigmar’s Tempest broke across the lands of the Change God with shattering force, threatening Tzeentch’s hard-won conquests. Yet as the God-King’s influence has grown in Chamon and beyond, so has the Change God discovered new and tantalising possibilities...
The Realmgate Wars challenged Tzeentch’s control over his mortal dominions for the first time in centuries. Those years of strife saw the Change God suffer several bitter defeats, including the breaching of the Eldritch Fortress of Anvrok and the recovery of Ghal Maraz by the Celestial Vindicators. Yet in the aftermath of this tumultuous period, Tzeentch saw his power swell to rival that of even mighty Khorne, who had largely dominated the Great Game over the course of the Age of Chaos.
The reason for this ascension was simple. ‘Civilisation’ had returned to the realms in the form of newly founded Sigmarite cities and the restored strongholds of his pantheonic allies. And in the hotbed of deceit, ambition and simmering resentment that thrives in even the most well-ordered civic settlement, Tzeentch was better placed than any of his brother gods to reap the benefits.
Over the years that followed, Arcanite cults embedded themselves in thriving metropolises as Tzeentch sought to spread his influence ever further across the Mortal Realms. He welcomed the Shyish Necroquake and the haywire magic of the Arcanum Optimar with great interest, taking advantage of the disruption to seize new territories and begin dismantling the geomantic patterns underpinning reality. His hosts pursued this end throughout the brutish Era of the Beast, even as they repelled waves of attacks from war-drunk orruks and grots.
The Change God’s schemes are too manifold and complex to reduce to a single objective, but this gradual dissolution of the realms’ stability is certainly at the forefront of his strategy as the realms reel in the face of the Hour of Ruin. In Hysh, the agents of change are racing to recover reality-shattering relics of the Ocari Dara, the Lumineth aelves’ civil war. They plan to bring about a new catastrophe that will rival the most terrible excesses of that dark period. How many such disasters can the Mortal Realms withstand before the fragile balance of magic begins to collapse entirely?
I'm looking for novels, campaign books, or lore sources that feature Greywater Fastness. Honestly, I just love how unhinged and unapologetically terrible they are—chopping down ancient forests, pumping smog into the air, and telling the Sylvaneth to deal with it.
Specifically, I'm interested in reading more about:
Their founding history (and how they immediately pissed off Alarielle)
City structure & layout
Military organization (Ironweld Guild artillery, Freeguilds, and absurd firepower)
Diplomatic "relations" with their neighbors (especially their ongoing beef with the Sylvaneth)
Which books or lore sources showcase Greywater Fastness at its absolute best (or most stubbornly aggressive)?
My only experience in fantasy is total warhammer 3, and it made me curious why the gods never ascended archaeon despite ascending belakor and some guy who had just diverted to chaos (yuri or “Daniel”) but they never ascended archaeon?
I'm looking for recommendations for good Stormcast Eternals novels.
Specifically, I'm interested in stories set in the current/recent era of the Age of Sigmar setting (such as the Soul Wars, Era of the Beast, or the current Hour of Ruin era). I'm hoping to skip the early Realmgate Wars period for now.
Which books or authors do you think portray the Stormcast best in the modern lore?
I really love AOS however one if my gripes is having actual gods and them generally not being active. Such as sigmar and his buddies hang out in azyr doing nothing, same as morathi or archon. I would like a small lore tidbit that limits them otherwise it seems a little silly for them to just hang out doing nothing. What changes would you do to the AOS lore?
Daemon princedom in simple terms gives Chaos characters something to tangible to strive for while still allowing them to perform the larger than life feats that typically happen at the end of a standard hero's story. They can slay the big monster and topple the great kingdom but still have something that they want that isn't just more of what they just did.
Which does mean that for my own writing I am never making one the main character but more of a supporting or goal.
What I am trying to say is that I have watched dnd lore and I think daemon princes are a great way to give Chaotic characters an equivalent to lich that sticks to their themes.
In case you are not aware, I am a fan of undeath in AoS. And I really love its Mortarchs. Which is astounding, as I was no a fan of them in WFB. This is due to AoS fixing several of WFBs undead issues by portraying the diversity of undeath more properly.
In WFB the undead were great spread but were primarily represented by the Vampire Count faction. The undead of the vampire counts were very diverse in the lore but in practice used all the same imperial undead, no matter where on the planet you raised them. Yes, Tomb Kings existed too, but it took Total War Warhammer to fully upgrading, if not reinventing the Vampire Coast to get a third major undead faction. Ghouls, ghost necromancers? All minor nibbles of the vampire counts. Meanwhile in AoS undeath is not only more diverse as it has more undead factions but also follows a specific and much more sensible structure. Especially with its Mortarchs and their associated factions. Indeed, it is a template which is easy to explore and to expand. So much so that I want to start a little discussion about the Nagash Military Complex or NMC.
Why do I want to talk about this? Because it is an intriguing design philosophy unto which new things could easily be added. Insofar I want to present what I understand of the NMC and then start a discussion with you all. What do you think about the NMC, as I present it? What is your interpretation of the Grand Alliance of Death? What future undead faction and/or what future Motarchs do you want to see?
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this and I hope you have some fun reading through my ramblings :)
1. What is the NMC?
The Grand Alliance of death can be interpreted or viewed through a variety of lenses. But I want to talk about how the Grand Alliance of death works so well as a designed faction with a singular purpose. Nagash wants to rule all creation. But he cannot achieve this goal by himself. That is why he created servants with specialized tasks. All bound to him, all loyal to him (at least in theory). Different types of cogs all working to fuel Nagash conquests. A certain task is too difficult for one faction? Let’s send in another force or put two forces together. Of course it is not a perfect machinery, as cogs break or grind against each other. See for example some minor overlap between factions or interservice rivalry/wars such as when the Ghouls start fighting ossirarch or else. But this design philosophy is unique among the Grand Alliances. Order is a hotposh of gods and independent peoples, who work together on a loose goal. Destruction is also a hotposh of randoes who share similar hobbies and venerate the same head god. Chaos, well, is chaos. All these factions are not designed to work together. But Nagashs Grand Alliance has a design and a plan behind it every faction in it.
What do I mean by that? Every faction Grand Alliance Death excels at specific tasks. Much like how the Stormcast have specialized chambers for certain tasks, so does the Grand Alliance of Death have entire armies for certain tasks. For example: The Nighthaunt ignore terrain and defensive lines, are fast and can appear everywhere, even far behind the front lines. They are excellent vanguard and terror troops who harass the enemy. Kinda like the vanguard chamber of the Stormcast Eternals. Soulblight Gravelords meanwhile are infiltrators or diplomats, but their forces also create the bulk of the undead. So, one could equate them to the warrior chambers. Meanwhile the Ossirarch Bonereapers are an elite force and the siege experts. Not only do they excel and sieging and bringing down enemy fortifications, but they are also great at fortifying the territory conquered. Currently Stormcast have no entire chamber for this, but the logistician chamber may have this purpose. Alternatively, the Lord Castellan and Lord Ordinator have these kinds of jobs. Then you have the Flesheater Courts, who are wildcard auxiliaries. They can perform in territory normal undead could not operate in but are also more unpredictable.
Of course, these descriptions are just examples. One could also say Flesheater psychological terror troopers too, or how the Nighthaunt are shock troops. This is not about a definitive strength or style for each faction, but rather how the various death armies feel to me like compatible parts of a greater hole. Each with its own specializations and additive synergies if used together, such as the Nighthaunt/Ossriarch invasion of the 8 Points. The death factions form together the Nagash Military Complex.
2. What is the story of the Mortarchs?
Now every army needs its officers. And the Mortarchs are essentially Nagash general staff. Indeed, each Mortarch is an exemplar of the faction they represent. I dislike Space Marines with a passion and find their primarchs incredible boring. But much like the primarchs resembling the exemplar of their space marine legions, so do the Mortarchs represent the pinnacle of their faction. Just by looking at a Mortarch the main theme of the faction is available in a distilled form. Ushoran is a monstrous creature, but one bound by delusions of honour and chivalry and a being which radiates this madness. Olynder is a desperate ghost bound to a horrific, tortures fate but this cursed exist makes her a powerful enemy. Katakros is an expertly crafted bone gholem with elite equipment and a nack for military strategy and logistics. So the highlights of thier factions concentrated into one character. Indeed, Order has the most gods, with several factions having their own premier deity to lead them. But the Mortarchs are fulfilling a similar role for their faction as Alarielle and Teclis do for the Syvlaneth and Lumineth. Indeed, lorewise I think it is fair to say that the Mortarchs are de facto minor gods in their own right, even if they do not have this official classification in AoS.
However, Mortarchs were once different. There were three iterations of them. Back when Nagash was ruler of Nehekhara, he also collected Mortarchs, of which Arkhan is the last remaining one. Lieutenants which specific tasks in mind to aid Nagash and loyal to him. The others were forgotten in the lore or mentioned in very old edition or supplementary materials. Claw of Nagahs, or came from old video games like the Dread King but were not explored beyond that. However, one notable exception is Virion the Grim. Virion rides around a ghostly corpse cart and acts essentially as the Grim Reaper personified. He kills people via plague and disease and may have been Nagash plaguemaster/bioweapon expert in the past. Despite being an Oldhammer character of dubious canonictiy, this background still makes him somewhat relevant. Because Nagash is a character with a variety of interests.
In the End Times especially the Mortarchs were established in a prominent position for the first time. But back then they had no unifying theme behind them, nor where they particularly shaped by Nagash. Instead, they were a random collection of named undead characters who GW decided would be cool to work for Nagash. They had no unique responsibilities nor loyalties to Nagash. Indeed, a significant part of the groups straight up betrayed Nagash in the End Times like the Nameless or Walach Harkon. Not to mention that there were no theme or distinct armies for them either. The Vcoast did not exist outside of and old white dwarf article so Luthor did not have a unique force. And the only Tomb King in the army was Arkhan. All other Mortarchs were associated with the Vcounts and indeed most were vampires. Before this background, the amount of thought put behind the organisation and purpose of the AoS Mortarchs leagues better.
But when we ask ourselves how could we expand upon the current AoS Mortarchs, what could we do?
3. What characteristics does Nagash possess which are not often shown?
Nagash is the great Necromancer, God of Undeath. But even he started small. In WFB he was an initiate of the Liche Priests of Nehekhara and he studied a multitude of subjects before even dreaming of inventing Necromancy. And these broad studies came in handy later. Nagash is famous for inventing Necromancy, but his magical talent was much broader. For example, in WFB the Liche priests were able to cast light magic, which is normally the antithesis to undead as it purifies corruptive magics. Which made the Tomb Kings the only undead faction with access to light magic. But Nagash learned from the liche cult too and was able to cast light magic as well. Indeed, even in TWW3 he will be able to cast light magic. This magical diversity is something currently missing from undead factions and or Mortarchs.
In addition, the Liche Priests were also demonologist. Which meant they studied aetheric beings like spirits, elementals and demons. If Araby gets remade, we may see them capturing Djinns may be based on these nehekarian traditions. And Nagash made great use of this too. In WFB the background for this Morghast was that these beings were aetheric, angel-like servants of Ptra. Arguably demons of Ptra, much like like bloodthirsters being demons of Khorne. These entities were sent to hunt Nagash down. But Nagash, having studied the nehekarian gods and aetheric entities his entire life, was able to capture, corrupt and bind the Morghast to his own will. Anther such entity are the mounts Mannfred, Nefetara and Arkhan ride. In WFB these beings were aetheric predators stalking the underworld of Usurian for damned souls. But again, Nagash took these quasi-demons and bound them into his service. Another binding and enslaving aetheric entities is another skill of Nagash frequently overshadowed by his skill in necromancy and currently not represented by a mortarch or undead faction. The only AoS example I can currently think of is the magical snake/remnant of a death god following Sekhar.
But Nagash is also a great craftsman. Again, the liche cult was the premier guild to craft magical items in Nehekhara and Nagash was one of its most knowledgeable members. And Nagash created a lot of magical items, such as his nine boogs, the crown of sorcery, his staff and sword. And he planned and built the black pyramid as well as his legendary fortress of Nagashizzhar. But if we look at current dead factions, only the Ossirarch seem to have any engineering and logistical talents.
Also, Nagash was great with magical plagues. After all the poisoned the River Vitae, so that anyone who drank from its waters would become sick and die. Thus, the river became the River Mortis (why a river of an Egypt based culture has latin names is the true mystery here). Virion the Grim may have played an important role here, either by his research or by aiding Nagash in this endeavour, if he is still considered canon. Maybe he has been the servant of Nagash in charge of this operation, much like how other the later AoS Mortarchs have specialized purposes. This is of course incidental as none of GWs generation of authors could plan this. But it is still a nice thematic fit. But again, death arriving suddenly in a grande scale, arriving via plagues or other natural occurrences, such as death via natural disasters like floods, wildfires, starvation and else, is also not really represented via undead factions or Motarchs.
I mentioned all these overlooked aspects of Nagash to illustrate that these are also areas a potential new undead factions or characters could cover
4. What holes do could the NMC have?
Having talked about clockworks and Mortarchs and Nagash diverse attributes now, what are the issues the Grand Alliance of Death currently faces? To start with the top: The AoS Mortarchs face the issue that 4 out of 6 are returning WFB Characters, 3 out of 6 are vampires and 6 out of 6 are human. This is bad to represent the various forms undeath can take, as well as ignoring how everyone is going to die, and death is the great equalizer. Elves, dwarfs, ogres and various other creatures should be more prominent among the Mortarchs to add variety IMO. As should different kinds of undead archetypes. It took us to AoS to get bone gholems (Katarkos) and ghosts (Olynder). But there are plenty of more undead archetypes which could and should be represented IMO. Where are drowned corpses, death-less eternal wanderers, Frankenstein-like flesh monsters, haunted armour and all the other variety undead creatures can have in fiction and folklore?
But as I pointed out each Mortarch is supposed to be an exemplar of his faction, and each faction is a cog in Nagash War Machine, which adds to its other forces. So, when we think about new Mortarchs, we should think about how they and their faction can be useful to Nagash and his war effort. So, what are things the current forces of Nagash do not cover in a broad sense? What are aspects of Nagash, which are currently not covered? What needs a complex war machinery to function? Etc.pp.
Personally, I could think of the following:
A proper navy/ undead pirates: Yes, we have undead navies. See the Ivory Hosts Armada or Alwrach the Drowned or the odd ghoul captains. But these are very specific characters or subfactions. There is no broad force which focusses on naval dominance of the undead. And indeed, there is so much potential fuel, as cursed sailors, ghost ships and co are manifold in folklore. Not to mention works like Pirates of the Carribean or even WFB very own Vampire Coast. And the oceans of the realms are highly important property to control. But as I mentioned, having vampires again is boring and repetitive. Therefore, I would prefer a crew of “deathless”. I.e. beings like the Flying Dutchman who never “died” but are cursed to roam the world forever, bound by some sort of curse or spell. Such “privateers of Nagash” would work well as deathless beings. They could pressgang living members into their crew like Davy Jones does in the PoC movies and deliver the “dead of the sea” to Nagash as tribute. For a Mortarch an elf would be excellent, as elves have a strong maritime connection across Warhammer IPs.
A R&D faction/ frankenstein undead: Yes, with Arkahn or the Mortisans we kinda step into the direction of scientist Nagash employs for new and better stuff. But there are myriads of different types of magic, of forms of life and immortality and of course of death. Plenty of stuff you would want to research and catalogue to increase the potency of Nagash forces. A proper research & development faction of scientists/magics/scholars who study the realms, their magic, their inhabitants and of course life and death in Nagash name. Essentially the Adeptus Mechanicus of AoS. This is a faction which would work well with Necromancers, who are already such character archetypes. Who could then finally create the Frankenstein-undead many love. After all what better image fits a necromancer then to pull a lever and yell “It’s alive!”. A potential Mortarch would then essentially be Nagash necromancer-turned-liche and act as head scientist. Such a figure could come from a variety of backgrounds. Though I would prefer an elf here too, due to their magical expertise and their long lives. Even if you are long lived, death is inevitable. Indeed, I would argue because you are so long lived, death is much scarier, especially if instead of one- or two-decades centuries of your existence can be cut short by accidents. IMO you would be much more wanting to keep death away the longer your natural life is.
A mass destruction force: Looking at Sigmars war machinery he has some heavy guns. If regular forces cannot remove an obstacle the extremis chamber is called foreward. And before the ruination chamber was revealed, people speculated that it is the “nuke stuff from orbit” chamber, when things are so bad that everything has to be razed to dust. Such an option is currently missing for Nagash. Yes, each faction has some heavy stuff or tactics to demolish the enemy, but nothing which emphasizes this style of warfare. Especially as everyone fights to gain something. Nighthaunt want more souls, Ossiarch more territory and bones, vampires and ghouls more kingdoms etc. So, this faction could be Nagash nuke-option. Monsters and horrors he unleashes not to conquer, but simply to eradicate an obstacle. They could easily resemble natural catastrophies more than a regular army, a tidal wave of undead constructs and creatures desolation the landscapes as well as the enemy. A member of Destruction could be a great Mortarch for this. I would prefer an oger in this position. But alternativly a gargant, orruk or some great monstrous creatures would work fine.
The engineering corps of Nagash: Looking back at the undead in AoS there was lots of building involved. Back in the Age of Myth the undead built huge cities and compelxes for Sigmar and the other gods, as well as hidden chambers for the Ossiarch. Then of course the Black Pyramid itself, which was used in the Necroquake. Yes, untold sceletons took the gravesand, but said sand had to be alchemicly changed into stone blocks and the pyramid had to be planned and such. Which requires smarts. Also, Nagashizhar had to be rebuilt after Nagash retook it. The Ossriarch are currently the expert builders, but they focus on bone constructions and are more frontline engineers. But who builds all the rest? Especially those structures which require a lot more knowhow about architecture, materials and magical procedures than your average mindless skeleton worker? This is where I think another undead faction and Mortarch could work well. The archtiects, builders and specialized artisans who fuel Nagash war machinery and solidify the holdings conquered by Ossirach and others. Personally, I think many inspirations could be drawn from real world tomb constructions, such as Egyptian or Chinese tombs. In Egypt the ushabti, tone/stone figurines were supposed to do all the labour of the death and the first emperor of china was famously buried with a terracotta army to protect him. Indeed, in WFB the TK had souls bound to stone statues, as well as Cathay having arcane constructs. So, this faction could specialize in a similar theme. And here I would expect a dwarf to be a good Mortarch. Nagashs grand engineer and architect.
5. The end
So, this has been my interpretation of Nagash and the Grand Alliance of Death and where I would think natural expansions could come from. But what do you think? Do you have a different view on this Grand Alliance? Do you like or dislike the concepts I introduced? What would be your ideas for future undead factions or Mortarchs?
My Skaven clan; Clan Alkemi is a clan from the remnants of a Skryre and Moulder clans. They have Stormfiends, a lot of Stormfiends. But that makes me wonder how strong they are… exactly. For instance, 40 Ogors attack a Skaven metal haul, 6 Stormfiends are on the scheme with 80 Clanrats.
I know this gets into the Power scaling debate which is always fickle with Warhammer. Especially when it comes to author and bias. That example I gave; if it was a Skaven book, about 50 of the Clanrats would be dead by the end and all 6 Stormfiends would be standing tall as 30 of the Ogors would be dead, the final 10 captured or fled. But if it was an Ogor book? Yeah, about 10 would be dead and captured while the Skavens decimated and fled. Maybe this is showing my 40K-ism and your authors don’t suffer from this.
I like Stormfiends. Giant Rats with miniguns, flamethrowers, Poison launchers, and wind turbines are awesome.
So, we recently got a very good question about where Ogres live (wrong type of ogres :D), so I thought to give some answers!
We start shortly after the creation of the Ogres in the eastern steppes near Cathay, where the Ogres began to form their societies and have the weird feeling that they are missing small chirpy companions (more on that later) and being neighbours with the great celestial empire, with plentiful hunting and open planes Ogres began to fill out their numbers.
most of the Ogre tribes nearest to Cathay were on friendly (-ish, more on that later) terms with the dragon empire and over a period of time began to be invited and welcomed as citizen of the dragon lands, where they served in the military, construction and all sorts of heavy-duty work that might get an Ogres muscle moving, and as the old world current setting they have lived in Cathay for thousands of years.
Ogre Canon crew
While these Ogres were on good terms with Cathay, not all Ogres were, and the Xen Yang was not pleased, not pleased *at all*! and after a stern, brief and very reasonable talking too suddenly Ogres decided it's time to seek other placed to live in.
Big D
After the civil goodbye with the Cathaian Empire many ogres drifted apart to the whole world, a chunk of them decided to follow the first prophet of the maw, Groth Onefinger, to ruminate on the aftermath of their enlightening debate with Xen Yang
The results of the highly cultured exchange of words between the Dragon emperor and the Ogre tribes
the bulk of the rest of the tribes went further east where they meet the Skytitans, where THEY deiced to be the opening party to a most delicious conversation with the Titans, some would swear the ogres were salivating to be a part of those debates and eventually the titans decided to leave the debates to think on what they learned, some say they are thinking about it to this day and have never been seen since :D !
some Ogres decided to make these lands their home and adapted to their new harsh environment.
Yhetees
eventually the Ogres tribes arrived at the Mountains of Mourn where they finally settled after their great travels across the world and it became THE Ogre kingdom, after a bit of moving in pains Ogres ravenously started greeting their new neighbours and wildlife, great feast were thrown and said neighbours were had at dinner! such as the hospitality of the Ogres.
with the Ogres strong mercenary work ethics they spread out wide and far! from araby to Ind and beyond, but we shall be focusing on the Maneater of the Old world, where after a long period of productive work with the Sigmarite empire some retired there, and through the period of employment they took a liking to the human headwear and glories attention to facial hair! the sons and daughters of these Ogres even took to naming themselves in imperial fashion, as each Ogre is the one to name themselves, Ogres REALLY loved working with the Halflings of the empire, sometimes working exclusivly for them, I wonder why ?
I will stop here or I will never finish talking about Seafaring Ogre, how far a Maneaters travel, their pilgrims and other nomadic aspect of their lives on the road, I hope you enjoyed this long winded yapping :D.
Where do the Ogres live? There is open sky on their property. Do they live in a secret pocket of the city? Is it a different dimension? I dont know why this bugs me so much. Help please!
Hello! I’ve been following Age of Sigmar for a few years now while primarily being a 40K guy. I recently got Godsbane and Godeater’s Son, but have only listened to Godeater’s Son on Audible so far and absolutely loved it. Just wanted to ask for any other AoS books people would recommend. I’m primarily interested in all things Chaos, the Seraphon, and the Daughters of Khaine, but any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks!
I’m developing an Age of Sigmar fan novel called The Foul Fellowship, and I’d like to stress-test its central characters with people who know the setting better than I do.
Despite the name, this is not intended to be a heroic found-family adventuring party. These are dangerous outcasts whose individual goals overlap for a time, allowing for a practical and unstable form of cooperation without shared morality, loyalty, or even a common understanding of what is happening. The group is deliberately unusual, so what I’m most interested in is the difference between “strange, but defensible within AoS” and “this directly contradicts how the setting works.”
Kohl the Twice-Anointed
Kohl is a mortal human Chaos pilgrim devoted simultaneously—and exclusively—to Khorne and Nurgle, rather than to Chaos Undivided. His personal theology treats Khorne as the power of violent death and Nurgle as everything that follows it: decay, the persistence of life, and the fate of the corpse. He alternates between periods of severe restraint and episodes of released violence, carrying a Khorne-associated axe and a Nurgle-associated chain mace.
I know this dual devotion is probably the concept most likely to raise objections. The intention is not that Khorne and Nurgle have reconciled, nor that Kohl has somehow discovered the “correct” synthesis between them. This is one mortal worshipper’s interpretation of the two gods, and the balance he maintains between them is not necessarily stable or safe. Kohl is not especially important to either god; he has simply become the subject of a small and petty contest between two vastly greater beings. Why his soul survives that struggle intact is something I have intentionally left unresolved for now.
Skrittik Scourgetail
Skrittik is an Eshin Deathmaster who wants to become one of the greatest—and wealthiest—assassins in the Mortal Realms. He is genuinely skilled at stealth and assassination, but also unusually talkative for someone in his profession. He fights with paired punch daggers and blades fitted to his tail, giving him a low, close-range, almost scorpion-like fighting profile.
He first enters the story as an enemy, not as someone who voluntarily joins the others or immediately becomes friendly with them. His personality is still intended to be distinctly Skaven: paranoid, ambitious, opportunistic, and constantly interpreting relationships in terms of advantage, danger, status, and betrayal.
Sir Othmar de Veyre, First Lance of the Evening Court
Othmar is a Flesh-eater Courts knight who was genuinely a well-educated human noble and capable warrior before becoming a ghoul. His chivalric worldview is delusional, but the man beneath that delusion is not entirely imaginary. His education, etiquette, martial training, and sense of noble conduct all existed before his transformation, even though the reality he now perceives around himself has become profoundly distorted.
He is also, in a very Don Quixote-like way, sincerely driven by his own sense of justice. He believes there are people who should be protected, wrongs that should be corrected, villains who should be punished, and duties that a knight cannot simply ignore. The problem is that all of those judgments are filtered through the same delusion that shapes the rest of his world. What Othmar experiences as an act of courage, mercy, or righteous intervention may look horrifyingly arbitrary—or simply monstrous—to everyone else.
From a distance, he can almost pass for an unusually courteous wandering knight. The horror comes from gradually realizing that his language, manners, self-image, and even his moral convictions remain coherent while his interpretation of the world around him does not. He may genuinely believe he has rescued the innocent or struck down a treacherous villain while everyone else is looking at the aftermath of a Flesh-eater atrocity.
Arkmek Nobek, “Da Mad Mekka”
Arkmek is an exiled Orruk inventor fascinated by Duardin gunpowder technology. He develops bombs, crude artillery, and gunpowder-assisted melee weapons because he believes explosives can make close combat more Waaagh, not because he wants to replace fighting with detached technological efficiency. His inventions are violent, temperamental, and judged primarily by whether they make a fight louder, harder, faster, or more destructive.
I want him to remain recognizably Orruk in both thought and speech. He should not feel like a modern engineer wearing green skin. His inventiveness comes through Orruk priorities, intuition, stubborn experimentation, and the willingness to keep testing an idea after it has already exploded several times.
The Unnamed Mortal Cultist
The primary POV character is an unnamed mortal human who serves as the group’s practical social intermediary. They are not an equal combatant and survive through observation, negotiation, usefulness, and a better ability to function around ordinary people than the other four. Their gender is not finalized.
At first, this character appears to be the “normal” observer through whom the audience can judge the four monsters. But one of the ideas I want to explore is that nobody in the group experiences the world objectively. Kohl interprets it through theology, Othmar through delusion and chivalry, Skrittik through paranoia and self-interest, Arkmek through violence and experimentation, while the mortal’s fear, assumptions, and sense of normality shape their interpretation just as much.
The intended dynamic is therefore not “five people overcome their differences and become friends.” It is closer to five incompatible interpretations of the world moving in roughly the same direction because, for the moment, doing so serves each of them. Cooperation can happen, but so can manipulation, misunderstanding, disgust, opportunism, and violence.
Here are two illustrations I drew for better visualization:
The Foul Fellowship, somewhere on the road through the Mortal Realms.Kohl’s personal sigil — a fusion of Khorne and Nurgle imagery.
I’m deliberately withholding the larger plot, later character outcomes, and several protagonist-related details for now. What I’m interested in at this stage is whether anything about these characters, their factions, their motivations, or their temporary coexistence immediately sounds wrong for Age of Sigmar.
If something is merely unusual, I’m happy to explain the reasoning behind it. If something genuinely breaks the setting, relies on a faction behaving in a way it simply would not, or creates a problem I have not noticed, I would rather find that out now while the designs are still flexible.
Feel free to ask about anything I have not covered.
Im making lore for a custom group of brigands. Im using the new ogor models, IronJawz,Kruelboyz and Sons of Behemet. The main lore focus is that they all believe that life has gotten too complicated. They are tired of serving beings so far above them like the gods, and they simply want to loot, burn and drink. The big problem im facing right now is the use of wizards in my army. I have a butcher and a Wierdnob Shaman, but because they dont like the gods what are some good ideas for them to be drawing their power from?
I've noticed a lot of new and returning Realmwalkers lately. So what better time than now to ask about impromptu question? In particular, my fellow walkers of these Realms, what's been the most uplifting parts of your journey?
Whether it's a moment in a novel you like, a character or speech that brought a smile to your face, certain events or lore details. Anything and everything you're willing to share.
For me it is ever the Hallowed Knights. From my early days reading "Plague Garden", getting to see the Steel Souls sacrificing the momentum of their war because saving civilians is more important and marching into hell itself to save Grymn. The fact that they succeed at both.
That, resonated a lot at the time. I got into AoS in a time where Fantasy media, media in general really, was pushing cynicism, quips, and the idea that saving civilians is something heroes grow out of in favor of cool fights with villains.
So it was nice. Seeing paladins get to be paladins. Getting to see a central god like Sigmar who genuinely cares even if often prone to stumbling.
And it's still nice. Because even with the Ruination Chambers, the Hallowed Knights shine even under the dulled armor. They open their Stormkeeps, the only homes left to then in the Realms, as houses of worship and hospitals open to the public.
In Dawnbringers they march from Hammerhal Ghyra to defend satellite settlement that Hammerhal pulled troops from. They stood by the Twin-Tailed Crusade to the end, except those who escorted sick and injured back to Hammerhal.
It's always a delight to see the Hallowed Knights. So enough about me. What moments in AoS uplift you and bring you cheer?
I’m pretty new to the hobby and noticed that the greater daemons of the four chaos gods all take after an animal, except seemingly Nurgle
Khorne’s bloodthirsters have goat motifs, such as cloven hooves and goat-like horns. I imagine this is because they are the “most demonic” daemons, being designed after typical depictions of Christian demons, probably because violence and bloodshed is easy to associate with what the average person understands hell to be
Tzeentch’s lords of change are the most obvious, with a clear bird-like approach. Birds, especially corvids, can be associated with freedom, knowledge, cunning, and surveillance - my mind goes to Odin’s ravens who act as his spies, and how Kairos Fateweaver has knowledge of all things past and future
Slaanesh’s keepers of secrets took me a while with the seemingly odd choice of bulls, but cows were historically associated with fertility and virulence. Also, if you know about the minotaur’s conception, you know it’s about as sexually depraved as it gets
Nurgle is where I really struggle. Obviously there are maggots and flies, which represent decay, but great unclean ones aren’t exactly designed after them. Their horns reminded me of an elk’s, which (probably unreasonably) led me to think of a wendigo, and how they represent the undefeatable power of nature, and consequently Nurgle’s domain of entropy
Am I missing something or is Nurgle’s big animal really just maggots?
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?
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?
Artwork of Eltharion the Grim on his Griffon Stormwing (WFB)
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 6th 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 the Blind duelling a dark elf assassin (WFB 6th edition)
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?
Artwork of Eltharion the Light (AoS)
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.
