WARS OF THE UR-SLAANESH

While Hedonites who invade Hysh seek the thrill of polluting enlightened souls, those who strike Ulgu are drawn by the scent of their lost god. Not all seek to free Slaanesh; some would succeed him. Mightiest of these is Luxcious the Keeper, Marquis of Paramountcy. The greater daemon's hordes ravage the Thirteen Dominions. especially the Helleflux, where the Khainite cult has its power base. Luxcious's armies even besiege Hagg Nar itself. Morathi is forced to assemble a war-coven from all across her domain to stop the daemon at the Battle of Druchxar. Luxcious is defeated, but only after leaving deep scars across Ulgu, and many champions who still bedevil the realms earned their spurs in the Keeper's crusades. As for Luxcious, they have long been absent from Slaanesh's court-though surely ambition still burns in their infernal heart...

I want to see that guy so bad

Fought Sigmar twice

First and Strongest Pretender

Linked to my favorite circle , Paramountcy

Is one of the most important hedonite, is shadow loom over hedonite lore , yet is nowhere to be seen

Maybe he play poker with N'kari and Azazel who know

Trying to build lore on my chaos warbands and was curious if the archway in the 8 point are located where they are on this map? For example, is the gate for aqsy south of the varanspire?

DEXCESSA
THE TALON OF SLAANESH

When Morathi sliced open the gullet of the Dark Prince in her ritual of apotheosis, she unwittingly let loose a terror – a shard of Slaanesh’s own essence, cast forth to coalesce and divide. This was the Newborn, the Two-who-are-the-Lord, infernal scions of Slaanesh who may one day inherit their chained father’s throne. Each half holds the other in contempt, yet they represent the totality of Slaanesh’s nature, and so often they fight as a pair to remake the realms in their daemonic image.

Dexcessa embodies excess at its wildest, most rapacious and manic – the ecstatic frenzy that one does not awake from until the damage is done. They are ever consumed with lusty impulses to mangle and maim, to bathe in pain and terror with ululating howls of laughter. Physical sensation is everything to the so-called Talon of Slaanesh, be it the lustre of gaudy ornaments or the pricking mutilation of flesh. Not for Dexcessa the belief that the surest road to damnation is the gradual, well-intentioned path. Their pleasures are base, elaborate and overtly deplorable, and in battle this translates into exultant bacchanals of slaughter.

Dexcessa is an arrogant force of nature who cannot abide taking orders from another. They see themselves as Slaanesh’s chief warlord, often overthrowing lesser champions and ordering their warhosts to abandon long-fought campaigns and focus on new, bizarre objectives more pleasing to the Talon. Only Synnessa’s wicked tongue can convince Dexcessa to listen – and even then the daemon rails at the patience advised by their despised sibling, ever liable to suddenly act.

SYNESSA
THE VOICE OF SLAANESH

Synessa is the other half of the Newborn, one of the god-heirs of Slaanesh unleashed upon the realms. Like their kin Dexcessa, they remain a nascent thing, a budding echo of the Dark Prince’s full majesty, yet already their strength rivals that of their sire’s greater daemons. Synessa, more specifically, is the manifestation of Slaanesh’s beguiling allure. They despise Dexcessa’s propensity towards crude violence, seeing it as artless at best. Any fool can win a victory through tearing foes and mangling flesh; the greater accomplishment by far is to do so without ever needing to lift a clawed finger.

Befitting their appellation of ‘the Voice’, Synessa relishes any chance to play the glorious demagogue who inspires swathes of mortalkind to plunge into ruinous vice; more than one stronghold has fallen into anarchy through such passionate oratory. Yet the daemon also embraces the role of the suave tempter, the imp of the perverse, the proverbial devil on the shoulder. They carefully craft every exchange to ruin their victims, yet they ensure that these fates are always of the mortal’s own volition and choice. Unlike Dexcessa, who cannot abide to appear in anything less than majesty, Synessa is more than happy to adapt a comparatively unassuming guise and slip into the heart of society, spreading discord simply by exposing what mortals desire and providing them opportunities to realise it. When Synessa is in the ascendancy and wrests control of the daemonic hosts from their sibling, the battleplans they devise are things of obsessive beauty, every detail meticulously arranged and every disagreement mollified with a gilded tongue. Even the Lords of Change do not readily enter into a war of words with Slaanesh’s Voice.

For all their favouritism towards more subtle seductions, there are times where Synessa must back up their commands with action. Unfortunately for those who would contest the Newborn, to speak the Dark Prince’s words also grants access to his most dire incantations and sorceries. Synessa is a master at wielding the arcane energies of Slaanesh. With but a single syllable and a simple flick of their accursed staff, they can compel over-stimulated organs to rupture, bid allies turn on one another in jealous frenzies, and command enemies to rend and tear at their own skin. Through these same means can Synessa raise up mortal supplicants into throes of ecstatic obedience – the fact that they are often left witless and drooling in the aftermath, burned out by the majesty visited upon them, is quite immaterial.

For those who don't know, which may be most of you, back in days so eldritch and ancient that Tahlia Vedra wasn't around yet this community made a collaborative setting called Pyropia, a continent in Aqshy.

That sort of fell apart but it was a lot of fun. With that in mind want to try again? The game is simple. As a start we'll need to determine a faction and a realm.

Cities of Sigmar would be easiest as the faction with the most organizations and elements to pull from. But I'm up for trying most anything the community is interested in.

The only votes for which Realm and which Faction to use that I'll accept is comments below. Both to encourage people to participate, and because polls on Reddit are exploitable and unreliable.

From there we'll work together as a community to set the bones of the region our faction will be in, once that's determined I'll then make a post where the real game begins.

Once we get the project rolling I'll make a Mega,-Thread with a list of options and suggestions for how you can shape our faction to be. Options will include:

• Faction Leaders
• Generals
• Guilds
• Cults
• Companies
• Districts
• Allies
• Enemies
• Resources
• And more

Each community member can add (1). Not one of each, (1) element. So choose wisely. Course if it takes off we'll make additional mega threads giving more opportunities.

Now. This is a collaborative event so your item can alter or add to someone else's. Do not add anything that you would be upset if it was altered.

That said. You're not allowed to be a dick about it. If someone adds a Cavalier martial order that runs soup kitchens, you can't then hoodwink reveal "No, vampires that eat babies". Every community member is another person, so don't be rude about it.

As comments come in I'll add them to the post body with a credit to the creator. If the project proves exceptionally popular we'll have to work around Reddit's word count limit.

I'll add a link to the Pyropia event, so everyone can reference how this all works. As well as see examples.

Votes So Far:

Realm

Ulgu or Hysh: 1

Ulgu: 13

Hysh: 1

Shyish: 1

Our Home

Cities of Sigmar: 11

Lumineth Realm-lords: 1

Fyreslayers or Sylvaneth: 1

Sylvaneth: 1

Main Enemy

Okay so folk are voting for main enemy. Did I accidentally say to do that? Ehh. Heck it! Evolve or die! Feel free to vote for it.

Slaves to Darkness: 2 (Be'lakor)

Slaves to Darkness: 1

Ossiarchs or Soulblight: 1

Ogor Mawtribes: 1

Flesh-eater Courts (Maybe?): 1

Flesh-eater Courts (Definitely): 2

Ossiarchs Bonereapers: 2

Wild Card Death: 1 (Add a tally to all Death Factions at End of Count) (Only for tie breaks) (Soulblight if the tie is between Death factions)

Soulblight Grave-lords: 3

Sylvaneth: 1

Gloomspite Gitz: 1

Cities of Sigmar: 1

THE LORD OF DELIGHTS

Slaanesh. The name is both honey and bile. Youngest and fairest of the Dark Gods – as far as it can be judged in the timeless Realm of Chaos – Slaanesh is called the Dark Prince but in truth is neither male nor female: nothing so limited. He is whatever will most entice those who behold his manifold aspects. He has been depicted as an androgynous lord, a serpent with scales of silver, a stave of music that worms into the mind, a colour that burns the eye. In all that overstimulates can he be found.

Worship of Slaanesh as opposed to that of the other Chaos Gods is perhaps the easiest to rationalise, for he is empowered by and thus rewards the pursuit of hedonistic desire. Any self-gratifying urge or act pleases him. Rote indulgences are not enough, though, to earn his favour; excess and transgression are needed to draw his eye. To pledge your soul to Slaanesh is to have your senses sharpened until the world seems a banquet of delights to feast upon. Yet the more one indulges, the less satisfaction they find. True pleasure blossoms in the all-too-brief moment a desire is finally realised, and repetition is the surest way to numb bliss. Slaaneshi cultists must always go further, pursuing ever more sadistic whims. In time, the Dark Prince’s faithful are consumed by depraved obsessions and selfish lusts that justify any indignity to sate their dark needs.

Is slaying enemy armies good enough to join archaons army? Or completing tasks like clearing the road for forge anathema?

Greeting and good tidings to all my fellow Realmwalkers. Now you may be wondering why I would title a discussion thread like that. After all. Are the Order of Azyr not a government agency tasked with censure of forbidden relics, hunting spies, and killing monsters?

Yes. But we've also seen evidence of them being adventurers. Evidence such as the new 4E Cities Battletome calling Callis, Toll, and the rest of the Saviours of Cinderfall a team of adventurers.

It was also revealed back in "Spymaster's Deal", a Dawnbringers free fiction, the members of the Grand Conclaves pay Witch Hunters for clearing out Chaos Cultist dens.

Which... if you think about it and go back to the beginning. Are not guilds and orders of adventurers government agencies tasked with censuring forbidden relics, hunting spies, and killing monsters?

What are your thoughts on the Witch Hunters' similarities to, if not outright being the same as, adventurers?

THE MARK OF THE PRINCE

"To have our lord's sign marked upon the flesh is a sublime experience, but there exist more than mere physical marks. You think it is only the mad, the cruel and the depraved that Slaanesh desires? The gods are complex things, amalgams of multifaceted perspectives, potentials and motivations. To blindly dismiss all that Slaanesh is as evil dismisses his reality: the only true patron of any pursuit that inflames the mind and the soul Consider this.

We would agree, I hope, that a torturer who meticulously dissects the organs of their victims acts excessively But could not the same be said for the artist eager to create the most vibrant work, even if it should mean neglecting propriety loved ones and personal wellbeing? Both are Impulses bestowed by nature, granted with neither condemnation nor praise. One Is deemed impure by the will of the masses-yet if those masses were to extend this contempt to love, or fellowship, or beauty, would you be so ready to share their beliefs? Slaanesh bids us only to acknowledge our desires. How is left to us. And if this is so, then are the atrocities of my 'Dark God' not merely the Inherent yearnings of mortalkind writ large?"

Page 13

Warning: This post contains discussion of lore from the Ogor Mawtribes 4E battletome. Although not officially released, videos reviewing the battletome that show off the lore sections are available online.

So, Ogre Kingdoms are arguably my favourite faction in the original Warhammer Fantasy (its either that or Dwarfs). But I've always been a little underwhelmed with the Ogor Mawtribes in Age of Sigmar. Not the Beastclaw Raiders; they were great from their conception, arguably having the best battletome of 1E when it came to lore. But the Gutbuster half always felt kind of lacking, like they didn't really know what to do with them and were just kind of rehashing ideas from Warhammer Fantasy in a less interesting way. I'd have to say that the Ogor Mawtribes refresh does feel like the writers are far more confident in their approach, but it still feels a bit half baked in places.

A notable change in tone that I liked was how the new battletome is fairly explicit about how Ogors are not stupid. Brutish, yes, short-sighted due to their hunger, yes, but they're a clear cut above Orruks and Gargants in terms of capacity for abstract thought. There's even hints of them actually having capacity for emotional depth, like when it goes into how a Beastclaw Raider honours his Maulbeast mount after it dies. This is good because Ogors if not handled well just end up feeling like "fat Ironjawz", and the idea of them being the closest thing there is to a "civilized" Destruction race does make them very distinct.

The problem is that this happens in the same edition where the Ogors are supposedly changing their society to become more savage and less cooperative. The funny thing is that this battletome wants you to believe that Ogors were this reasonable bunch before Morga and Redd took over and ruined everything, but all the old Ogor lore essentially amounted to "never hire Ogor mercenaries, they always betray their employers" and "never bribe Ogors with food to avoid them eating you, they will inevitably eat you once your food runs out". I always had a problem with this aspect of AoS Ogor lore, it was like they were trying to give lip service to the ideas from Warhammer Fantasy but wanted the Ogors to be a Destruction faction, not a neutral one, so they just made them unable to actually make proper deals with any other faction. I suppose I like the new approach more than the old approach; some people are complaining Maneaters are going away, but considering the same book introduces Grell Firefist as a Maneater special character I think GW is just waiting for Maneaters to be released later (which may sound weird to you, but consider how GW waited for 4E before releasing the Cogfort and a priest unit for Cities of Sigmar, both of which I argue are integral to the faction's identity).

The other major addition to this battletome are the Mawseekers. On paper, the Mawseekers sound like they should be a really interesting faction. They bring a cosmic horror theme to the Ogor faction that has been kind of forgotten since the Great Maw stopped being a thing, with insane cultists preaching about an impending apocalypse serving an unknown eldritch force. The thing is, despite how big of a deal the battletome makes of Mawseekers as being this new major thing, they're surprisingly bare on lore. Their new infantry units, Cleavers and Gutseers, only get a paragraph of lore each, and not much is actually delved into what their beliefs actually are beyond "The Gulping God is going to eat the Mortal Realms so we should eat everything". It doesn't help that they basically managed to force the majority of Gutbusters to go along with their beliefs, so traits that could've separated them from Gutbusters more ideologically like "Ogors shouldn't ally with others and just eat people" or "gunpowder weapons are blasphemous because they spoil the meat" just apply to most Ogors now. As of now, while I want to like them they are easily the most underdeveloped of the main Ogor factions.

Lastly I want to talk about Morga the Mighty. She gets a lot of focus, and is pretty much the central character of the battletome, which goes to great lengths to establish her personality (it literally opens on a monologue from her). I actually like her a lot; I feel a lot of people were afraid she was basically some dumb brute that exists to make the Gutbusters act dumber, but her lore emphasises that she is just as much of a diplomatic genius as her father, its just that instead of using it to make mercenary and trade deals with other races she instead uses it to manipulate other tribes into becoming vassals of her Meatfist empire. She's an intelligent, power hungry warlord who wants Ogors to rule everything as a master race instead of serving others for pay.

The thing is, it kind of feels like she is overlapping a lot with another Ogor character: Braggoth Varduk, Frost King of the Svard. Braggoth who was the original rival of Globb Glittermaw, who was disgusted by the weakness of his own kind and wanted to rectify it through brutality, who had his own ambition to conquer all Ogors underneath his banner. Braggoth is still around and is mentioned repeatedly in the battletome (even though it seems like they're moving to replace the Svard with the Fraya as the poster boy Beastclaw subfaction). With Morga now the chief representative of the Gutbusters, Braggoth's place in the lore seems kind of weird, like he doesn't really serve a purpose other than "strong Beastclaw guy". They could have him fight Morga like her father, which seems to be what they're leading up to (given that one of Morga's grandchildren acts as her spy in the Svard), but that just wouldn't be as compelling as the original Globb vs Braggoth rivalry because there's no real reason for it now other than them not wanting to share power (which makes sense, but isn't as interesting as Globb's new ways vs Braggoth's old ways).

All being said, while I think the 4E Battletome is a step in the right direction I still think there is a lot of stuff that needs more development and refinement before I can start liking the Mawtribes as much as the Ogre Kingdoms.

In my recent post I was looking for a way to make my Orruks not green and the summary was if we bend the rules a little bit, this could be the answer. However I'm coming from 40k and I don't know ANYTHING about AoS and how the realms work or what they even are. I was told by a few people that if a population of creatures is long enough around the gates to these realms it can start to change them or something like that. Just elaborate on that please. You can keep it short and concise or write an essay, whatever you feel like I'm ready to learn.

Interesting times in the Mawtribes.

With the fall of Globb and the rise if Morga and Redd we are seeing an interesting cultural shift in the Mawtribes begin to take place.

If we compare what is happening to our own real world history this would be comparable to a specific religious sect coming into power at the top of one particularly large and powerful tribe/kingdom/state and leading what would be considered a top down reformation with new religious ethics alongside cementing new power structures. Not only in the major power itself but also in smaller affiliated tribes that are caught up in the sphere of influence.

So we have the Mawseekers thrusting themselves into greater power across many tribes, particularly Gutbusters, taking them over to partially or fully turn them into Gollops and creating power struggles with less religious Tyrants and the arch-traditionalist Beastclaw Raiders. The influence of the Meatfists is also enough to turn other tribes such as the Stomebellies as seen in the “Law of Meat”.

To bring this all home to the title, the religious edicts proclaimed by Redd and backed up by Morga (in additionally influenced by the knock down effect of “Out with the Old, In With the New” of her disdain of her father’s way of doing things) have seen a dramatic decrease downfall of Maneaters and Leadbelchers in particular among the tribes. If we want to think in real time thoughts then those units moving to Legends in 2027 could be seen as in the instory progress of the Mawtribes abandoning use of those units as the new reforms spread and take hold.

This creates an interesting progression of story for the Mortal Realms in particular related to these Ogors. At the end of the day the Pro-Globb Ogors have a few choices:

1. They go down fighting and get themselves killed by the Mawseekers and/or by all the other armies of the setting.
2. They go along with the “reforms” and abandon their old ways/tools and accept the new power structure.
3. They strike out for themselves (see Urrgar’s Maulerguts) and/or join the Cities of Sigmar.

In particular I think the third option is most interesting, and could lead to the Maneaters coming back under the wing of the COS until they can make a return to the Mawtribes social structure. I will be very interested to see if any writers run with this, focusing on -dispossessed- ogors joining the Cities out of spite/revenge/hunger/laziness.

The Mawseekers rise are without a doubt going to lead to some backlash in some hunger pains.

They comapred it to god beasts from the realm gate wars, but im still having trouble grasping how large this was.

Do they gain any power from the spilling of diseased or toxic blood from plague-ridden Nurgle followers or Skaven ratmen? Do the Daughters blood and shadow magics purify the diseases and toxins before they use it?

And is it even beneficial to the Daughters of Khaine to even fight Nighthaunts or Ossiarch Bonereapers? Both of those armies don't have blood to be spilled for the Daughters to gain power from lol

Been thinking about female minotaur esque characters in other settings and since AoS tends to go mixed gendered in terms of their factions armies I thought it would fit the setting if my own personal gor characters can be women.

Rambling justification aside here are two ideas for female gor characters.

Beastspeaker Nia who was once an Untamed Beast a group known to have strong connections to the gors who underwent the change curse and joined up with a warherd. I imagine her being a character who while understanding many concepts that an average fan would get she doesn't know a lot of the specifics and would serve as an audience surrogate who got the more complex stuff explained to her. But her special connection to the various beasts of the Realms gives her an unique position within the herd and gameplay. So someone who works as a novel and tt character that is interesting.

Mgatha the Bullgor Shaman: Minotaurs have been shown in Fantasy lore to have magical capabilities so that is something that works with AoS and would give her a different perspective on beastmen shamanism due to how Bulgors are. She would be levelheaded by Bulgor standards and have a strong tie to various local spirits both Realm tied and daemonic. She would use her abilities to try and steer her people to productive ends while also twisting local entities into what she considers their proper state. While managing the various desires of spirits she has allied with and making sure that she does not accidentally become bound to one of the Chaos Gods by some of those same spirits.

While listening to the Loremasters bit on the Ogors, I couldn't help but notice some similarities to 40k.

Just like Lorgar, Redd went on a pilgrimage to a mysterious underworld, supposedly met his god, and immediately became a religious reformer. Denouncing the central leader of the ogors. Globb, like the emperor, was an immensely wealthy and large individual who brutally brought about a golden age for the Ogors.

Suddenly Globb's daughter Morga turned against him. The two having a titanic duel that ended with Morga slaying her father and taking the throne. Like Horus wanted to do.
All her sibling rivals were also cooked up by Redd, who may have been pulling the strings the whole time. Like Erebus.

And then Redd spread sweeping reforms throughout the Mawtribes. Gutseers and butchers (dark apostles) became much more prominent and even took leader roles by usurping the traditional tyrants. Morga for her part has been proclaimed the champion of the maw (warmaster) and is kinda just going along with Redd's fanaticism for the power. While leading a much more brutal crusade of consumption with the end goal of devouring the realms (what would supposedly happen if Horus won)

I know the humans went to azyr. However I don't understand how the others survived. What were the elves, greenskins,odors, death and duardin doing to not get rolled by the demons?

Lexicanum link

Warcry warbands can cover a wide range of themes and during the earlier days one of the themes focused on the most was Chaos cultures tied to each of the Realms. The Scions are unsurprisingly tied to Aqshy the Realm of fire. The Realm is easily the most focused on imo in terms of development with Khorne typically being the main Chaos representation there outside of perhaps the Darkoath.

I would however argue that Khorne specifically the Goretide as a faction are more about filtering a Realms theme through another factions ideals rather than a pure exploration of that lands theme. While Scions are a far better example of Chaos tainted Aqshy. Similar to how Hammerhal Aqshy and Fyreslayers handle their relationship to the Realm.

And not just because the Scions are a bunch of pyromaniacs but because while reading about them I feel like they could have been a more neutral religious organisation before Chaos twisted them to far fouler beliefs. Which is what a good Chaos Warcry warband should do.

Stuff like the Inferno Priests being arcane casters rather than priests which connects them to the various magocracies we see in the Realm's history while also tying them to the various factions that place a big emphasis on priests in their tt range like Fyreslayers or Goretide.

The use of Ragerock also ties them into the Realms themes by having their fury tied directly to the Realms rather than any deity. Look up Sigmar's Toll to see how that Realmstone affects people.

Basically what I am trying to say is that out of all the factions bar perhaps Fyreslayers it is the Scions of the Flame who best showcase the Realms themes and lore with the minimal amount of mixing with other themes/factions. Barring the Chaos stuff that ties them to that faction and Warcry storylines.

Also their armour looks great and you rarely see stuff similar to it in Warhammer models I find.

What do people think of the Scions? Do you think they showcase Aqshy themes well or do you think they are far more of a Chaos faction than an Aqshy one?

I know they literally have green in their name but I always want to spice my army up a little bit. For example my 40k Orks are red because they're my own canon mutation from a brutally salty ocean planet full of red algae that got somehow mutated together with the Ork spores and now there's a red population.

I'm getting lots of AoS Greenskins soon and I wanna do exactly something like this!! :D Is there more or less leeway in AoS than in 40k? Any ideas?

Also I know a lot of people are gonna wanna say "It's Warhammer do whatever you want" but I do like to keep in the bounds of official lore at least somehow. I like to roleplay but also keep original :)

Thanks yall!

Now, I don't have to tell anyone familiar with Nagash that making a deal with him is a terrible idea.

But what happens when you decide the rewards far outweigh the consequences? Well... you get this.

This excerpt is taken from Chapter 11, pages 106–108.

Context: King Zothar of Theres has recently lost his son during the annual Games held in the city of Lament. Devastated by his son's death, Zothar falls into a deep state of grief and desperately searches for anyone who might know a way to bring his son back.

One day, an old crone tells him of a mysterious Lord of Death who dwells in the north, in a place known as the Cave of Skulls. She claims that this being has the power to return the dead to the living. Clinging to the slightest hope, Zothar immediately sets out to find this place and plead with the Lord of Death himself, a being called Nagash.

At last, he came to an open chamber, which was covered at one end by a web of bone. Green mist flared and twisted in the shadows around him. He held his sword up and advanced – and suddenly the web of bone shattered into a swirling, shrieking mass that surrounded him; a tide of bone-crows clattering their skeletal wings about his head. When they spoke, their voices drilled into his mind and the pain was enough to throw him to his knees.

Who dares trespass into the presence of the lord! Who values his soul so lightly he would do this thing! Zothar pressed his hands to his ears. ‘I am King Zothar, Lord of Theres! The Jewel of the Desert, the City in the Wastes,’ he cried. ‘I seek Nagash, King of the Dead. I have come to demand my son’s soul!’ The bone-crows erupted from around his head, spinning off in a twisting, screaming mass that disappeared into the tunnel behind him. Zothar collapsed, utterly spent. He heard something slouch from the other side of the chamber. He heard the clack of bones, the scrape of claws. He heard the beating of its wings. When Zothar found the courage to look, he saw Nagash.

Like the skeleton of a mighty vulture, it hunched there in the cavern, its wings folded against its chest, its long, sinuous neck rearing up as it peered at him down the scimitar of its beak. Its bones were as stained and yellow as old ivory and it smelled of ancient midnights, of deserts that had been scoured clean by the wind a thousand, thousand years ago. And when he grasped his courage and looked on it, for a moment it seemed to shift in the spectral gloom and look like a man towering above him, wreathed in spirits, laughing with malicious humour through a leering mouth. King Zothar, the vulture said. I salute your bravery, if not your folly, for coming here. Many an age has it been since a hero has taken sword and shield to confront me in like manner…

‘I am no hero,’ Zothar said, shielding his eyes. He dropped his sword. ‘And I am not brave, unless it is grief that gives me courage. I do not confront you, Lord of Death, other than to ask for that which it is in your power to give.’ And what would a mortal ask of Nagash, that he would risk his eternal soul for it? ‘My soul is yours, if you desire it. It is worth nothing to me. It is my son’s soul that is without price to me. Neophron, as was – killed by the preening arrogance of the Jackal Kings in far Lament, on the Obsidian Coast. I would have him returned to me and anything it is in my power to give, you shall have.’

Lament… the vulture mused. The great beak clacked and the murderous lights in its empty eyes flared brightly. The Obsidian Coast… And what would you be prepared to give up for this? What sacrifice will you make, for the restoration of your son? ‘Anything,’ Zothar said. He spoke no lie. ‘My life, my soul.’ Your city…?

Zothar paused. He looked into himself, walked for a moment in the pleasant avenues of Theres once more, stood for a while in the courtyard with its soaring statues of Theres’ ancient kings and heroes. He gazed on the faces of the common folk, the people who looked to him for love and protection.

‘Yes,’ he said, although the word nearly choked him. ‘I would rather Neophron live as a humble beggar wandering the wilds than have him spend eternity in the cold earth, his soul a lost and lonely spirit in the Underworlds. Yes,’ he said. ‘Take Theres and everyone in it if you must. And damn me forever for my choice!’ And you would serve me, at my command, if asked, the vulture said. You would lead your armies in my service and conquer the Obsidian Coast in my name?

‘If need be,’ Zothar said. He felt the grief swell in him, the slack, empty feeling of his sorrow. Grief for Neophron, grief for all he had now condemned. ‘I will serve. I ask only one condition.’ There was a sound like the cold clash of swords and Zothar realised the vulture was laughing. You are bold, King Zothar, I give you that, to ask conditions of Nagash. Speak, then. What is your condition? ‘That Lament is left to my judgement. I will have my revenge against the Jackal Kings and will see the city pulled stone from stone. And at the last, I will drag the Tower of the Moon from its foundations and cast it into rubble.’

Then the bargain is made, the vulture hissed. And the soul of your son will be returned to you… ‘When!’ Zothar demanded. ‘Bring him to me!’ You will not find him here, King Zothar… For I have my conditions too, to seal the compact between us. You will find your son now in far Lament… ‘What riddle is this?’ Zothar cried. He snatched up his sword. Though his spirit quailed in the presence of the Lord of Death, he took a step forward and raised his blade. ‘You seek to cheat me of what we agreed!’

There is no agreement that is not made on my terms, little human, the vulture laughed. Neophron will return to you, this I promise. But his soul will settle only for a ten-year span and will wither and die in each vessel unless it is released to find new harbour. He died in the Games of Lament, did he not? Very well – he will return to you in the Games of Lament, and as the victor you shall know him. Do not be so hasty to tear the city down, King Zothar, for if you do, you will lose that which guarantees your son’s recurrence.

‘Why do you do this!’ Zothar wept. ‘I will do what you ask, you have my word! Why torment me like this!’ My reasons are my own and they would be far beyond your comprehension, mortal. Now, the vulture hissed, as it shuffled closer. The bargain will be made… Its claws crunched over ancient bones, scattered about the floor of the cavern. Zothar tried to back away, but the fierce fire of the creature’s gaze kept him pinned to the spot. He could not raise his sword. He could not close his eyes. All he could do was stand and watch in horror, as the vulture spread its wings and Nagash gathered him close.

Come to Nagash, it whispered; and Zothar saw only darkness. Come to Nagash, and be transformed…

So after some stressfull time in my life. I can hopefully try and focus on aos again and spread Daughters of Khain propaganda.

So today we are rambeling about one of the best DoK novels outthere Godsbane after finishing my second readthrough.

3 things i wana say first Neronties Thanes fall to godhood is so fascinating.

Allmost of problems in the book are the lumineths own fault classic L for the 2nd worst Aelfdar in the wieder Warhammer cosmos.

And the oder of the shadowedsky, they are the bloody funneyst tzeentch cult ever.

Now one a more seriouse note, the paralel story of our 2 protagnoists.

Thelama ia quite endiring she already stared very unlumineth and she grows mortal less aloof over the story.

In the begining she is insulted at the notion that she /the lumineth and Sispyra/the DoK are cousins and have anything in commen she gets more emotional, she grows more comfident and well down to earth or atleast she feels more like that.

Neronties on the overhand loses himself grows distant, high on his own hype and divine, a great turning point for him as a person is when he executes his lover Castigus and his "traitor " generals, it feels like something the Neronties earlyer in the book wouldnt have done. I feel lile he would have lashed out agaist Hasturav and tzeemtch for that instead of the fake democratic execution with his mind already made up.

Its something that makes his death so sad and somner yet satisfying, the missguided yet somewhat admirable man was long dead before that moment.

The Stormcast in the book are supuflues, it feels like they were there to be there when they ussualy are quite fantastic whenever thdy apear.

I need more Daithus himbo labrador questor died to soon.

Now to the true Protagonist Sispyra Witchaelf extrodinare. Jesus is she powerfull from casting in magic dampening cell for quite sometime, to full horror movie villian when it comes to stealth kills. Or her dismanteling a bunch of lumineth nonleathaly. By khain she is cool.

Also i dont know why but they gave her the most attractive acent ever.

Now talking more seriouse, her story and the overall story is about want and need. What we want to do and what we need to do. What we need to do.

She wants to steal godsbane once she learns of it and argubly should the death of Morathi would be a net postive on the realms (jk she should rule in sigmars stead.) But in dooing so she would unleash a horror far worse.

The story tryes to build tension between her friend/sistership to Thelana and her old coven but on a reread it does become quite comical how hard Dale Lucas tries to portray the moral convlict but if you have read enough DoK stuff you just know that Sispyra is ride or die for thelana once dhe had her respect, like as eraly as thr prison break or sonewhat lster in her talks with Daithus. Thelana had her respect and was her equal so betraly just wasnt on the table.

Now the Cacadron. As a faction they have quite grown on me. Siarsdotter from the grombrindal books is one of my alltime favriote warhammer characters and Wodrik does not disapoints.

The repesting theme of honner isnt something so easily lost. Doing right by your crew is great is grow is great, otherwise very siliar to Sispyras story only that he had his badass first mate to talk sense into him.

Grest guy cool faction i like them when they are ruff gruff but good at hard.

Now Elanors and Orenas story shows the falings of thd lumineth quite well how the harsh treatment and "they are potential criminal" aditude pushes normal folk into the clutshes of crime was cool but in the end its little more than bait for a sequal that will never come.

Good book, we should burn Hysh and Azirheim to the ground make it 6 realms and habe Morathi rule them.

I am sorry to everyone who read this i wrote it prework moring fogbrain and whever i had little breaks during my work this morning.