Nagash

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Nagash
Nagash and Morghasts 01.jpg
Titles Ur-Death
Great Necromancer[4a]
The Undying King[8a]
The Black Harvester[8a]
Reaper-Lord[8a]
Elder Bones[8a]
The Grave God[9b]
Tyrant of Bones[10a]
Pater Nagash[11]
Domains Undeath
Necromancy
Type Ascended deity
Status Active
Aspects Akah-Nagash[14a]
Bal-Nagash, the Black Child[12a]
Black Priest[2a]
Nagash-Mor, the Reaper King[12a]
Nagash Unbound[2a]
Forlorn Child[2a]
Undying King[2a]
Home Nagashizzar,
Stygxx
Affiliation Death
Followers Legions of Nagash
For Nagash in the World-That-Was see: Nagash.

Nagash is the self-proclaimed ruling god of the Realm of Shyish of the Mortal Realms and the former god of death of Sigmar's Pantheon.

Appearance

Nagash, in person, is a deathly nightmare to behold — he is a towering skeletal figure, wrapped in blackened armour and twisted bone, and is constantly surrounded by a cyclone of wailing souls. [8] He has empty sockets where eyes should be.[4a]

Personality

Nagash is very patient, although it has a breaking point. Because he is immortal and a master strategist he knows that he can play the long game far better than other gods. But he will not tolerate the countless attempts of the other gods of order to deny him what his right according to a deal he set with the rest of the Pantheon of Order, the soul of every mortal that dies in the Mortal Realms. Knowing that his fellow gods of order would eventually renege this deal with him he made a plan to reign supreme across all the realm, a plan that ran from the Age of Myth, throughout the entirety of the Age of Chaos and would only come to fruition in the Age of Sigmar.[4a]

His undead armies are driven by his indomitable single-mindedness, allowing them to outlast nearly any foe.[4a]

History

Age of Myth

Nagash imposed order on the spirits of the dead, while his deadwalkers helped build defensive edifices for the cities of order.[1a] During this Age, Nagash would come to claim all of Shyish and all of its underworld as his. This self-proclamation of rulership meant that in his eyes that under the laws of order, the spirit of every mortal creature that died belonged to him.[4a]

However he knew that the other gods of order would eventually renege on this deal. A feeling it could come to be justified as the aelven gods and demigods protected the souls of aelfs from both Slaanesh and him, Alarielle and her Lamentiri kept the souls of the Sylvaneth and that the God-king was stealing the souls to make stormcast. So he came up with a plan, using his peerless sorcerous power to find the largest deposits of Realmstone in Shyish, more commonly found in its periphery. He then gave Arkhan the task of of using untold legions of skeletons to sifts through the sands to collect this realmstone and bring it in lines to the center of the realm, Nagashizzar. This sand would then be converted into Shadeglass used to construct a black pyramid of mountainous size, the Great Black Pyramid, and the great cyclopean edifices of Nagashizzar that encircled it. These buildings, designed by Nagash, attracted arcane power so that he would eventually be able to claim the entirety of Shyish for himself and use it to conquer all life.[4a]

Age of Chaos

  • The Nexus Wars
    • The Shyish Arcway is taken by Chaos as it appears Nagash switches sides to aid the forces of entropy.[1]
  • Sigmar invades the Realm of Shyish in retaliation and begins the War of Heaven and the Underworlds[1]
    • The Skaven attack the strongholds of Nagash and begin the War of Bones.[1]
    • Sigmar releases the first abhorrant king from the shroudcage, now known as the Carrion King he spawns many flesh-eater courts across the realms.[3]
  • The Wars of the Dead: A set of wars between the forces of Chaos and the undead servants of Nagash, over dominance of the realm of the Dead.[1b]
    • Battle of the Black Skies: One of the Barrow Wars that happened near the end of Age of Chaos, Nagash was once again slain and his forces driven back. Only a fierce counter-attack allowed the Mortarchs to claim his body and retreat to the lost underworld of Stygxx.[1c]
    • With Nagash dead, the stronghold of Nagashizzar was razed until there was nothing left of it but a blasted crater radiating fell power.[1c]

Age of Sigmar

Time of Tribulations

As Nagash's ultimate plan came into fruition, the very nature of the realm of Shyish started to change. Death magic was no longed found at its edges, but instead at its center. When the other gods, of order and chaos, realised the truth of Nagash's plan it was almost too late to stop it. To try and stop him the gods send portents of doom so that their armies would go to Nagashizarr to stop him, they would fail to stop it as many armies grew distracted with other purposes. This would come to be known as the Time of Tribulations.[4a]

However as he started the ritual that would make him supreme, skaven of Clan Slynk led by Kriktail infiltrated the Great Black Pyramid to steal Realmstone. Their attempts at plundering the realmstone crystals from a chamber and their very presence of chaos-touched corrupted the spell. The very pyramid inverted and started to revolve, drilling towards the centre of the realm. This created a vortex of pure amethyst magic called the Nadir of Shyish, and although it was not exactly like he planned, he entered the storm and fed on its magic until he could hold no more. The deluge of death magic that followed would came to be known as the Necroquake and its aftershocks changed the very nature of magic in the Mortal Realms, bringing in the era known as the Arcanum Optimar.[4a][5a]

Religion

Those who dwell in the lands of the Nagash must bend the knee to him or perish and serve him in death, but many choose to worship him and hence Nagashites are found both in the Realm of Shyish and in all the other Mortal Realms. [2]

Followers of Nagash may make his sign - holding out their hand before them, closing their fist and pulling it in as Lord of Death gathers souls to him. [13a]

Aspects

He has a number of aspects for like Sigmar he contains multitudes - All are one in Nagash and Nagash is all. That said these aspects are myriad and varied, each with their own domains and personalities. As Nagash grows stronger, so too does his many aspects.[2a][12a]

Akah-Nagash

This dread aspect of Nagash is the Lord of the Drowned and the Great God of the Depths.[14a]

Bal-Nagash, the Black Child

A kind, nurturing aspect of Nagassh who soothes the dying in their last moments.[12a]

Black Priest

The aspect of Nagash who gives succor to those whose deaths are too painful to be borne. [2]

Nagash-Mor, the Reaper King

An aspect that is calm and silent, he weighs the hearts of dead souls against a feather.[2] This aspect is also a defender of dead and living both, taking to the field of battle to defend people in the forgotten corners of Shyish.[12a]

The Forlorn Child

This aspect brings peace to those who die before their alloted time.[2a]

The Undying King

The Undying King is one of the most popular aspects of Nagash and one of the most war-like. It is said that he leads nine hundred and ninety-nine legions to war. and walks in every man’s shadow and wades in every man's blood. This is one of the aspects most associated with raising the dead, especially those of enemies, as undead hordes to turn against their former allies. It is this aspect that seeks to scour Shyish clean of false life. [2a]

Relationships

Sigmar

In Nagash's view Sigmar could do whatever he pleased with the Heavens but Sigmar's theft of the very best and brightest of mankind, even those of shyish, in flashes of lighting, led him to label him as nothing but an oath-breaker.[4a]

Alarielle

Nagash did not begrudge Alarielle's claim over her green growing things but as she tried to recycle the lamentiri of the Sylvaneth in her soulpod groves, which he saw as infernal, this violated, in Nagash's view his right over the souls of all mortals.[4a]

Arkhan

Arkhan is Nagash's foremost lieutenant [4a] and the most trusted of his followers, the Mortarch even describes himself as representing the loyalty of Nagash.[6]

Gallery

Sources

Deities of the Mortal Realms and Beyond
Ascended AlarielleKragnosMalerionMorathiNagashNerontes FaneSavage MaidenSigmarSix Smiths (Ong) • TeclisTyrion
Ancestor Gods GazulGrimnirGrungniValaya
Elemental Gorkamorka (Bad MoonGorkGulping GodMork)
Chaos Gods Dark Gods (Great Horned RatKhorneNurgleSlaaneshTzeentch) • Devourer of ExistenceEver-Raging FlameGreat GathererHashutNecohoNewborn (DexcessaSynessa)
Godbeast AuroxisAxactiarBitterbloodBoingobBrondtosDrakatoaFangathrakFangtharGhillnarad DhorGnorrosGuardian of the BalestormHammergordHrunspuulIgnimbrisJorharKharybtarKodzodonKrondMammothasMorbhegNagendraNharvolakNyxtorOkaenosRakka NakRavenakSarathrascaShattatuskShurihurathaSkalokSkwidmunchaSpider GodTatto'Na'KottoTestudinousUlfdengnarlUnnamed Kharibdyss GodbeastUr-PhoenixUrsricht‎Urs-Serkir
Star Titans AgraphonOhlicoatl
Zodiacal Godbeasts ArgentineBehematChimeracDracothionHydragosIgnaxLode-GriffonTwin-Headed SerpentVulcatrixVytrixYmnog
Unspecified Alhar-KrakenBeastgraveBrine-GodCinder GodCunning AgtheymaDreaming GodEightfold WatcherFirst ShadowGlareface FrazzlegitGod of SharksGod-Worm of the Great VentGorfatherGreat Bull-RoarerGreat MawGreat StinkhornIron DemiurgeKing of Broken ConstellationsLauchonLion God of EdassaLord of DustLost War Deity of the SeraphonManarchaelMirmidhMirrored TwinsMorghurMorrdaMother NightMother of All CatsMyrmidiaOuborothPrince of CatsNodh KurNulrakharObsidian EelOzolRanaldRavokSamnethSotekSpirit of the JungleStalagogTaalTjatsår MaiUnnamed God of PigeonsUnnamed God of the Order of the FurrowVannahVine GodVultzaXereusYahmBeyond the Realms (Y'ulae)
Asur Pantheon AddáiòsAeshaAnathAthaertiDrakiraErekEstreuthIshaKhaineKurnothLadriellaLileathMathlannMorai-HegNéthuThial
Old Ones ChotecHuanchiItzlQuetliQuetzlTepokTlanxaTlazcotlTzunki
ChosenDemigodsTypes (Aspect of ChaosCurse-GodDaemon-GodOld OneTutelary DeityUnderworld DeityWinter God) • Pantheons (Ancestor GodsAsurCrystal GodsDark GodsInvidianLittle Gods of WinterLords of MischiefOld Gods of AccarOrderSilent GodsSubterranean Gods)
Deathlords
Units Mortarch - Morghast (Archai - Harbinger)
Characters Arkhan - Katakros - Mannfred - Nagash - Neferata
Artwork - Miniatures