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History Of the World Part 1: From the Forging of the World to the end of the
First Chaos War

In the ancient past the old ones forged the world from the realms of Magic after
the War of Heaven. In this new world they found humans and Dragon s already
living in it. The Old Ones came through two Great Gates, they also brought their
servants from beyond the world; these are the races of the Lizardmen. Some
made Elves and took to teaching them, others did the same with the Dwarves.

However the Humans grew in numbers and spread throughout the world. They
went into many different cultures, the largest and most powerful was the nation
of Nehekhara and they ruled a large empire encompassing most of the world,
with rituals to keep the spirits of the dead within their bodies. This allowed great
leaders of the past to provide guidance to the living and the dead to fight the
battles of the living.

The Nehekhara grew to understand how much power the Old Ones had and
sought to take it for their own. The Old Ones sent their Lizardmen servants to
make war upon the Nehekhara and their armies. The Lizardmen opened portals
through the realm of emotion known as the Warp. Using these to travel
thousands of miles in the blink of an eye, the Lizardmen where able to assault the
homeland of the Nehekhara (Egypt). This massive and sustained assault
required the Nehekhara to withdraw all their forces from the rest of their
empire. They left behind their cities, now full of the dead and treasure, hidden
under the earth, these cities of the dead would awaken if disturbed or to make
way for the new Nehekhara Empire to rise.

At this age of the world, all lands where one giant content, in order to complete
the old ones plans and disrupt the Nehekhara Empire the Slann changed the
world and split apart the continents, facing defeat the ruler of the largest
Nehekharan army made war upon the rebels and dissenters even as he battled
the Lizardmen. That he was able to unit his people while not losing any ground
to the Lizardmen, earned him the name Settra the Imperishable. While he lived
the Lizardmen where fought to a stand still, after a time they withdrew and
peace descended upon the land. While the Nehekhara where contained in their
homeland, the elves and dwarves spread through out the world.

But the Nehekhara never forgot the Lizardmen and their war. They continued to
explore the arts of death magic producing one of the greatest Wizards in history;
Nagash. He murdered his brother to steal his crown and his wife; this act made
him the King of all Nehekhara. Many lords opposed him and planned to rebel,
however before the war could truly begin the great Chaos invasion overtook the
world.

After the reshaping of the world, the Old Ones had left, either through two Great
Gates; one in the North Pole and one in the South, or they became part of the
world. Now after many years of peace, these gates collapsed and Chaos came
pouring through. It is not known how this happened; all that is known is that the
4 Gods of Chaos sent their armies of Daemons into the world in an unending tide.
After the departure of the Old Ones the Lizardmen had built great works all
around the world, these monuments purified the magic that had seeped through
from the Gates, they went into overdrive as magic flowed like a tidal wave from
the gates. The Daemons were drawn to these points and fought fierce battles
with the Lizardmen protecting them, most of the Lizardmen where concentrated
in the South Lands and the great Southern Content.

Chaos was also drawn to men and Dwarves, but above all they coveted the Souls
of Elves. The Elves where capable of greater emotion then humans or Dwarves
and thus were the biggest target for the Demonic invasion. The Elven land
(Ulthuan) had been a peaceful land ruled by the Everqueen. Eternally reborn
through her eldest daughter, the Everqueen had ruled her people for generation
of peace, now she ruled as they where slaughtered by Daemonic hordes. The
Everqueen was Life Incarnate, where she went Daemons where banished, the
injured healed and sometimes even the dead returned to life. However she was
not enough to turn the tide, the great Elven Mages lead by Caledor, the brother of
the Everqueens consort, tried to understand the power that gave life and motion
to the Daemons; for now they failed. So in desperation, Aenarion, consort of he
Everqueen, went to the shrine of Asuryan, a place where Daemons found no
perch; for the power of the God protected it. As well his servants channeled the
Fire Asuryan to strike at the Daemons, indeed many had left to fight the
Daemons when they had first appeared, but by a few years into the Daemonic
invasion they had been hunted down and killed. In hopes of gaining the
intervention of the Greatest Elven God, Aenarion offered many sacrifices into the
Flame of Asuryan, to no avail. In a final attempt to win the intervention of the
God, Aenarion threw him self into the Flame. Rather then dying he was reborn
with the power of Asuryan. He was now fire incarnate, with new power of
Asuryan Daemons fled before him, leading a group of Asuryan servants against
them, Aenarion went to the Elves stoking the fires of resistance and kindling
hope in their hearts, through these efforts the Elves threw back the Daemons, but
this was not the greatest effect of his rebirth. Caledor was able to examine the
way the magic had changed him and channel similar magics into the Elven
weapons.

While the Elves had always had weapons, these where barley effective against
the Daemons, who where bound with the magic of Chaos. Now with new magical
weapons the Daemons where able to be driven back. These weapons where not
the only advantage the Elves gained from Caledor.

Caledor had traveled South to the part of Ulthuan famed for its volcanoes and
Dragon Lairs. During the start of the Daemon invasion, many Elves fled into the
shelter of the Dragon s who make their Lairs, in the warm volcanic mountains.
This was risky as the Dragon s had no love for the Elves and found the tribute
they offered, insulting (what are they going to do with a bit of meat or a young
Elven woman?). However Caledor was able to speak to their minds and teach
them the Elven langue. Thus an alliance was formed between the Dragon s the
Elves, they would fight with each other for as long as both races lived. So Caledor
earned the Name Dragon tamer (the Dragon s name him Dragon friend).

With these new weapons the Elves pushed the Daemons back, for a time the war
entered a stalemate, the Daemons would strike and Elves would repulse them.
However this could not last, in an effort to help her people drive the Daemons
back the Everqueen created new living weapons; Elven Spirits put into trees. The
process was traumatic upon the Sprits, who twisted the tree into a form
resembling their old bodies, but the Sprits often went insane and believed they
were trees and hated those who destroyed the forests, however some retained
their minds and helped to direct their brethren.

In this changing war the Daemons changed tactics, Greater Daemons would now
lead their lesser kin in raids and the Everqueen was now their main target. So
the Daemons began a campaign targeted at the Everqueen attacking forests and
groups of refugee Elves the Everqueen would likely be helping. These attacks
where fast, appearing out of nowhere and disappearing just as fast, for Daemons
could sense the Ever Queen and would know at once whether she was in the area
or not. At first Aenarion could not see the point of the attacks and assumed they
where meant to spread his forces thin, by the time he realised his mistake the
Daemons had found the forest where the Ever Queen and her two children
where hiding and attacked it with all their might.

By the time Aenarion arrived the forest was destroyed and no trace of his
children (the son and daughter of the himself and the Everqueen). He did find the
body of the Everqueen and it drove him to despair and grief beyond all solace. In
this state he traveled north to the Blighted Isle and there drew the Sword of
Kaine, the Widow Maker, the God Slayer. When he did so the Fire of Asuryan left
him and the Shadow of Kaine descended upon him, making him Shadow
Incarnate. He then went North and meet the Druchii.

The Druchii have their beginnings during the dark days of the First Daemonic
invasion and those Elves in the North far from the Light of Asuryan and the
protection of the Everqueen. These Elves feeling abandoned by their Gods turned
to the Cytharai, chiefly Kaine; Lord of Murder, Atherti; Lady of Desire, Hekarti;
Mistress of Magic and Ereth Khial; the Pale Queen, ruler of the Dead. The other
Cytharai where worshiped to a lesser extent, at first they lacked organisation but
once Aenarion drew the Sword of Kaine he united the cults and created a society
out of them. With these new weapons the Daemons where driven from the rest
of Ulthuan, but raids continued and assaults on the North never relented. With
this respite Caledor took the chance to travel the world in an attempt to discover
a way to defeat the Daemons in a more permanent manner. To this end he spoke
with the Everqueen and she helped him gain the blessing of Hoeth; Lord of Magic
and with this blessing Caledor became light Incarnate. In his travels he
encountered the people of the Mountains; the Dwarves. Among them he
encountered two of their great leaders. The first he meets out in the field of
battle, Caledor was struck by how similar this Dwarfs magic felt to Aenarion
before he drew the cursed blade. After the battle the Dwarf introduced himself as
Grimnir and he burned with a desire for vengeance against the Daemons, after
fire had left Aenarion it had traveled and found a new Incarnate in the Dwarven
war leader. After initial hostility both recognised the other as an enemy of
Daemons and a friend, they spoke long upon the field, before Grimnir invited
Caledor to his hold. Grungni Father-King of the Dwarves meet the two at the
gates, again Celdor was struck by the magic that flowed from him, it was as if he
was made from steel; for Grungni was Metal Incarnate. With his skills increased
by those of the greatest Dwarf forger, Celador gained a deeper understanding of
the nature of magic. The two learned from each other, Celador learned more
intricate Runes and better metal work, while Grungni learned more about the
different Winds of Magic and how to capture, use and even direct them. After
several years working together Celador began having strange dreams calling him
south, thus he bid the Dwarves farewell, with a promise to return and he
traveled south.
Celador traveled through Daemon infested lands, fighting off several attacks.
After those trials he passed secretly into the deserts Nehekhara and there he saw
first hand the power of Nagash, as he used the dead to fight the Daemons.
Wherever Celador went he fostered hope and purity, in Nehekhara he
encouraged the humans to embrace their Gods and use faith rather then the dead
to fight Daemons, while this would have major ramifications for Nehekhara after
the war, for now it went largely unnoticed. South of Nehekhara Celador entered
the jungles of the South Lands and found a temple from his dream, inside he
encountered the Slain. After initial confusion Celador discovered he could
communicate through magic. Together the two great minds shared information
ad devised a daring plan to stop the Daemon tides. The Slain understood the
origin of the threat the faced, Celador understood the magic that sustained it and
together they where able to understand Chaos as none save the Old Ones have
before. For the Slain that Celador was not a normal Slain, he saw visions of the
future and called down the power of comets and storms with but a thought for
he was the Heavens Incarnate, later a Skink with a great red crest arrived,
summoned by the Slain to aid in the discussions, this Skink commanded the

Beast of the jungle as easily as Celador commanded magic, this was Beasts
Incarnate, the group then entered the Dwarven hold, much to the shock of those
within and the discussion began in earnest. With the aid of these great magical
minds Celador devised a daring plan, with the help of the Slain he would create a
vortex to suck up the magic that was giving the Daemons life. However the
Slann pointed out that the amount of magic pouring through the Polar Gates
would overwhelm any attempt at containment, in order for the plan to work the
flow of magic would have to be slowed. At this Grungni spoke up and suggested
that his greatest Runes of magical dispersal could be used to such an end, if
placed beside the warp gates. Thus was it decided that an assault on the two
gates would be lunched in order to places the stones, while Celador prepared the
ritual for the Vortex. The Lizardmen took one Rune Stone and struck south, while
an army of Dwarves lead by Grimnir went north to deal with the gate. Before he
could hear of the success of these assaults Celador returned to Ulthuan and made
his preparations, this drew the eye of the Chaos Gods and they lunched their
greatest assault upon Ulthuan. This battle was one part of the finale of the first
Great Chaos Invasion. Across the world the armies of Order and Chaos clashed, in
the South the speed and ferocity of the Lizardmens assault (as well as the
surprise of the Slann literally slamming contents together in order to create a
safe bridge) allowed the Lizardmen to bring the Rune Stone into position near
the gate. The Daemons counter attacked and cut off the Lizardmen, where a
lesser army would have despaired the Lizardmen thought only of protecting the
Rune Stone until the ritual was complete. In the north the Dwarves struggled
against the Daemons, they were grinding through, answering wild daemonic
furry, with their own cold and efficient strikes. But they were not moving fast
enough so Grimnir called upon his followers to bring the stone and leave the
others behind.

For Grimnir had always had a fiery temperament, while served him well in battle
it lead to disaster out of it. It was to Grimnirs eternally shame that he had
attacked Grungni in a dispute and drawn blood, while Valaya had healed the
wound and Grungni marked no grudge Grimnir could not escape his shame. So
he shaved his head, save for a bright orange crest and wore no armor, save for
tattoos of vengeance. Other shamed Dwarves followed his example (though he
meant it to be a warning for others) and they where called Slayers. Before
marching north he left one of Axes behind, so he could carry the Rune Stone he
claimed. With these Dwarves Grimnir smashed into the Daemons and raced
towards the portal, he actived the Rune Stone but could not be sure if he would
reach it in time.

While the Lizardmen fought their desperate battle and Grimnir smashed aside
Daemons, in Ulthuan the war raged as never before, all centered on the Isle of the
Dead, the place that Celador had discerned as the best place for the ritual to take
place. The island was full of mages, the greatest in all Ulthuan, but it was
defended by the greatest warriors in Ulthuan, though knew not why the
Daemons had struck here, only that Aenarion had told them they must keep the

mages safe. Aenarion was not happy with his brother for the great risk he was
taking and from bringing down the full force of the Chaos Gods upon them,
however Celador countered that Aenarions path did not offer victory, only a
slow defeat. To this Aenarion had no answer and thus left the heartfelt pleas of
his new wife and went to defend Celador, knowing that it would be his death.
While Aenarions son Malekith lead a sortie to disrupt the Daemons assault
Celador began the ritual. With no way to know whether the Rune Stones where
in place he pressed on and hopped his allies had done their part. Thus as the
ritual reached its crescendo Celador prayed to his Gods that it would work. In
the south the Lizardmen were fighting in an ever-shrinking circle defending the
Rune Stone, while in the north Grimnir had at last gotten his Rune Stone into
position. Thus against all hope the plan worked, magic was sucked into the
vortex, including that which had been bound to the incarnates. 8 winds of magic
where bound to mortals and 7 where given up willingly, only Nagash fought to
retain the power and suffered greatly for his arrogance. As the ritual was
completed Celador and his fellow mages where dragged into the vortex, while
Aenarion was badly wounded and set out to return the Sword of Kaine to its
resting place, he succeeded but would never return, his body was found a year
later and interred on the Isle of the dead.

With the sudden disappearance of the Daemon armies the Lizardmen got to
work rebuilding their works and dismantling the southern gate despite renewed
(though much smaller) Daemonic attacks. In the north the Dwarves began their
long march home when a force of Daemons attacked from the gate, Grimnir bade
them run while he held back the foe and there he stayed, fighting the Daemons
till his people were safe.

In Nehekhara Nagash brooded over the lose of his power and began to wonder if
he might regain it, or at least something close enough, then he looked upon the
pyramids of his people and an idea formed, a black and terrible idea that would
change the world.

The Gods of Chaos turned upon each other, squabbled, blamed and fought as
they had before and so their main eyes turned from the world, but still they
watched and waited with hungry eyes for their remaining servants to give them
new opportunities to feast.

And in Ulthuan they mourned and looked to the future, for Aenarions last
command was for the Princes of Ulthuan to choose his successor from among
them and the new Everqueen, not dead as many feared, agreed. Thus a council
was formed to choose the second Phoenix King and this decision all gathered
knew would affect the world forever, though none could guess just how.