Battle of Burning Skies
- Seven steps took Sigmar, striding as a giant; None could stay him, nor stand before his wrath. Again and again his foe-cracking hammer wrought crimson wreckage. Yet Archaon, the Three-Eyed King, the World-Ender, had united the Four Foes of Old, the greatest of their kind. Across the aeons Sigmar had vanquished each before, as well as they remembered. So great was that battle, it set the skies aflame; So began the red dawn, the sword time, the wolf age.
- Excerpt from the Saga of Burning Skies[2]
| Location | Aqshy |
| Outcome | Decisive Chaos Victory Ghal Maraz Lost |
| | |
|---|---|
 Pantheon of Order
|
 Grand Alliance of Chaos |
| | |
 Sigmar
|
 Archaon the Everchosen |
| | |
| very heavy | very heavy |
The Battle of Burning Skies was a seminal battle of the Mortal Realms that marked the end of the Age of Myth and beginning the Age of Chaos. It was fought between the forces of Order led by Sigmar and the forces of Chaos led by Archaon the Everchosen.
Contents
Prelude
By the time of the Battle of Burning Skies, Chaos was rampant in the realms having invaded every one except Azyr. Sigmar was the strongest warrior-god in the realms and where-ever he fought he won, but for every victory he won a dozen losses happened else where. He knew he couldn't be everywhere at once but he still fought on because he had to.[1]
He smote the Greater Daemons known as the Tetrarchs of Ruin individually during the first incursions of Chaos. So Archaon convinced them to combine forces to defeat Sigmar.[1]
The Battle
Archaon had these lords along with endless armies of Daemons summoned by a rift leading to the Realm of Chaos into the Fireplains of Aqshy.[1]
Sigmar led the twelve mortal tribes of Bellicos along with Duardin, Aelves, Orruks, and even the Dead against the tide of Chaos with Gorkamorka raging unstoppably and Teclis's magical powers at his side.[1]
Seven times Sigmar led the charge against the hordes that sought their destruction. On the eighth time, Sigmar fought all four of the Tetrarchs at once and slew them all the same.[1]
Archaon then rode out and Sigmar hurled Ghal Maraz at him. Only it was an illusion of Archaon and the hammer instead fell into the same rift summoned by Archaon. Sigmar still fought on, but without his hammer the battle was slowly lost.[1]
Aftermath
After the battle of Burning Skies, came the Nexus Wars and the Battle for the Allpoints which were both disasters for the remaining forces of Order.[1]
Sigmar, seeing no other option, fled back to Azyr, closing the gates behind him, where he began making the Stormcast Eternals during The Long Wait.[1]
Sources
- 1: Age of Sigmar: Core Book (2nd Edition), The Battle of Burning Skies p. 38-39
