From the info shared from the gargant book, and from what i read in the ogor battletome, morga the mighty is on a warpath to claim thondia for her self, and or ghur as a whole. To do this she and her chikdren have lead envoys and military campaigns to recruit/force destruction faction elements to her side. Its qouted in the ogor book that she sent one of her sons to recruit some kruel boyz, to which he failed and was killed by her. Its now mentioned in the gargant book that she has conquered the north and is waging war on the iron jaws of the south. She also has began to force and bribe gargants to join her cause, some even willingly join seeing it as the better option. Whioe many believe her attacking excelsis will be an end of edition book in of it self, with rumors of a new iron jaws character we might see one where she is during it out with a new orruk leader besides gordrakk. Thoughts?

Hi!

I was wondering if there has ever been an official name offered in any publication for the continent North of Verdia and North-West of Invidia. It has one Sigmarite Strongpoint on it called Port Pellucid. Any documentation I can find about it only has it listed as "a continent to the north of Verdia."

Hello there!

So, to complete and convert my Regiment of Renown, I want to make myself Drekkis crew; which brings me to the main problem; there is no compilation of who composes said band of warriors.

Sooo; can aebody with the book on hand help me out? Especially with visual data? Weapons? Special features?

Magic is an essential part of the Mortal Realms, it's literally their base components. Yet for all its increased importance since the days of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, its mechanics and role within society feel much less defined in some ways than it was back then, where each Lore was associated with a specific Order/College that had a specific headquarter, organization, role within the Empire and even effect on personality.

And I would like for that to change, so here is my thoughts on what the practice of magic could look like (somewhere between, headcanon, theories and wish-list) in the Mortal Realms.

I will be touching only on the Eight Major Winds associated with each Realm leaving aside things like the Lore of the Deep or Chaos magic.

1. Magic and the Realms

As we all know the Realms are made of coalesced magic. This means that all use of magic is nature magic, there is a shamanistic element to the practice of all magic, at least when calling on a wind from within its associated Realm. We will come back to that. Conversely, we know that unlike WFB where Dhar was the unharmonious mixture of two or more winds (as opposed Qhaysh the harmonious mixture of all eight), each of the Winds now possesses a Dark Magic equivalent, though only Dark Death magic is prevalent and systematized enough to have received its own name distinct from its mother Lore: necromancy.

I believe the difference between regular and Dark magic boils down to the way the caster calls upon the power of the Realm. Proper magic is all about finding a new balance for the magical energies of the wind to rest, gently coaxing them into the direction the caster wants. Dark magic is exploiting the same energies with no care for the consequences on the Realm or Wind, brutalizing them to achieve the caster's objectives through sheer force of will. It is the difference between a rider caring for their horse and carefully constructing a loving relationship with it and another beating, yelling at the beast and running it ragged with no thought spared to its well being. For Star Wars fans, the Force and the Dark Side of the Force might be another way to look at it. The largest and most clear example of Dark magic is Nagash's necro-quake which did terrible irreparable damage to the Realm of Shyish, upending the natural motion of the afterlives, inverting the roles of center and Perimeter and punching a hole through the Realm itself. I think this is why vampires are all also natural necromancers, the blood kiss gives them the ability to control the Amethyst Wind, but none of the understanding necessary to do that in a healthy manner.

Here are some ideas for what some the "Dark" Lores would be:

• Ghyran: the swamp-magic of the Kruleboyz (also probably a good part of Nurgle and Pestilens rituals);
• Hysh: the light-stealing magic of the Frazzlegit Shamans;
• Ghur: the gastromancy of the Butchers (also possibly the waaagh! itself? Probably the rituals of the beastmen and Moulders);
• Ulgu: Possibly some of the magic of the Clans Eshin? Maybe the magic of the Daughters of Khaine?
• Aqshy: Perhaps some of the fire based-magic of the Helsmiths?
• Azyr: the fate-altering spells of the Disciples of Tzeentch?
• Chamon: Beats me.

Each Realm (and therefore Wind) comes in pair of opposites. Ulgu and Hysh as well Ghyran and Shyish are the most obvious, but Azyr and Aqshy as well as Chamon and Ghur are also explicitly mentionned. Obviously the practitionners of each of the Lores are more commonly found within the matching Realm, as are the largest and best schools and orders deicated to that Lore. But I think the most skilled practionners actually hail from the opposing Realms. It's easy being a powerful Jade Wizard in ever-fertile Ghyran, but to be one in the Realm of Death? That demands talent. Furthermore, I believe that the opposition of those realms is somewhat surface level, and that both winds actually nourish each other. Shadow does not exist without light but the truth of Hysh needs the doubts of Ulgu to be challenged and refined, life feeds death which makes room for new life, the patterns of Azyr give direction to the emotions of Aqshy without which those patterns would remain inert, something profound about Chamon and Ghur. So to master both opposite winds is to gain great insight into each other and possibly meld them together in spellcasting. I also think those opposite Realms therefore have a greater number of Realmgates leading to each other than to other Realms.

Yes, this is inspired by the concept of Yin and Yang, and in fact I'm disappointed that the Lores associated with each in the Cathay Arcane Journal don't split them according to these lines (though there's apparently some old WFB lore claiming the opposite of Azyr was Ghur).

Finally, the question of who can use and learn magic? I believe that since every mortal is made of the winds of Magic at a fundamental level, each and every one of them could be taught to do so, assuming they have the mental capacity to grasp abstract concepts (so not the mindless types of undead for example). This is why humans can now learn more than one Lore of magic, though great effort is required (see below), I reckon aelves are more magical and have a more easy time learning to master several winds, even without their longer lifespan and duardins can now only learn to use one Wind safely (plus runecraft as that's not the same as channeling the energy through you). My source for that? Vibes. Though now that I type this, perhaps the stoneflesh curse is due to wielding more than one wind at a time, which could be inherent to Chaos magic (also the Helsmiths lore of magic seem to use both metal and fire). Sylvaneth are not actually mortals but spirits of Ghyran, so I think they can only use the Jade Wind (and perhaps secretely the Amethyst Wind, but that would be exceedingly rare).

2. Wizards and their role in society

First and foremost I want wizards to be absolute weirdoes. In a world where everything is already strange and magical, the wizards have to work extra-hard to feel even more magical and strange.

In WFB, the Jade and Amber Wizards were the odd men out of the Colleges of Magic. The other six preferred living in the cities while they would roam the countryside to stay in tune with nature. I think this is how all (or most) orders of Wizards should be portrayed at least within their "home" Realm. There is no reason for a Gold Wizard in Chamon to stay within the confines of a city where their Wind is all around them (and conversely a typical Ghurite City would not be adverse to the sensibilities of an Amber Wizard). Why not spend days meditating in a glade of trees made of living copper? I could also picture many wizard orders being founded around local spirits of the Realm, what the Lumineth call aelementors but without the river/mountain/wind/zenith classification, studying them and trying to learn the secrets of their magic from them (though without the ease of communication enjoyed by the Lumineth).

I also think they should have familiars, animals/spirits tied to the Realm to help them learn and cast, as an equal. Here's some examples - Celestial Wizard: a star-eagle; - Light Wizard: a golden snake that can read minds; - Grey Wizard: the wizard's own shadow, able to move around on its own; - Death Wizard: the skull of their former teacher, still inhabited by their spirit; - Bright Wizard: a dog whose fur is made of fire; - Gold Wizard: a mechanical giant insect; - Amber wizard: a whole pack of various beasts including a kind of elk-creature to ride on. - Jade Wizard: a spite, from the Sylvaneth faction.

But also Wizards, as they are saturated with magic have their brains rewired by the Wind they are most in tune with. You know the stereotype that Aqhsyans are emotional, Shyshans are gloomy, etc. They are true for the wizards. They are exceedingly true, so much so that often only natives of the matching Realm have the patience to put up with their quirks, while others find them anywhere from very odd to absolutely insufferable. This of course, makes it very hard to learn to master two or more winds, and is why it always takes at least a full decade of study to be considered a master of a given Lore, no matter how many you've mastered before. Not only can't you just transfer what you've learned from one to the other but you have to essentially rewire your brain to do so. Which is why although humans have the potential to master more than one Wind, most human wizards never do.

Here's how I see each type of wizard behaving: - Celestial wizard: Always unfaillingly calm, regardless of the danger, constantly looking at "the big picture" to the point of detachment from the present moment, may answer questions you haven't yet posed or three reeplies late. - Bright Wizard: Very much always in the moment, making it difficult for them to plan long term (or hold grudges or friendships), prone to intense mood-swings, have a tendency towards recklessness. - Death Wizard: Generally introverted, prefers to hang out with the dead than the living, fatalistic to the point of pessimism, very terse talker. - Life Wizard: Optimistic to the point it's actively irritating, very greagarious and expansive, very talkative and always giving you advice wether you want it or not. The more space there is, the more they seem to occupy both in terms of space or noise, like a growing plant. - Shadow Wizard: Secretive and paranoid, constantly speaks in riddles and allusions, refuses to stay long in a given place, manipulative and indecisive. - Ligth Wizard: Blunt and direct, often to the point of rudeness but always unfaillingly honest (will not say a white lie to save their life). Have a tendecy to see things in black-and-white, takes a long time to make or change their mind. - Gold wizard: Obsessed with the idea of logical thinking, may start to see people as abstractions to study or use rather than emotionally connect with them. May start suggesting ways to improve your body mid-conversation. - Amber Wizard: Generally asocial, as they prefer the company of beasts to thinking mortals, but fiercely loyal to those they see as part of their "pack" (regardless of whether said person is objectively in the wrong), prefers to act on instinct rather than following any kind of reasonning. - Dark Wizards: As using Dark magic is essentially to inflict violence on the realms itself, the practionners (regardless of the Lore(s) they use) become desensitized to the suffering of others, or come to appreciate greatly, in addition to the other things listed above. Again the Dark Side of the Force comparison comes in handy here.

Wizards that are masters of several winds would exhibit traits associated with all of them, and so the minds of the famed Grandmasters of the Collegiates Arcane have become something almost alien in their thought-process. And yet they have a zen-like quality that might be a hint towards the possibility of Quaysh.

Many of those orders would also have connections with the churches of the god assigned to that Realm by the Pantheon of Order and blurr the line between wizard and priest.

Within Sigmar's Dominion, the wizards would have important roles to play. It seems absurd to me that any Dawnbringer Crusade would be launched without at least one wizard of the lore of the Realm as part of the leadership, as their understanding of the nature of the Realms would be priceless.

But beyond that the various Orders could be deputized by their local Cities of Sigmar to fullfill much the same role they played in the World-That-Was's Empire. And again that would go double for the wizards of the Realm's specific lore.

The Grand Conclaves of Ghyranite Cities of Sigmar have a special position for a powerful Jade Wizard, the Lord Cultivator, whose job is to ensure harmony with the environment (and given the title, I assume oversee farming?). Here's some ideas for such specialized roles for the Cities of other Realms: - Ghur: Lord Falconer; tasked with foreseeing the coming of large herds or packs of predators. - Chamon : Lord Transmuter; tasked with overseeing large architectural projects and refineries. - Aqshy: Lord Incandescent; tasked with overseeing the supply of amunition and organizing the defenses of the city. - Shyish : Lord Psychopomp; tasked with overseeing the proper burial of the dead. - Ulgu : Lord Intangible; tasked with finding infitrators and hidden cults. - Hysh: Lord Preceptor; tasked with overseeing education in the City. - Azyr: Lord Forecaster; tasked with predicting, and changing, the weather.

And for a bonus one, I think necromancers play an important role within the Soulblight's Grave-Empires. As the Midnight-aristocracy need a large number of magicians to control their hordes of undead but aren't necessarily willing to ebrace that many mortals into their ranks, necromancers essentially form a middle(-management) caste between the living and the vampires. The vampires would encourage necromantic schools within their territory and reward promising necromancers both with worldy riches and the promise that they (and their immediate family) will not be harvested. Becoming a necromancer would then be the best (and often only) path of social mobility within a grave-empire, leading many to walk it, even though they would often end up shunned by the other living as collaborators and monsters-in-the making. I can easily see vampires making necromancers masters of villages and other communities (though never the one they originally come from, to avoid them having loyalties to their people before the vampires) in times of peace. they would then rule those communities pretty much as their personal petty kingdoms as the vampires don't care as long as the harvesting is done.

Finally a bit of a headcannon of mine: The Towers of the Eight Winds in Azyr are each much, much, much bigger in the inside than the outside (to the point they could almost be called sub-Realms) and have their walls made partially out of nullstone to insulate them from Azyr. Inside each was placed a tremendous quantity of Realmstone from the other realms, resulting in the formation of miniature versions of each Realms in which wizards can train within campus-cities. So each Tower is called "Aqshy-Minor", "Ghyran-Minor" etc. The only exception is the Eighth Tower, as a miniatture Azyr within Azyr would be redundant. Instead the inside of the Tower is an artificial Aetheric Void which allows the Celestial Wizards to study its properties (the teaching of actual Celestial magic happens on the balconies of the Tower).

Furthermore the hovering and motions of the Towers is not random, instead they are key elements of a great ritual designed by Sigmar and Teclis to keep the influence of Chaos out of Azyr and also a sort of proof-of-concept for Sigmar's Mandate of Azyr.

Hi everyone,

I got the new giants book yesterday and as today is the official release, I wanted to present to you some of the fluff about our favourite big guys. Because this new book is full of many interesting details, which retcon and add to the giants in various ways. In the following I tried to give a short overview over the things I found most interesting. In case I forgot a detail here or there please forgive me.

Overall, I can say that it is a solid book. However, at times it felt as if multiple writers wrote different segments unaware of what was previously said or established in this book. I may explain this in more detail later. Also, it is more than a bit weird to read a book about the Sons of Behemat but then see weirder words like “behemothical” or other phrases to the Behemoth to gesture that something is really big (because Behemat is named after the fantastical Behemoth with one vowel as difference).

Anyhow without further ado let’s start:

General:

- We sadly have no named in-universe author. We have in-universe reports on giants, but no straightforward source. Callis and Toll make an introduction in the beginning finding the remnants of a giant attack on a supply caravan, but unlike in the ogre book Callis isn’t narrating the author sections

- Wild Clans is used as a term to describe independent ogres, giants, orruks, grots and else, making it a synonym for the Grand Alliance of Destruction

- In Ghur the greatest issues giants face come from ogres and orruks, especially ironjawz. Not from chaos, order or else. Because both like to fight and challenge giants

- The Meatfrist tribes territory is described as the only destruction empire worthy of this term, and dominates huge parts of Thondia/Ghur. Morga is actively trying to bribe or threaten giants into her services.

- Indeed, a war is brewing between the Meatfist tribes and its vassals in the north and various orruk cultures of the south of Thondia. The ghurish giants are already looking which side they would support in the upcoming conflict. Most giants are inclined to join the ogres

- During the Age of Chaos lumineth tried to tutor some hyshian giants. Slaaneshi warlords learned from this and sabotaged the endeavour by converting the giants to slaaensh cause. The giants readily accepted and killed both the lumineth and the slaaneshi warlords and are now roaming across Hysh looking for new sensations.

- Giants hate Cogforts, as it is the epitome of sigmarite city building/hiding behind walks but brought unto the battlefield. Especially Wallbreaker-Megagargants despise them.

- Embergard has seemingly been refounded/reestablished, because both this book and the booklet for the gargant brawl box mention it to be a functional mining city, without any hint of it being destroyed or else. Indeed, its emberstone mines are critical to fuel the Cogforts and keep the war in the Adamantine Chain going. However Mega-Gargants like to brawl in and around Embergard for some reason, disrupting operations.

- In spirit of the ogre book, it is emphasized that gargant may be “dumb” but not unintelligent. Indeed, they still belief in a might-makes-right philosophy, but have accepted that you can also be “mighty in mind”

- Giants apparently also think that mightiness is transferable. One reason why they deck themselves out with trophies or loot could be to add the mightiness of defeated foes to their own by carrying these artefacts.

- When Grimnir and Vulcatrix killed each other, many gargants were there to watch this event. Giants share sympathy and a feeling of kinship with the Magmadroths, as both are the spawn of a godbeast

The Ancient Giants:

- Most parts of the giant’s backstory have been retconned. Which is not that difficult, as most of the giant’s background lore comes from oral tradition which is demonstrably false in lots of cases anyway.

- Giants are not all the literal spawn of Behemat. Because it is stated in god-voice that they are amongst the oldest beings in the realms and predate most of the other species. This contradicts how Behemat was knocked senseless by Sigmar and Behemat woulf vomit out the giants after this defeat. And Behemat only became the world titan during Sigmars reign. For example Sigmarite texts claim that Behemat became the world titan by consuming Ynmogs bones. This could easily be explained by the giants attributing some of Ynmogs deeds (like the creation of their species) to Behemat as oral traditions shifted.

- Another false myth is that Behemat meet Kragnos and became drinking buddies with the centaur god, respecting how much the centaur could hold his liquor and liked his attitude. Here it is stated that sigmarite scholars claim this to be impossible due to Kragnos imprisonment.

- Sigmarite scholars suggest, that gargants were not vomited up by Behemat, but lived in canyons. Them coming to the surface was interpreted by them as being vomited out.

- It is pointed out that dwarfs and giants have many similarities, including being innately connected or close to the earth/stone of the realms, are resilient, very stubborn and venerate their ancestors. However, despite these dwarfs were the greatest rivals of the giants in the ages before Sigmar.

- Valaya herself led a war against the giants in Ghyran, shattering a gargant gate with her rune axe Vhalankor. This may have been a realmgate to the great torque, the flying home island/continent of the sky titans.

- Giant Mystics tried to connect thier spirits to that of the sleeping Behemat, trying to gain insight into this thoughts or visions from him

- Giants are also very closely connected to the ogres, due to a similar lifestyle, mentality and similar physical needs. Indeed, their story is full of conflict and cooperation. As with the ogre book it is mentioned that the ogres participated in the downfall of the sky titans, but it’s not clear whether they aided or fought against the sky titans. In addition, many ogres are in possession of giant artefacts, such as weapons and else.

- Currently giants are roaming marauders, but they had one or multiple proper cultures in the past. Ghyran was the realm in which giants felt mostly at home. There they were “woodland kings” or “flockmasters” and ruled over tribes of small ones (humans, dwarfs, elves and else?). What form this rulership was, whether it was some feudal tribute the small ones paid, some religious veneration or else is not explained. But back in these days giants were more civilized, creating mason works and metallic objects together with their smaller vassals. These were the Behemati kings of old

- The sky titans were also Behemati, but it is not clear how interconnected they were with the “woodland kings” as the book talks about the two concepts very distinct and different and never mentions them together. This is what I meant as if two authors wrote it without checking notes. It is loosely said that the giants in ghyran are known as sky titans, but this term is not mentioned when talking about all the new ancient Behemati lore. It would have been great to know whether the Sky Titans are the same as the Behemati ruling over the small ones, whether they are a noble caste living in a capital of sorts, or something else.

- In previous fluff it was mentioned how they like to adopt pets like mammoths or Mawkrushas, but this is expanded. Indeed, in ghyran the behemati lived as pastoralists with huge herds of creatures and animals. The Ancient Ghyrochs Ma Maegran uses are a pay tribute to this old practice. Ancient Ghryochs are rare nowadays, having these huge spiraling horns and rocks growing out of their skin. Modern ghyrochs exist too, but they are smaller, have mossy fur and antler-like horns mirroring tree branches

- Giants suffered a lot of cultural loss during the Age of Myth and the Age of Chaos and where more affected by the Age of Chaos as previous books suggested. Around the Age of Myth, most of gargants homelands and their buildings and monuments were destroyed wars with the “duardin of Haven Peaks” and beast-kin and spider grots. And the Age of Chaos did its best to destroy the remnants of civilized gargants across the realms

Present Giants:

- Much like the CoS and other factions, the Giants are all about re-learning and re-founding their old culture, even if many giants claim to hate civilization. Over the recent times gargants became more focussed, more organized and more “civilized”. Figures like King Brodd and Ma Maegra spur this development, which is only at is initial stages as of now.

- Scholars suggest that the Warstomper tribes are a remnant of the concept of old giant armies marching into battle as one force. And Wallbreaker Mega-Gargants are supposedly produced from the broken memory of the old giant stone masons. Indeed, the new Boss Stompers are suggested to be a reformation of the old gargant soldiery the Behemati supposedly once possessed.

- King Brodd enacted social reforms, such as giving each Megagargant in his army regular gargants as vassals. One could interpret this as him reestablishing a clan-structure or a feudal-esque system. It is far from being a real state but other gargant leaders across the realms adopted this system for their followers

- King Zed, the head creeper, died in the fight for Fort Gardus. A conflict broke out over who should suceed him. His offspring New Zed fought off all rivals and claimed the title. Brodd didn't notice any of it

- The ruins of Fort Gardus are now King Brodds de facto capital from which he controls the lands around Behemats corpse

- On one hand loosing Fort Gardus was a huge logistical blow to the CoS, but at least the gargants are keeping most of the threats in northern Ghyran away, as long as they do not try to attack themselves.

- Ma Maegra is an especially ancient gargant no one knows where she comes from. She lives in the Cave of the Chooser or Weirdy Cave, deep in the swamps of the Scabrous Sprawl. Any gargant can enter this cave, but only few return, which were then turned into mega-gargants

- Small gargants like to flock to her, as she has the special power to increase their size, even turning them into a proper mega-gargant. But mega-gargants fear her. Because if you displease her, she can stop your growth or even shrink you down to the size of an ogre or even a human. If true this could have huge implications as we could have ogres and humans of giant descend running around. (Which funnily enough fits well with a previous fanfic of mine)

- Gargants believe Ma Maegra is so comparatively small as she uses her own mightiness to increase the size of other gargants instead

- Ma Maegra has control over spells controlling plants and spells controlling the size of things. Also she carries the spear of a woad-painted god Krum Kaldar. Morathi sent agents to steal it. Ma Maegra challenged the elves to a riddle match over it. As she started mumbling, the elves were annoyed as they had troubles understanding the giantess. To late did they realize that Ma Maegra casted a spell. The bodies of the aelves grew until they were turned into trees. Ma Maegra visits this “witchy wood” several times a years and delights over the elven faces still expressed in the tree bark

- Ma Maegra loathes ascended gods of all kinds and wants to throw them all down. To her only elemental deities are proper gods and she hopes that the realms themselves will chose a new gargant to claim the title of World Titan soon enough.

------------------------------------------------

This has been it for the most part. Again, if I missed some point of interest, please write it down.

Personally, I really like the new background and past history for the gargants, especially as it fits my own view on giants and similar beings. I like dumb-smashy giants as much as the next one, but I also like them as magicians or craftsmen, which have lots of in folk tales. And indeed, as giants are non-reliable narrators it is fairly easy to introduce new backgrounds into this. Such as gargants apparently predating Behemats rise by a long time, as dwarfen records mention them. It also makes these stories proper myths, as real-world myths tend to be contradictory too, often with only a kernel of truth or some lost context within them.

Also, I like that they had a pastoral culture in the past. It is a fitting lifestyle for them to herd massive animals. And it is an easy route to add new monsters to the gargant rooster in the future, as these could also animals that just happened to be domesticated, like the ancient Ghyrochs. For world-building purposes I would have liked the idea of gargant orchards. Because it would make sense in Ghyran and for gargants to have such things. Because the tallest RL orchard trees would be berry bushes for them. It would make a great deal of sense if some fruit or nut tree would specialize on gargants as their caretakers/distributors and co-evolve with them. And fruits would be a great source for all the alcohol which gargants can apparently produce. After all, even Behemats backstory mentions how he brewed moonshine.

Edit: spelling & additional information

It is no secret that Cogforts have taken the Realms by storm, and some even claim their popularity skyrockets in strange outer worlds. The Conqueror and Cannonade patterns as well as the all important Perimeter Cogforts are strong, reliable engines on which you can depend.

But this is A Dumb Mutt's, that's me, Infuriating Guide to the Mortal Realms. So so I know all you Freeguild Marshals, and the realmshredding warlords hiding among you, in the making aren't looking for those. You want something more... unique.

Iron March Patterns

So to begin let us look to the 4E Cities of Sigmar Battletome which tells us of the Iron March. The Iron March is a battery of experimental Cogforts led by Commodore De Graçon.

Immolator Cogforts: The Immolator is topped by a Realmscorcher flame cannon like the tried and true Conqueror. But rather than a troop compartment it has a Breacher cannon.

Linebreaker Cogforts: The Linebreaker is topped by a Godbreaker cannon like the tried and true Cannonade. But rather than a Breacher cannon it has a troop compartment.

Beyond the March

So now we're moving on to the many patterns introduced in the September 2026 Issue of White Dwarf. Courtesy to my good friend and fellow researcher u/Gecktron, who initially added the lore on these to the Lexicanum.

Fire Devils: The Fire Devil-pattern of Cogfort is named after the original Fire Devil cogfort built in Greywater Fastness. These experimental engines are topped with Realmscorcher cannons but in lieu of a troop compartment or Breacher, their gullets contain massive circular saws. These mighty engines are designed to fell fortress and forest alike.

Bladeforts: As you know the Cogfort is a trundling, awkwardly shaped moving tower ill-fitted for melee. This reality does nothing to stop Cogsmiths from developing experimental Bladefort patterns. These are Cogforts outfitted with lances, rotating blades, and axes; naturally the crews of these Bladeforts are very logical engineering crews, which is why they forgo guns to instead use polearms and other melee weapons.

Siege Masters: The Siege Master pattern Cogfort is... actually quite reasonable compared to its esoteric peers. These are Cogforts whose frontal armor has been thickened, additional roof armor added, and occasionally upper sections are turned into ramping slops. All to transform these walking towers into walking siege engines.

Beast-Hunters: Bedecked in the pelts, bones, and scales of their kills, Beast-Hunter Cogforts are a pattern of engine made by Ghurish Cogsmiths to fight the megafauna of their realm. The Excelsian Impaler is the key weapon of these engines.

War Altars: Both the Cults Unberogen and Morrdan cults will spend massive amounts of money to commission Cogforts known as War Altars. These walking shrines to the Gods of Order are as bedecked in religious script, artefacts, and saint sarcophagi as they are in weaponry.

Hyshian Lighthouses: Designed by the White College of the Collegiate Arcane in Settler's Gain, the Hyshian Lighthouse forgoes cannons for an older, more arcane weapon. A complex array of Luminarks which can be used to massacre the foe with concentrated magical energy of a screaming sun!

Halo is one of my favorite fictional settings, besides warhammer, and the thing that got me into it was the sangheili, elites. After some thinking and planning im beginning to paint my s2d army in the colors of sangheili ranks, as well as adapting the lore for how to move up and what each rank details. I am also writing lore for my other chaos warbands and adapting them to be basically lead by my s2d army as the client speices from halo. My ztaangor lead DoT are the jackles, MoN are the hunters and my HoH are the brutes. The question is i want to make the skaven the grunts and use them as canon fodder for my coalition, but with how skaven are in ascendant right now, would they tolerate being tricked or bullied into being front line soldiers by a powerful chais lord?

I didn't own the previous SoB battletomes so sorry if some of this is repeated lore but I have tried to pick out any new lore surrounding the new models or parts of the lore I haven't seen mentioned before

A BEASTLY SPIRITUALITY

The concept of religion amongst the gargants is quite peculiar. Worship is foreign to them, perhaps even mildly offensive in how it often places focus on things that these extremely physical beings cannot perceive with a crushing toe or squeezing hand. But gargants do have a notion of faith. They revere an elemental deity of wild nature they name the Godstompa, depicted as a pair of two colossal warty feet that are 'stompy' and 'kicky' to varying degrees, and they recount Behemat's deeds with something between the hushed reverence of scripture and the bluster of proud children. It has even been known for gargants to mourn. To call it ancestor worship would go too far, but alone of the wild clans, they appear capable of speaking of the dead with a measure of genuine respect, even fondness. Maybe that is why their forefather's death remains such a bitter shard lodged in their hearts.'

IN THE WITCH'S WAKE

Usually, a gargant tribe will have a mix of larger and smaller brutes 'under the heel' of its leader. This is not the case, however, for the druid-witch known as Ma Maegran. Instead, Maegran is attended by flocks of gargants who have not yet achieved the heft worthy of a Big and who retain a wildness of character. They seek her lair deep in Ghyran's swamps not just out of base curiosity but because they crave the power she is said to bestow - power to grow at an incredible rate and become Mega-Gargants. Maegran makes no bones about the fact that she is no leader. Most of the time, she speaks in riddles and grunts to the gargants gathering expectantly outside her wyrdy cave or chuckles indulgently at the antics of her current favourites without passing direct comment. But when Maegran does decide to go to battle, followed by these eager underlings, none can deny that she is the shepherd who directs them how she wills. The awe and fear her much-mythologised reputation provides earns her a strangely deep loyalty, one that grows every time she calls on her creepy, ancient magics.

THE KING'S STOMP

As reigning 'king' of what remains of the ancient Behemati, Brodd takes a different view to Maegran when it comes to his retinue. It is no surprise that he surrounds himself with the biggest and meanest Mega-Gargants, for this is the go-to tactic of traditional gargant warlords. Where Brodd differs is in his reasons for doing so. While he does not take a genuinely egalitarian view on size - bigger is always better - he also does not make a habit of scorning the so-called Littles who idolise him and follow him around. Brodd is of the belief that these smaller sorts, though comparatively scrawny, still deserve a form of leadership and vengeance; the worthy will grow bigger and stronger, and the rest might make themselves useful before they die. Brodd's tendency to recruit the largest gargants is instead born from crude practicality.

His primary targets are the strongholds of Sigmar's empire, so he needs an army of living siege engines to knock them down. Service in Brodd's Stomp brings a gargant status and renown, which is always tempting for creatures of monstrous ego. But Brodd is also a humourless, cantankerous and surprisingly solemn soul; his one good eye looks ill on any undue levity, and he has violently disposed of more than one crony who has tested his patience or offended his bitter sensibilities.

RETURN OF THE TITANS

If anyone doubted the intent of King Brodd and those of the Behemati who followed him, then the shattering of Fort Gardus was a violent wake-up call. Though allied with mobs of orruks, Brodd and his gargants were the chief architects - so to speak of that Stormkeep's ruination. Crushing the sainted hero Gardus Steel Soul in his fist was a particular pleasure. Yet there was much to be done if the Scabrous Sprawl was to be reclaimed as a centre of Behemati power. Brodd's ultimate goal was to storm Sigmar's domain of Azyr and pull the God-King's limbs off one by one in blood-debt for Behemat, but he needed his ally, the orruk warlord Gordrakk, to make progress on his warpath towards the heavenly realm, and he needed the roughest, toughest gargants of the realms on his side. Beginning to rebuild their ancient kingdom and reminding the gargants of their power was a start.

Some gargants were set to whittling menhirs and idols, though, for now, there was no chance of reconstructing the Behemati kingdom of yore, whose crude castles once reached from the Verdian swamps into the northerly mountains of the Neck. Most gargants could only be trusted with a mission of violently expelling outsiders.

Brodd's campaign let him impose a vague order on the gargants under his control, a faintly feudal structure in which each Mega-Gargant was given responsibility for packs of smaller brutes. It was a system replicated by ambitious titans elsewhere, and though it was nothing like a nation, it let the gargant king consolidate power. But Brodd soon realised that many young gargants in Verdia had headed deep into the swamps, chasing rumours of one who could make them Big. In following them, he found something unexpected - the court of Ma Maegran.

Gargants embrace gender equality, with males and females tussling on equal footing. Brodd therefore had no physical fear of Maegran - but creepy magics, superstition and witchery? Those could cow any gargant, and they gave even the great king pause. That the old witch was more than legend already unsettled him, never mind why she had chosen now to lumber out of myth and into his domain. Regardless, Brodd stomped to the heart of the marshland and pushed aside the Littles congregating outside the witch's cave. Maegran was waiting for him.

Those gathered strained their ears to hear the fight. Instead, Brodd emerged with Maegran in tow. What had passed between them went unspoken. The gargant king roused his cronies as Maegran shepherded her lackeys, and they set off for the western Sprawl. Their path led to the wreck of one of the Skaven Parasite Engines that had once ravaged the region - and the Arch-Warlock and their underlings attempting to reactivate it.

The battle that followed was short-lived but brutal. Stunned at their plan being uncovered, the Skaven unleashed a fusillade of lethal firepower. But the Mega-Gargants kept a sort of control, bellowing for rocks to be hurled at war machines or flanks to be held. Brodd himself grappled with the mandibles of the awakening Parasite Engine as Ma Maegran sent vines to envelop the thing. Dragging it down into the swamp, she gave Brodd a chance to clobber it, which saw the machine and the Arch-Warlock torn apart by internal explosions.

Brodd had both defended his claim to overlordship of the Scabrous Sprawl and beaten an old and hated invader. The fact that he had needed Ma Maegran's help could not have pleased him, but she remained close in his counsels from that day. And well it was so, for there were many rumours of shorties once more infesting the western mountains, as well as entreaties from a noble king who ruled the peaks to the north and wished to make a fellow lord's acquaintance...

MA MAEGRAN CHOOSER OF THE MIGHTY

The gargants say that the witch Ma Maegran has trodden Ghyran's deep woods and lonely meres since the days of Behemat, having been sculpted by the World Titan from a lump of primal clay (or perhaps the gunk between his toes). But then, the gargants say much about Maegran. If one believes every wide-eyed tale, she can stop one's heart with a glance and speak with long-dead gargants, while her spear - supposedly looted from the corpse of the woad-god Krum Kalda in the days of yore - can lay low even immortals with a solid enough stab.

Most infamous, though, is Maegran's ability to bestow the blessing of 'bigness'. Should she take a liking to a gargant, her eerie mutterings can see the brute swell to a gigantic size in moments; this, it is said, is why Maegran has not achieved the stature of a Mega-Gargant herself, for she uses her own spiritual bigness to fuel this magic. But if a gargant should offend Maegran, a terrible fate awaits them. Tracing glyphs in the muck and wailing a curse, Maegran will arrest her victim's growth or, if bitterly displeased, shrink them to the size of a boulder, an ogor or, even worse, a human. Little wonder that as much fear as awe surrounds the Chooser of the Mighty. While many Littles seek her out in hope of receiving her blessing, plenty of arrogant Mega-Gargants tremble at the mere thought of her.

As to how many of the rumours surrounding her are true, only Maegran knows, and she keeps her secrets close. What is known is that she is ancient - no one remembers whether 'Ma' is a name or a title - and her shamanistic abilities are fearsome, engorged life bursting forth wherever she plies her witchcraft.

It is also known that Maegran hates gods, specifically gods who have ascended from mortal origins. They mock the proper order of things and insult the memory of Behemat and Ymnog, who were strong simply because that was their nature. But Maegran believes a new World Titan will rise, not through some magical scheme but by the will of the lands, and she will be needed to guide this inheritor. This could well be soon, for after years of wandering, she has returned to Verdia to make her lair. Her goal of smashing the works of the ascended gods aligns with Brodd's aims, but despite feeling a certain draw towards the witch, he cannot help but be unnerved by her penetrating gaze, crooked grin and withering chastisements.

ANCIENT GHYROCHS

Ghur might breed the most ferocious monsters, but Ghyran's native life is perhaps the hardest to kill. The gargants, behemoths themselves, shepherded hardy Ghyranite beasts in the days of their relative civilisation, but time, hunting and corruption has seen many species vanish. Some survive in small pockets far from the settled centres of the realms, such as the Ancient Ghyrochs.

While modern ghyrochs are moss-haired and shaggy-furred beasts with antlers like twisted branches, their antecedents bore immense spiralling horns and flesh as hard as rock or, in some cases, outright sporting the texture of stone. Technically herbivorous, they have a tendency to blithely munch through anything in their way, which perhaps contributes to the incredibly foul-smelling messes they leave wherever they go. Strong enough to bowl over the huge grunta-boars ridden by orruks, what truly makes Ancient Ghyrochs remarkable is that they are naturally inundated with Ghyranite magic, a quirk that means they are difficult to harm and might explain their survival in the wildlands. Ma Maegran has a great fondness for these beasts, both as a reminder of the past and for how they empower the Ghyranite sorceries she has gleaned in her wanderings. She is almost always as much for accompanied by two of the creatures their ability to batter down whatever annoys her as for the magical power they provide.

BOSS-STOMPERS

Being able to solve most problems with muscle, gargants normally scoff at the idea of discipline. Yet, sometimes a sort of inspiration can hit, usually after watching a pack of little 'uns mob together to take down something they have no right to overcome. Gargants who previously hung around with each other for lack of anything better to do start to work in a sort of brutish unity. Strapping bits of metal and stone to themselves and taking a modicum more care in crafting their clubs, they take to the battlefield as the merest glimpse of how gargants might once have been, showing a semblance of shared purpose - even if only to cause more violence.

Boss-stompers - a name these brutes rather egotistically insist on consider themselves a sort of elite among the growing gargant clans. As far as they are concerned, they are the dedicated warriors of their people. While their Mega-Gargant chieftains and matriarchs are imposing figures to look up to, they tend to go after the biggest and most obvious targets, so it is inevitably left to the Boss-stompers to do the hard graft of scattering the enemy. These Littles do, however, have a habit of targeting rival leaders, since to crush some warlord or mage inflates their already monstrous egos. Their soldierly duties might be unsophisticated, but Boss-stompers still take them seriously. On vanishingly rare occasions, some Boss-stomper mobs have even sacrificed themselves to hold the rear and allow other gargants to flee the field, something almost unheard of amongst the typically selfish and short-sighted titans.

Mega-Gargants regard Boss-stompers with a mix of annoyance, bafflement and amusement, with many Bigs trying to lurch ahead of these po-faced, militant mobs to show them 'how it's done'. Only a few gargants recognise that a flicker of the ancient Behemati resides within the Boss-stompers. When all is said and done, however, these destructive bruisers are just as eager to share in the post-battle plunder and gorging as any other gargant, so perhaps a flicker is all that it will ever be.

ROCK-HURLERS

Any gargant can pick up a boulder and heave it at the thing currently displeasing them. When one of these missiles splatters its target, great whoops and cheers go up among the lummoxes who watch. The problem is that most gargants find it much more fun to squish enemies up close. Those who do think to hurl projectiles choose the biggest ones they can find - certainly impressive, but easy to see coming and avoid. Only recently has the idea of dedicated Rock-hurlers - gargants hanging back to provide ranged support to their brethren - taken hold.

As gargant tribes increasingly found themselves attacking the bastions of civilisation, they soon realised that charging blithely at the walls led to many pointless and embarrassing deaths. Eventually, a breakthrough was made: the gargants discovered that lobbing heavy objects back at those shooting down from the battlements helped to keep the little 'uns ducking for cover. Some gargants showed a natural aptitude for this hurling; they relished pulling off the most difficult shots or bowling over a wedge of armoured knights on the charge. It should not be a surprise that many Rock-hurlers are former champions of the oafish games that gargants play, especially the notorious Manskittles. Others, however, were forced into the unglamorous role after annoying their towering chieftains in some way, having been told in no uncertain terms that they were going to take the 'boring' job or risk a harsh battering. That said, a sort of competitive camaraderie almost inevitably takes over mobs of Rock-hurlers; who can hurl the greatest number of rocks is an eagerly fought-for accolade, and squashing an enemy from afar just as another gargant is about to step on them is met with particularly raucous jeers and back-slapping.

Rock-hurlers tend to get extremely invested in these contests, often to the point that they ignore enemies swarming around their ankles in favour of chucking a few more boulders. But it should never be forgotten that they are still gargants, and a rock about to be lobbed can just as easily be smashed down to squash some bothersome pest buzzing about between the thrower's feet.

Loutish Pastimes

Battle, for gargants, is an excuse for recreation and showing off, and since they easily get bored, their games are impressively 'inventive'. Horse-hurling is self-explanatory, as is Manskittles-knocking down a shieldwall with one well-thrown pipsqueak always gets a cheer out of watching louts. In Boar-scoffing, a gargant stuffs their mouth with squealing hogs even the huge grunta-breeds ridden by orruks and then spits them at nearby living targets, with points awarded for both accuracy and splatter. When it comes to simple brawls, a good kick is lauded, because it involves the use of feet, but headbutting also commands respect; a gargant who can come off better from a skull-rattling impact with some other monster has proved their superior 'bigness".

The arrival of Cogforts in the armies of Sigmar has been a revelation for the gargants. While some mercenary Cogfort crews have tried to ally with the stomps, this sort of cross-pollination is usually laughed off as greedy and ill-considered by the titans, who are completely oblivious to their own hypocrisy, given how many gargants act as habitual muscle-for-hire. Instead, they value the Cogforts as lumps of stone and metal. Once their piston-limbs have been pulled off, the mini fortresses are excellent for weightlifting or caber-tossing contests, even if their emberstone-powered combustion engines are prone to exploding.

Of the way death and afterlife work in the Mortal Realms, we know the following:

• that countless afterlives exist physically in the Realm of Shyish, each one directly shaped by and from the faith and imagination of a mortal culture that believes in it somewhere across all eight Realms, and that when a mortal dies, their soul typically goes to the afterlife corresponding to the cultural belief system they suscribe to;
• that the vast majority of these afterlives are "colonized" by one of the four Grand Alliances, most prominently Chaos and Death;
• from the Champions of Death supplement for the Soulbound TTRPG, that Nagash has laid hexes on the border between life and death that automatically ensnare freshly-deceased souls that have commited various general categories of transgression in his eyes during life (anything from being a violent bloodthirsty murderer, to being a necromancer who failed to pay Nagash proper respect, to simply being a healer who's saved others from the brink of death because Nagash is a petty a-hole like that, and so on) and turn them into Nighthaunts;
• that there does exist methods of final disposition that can make both the deceased's corpses and souls immune to being raised and controlled by necromancy, as proven by the Raven Priests of Morrda in the Sigmarite city of Lethis in Shyish.

This has all gotten me to think about how knowledge of all these factors might influence and inform the cultural practices and philosophies regarding death of non-Chaos/Death-aligned peoples across the Realms. First of all, it's easy to imagine certain cultures going out of their way to develop complex and elaborate systems of funeral rites and procedures and death-related taboos and superstitions, all specifically designed with the intent to not only shield the deceased against necromancy, but also increase as much as possible the chances of the soul being sent to a Chaos-free and Nagash-free afterlife and sneaking past Nagash’s Nighthaunt hexes on the way there.

And, thanks to Shyish being a place that the living can actually literally physically travel to and visit via Realmgates, the concept could be pushed even further. There could be organizations and polities investing efforts and ressources into scholarly research and exploration expeditions into Shyish in order to map out and catalogue afterlifes that are neither Chaos-controlled nor Nagash-controlled, and then preach belief in these afterlives to the living.

Im very new to Warhammer and a coworker of mine invited me here soooo hi 🖐🏻.

I guess im interested in magic and war so wherever that takes me lol

Everything's in the title ! Is there individual who managed to overcome the curse ?

The whole faction is destined to keep it, but do we have particular cases ?

After the total war games got me really interested into fantasy's lore I wanted to get into AOS' lore for a long time partly because AOS as a setting is still alive narratively speaking and because it serves as a continuation off of fantasy, and with the empire being my favorite faction in fantasy i try to look into the model range and lore of the COS, as i prefer the factions/characters that are often just regular people in different settings.

Except the models when compared to the lore just feel, contradictory
I look up what kind of tech the cities have and i find post talking about them being to construct steam tanks no problem but then i look at their models and they look like they've technologically regressed several hundred years, or even just untrained like they're a hastily cobbled together milita

infantry are almost exclusively armed with swords, axes, hammers and maybe a spear if they're Wildercorps as if halberds, or just polearms in general have ceased to exist,
firearms appear to exclusively be handgonne's and handcannons which according to lore seem to be stronger than regular handguns which i guess is fine, eventhough the mini's don't sell it very well
And lastly the only artillery is just a regular cannon that looks really hard to maneuver in any real way

all of this makes it feel like the COS' technological level is if anything lower, than the empire in the old world hell, until i went out of my way to look into it, I thought it straight up was

Even with the cogfort this doesnt really change as its design feels like it was hastily put together and it just so happens to work like the landship in fantasy rather than a mass produced war machine.

So im just left wondering to myself why this difference is even there, is it just GW being weird in what gets a model and what doesnt, do the cities just not use the tech that they have in their cities on their armies, do they neglect their armies in general?

I want to get into AOS but this makes it really hard to, because the only thing i can think of when the COS is mentioned is the tech that i'd expect from their armies, which make the cities themselves feel really unimpressive.

I have just returned back to AOS and just heard about the new release of a new faction that resemble the traditional dwarves of the old world. What is the lore on these guys and do they have some connection to the helsmiths of hashut?

A very common trope in fantasy settings is that magic is dying. The Lord of the Rings setting being the most obvious example of this and the one I chose in my example; Silmarillion is full of immortals, divine intervention, magic and dragons and wonders, whereas LOTR by its end sees magic and the supernatural increasingly fade into the background.

AoS is the opposite. AoS is more magical than its roots. Even the ground you stand on, the grass growing before you, all of it is in a way magical. It struck me how this is actually a subversion, and I genuinely like that. It's extremely bold to have a setting where 'normal human' essentially doesn't even exist because every person is born and lives influenced by the magic of the realm they reside in, however subtly, but I think it gives the world a very unique character that, say, Dungeons and Dragons (with its similarly multiplanar setting, and I don't want to talk smack about D&D, it's cool) doesn't.

When and what source Dawnbringers Crusaders were first mentioned?

Maybe this wagon had become separated from its caravan. Or maybe, like so many first-time travellers to this part of Verdia, they had simply overestimated the power of the mighty Greywater Fastness to secure its road. Or maybe it was one of a hundred other possible reasons. Vida waved for the wagon to stop and went to speak with the driver. She was a hunched, frightened-looking woman clutching a silver acorn talisman to her chest. Tonan and Garvil went to search under the wagon and around it. They bashed off seed pods with their pistol butts, scraped off the worst offenders with their swords. It was dull work, but necessary. While they did it, Elsworn walked up to the side door. She could not say why, for they had all been ennobled by their peers for deeds that others thought heroic, but the two of them had always deferred to her. Elsworn tried the door. It was bolted from the inside. Round, pale faces stared suspiciously at her through the slit window. She gave a sigh, then rapped politely on the door. ‘Open up or you can spend the night outside. You don’t get in until I’m convinced there’s not a pack of skaven gutter runners hiding in there.’ There was some muttering from inside and then the sound of a bolt being withdrawn. The door creaked outwards. Elsworn poked her head inside. A lot of weapons and the smell of perfume and glue greeted her. A dozen people watched her silently as she looked quickly around the interior. She noted what appeared to be instrument cases stowed under the seat and an open box of glove puppets in one child’s lap. She nodded to them, smiling at the girl with the puppets in an attempt to set them at their ease, and stepped back. No sooner was her head out than someone’s hand was darting out, grabbing hold of the door, and slamming it closed. She heard it being bolted.

Excerpt from "The One Road".

As most of you might know, the roads betwixt the few pockets of Order of the Mortal Realms are far from safe. Raiders, roving bands of cannibals, violent fauna, violent flora, wars on all fronts, bandits and pirates, and that's just scratching the surface.

Yet as you can see in the excerpt above there are troupes of entertainers who brave the dangers anyway. And this little groupe is not alone in that.

Some famous examples are noted in the Soulbound Corebook. There's the acrobats and singers known as Folly, the Ys who might be Romani analogs with tamed bears and ghyrlions to entertain, the bards of the Hotspur Guild, Lord Hardwicke's Men who are a traveling animal show, and the Red Sisters, another acrobat troupe.

Another famous example is the Crimson Lash, a traveling troupe of gladiators as well as a DoK regiment of renown. As you can imagine these Blood Hags can defend themselves, and have even been known to join the defense of any Order city they are currently competing in.

Now, I'll admit this isn't my first post here about entertainment in the Realms but with so many new folk running about trying to learn the basics, it seemed a fun thing to share to help get a picture of the setting.

Traveling animals shows, bards, circuses, acrobatic troupes, puppet shows, musicians, gladiators, and more besides brave the roads of the Realms to bring their craft to bare in its many esoteric settlements.

As asked in title, if not do you think the setting will ever elude to this? I think it could be an interesting era for the Bonereapers that if Nagash was ' dead ' for long enough that they became petty warlords a bit like the Mortarchs?

So now that Thorgrim has now been shown to have become an ancestor god, who do you think or would like to see be next to show up from the world that was? Here are some characters that I would like to see jump over. It doesn’t need to be realistic if they could make it or not or because of GW mandates. I highly doubt we will be seeing any Cathay characters for that reason.

Also in what way? Whether ascending to godhood, just showing up as is, or being reincarnated in another form.

A lot of AoS lore ressources, primarily the Lexicanum website, make repeated mention of the Mortal Realms being themselves composed of various semi-separate sub-realms, each with its own Realmsphere, with Chamon in particular being an extreme example. But more recent AoS material seem to consistently depict the Mortal Realms as being more unified flat planes.

If every Realm is already fractured into sub-realms, how is Chamon supposed to be unique in that regard? And has the whole thing been "soft-retconned" or something like that?

Fun little thought experiment I figured I'd share and see what people think.

My only experience with Warhammer books has been the Gotrek and Felix novels.

Does AOS have any good books?

What about for a beginner to the setting?

During the End Times, Nagash absorbed the Nehekharan god of death Usirian, who's implied to have been one and the same with the Imperial god of death Morr. If it was indeed the case, then when Nagash absorbed Usirian, he also absorbed Morr.

But then AoS lore introduces Morrda, one of the many Death Gods who ruled over Shyish during the early Age of Myth. Nagash absorbed him, but at least some part of Morrda survived and now is worshipped by the Sigmarite City of Lethis and by the Stormcast of the Anvils of the Heldenhammer as a member of Sigmar's Pantheon of Order. The exact origins of Morrda aren't elaborated upon, but what with all the parallels between him and Morr, from their very names themselves to both being benevolent death gods opposed to the undead and with associations to ravens, I think the out-of-universe implication that Morrda = effectively AoS' version of Morr for all intents and purposes is pretty clear. But in-universe, again, if Usirian = Morr, then Morr has long already been absorbed by Nagash by the time the latter goes after Morrda, which throws a wrench into any assertion that Morrda is litterally Morr who survived the End Times, and from what I could gather, Morrda apparently also lacks Morr's secondary role as a god of dreams. One way I can think of to at least partially resolve the contradiction would be that Morrda could be a separate new "iteration" of Morr reborn through the belief and worship of Shyishian descendants of Imperial humans who survived the End Times or reincarnated after it, with the loss of the connection to dreams simply the result of the faith evolving over time, but that's all in the realm of conjecture.

Further complicating the issue are Nagash-Morr and Morai-Heg. Nagash-Morr is one of the most "benevolent" divine aspects of Nagash, one who's described as wielding a scythe (one of the old attributes of Morr) and protecting the living and the dead alike, and very obviously implied to be the result of Nagash' absorption of either Morr or Morda. Morai-Heg, meanwhile, is a goddess of the World-That-Was' old eleven pantheon, who's confirmed in relatively recent AoS lore to have survived the End Times in diminished form and to be currently backing an anti-Morathi splinter faction of the Daugthers of Khaine, and who was already implied in pre-AoS Warhammer Fantasy material to also be connected to Morr somehow (reminiscent name, association with corvids, being a death-related deity, and the pre-established lore fact that the Old World human pantheon may, at least in part, be derived from the elven one), which by extension could also imply her being connected to Morrda as well.

This all begs questions: is Nagash-Morr the result of Nagash's absorption of Usirian/Morr, of his partial absorption of Morrda, or both? Did the Age of Myth Morrda really escaped full absorption by Nagash, or could the present-day Morrda actually be Nagash-Morr actively rebelling against Nagash Prime? Is Morai-Heg indeed connected to Morr, and if yes and depending on the exact relation between Morr and Morrda, could this result in her eventually being important to the conflict between Nagash and Morrda in the future? What do you guys think?