A new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar has just been revealed at AdeptiCon, along with a bombastic trailer in which the teeming Skaven menace erupts into Aqshy with vicious purpose. These are terrifying times for the Mortal Realms, but just hang on a minute – what precisely are the Mortal Realms?
There are eight realms, each a giant, largely flat crystallisation of magic within a realmsphere of breathable atmosphere. But how big is a realmsphere? What sits between them? How do you get from one to another?
Veteran explorers of the Age of Sigmar surely know the answers to these questions, but for newcomers, lapsed fans, and people who have never quite understood the concept, it’s time for a primer on the Mortal Realms.
The Eight Realms
In the grand cosmology of the Age of Sigmar, there are eight Mortal Realms, each a vast – but not quite infinite – slab of real estate, encompassed within its enormous realmsphere. They formed long ago, cosmic debris and stardust blended with one of the eight fundamental forms of magical energy, and the intrinsic essence of each realm’s dominant magic can be felt to some extent in every grain of sand, every leaf, and every one of its denizens. This power is most diluted at the centre of each realm, and most concentrated at the edges* – as travellers journey further out, the more fantastical the phenomena they will encounter, and the more pronounced the magical effects on the body.
This energy gives each realm its aspect, and its name. Ghur is the Realm of Beasts, a fierce land of predation and evolution, where mortals and animals are driven by the primal rage and savage instincts of amber magic. Even the landmarks themselves grind one another down, as mountains crush and prey on lesser formations. The Realm of Death, Shyish, is a still place of endings and silent decline, an amalgam of the underworlds for innumerable mortal species. The concentrated beliefs of the various cultures of the realms have begotten countless paradises and purgatories, most of which are conquered by the forces of Chaos, or ruled over by the tyrannical God of Undeath, Nagash.
“The eight realms aren’t infinite in size, and the many maps you see tend to focus on the settled areas of the realms, like the Great Parch in Aqshy, a massive area which represents perhaps a twentieth of the full realm,” explains Phil, the Head Loremaster of the Mortal Realms. “If you set out from the centre to the realm's edge and spent your whole life walking, you’d reach a point where you could go no further, near the Perimeter Inimical, where magic runs wild and rampant.
“In Aqshy, the Realm of Fire, reaching the realm’s edge might cause you to combust into a pillar of roaring flame, or suddenly turn into a strange scattering of ash. Stranger fates still await. In Chamon, the Realm of Metal, you may instead spontaneously collapse into a scattering of coins, all minted with your screaming likeness on both sides…”
Have these coins been snatched from the realm's edge by enterprising prospectors? Are they now traded within the cities of Chamon?
Travelling Between the Realms
The Mortal Realms are all individually contained, separate domains floating in the void, but it is perfectly possible to travel between them through realmgates. These strange portals date back to the Age of Myth, and allow for near-instantaneous – and often quite risky – travel both around a particular realm and between realms. They are vital strategic positions, and entire cities, strongholds, and even civilisations are built around them. The most important nexus of all is the Eightpoints, a central sub-realm connecting all eight realms via colossal Arcways. Once viciously contested by the forces of Order, Chaos, Death, and Destruction, it is now mostly under the control of the champion of the Dark Gods. Archaon the Everchosen rules the Eightpoints from the towering Varanspire, marshalling his forces into the rest of the realms to further his ruinous agenda.
How Time Works in the Mortal Realms
Hysh, the Realm of Light, and Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow, are inextricably linked, constantly waxing and waning, casting the other realms into cycles of night and day. One never fully succumbs to the effects of the other – there is always a faint glow in Hysh even when Ulgu is at its strongest, and always a sliver of dark in Ulgu when the opposite is true.
Radiant Azyr, the Realm of Heavens, hangs in the firmament between the realms, a bastion of divine order and celestial prophecy in an age of incessant uncertainty. Almost everywhere you go in the Mortal Realms, time is a constant, from the shores of glittering mercury lakes in Chamon, the Realm of Metal, to the verdant forests and teeming swamps of Ghyran, the Realm of Life.
Step through a realmgate in either as the dawn rises on the horizon, and you could end up in the choking smog of Aqshy at the same hour – and though a passing moon may blot out the light in the sky, the volatile Realm of Fire is lit by the glow of active volcanoes.
The Residents of the Realms
While the Mortal Realms are inherently magical, and in many regions absolutely fantastical, they are still “mortal” – which is to say that people live there, as well as animals and plants.Once, long ago in the Age of Myth, there were many great kingdoms and empires across all eight realms, encompassing men, duardin, aelves, and many stranger and rarer cultures and peoples. But as time went on, these great civilisations drew covetous looks from the Dark Gods. As the followers of Chaos grew in power, the Age of Myth gave way to the Age of Chaos, and slowly but surely the forces of Order, marshalled under Sigmar’s great coalition of gods, began to give ground.
Once their champion Archaon defeated Sigmar, most of the realms fell under the yoke of Chaos. As Sigmar and his followers retreated to Azyr and barred the gates to lick their wounds, most who remained turned to the Ruinous Powers through necessity – or died for their defiance.
The Age of Sigmar
Centuries passed under the dread reign of Chaos. But one day, as bolts of lightning from the blue, Sigmar unleashed his greatest creation: the Stormcast Eternals. These immortal warriors, forged on the Anvil of Apotheosis, were the God-King’s thunderous response. They fought bitter wars for control of key realmgates, carving out footholds through blood, sweat, and their endless cycle of death and reincarnation. Great cities were founded to protect these gains – notably the Twin-tailed City of Hammerhal, which is split between Aqshy and Ghyran by a monolithic realmgate.
Many other bastions of Order were raised – or reclaimed – in the wake of these Realmgate Wars. Among them are the great Cities of Sigmar, such as Anvilgard, Greywater Fastness, or Excelsis, safe havens of a sort in the wartorn realms.
Soon enough, in an attempt to re-exert his power over death now that Sigmar had shown his hand as a soul-thief with his Stormcast Eternals, Nagash unleashed the realms-cursing ritual he called the Necroquake. This magical catastrophe sent a heaving wave of undeath across the Realms and as a side-effect changed the nature of magic itself.
It birthed the Endless Spells, thaumaturgical manifestations with wills of their own that now roam around causing destruction in their wake. The ensuing Soul Wars were a battle for the fate of the realms themselves...
Since then, countless upheavals have beset the realms. Morathi (now Morathi-Khaine) betrayed Sigmar and underwent apotheosis, stealing the city of Anvilgard in the process and renaming it Har Kuron. Capitalising on Nagash’s temporary defeat at the hands of Teclis and his human allies, Alarielle conducted the Rite of Life, saturating the realms with Ghyranite magic in a bid to unseat Nurgle, the Chaos God of despair and decay.
The aftermath sent the Ghur into frenzied palpitations, unwittingly releasing Kragnos, God of Earthquakes from his mountain prison and ushering in the Era of the Beast in a haze of primal energy.
Since then, the God-King and his followers have been fighting to establish more fortress-cities at crucial locations, taking advantage of the leyline nexuses to claw back any advantage and syphon magic in their defence. Most recently, the Dawnbringer Crusades were launched to bring Sigmar’s light to many more corners of the realms. Despite setbacks and depredations from the enemies of Order, the crusades had been going well – at least until the Vermindoom erupted…
That’s just a tiny overview of the rich narrative. Life here is hard-fought for its inhabitants, and there are many mysteries, sub-realms, and innumerable artefacts of lost ages to be found, born from the ever-present essence of magic. These realms are home to billions, and they all feel the pervasive touch of war as everyone fights for survival amid the ruins of once-glorious civilisations.
What’s next? You’ll have to stay tuned to Warhammer Community as we unveil more of the new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar. If you want to delve into the rich, deep history of the Mortal Realms, you can read both The Realmgate Wars and Broken Realms series via the Warhammer Vault, included as part of a Warhammer+ subscription. For the latest plot developments, check out the Dawnbringers series – which explores the fate of the Twin-Tailed Crusade which set out across Ghyran and Aqshy mere months before the Skaven struck…
* Though thanks to the machinations of Nagash, the reverse is true in Shyish.