Now that we’ve announced the next edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, it’s time to take a step back and see where each of the Grand Alliances stand. We summarised the events of Broken Realms recently, but the super-short version is that the Soul Wars are over and the power balance of the Mortal Realms has shifted once again.
Today, we’re going to give you a quick status update on the major factions, so you know what’s happening with each one before diving into the narrative arcs in the new core book.
Strap in, because this ride is going to bounce all over the place. There will be spoilers, so scroll past this awesome Warsong Revenant to proceed.
Grand Alliance: Death
The Flesh-eater Courts of Hysh thought it would be fun to wind up the Lumineth Realm-lords, which turned out to be a mistake. The Ossiarch Bonereapers had to jump in to stop an invasion into Shyish, then Teclis and Nagash got into a very nasty row. It didn’t go well for the Great Necromancer – and long-story-short, the curse of the Necroquake is diminished.
Meanwhile, Lady Olynder and her Nighthaunt were tricked into an alliance with the famously deceitful Be’lakor. But she’s no fool, so she forced him to give her something in return. He promised the Mortarch of Grief the souls of the Stormcast Eternals, which seems like a pretty sweet deal to us. More on that in a bit…
Last but not least, while the rest of Death was getting into all sorts of trouble, the Soulblight Vampires were busy taking advantage of power vacuums. Their independence from Nagash does them credit, and now their grave-empires are rising up all across the realms.
Grand Alliance: Chaos
Archaon the Everchosen’s had a hard time of it lately. First, the Ossiarch Bonereapers and other armies of Death invaded the Eightpoints. Then Morathi-Khaine stole a bunch of his precious varanite, and the Seraphon arrived to meddle even further.
The daemons of Nurgle felt the weakening of the Necroquake and knew the pendulum was about to swing towards life. They were quite comfy in Ghyran though, so they redoubled their efforts to corrupt the realm.
Morathi, in her (successful) quest to become a god, weakened the bonds holding Slaanesh at bay in Ulgu. A portion of the Dark Prince’s essence was released into the realms in the process. Besides empowering his mortal followers, this soul-stuff formed the twin-form daemon Dexcessa and Synessa.
Amidst the upheaval, the scheming daemon prince Be’lakor sprang a trap centuries in the making, setting gears in motion according to his unfathomable plan. He rallied his daemonic hordes and laid siege to Vindicarum, a great city of Order in Chamon. While he was ultimately beaten back, Be’lakor succeeded in delivering a vital wound to the forces of Order.
Grand Alliance: Order
Old treaties were torn up, oaths were broken, and the unity of Order was in flux. While Morathi-Khaine’s betrayal ended her alliance with the Stormcast Eternals, the races of mankind, duardin, and aelf have settled some of their differences and dedicated themselves to taking back as much of the Mortal Realms as they can.
The Kharadron Overlords and Fyreslayers have been getting along better – the return of a mythic figure, a beacon of hope for all duardin. The cruel Daughters of Khaine and bitter Idoneth Deepkin also formed a fragile truce of mutual benefit, united in being cast away by Teclis as failed experiments.
The Lumineth Realm-lords sent a mighty warhost from their home in Hysh to invade Shyish, the Realm of Death. Though they spent a good deal of strength in the campaign, the experience brought them out of isolation, and now they’re fully invested in the future of the Mortal Realms. Teclis stands as one of the most powerful heroes of Order too.
Another great hero, Lord Kroak, led his Seraphon warhosts to strike a telling blow against the forces of Tzeentch in the Eightpoints. Be’lakor twisted this victory into disaster by destroying a network of realmgates, severing the Stormcast Eternals’ connection to Azyr. More and more of Sigmar’s champions are now unable to return for reforging when they fall in battle.
Meanwhile, the diminishing of death caused a resurgence of life magic across the realms. Alarielle began to push back against the lingering corruption and spread her song of life to every corner. That, in turn, caused unforeseen consequences, especially in Ghur, the Realm of Beasts.
Grand Alliance: Destruction
The surge of life magic freed Kragnos, the god of earthquakes, from a prison the Seraphon built for him in ancient times. The presence of a living god of Destruction could not be ignored, and the forces of Order rallied together in Excelsis to end his rampage.
Excelsis had already been weakened, undermined by the perfidious skaven and cults of Slaaneshi worshippers before the armies of Destruction arrived. Kragnos rallied the Moonclan Grots under Skragrott and orruks of the mighty warboss Gordrakk. After being suitably impressed with his might, even the towering Sons of Behemat agreed to march with the Earthquake God.
The Broken Realms series shook things up for just about everyone – the Mortal Realms will never be the same, and the door is wide open for all sorts of awesome things to happen. Want to take a guess as to what’s coming next? Head to the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Facebook page and share your thoughts.
And that sets the stage for the next edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar. Tune in on Saturday as we reveal the incredible Dominion box in full.