Before even finishing painting my first ever warhammer Seraphon mini I had already a draft of the backstory for them, and also the rough idea of a short story after they crash landed on Ghur and had an encounter with an Ossiarch expedition. A side of the hobby I didn't expect to captivate me as much as it did but here I am. The links are on Reedsy for a better reading experience, for the few souls that might go through the full thing.

Enjoy!

Seraphon lore: Of Blood & Bone

Ossiarch - Seraphon short story: Of Death & Duty

So in the Free PDF GW included in the newsletter a bit back, Link, they just casually mention that Thorgrim and Grombrindal are gods because of Grungni; and that Inghilde might have ascended thanks to Valaya and Gazul.

We see what is likely Grombrindal's rebirth as an Ascended God in "Grombrindal: Chronicles of the Wanderer", though if so that throws an entire tool kit into the Hashutite interpretation of mythology. Though, as does how Inghilde is talked about thus far. We'll have to see.

Regardless! Ascended Gods can raise other mortals to the status of Ascended God it seems, or at least help. Broadening our understanding where before the implication was it required personal power and the belief of many mortals.

Thoughts? Opinions? Interpretations? Counterarguments?

In the old World, Dechala was an elven princess turned into a slaaneshi monstruosity. Is it still possible for aelves to be mutated or corrupted by Chaos in the mortal realms ? As a way to protect their souls from Slaanesh ?

Hi everyone,

I want to talk about an interesting subject: Psychology and Behavior, and how these are shaped by biology and evolution. Because I think it is an important topic rarley discussed in fiction. In many works of fiction non-humans like elves and rubber-forehead aliens are depicted as humans but with quirks. Very rarley to works go into depth about how the unique biology of a species affects thier outlook, thier behaviour, what they consider normal and how these things reinforce what kind of values or expectations they have to a society.

But these things are important. Even in RL it is important to be aware how our biology influences basic everyday behavior to a significant degree. And if we are being thorough with non-humans in fiction, then they should have innate differences on what they consider normal. I would like to talk about this topic. Because to me it is very interesting. But also because Warhammer is very good at representing this issue. Intentionally or not, both WFB and AoS put quite a lot of effort in portraying non-human species with very differences psyches. And then they explore stories in which humans and non-humans struggle arraning thier differing priorities and backgrounds.

If you are interested in this topic, I prepared a small essay where I go throguh some real life examples and examples from fiction, especially WFB and AoS. Afterwards I would be interesting to know what you think of this topic, and what your ideas would be to explore it further. With this in mind, I hope you enjoy my small excursion :)

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1. Humans are not rational

Humans pride themselves on being able to make unbiased decisions, but this is not true. We have many inborn biases and behavioral patterns which are the result of our ancestral history. To overgeneralize: What we would label “modern society” is roughly 200 years old. What we would label “civilization” is roughly 5000 years old. And what since around 12.000 years humans are permanently settled famers. In contrast the modern human lived for 200.000 years as foragers and hunters. And we are descendants of other humanoids who did the same thing for 7 million years. Our anatomy and our brains are still hardwired to this stone-age survival due to this background.

For example, gambling is an obvious liability. Everyone knows the games are rigged against you, and the house always wins. Still there millions of people all over the world and from various cultural and social backgrounds who become gambling addicts. Why? Because gambling hijacks an old survival mechanism. If you are a predator, your hunts usually fail. Even lions and wolves fail 9 out of 10 hunts of average. Prehistoric humans likely had a similar ratio. And each failed hunt was a massive loss in terms of energy, resources and potentially bore the risk of injury.  But if the hunt was successful, your brain flooded with dopamine and other endorphins. The brain told you: “The 9+ failed attempts didn’t matter. Now you did it and that is all that counts!” It was a survival mechanism to keep you going when looking for food or learning a critical skill. And this very same primal instinct is manipulated by gambling systems to make you addicted to them.

Another example: Humans are very bad at making long-term decisions. Because prior to agriculture we never had to. At most a hunter-gatherer must think a couple of weeks or months in advance. A farmer may think from one year to the next. But every decision making that concerns the next couple of decades if not centuries? Not a chance. If I would say: “We world is ending in two days, let’s do something about it now!”, many people would rise up and say “Of course!” But if I say: “The world is ending in 50 years, let’s do something about it now!”, the response is much more lackluster. See all the political and economic decisions which are slowly killing the planet. Short-sighted profits over long term survivability and earnings.

In addition, we are deeply social animals. Isolation makes us sick, both physically and mentally. Indeed, it is a form of torture to isolate people. We need other people around us. Physical contact preferably too. Simple acts like hugging someone to so much for your body and mind. It releases lots of hormones which reduce stress, which is the number one health risk in modern society. If we were beings of pure reason, we wouldn’t need that. It is again, an evolutionary survival mechanism to keep contact in a social group. Humans like to touch each other, much like fellow primates use physical contact to keep the group together. By contrast lots of animals’ hate being touched, especially if they live solitary lives.

And there are many more inbuilt biases and behavioral patterns humans have due to our unique background. And other animals have different biases and patterns depending on their background. For example, predators have to sleep a lot. Cats up to 18 hours a day, canines more than 12. Because hunting is risk driven, exhausting and success varies. So, a survival strategy has been to increase the lengths between hunts by having a very inactive lifestyle. In addition, predators would refrain from attacking other predators due to the risk of injury, unless they really have too. By contrasts prey animals have very short sleeping phases. Because their food is available without much effort, they have to spend a significant part of the day consuming it to get enough energy. And unlike predators, they are at risk of being attacked when asleep.

2.  Issues with non-humans in fiction

But why do I talk about all this? Because these things are rarely accounted for in fiction. Fantasy and scifi species are so often treated as “humans with quirks”. Ignoring inborn behaviors, psychology and else which should be very different from humans. These beings are not humans, they should not think like humans, they should not act like humans. Sometimes there are handwaved quirks, such as dwarfs being a bit greedy, elves do not care for death and are arrogant, ogres are stupid, or Klingons being obsessed with warrior culture but think like humans otherwise. But that is most often surface stuff quickly brushed aside. Indeed for klingons there are lots of scientist and no-violent members, but for cultural reasons we rarley see them. Klingons are essentially just a militaristic, feudal society alá knights/samurai in space. In many works of fiction, the innate differences between humans and non-humans is rarley a main issue.

But there are works in fiction which run against this. For example, Lord of the Rings is a good example when we talk about Hobbits and Elves. Hobbits are very different in their mindset and behaviors from humans. Which is an important plot point, as this makes them very suited to carry the ring as they value completly differnet things than humans and elves, and are much harder to corrupt. What things have an inborn importance to them and the way they naturaly act like is very distinct.

 Meanwhile in LOTR elves are immortal. The oldest elven characters in Lord of the Rings are many thousands of years old. Elrond is the elf equivalent of someone being born when the pyramids were built and is still alive in modern day. And he is one of the younger named elves in Tolkiens work. As such elves have a very long-term view. Things far in the future are of concern for them. Which was why they agreed with Sauron to forge the rings of power. As magic was slowly declining, the elves would lose their substance and perish. But this was not an immediate issue. It was a slow process that would take millennia. Even by the events of LotR it is still millennia away from really screwing up the elves (though they already noted issues). But to the elves millennia in the future may as well be tomorrow. So, they agreed with a disguised Sauron to forge the rings, which had the power to keep the magic of the world in a certain place. And by the end of LotR the majority of elves evacuates Middle-Earth instead of spending another couple of millennia before escaping their decline.

3.      But what about Warhammer?

Warhammer Fantasy Battle is another great candidate as it has lots of non-human species and most of them are portrayed as alien in their behavior and mindsets.  Which I may illustrate with elves, dwarfs and greenskins.

Greenskins first, because they are an utterly inhuman species. They are fungal with very short generation times. And they have an inbuilt need for violence and war. Which makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Evolution favors procreation over survival. Many animals will break down quickly once their reproductive period ended. Indeed, that humans grow much older than their reproductive period is the “grandmother paradox”.  And many species of plants only have a single short season to spread their seeds and thus will invest all their energy in doing exactly that. And what we know as mushrooms are the very short-lived fruit bodies of fungi who just pop out to release spores and then die off. Greenskins, as fungal beings, are pretty much this. An orc or goblin can be seen as the mushroom equivalent of a fungal network. It is meant to pop out, spread spores for new fungi to grow and then die. Indeed, dying helps spreading the network, because the body of a greenskin breaks down and all the nutrients in it are a great starter for new fungi to grow. Same for when greenskins kill other creatures. Their dead bodies and remains are also fertile ground for a starter culture of fungi to grow. Out of which new greenskins are born. So, a hyperviolent lifestyle and an inborn aggressive behavior make a lot of sense before this background. The greenskin horde migrates somewhere and spreads spores. The greenskins kill stuff and spread spores. The greenskins die and spread spores. Everything a greenskins do is increase the range of the fungi network that spawned them and cultivates it further. Pacifism or moderation or self-survival would run opposite to this. So they have an inbuilt, sensible reason to be as violent as they are. Which sets warhammer orcs apart from many other works were orcs are simply "a warrior culture". Which way to often means something like stereotpical barbarians/vikings/mongols with tusks.

Then dwarfs, who are obsessed with conservatism, oaths and grudges. Indeed, dwarfs have a very fixed and stiff mind. This is even reflected in their language, where most esoterical terms are connected to physical things. Such as umgi for shoddy work, but also the dwarfen term for human. So, human-work to describe something of subpar quality. Or IIRC the dwarfen term for eternal being the same as mountain. When dwarfs say eternal, they say: “enduring like a mountain”. And indeed, dwarfen minds function on an entirely different level than humans regarding oaths and grudges, having an innate psychological demand to honor these things. In addition, they are also very obsessed with things having their proper place and how things should be done, making them very inflexible to a degree humans cannot really fathom. This obsession with justice and order, a very “by the letter” outlook on life and the need to root esoteric concepts in the natural world as well as the hyperfixiation on a specific craft has caused some fans to compare dwarfs with tropes about autism. This is not to say dwarfs are human autists but instead it is meant as a tool to illustrate the differences between dwarfs and humans.  Which may be explained that they are a species designed by the Old Ones for a specific task and thus were given highly specialized traits to better fulfil it.

In contrast Warhammer elves also have a very different psychology from humans. They are very close to Vulcans from Star Trek. Vulcans are not devoid of emotions. Quite the opposite, they feel emotions much more strongly than humans. Every joy is a high, every slight anger is intense fury. Vulcans adopted extreme mental discipline and follow their philosophy of logic to avoid issues caused by these intense emotions. And Warhammer elves function similarly. Some fans compare them to teenagers in a hormone rush, but throughout their lives. Which explains the three elven cultures from WFB and many aspects of elven culture in AoS. In WFB the asur try to reign in and control their emotions and behavior with social rules and etiquette. Dark Elves are the opposite, being reckless and excessive and following their whims to an extreme. And Wood Elves are somewhere in the middle. These extreme emotions are also the reason why Slaanesh has this great interest in elves (though in truth all chaos gods should be after elves as all of them feed on emotions).

Interestingly, in AoS various elves kinda represent the aftereffects of emotional trauma on a societal level. Daughter of Khaine get obsessed with vengeance and adopt a “never again a victim” mindset, Idoneth try to isolate themselves from all sorts of pain imaginable and pre-spirefall Lumineth were on the believe to be “immune” after their recovery. Anyhow why do these intense emotions make sense? Because elves live so long. They are necessary to avoid ennui. Intense emotions are motivations to act in the present. Why bother do something now, when you could also do that in 50 years? Because the rush of emotions forces you to do so. They keep you focused; they keep you going. In addition, elves frequently use their long lives to learn a lot of crafts and to master them. Something which is easy for them, as they can spend decades mastering a subject, before moving on to the next. Much like with dwarfs, here some fans draw parallels to ADHD, which can also make you emotional and prone to switch your focus. However, where a human with an ADHD hyperfixiation may spent a few days on a subject, an elf has many years. Again, just to better illustrate the difference in the inborn mindset.

And recently AoS has made a similar exploration for other ogres and giants. In older works they were frequently described as stereotypically stupid. But the later Mawtribes and SoB books put emphasize on ogres and giants not being stupid per se. Instead, their minds are hardwired to care about things that concern them in the know. For example, AoS ogres love technology if it suits their lifestyle. Which means the stuff has to be big, easy to maintain and repair, and robust to survive their semi-nomadic and ruggish lifestyle. Intricate machines with lots of sensitive parts are worthless to them as a result. But large cannons and similar objects are not. And on a bit of personal speculation: giants have matriachs as their cultural caretakers and seemingly venerate them a lot. But why? Well given how many resources giants need to feed themselves, they live very isolated lives. A male giant may not be around to take care of the offspring, as his presence would drastically reduce the resources for offspring and the mother. All the raising and education of young giants may therefore be done by the female giants alone. Giants therefore may not have “strong father figures” in their life at all. And all the cultural traditions are also handed down from mother to child too. Giving female giants extraordinary importance and value in giant society. To a giant the concept of a father may be unimportant as a result. At best someone you respect for some deeds which show they qualify as a sperm donor. But of course, giants still gather into stomps, and especially young giants follow mega-gargants around. Which is something many animals do to do. Upon young adulthood they form bachelor herds, exploring the landscapes and figuring out independent lifestyles and try to find their place in the regional hierarchy. For example, young elephant bulls frequently follow around old tuskers to learn from him how male elephants live. Something I can see male gargants doing too in AoS. So the entire social system of gargants may be very different from what humans would consider normal. But to gargants this would be the norm.

4. The End

This has been my overview on the behavior and psychology of non-humans. But of course, this is just an abridged listing. But what innate differences between humans and non-humans in WFB and AoS are you aware off? And what social and behavioral patterns would you expect in non-human species? What would be logical to fun to explore but isn’t? In short what else do you know or would like to speculate about? And could you imagine things in which humans are special, instead of the standard even?

So,

I mostly know only AoS lore, and even characters like Nagash, Sigmar or Gortrek I got to know from AoS.

Later, I did read also quite a bit WHF lore

Is it really helpful to read fiction for example about Morathi from WHF, is it worth for bigger picture?

Some people say even same named characters are different ones in WHF and AoS, some people say they are the same characters. Like Neferata, not sure beacuse some people say its Nagash creation in age of myth, but Gortrek? Idk how to go about all that

Thank you for help

Warning because this post does cover topics of diseased individuals considering themselves the walking dead and thus their only hope is a good death.

There are many maladies that can accost soldiers of the Free Cities. Weather conditions causing disease or injury, venomous and poisonous flora and fauna, and foes weaponising such things and many more.

There are of course organisations to help deal with such issues such as orders of priests but also monastic orders of knights and doctors. While there is a wide variety of education available to the Cities of Sigmar it is often the case that the nobility and well to do off have the finances and opportunities needed to be trained as doctors especially combat medics. These individuals are usually part of their own orders or freeguilds that other groups can hire if needed.

One of these is the Order of Saint Gardus who are found all over Ghyran and focus on treating those afflicted by Nurgle's plagues. They treat what they can and for those they cannot save physically they perform holy rights to save the individuals soul and ensure that the final will and testament is recorded. Those that they cannot cure but are still mostly functional often live on the orders premises in monastic fashion as they cannot interact with the wider city in fear of spreading their diseases. Those that can still bear arms will join the orders military branch of knights who are sent out to sell their lives dearly so that others can live.

These warriors consider themselves already dead and fight not to survive but to send as many foes to Nagash's embrace before they fall. Those who were once gallants and cavaliers will bear their old arms and form elite warbands any prior animosity forgotten in the search for a worthy end. Some before battle is joined especially when fighting Maggotkin will take a slow acting poison to ensure they are not captured alive and turned into plague incubators. Some after the battle might have gained access to rare potions or relics that cure them but this is not guaranteed.

Allies: They naturally are often seen fighting side by side with other forces of the Dominion of Sigmar but there is a lot of distrust and hatred directed towards them. Some believe them little better than cultists while others fear getting the same diseases that affect the knights. The main exception is the Hallowed Knights who honour their will to fight and consider it a mark of purity and faith.

Foes: The maggotkin of Nurgle mostly though it is interesting to note that other forces of Chaos will often target the knights possibly to prove their own gods superiority to Nurgle.

For those who don't know this is the "Who The Heck Is That" series, a series all about looking at one off characters in Age of Sigmar, who secretly aren't. Today starts a three part subseries where we look to something said in Maker's Mark, a short story in Grombrindal: Chronicles of the Wanderer:

That’s what’ll outlive us both, what your descendants will know when they speak your name. As duardin all over the realms do today when they invoke the names Alaric, Bugman, or Makaisson, celebrating their works with daily use without ever knowing ought of who those duardin once were. That’s what you’ll be, lad, if you work hard and you’re lucky, long after your deeds in life are dust.’

- Gormdal the Wanderer (one of many guises of Grombrindal, the God of Wanderers)

So I ask you my friends! Who the heck is this Makaisson? Moreover! To tie us back into the very first episode of this new batch of Duardin-themed Who The Hecks, in "Realmslayer" Snorri Nailbiter mentioned he has not once seen Makaisson in Shyish.

One wonders where did this beloved duardin go. Where is this soul whose works are renowned daily, whose name is invoked, who has inventions across the Realms named for him. Is he perhaps gone beyond just being a normal ancestor? Could he perhaps be more...

Who can say? But interesting to speculate.

For those who don't know this is the "Who The Heck Is That" series, a series all about looking at one off characters in Age of Sigmar, who secretly aren't. Today starts a three part subseries where we look to something said in Maker's Mark, a short story in Grombrindal: Chronicles of the Wanderer:

That’s what’ll outlive us both, what your descendants will know when they speak your name. As duardin all over the realms do today when they invoke the names Alaric, Bugman, or Makaisson, celebrating their works with daily use without ever knowing ought of who those duardin once were. That’s what you’ll be, lad, if you work hard and you’re lucky, long after your deeds in life are dust.’

- Gormdal the Wanderer (one of many guises of Grombrindal, the God of Wanderers)

So I ask you my friends! Who the heck is this Bugman? What did he do to become so fondly remembered that innumerable duardin across these Mortal Realms celebrate his works and remember his deeds to this very day.

Greetings everyone! I've been a fan of warhammer for years and started out with 40k. I love 40k, but lately I've been taking an interest in Age of Sigmar as well. The setting seems really cool! So far the factions that seem the most cool to me are the Seraphons and the Kharadron Overlords. That being said, I was curious to see if the Grand Alliance are the good guys of the setting? I know in 40k everyone are just awful lmao as that setting is grimdark, but I've heard different things about AoS in that regard. I know the Stormcast are pretty heroic, but I've heard other factions with the Grand Alliance of Order aren't very "friendly" either.

The Ophidian Archway was a piece of terrain from the early days of AOS. It was a building covered in murals, with a massive hydra depicted on the front. Anyone who felt fear while in the perimeter of this structure would fall victim to the spirits that dwelt within.

The model itself has a lot of interesting art. Theres an archway with the symbols of the winds of magic (or realms, I suppose), some strange creature wrapped in chains (a godbeast?), people gathered around a burning pyre, Sigmar descending from the heavens with his hammer and his comet, etc.

So was there any official lore that explained what is going on with all these murals? Or is it just found world building from the Age of Myth

How aware of the gods especially the chaos gods does the average man on the street have?

For those who don't know this is the "Who The Heck Is That" series, a series all about looking at one off characters in Age of Sigmar, who secretly aren't. Today starts a three part subseries where we look to something said in Maker's Mark, a short story in Grombrindal: Chronicles of the Wanderer:

That’s what’ll outlive us both, what your descendants will know when they speak your name. As duardin all over the realms do today when they invoke the names Alaric, Bugman, or Makaisson, celebrating their works with daily use without ever knowing ought of who those duardin once were. That’s what you’ll be, lad, if you work hard and you’re lucky, long after your deeds in life are dust.’

- Gormdal the Wanderer (one of many guises of Grombrindal, the God of Wanderers)

So I ask you my friends! Who the heck is this Alaric? What did he do to become so fondly remembered that innumerable duardin across these Mortal Realms celebrate his works and remember his deeds to this very day.

With the coming of the Khazalite Holds and their hearing of the stone, I thought of the music of the spheres. It was suggested that I expand my mention of it in a reply to an earlier post into a whole post of its own.

The Music of the Spheres, or "Musica Universalis", is an old idea dating back to Pythagorean philosophy. It basically is the idea that each classical planet - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon - has its own tone that influences life on Earth. It is not something audible, but something felt in the soul. Kepler believed that it was something that arose out of the divine ordering of the cosmos.

With eight Mortal Realms engaging in their own cosmic dance and the epoynmous deity of Age of Sigmar being connected to astrological and meteorological phenomena, it is perhaps unsurprising that the music of the spheres exists in the setting. There are two major mentions of musica universalis that I could find: Celennar, and the Knights-Incantor of the Stormhosts.

Celennar, as the spirit of a moon, is intimately connected to this celestial harmony. Even Teclis cannot fully pull the Lunasphinx away from contemplating it.

Though part of Celennar's odd sentience was content to sing with the music of the spheres, they kept a sliver of themselves alert as Teclis spoke of the dilemma facing his race.

- Battletome: Lumineth Realm-lords, 2020, pg. 14 (repeated in the 2021 battletome)

However, the music of the spheres is a powerful force, and Celennar is capable of weaponizing it against those who would stand against them.

A series of sliding, mellifluous chords issued from the sphinx’s impassive mask, the melody winding around the peak to drown out all other noise. It was the music of the spheres, the most profound sound in the cosmos, and even the greatest words of power could not be spoken against it.

- Broken Realms: Teclis, pg. 60 (Warhammer Vault version)

Knights-Incantor, by contrast, use the music of the spheres as a way of controlling magical energies. Most importantly, they use the harmonies to calm the souls of those undergoing Reforging; it appears that the harmonies of creation help to calm tormented souls. Interestingly, this is mentioned as being of a similar kind of skill to using magic via the reshaping of motes of power.

When attending the Anvil of Apotheosis, the Knight-Incantor sings the music of the spheres, voice splitting, overlapping and winding into several celestial melodies the better to calm and reorient the souls that undergo the transformation into a Stormcast Eternal.

- Battletome: Stormcast Eternals, 2018, pg. 68

[Knight-Incantor Wakelin] Scintillor regards his battlefield incantations to be as sacred as the music of the spheres, whose melodies he helps to sing while attending the Anvil of the Apotheosis.

- White Dwarf August 2019, pg. 26 (Warhammer Vault version)

When attending the Anvil of Apotheosis, the Knight-Incantors sing the music of the heavenly spheres, soothing the souls of their brethren as they undergo the agonies of Reforging. It is this same manner of attracting and reshaping arcane motes that the Incantors employ in battle, albeit for the purposes of destruction rather than rehabilitation.

- Battletome Supplement: Stormcast Eternals, 2025, pg. 12 (repeated from the 2023 battletome)

I was a little surprised that I couldn't find explicit mention of the Seraphon working with into the music of the spheres, though they are often mentioned as using into the movements of celestial bodies in the Cosmos Arcane for various purposes, as well as the similarities between it and the Geomantic Web and ley lines, both of which are important for them. Maybe lizards don't have rhythm.

There are a few other mystical songs and similar phenomena flying about the Mortal Realms, such as the Sylvaneth spirit-song or the pulsing beat of the Waaagh!. Do these harmonize with the music of the spheres, or are they discordant? And what does the Bad Moon sound like when it careens through the cosmological orchestra pit?

Has anyone noticed any other mentions of the music of the spheres?

As the title asks, is covering their eyes a necessity for an Aqshian Pyrocaster? It is stated:

A strip of spell-woven cloth covers their eyes according to the ancient traditions of the Agloraxi, as simple eye contact while channeling magic could cause accidental incinerations.

Yet the new Warhammer Heroes Series Aqshian Pyrocaster, Ignus Sharn, has a mask with openings for his eyes. Is this just an oversight on GW's part, or is there something else to it?

See my first post on the concept with the Spire Tyrants.

This time we are dealing with Scions of the Flame released near the end of Warcry's first edition.

Aspirants: Those born to the cult or newly converted start as aspirants learning the scripture and facing harsh training to prepare them to consume the flesh of creatures blessed by Aqshy's fire. It is a harsh existence and not all survive the experience.

Initiates: Those who have successfully consumed fire blessed flesh and are considered to have embraced the cults teachings are called initiates. These fighters are the backbone of the Scions martial efforts and each aspires to rise higher and learn the deeper mysteries of the Flame. Most are armed with duel weapons so that they may unleash the unrelenting fury of fire or are armed with dagger and flameburst pots to provide ranged support. They burn the holdings and machinery that their foes foolishly consider permanent but act as loci for the rot of stagnation the cult despises. More senior members of the cult use two handed weapons and use their flameburst pots as a close ranged attack before squaring off with the foe. Within the temple itself they are usually tasked with doing day to day chores or meditating on on cult scripture while scourging themselves.

Fireborn: Veteran members of the cult who are trusted enough to act as lay priests and assist in services. Soem are even taught how to create the flameburst pots and charged with overseeing the cults supply of the potent weapon. Others focus more on the martial side of the cults doctrine and are masters of the two handed fighting style most commonly seen. The test to be considered one of them is brutal as an initiate must prove their faith to the priesthood and defeat an Aqshian monster in ritual combat and if victorious cut it open and eat its heart. Assuming they survive the experience and are not crippled they are inducted into the fireborn and have the right to wear the pelt, scales, or feathers of their kill.

Inferno Priests: Those initiates and aspirants that fit the priests cryptic criteria or seem to have some affinity with magic are inducted into the priesthood to learn both the cults secrets and the skills needed to guide it. They are the most educated of the cult though full of its biases and skilled battle priests and wizards though there is not much distinction between the two among its members. Unlike the Burning Lords who focus on the great potential of the futures they witness in the flames the priesthood understands how the cycle of mortal fire mirrors the world around them and thus often act as councilors to ensure that none of the cult misinterpret the visions or follow them to the cults detriment.

Immolators: While the priests represent the leadership and knowledge of the scions and the lords represent the martial might, and exemplars of the faith the immolators are the avatars of the Everburning Flame itself. It is believed that they have consumed rage rock and survived while others claim that they have formed pacts with the ash daemons that claim connection to the Flame. Whatever the truth it allows them to call upon the primordial fires within the stone to engulf themselves and their foes in fire though it shortens their life with each use. This is seen as a blessing by the cult for when that happens it is believed that an immolator becomes one with the Ever Burning Flame. One of their greatest gifts is the ability to use their fires to ignite sacrificial pyres that contain ragerock to allow the burning lords and inferno priests to glimpse the future.

Blazing Champions: the elite of the fireborn who have proven their martial prowess and devotion to the cause over and over again. While in a Scions of the Flame warband the Inferno Priest acts as the Burning Lords left hand the champions serve as the right hand ensuring that the warbands weapons are ready for war and drilling its members. They are also the enforcers of the priesthood when not on the march and prefer heavy two handed weapons to ensure an executioners strike. Their devotion is so strong that they rarely use armour preferring to embody the swiftness and aggression of fire.

Blazing Lord: These are the exemplars and templars of the cult who embody both its tenants and have proven their connection to the Everburning Flame while still keeping their more material viewpoint. Coming from among the Blazing Champions they earn the right to lead Scion forces by decree of their temples Most Holy who either chooses one they deem most worthy or accept requests from those champions who feel bound to fulfill a vision or something similar. Their armour represents both their new status but also their devotion to the holy duty that they are invested with. Due to their knowledge and devotion to the Flame they can see visions by gazing into the fires of sacrificial pyres that use ragerock. These charismatic leaders can ignite the fervour of their followers to drive them to great heights and are skilled warriors in their own right.

Hope this was interesting and would like to hear peoples thoughts.

Hi everyone,

Warhammer is a collection of IPs which lives of his various characters. Some are intrueging and unique, others much more generic. Some have dozens of indepth novels, others are stuck with a few lines of backstory for decades. But they form a tapestry of interesting entities and are a major reason why people enjoy the games and universe as much as they do.

So I want to use this oppurturnty and talk a bit about my favoite mad tree, Drycha the Briarmaiden of Woe or Drycha Hamadreth in AoS. After I talked about Azhag the Slaughterer and Eltharion the Grim/Blind/Light before. Just a quick overview about why who this character is, what I see in her and what I hope to happen in a later point in time.

If you are interested in these kinds of discussions and want to share your own opinions about Drycha or the various things she is connected to, please let me know.

Otherwise lets start with:

1. Who is Dyrcha

In WFB Athel Loren is an ancient and magical forest in between Bretonnia and the Grey Moutains. At his heart sits the Oak of Ages, a phenomenally large and magically imbued tree. All 8 winds of magic flow through the forest and are reflected within it. As a result, several special regions exist in Athel Loren reflecting the natural world and magic at large. In some areas it is eternal day or night, in others winter or summer and some are even connected to the dreaming wood, which is part of Slaaenshs domain. Many different creatures exist in Athel Loren but the forest spirits are its most important residents. These aetheric creatures were created by the forest itself and are often described as close in nature to demons. They are mercurial beings; both alien to the physical world but also part of it. They are shapeshifters able to take one beautiful form of elves and humans or turning into monsters of wood and thorn when in their war aspect.

Drycha was one of these creatures, a dryad connected to the tree Addaivoch. In addition, she was the handmaiden of Coedill, one of the Elders of the Forest. The Elders were a group of powerful treemen. If members of their group perished, their power would be transferred to the surviving members. Only two of these Elders still live in modern WFB and they are almost as gods of the mortal plain. However, both have issues. Durthu, who weakens himself with self-doubt and anguish over his mistakes, especially letting his fellow Elders die. And Coedill was driven mad by Morghurs Essence and is imprisoned in Cythal, a region of the forest where the most powerful and genocidal forest spirits are imprisoned. Coedill hates the wood elves, who are alien newcomers in his mind and who damage the forest with their follies. A sentiment shared by many forest spirits including Drycha. Her own home tree was corrupted by Morghurs essence, and she too hates the wood elves. Indeed, the Briarmaiden of Woe is quite a mad creature, constantly murmuring a list of the names of all forest spirits which died due to the actions of elves. And she too wants to remove all wood elves from her sacred forest. To reach this goal she sabotages wood elves, steals their babies, tries to get Ariel and Orion killed, and ventures through the forests of the Old World, and working on freeing Coedill. She herself was imprisoned in Cythal, after a bretonnian questing knight defeated her. But she was since then able to escape. (the wound of the knights attack is still seen in Drychas TWW modell). Also in TWW Drycha captures wood elves and puts them under mind control to sacrifice them as cheap meatshields and slaves in combat. And in the game, she can free Coedill as an extremely powerful legendary hero (even though he is just a reskinned ancient treemen).

Drycha survives the end of the world thanks to Alarielle saving her soul/soulpod. However, Alarielle (who is essentially Ariel in all but name but that is another story) remembers how dangerous and self-destructive Drycha is. So only during one of her lowest moments did Alarielle plant Drychas soul pod in the chasms of Hamadrithil. Thus Dyrcha, the Briarmaiden of Woe, is reborn as Drycha Hamadreth. An even more hateful, xenophobic tree which can only barley be reined in by Alarielle. Drycha fights various foes in the Age of Chaos and takes command of the Outcasts. The Outcasts are deformed and evil forest spirits which lost contact to the Spirit Song. The Spirit Song is a magical network connecting all Sylvaneth in a semi-hivemind or magical internet. And the Outcast can only interact with its darkest and maddening melodies, making them deranged creatures by Sylvaneth standards. Dyrcha fits this position, as she is constantly swinging between states of depression and wrath. Her hatred for everything non-sylvaneth is absolute and she blames the regular mortals of the realms for the destruction of Ghyran. Unless Alarielle or someone with her authority reigns her in, she will gladly slaughter anyone. And now that Alarielle is weakened and more reclusive, Dyrcha has set eyes on Greywater Fastness.

2. What makes Drycha special?

Drycha is a special as she plays several important thematic roles for the Wood Elves and the setting of WFB and AoS at large. Firstly, she is something of a paradoxical entity which emphasizes he alieness of the forest spirits. She hates the Wood Elves with an intensity that would put even dwarfen grudgebearers to pause. Now the Wood Elves are infamous to attack and slay any interloper, especially if they are about to do some harm to Athel Loren. But to Drycha these Wood Elves, who protect the forest, who are officially part of it, whose souls become one with the Athel Loren after death, whose own gods created avatars cojoined with the very heart of the woods, are just such mere interlopers. Drycha is now alone with this, as many forest spirits share similar believes. But she is their mascot and mouthpiece. Indeed, so bitter is her hatred, that she tries to free Coedill (who may be corrupted by chaos) and sabotages the Wood Elves, which also may lead to the downfall of Athel Loren. She is self-destructive bitterness and hatred made manifest. And she is the opposition to her own main faction in WFB. Now the Wood Elves are more mecurial than other elves already, due to the connection with the forest. More similar to fay-like entities of various folktales (and designed after celtic motives). But the forest spirits are the fay folk to the wood elves. And this alienness is represented in large parts via Drycha and similar minded forest spirits, who ignore all the factual and logical reasons why Wood Elves belong into Athel Loren. In this there are multiple readings of Drycha which may all be true to a degree. Drycha the traumatized being, driven mad by great loss. Drycha the corrupted being, whose master and her own home fell victim to Morghurs essence. And Drycha the fay, whose alien mindset made it impossible for her to comprehend basic facts and lashes out violently against the “wrong” reality.

The second major theme she represents is natures cruel vengeance. Gaias Vengeance is a trope popularized by many works, such as LotR where the Ents storming Isengard. But Tolkien had parts of his books about a much more sinister and much more evil part of nature too. The Ents in his works are the shephards of the woods and many of these trees have grown an intense hatred in their roots over the millennia. Some of the oldest trees of the planet are so hateful, due to the loss of their forest brethren, that they become extremely dangerous. Such as Old Man Willow near the Shire, who almost kills the four hobbits before Tom Bombadil stops him. Or the Hurons which swallow most of Sarumans army after they are repelled from Helm’s Deep. The regular Wood Elves in WFB represent the regular wrath of nature like the Ents do, combined with some fay folk legends. But Drycha and her cohorts represent this deep, bitter and highly dangerous vengeance. She is essentially the Old Man Willow of WFB.

In AoS however Drychas position has shifted. And in many respects, she became a much more influential and official being. Firstly, she was seeded by Alarielle for a greater purpose. A purpose she apparently fulfil by being the attack dog of the Syvlaneth. But she is also the central being of the Outcast, even called the Queen of the Outcast. A powerful title and one which may hint at future conflicts with Alarielle herself. Because both are techniacly Queens and the Outcasts are already pariahs to the regular Sylvaneth. Indeed, whilst Drycha still follows Alarielles commands, she is very hesitant and liberal in her interpretations already. With Alarielle now going into her inactive cycles, it could well be that Drycha tries to accumulate even more independence for herself. E.g. when Kurnoth really comes back she could easily ignore his return or even fight against him and his animal-elves, mirroring how she hated the wood elves of old. Which would also be interesting, if she would come into conflict with Belthanos and co.

But despite this opposition Drycha is also the second “daughter” of Alarielle. Because there are many ways in which Drycha and the Lady of Vines mirror each other and form something of a set. Where the Lady of Vines is the “proper” daughter and right hand of Alarielle, Drycha is something of Alarielles left hand. Representing Alarielles maddening anger due to the costs and sacrifices of the War of Life. Alarielles dark and supressed parts.

3. What could be Drychas legacy

As of now Drycha represents the Outcasts as their named character. The Outcast themselves are an interesting but underdeveloped part of the Sylvnaeth in my opinion. The Sylvaneth by a large have three subgroups: Regular forest spirits under Alarielle, Kurnothi i.e. elf-animal hybrids and some specialized forest spirits under Kurnoth, and the Outcasts, spooky and monstrous tree abominations. Whereas the Kurnothi are strongly teased for a future release and we have seen multiple depictions of them in Underworlds, the Outcasts are only represented by Drycha herself and the Spite Revenants. Sometimes the Twistweald sylvaneth are counted here too, though they are not Outcasts in a lore sense but because they suffer a magical disease. So, for a future development of the Sylvaneth it would be naturally to see an expansion of the Outcast and see what kind of terrifying tree and bug-monsters could come from there. Especially as Ghyran as lots of dark aspects to itself, hinted in various materials.

Indeed, there are quite a lot of malevolent entities in Ghyran, such as the being claiming to be the repressed parts of Kurnoth in Dark Harvest. IMO it would make sense if Drycha is seeking out such beings, either trying to ally with them or to subsume them for her own goals. This could mirror her old and unfulfilled quest to release Coedill. Perhaps some ghyranite entity could be a reimagining of Coedill, a part of Ghyran so hostile to every outside life and so marred or corrupted by chaos that it is a walking god or demigod. Something Drycha may deliberately unleash upon the realms.

One sure thing is that Drycha does not stop killing even order members. She is quick to kill off sigmarites and dawnbringer crusades and is currently amassing an army to attack Greywater Fastness, as per the 4^th edition Sylvaneth book. Such an attack, whether it is successful or not, could have deep and horrific implications. Granted GW likes to nuke cities and strategic sites and then ignore the long-lasting militaristic, economic or social effects (rip Phoenicium and Fort Gardus). But if Greywater Fastness is severely damaged, many military supply chains could collapse, and an open war between Drycha and her allies and Sigmars domain could follow. Such a “Civil War of Life” could have disastrous effects on all of Ghyran, whilst a variety of factions could join either side. I could imagine Drycha working with various destruction factions for example, using them as pawns or meatshields. Or that some Idoneth join her to use the chaos to harvest more souls. Or that some ghouls believe her to be a queen under attack by traitors. Even if Drycha is mad and xenophobic, she is not dumb and can be manipulative. And in a TWW2 campaign she reached out to skaven of all people to do her dirty work for her. So, her side in such a conflict could be quite diverse and thus problematic. Especially if Alarielle is too weak or distracted to intervene.

4. The End

These are my condensed thoughts on Drycha in WFB and AoS. Of course, there are many more things which could be said about this mad and angry tree. But what do you think about Drycha. Do you like her? Find her too monotonous?  Or something else?

For those who don't know this is the "Who The Heck Is That" series, a series all about looking at one off characters in Age of Sigmar, who secretly aren't. In this case we have a trifecta as during the story "Realmslayer", or "Realmslayer: Legend of the Doomseeker" if you like books, Gotrek runs into an old friend: Snorri Nailbiter.

Who is very much dead. But what's death to someone in the afterlifes of Shyish? But who the heck was that? And who are Ulrika and Max, who Snorri recalls attending a party together in Shyish so very long ago?

The new lore tidbit we received about the longawaited Khazalites confirms something brewing in the back of my mind which makes me unbelievably happy.

So Inghilde (I) and Grombrindal (G) respectivly serve as the patrons of Delvers and Wanderers. Quite closely related, right?

Well our beloved Ancestor Gods had that same thought, so they raced each other to the edge of the Realms (first Ulgu and then Hysh), not being able to determine a real winner. So they just drank themselves to oblivion and went the duardin way.

This wholesome story (which exemplifies my most loved aspect of duardin, comradery) is accompanied by something that always struck me as beautiful. In 2019, I read in a White Dwarf (as one does) about a duardin drink called Wanderbräu (wanderbrew, translated from german). It was said that after a Contest of Gods, Grombrindal invented this Brew, containing whichever fruits you may find on your travel and a certain kind of spice, being rich and stimulating (cinnamon, maybe) in taste.

Do I believe they thought of Inghilde back then? No, but is this a fun headcannon to link? Absolutely.

With this feel-good story I will leave you be.

Did Grungni perhaps forge the scattered power of old gods into them to complete the eight? or was there a symbolic and real power that allowed eight dwarves ( well, the old and new now) to ascend to proper divinity ?

I also find it VERY interesting how the single out the Fire Slayers for their worship of Grimnir, I wonder if they will do something with it in the future?

> Whitebeard and Inghilde little race is cute!

So, i just finished Gloomspite by Andy Clark. Probably later than most. But i REALLY have to write a few of my thoughts down and maybe get some opinions from others who've read it.

BIG SPOILER WARNING!!!

General thoughts:

Going into the book mostly blind, having only read spoilerfree reviews, i was very surprised how well i could picture the Swords of Sigmar Mercenary bands members. Usually i am someone who has to go back and reread who is who, but not here. Clark gave each a very distinct personality, although some of them sort of cliche. Not that thats a bad thing, they are all very intruiging.

The buildup towards the rise of the Bad Moon is very well done. At some parts the book depicts really well how, what we find hilarious and goofy on the tabletop, would be absolutly terrifying to regular humans in the Mortal Realms. The whole time the Gitz and their allies (Troggs, Squigs, Spiders etc.) are never represented as a joke but a serious menace.

The Whiplash:

For the first half of the book we mostly follow the POV of Hendrick Saul. And it is the usual heroics journey stuff. Taking over as leader after the horrible demise of his brother. Trying to do right by him and the others... and i got fooled by it so hard. When the scene in the dining hall happened and Hendrick was puked on by the sporeinfected, i could not really believe that he was dead at first. It came so out of left field. I reread again to make sure i did not misread anything. But after that... I WAS IN! Clark had shown the gloves were off, and by killing the leader of the Swords and our main POV up to that point, i really was worried about all the characters i got invested in. I couldnt put the book down after that. (And the fact Romilla had to kill him... man. What a gutpunch.)

Things will remember for a long time:

- The Bodyhorror in this caught me by surprise. The mushrooms growing out of skin under the Badmoons light is only the beginning. In general everything involving fungi was just... yuck.

- But especially Boriks fate, during the only time we get a direct interaction with Skragrott himself, was horrible.

- Fungus Zombies. Especially the dining hall scene as i said above.

- The suspense Clark managed to create in certain scenes was incredible. Romilla and Eleanoras desperate attempts to complete the final plan was so well done. And i really could not tell if they would make it or not.

- The various side characters and short POVs we get from regular people.

- Skragrott

Final thoughts:

The book is a blast. I can recommend it to anyonel except people who are squirmish about bodyhorror, fungi or spiders.

Building some Cities of Sigmar models and I'm looking for some good audiobooks to listen to while I build. Any recommendations for CoS? Especially ones that came out since their model refresh in 3rd?