Talk:Age of Chaos

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  • ==The Nightmare Begins==


The Age of Myth collapses as mortal foibles open cracks in the foundations of order across all eight of the realms. Those cracks grow into fissures, chasms and disasters that split the fabric of reality itself, and the armies of Chaos are unleashed. A thousand hideous fates overwhelm those nations subconsciously lured by the whispers of Chaos. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

The worship of the Dark Gods spread. Their whispered promises and insidious lies turned people against one another. Little by little, the cracks grew, and in this strife the Dark Gods found a way through. The full wrath of the Realm of Chaos erupted into the Mortal Realms, the daemonic legion bringing wars so unprecedented in their scale that the era would earn the sobriquet ‘the Red Century’. (Soulbound CoreBook, p. 10)

Cities fell overnight, empires founded by the gods brought low, whole civilisations ended in the fires of sacrifice. Every act of brutality empowered the Dark Gods that perpetrated them. Every victory for Chaos bled the strength of those who would oppose it as soldiers, champions, and whole nations turned their backs on gods that seemed to have forsaken them. Organised resistance crumbled. (Soulbound CoreBook, p. 10)


  • ==The Everchosen Rides Out==

To spearhead this new conquest, the Ruinous Powers call upon Archaon the Everchosen. He is tested by being assailed by greater daemons of Khorne, Tzeentch and Nurgle, all of whom are devoured by the shapeshifting steed Archaon knows as Dorghar. Satisfied, the Dark Gods name Archaon as Exalted Grand Marshal of the Apocalypse – though he spurns the favour of the Horned Rat, newest of the Ruinous Powers. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13) As the forces of the Dark Gods grow strong, the Beasts of Chaos find common cause with the Ruinous Powers. It is also around this time that Archaon binds the nine Gaunt Summoners to his will. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==Rise of the Goretide==

In Aqshy’s Great Parch, the prosperous nations of Aspiria and Bataar raise their defences against the influx of cannibals and reavers from the Aqshy Clavis Isles, leaving the Flamescar Plateau, Golvaria, Aridian and Capilaria to face the armies of Khorne alone. Many of these tribes swear themselves to the ‘red gods’ to survive. The cannibalistic Goretide nation rises from the remnants of conquered tribes, with Korghos Khul at its head. In the mountains, the Fyreslayer magmaholds seal their gates early in the Age of Chaos. Though this earns them the enmity of outsiders, it also sees them endure the attacks of Chaos forces better than most. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==Construction of the All-Gates==

Determined to resist the advance of the Chaos forces, the people of the interstitial realm known as the Allpoints begin to construct huge fortifications known as the All-gates on either side of the arcways. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Greenskin Wars==

The savage peoples of Ghur provide great fodder for the armies of Chaos. Grand invasions are launched to eradicate the orruk tribes of the realm, with casualties rapidly spiralling on both sides. As the ogors and gargants of the Ghurish Hinterlands add their impressive might to the escalating war, the thuggish Ironjawz rise to power as the biggest and ’ardest greenskins around. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

Archaon the Everchosen tasks one of his most trusted generals, Darkorn the Devourer, to scour the orruk menace from the Realm of Beasts. The Greenskin Wars rage across Ghur for centuries. Untold numbers of orruks are cut down, but always more appear to take part in the joyous slaughter. At Splitbone Pass, the bodies of Chaos Warriors pile so thickly that entire valleys are filled to the brim. The Sundeth Caves still echo with the screams of slain daemons to this day. In the end, the orruks retain their dominance of Ghur, while Darkorn’s skull adorns the ramparts of the Varanspire – a fitting punishment for his failure. (Warclan Bt 2019, p. 24-25)

    • ===Rise of the Ironjaws===

Hardened by centuries of warfare against the daemonic hordes of the Dark Gods, stagnant mortal empires and their fellow greenskin clans, the orruk clans of the Ironjawz grow increasingly powerful. For them, the Age of Chaos is a gift from Gorkamorka, an era of endlessly entertaining battle. As is the nature of orruks, the more formidable the enemies they fight, the larger and fiercer they become, until they tower over their fellow greenskins. (Warclan Bt 2019, p. 24-25)


  • ==The Spirefall==

Stretched to breaking point by their own clashing egos as they drink deep of Hysh’s enlightening magic, the aelves known as the Lumineth spark a civil war. Spells and artefacts of immense destructive potential are unleashed, and the realmscape of Hysh itself is scarred. Where reality cracks, the daemons of Slaanesh pour through, eager to feast on aelven souls. Tyrion masterminds the defence of Hysh, but Teclis is nowhere to be seen. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

  • == The War of Life: The Season of Dwindling==

Nurgle begins his invasion of Ghyran, striking through contaminated Realmgates and the gnawholes of the Clans Pestilens. The aelves known as the Wanderers flee Ghyran through gates to Azyr. It is a slight never to be forgiven by the Sylvaneth. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==War in the Allpoints==

Realising the strategic importance of the arcways in maintaining the Pantheon of Order, Archaon directs many of his hosts to attack the All-gates simultaneously, dividing the attention of his adversaries. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

  • ==The First Coalesced==

The temple-ships of the Koatl’s Claw constellation are forced to crash-land on the plains of Mekitopsar, Ghur, after an attack by the Clans Pestilens. Koatl’s Claw begins to develop into the first of the Coalesced, though many other spawnings follow. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

After slaughtering the Chaos-tainted inhabitants of Mekitopsar, many of the saurian legions of Koatl’s Claw continue to rampage deeper into the Realm of Beasts. One such army finds a suitable target when they chance upon a congregation of the skaven Clans Pestilens chasing down a fleeing kinband of aelven Wanderers. The saurus fall upon the ratmen with such furious abandon that, for centuries thenceforth, the site of the battle is regarded as a promised land amongst the flesh-eating kingdoms of Ghur. The Wanderers give thanks to their strange woodland gods for salvation, but it proves to be premature; completely lost to the fury of battle, the near-feral saurus turn their blades upon the aelves, wiping them out in turn. (Seraphon Bt 2020, p. 20-21)

Koatl’s Claw was perhaps the first constellation to coalesce. During the early years of the Age of Chaos, skaven of the Clans Pestilens manifested a gnawhole upon the hull of the constellation’s primary temple-ship, seeking an ingredient for one of the Great Plagues rumoured to be created from a world’s death. Though the ratmen were repulsed, the damage they wrought was devastating. Its intricate mechanisms crippled by arcane rust-phages, the temple-ship began a perilous descent that saw it impact with titanic force upon the plains of Mekitopsar, Ghur. (Seraphon Bt 2020, p. 18)

Tribal communities for miles around were cast into ruin by the collision’s aftershocks, the survivors forced to turn to depraved gods to survive. For Koatl’s Claw, worse than the mass casualties they had sustained was the realisation that their Starmaster, Lord Quex, had been gravely infected by the skaven. The mental strength of the slann prevented him from succumbing, and on occasion he could even astrally project himself to contribute to battle, but from that moment on the Starmaster was confined to his deathbed, never able to leave his ruined chambers for fear of the exertion ending him. (Seraphon Bt 2020, p. 18)

With their Starmaster incapacitated and his skink attendants thrown into a panic, it was left to the saurus commanders of the constellation to reassert control. They responded the only way they knew how – by preparing for war. The spawning engines that had survived the crash were pushed to the upper limits of their capacity, hundreds of saurus thrashing into life. This process was not without cost, for such accelerated spawning meant agony for the newly birthed, a scar upon their souls that would never fade and would fill them full of primal rage. Nevertheless, the Oldbloods of Koatl’s Claw soon had a host of saurus possessed of a savagery beyond any seen before at their command. Their first targets were the corrupted tribes of Mekitopsar; the tainted humans were swiftly eviscerated by the bestial saurians. (Seraphon Bt 2020, p. 18)


  • ==The Red Century==

Over the first hundred years or so of the Age of Chaos, the mass slaughters and butchery of nations sees Khorne become ascendant amongst the Dark Pantheon, particularly in the Great Parch. The Agloraxi magocracy are forced to retreat to their floating citadels as Steel Spike is besieged by Khornate and Tzeentchian forces. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The War of Bones==

The forces of Chaos invade Shyish, spearheaded by Archaon and the Varanguard. Khorne focuses upon Hallost, seeking to consume the souls of its mighty heroes, while Nurgle primarily targets the moribund workers of Ossia – bringing him into conflict with the military genius of Katakros. When Nurgle’s plagues ravage Dolorum, Lady Olynder attempts to parlay for her own life and in doing so stokes Nagash’s ire. Her soul is claimed by the Great Necromancer and cursed to forever haunt her former city, compelled to feel all the miseries of the Mortal Realms at once. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


    • ===Battle of Dirge Peaks===

In the Nordyrie of Hallost, Nagash summons the first true Nighthaunt procession when he sacrifices a thousand mortal prisoners upon Mount Marrow and raises the masterless spirits of the land to battle the Khornate hordes. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The War of Life: The Battle of Tears==

Horticulous Slimux leads an invasion of Kurnotheal in the south of the Everspring Swathe. Kurnoth the Hunter meets him in battle, but he is in his winter aspect and is overcome by the daemonic hordes. The Sylvaneth of Heartwood Glade fight to return the Spear of Kurnoth to Alarielle. In the end, only a single Dryad survives to complete the mission. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==Fall of the Gothizzar All-Gate==

Tzeentch and Archaon conspire to divide Azyr and Shyish. At the battle of the Gothizzar All-gate, Nagash’s armies fail to arrive, leaving many Azyrites to be slaughtered and Sigmar enraged. Archaon’s armies conquer the last of the All-gates and spill into the Allpoints proper. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Wars Of The Heavens And The Underworlds==

Sigmar, incensed, hunts Nagash in Shyish. A score of battles are lost elsewhere, including the Allpoints, as the God-King immerses himself in vengeance. Sigmar and Nagash meet in battle at least once, though Nagash escapes through sorcery. Katakros meets the God-King on his master’s behalf, knowing full well he is likely doomed. The Ossian echelon are defeated by Sigmar on the shores of Lake Lethis, and the Mortarch’s essence is sealed away in the Midnight Tomb Stormvault. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13) In his rage, Sigmar accidentally sunders the wards of the Shroudcage, where the Carrion King is imprisoned. He escapes to spread his now-contagious madness across realms ravaged by war, spawning the first Flesh-eater Courts. Ushoran’s whereabouts become unknown. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Battle Of Black Skies==

Weakened by his conflict with Sigmar, Nagash is forced to retreat to Nagashizzar. The armies of Archaon and Nurgle soon attack the city. Nagash is defeated and all but destroyed by the Everchosen, his spirit fleeing to a hidden sepulchre in Stygxx while the Mortarchs recover his remains. Nagashizzar is lost to Chaos, and much of Shyish with it. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

Archaon the Everchosen leads a grand host to the walls of Nagashizzar. The battle that follows is the stuff of legends: tens of thousands of daemons, corrupted mortals and undead warriors clash on the arid plains surrounding Nagash’s fortress. Vampires duel with Chaos Lords, their blows too swift for mortal eyes to follow. Zombie Dragons clash with Greater Daemons, while Deathrattle shieldwalls break the charge of the infernal legions time and again. The Mortarchs stretch their power to the fullest, harnessing the energies channelled by Nagashizzar to wither entire portions of the battlefield. (SGL Bt 2021, p. 28-29)

At the centre of the conflagration, the Great Necromancer and the Everchosen duel. In such proximity to his own fortress, the Supreme Lord of the Undead is flush with arcane might, but Archaon in turn is bolstered by the direct favour of all of the Dark Powers, for to cast down a god is no simple feat. After a long and bitter battle, Archaon breaks Nagash asunder. Only a last-ditch effort by the Mortarchs saves their master from total destruction. The Great Necromancer’s remains are stolen away to a hidden sepulchre and Nagashizzar itself is razed, the Everchosen himself installing those Chaos Lords who will garrison the ruins. (SGL Bt 2021, p. 28-29)

Shortly after, Prince Vhordrai’s attempt to destroy the Great Necromancer’s remains is thwarted by Arkhan, and the vampire is locked in a realmstone coffin. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

Yet Vhordrai is as much a prisoner as a conqueror. In the aftermath of the Battle of Black Skies, he sought to end Nagash’s tyranny for all time, intending to hurl the Great Necromancer’s remains through the corrupted realmgate of Yulghuan so that they might be devoured by the Dark Gods. It was a brash plan, and one that Arkhan the Black went to great lengths to oppose. In a clash of sorcery and steel, Vhordrai was narrowly defeated by the First Mortarch and sealed within a realmstone coffin for an age. (SGL Bt 2021, p. 36-37)

    • ===The Shambling Wars===

Neferata is defeated by the Glottkin during the Shambling Wars, and she is forced to retreat to Nulahmia. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Great Skaven Civil War==

Allied with the Clans Pestilens, the Clans Verminus finally break a gruelling stalemate with their greatest rivals in skavendom – the Clans Ikk – to become the primary source of soldiery in the Under-Empire. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

The bastions of Order fall on every front. As the hordes of Chaos wreak havoc and ruin across the Mortal Realms, the Under-Empire grows fat upon the spoils. Two Great Clans, warlike Verminus and savage Ikk, make the greatest gains during this period, at one point holding an unimaginable four seats each upon the Council of Thirteen. Civil war is inevitable as the two Great Clans vie to seize absolute power, and the remaining seven Great Clans hasten to ally themselves with one side or the other while – in truth – plotting to bring down both. For twenty-six years the war rages, leaving swathes of Blight City ablaze and costing the skaven terribly in lives and territory. (Skaven Bt 2019, p. 18-21)

At last, the Clans Verminus enlist the aid of the Clans Pestilens to spread the frothjaw plague through the Clans Ikk, turning their animal ferocity into something uncontrollable and, ultimately, lethal. Over the next two years, the devolving abominations that were once the Clans Ikk run amok through skavendom, but eventually they are annihilated. Their demise leaves a power vacuum and, though the Clans Verminus ostensibly emerge from the civil war as victors, still the conflict rages on. (Skaven Bt 2019, p. 18-21)

    • ===Verminking’s Decree===

In the aftermath, Skreech Verminking appears before the Council of Thirteen and demands that the skaven cease their internecine conflicts and focus on the conquest of the realms at large – or face the wrath of the Great Horned Rat. To emphasise his point, the Verminlord turns several Lords of Decay to mutant slurry. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

Skreech Verminking comes forth to find the Masterburrow itself shuddering in the grip of civil war. Unleashing a horrific curse that blasts the warring clawpacks to ash, he settles himself upon the warpstone throne and glowers at the terrified Lords of Decay. The Great Horned Rat has been amused by his children’s squabbles, says Verminking, but now the Great Civil War must end. The other Chaos Gods have waxed in power during the Age of Chaos but the skaven deity has lagged behind as his servants have fought amongst themselves. (Skaven Bt 2019, p. 18-21)

Skreech demands that the six surviving Great Clans follow the guidance of the Masterclan from this day forth, and strike not at one another but at the remaining bastions of Order and the servants of the other Dark Gods alike. To ensure obedience, he reduces Arch-Warlock Snitterkrit, Great Plague-speaker Ebolox, Grand Clawlord Thrakk, Things-twister Rukhtik, Lieweaver Yrkrit and Shadowmaster Pheng to sloughing rot and bubbling slime with a twitch of his tail. The surviving Lords of Decay, and those who seize the thrones of the slain, scurry to obey Lord Verminking’s decree. (Skaven Bt 2019, p. 18-21)


  • ==The Loss of the Harrworld==

Following the loss of the Harrworld, their original magmahold, the Greyfyrd lodge travel to Ayadah where they establish the Gateswold – a new magmahold built around several Realmgates. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==Abandonment of the Khazalid Empire==

The forces of Tzeentch sweep across Chamon, searching for Chamonite to empower their arcane rituals. As the strongholds of the Khazalid empire fall, many duardin seek sanctuary in the nascent sky-ports using aethermatic technology. Thus are the Kharadron Overlords born. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

Many duardin begin to resent Grungni for what they perceive to be his abandonment. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

  • ==The Sky Exodus==

As the apocalypse unfolded, the duardins thought to fight alongside their allies, but found them absent, they then thought to seek the aid of the gods through prayer, but none answered. (Core Book, p. 130) As the Changer of the Ways encroaches upon Chamon, the normally conservative duardin are ultimately forced to face annihilation in the strongholds of their ancestors or to abandon the traditions of old by adopting a new way of life. (KO BT 2020, p. 20-21)

In a great leap of faith and technology, the forefathers of the Kharadron combine their mastery of air travel with the aethercraft innovated by the steamhead pionners to attach great endrinspheres and aethermatic energisers to the very foundations of their ancestral strongholds and take to the skies. (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9) Fleets of gyrocopters and other steam-bombers blast clear a path for the great floating citadels to escape. (Aether War, p. 8) As such, the Kharadron Overlords were born from the sundered mountains, or Kharadron in ancient khazalid. (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9)

Chamon’s stratosphere wasn’t the safe heaven that the duardins hoped for however. As the sky-ports rise into the clouds, Tzeentch’s armies give pursuit. (KO Bt 2020, p. 20-21) A desperate flight across the Realm of Metal ensues, forcing thousands duardins pilots to sell their lives to keep the new found aerial threats at bay. (KO Bt 2020, p. 20-21) So deadly are the skies of Chamon that not every attempted retreat to the skies was rewarded with success. Out of the countless thousands inhabitants of Karak-Orgaf only three lived to tell the tale of their nascent sky-port. The fate of the others is hinted at in gruesome details when twisted wrecks of skyvessels and mangled duardin corpses begin to rain down from the Chamonic clouds.[11a]

After the fall of the fall of the last duardin’s Great Karaks at the Battle of Zaruk and with the refusal of the Fyreslayers to take any refuges, the influx of refugees from the fallen Karaks seeking salvation amongst the skies grew exponentially. (WD 04 2017, p. 33) (Fyreslayer BT 2019, p. 11) With them, the aerial mining colonies and airborne fortresses in the clouds of Chamon banded together as a loose confederation for mutual protection that would become the foundation of the greatest aerial empire the Mortal Realms have ever known. (KO BT 2020, p. 20) (WD 04 2017, p. 33) (Core Book, p. 106) With time, the everfaithful refugees of an ancient empire became the founders of a civilisation that will come to not only survive the Age of Chaos, but thrive in it. (Core Book, p. 130)

Regardless of the traumatic birth of their civilisation and the drastic changes to duardin society it required, some traditions took more time to be abandoned than others, if at all. As such, in the days of the Sky Exodus, the quickly developing airfleets were still crewed by clans. (KO Bt 2020, p. 33) Due to the innovations of the steamhead pioneers, kharadron sky faring science progress to the point that several sky-ports boast entire fleets of skyborne vessels. (Core Book, p. 106) Similarly, the Grundcorps were founded soon after the Sky Exodus by Master Gunner Olgrimm Grundstok, who organised the Grundstok clan into the Grundcorps following the repeated successes of fleets hosting Thunderers from that clan. (KO Bt 2017, p. 48) (KO Bt 2017, p. 26)


Other clans developed ingenious technology that allowed them to avoid that grim fate. The ancestors of the Kharadron Overlords took to the clouds, constructing great, militarised sky-ports and flying vessels powered by pure aether-gold – the so-called Breath of Grungni, mined at great risk by steamhead pioneers. Such was the innovation of these intrepid duardin that, in a matter of generations, their airborne flotillas had developed from ragtag bands of gyrocopters and steamblimps to elite and deadly sky-fleets of armoured gunships. (Aether War, p. 2-3)

  • ==The Cathtrar Dhule==

Though spared early in the Age of Chaos, Ulgu is infiltrated by skaven, then attacked in force by Khorne, Tzeentch and especially Slaanesh – led by Luxcious the Keeper, the self-proclaimed Ur-Slaanesh. Morathi and Malerion do their best to fight back, beginning the Cathtrar Dhule, or ‘War of Shadows’. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==Fall Of The Firstforged==

One by one, the magmaholds of the firstforged lodges are overrun. The Vosforge is the last to fall; the twelve sons of Thorgar-Grimnir go their separate ways when the Runefather is slain by a Bloodthirster, each of them taking a portion of the lodge’s ur-gold. Only Zhafor-Grimnir keeps the lodge name ‘Vostarg’, while the youngest son – Darz – attempts to organise an expedition to reclaim the Salamander’s Spine. He disappears in mysterious circumstances after passing into the volcanic region. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Time of Reaving==

As the sky-ports and their requirement for aether-gold grow, so too do their rivalries. (Core Book, p. 106) This resource had rapidly became the foundation upon which the Kharadron built their technology and a constant influx of the substance was required if any given sky-port wishes to stay afloat. (KO Bt 2020, p. 12)

As such, competition amongst the nascent sky-ports over mining rights of this vital resource caused buried grudges and old rivalries to resurface, all of which ultimately leading to an ever increasing level of warfare amongst the sky faring duardins. (KO Bt 2020, p. 9) (KO Bt 2017, p. 26) This strife-filled era, known as the Time of Reaving, saw the then openly rival sky-ports fight one another in order to safeguard their own future by gathering as much aether-gold as possible at the expanse of enemy sky-ports. (KO Bt 2017, p. 26)


The influx of refugees from the fallen Karaks led to the Time of Reaving, as sky-port fought sky-port for all-important mining rights. (WD 04 2017, p. 33)

    • ===The Conference of Madralta===

On the verge of an all-out civil war that would spell disaster for the emergent civilisation, the leaders of the various sky-ports agreed to meet in council. (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9) Taking place on the floating island of Madralta, the Conference of Madralta saw the leaders of all the developing sky-ports maintain an uneasy truce in order to put an early end to the Time of Reaving. (KO Bt 2017, p. 26) (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9) Even if the debate was far from peaceful, violence frequently threatened to break out at the negotiation table, the imminent doom of their newly found way of life forced the kharadron to compromise. (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9) In ultimate showcase of pragmatism, the duardin leaders establish a series of common laws that would allow all to prosper. (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9) The Kharadron Code was thus born.

Organised worship and age-old dynasties had failed to protect their people. (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9) There would be no more kings and queens, nor would the kharadron ever again look for divine intervention to save them. (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9) This now united empire would be governed by elected leaders chosen for their aptitude instead of their bloodline, and powered by technology and science rather than pointless faith. (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9) As a new secular era was set in motion, the old clans were dissolved and replaced by an individualistic mindset. Meritocracy supplanted the old ways, creating a fundamental divide with traditional duardin society. (Core Book, p. 130) Airfleeets were no longer crewed by clans, but instead by those kharadrons that distinguished themselves at the Musterpresses. (KO Bt 2017, p. 47) Duardin woman became common sight amongst both the developing industrial work force and the fighting forces of the Sky-fleets. (Soulbound Core, p. 99) (Code of the Skies) However, other traditions are simply reframed into this new contract driven culture, as exemplified by the Rune of Marks as codified in the grudge-clause of the Kharadron Code. (Code of the Skies, p. 49) For their parts, ancient duardin oaths now take the form of legally signed contracts.

The founding and unifying constitutional document that is the Kharadron Code was conceived by expanding upon naval laws initially designed to maintain discipline aboard sky-vessels. (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9) The resulting nine artycles covered every facets of kharadron society, from the overall governance of their now-united sky-empire to the personal freedom of its citizens. (KO BT 2020, p. 8-9) With time, the Kharadrons expanded those rules so that by following their new code, every decision they take would adhere to its ever adapting stipulations. (WD 04 2017, p. 33) Indeed, the isolationist stance they temporarily adopted towards the land dwellers hailed from their adherence to the Kharadron Code. (WD 04 2017, p. 33)


  • ==The Great Sky War==

DEATH IN THE CLOUDS The worshippers of Tzeentch find their territories under assault from the nascent Kharadron empire. The mercantile duardin delight in the chance to take revenge upon their hated foes, but in the main they are driven by more practical concerns; their wondrous sky-fleets are powered by aether-gold, the Breath of Grungni, and they seek this elusive, gaseous substance with single-minded focus. At the Maddening Heights, amidst the clouds of Ferroica and above the churning quicksilver whirlpools of the Amethystine Ocean, furious air battles are fought between the Change God’s faithful and the duardin sky-ports. This rapidly escalating conflict becomes known as the Great Sky War. (Aether War, p. 8-9)

An air war raged between the Kharadron and their hated Tzeentch foes all through the Age of Chaos. Disc-riding sorcerer lords and shoals of blade-ringed Screamers sought to overwhelm the duardin air navies, but they were driven off by the heavy guns of the Ironclad vessels, blasted apart by scattershot and banished to the Realm of Chaos by sustained rocket barrages. Despite the enemy’s great numbers and the lethal, sorcerous environments of the Spiral Crux, these duardin societies survived and even thrived, developing an ordered culture of militarised mercantilism against a backdrop of entropy and madness. (Aether War, p. 2-3)

  • ===The Battle Of The First Coalition===

Kharadron society threatens to tear itself apart in its hunger to monopolise and harness invaluable aether-gold reserves. A conference is held on the great metalith of Madralta, where the earliest version of the Kharadron Code is devised. The newly allied Kharadron, led by Barak-Nar, defeat the Tzeentchian Daemon Princes known as the Tetronomicar at the Battle of the First Coalition, which later defines the tenets of Kharadron naval strategy. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Last Great Karaks Fall== The Battle of Zaruk

Skaven clans overrun the Lost Forge-City of Grungni, renaming the surrounding mountain range the Verminvaults. The last of the Great Karaks falls at the Battle of Zaruk. Across the realms, the duardin are reduced to isolated clans, forced to flee to Azyr, committed to the faith of Grimnir or plying the sky-ways. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Foundation of Furios Peak==

Around this time, Urgom-Grimnir, a descendant of Zhafor, discovers the Cynder Peaks – a place replete with both ur-gold and Magmadroth eggs. He establishes the new Vostarg magmahold of Furios Peak. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Battle Of Burning Skies==

The climax of the Age of Chaos comes on the Fireplains of Aqshy, when the hour is darkest. There are dozens of versions of this tale told across the realms, but most agree that there Sigmar leads the Twelve Tribes of Bellicos to stand against the daemonic hosts of Archaon. Elements of the Pantheon of Order join him, and though undying Nagash sends a token force, he does not commit his strength once more. Sigmar leads seven charges against the hordes; on the eighth, he slew the Tetrarchy of Ruin – a coalition of four favoured greater daemons – before hurling Ghal Maraz at Archaon, hoping for a swift and decisive kill. The Everchosen’s form is revealed to be an illusion, however, and Ghal Maraz is instead sucked through a portal to land in the Hanging Valleys of Chamon. Devoid of his hammer – and thus a portion of his power – Sigmar has no choice but to concede the field and ultimately lead the remnants of his alliance through the Gates of Azyr. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

    • ===Conquest of the Allpoints===

With Sigmar fled to the Realm of Heavens, Archaon is all but unstoppable. He is finally able to conquer the Allpoints, renaming it the Eightpoints. With this vital link between the realms broken, the Pantheon of Order fragments entirely. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==Bad Moon Rising==

The first Gloomspite hordes begin to form as Moonclan and Spiderfang grots ally in the depths and strike at targets of opportunity. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Gates of Azyr Are Closed==

The Gates of Azyr are sealed fast. Trapped in the war-torn realms and abandoned by their gods, entire nations are forced to swear themselves to Chaos to survive. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ===The Cleansing Of Azyr===

Worshippers of Chaos launch a grand uprising in Azyrheim. In a rage, Sigmar descends to slaughter both them and the weakling Azyrheim senate, slaying all those citizens he deems corrupted – whether by Chaos or simple hatred. In the aftermath, the first Grand Conclave – the Lords of the Heavenhall – is established, the Order of Azyr and Shadowblade aelves are entrusted to hunt down secret agents of the Dark Gods, and Azyr is swept clean in a series of crusades. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Aelf Wars==

The Idoneth and Daughters of Khaine come into repeated conflict due to several enclaves of the former expressing a preference for stealing aelven souls. The Kraith sect vow eternal enmity with the Deepkin. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

Conflicts begin between the Daughters of Khaine and the Idoneth Deepkin. Several enclaves, notably the Fuethán and the Dhom-hain, show a preference for stealing aelf-souls over those of other races, whom they deem inferior. Although the temples of Morathi’s kin prove difficult to find, hidden as they are in the Shadowlands of Ulgu, several war covens are found by the Idoneth and ambushed. The Khainites known as the Kraith vow revenge upon all Idoneth Deepkin. (IDK Bt, p. 21)

  • ==The War of Life: The Shrouded Time==

As the War of Life between the Sylvaneth and Nurgle worsens, Alarielle calls a Royal Moot and vows to turn back the forces of Nurgle no matter the cost. The events that follow are stricken from the memory of the Sylvaneth, but many speculate that it saw the birth of the first Outcasts. Alarielle’s season of waning begins. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Stolen Souls== The Reforging Begins

Sigmar puts plans in motion to create a new army. Across the realms, great heroes are snatched away on the verge of death, taken to Azyr to be reforged on the Anvil of Apotheosis. Though this sees Sigmar’s forces swell, it spells the doom for many holdout nations suddenly deprived of their champions. The Underworld of Hallost, known as the Land of Dead Heroes, is hit particularly hard. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The War of Life: The Season Of Waning==

Battered by many defeats during the War of Life, Alarielle retreats to her hidden vale in Athelwyrd, dismissing her bodyguard – the Sons of Durthu – in a moment of despair. Many Sylvaneth glades go into hiding, abandoned by their goddess. The forces of Nurgle wax high in their corruption of Ghyran. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Hydrox Wars==

Fleets from Barak-Nar launch a campaign of extermination against the aerial predators known as the hydroxes, largely clearing their scourge from the skyways. The six major Kharadron skyports are established. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

    • ===Barak-Nar Ascendant===

The six major Kharadron skyports are established. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==Foundation Of Varanthax’s Maw==

Though none now know the circumstances surrounding the discovery – or creation – of the vast mining complex known as Varanthax’s Maw, at this time, a great supply of molten varanite is discovered beneath the infernal forge. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Blood Time==

Infuriated by the lack of worthy enemies remaining, the armies of Khorne turn upon their Chaotic allies. Though this provides plenty of satisfying war, it also deprives the forces of Chaos of total victory. Many Slaaneshi Sybarites make their way towards the Perimeters Inimical, desiring to avoid the aggression of the Khornate hordes and seek the extreme experiences only these lands can provide. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==Wars Of The Reinvention==

After meditating for an extended period in Haixiah, Teclis achieves communion with Celennar, spirit of Hysh’s true moon. With this knowledge, the archmage is able to teach his followers how to take aelementors as their spiritual lodestones. Thus begin the Wars of the Reinvention, in which the Lumineth strive to reclaim Hysh by overcoming daemons within and without. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==Theft Of The Eigengrom==

Over centuries of incarceration, Slaanesh has begun to learn the secrets of the paradoxical chains binding him. His suspicions are confirmed when the Infernal Enrapturess Sen’sathra steals the daemonic axe Eigengrom and slays Karanak in the resulting duel. Khorne’s bellow of outrage shakes the cosmos, snapping the Chain of Purest Hatred that binds Slaanesh. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Battle Of Druchxar==

Morathi forms the first cross-sect Caillich Coven and defeats the armies of Luxcious the Keeper at the Battle of Druchxar. The Cathtrar Dhule continues, however, bolstered by the skaven who now seek to dominate treacherous Ulgu – particularly the Clans Eshin – thus beginning the Skaven Wars. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The War of Life: The Fallen Oak==

The Oak of Ages Past is defiled by Pupa Grotesse, a Great Unclean One who sings operatically as he bathes in the River Vitalis. Resistance in Ghyran crumbles further. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==Obliteration Of The Agloraxi Empire==

The mage elite of Ahramentia harness the power of the Prismatikon cannon to obliterate a Khornate Warhorde. In retaliation, Khorne destroys the citadels of the Agloraxi. Without the influence of the Agloraxi and their mage armies, the Daemon Prince Selpher Zaronax takes power in Golvaria. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Coming Of Gordrakk==

In the Ghurish lands of the Wildheart, an orruk Megaboss named Gordrakk comes to power. Across the realms, gibbering greenskin shamans prophesise the coming of the next Great Waaagh!. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)


  • ==The Fall of Elixia==

The Tzeentchian sorcerer Ephryx discovers the resting place of Ghal Maraz. He conquers the nearby city of Elixia and raises the Eldritch Fortress around the hammer, seeking to harness its divine power for a ritual to corrupt all of Chamon’s Realmgates at once. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)

THE GOD-HAMMER HIDDEN The sorcerer Ephryx wagers everything he has to take the ancient city of Elixia, for he has discovered that there lies Ghal Maraz. Unable to claim its magic for himself, he has a grand fortress raised around it and begins to pollute the Hanging Valleys of Anvrok with Tzeentchian magic. (DoT Bt 2020, p. 29)

  • ==Discovery of the Idoneth==

The Keeper of Secrets Sslish the Depraved tracks a group of Idoneth from the Aighmar Enclave back to their stronghold. Though defeated, the daemon’s essence retains its knowledge. Shortly after, a skaven army tunnels into the sea floor of the Great Quagmire in Shyish. They too are defeated by Idoneth from Mor’phann, but Archaon begins to suspect something amiss in the realms’ oceans. (WD 12 2020, p. 10-13)