Can these immortal beings join the varanguard even though archaon despise the divine? I know a member of their ranks became one but unsure what happned afterwards.

It the S2D belakor section in the new war scroll it says he can use the shadows that connect the lands to translocate his forces. With that said can he do this across different realms? I ask because he seems to enjoy blowing up realm gates to make curse sky's, which have been nullified by the storm cast new armor but it does also allow daemons to pour in so he might still enjoy it.

I'm brand new to warhammer and AoS and my chosen faction is slaves to darkness. I'm really interested yo learn about the lore of s2d and AoS as a whole, but it's very overwhelming. Could people recommend me good novels or resources to start with? Thanks

Trying to write lore for my warbands and trying to decide if I should dedicate them to belakor or Archaon. What are your guys opinion on who your warbands should fight for and why?

Can they even do that? By fighting each other, i mean with actual intent to kill each other and not just training in the gladitorium.

From what I'm reading in the wars scroll it seems to indicate it was only a few. Did some go to other circles after their fellow knights became traitors?

Worldbuilding is a fascinating part of fictional settings, and a facet that I am inevitably drawn to when I engage with anything in the Fantasy genres. As a consequence this means a lot of my attention is drawn to places like Hammerhal, Azyrheim, Nulahmia, Skrappa Spill. Big cities with a lot going on and a lot of folk going about daily lives.

But smaller settlements can be equally fascinating, especially if they come in types as this can convey a lot about the fictional faction, culture, empire, and what have you. Or a real one. Stannaries, for instance, are unique to Cornwall and Devon in England. Some of the few places on Earth where tin can be mined.

Obviously the most well-known minor settlement type in the setting is the Sigmarite Strongpoint. Strongpoints are the colonies of the Cities of Sigmar but in a rare case of GW realizing certain words shouldn't be used to associate with the faction they are trying to sell as the heroes, aren't called colonies. Strongpoints come in different flavors with Agricultural Strongpoints mentioned in White Dwarf May 2023 and Trading Strongpoints mentioned in a few places, the most famous was killed by King Brodd. There are also Cavern Strongpoints mentioned in "Dawnbringers: Harbingers".

Then there's the Realm-specific Strongpoints mentioned in the 3E Corebook. The Candletowns of Aqshy use steam engines or boiling vats powered by geothermal energy to power their industry.

The Seamholds of Chamon rely heavily on the mineral wealth of their Realm, covering most of their structures in metal plating and usually building at least a makeshift mine to dig for resources.

Stakeforts of Ghur are named due to the habit of surrounding them in pointed palisades. These settlements are full of bivouacs and lean-tos and tent, making heavy use of hide and bone. Interestingly, almost none of the Strongpoints we've seen in 3E stories set in Ghur matched these details in any way.

The Shining Settlements of Hysh are the last ones I know to have a specific name. They tend to make use of solar and wind energy to power their industry and maintain harmony with nature.

In Conclusion

So-So. The biggest takeaway here is that Strongpoints vary wildly in appearance and purpose, and thus far we've only got a bit of the foundation laid as we lack the basic model and term for Strongpoints of Ghyran, Shyish, and Ulgu.

But the Cities of Sigmar don't boast the only minor settlements worth talking about. That said the next entry into the guide will be longer as we tackle: The Other Minor Settlements of the Free Cities of Sigmar and the Sigmarite Empire.

__________________

As always I would recommend helping out with the Age of Sigmar Lexicanum. While it isn't a primary source but instead a jumble of disjointed voices struggling to be helpful, like me, many folk use and rely on it. So anything you can do to help it be a bit better and more helpful could help thousands or people, or just one.

A lot of folk are very comfortable saying it's subpar or lacking or behind. To those people and those people specifically and only. If you know these things, that means you have access to such missing info or ability to make it less subpar. So maybe instead of complaining that unpaid, volunteer fans don't do everything for you for free, you can fix it. Anyway that concludes this entry into Mutt's Infuriating Guide to the Mortal Realms.

Are there any good ironjawz books yet?

Reading the new battletomb for slaves to darkness and I saw a section that said that belakor after defeating the leader of the night haunt lead a massive army to her tomb and could have destroyed her corpse that held her in the realm. But instead he strikes a deal with her to attack the storm cast. While this worked out for a short time period the curse sky problem was eventually solved. With that said do you think that belakor should have finished off the mortarch of sorrow? I ask because though I see archaon as a great figure head and worthy leader, belakor is somewhat impressive as well.

According to the war scroll the prayers to khorne are heavy with in this varanguard circle. With that said does this mean all members worship khorne?

There is an aelementor linked to Teclis, Celennar the spirit of the true moon. There is an unconfirmed assumption that she is an Aelementor Zenith, and it makes sense that she is. Does Tyrion also have a connection with a solar aelementor that appeared in realm's edge?

"It was too much, even for him. Though he ventured miles further than any mortal could have done and uncovered many revelations about the nature of mind, body and spirit, he stared at the raw light of Hysh for so long that his eyes melted within his skull. Yet in doing so, he piqued the curiosity of the Realm’s Edge itself– the elemental spirit of brilliant light that occupied the Perimeter Inimical and shone as the blazing sun across all the realms. It appeared to Tyrion in all its blinding splendour, but as the Lord of Lumination had already lost his eyes, he did not look away. There, aelf and spirit found common cause. Tyrion remembers nothing of the encounter, but he awoke once more at the realm’s heart. There, lying next to him, was the recumbent body of his brother Teclis– still weak of limb as he had been since birth but with a lambent glow pouring out of him. The two had become twin halves of the same godly power, which, instead of being divided or lessened, became reflected and magnified. Tyrion found that he could see through the eyes of his brother, and, over time, Teclis taught him to assess the realms around him through extrasensory perception. Together, they walked the lands of Hysh as gods." - Battletome Lumineth Realm-Lords (2021), The Age of Myth.

Do you have any information? Is he really an Aelementor of the "True Sun" like Celennar( True Moon)?

I'm currently reading the first ever Kruleboyz short story and I have thus decided that I'd share the lore elements I find the most interesting. There will be spoilers, of course. You can buy the story here : https://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/eshort-da-stink-of-defeat-eng-2024.html

• !Kruleboyz do have nobz beyond the lone Murknob, enough to form units surrounding a killaboss - those in the story get almost wiped out by Stormcast when the initial assault turns sour.!<

• !The Dawnbringer crusades actually elicit more assaults from the ladz as their construction efforts drive their preys away, forcing them to become more agressive.!<

• !There is a variant of toads, named mudtongue toads whose tadpoles can't be eaten, even by orruks, as they would just paralyze their throat.!<

• !Gnashtoof usually don't need to be truly penned, a simple enclosure is enough to prevent them from roaming around a camp and eating grots or orruks left and right. When they are well fed.!<

• !Kruleboyz are proppa kunnin, with political intrigues and a healthy dose of disdain for their Ironjawz cousins' way of life.!<

• !The Swampcalla indeed wears a gargant skull on his back. How they got them is anyone's guess.!<

• !There is a venom from a beast called skumsnake that is apparently enough to kill a Killaboss even with small doses.!<

• !Hobgrots are truly in only in with the Kruleboyz for mercantile reasons - and they are the main source of iron of the Kruleboyz - from the Chaos Duardins who are indeed their masters "bull-god worshippers masters" are the exact words.!<

• !Kruleboyz have draconith skulls passed down the generations of Killabosses.!<

• !Leering faces on a potery are a warning - touching it without authorization warrants a curse.!<

• !Kruleboyz thinks very little of the humies' ability to be sneaky.!<

• !Swampcalla Shamans can make stuff that dull pain when applied on the body. it's made from mudtongue toads organs, among other stuff. I like it when stuff connect like that. It's strong enough to paralyze an orruk throat if he uses the finger he touched the organ with to grab some meat afterwards. Implied to be lethal.!<

• !Hobgrot language sounds harsh and ugly to Kruleboyz -seems to be the Chaos Duardin lagnuage actually. Hobgrots bicker a lot among themselves but they are a cohesive whole as soon as an orruk appears. They also have quotas of captives to met. A tribe in debt may need to pay up to ten captive for ONE scrap-grenade.!<

• !Here in Ghyran, there was a clan of aelves living in trees. They were wiped out when the tribe of the short story came in.!<

• !The orruks have a great sense of direction in the swamp... when there aren't any road. Wodden ones made of planks by the Freeguilders confuse them a bit. They also hate them on a more ideological level : it's civilization coming where they don't want it.!<

• !Kruleboyz actually have sort of sacred places in their swamp, and they really, really hate humies building or even encroaching on them.!<

• !The inside of a scrap granade + mudtongue organs is enough to kill a Greater Gnashtoof in seconds.!<

And I won't say more, read the story, it is really good !

We weren't sure what happened...it just went dark. I was returning to work, walking past the Realmgate Plaza and it just...switched off. That was a week before things got...hard. Azyrheim is a city of wonders, but...well, for the folks like us living in the poorer parts of our district, when the gate to Gyrhan shut off, it meant food prices went up.

Well, running an Orphanage isn't easy work, and we did what we could to scrape on by...but by now the cold season was coming on, and it was getting harder and harder to afford even a sack of barley for gruel. I begged, pleaded even, with the merchants...

Even the ones I thought I could rely on were charging twice what they had before.

Finally I come to this part of the district we call the Gutter Market, a place where shoddy goods are sold cheap, and goods that are extremely illegal...well, you can make a lot selling things like smuggled Realmstone. I finally find someone who offers to sell me some food for the children, but he...wanted something in return.

I started to unfasten my dress, when I hear something thud behind me...I turn around...and I come face to...face, I suppose. It had a face, carved into the metal of the belt buckle that Giant wore.

"OI, WHAT'S GOIN' ON HERE?"

This...HUGE brute of a man stood there, almost entirely naked, save for some leggings and that giant plate around his midsection. Etched with an Ogor's face with a giant mouth opened up to take a bite out of something. His hand had been replaced with some sort of...golden Gauntlet that crackled with lightning. I have no idea what he was doing there, but his eyes crackled with the ball-lightning you see coursing through the sky some nights.

"I...nothing, Lord Stormcast, we were just going through a business deal." the Merchant had said

"WUT KINDA DEAL?" he scratched his long beard, looking down at the pile of limp vegetables I had...been about to trade for. I had heard Ogors are...sort of stupid, but he looked at my hands on my bodice, then at the food, and something clicked in the mind of that towering Giant.

"OI! YOU MAKIN' THIS COW SHOW YOU HER TITS FOR FOOD?! THAT'S NOT PROPPA AT ALL!"

So, he reached out and slammed the Merchant's head into the pile of veggies with his...fleshy hand and then had a laugh at the face he made as he wiped the remains of a spoiled turnip out of his eyes. I had never seen a Stormcast Eternal before, much less one that was an Ogor, I didn't even know such a thing was possible.

"YOU THE TYRANT FOR A BUNCHA PEOPLE THEN? LOTTA FOOD FOR A HUMIE." he bellowed, and I nodded slowly, explaining that the children I watched over needed to eat.

"DIS AIN'T RIGHT, GETTIN' COLD, CALVES SHOULD BE FATTENED UP FOR DA WINTER..." he frowned, running his hands through his silvery beard again "YOU COME WITH ME, HUMIE-TYRANT."

And...well, I wasn't about to tell a Stormcast no and given that he'd just...spared me a grim experience, I followed as fast as I could as he led me back into the proper market. We spent the rest of the afternoon moving from stall to stall, getting cuts of meat and...the occasional bushel of vegetables when I could persuade him that human children can't just eat raw haunches of...I'm not even sure what manner of creature it was to be honest. I asked him if he could afford it, and he said "AH KEEP GETTIN' ATTACKED BY THESE RED LADS WITH NO SHIRTS ON, KEEP TRYIN' TO STEAL IT, AND IT'S MAKIN' ME RIGHT UNCOMFORTABLE. BEST TO GET RID OF IT BEFORE I GO OUT AGAIN!" and threw out another handful of coin.

And so with the day getting late, he led me back to the Orphanage, the children could hardly believe the sight of the Ogor lugging along a pile of food. Much less when he said it was all for them. Some of the older children started cooking, but halfway through, he took over, saying 'Imma show you Gnoblars how it's done, scooch!'.

He left once the kids went to sleep, and I asked him how I could repay him.

"TELL YA WHAT, TYRANT..." he looked at the sign to the Orphanage, and tore it off with one flick of his wrist "GIT YERSELF A NEW SIGN, NAME IT AFTAH ME, AND WE'RE SQUARE."

He gave a gap-toothed smile, then said something about how he was going to drink enough to kill a Gargant, and wandered off into the night. I shan't forget Sigmar's mercy that day...

- Matron Elizabeth Ducat, of Clubba's Place Orphanage.

I'm pretty new to AoS and I've caught an interest in the Stormcast Eternals. From their aesthetics to the basic bits of lore I know, they're so cool! Especially since they're recruited from fallen heroes by Sigmar himself. I did have one question though, are their any Stormhosts who go against their heroic nature or are they all pretty much the same in terms of moral alignment? I know the process of reforging does something different to each Stormcast Eternal, so I was just curious if those effects are pretty drastic. Thank you again! PRAISE SIGMAR!

A new Seraphon short story by the Hugo Award-winning writer Adrian Tchaikovsky is available for download from the Black Library website. It's probably the best Seraphon fiction I've read so far - vivid writing, fascinating protagonist, interesting lore about both Seraphon and Sigmarite culture, and also makes you think. I won't say anything else to avoid spoilers - just read it!

It can be downloaded here: https://www.blacklibrary.com/all-products/eshort-written-in-stars-eng-2024.html

As the title says I would love to know which battletome for Beasts of Chaos I should get to read more about their lore. Thanks in advance

Hi everyone,

Recently I watched Lorebeards Stream about Mortarchs from WFB and it got me thinking about the current Iteration of Mortarchs and AoS characters. Because there are some similarities regarding their current position, their origin and their original system.

As per my current count we have the following: Arkhan (liche/wight, WFB, human) Neferata (vampire, WFB, human) Manfred (Vampire, WFB human) Ushoran (vampire, WFB human) Katakros (bone gholem, AoS, human) Olynder (ghost, AoS, human)

You see the patterns too I assume. The majority of current mortarchs are from WFB, half of them are vampires and all of them are human in origin. I dunno how you think about it, but it leaves me a bit disatisfied. Especially as death, the great Equalizer, should affect all species to an extend and should be a reason of concern for many beings, long lived or not. Elves dwarves and Co should be comcerned about it do, despite or because of their longer life, and because of the myriads of ways it can be cut short. And im AoS the majority falls to Nagash, like everyone else, unless they have special protections. Greenskins may not think about death, much as 6 year olds do not comprehent what death is. But a mortarch from destruction, be it an ogre, a gargant or an expy of Azhag, could have potential too IMO.

Due to all this I want to start a discussion about what cool and new Mortarchs you can come up with. And then for other people to comment on those ideas. With this said, have fun :)

Hello! I'm currently a few chapters away from finishing Realmslayer: Legend of the Doomseeker and I am thoroughly enjoying the angry ball of death that is Gotrek. Does anyone know the chronological order for the following AoS gotrek books? I'd love to keep reading about him!

So yet another surprising update on the Gladitorium Primes having lore.

So as it turns out , thanks to u/Gecktron for sharing the info, the Gladitorium Primes are named this because these individuals serve as instructors in the Gladitorium.

It falla to them to train and instruct each and every Eternal in the arts of war. For example we know Knight-Arcanum Axactus Krane teaches matters arcane, Vigilor-Prime Numara Falconis teaches them to hunt, and Annihilator-Prime Goltan the Relentless takes on the sacred duty of teaching every Stormcast how to assault people.

So are the three explained on tne card I was shown. I love when settings do niche stuff like this.

Naming and characterizing instructors of the Gladitorium is definitely not something that needed to be done. But it's so fun that they did!

Both Gods bestow Mutations, how are they distinct? Are the philosophies about the Mutations different? What do the two sides think about the others Mutations?

Belakor, from what I have read, has daemons that work for him due to his power, lesser daemons, and or enslaved, the greater daemons. I can imagine that the ever chosen enslave daemons but are there daemons that would willingly some with him over the first prince? I asl cause a civil war about to break out and I'm trying to wrote some lore for my earband.

Some are smaller cavalry others are huge dragons. Apparently, some of them ascend into being stardrakes and some are from eggs of the original dragons. Yet dracothians are tiny next to draconiths. Why are they different?

I am pleased to say that it's a genuine new book, not a cut-and-paste job, even if I have minor complaints about some changes. (Textwall incoming, obv):

-As expected, there's a general realignment toward "every Chaos aligned human without hellforged plate is a Darkoath now," which I'm not a huge fan of - I kinda liked the idea that there were specific subsets of tribes that pursued transactional relationships with the Dark Gods, rather than "hey these guys didn't even know the Four's true names in previous lore but apparently they're directly integrated into Archaon's chain of command and you have to lead a tribe before you can be a Chaos Warrior."

-Speaking of that hellforged plate, having it get permanently stuck on sounds less "likely" and more "guaranteed" now.

-Before, a Chaos Warrior was someone who'd received a Mark and taken "the first true step on the Path to Glory," and they were described as "the rank and file." Now the wording makes them sound quite far along, having risen through the ranks of the Darkoath and fought through the Varanspire's fighting pits to earn that unremovable armor. They're even at risk of spawndom if their bloodshed is too "lacklustre" or they lose ambition. (Not a huge fan of this either - how are there so many of them if they implode for not killing enough, when they barely manage a 1:1 K/D on the tabletop sometimes? But I digress.)

--Also, despite losing the mechanic on the tabletop, Chaos Warriors' shields still help repel magic in the lore. (Thanks to duardin runes, in case the hint on the page posted here earlier about hammers ringing out wasn't enough.)

-The basic units are portrayed as rising steps along the path; Darkoath -> Chieftain/Warqueen -> Warrior -> Chosen -> Champion/Exalted Hero (a Chosen who's good enough to fight alone now) -> Lord (just a Champion with the leadership ability to muster a personal army) -> Daemon Prince.

--Chosen were portrayed in 3e as fighting together because they couldn't afford a weak link in their lines ("similarly skilled warrior at your shoulder" to avoid an embarrassing death should the gods' favor slip at a crucial moment, etc), now they're rivals competing with each other to get the last blow while targeting things too big/dangerous to 1v1.

-Obviously all the Warcry warbands are conspicuously absent this time.

-Gunnar Brand and his Oathbound get a whole pair of pages devoted to their tabletop unit as well as appearing in both the history of the realms and throughout mentions of Darkoath. The Scavenge Kings of Aridian still get a nod, as do Tanari's Takbloods.

-Wilderfiends specifically require the sacrifice of family members ("closest kin") to join the battle? But maybe that's more metaphorical, as there's a story about Singri questioning Gunnar about someone who's not literally "family," and alluding to the argument with Jorvak in the Hammer & Bolter episode. Also they sometimes turn on and devour their own tribe - non-family sacrifices are used just to keep them sated.

-There's a more pointed emphasis on the Archaon-Belakor rivalry; Eternus and his title are portrayed as a deliberate mockery of Abraxia, who is framed as the only one who can stop him. The pages identifying each circle's role are back (got skipped in 3e) and the Eighth Circle's trademark trait is being traitors now. There are vignettes about Order-aligned scouts encountering Archaon's scouts by coincidence while searching for Be'lakor's base in Ulgu, etc. The wording of several blurbs makes it sound like the conflict is coming to a head soon, as Be'lakor has now taken more openly hostile actions toward Archaon.

--The betrayal of the Eighth Circle after Archaon killed three of them in a rage because of Kragnos shenanigans has shifted somewhat. Obviously seeing their allies die was still the first crack in their loyalty (ironic as Archy's forces seem to have 40K Grey Knights level of "a bajillion people die in trials or training to make each one of my generic line troopers" going on), but the 3e book mentioned that his rant at the time about slaying the gods was what caused whispers of the need for a new Everchosen - in the 4e book they omit this and focus on the perception that this was "all too human in nature," and Eternus sought out the daemonic Be'lakor as a less flawed alternative. It's an interesting change because the Varanguard were seemingly of similar mind to Archaon on the gods, so it would be odd for someone in his inner circle to be surprised by his seething disdain for them, but at the same time, the Varanguard in Scourge of Fate are portrayed as likewise disdainful of daemons, whose loss of their own free will was a different kind of weakness. Perhaps that's the dividing line - the loyalists are at least somewhat aware that the final step on the Path to Glory is a trap, while the traitors are still chasing raw power at the cost of their free will.

-There are some photos mixed in, but the last page of lore is 66, compared to 3e's 48. (The tradeoff is that the rules section is much shorter for 4e reasons and there's less painting advice, though the book does offer a quick guide to getting the Darkoath Spearhead up to Battle Ready.) (Edit: typo.)

I went through Hamilcar: Champion of the gods again and wondered a few things about stormcast chambers. The Bear Eaters seems like an oddity being a warrior chamber being only 50 strong and without a lord celestant. Is this regarded as a warrior chamber? Or just an oddity?

Furthermore when they bring up the Heavens Forged. They mention they have 500 swords and are reinforced by further conclaves. Is it normal to have further conclaves to aid a strike chamber or is this another oddity?

It just seems strange that some aspects of the book seem to be against what other books say about strike chambers.

Do they have goals of their own?

I’ve seen people say that Nagash gets their soul but I’ve also read that they go to to whatever afterlife their culture believes in (which is housed in shyish maybe?). I’m all confused!

So we just got two Duardin questions in a row. So why not a third?? It is the Grungni Day season after all.

So for today's impromptu celebration of Dawi, I would like to ask. What would you, my fellow Realmwalkers, like to see out of Dispossessed?

For those who don't know the Dispossessed Clans are a conglomerate of Duardin cultures who lost their nations in the Age of Chaos but rather than becoming Fyreslayers or Kharadron, chose to become diaspora within Azyr and elsewhere, such as Karaznethil and the Achromian Empire. Both clinging to traditions of old, or rather what they claim are traditions of old but are radically changed as is mortal nature, and embracing or creating new traditions.

Course this means there is a wide variety of them. Such as the funerary-obsessed Gazul-Zagaz, the labour union-esque Labour-Clans, the Firewalk Clans, the Jadeforged, the light-sensitive Shadow Duardin, the innovators of the Ironweld and other guilds and corporations throughout the Cities of Sigmar, and far more besides. And that of course includes those clans resembling the cultures of the World-That-Was.

So. What parts of this big ol' mass of diverse Duardindom do you like? What would you like or hope to see in the future of AoS? How would you like them, as a faction, to change if they get a Frewguild-style retool