A little collaborative AoS writing project...

[Gorthor21]

I like that the shadow war.  We can’t forget the khainites and random smatterings of skaven and moonclan grots living in the literal calcified bowels of the city.

[Sttufe]

2 hours ago, Gorthor21 said:

I like that the shadow war.  We can’t forget the khainites and random smatterings of skaven and moonclan grots living in the literal calcified bowels of the city.

I just thought of something. What if we have it so that it is a shadow war to the truest extent, in that the populatio living there doesn't even know there is a war or things under it. I could totally see this as an Aelven move, where the common population does not know there even is a battle being waged.

[Kalebkhaine]

It would be neat if you had the Nagash Cult directly opposed in the shadow wars by the vampire cults who are loyal to Neferata.  We know she has influence in nearly every city.

So you have:

Skaven (it being uglu one would assume eshin to be predominant)

Vampires

Nagashi

Sigmarites

Khainites

Grotts in the catacombs 

The undead in the catacombs

Various chaos cultists

Free peoples just trying to live their lives

Merchant guilds

Maybe a "central park" kinda deal with allarielle devotees

All inside the city before any external threats are accounted for.

[Sttufe]

4 minutes ago, Kalebkhaine said:

It would be neat if you had the Nagash Cult directly opposed in the shadow wars by the vampire cults who are loyal to Neferata.  We know she has influence in nearly every city.

So you have:

Skaven (it being uglu one would assume eshin to be predominant)

Vampires

Nagashi

Sigmarites

Khainites

Grotts in the catacombs 

The undead in the catacombs

Various chaos cultists

Free peoples just trying to live their lives

Merchant guilds

Maybe a "central park" kinda deal with allarielle devotees

All inside the city before any external threats are accounted for.

Don't forget Kharadron heavily represented by Barak Mhornar and friends.

[Kalebkhaine]

7 minutes ago, Sttufe said:

Don't forget Kharadron heavily represented by Barak Mhornar and friends.

Most assuredly!

Would be kinda neat if the khainites made a fighting pit place that they trained in but also other groups used as well. Like a gladiator ring for the ammusment of the city, and unbeknownst to them a cult of khorne has started to take root there.

[Sttufe]

1 minute ago, Kalebkhaine said:

Most assuredly!

Would be kinda neat if the khainites made a fighting pit place that they trained in but also other groups used as well. Like a gladiator ring for the ammusment of the city, and unbeknownst to them a cult of khorne has started to take root there.

Woops, there we go accidentally making a cult again.

[Gorthor21]

I always imagined the vampires as the ones who spread the cults but them being separate kinds of vampires working at the same time would be cool.  
I was just wondering what do these people do to eat, then that got me thinking how do they survive with so much intriguing and shadow murder wars.  There has to be something that they all want other than food and water for a complex society to exist here.   If your familiar with Excelsis think of the prophecy chips they use as currency and you get what I mean.  
I think if they have a large complex agricultural system That is well established like serfdom or large plantations there would be enough commerce and trade to give rise to this many illicit organizations.  The human population kept downtrodden to produce food for the city of mixed races.

[Kalebkhaine]

I don't know,  I feel like mortal priests of nagash would exist as well. Seeing as how he is a god of death not just undeath. And the vampires tend to balk at nagash's rule. Trying to carve out their own influence and control separate to the bone king. All the while all to aware that they can never be free of his control.

It could be as simple as the bones of this great beast are high in value. Perhaps they have magical alchemical qualities or are great conduits for enchantment. Obviously these bones are a non renewable resource and as such are hoarded and fought over. It would also serve as a great tradable resource.

Obviously some farms would still have to exist. Maybe that certain members of the council might shuffle some homeless unfortunates into the catacombs once in a while and in return a crop of filling mushrooms might be delivered by the grotts. 

Could be that several farming communities from the surrounding area pay tithe to the city in return for protection. 

Could be a group of less fortunate are finding help and a better life in the service of a handsome nobleman and his philanthropic peers who are always able to provide a feast in in these troubling times (read: a fledgling flesh eater court) 

[NinthMusketeer]

Mortal priests and entire cults of Nagash do exist--they have popped up in novels & short stories.

Also, let us not forget that the city could have more than one realmgate, and/or a realmgate that moves could pass by on a regular cycle. It sounds like the latter is what people might want for the Chamon aspect; some sort of skyborne moving realmgate that follows a specific path which passes the city on a regular (or irregular) interval. Probably fortified by KO.

[Moldek]

4 hours ago, NinthMusketeer said:

Mortal priests and entire cults of Nagash do exist--they have popped up in novels & short stories.

Also, let us not forget that the city could have more than one realmgate, and/or a realmgate that moves could pass by on a regular cycle. It sounds like the latter is what people might want for the Chamon aspect; some sort of skyborne moving realmgate that follows a specific path which passes the city on a regular (or irregular) interval. Probably fortified by KO.

Good points - could have several realmgates and be a hub of commerce, with major connections to shyish and chamon (moving realmgate controlled by an allied kharadron skyport).

Due to it’s independant nature, it might also be a neutral ground for various diplomatic and commercial negociations, where information is sold and treaties are signed. Might be a source of strange and powerful realmstone and other minerals too, between the magical radiations of the godbeast’s bones and the combined influence of shyish, chamon and ulgu... 

Probably a great place for mercenary companies, forges, spies, exiles, traders, etc

[JPjr]

hey y'all. really sorry real life got in the way last week, I've kept meaning to come back to this thread and try and join the dots and get it moving but well I've kinda buried myself in several bottles of rum instead. BUT  new week and all that, just looking through and there's some really fun stuff going already. So please keep going!

I'm going to properly look through what everyones come up with in a bit and then throw some of my ideas in. thanks!

 

 

 

[JPjr]

ok, apologies for this just being a ****** huge stream of consciousness but I read everyone's ideas and then figured I'd just start typing and see what came out...  15 minutes and some sore fingers here's what I've got. As I said it's just unfiltered nonsense so please judge it on that basis as a starting point perhaps!

 

AGE OF MYTH - THE RISE OF ALTAXOS

In the age of myth Altaxos was widely regarded as one of the gems of Chamon, sat upon the jagged shores of the Crystal Coast and built up upon the steep slopes of Mount Altos it was a city of gleaming spires that, in its prime, were said to pierce the clouds themselves. 

Originally just a small unremembered fishing port the history of Altaxos really begins with the discovery of the Circadian Way, a realmgate upon Mount Altos that allows travel to Ghyran by the light of Hysh and Shyish when Ugly is ascendent.

Once the gate had been secured Altaxos began to establish itself as a vital trading stop connecting the realms. As the trade route through the gate became more established the Altaxians began to service and cater to the growing numbers of merchants forced to stay a while before passing on to their next destination.

And in just a few years  Altaxos grew from little more than a rest stop for traders to a bustling town and finally a powerful city and destination in its own right. 

Humans, Duardin and Aelves alike called the city home and doubtless many wondrous tales would be told of this city had any of its inhabitants survived its downfall to recount them. For like all the realms Chaos would come to Altaxos and the results would be devastating.

For the inhabitants of Altaxos were not just the guardians of a portal connecting 3 of the realms but of an even greater power for in the caverns beneath Mount Altos lay a vast lake of mercury within which slept a giant, shimmering creature from the dawn of time. The Altaxians had learnt to harness the energy from this creatures dreams to power their own magicks and turn the city into a centre of arcane research and learning.

AGE OF CHAOS - THE FALL OF ALTAXOS

When Chaos did come to Altaxos it wasn't in the form of blood drenched Khornate berserkers or the bloated plague ridden armies of Nurgle but through more insidious means. As the forces of Chaos began to tear their way through the realms, Altaxos stood firm but as its sister cities began to fall its inhabitants began to look for ways to defend themselves and increasingly looked to more and more extreme methods.

Finally the day came when the cries went up and the black, rotten sails of the Plague Fleet were spotted on the horizon heading towards the city. As the decaying hulls of those dread mariners approached a cabal of arcane scholars, who had fallen under the sway of a Magister who had secretly pledged himself to Tzeentch, attempted to draw even more power from the slumbering god beast beneath the city.

For Tzeentch had long wanted to corrupt this ancient creature and harness its arcane powers that would allow dreams or of course nightmares to become one with reality. If he could wake the beast and have it bound to his cause he could rend a hole in reality straight into the shifting mercurial dimensions of his own realm.

Still much as Tzeentch wanted the creature for his own ends he was also as keen not to let it fall into the hands of his great rival Nurgle. As the rotting warriors of the Maggotkin began their assault upon the city the cabal began their ritual but tainted by the twisted magic of the changer of ways their rite was met with disastrous results.

As the creature began to wake up, reality and its ancient dreams began to become one and the same and cavorting daemons started to appear out of impossibly aligned streets that twisted into the air. Realising too late they'd been tricked the sorcerers attempted to bind the creature once more but the result was a catastrophic technicolor explosion, that could be seen for hundreds of miles, blowing the mountain into the sky and wiping out everyone, Altaxian and Maggotkin and cavorting Horror alike.

What was left of the mountain collapsed the sea flooded in and almost all trace of this once mighty civilisation was lost to time. For hundreds of years what had been a mighty metropolis was left undisturbed, a ruin haunted by shimmering iridescent ghosts, the memories of those who had been caught up in the catastrophic energies unleashed at its end.

THE AGE OF SIGMAR - THE RISE OF CALDEROS

But then driven off course by strange magical tides, a human trader took shelter in the natural harbour that had formed from the mountains collapse and made landfall on the island in the centre of the bay. There amongst the ruins of this ancient, forgotten city they found the realmgate, still perfectly preserved amongst the devastation.

Realising its importance a force was sent to secure the land and so history began again, now around 100 years on from its rediscover the newly named city of Calderos has risen from the ashes of its forgotten forbear and whilst still but a pale reflection of its past has become a bustling, vibrant city again and grown rich on trade.

The Circadian Way is now guarded by a Stormkeep manned by a small yet effective detachment from the [INSERT MADE UP STORMHOST] under the command of Lord Ordinator [INSERT NAME] and a standing free guild milita. And once again the area around it is thronged by establishments looking to stare to those travelling through it.

Nearby you have a bustling market that sits by the docks and where anything and everything can be bought for the right price, and a small Kharadron sky-port has been built on one of the few remaining peaks on the island, connected to the port and market below by a marvellous Duardin built aether powered funicular.

The city is run by a small council led by members representing the merchant guilds, the port masters, members of the ironweld, noble families that have relocated there with warrants of command from Azyr, the Kharadron and a representative of the Lord Ordinator (who himself generally prefers to concentrate on building the city and exploring the secrets of its past).

Despite, or because of the different competing factions, Calderos is a loosely run place with lots of money to be made and power acquired. Powerful crime organisations have moved in and control large parts of the market and the inns and entertainments that cater to the city.

Whilst most are unaware of the history of Altaxos, brave and foolish adventurers do sometimes venture into the caverns beneath the city where remnants of its glorious past may still be found, amongst other darker things. Others with less noble intent use the caverns beneath the city for clandestine meetings, and even entertainment and underground fight clubs and the like are staged by the criminal gangs.

And deep beneath even that in a huge mercury filled chamber a gigantic sleeping creature is slowly coalescing again, the only hint the increasingly vivid dreams that citizens of Calderos are prone to have and the stories of people finding themselves walking up impossible streets that obey no laws of geometry, stories that are usually put down to the consumption of Duardin ale.

The city is connected to the mainland by a thin man made bridge and villages and farms have sprung up along the coast to supply and support the growing city. The sides of the Caldera, with their rich magically infused soil, are in particular are well suited to growing crops and vast vineyards occupy much of the land producing several notable vintages that are sought after throughout the realms.

Along the coast are scattered fishing villages that in essence owe their loyalty to the city and in turn look it for defence, occasionally strange events befall these minor outposts and they fall prey to the predations of a small, secretive Idoneth enclave just off the coast.

The rise of the city has also attracted other forces, once again Tzeentch has cast his eyes on the city. Amongst the rundown shanties and the poor a cult dedicated to the Changer of Ways has begun to take root, promising freedom from oppression, meanwhile at least one notable member of the council is secretly a Magister, who driven by dreams is looking to find & bind the creature beneath the city.

With its realm gate leading to Shyish the forces of Nagash have also looked to infiltrate the city. There's a small temple dedicated to one of the more socially acceptable forms of Nagash, where those travelling to & from Shyish will often stop at, but they are not the real threat rather one of the Azyrite nobles on the council is in thrall to a vampire sent by Neferata, and who has established a small but growing nest within the city.

Beyond the city there are still more threats aplenty, whether they be raiding parties of marauders or the occasional Orruk warband that smashes through. But generally these haven't been existential threats, till now at any rate.

Attack from the sea is always a threat but an ingenious Ironweld built chain stretches across the entrance to the bay protecting it from direct naval assault and again it has been many years since the black flags of the Plague Fleets have been spotted in these waters...

 

 

NB. as I said this is all just a random stream of consciousness so dont feel like it's gospel or has to be THE WAY, just an idea.

I also realised when I sketched a really ****** map that whilst in my head the island was based on Santorini it's actually very similar to the old Ulthuan from the Old world... 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Edited May 4, 2020 by JPjr

[Sttufe]

26 minutes ago, JPjr said:

ok, apologies for this just being a ****** huge stream of consciousness but I read everyone's ideas and then figured I'd just start typing and see what came out...  15 minutes and some sore fingers here's what I've got. As I said it's just unfiltered nonsense so please judge it on that basis as a starting point perhaps!

 

AGE OF MYTH - THE RISE OF ALTAXOS

In the age of myth Altaxos was widely regarded as one of the gems of Chamon, sat upon the jagged shores of the Crystal Coast and built up upon the steep slopes of Mount Altos it was a city of gleaming spires that, in its prime, were said to pierce the clouds themselves. 

Originally just a small unremembered fishing port the history of Altaxos really begins with the discovery of the Circadian Way, a realmgate upon Mount Altos that allows travel to Ghyran by the light of Hysh and Shyish when Ugly is ascendent.

Once the gate had been secured Altaxos began to establish itself as a vital trading stop connecting the realms. As the trade route through the gate became more established the Altaxians began to service and cater to the growing numbers of merchants forced to stay a while before passing on to their next destination.

And in just a few years  Altaxos grew from little more than a rest stop for traders to a bustling town and finally a powerful city and destination in its own right. 

Humans, Duardin and Aelves alike called the city home and doubtless many wondrous tales would be told of this city had any of its inhabitants survived its downfall to recount them. For like all the realms Chaos would come to Altaxos and the results would be devastating.

For the inhabitants of Altaxos were not just the guardians of a portal connecting 3 of the realms but of an even greater power for in the caverns beneath Mount Altos lay a vast lake of mercury within which slept a giant, shimmering creature from the dawn of time. The Altaxians had learnt to harness the energy from this creatures dreams to power their own magicks and turn the city into a centre of arcane research and learning.

AGE OF CHAOS - THE FALL OF ALTAXOS

When Chaos did come to Altaxos it wasn't in the form of blood drenched Khornate berserkers or the bloated plague ridden armies of Nurgle but through more insidious means. As the forces of Chaos began to tear their way through the realms, Altaxos stood firm but as its sister cities began to fall its inhabitants began to look for ways to defend themselves and increasingly looked to more and more extreme methods.

Finally the day came when the cries went up and the black, rotten sails of the Plague Fleet were spotted on the horizon heading towards the city. As the decaying hulls of those dread mariners approached a cabal of arcane scholars, who had fallen under the sway of a Magister who had secretly pledged himself to Tzeentch, attempted to draw even more power from the slumbering god beast beneath the city.

For Tzeentch had long wanted to corrupt this ancient creature and harness its arcane powers that would allow dreams or of course nightmares to become one with reality. If he could wake the beast and have it bound to his cause he could rend a hole in reality straight into the shifting mercurial dimensions of his own realm.

Still much as Tzeentch wanted the creature for his own ends he was also as keen not to let it fall into the hands of his great rival Nurgle. As the rotting warriors of the Maggotkin began their assault upon the city the cabal began their ritual but tainted by the twisted magic of the changer of ways their rite was met with disastrous results.

As the creature began to wake up, reality and its ancient dreams began to become one and the same and cavorting daemons started to appear out of impossibly aligned streets that twisted into the air. Realising too late they'd been tricked the sorcerers attempted to bind the creature once more but the result was a catastrophic technicolor explosion, that could be seen for hundreds of miles, blowing the mountain into the sky and wiping out everyone, Altaxian and Maggotkin and cavorting Horror alike.

What was left of the mountain collapsed the sea flooded in and almost all trace of this once mighty civilisation was lost to time. For hundreds of years what had been a mighty metropolis was left undisturbed, a ruin haunted by shimmering iridescent ghosts, the memories of those who had been caught up in the catastrophic energies unleashed at its end.

THE AGE OF SIGMAR - THE RISE OF CALDEROS

But then driven off course by strange magical tides, a human trader took shelter in the natural harbour that had formed from the mountains collapse and made landfall on the island in the centre of the bay. There amongst the ruins of this ancient, forgotten city they found the realmgate, still perfectly preserved amongst the devastation.

Realising its importance a force was sent to secure the land and so history began again, now around 100 years on from its rediscover the newly named city of Calderos has risen from the ashes of its forgotten forbear and whilst still but a pale reflection of its past has become a bustling, vibrant city again and grown rich on trade.

The Circadian Way is now guarded by a Stormkeep manned by a small yet effective detachment from the [INSERT MADE UP STORMHOST] under the command of Lord Ordinator [INSERT NAME] and a standing free guild milita. And once again the area around it is thronged by establishments looking to stare to those travelling through it.

Nearby you have a bustling market that sits by the docks and where anything and everything can be bought for the right price, and a small Kharadron sky-port has been built on one of the few remaining peaks on the island, connected to the port and market below by a marvellous Duardin built aether powered funicular.

The city is run by a small council led by members representing the merchant guilds, the port masters, members of the ironweld, noble families that have relocated there with warrants of command from Azyr, the Kharadron and a representative of the Lord Ordinator (who himself generally prefers to concentrate on building the city and exploring the secrets of its past).

Despite, or because of the different competing factions, Calderos is a loosely run place with lots of money to be made and power acquired. Powerful crime organisations have moved in and control large parts of the market and the inns and entertainments that cater to the city.

Whilst most are unaware of the history of Altaxos, brave and foolish adventurers do sometimes venture into the caverns beneath the city where remnants of its glorious past may still be found, amongst other darker things. Others with less noble intent use the caverns beneath the city for clandestine meetings, and even entertainment and underground fight clubs and the like are staged by the criminal gangs.

And deep beneath even that in a huge mercury filled chamber a gigantic sleeping creature is slowly coalescing again, the only hint the increasingly vivid dreams that citizens of Calderos are prone to have and the stories of people finding themselves walking up impossible streets that obey no laws of geometry, stories that are usually put down to the consumption of Duardin ale.

The city is connected to the mainland by a thin man made bridge and villages and farms have sprung up along the coast to supply and support the growing city. The sides of the Caldera, with their rich magically infused soil, are in particular are well suited to growing crops and vast vineyards occupy much of the land producing several notable vintages that are sought after throughout the realms.

Along the coast are scattered fishing villages that in essence owe their loyalty to the city and in turn look it for defence, occasionally strange events befall these minor outposts and they fall prey to the predations of a small, secretive Idoneth enclave just off the coast.

The rise of the city has also attracted other forces, once again Tzeentch has cast his eyes on the city. Amongst the rundown shanties and the poor a cult dedicated to the Changer of Ways has begun to take root, promising freedom from oppression, meanwhile at least one notable member of the council is secretly a Magister, who driven by dreams is looking to find & bind the creature beneath the city.

With its realm gate leading to Shyish the forces of Nagash have also looked to infiltrate the city. There's a small temple dedicated to one of the more socially acceptable forms of Nagash, where those travelling to & from Shyish will often stop at, but they are not the real threat rather one of the Azyrite nobles on the council is in thrall to a vampire sent by Neferata, and who has established a small but growing nest within the city.

Beyond the city there are still more threats aplenty, whether they be raiding parties of marauders or the occasional Orruk warband that smashes through. But generally these haven't been existential threats, till now at any rate.

Attack from the sea is always a threat but an ingenious Ironweld built chain stretches across the entrance to the bay protecting it from direct naval assault and again it has been many years since the black flags of the Plague Fleets have been spotted in these waters...

 

 

NB. as I said this is all just a random stream of consciousness so dont feel like it's gospel or has to be THE WAY, just an idea.

I also realised when I sketched a really ****** map that whilst in my head the island was based on Santorini it's actually very similar to the old Ulthuan from the Old world... 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

This sounds great and I really like it! One thing, I think were still going back and forth on the is the cit living inside the dead godbeasts bones or keeping it asleep so it might have to change a little there but other than that I love it.

[Moldek]

@JPjr great stuff man, I like most of your lore, I think we could twist it a bit to fit everyone else’s ideas. I really liked the visual of a city built inside a colossal skeleton; doesn’t mean the godbeast is not being reborn deep below it’s previous remains...

[Sttufe]

18 minutes ago, Moldek said:

@JPjr great stuff man, I like most of your lore, I think we could twist it a bit to fit everyone else’s ideas. I really liked the visual of a city built inside a colossal skeleton; doesn’t mean the godbeast is not being reborn deep below it’s previous remains...

Ooh I like that, how the godbeast having been killed is slowly coming back and is in it's "baby" form. Smaller in size than it was previously but still absolutely huge.

[Gorthor21]

Everything that @JPjrwrote includes everything we have brain stormed on here.  The supernatural caldera is a cool idea and still keeps the godbeast we want.  

[Kalebkhaine]

I like this,and would be totally good with this.

Another possibility is that it's built in the skeleton,  but the creature is not dead. Nor has it respawned.

Perhaps the creature can't truly die, and the recent necroquake has expedited its previously almost imperceptible regeneration. 

Now the bones are mending at an alarming rate. Some more profit minded people rejoice that the precious bone is now seemingly endless greater imprecations be d****ned. Others, the nagashi, skaven and the like see it as their duty to allow the beast to regenerate so that they can control it later.  And still others,  maybe the sigmarites seek to find a way to keep the beast docile and comatose. 

Just a thought that came at me. Whatever we do, I'm excited.

[Kalebkhaine]

@JPjr I absolutely love the idea with the shifting realmgate, that is brilliant

[Gorthor21]

Do you think the fish in Chamon would have metal scales or bones?

[Kalebkhaine]

Maybe! Could be the metal scales of certain fish are used as jewelry or "scale armor" as well as being tasty and nutritious. 

[Sttufe]

22 minutes ago, Kalebkhaine said:

Maybe! Could be the metal scales of certain fish are used as jewelry or "scale armor" as well as being tasty and nutritious. 

I like teh idea of making quite valuable scale armor, making rather large-ish scales a form of currency, the bigger and harder the better. All sorts of oppurtunities for illegal farms and casting the scales out of metal. 

[Gorthor21]

Counterfeiting fish scales 🤣🤣

I could see scourge privateers being big players n town.  

[Twisted Firaun]

I’ve been reading this thread and would like to add my two armies(the current one and an upcoming project) to the members of this fair city. I offer my corrupted Duardin of Barak Zhar-Ramad(

), and The Ashen Maws: a Fire obsessed Mawtribe.

[Sttufe]

9 minutes ago, TheR00zle said:

I’ve been reading this thread and would like to add my two armies(the current one and an upcoming project) to the members of this fair city. I offer my corrupted Duardin of Barak Zhar-Ramad(

), and The Ashen Maws: a Fire obsessed Mawtribe.

The Duardin of the nearby Skyport (prolly my self - insert army) are hiding a dark secret from the rest of the city...

[Twisted Firaun]

2 hours ago, Sttufe said:

The Duardin of the nearby Skyport (prolly my self - insert army) are hiding a dark secret from the rest of the city...

Long as they’re not also worshippers of Hashut in his aspect of The Ashen Smith then we’re all good.