As the World Championships of Warhammer raged in Atlanta last year, a very different Warhammer event was taking place just next door – the Grand Narrative. This immersive campaign set in the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium saw participants fighting across themed battlefields under the watchful eyes of eclectic characters, each victory and defeat weaving an intricate tale within the embattled Palat System.
Everything that transpired that weekend has had a lasting effect on Warhammer 40,000 lore, and with the dust now settled, the Warhammer Studio has compiled the definitive account of what happened.
Over 300 commanders took part in the fight for the Palat System, but only three claimed dominion over their disparate Pacts. Each of these Lords of War found both success and failure amidst the hab-zones of the mysterious world known as Occultaris, and each had their fates irrevocably changed.
As the final shots died down and Hive Fleet Leviathan arrived to consume the world, these are the events that unfolded.
Inquisitor Kantrael Colonel Kulov
As others lost their minds amidst the nightmarish warfare on Occultaris, Colonel Kulov of the Valhallan 33rd retained her faith in the God-Emperor. Aided by Hierophant Severin Grahl’s bombastic litanies and Sergeant Stone’s gruff support, her surviving troops fought their way clear of Occultaris just as the first of Hive Fleet Leviathan’s bio-ships appeared in high orbit.
With the Tyranid invasion of the Bastior Sub-sector devouring its way through swathes of systems, few sanctuaries remained. As the Shadow in the Warp closed in around her ramshackle fleet, Kulov ordered her Navigators to set course for the Formidyre System, for if any Imperial forces remained within this benighted region, it was there they would be found.
Kulov’s battered vessels fought a path to the fortress world of Resolution’s Ire. Her forces, even fatigued as they were, were welcomed with relief – for Hive Fleet Leviathan showed no sign of abating. And so the rank of Brevet-General was bestowed upon her, and those she rescued from that cursed place have repaid her with steadfast loyalty, resolving to fight at her side as the war for the Bastior Sub-sector is decided.
The fate of Tyvost van Kantrael, however, has drawn the attention of his allies within the ranks of the Inquisition. These suspicious agents of the Throne have resolved to learn more of the Inquisitor’s fate, and it seems certain that their investigations will soon set them upon Kulov’s trail…
Vernal Thedge
With Cogitus-Dextra XVII and Lask Xhorkhan at his side and the Command Entity shackled to his will, Vernal Thedge departed Occultaris through a shimmering warp portal. He left behind an army of abandoned allies, many dumbfounded and enraged by his abrupt betrayal.
Thedge emerged from the portal into a landscape of crackling warpfire and industrial insanity. As Cogitus-Dextra XVII stepped through behind, what remained of its brain was overcome by the maddening vista. With a hideous, gargling howl, the servitor’s biological components tore at its own mechanical frame.
Flesh and metal ripped asunder, and from the disintegrating mass of cables and entrails, a figure manifested amidst oil and gore to hover over Thedge. Its eyes burned like hot coals, and a wisp of thick black smoke erupted from the furnace-grille that served as its mouth. Lask Xhorkhan fell to the floor, clutching at his twitching augmetics and grovelling before the daemonic apparition.
‘You have done well, Vernal Thedge. The Blood God’s loss shall be Vashtorr’s gain,’ the tech-monstrosity rumbled.
A tangle of mechanical tendrils snaked from the remains of Cogitus-Dextra XVII to ensnare the Command Entity before it could protest. In the blink of an eye, the Abominable Intelligence was gone, dragged down into the hellish depths of Wyrmwood to be enslaved to Vashtorr’s will.
Thedge – a smile upon his scarred face – dropped to one knee and met the daemon’s burning gaze. As he did so, mechanical extrusions coiled from Wyrmwood’s warp-cracked surface and coiled around his torso before he could react. They slithered over his armour, crept towards his face and closed over his mouth, tightening all the while. He felt himself being dragged down, into the churning mechanisms of the daemon world. He hoped that, when it was all over, the Arkifane would see fit to bestow upon him a blessing rather than a curse.
The Exalted Leader
To the fledgling Daemon Prince known as the Exalted Leader, victory tasted sweet indeed. By her machinations had Tyvost van Kantrael been set upon the path to insanity, and with her blessings had Vernal Thedge escaped into the embrace of the Arkifane – the Command Entity in tow.
Her honeyed whispers and promises of knowledge, power, and glory had provided her with an army of the vengeful and betrayed – an army desperate to unleash its frustrations upon the galaxy. Followers of many species had slaughtered thousands by her command, unwittingly accelerating her ascension to daemonhood.
Now, whether they knew it or not, they were bound to her will. To these thralls, she would no longer present a facade of mortality. She was Esh’kammor the Skeintwister, and soon the galaxy would tremble at her name.
And so, from the deck of her newly seized flagship, she plucked at the ever-twisting strands of fate, and from their threads sought to stitch a path to Tzeentch’s eternal favour. As her fleet blasted a path through the vanguard organisms of Hive Fleet Leviathan and plunged into the comforting embrace of the empyrean, she settled upon a course of action.
She would journey to the mouth of the Nachmund Gauntlet. There she would find alliances to shatter, plots to disrupt and souls to ensnare. There she would find opportunity. There she would demonstrate unto the Great Conspirator the breadth and depth of her own ambition.
The next Grand Narrative is taking place from the 21st to the 24th of November, alongside the World Championships of Warhammer. Tickets will go live on the 10th of February. We’ll see you there!
