Hidden Vale of Athelwyrd

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The Hidden Vale of Athelwyrd was Alarielle's holiest sanctuary, deep in the Rotwater Blight of Verdia in Ghyran.[1][2a][4a]

Environment

The Hidden Vale is so large that it contains entire forests and mountains within it. In the sky, the River Vitalis flows. The trees of the vale have silver bark and glow slightly with life magic. Many of these trees have been woven into impossibly elegant living castles. The air is warm and inviting, and many strange creatures live there. It appears to be a paradise, and its beauty can entrance even a Stormcast Eternal.[2d]

World's Roots

Within the Hidden Vale is the World's Roots, a living throne that connected the goddess to the myriad lands of the realm and, if she put her mind to it, no bird or fish could pass through her realm unnoticed.[1]

History

Age of Chaos

When War of Life began, Alarielle led the sylvaneth in defence of her realm. However, as time passed and the defeats mounted, she slowly became more and more despondent. Eventually, with her other hidden glens destroyed by the forces of Nurgle, she retreated to Athelwyrd, which was hidden behind the strongest of illusions. From there, she led a guerrilla campaign - a phase of the War of Life known as the Hidden War.[1][2a][3a]

The Regents of the Glades and other Noble Spirits mostly followed their queen-mother's lead. Some brave or vengeful leaders such as Alarielle's daughter the Lady of Vines, the Queen of the Outcasts Drycha Hamadreth, and the hunter-god Kurnoth still fought openly, but the era of open warfare mostly ended. After the death of Kurnoth, her consort, Alarielle retreated fully to the Vale, turning her eyes from the darkness engulfing her realm. While the minions of the Plague God could not locate Athelwyrd and thus capture Alarielle and fully corrupt Ghyran, organized resistance had ended.[2a][5a]

Age of Sigmar

When Sigmar's Tempest broke across the realms, those Stormcast Eternals sent to Ghyran were tasked with locating Alarielle and rekindling the ancient alliance between the Everqueen and the God-King of the Age of Myth. However, they saw no more success than the Maggotkin.[2a][5a] Only when Lord-Celestant Gardus Steel Soul of the Hallowed Knights fell into the Garden of Nurgle and caught a glimpse of something that the plague daemons turned their eyes from before finding his way back to Ghyran did the Stormcasts have a clue of where to start searching.[2b] They sought out the Oak of Ages Past and the corrupted River Vitalis that flowed from it. After taking the Oak and slaying Pupa Grotesse, the Great Unclean One corrupting the river, in the Battle of Rotwater, the Stormcasts entered the now-clean waterway to the hidden path to Athelwyrd on its bed.[2c]

However, the skaven Grey Seer Skurrik had shadowed the Hallowed Knights unseens ever since they had defeated his horde at the Glade of Horned Growths, and once he realized what they had found he called his allies, the Glottkin, who in turn called many other lords of the Maggotkin and their skaven allies. The Nurgle army surged into the river and through the portal, leading to the Battle of the Hidden Vale. The greatly outnumbered Stormcasts and sylvaneth were forced to fight a desperate rearguard action to allow Alarielle to escape with a contingent of the Hallowed Knights and a small wargrove of bodyguards commanded by the Lady of Vines. They fled through the realmroots of the Cascading Path as the flood of Nurgle-worshippers overwhelmed the defenders of the vale. Athelwyrd, the last safe place in Ghyran, had fallen.[2e][3b]

Sources