Stormcast Eternals
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Stormcast Eternals Battle
Stormcast Eternals face the forces of Chaos in the name of their God-King Sigmar.
The Stormcast Eternals, also simply called Stormcast, are superhuman, nigh-immortal
warriors whose souls have been magically Reforged by the will of the God-King
Sigmar. They now serve as the primary weapons of the Grand Alliance of Order in
retaking the Mortal Realms from the forces of Chaos in the Age of Sigmar.
Stormcast Eternals are not born, but made, forged from mortal souls of great honor
and courage, alloyed with the celestial energies of the Cosmic Storm, and beaten
into the living weapons of Azyr, the Realm of Heavens, upon the Anvil of
Apotheosis. All Stormcast Eternals were once paragons of humanity. Many were
warriors or wizards, but not all, for the skills of war can be taught, while
honour, courage, or simple faith cannot.
There are three stages to the creation of a Stormcast Eternal. In the Chamber of
the Broken World, the chosen are blasted apart by heavenly lightning, their souls
painstakingly remade before entering the Cairns of Tempering, wherein their spirits
are blended with the Gifts of the Gods. The final stage is the Anvil of Apotheosis,
whereupon they are smote by the World Hammer, infusing those who endure with a
portion of the God-King's own divine might. Few indeed are the mortal heroes who
can survive the rigours of the magical process called "Reforging," but those who do
emerge are effectively immortal, death bringing about merely dissolution into the
celestial lightning from whence they came, blasting their soul back to Azyr to
commence the punishing ordeal anew.
Most, if not all, Stormcast Eternals are forged from a human soul. Though they
still resemble humans, albeit in a highly idealised form, their physical traits
have changed so much as to be almost unrecognisable from what other mortals
consider human. Worse yet, the Reforging process gradually robs them of their
humanity piece by piece, widening the divide between what they once were and what
they have become. Essentially, this means that the Stormcast Eternals are actually
considered to be a different species from normal humans.
StormcastEternalsFaces
The Stormcast Eternals, once great mortal human heroes, have undergone the
Reforging to become divine living weapons of the God-King Sigmar.
A Stormcast can stand upwards of 9 feet tall, though the average is 7 feet 6
inches, with a physique sculpted by the hands of divine smiths. In spite of their
enhanced strength and abilities, the Stormcast Eternals are still, essentially,
human, hailing from the diverse cultures of mankind found from across all eight
Mortal Realms. For some Stormcast, particularly those who have fallen in battle and
been Reforged many times, their exalted, divine nature is more obvious. Lightning
may spark from their fingertips, or their voice may growl with thunder when
angered. Those of exemplary faith may develop a golden halo akin to that of the
God-King himself, whereas the more bullish crusader may find their skin growing as
hard as the thrice-blessed sigmarite plate armour in which they are clad.
All Stormcast lose something of their original essence to the Reforging and the
memories of their mortal lives are often the first to go. Few are the Stormcast who
can recall what it was to be mortal, and in their zeal to root out and destroy all
traces of evil, they inspire as much fear as awe and devotion among those they
would save.
Though Sigmar strove for years during the Age of Chaos to perfect the Reforging
process, the need for his Stormcast Eternals was so great that his hand was
ultimately forced before the process could be fully realised. There is thus a flaw
in the Reforging process, one that is passed down to each Stormcast Eternal. Each
time they are Reforged, the Stormcast Eternal is changed in some subtle way. They
may grow distant and emotionless, their memories of their lives even as a Stormcast
may become fractured, or they may develop some compulsive ritual habit, such as
tattooing their body in the hopes of remembering their past lives. Some of these
flaws manifest physically, like eyes that crackle and spark with lightning, a voice
that sounds like two people speaking at once, or a perpetual chill wind blowing
around the Stormcast.
As the Stormcast Eternal is Reforged again and again, these flaws become more
pronounced, to the point where those Stormcast that have undergone dozens or even
hundreds of Reforgings are barely recognisable as human. Mortals that spend time in
the company of a Stormcast Eternal cannot help but be affected by their sometimes
unsettling behaviour.
The lifespans of Stormcast Eternals are completely uncertain, for only the God-King
himself can know their age. Their mortal bodies are long vanished and the Reforging
process can sometimes take years at a time. One Stormcast Eternal may have been
plucked from the Age of Chaos hundreds of years ago, lying dormant for years at a
time, while another may have perished and been Reforged in only the last few
months.
Perhaps the defining feature of the Stormcast Eternals is that death is never the
end. When they fall in battle, a Stormcast's soul is called back to Azyr to be
Reforged upon the Anvil of Apotheosis once more. There they are gifted new life
through the craft of the duardin Chosen known as the Six Smiths and the will of the
God-King Sigmar.
With their bodies remade and their souls plucked safely from the grasp of Nagash,
the god of death, the Stormcast Eternal is reborn and can return to their work
reclaiming the Mortal Realms for Order.
