History
StormcastEternalsChaosRealmgate
The Stormcast Eternals assault a warband of Khornate Bloodbound at a Realmgate to
regain entry into the Mortal Realms.
The heavens roar and the sky itself is rent by searing bolts from above. With a
flash of lightning and rolling thunderclap the gleaming warhosts of the Stormcast
Eternals arrive for battle. Their weapons wreathed in crackling arcs of lightning,
the Stormcasts launch their assault. It is as swift as it is brutal. Heavy
warhammers rise and fall, a shield-shattering onslaught that batters down all who
stand before it.[1a]
The Stormcast Eternals fight as warriors born, like legends from ancient song. Each
and every one of them is a hero clad in armour of nigh-impenetrable sigmarite, yet
they fight not as individuals but as a unified force, each retinue moving and
striking as one. Advancing in lockstep, the shield wall of the Liberators presents
an impenetrable barrier. Over that mobile bastion blazes a hail of stormbolts, as
Judicators shoot death from afar.[1a]
The Retributors target the most formidable foes, each strike from their great mauls
releasing the storm’s energies in a blow that could fell an Aleguzzler Gargant.
Above, streaking upon wings of light, Prosecutors hurl hammer-headed bolts before
diving down to join the fray.[1a]
All Stormcasts enter battle with calculating precision, yet there is no mistaking
their emotions. Behind their stern, expressionless masks, underneath their
resplendent armor, dwells a thunderous tempest. For the Stormcast Eternals fight
not just for Order, or for mankind, or even for almighty Sigmar himself. They fight
for vengeance. All long to avenge the depredations that Chaos has inflicted upon
their peoples and their lands. Theirs is a fury that is barely contained.[1a]
The Stormcast Eternals are made for battle. Once they were mortal men and women,
but they were taken to the Realm of Heavens before their last breath and reforged
by Sigmar, imbued with a portion of the glory of the gods themselves. Hard he
crafts them, tempering each with justice and the raw energies of the storm. Upon
the Anvil of the Apotheosis they are gifted with superhuman strength and courage
beyond the ken of mortal man.[1a]
Only after long toil did Sigmar cast forth his new army. It was a bolt of purest
order to sear through the darkness, a storm of righteousness to battle the all-
conquering night. Never before had such an army been seen. Here was a force to
stand against the bloodthirsty and debased horrors of Chaos. With hammer-strike
fury the Stormcast Eternals entered the fray. So was the Age of Sigmar begun.[1a]
The first to feel the wrath of Sigmar's new armies were the Chaos invaders in the
Igneous Delta of Aqshy where a Realmgate to Azyr stood. Striding from out of the
lightning strikes, the gleaming Stormhosts brought war, swift and terrible. Long
had the Chaos conquerors held sway, the oppressors glutting themselves upon the
lifeblood of the just. Now, with each glowing warhammer strike, the Stormcast
Eternals fought to cast down the darksome forces, to reclaim the lands in the name
of Sigmar. Never in their long years of domination had the minions of Chaos been so
challenged, never had they fought armies such as those that now assailed them.[1b]
The storm started in Aqshy, but quickly spread to all of the other Mortal Realms.
From high up in his sky palace in the Heavens, Sigmar cast forth his fury made
manifest. Again and again, incandescent bolts of lightning seared down, hurling
more Stormcast Eternals into battle. At long last, Sigmar’s Storm had broken. Once
begun, there could be no turning back.[1b]
Sigmar Almighty
At the end of the final battle for the World-That-Was, Sigmar fell into darkness.
Only by clutching onto the last remnant of his world did he escape destruction.
Only by his unyielding will did he hold onto that metal core.[1c]
Long was Sigmar's journey through the sea of stars. At last he was saved by
Dracothion the Great, Father of the Stardrakes. Many are the tales that recount how
Dracothion befriended Sigmar, helping him hang the metal core in the sky above the
Realm of Azyr. It was Dracothion that showed Sigmar the Eight Realms, and so began
what is now known as the Age of Myth.[1c]
Many legends are told of Sigmar’s deeds during this period, such as when he felled
Ymnog, King of Gargants, hunted down Great Nagendra, the shape-shifting realm
serpent, and when he bested the greenskin god Gorkamorka in feats of strength.
Indeed, Sigmar found and awakened many other gods, creating a pantheon over which
he ruled. Cites were founded and civilizations flourished. Yet Chaos came, bringing
war and plague, corruption and ruin. After long wars and many defeats, Sigmar’s
pantheon broke, and he retreated to seclusion in the Realm of Azyr, sealing the
gates behind him.[1c]
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The Loss of Ghal Maraz
StormcastEternalsversusNighthaunt
The Stormcast Eternals combat the Undead gheists of the Nighthaunt who serve
Nagash, god of death.
Few speak of the tale of how Sigmar came to lose Ghal Maraz, his rune-enchanted
warhammer, because few survived the Battle of Burning Skies.[1d]
The first Chaos incursions cut deep into the Eight Realms. Cities fell before the
daemonic onslaught, yet always Sigmar, or one of his pantheon, led a counterattack
to drive off the invaders. Each of the greater daemons that led the Dark Gods’
armies was defeated in its turn. Sigmar cast down the Khornate armies of An’ggrath,
matching their rage against his might. He smote Feculox, most immense of Great
Unclean Ones, within of the City of Branches. Through the power of his immortal
soul, the God-King fought off the magicks of the Lord of Change, Kiathanus.
Luxcious the Keeper, first to call herself Ur-Slaanesh, with eredin the face of his
unbreakable resolve. Later, it was Archaon, the Everchosen, who united the four
powers, bringing the greater daemon champions together upon the Fireplains of
Aqshy. Their combined armies covered the horizon, reaching into the sky itself –
for they tore a rent in reality, from which poured daemons beyond count. The gods
assembled before that fell host, and the battle that followed shook the realms.[1d]
From above the advancing legions Nagash summoned necromantic armies, while
Gorkamorka rampaged unstoppably. The burning light of Teclis banished foes
unnumbered, yet it was mighty Sigmar, always at the pantheon’s fore, that turned
the tide. None could stay the God-King, and Ghal Maraz smote each of the enemy
commanders in turn, until Sigmar faced Archaon. The God-King hurled his hammer at
his fell foe, but he was deceived. Tzeentchian illusion bent his aim, so that Ghal
Maraz entered the rift, never returning. Without his matchless hammer, Sigmar and
his forces were doomed to defeat. The disasters of the Nexus Wars ensued, following
which Sigmar retreated, shutting the Gates of Azyr behind him. For long years he
dwelt upon his losses, simmering with rage and plotting how he might one day
reclaim his own.[1d]
