Talk:Archaon
Text to be rewritten and integrated
A dark vision of martial majesty and brutal strength, Archaon commands every creature of Chaos to walk, slither or fly across the Mortal Realms. He is the Exalted Grand Marshal of the Apocalypse, a title bestowed upon him by the Dark Gods themselves. More than this, he is the Everchosen, the champion who bears the mark of all four gods combined and who, by his very existence, does what even they cannot: unite the armies of Chaos. Such is the true and terrible power of this champion of champions.
Archaon embodies not just the might of a single god, but all four. In him, the servants of each of the powers see their paragon. He is the blood-drenched axe of Khorne that harvests the skulls of empires. He is the perpetual plague of Nurgle, which infects the realms with its rampant corruption. He is the impossible grand scheme of Tzeentch, which twists and turns in upon itself. He is the murderous excess of Slaanesh that drives men into fits of terrifying madness and homicidal ecstasy.
To earn the mantle of the Everchosen, Archaon completed many harrowing quests and bested cunning foes to gather the powerful relics symbolic of his station: the Mark of Chaos upon his flesh; the Crown of Domination that spreads fear and dismay even as it strengthens his allies; the Eye of Sheerian that gifts him with future sight; the Armour of Morkar that clads his mighty frame; and the Slayer of Kings, Archaon’s sword, filled with the bound soul of the daemon U'zuhl.
The last and greatest of these treasures is the shape-shifting daemon-steed Dorghar. When first Archaon vaulted atop him, Dorghar burst into flame and fought his command, but such was the Everchosen’s power that he broke the daemon’s spirit and claimed him as a steed. Also known as Ghurshy'ish'phak, Yrontalie and the Steed of the Apocalypse, this daemonic beast has since borne Archaon to victory on battlefields uncounted and brought low the mightiest of champions who thought to challenge his master.
==Rumored Origins== By the time of the Age of Sigmar, Archaon’s origins are little more than legend and rumour. Some believe he was once a mortal man, devout in his pursuit of righteousness, until he was set against his old gods by the lies of the Ruinous Powers. Others say Archaon was born at the same moment that Sigmar came into being, a dark reflection of the God-King cast into in the Realm of Chaos. There are even tales that Archaon is an immortal emperor who once ruled all of the realms before the arrival of Sigmar. Certainly, Archaon’s path to glory has been arduous, for Chaos offers nothing without sacrifice. Before the Daemon Wars, when the Chaos powers once more turned upon themselves, the Dark Gods sent mighty champions against Archaon to demand his sole patronage, each fearing he would side with one of the others. After he slew all sent against him, Archaon continued to fight in the name of all four powers, who recognised him as their foremost champion once more, transforming him into a demigod capable of conquering all of the Mortal Realms.[2]
For unrecorded aeons, Archaon rode across the Realm of Chaos. Whenever he marched out from the impossible lands of that cursed dimension, no world was safe from his armies, and in the name of the Dark Gods kingdoms and empires burned and bled. Each victory proved once more Archaon’s mastery of war, and new trophies were heaped upon the idols of the Ruinous Powers. At his order whole worlds burned. Almost without counting were the grim legends forged in this time, and the Realm of Chaos still echoes to the dark tales of the Everchosen’s crusade.[2]
By the light of the Sickle-thirst Moons, Archaon scourged the Yorndish Kingdoms and their so-called Indomitable Bloodline in the name of Khorne. A thousand howling Bloodletters watched as Archaon demonstrated his savagery, claiming the heads of all three hundred members of the Yorndish royal line in a night of wanton slaughter. By the time the moons set on the Yorndish palace, Archaon stood knee-deep in the tide of blood that flowed from its shattered gates, and a line of kings and queens that had endured for thousands of years was mercilessly eradicated.[2]
Archaon brought the seven plagues of Nurgle to Shantor Isle and its protectors, the reputedly immortal Deepguard. Following the skaven of Clan Pestilens through holes gnawed in reality, his horde of daemons, infected mortals and ratmen spilled out into the island kingdom. The Everchosen led his rancid legions through the Coral-temples of Shantor, turning their halls black with decay. As they were cut down, the desperate Shantorian priests called upon their guardians, who were famed for their immunity to poison and disease. The Everchosen stood high in Nurgle’s favour, however, and when at last the Shantorian Deepguard staggered out to face Archaon’s armies, their joints were already swollen with fluid and their eyes weeped pus.[2]
When the three-souled serpent god Y'ulae constructed the Star Crucible, Archaon forged an alliance between the Tzeentchian Sorcerers of Zyr and a cabal of Slaaneshi Spell-sirens, combining their powers to steal the celestial artefact. With a body made of light and fire, no blade nor hex could touch Y'ulae, and the magic hurled against it was as wind passing through the branches of a tree. Goading the creature into battle, the Everchosen used Y'ulae’s monstrous arrogance against it, sacrificing scores of screaming witches and sorcerers to its wrath. As his minions perished, Archaon snatched their souls from the air and used them to weave a sorcerous cage of prismatic mirrors around the beast. Blazing bright in its rage, Y'ulae’s body exploded in a thousand brilliant hues as the prisms channelled and dissipated its incorporeal form. As the creature’s dying wails faded away, Archaon claimed the Star Crucible for his own dark ends.[2]
Archaon fought the long war against the Hedonshi Emperors, daemon lieges of Slaanesh. Massively bloated, the Hedonshi feared no mortal weapon, and ruled over hundreds of grovelling kingdoms from the spires of their golden palaces. With practised guile Archaon brought the Hedonshi tribute, plying them with an army of slaves for use in their sadistic rituals. As the Everchosen watched on with grim pleasure, the gluttonous daemon lords gorged themselves on souls and scented flesh. For six hundred and sixty-six nights, terrified slaves were herded into the palaces until Archaon’s ‘gifts’ did what no sword or spell could – the daemons ate uncontrollably until they burst, drowning their own vassals in torrents of noxious pink slime.[2]
==Lords of Sorcery== The mysterious Gaunt Summoners hail from the Crystal Labyrinth deep inside the Realm of Chaos. Willowy creatures saturated with magic, each one appears as a robed figure. They are faceless save for a mouth lined with needle-like teeth, while a dozeng listening eyes blink from the sides of helms grotesquely melded into their flesh. In the gnarled grips of their three hands are strange gifts from their master Tzeentch, the Architect of Fate– arcane tomes, warptongue blades and enchanted changestaffs, which can set flesh to writhing like an enraged serpent at the merest touch.[2]
Since time immemorial the Gaunt Summoners have built towering structures that conjoin the Mortal Realms and the Realm of Chaos –impossible fortresses, silver spires and twisting mazes which ensnare their foes in webs of madness. Among these architectural insanities stands the Whisperfane, a twisted stronghold of living nightmares and deadly illusions.Those who brave its mirrored ramparts find their own strength turned against them by its insidious magics – great warriors are driven mad with rage and cunning wizards are ensnared by their own spells.[2]
Behind the walls of their keep, the Gaunt Summoners wove spells of mayhem and misdirection upon the Mortal Realms, changing the fate of kingdoms and unravelling empires for their own amusement. None but Tzeentch could compel them, for they took great and elaborate pains to obscure their true names, which held the power to bind and enslave them.[2]
Archaon, impressed by the Summoners’ abilities but not foolish enough to try to bargain with them, despatched his forces to the Whisperfane. First, he sent Torgrax Murderkin and his 28 Gorechosen to cow the Tzeentchian sorcerers. Consumed by their own fury, the Khornate warriors tore themselves to pieces long before they could lay an axe upon their foes. Next, Archaon sent Urglor Blackweal and his Putrid Blightkings. Where rage had undone Torgrax, it was decay that destroyed Urglor – the Nurgle champion and his warriors were reduced to nothing more than oozing puddles of pus and rancidmeat. Lastly, the Everchosen sent forth Zybal and his Alter-coven, but they too fell, mutated into gibbering Chaos Spawn by their own spells of change. But Archaon had not sacrificed his champions in vain. As the Summoners mocked their attackers from atop their walls, the Everchosen had carefully studied the magic surrounding the Whisperfane, and teased out the identities of each Gaunt Summoner from the wards they had woven.[2]
When Archaon finally stepped into the ensorcelled fortress, he cast a subtle spell of his own, wrought from the sorcerers’ true names. Though they did not know it, the Gaunt Summoners’ own doubts were thus turned against them, reflected and magnified by the eldritch properties of the Whisperfane. Crippled by their uncontrollable fear, the Gaunt Summoners struggled to cast their spells, and Archaon cut down their servants and brushed aside their ill-prepared sorceries with ease. Soon, the Gaunt Summoners could think only of escape from the prison of fear Archaon had fashioned around them. Only when they begged to be released did the Everchosen speak their names and finalise their subjugation.[2]
Centuries of harsh servitude have taught the Gaunt Summoners strict obedience – at the Everchosen’s command, they twist even the magic of Realmgates to his purpose. By their power are ghostly councils held, as they project Archaon’s presence across the Mortal Realms or transport the souls of his minions so they might report their victories. If Archaon is pleased, he may even deign to allow their souls to be returned to their bodies...[2]
==The Cage of Bones== Atop a plateau of broken bodies stood the mighty Chaos bastion known as the Cage of Bones. Built from the fallen armies of Nagash, the Lord of Death, its gates were made of grasping skeletal claws and its ramparts fashioned from grinning skulls. After the Battle of Black Skies, Nagash had been banished to the underworlds by Archaon, and the remains of his vast undead host were fettered by Chaos-forged iron. Yet Nagash seldom remains dormant for long, and after emerging from the Starless Gates he moved to take back his realm. He soon returned to the battlefield where the Cage stood, and began to unravel the fell runes that kept his undead warriors in check.[2]
In a single night of slaughter and dark sorcery, the Cage of Bones rebelled against its garrison. A thousand Chaos Warriors were dragged down into the animated fortress and the army of undead it had become, their ragged remains swelling the forces of Nagash. With the shackles of the Dark Gods broken, the deathless legions of the Great Necromancer rose up against the armies of the living once more. Forewarned of the assault by his Gaunt Summoners, Archaon was already marching upon the Cage of Bones.[2]
From the glimmering pool known as the Forlorn Wells emerged Dorghar, bellowing in rage. With a single hissed command, Nagash sent forth his legions. Almost as soon as the Chaos forces charged out of the submerged Realmgate, they were met by a tide of shambling undead. Hell-forged blades sparked off age-worn steel, and blood sprayed across yellowed bone as the armies hacked each other apart.[2]
Beyond a roiling sea of undead, atop the broken remains of the Cage of Bones, stood Nagash. From his staff, cords of dark magic arced down into the ruined fortress, raising yet more skeletons for his rapidly growing army. Archaon knew only he could face the Lord of Death in combat, but all would be for naught if his army did not gain a foothold upon the shores of the Forlorn Wells. The ground around the watery Realmgate was already thick with Chaos fallen. Only the Bloodbound had made headway into the legions arrayed against them, and even they were slowing in their frenzied charge as bone giants and skeletal dragons descended upon the Khornate warriors.[2]
Carefully tempering his wrath, Archaon turned his eyes from Nagash to his army below, ordering Dorghar down into the fray. Heads snapping and claws ripping, the daemon tore a great furrow in the undead surrounding the Bloodbound. Archaon claimed the heads of moaning dead things and bat-winged horrors as they tried to drag him from his saddle. Nagash could have turned his spells upon the Everchosen, loosing a storm of darkness to tear the Chaos champion from the sky or steal the life from the daemonic beast he rode. However, like Archaon, Nagash was far too skilled a general to allow pride or hatred to twist his plans. The Chaos army had come too soon, and the Great Necromancer’s army was incomplete. There was still time to turn the tide, and so he poured his sorcery into the land, hoping to drown his foes in the dead. Despite the victories of the Bloodbound, hundreds of Chaos warriors had been hurled back into dark waters of the Realmgate, their sodden corpses spilling from its sister gateway in Aqshy. Bulling through the dead bodies came the Rotbringers to steady the Chaos lines, and the pestilent champions were soon surrounded by piles of shattered bone.[2]
Dorghar set down among the Rotbringers. With Archaon in their midst, knots of Blightkings lumbered forwards, claiming an ever-widening salient from the undead. Bone and broken skulls crunching beneath iron-shod boots, the Chaos army gained a foothold around the wells.Then, Archaon called upon his Varanguard. Thousands strong, the First Circle surged from the watery Realmgate, their ornate armour dripping with shadowy energies from their passage between worlds. Forming up beneath their lord, the Swords of Chaos rode out into the storm of death. Following the path forged by the Bloodbound, they hacked and smashed their way towards Nagash.[2]
Preoccupied with commanding his armies, Nagash despatched his Soulblight vampires to slow Archaon’s advance. Clad in crimson plate, the vampires’ lord rode forth atop his undead dragon, directing his Blood Knights into the advancing Varanguard. The vampire knights ploughed through the remnants of the Bloodbound host, fangs bared and eyes alight with hate, and with a thunderous crash of steel, the two sides met. As the two forces traded brutal blows below, Archaon swept overhead on Dorghar towards the vampire lord. The duel was fought with breathtaking skill, the vampire driving its lance into Dorghar’s side as his mount tried to claw Archaon from the saddle. Horror given form, the undead noble moved with blinding speed, discarding his lance and drawing his blade to claim the Everchosen’s life. Yet Archaon was no mere mortal, and even before the creature had charged, the Everchosen had seen its fate in the Eye of Sheerian. Expertly slipping past his foe’s guard, Archaon drove the Slayer of Kings into the creature’s shrivelled heart, watching with satisfaction as the vampire crumbled to dust on the wind[2]
- Someone copypasted this from the wikia, which probably transcribed it directly from the book. Needs to be rewritten into a proper wiki article
