With Creative Assembly effectively following a quasi-relaunch of their Immortal Empires campaign for Total War Warhammer 3 by lowering the video game’s entry requirements, I figured it is time I did something similar with my own homage to Warhammer Fantasy, the #Lorefight series. This saga follows a fan-orientated reimagining of Warhammer Fantasy lore set during the reign of Emperor Karl Franz with a long-term goal toward creating an alternative, more organic incarnation of what may be Games Workshop’s most controversial creation, the End Times.

At the time of creating this page, I have published 165 lore fights as well as several auxiliary stories designed to push the narrative forward, spanning almost 350,000 words. This is a lot of content to expect new readers to familiarise themselves with. Therefore, in order to bring new readers up to speed, I have created this post covering the 13 main ongoing storylines in the series. While these may not exhaustively include everything that has happened in the last 4 years of writing, most events converge with them in some way and they affect each other in turn so these are crucial means of understanding the series as a whole. Please enjoy. 😊

1. Restoring an Empire

This story properly began when an almighty Orcish Waaagh invaded the Empire, culminating in a stand-off between Emperor Karl Franz and the Orcish Warboss Grimgor Ironhide at Altdorf. Karl defeated Grimgor and the remaining Orcs were later pushed back by Volkmar the Grim but Karl lost his legs during the duel with Grimgor amd Altdorf suffered catastrophic damage. Subsequently, Balthasar Gelt took Karl to a mountain monastery to commune with Sigmar to regrow his legs. This turned out to be a trap set by N’Kari to hijack Karl’s consciousness and use him to revive Slaanesh’s dormant mind which had previously been banished by Nagash in the Realm of Death. Karl’s faith in Sigmar held true and Karl prevented Slaanesh from taking his soul. Sigmar awarded Karl his legs back and Balthasar used Skarbrand to fight N’Kari in the real world. However, Slaanesh managed to escape dormancy and has gone on to take control over their greater deamons since then. With the crowning of Sigvald the Everchosen, Slaanesh must surely now be in ascendancy.

As of the story “Summon the Elector Counts”, Karl returned to the Empire and resumed his office of state, even making some controversial decisions like choosing to accept Sylvania and its new leader Count Walach Harkon back into the Imperial fold. However, with Karl’s ancestral home being invaded by Archaon/Slambo as of #lorefight 165, the Emperor can never risk letting his guard down for even a moment. With Grimgor’s health restored by the magic of the Chaos Dwarfs, perhaps another confrontation between Franz and Ironhide is inevitable.

During Karl’s absence the Empire saw many new heroes rising from the ashes of the Orcish invasion. Countess Emanuelle von Liebwitz declared Nuln as acting capital and began coordinating a massive tax and colonial-fundraising effort to rebuild Altdorf, Markus Wulfheart teamed up with Nakai the Wanderer to fend off a massive raid by Taurox the Brass Bull & the Harbinger, Valten took up Ghal Maraz to become the Champion of Sigmar as he defended Essen from Aarbal the Undefeated, Halfling warrior Boggie Crumpot & his tutor Sir Bullywick Applebag proved Boggie’s suitability to join the Empire’s esteemed order of soldiers the High Helms after he killed Anark von Carstein & joined forces with Ogre Tyrant Oleg Skullcracker to defeat the goblin wolf rider Grotsnag + a River Troll Hag. Finally, Balthasar Gelt pioneered new research into trying to redeem daemons to fight for the Empire. However, seeing as Balthasar and Valten’s last collaboration resulted in a town being sacked by Dragon Ogres and Karl recently learned of Count Marius Leitdorf’s disappearance, it would seem there is a long way to go yet before the Empire can find safety.

2. The Fallen Everchosen

After falling to despair when he discovered the curse of his lineage and subsequently being abandoned by Sigmar, Diederick Kastner or Archaon as he is known to most proceeded to traverse the Chaos Wastes for centuries, claiming ancient treasures and allying greater daemons in pursuit of one day ascending to the position of Chaos Undivided’s next Everchosen. However, just as he was on the precipice of greatness having defeated the dark master Be’lakor as part of forcing the daemon to crown him, Archaon was betrayed by Sigvald the Magnificent and Dechala the Denied One who stabbed him in the back. Sigvald went on to be crowned Everchosen instead while Dechala ascended to the state of Daemon Princess having bested Samael and Azazel in the Dark Prince’s eyes.

Faced with the option of serving the banners of the Decadent Host, Archaon chose instead to drown himself in the Sea of Claws after breaking Dorghar’s neck. However, the Chaos Gods refused to let Archaon die and sent him back to the mortal world with a new body. Now resurrected as the emerald warrior Slambo, Archaon overthrew Egil Styrbjorn’s son and became High Jarl of the Skaelings. As of #lorefight 165 Slambo attempted to abduct Karl Franz in order to claim a weapon he could use to kill Sigvald. He failed and was taken into Imperial custody.

3. Love Beyond Death

While searching through the ruins of Castle Drachenfels alongside a group of treasure hunters, Genevieve Diudonne was abducted by the Spirit of Drachenfels. The rest of the treasure hunters chose to flee from Drachenfels’ minions, especially once Lord Kroak’s oracle Ten-zlati arrived to flatten the castle and crush Drachenfel’s hordes before they could grow to full strength. Nevertheless, Genevieve’s lover and playwright Detlef Sierck chose to venture deep into the bowels of Castle Drachenfels’ dungeons in a quest to save his beloved. Thanks to the help of Bretonnian ghost Duke Melmon de Quenelles, Detlef managed to hatch a scheme capable of deceiving Drachenfels into releasing Genevieve. However, this came at the cost of Detlef’s own life.

Overwrought with sadness by the passing of her beloved, Genevieve refused to simply move on and instead chose to break into the Red Abbey, exiled home of clairvoyant Elize von Carstein, in an effort to conduct a seance with Detlef. Upon making contact with Detlef and becoming confident that it really was him, Genevieve felt at peace when she was caught and killed by Elize, hopeful that she would see Detlef again on the other side. However, seeing as Detlef’s soul currently resides within the grips of Nurgle’s tallyman Epidemius, Genevieve’s mission to reunite with her beloved may be more difficult than she currently believes.

4. Shadows Over Bretonnia

Having returned from his banishment, Louen Leoncouer’s bastard son and claimant to the throne of Bretonnia, Prince Madreut aka Mallobaude enlisted the services of the fugitive thief Ennar to break into Bastonne during the wedding ceremony between Anara d’ Garamont & Anthelme de Austray and wreak revenge on the Bishop who supported his banishment, Sir Almaric de Gaudaron.

However, what Ennar did not know was that Mallobaude was himself a servant to Duke Merovech de Mousillon, a powerful blood knight with ambitions of conquest. The armies of Mousillon laid siege to Bastonne and killed Duke Bohemond Beastslayer as well as the legendary knight Calard d’ Garamont. In the ensuing chaos the Undead ravaged the city, claiming thousands of new soldiers for their ranks before Merovech turned his own sadistic sensibilities on his apprentice, forcing Mallobaude to become a vampire against his own will. Mallobaude’s subsequent bloodlust lead to the tragic murder of his new friend Ennar. Once Mallobaude regained his senses, he attempted to strike Merovech down but the older vampire resisted his advances and proceeded to lock Mallobaude in a tower until such a time the young vampire agrees to serve him as his new father.

Meanwhile, King Louen Leoncouer is deeply concerned by Mousillon’s conquest of Bastonne. He already killed Egil Styrbjorn during an attempted raid and now the royarch is consolidating his position in preparation for riding South and vanquishing Merovech’s hordes. Will he succeed or will he learn that the combined powers of Merovech, Mallobaude and Maldred are too much for him? Only time will tell.

5. The Phoenix of Tomorrow

Malekith had a very tumultuous start to his story. He and his Dark Elves were raiding the coastline of Ostland along the Sea of Claws for new slaves. However, it just so happened that the Undead launched simultaneous raids into the Imperial province. Rather than bandying together against the humans, the Druchii and the Vampires ended up butting heads, both sides too proud to back down. Thus conflict ensued. Vlad von Carstein killed Morathi*, Malekith pushed downward into Sylvania and killed both Isabella & Heinrich Kemmler** and finally, Vlad and Malekith faced off in lore fight 26, with Vlad slaying the Witch King.

However, despite an early death Malekith’s story wasn’t over yet. After Drazhoath the Ashen of the Chaos Dwarfs resurrected him to become a powerful slave, Malekith rebelled, escaped the Dawi Zharr’s clutches and came under the protection of his once friend Snorri Whitebeard aka Grombrindal the White Dwarf. Having brushed so close to death, having spent thousands of years chasing a birthright he never even came particularly close to obtaining, Malekith came to reflect upon his former wicked life and chose instead to change his ways. Thus began his adventures with Grombrindal, travelling the world in order to set old Dwarfen grudges right in the hopes of redeeming himself in his old friend’s eyes. Together they banished Kholek Suneater, avenged Karak Ungor by slaying Neferata and Arkhan, liberated Karak Kadrin from an outbreak of Gods’ Rot***, slew a lost Chaos Space Marine and Grombrindal defeated Valkia the Bloody while Malekith recovered from injuries. For every story, Grombrindal learned to trust Malekith more and more once again.

Thus their last story featured them being summoned back to Karak Eight Peaks by High King Belegar Ironhammer (see An Age of Reckoning storyline). The duo took on a Tzeentchian daemon prince Known as the Eater of Tomes which was looking to devour the Dammaz Kron/Great Book of Grudges’ knowledge. However, upon defeating the daemon it opened a portal and sucked them through into the Realm of Tzeentch, depriving Malekith of his chance to finally remove his name from the Dammaz Kron. Instead, they now find themselves in a hostile world, surrounded by daemons and with no easy means of escape. Stay tuned for what could be their final adventure.

*Morathi later returned and revealed she traded places with her servant Drusala, using Drusala as a decoy to be killed by Vlad instead. Morathi has since emerged from hiding and allied with the Hellbane family to conquer the Isles of Tor Elithis and create a rival Dark Elf faction to the Witch Queen’s domain. Though Morathi hasn’t been seen in some time, we know she is building her forces. In fight 164 the Grieving Guard, a legion of Black Guards of Naggaroth loyal to Malekith and Morathi, decided to mutiny against Hellebron’s army and declared their intentions to join Morathi’s cause.

**Heinrich Kemmler has since returned as one of Nagash’s mortarchs. He orchestrated plans to resurrect Krell at La Maisontaal Abbey as well as to find the Tome of a Thousand Souls for Nagash using Count Noctilus. Alas, both plans were foiled. First by Gotrek & Felix, the second by a pact between Triton and Jaego Roth. Better luck next time.

*** At the cost of killing Ungrim Ironfist’s son Garagrim – something Ungrim has never forgiven them for.

6. The Blood That Binds

The Vampire Counts’ victory over Malekith’s raiders amounted to a short-lived victory. Despite slaying the Witch King, Vlad lost his beloved Isabella. Moreover, her remains were then abducted by Ushoran, the Strigoi Mortarch in service to the Great Necromancer. Following a tumultuous argument between the Von Carstein family over what to do next, Vlad wishing to go South to save Isabella, Mannfred wishing to strike at nearby weakened nations by launching assaults on them, this ultimately tore the family and its armies in twain.

Mannfred launched his invasions only for none of them to go well. Konrad von Carstein died invading Stirland as did Gustavus von Carstein flee into exile. Meanwhile, Mannfred, Markos and Jerek von Carstein were rebuked from invading Dawi lands. Mannfred was killed by Belegar, Markos killed Helga Longplaits but was then destroyed before he could kill Belegar’s wife Vala Kemma and Alarielle the Everqueen used her purifying magics to turn Jerek mortal once again.

While Mannfred’s plans fell apart, Vlad travelled to Khemri to find his wife. Instead he found a mere facsimile, a perversion of his love. Nagash’s agents had imprisoned Isabella’s soul inside the late Neferata’s body. Should Vlad want his beloved back, he would have to serve the Undying King as a mortarch, venturing around the world seeking Nagash’s tomes of power. Vlad and Isabella invaded Khemri, vanquishing Settra and claiming two tomes before claiming another when Vlad invaded Sudenburg. However, with the defeats of the twin necrarch mortarchs W’Soran and Melkhior at the hands of the re-invigorated King Phar as well as Count Noctilus’ efforts to claim the Tome of a Thousand Souls being thwarted by Triton, it may take more than just collecting tomes of magic to restore the God of Death to greatness.

While all this is going down, Sylvania itself has fallen to a coup by the Blood Dragons led by Walach Harkon. The remaining Von Carstein loyalists were either imprisoned or destroyed by the Blood Dragons before Harkon made a plea to Karl Franz to let Sylvania rejoin the Empire. Walach hasn’t had much of a chance to details his plans yet but suffice it to say, Sylvania’s return into the Imperial fold will have consequences. Meanwhile, Walach’s ultimate master Abhorash has risen once more in an effort to hunt down and destroy the traitor, the last Von Carstein, Vlad.

Will Vlad find peace with Isabella or will he be destroyed upon the precipice of success? Only you can decide.

7. The Adventures of Marco Colombo, Melandra Hawkeye and Tullaris Dreadbringer

This series’ tonal equivalent to the Gotrek & Felix books. The ascent of Witch Queen Hellebron saw many corners of Dark Elf society fall from grace. However, while it was mainly her political rivals such as the Helbane family which saw the brunt of the Crone’s fury, sometimes even her closest allies faced her scorn as well. After failing to conquer Ss’ildra Tor and defeat the Astronomer of the Constellations, Tetto’eko, Tullaris Dreadbringer found himself removed from grace and facing assassination by Hellebron’s enforcer Hakoer. Without much other choice, Tullaris abandoned Dark Elf society despite still believing in its cause.

After a short stint as a mercenary Tullaris met Marco Colombo, a swashbuckling debonaire famed for exploration and plundering the temple cities of the Lizardmen. Together they ransacked their way through Itza, killing Gor-Rok and retrieving the Aster Feather, the near priceless tiara that once belonged to the first Everqueen Astarielle. Upon taking the tiara to Lothern and being paid a fortune for their efforts, Marco soon came to discover the Elves had swindled him by giving him Nehekharan gold the Elves accrued at the height of their colonial expansion. This resulted in their ship the Bronzed Saber being pursued by King Amanhotep aboard the Curse of Zandri. Marco, Tullaris and crew only narrowly evaded death thanks to a freak whirlpool which opened up and sucked the Curse of Zandri inside. However, this newfound safety would not last for long as Marco and his crew found themselves being tried for piracy when they tried to resupply their vessel in the Imperial colony of Sudenburg. Once again they only narrowly avoided doom, this time thanks to the combined efforts of Tullaris and Melandra, an Amazonian drinks vendor based in Sudenburg who dreamt of adventure.

However, despite all the gallivanting and swashbuckling Marco and his crew got up to, more recent instalments in this storyline have shown how people cannot run from their past forever. It transpired that the whirlpool which saved the Bronzed Saber from the Curse of Zandri was not a random incident. Instead, it had been cast by undead sorcerers in the employ of Luthor Harkon who were keen to keep Marco alive so he could pay Harkon back for a large outstanding loan. However, upon learning that Colombo lost most of his treasure during his incursion in Sudenburg, Harkon’s darker mind took control as he dispatched a humongous rotting leviathan known as the Deep Sea Devourer to hunt the Bronzed Saber down and swallow Marco for double-crossing the Arch-Grand Commodore. Harkon’s underling and Marco’s long-time friend, Captain Drekla, went ahead to warn Marco of the Brozed Saber’s impending destruction, stirring Marco to seek landfall as soon as possible. It just so happened that the nearest island was inhabited by dinosaurs. The crew landed, the Bronzed Saber was destroyed by the Deep Sea Devourer but fortunately for Marco and his peers, the leviathan became embroiled in a titanic fight with a Thunder Lizard, thereby preventing it from hunting the crew inland. Upon discovering they were now stranded, this gave way to a moral dilemma as the crew realised they were on the Dragon Isles, home to a population of Lizardmen which had gone feral following a Skaven plague outbreak that killed their Slann. Having long hated the Children of the Old Ones, Marco suggested poisoning the dinosaurs’ water supply so future generations of feral saurians would not be born which could otherwise go on to threaten the mainland. Melandra took a more pacifistic route, suggesting they had no right to interfere in nature’s creations. Thanks to a growing closeness between Tullaris and Mel, the Dark Elf decided to side with her viewpoint and the crew sailed away atop a raft, leaving the feral dinosaurs behind unmolested.

As of this storyline’s latest instalment in #lorefight 162, the raft arrived in Ind where Marco embarked on his latest get rich quick scheme to pay Harkon off – stealing a gem called the Stone of Simba from a tribe of tiger beastmen known as the Bengal in order to sell the gem to merchant Venk Kataswaran in Marienburg. However, as if things weren’t desperate enough already thanks to losing the Bronzed Saber and being pursued by Luthor Harkon’s underlings, distrust broke out between the crew when Mel learned that Tullaris originally intended to murder and sacrifice her as an offering to Khaine. Though Tullaris argued that he has changed since then and he appears sincere in that conviction, Mel remained wary around him. Nevertheless, when the crew’s lives were threatened by the Bengal, Mel decided to swallow her distrust and come to the others’ aid, running off and bringing back a company of Indyan soldiers to help subdue the Bengal threat. Sadly, crew member Senor Montero was already dead by then. Marco, Melandra, Tullaris and the rest of the crew including the quartermaster Mr. Bill, his pet salamander Lizzy and sailor Signore Petrochilo are now being accompanied by Indyan soldiers to attend supper with God-king Darahma. Perhaps if Darahma knew they were carrying the Lost Stone of Simba, a gem well-known for being cursed in Indyan superstition, he would be less eager to invite Marco and crew to his palace.

Moving forward there are many questions that are still unanswered in this storyline. Who exactly is Marco Colombo? Why is Luthor Harkon after him in the first place? What is the significance of the golden trinkets in Marco Colombo’s personal treasure chest? Can Mel and Tullaris mend their relationship? Has Tullaris really changed? Will feral dinosaurs ransack the mainland? How will Marco get back to Marienburg without a ship? Will Lady Morella d’Arlette of Zaragoz ever receive her wedding dress? And why does Marco keep referring to himself as the man who discovered Lustria despite clearly being mortal bodied? Stay tuned to find out.

8. The Spirit of Loec

Alith Anar’s storyline has not been particularly cheerful. Despite starting the series off with a rather innocuous archery tournament between him and the waystalker Scarloc as well as killing Malus Darkblade when he attempted to steal the Sword of Khaine, Alith’s real narrative began later when followers of the Dark Elf fleetmaster Drane Brackblood stormed Tor Dranil and abducted Alatar, Alith’s ward and only remaining distant relative, having been granted passage by a senior member of the Asur hierarchy. At first Alith suspected the prince of Chrace, Alastar the White Lion, for he had recently attempted to convince Alith to join a proposed invasion of Naggarond spearheaded by Prince Yvarn of Meletan and several other senior figures. Thus, Alastar could have orchestrated the kidnapping in order to stoke Alith’s hatred. However, it soon transpired Alastar was not the conspirator and so, Alith set off to save his ward.

While the main Asur invasion fleet fought the black ark Harbinger of Pain led by Captain Mortharor in order to land at Arnheim in preparation for a Northward push toward Karond Kar, the Shadow King took a small flotilla of Hawkships shrouded by the magics of the mushroom-addicted Archmage Belthania toward Slaver’s Point. After subduing the unkillable master Kaldor the Cruel and capturing Hauclir, Alith discovered Alatar had been purchased and sent to Hag Graef by the remaining Darkblade siblings Yasmir, Nagaira and Urial.

After taking a leaf out of his ally Belthania’s mushroom-loving book, Alith Anar proceeded to infiltrate Hag Graef by drugging the city’s guards. From there he killed all three Darkblade siblings. Sadly, it was too late to save Alatar from life-changing torture at Yasmir’s hands. Alith escaped Hag Graef carrying Alatar’s mutilated body in his arms but to what cost? He still doesn’t know who betrayed him in the first place.

9. Blessed By Battle

The foiling of Grimgor Ironhide’s siege of Altdorf and subsequent injuring of Grimgor himself left a power vacuum across Orc culture the world over. If da biggest was not truly da best, then who was?

Enter Azhag the Slaughterer, the magically-gifted orc warboss carrying Nagash’s crown on his head. Azhag proclaimed himself Avatar of Gork, resulting in a massive tide of savage orcs coming to his side. Eager to prove his strength with an easy Waaagh and driven by the Death God’s voice to travel South, Azhag led his orcs out of the Badlands to invade Araby.

The conflict started out as a bit of a steamroll in favour of the Orcs. They ransacked their way through Martek, Nejaz, Kufra and Ashdod before destroying Copher whereupon Azhag personally killed the Golden Magus, taking control of the sorcerer’s three Greater Djinns. However, savage orc warboss Grokka Goreaxe failed to conquer Al Haikk after the Sultan of Araby allowed his body to temporarily be possessed by the spirit of Araby’s ancient tyrannical magician Sultan Jaffar.

Having directed his sights towards Araby’s holiest city Mendai, Azhag now marches across the desert to quash Arabayan resolve by destroying the centre of the cult of Ormazd’s religion. However, the Arabayans will not take the loss of Mendai lightly. Princess Jasmine Silverveil, the Sultan’s only heir, autonomously pledged her hand in marriage to the mercenary paymaster Mydas the Mean in return for Tilean reinforcements, knowing well enough her betrothal to the Paymaster would results in the loss of her freedom as she joined his harem of sex slaves + she would lose contact with her beloved Prince of Thieves. Nevertheless, hard decisions must be made when one’s whole nation is threatened.

Will the Tilean reinforcements be enough to thwart Azhag’s invasion of Mendai? Will Princess Jasmine go through with her marriage to Mydas? Will Azhag’s role as Avatar of Gork last? Stay tuned to find out.

10. An Age of Reckoning

As is customary for stories featuring Dwarfs, this storyline began with a misunderstanding. What began with a small dispute over mining rights in the Grey mountains near the fringes of the forest soon got out of hand and escalated into a full-scale conflict between the Dwarfs and the Wood Elves. Before any diplomatic resolution could be reached, High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer summoned the banners of the other Dwarfen kings and together mustered a humongous 100,000 strong army with which to attack Athel Loren. This makes it possibly the largest army yet seen throughout the #lorefight series, rivalled only by Grimgor and Azhag’s Waaaghs.

The Dwarfs invaded Athel Loren, burning its trees and slaughtering their people in the untold thousands. Orion, Ariel, Araloth, Daith, Naestra & Arahan, Lothlann, Sceolann, Amadri, Celanoth, Kalara, Skaw, Wychwethyl, Athelwyn, Yolath and Coeddil were all killed during the conflict. In return, Coeddil killed Thorgrim before being caught in the forest’s wildfires. A mighty and ancient civilisation, reduced to around 5,000 survivors. What remains of Athel Loren is a burnt, broken sinew of what it once was, overrun by Beastmen and lingering spells that refuse to properly dissipate.

Since then, the Dwarfs have elected a new High King following, Thorgrim’s death, choosing Belegar Ironhammer as High King. Belegar’s rule has turned the Dwarfs even more indifferent to outsiders than before, refusing to aid the Empire through food and financial shortages later in the story so he can focus on retaking Karak Eight Peaks from Skarsnik.

However, just because the Asrai are few in numbers, this doesn’t mean they are out of the story yet. Following the fall of the forest, the remaining Elves split themselves into two factions. Scarloc and Durthu took the remaining warriors and treekin with them to wreak revenge on the Dawi. After joining forces with Prince Oreon in the South, these avenging skirmishers developed a nasty trick as part of their hit and run tactics. By finding the nexus points of the World Roots beneath certain cities and then severing those roots, Durthu and his peers are able to induce earthquakes by forcing whole cities to collapse in on themselves. They used this trick to destroy Karak Izor and plan to do so again against Zhufbar. Meanwhile, the other Wood Elf faction led by Naieth the Prophetess and Adanhu took charge of protecting the remaining Wood Elf refugees and civilians, guiding them through the World Roots towards Bretonnia before then receiving aid from Alberic de Bordeleaux to sail them to Ulthuan. There Naieth pleaded for sanctuary in Avelorn, a plea which was readily accepted by Alarielle the Everqueen. Despite being pregnant at the time, Alarielle had to be certain the Dwarfs wouldn’t seek further retaliation against the Asrai so she sailed to the Everpeak and negotiated with Belegar to end the Dwarf-Asrai conflict. After helping the Dwarfs fend off an undead invasion by Mannfred von Carstein, Alarielle and Belegar came to an accord. This includes creating an embassy at Oeragor to encourage friendship between the Asur and the Dawi (good luck with that) and pledging to mutually establish a long-term home for Naieth’s refugees by setting plans to invade Sartosa. In return, the pregnant Everqueen had to defile herself by taking a sip of Bugman’s Brew before the High King and had to formally denounce Scarloc and Durthu’s faction.

However, a third Wood Elf faction has since materialised. Though the Oak of Ages is destroyed, its incredible fonts of magic that flowed through it are difficult to vanquish, resulting in certain latent splutters of magic from time to time. Thus, even though Orion and Ariel could not reincarnate due to having no form to incarnate into, their souls were able to jointly latch onto and resurrect Araloth, creating a figure sharing three minds at once. Araloth has since become a spirit of vengeance but unlike Scarloc and Durthu who seek to directly attack the Dwarfs, Araloth instead targets those who let the Asrai down during their time of need, killing deserters and turning their ire toward the Empire who remained neutral in the conflict over Athel Loren. Araloth carries a sack of Acorns of the Oak of Ages, acorns which when needed can produce the Verdant Hunt, an army of spectral wood elf riders to deliver retribution against the resurrected leader’s foes. Araloth has since become the Fay-King of Laurelorn, worsening ties with the Middenlanders and even personally killing Ar-Ulric Emil Valgeir.

Looking forward the Wood Elves are a fractured people and the Dwarfs are obsessed with navel-gazing. While both will inevitably be necessary allies if the Empire is going to stop the onslaught of Chaos, such comradeship looks unlikely at best.

11. The Prince of the Fallen Sun

The announcement of Alarielle’s pregnancy was a rare moment of elation for the Defender of Ulthuan. Despite the political ramifications that would emerge if Asur society discovered Tyrion was the father rather than Finubar, the High Elf prince still looked forward to raising his child from afar. However, this excitement became short-lived as Tyrion was sent on a mission to Nippon alongside his squire Princess Eldyra of Tiranoc to crush a rebellion by rogue daimyo Sanyo Kawasaki who threatened to put an end to the elves’ maritime trade with the distant island nation.

Sadly for the Prince of House Emeraldsea, this trip to Nippon would not be a short one either. Soon after landing in Nippon a series of storms cut off his route home to Ulthuan, leaving only Dark Elf-infested waters to sail through. Without a fully stocked fleet to escort him home, Tyrion found himself stuck in Nippon and unable to return home to the woman he loves. Thus, he and Eldyra proceeded to do what they could to strengthen their bonds with the Nipponese people while they waited for the storms to pass, fending off a raid by Norscan ursinthrope Beorg Bearstruck and taming the wondrous Nipponese Stormbirds, an evolutionary offshoot from Phoenices indigenous to the Makudo Mountains capable of channelling bolts of lightning.

Nevertheless, greater dangers lurked for the Defender of Ulthuan. Ever since she failed to kill the Asur prince when she sent Shadowblade after him, the Witch Queen Hellebron developed an obsessive hatred toward Tyrion. Thus, upon learning of his stranded predicament, the Witch Queen and her Lord High Fleetmaster Lokhir Fellheart gathered an immense armada to conquer the Isles of Elithis and Nippon. Should she have succeeded, she would have cemented her hold over the Far Sea, added new territories to her empire and gained revenge over the Prince who vexed her.

Despite Tyrion’s growing anxieties and crisis in confidence surrounding his distance from his lover and future mother of his child, Tyrion agreed to lead Nippon’s defences against the oncoming Dark Elf invasion fleet. Lore fight 164 saw a massive battle taking place at Castle Usaki, Nippon’s military capital. Though Hellebron’s spies succeeded in assaulting the Nipponese Empress who was fleeing deeper inland away from the fighting, the actual Dark Elf invasion was ultimately foiled. Tyrion defeated Hellebron and her two top Khainite Assassins in a one on three duel, resulting in him arresting the Witch Queen. Princess Eldyra took a squadron of stormbird riders to cripple Lokhir Fellheart’s black ark the Tower of Blessed Dread. When he emerged atop a barely tamed black dragon Maelstrom to kill the princess, she used her mount’s superior manouverability to deceive Lokhir’s dragon, sending it crashing into one of the black ark’s towers before Lokhir endured a particularly grizzly demise being dragged across the hull of his own Black Ark before plummeting down into the sea after his leg became intertwined with the reins of his drake’s saddle. Meanwhile, Hellebron’s main army fell into disarray when the Grieving Guard legion declared its loyalties to Morathi and Malekith, turning their blades against their Druchii peers. Between battle with the Grieving Guard on one hand and the Nipponese army on the other, the Witch Queen’s remaining loyalists were doomed to lose the siege. The remaining survivors were pursued by a combination of Nipponese and Cathayan vessels as well as Indyan mercenaries loyal to the elves at the City of Spires.

Though the Battle of Castle Usaki was ultimately a triumph in favour of Tyrion, it came at the cost of tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives across Nippon’s many coastal cities. It also raises questions for what will happen next. Will Nippon strengthen its ties to the Asur or regret their alliance for bringing the Druchii here in the first place? What will happen to Hellebron’s reign now that she is under arrest? And will Tyrion get home to Ulthuan in time for his child’s birth?

12. The Enemy Within

Unlike most Asur who are content to remain on Ulthuan and protect their lands from outsiders, Teclis and his loremasters took a proactive step to combat the emerging threat of the Skaven by travelling to Lustria and setting their headquaters on the volcanic isles. However, their studies into the Skaven presence were put under sharp strain when Marco Colombo and Tullaris Dreadbringer broke into Itza and killed Gor-Rok. Due to the fact the ransacking of Itza and Teclis arrival in Lustria broadly coincided, the Lizardmen mistakenly drew a connection between Teclis’ elves and Tullaris, resulting in hostility between the Asur and the Children of the Old Ones. While Teclis obviously claimed he had no links to Tullaris, Slann lord Tepec-Inzi could not help but look at the attack on Itza as a cold vs warm blood issue, rather than properly deliniating between Asur, Druchii and other warm-blooded beings.

The consequences of this shortfall in nuance was that Tepec gathered a Lizardman army led by Kroq-Gar and assaulted the Star Tower. The elves and lizards (as well as their Amazon allies) fought for some time and incurred losses on both sides. Tepect-Inzi was killed when the elves summoned Amanar, Teclis killed Kroq-Gar and countless archmages and their elven underlings were slain return. However, the main cost of this conflict was that both sides lost focus on their main foes, the Vermintide.

Thus, when the Skaven did finally strike they created bloodshed. Lord Grilok attempted to poison the Lizardmen’s spawning pools near Hexoatl, Lord Gritch killed general Ferghal of the Iron Spear on the Elven side, Skaven artillery shot and injured Eltharion down while he was flying on Stormwing and Lord Skrolk’s armies conquered Oyxl, thereby marking a turn for the rat-men as they finally dare to rise above the surface.

Realising that the Elves and Lizardmen cannot continue to fight each other while the Skaven pick them off, Teclis began negotiations with Lords Huinitenuchli and Mazdamundi of the Lizardmen. However, there was one major oversight.

Having been shot down and returned to a blind state due to not having a sorcerer nearby, Eltharion found himself in the clutches of an odd yet charismatic creature called Ba’bu’shar. Ba’bu’shar is a daemon but not one belonging to any of the major chaos gods. Instead, Ba’bu’shar claims to be the last breath of a long-forgotten deity. Ba’bu’shar has the ability to shift reality by altering the past but crucially, it must receive the consent from a non-chaos worshipper before it can use its powers. In other words, it must convince its prey of the utility of its actions. In dealing with Eltharion, the daemon harkened back to his old friends who perished back when he stabilised the waystone of Tor Yvresse at the tail-end of Grom the Paunch’s waaagh. The creature offered the ability to rewrite the past and keep his allies from dying but with the added tangent that Ba’bu’shar would become one of those friends, an Asur loremaster who helped him defend Ulthuan. Desperate for friendship once again, Eltharion agreed to his plea and Ba’bu’shar’s ascension began. Eltharion, his friends and Loremaster Ba’bu’shar returned to Teclis’ company as if they had always belonged there. Teclis arrived at a diplomatic resolution with the Lizardmen, one involving a game of Blood Bowl to demonstrate the two sides’ sense of sportsmanship. However, this game was put to an end when the Skaven attacked once again, resulting in the death of Eltharion at the hands of Skaven sharpshooter Natty Buboe much to the disappointment of Teclis’ swordmistress friend Izaraa who failed to block the shot.

Moving forward, the elves and lizardmen are in a tricky place. On one hand they are no longer at war with each other and the rift that previously broke out between them is mending. They even decided to bury Eltharion and Kroq-Gar together in the same compound as a way of respecting each other’s legendary warriors. On the other hand, it is undeniable that the Skaven are in the ascendancy and that the more they feel able to exert their influence, the more they will. Furthermore, Ba’bu’shar went from manipulating Eltharion to coercing Teclis with seeming ease. Is there no limit to this lone daemon’s ambitions? Can the Skaven be stopped before their threat gets out of hand? Will Ba’bu’shar be revealed in time before it is too late? Only you can decide by voting in future stories.

13. Breaching the Great Bastion

To the Far East of most tales told in Warhammer Fantasy lore lies Grand Cathay, the world’s largest and oldest human empire. The #lorefight series has featured four stories featuring Cathayan representation as of yet, making it the shortest storyline on this list. Those stories were also written before Creative Assembly gave the Cathayans plenty of new lore through the release of Total War Warhammer 3, meaning they may no longer be as up to date as possible. Consequently, the following account will retcon those stories using updated WH3 terminologies to make them fit into the overal narrative better. I will leave the original stories unedited so you may read those original versions if you wish for a glimpse into Cathayan fan-imagining prior to CA’s intervention but functionally, I will be considering this summary as the loreful account of what happened for future stories.

The first two entries in Cathay’s story are disjointed yet still important. First, Admiral Yin-Tuan sought to invade the Southlands by launching a large invasion fleet in order to gain access to trade routes to the silk road. This invasion was thwarted by Skaven warlord Queek Headtaker who sought to blockade the road himself, resulting in the Skaven gaining control over the region and allowing them to prepare for future conquest such as against the Dwarfs, especially now that Belegar is High King.

Secondly, over in Nuln down-on-his-luck free company man Lucian the Blade discovered the Tzeentch-corrupted Cathayan ambassador Hong Fu Chu scheming with the Changeling. Lucian thusly killed Hong Fu Chu and received a promotion from Countess von Liebwitz which enabled him to rebuild his unit. However, given that this same unit later fell into a Tzeentchian trap at Castle Templehof and Lucian was personally transfigured by the mutative abilities of a Mutalith Vortex Beast, it would appear the Tzeentch-corrupted Cathayan received his revenge even beyond death.

However, the main story thrust and the elements I will continue building on into the future came from Cathay’s third and fourth stories. Following the discovery a series of Cathayan merchants had been abducted by Braugh the Slavelord, a rogue ogre slaver and necromancer in league with the Chaos Dwarfs intending to transport a dreadquake mortar through the Mountains of Mourn for a sneak attack on Overtyrant Goldtooth’s hold at Karak Krakaten, shugengan general Zhao Fei made an informal pact with Bragg the Gutsman to corner and defeat Braugh before he could succeed in his plans to bomb Greasus’ hold. Together, the Cathayan military and Bragg’s mounrfang cavalry packs smashed through Braugh’s maneaters and slavers and destroyed the dreadquake mortar using artillery fire. The Cathayans liberated their imprisoned merchants while Bragg captured Braugh, dragging the traitor away using his hooked Great Gutgouger to see Greasus in person.

Nevertheless, not all those merchants who were liberated that day were innocent. Among them was actually Albodi the Scarred, a Chosen of Tzeentch seeking to infiltrate Cathay by getting himself beyond the Great Bastion. Albodi had flayed his body to remove any chaos symbols from his body and endured years as a slave under Braugh, all in preparation for Zhao’s mercy. Upon being saved, the merchants were given passage through the Great Bastion and Albodi thusly disappeared. Some time later he resurfaced once again, this time having gained a set of armour from some sympathetic cultists and Clan Eshin skaven and he began his plan. He led the cultists of Chi’An Chi in a surprise attack on the monastery of Fu-Hung, home to Cathay’s celestial dragon monks and a weak point in Cathay’s protections from daemonic incursions due to an overflow of the winds of magic. Albodi killed the leader of the dragon monks Chen Long with help from the Skaven of Clan Eshin.

However, the betrayer was himself betrayed as Deathmaster Snikch emerged and stabbed Albodi, revealing he already had a deal with the Monkey King. Nonetheless, Snikch’s betrayal of the betrayer was itself betrayed for Albodi the Scarred had one last trick. Beneath his skin laid one final mark of Tzeentch, a mark that subsequently opened up and made a portal for Tzeentch’s daemonic legions. Albodi bled out and died an excruciating death from Snikch’s poisons, Snikch himself ran away but what matters most of all is that the Daemons of Tzeentch now wield a means of circumnavigating the Great Bastion. As the two lords of change Sarthorael the Ever-Watcher and Tchzen of the Silver Claw make their way into Cathay backed by a near endless tide of daemons, could this spell doom for the Empire of the Dragon’s future?

14. The Making of a Bounty Hunter

I am pleased to announce this series will soon embark on its fourteenth ongoing storyline, surrounding none other than the legendary Brunner the Bounty Hunter!

Eagle-eyed readers will know Brunner already appeared in the series back in #lorefight 114 as an option for Marco and Tullaris to go up against. However, seeing as people did not vote for that option and instead opted to welcome Melandra into the storyline instead, it means Brunner’s previous encounter never formally occurred. Consequently, I’ve decided to go in a different direction with Baron von Drakenburg. Similarly to how I wrote Archaon’s storyline, starting centuries ago when he began and then bringing his story up to the present day, Brunner’s upcoming reimagined storyline will serve a similar role by starting with his days prior to becoming a bounty hunter when he was an Imperial military intelligence agent before gradually developing his character into the current day bounty hunter people know and love, assuming readers do not vote for him to die off before he can get there of course. However, this doesn’t mean his story is set in stone as can be a problem with most prequels. The outcomes of Brunner’s narrative will have knock-on effects for many of the other storylines in this series, particularly the “Restoring an Empire” storyline, and will contribute to solving issues already raised there like Count Leitdorf’s disappearance and the brewing conflict in Marienburg. Thus, how people vote in this storyline will continue to shape the overall #lorefight narrative as a whole.

So, if you’re a fan of espionage stories mixed in with a healthy dose of fantastic Warhammer dramatics, stay tuned for Brunner’s storyline!

Thank you for taking the time to read through this page. I will endeavour to keep it regularly updated so it always contains the freshest account of each ongoing storyline. I hope you like where the series has gone so far, I thank all my regular contributors for getting it where it is and I hope new readers will join us in shaping the future of this ambitious project.

Have a nice day x