A little collaborative AoS writing project...

[Gorthor21]

I would be interested in writing something once you all have it hashed out which way you want the setting to go.  I tried this same exercise and it helped motivate me to paint which is always a good thing.  
I do think posting writing to the forums is the way to go so we can represent TGA.  Maybe that’s the name of the ruling body in the setting.

[NinthMusketeer]

Uh, Homebrew!

[Sttufe]

1 hour ago, NinthMusketeer said:

Uh, Homebrew!

Too late, but don't worry, that was the vote!

3 hours ago, Gorthor21 said:

I would be interested in writing something once you all have it hashed out which way you want the setting to go.  I tried this same exercise and it helped motivate me to paint which is always a good thing.  
I do think posting writing to the forums is the way to go so we can represent TGA.  Maybe that’s the name of the ruling body in the setting.

That is why I am pushing so strongly, a) cool idea I don't want to die and b) painting motivation

Edited April 30, 2020 by Sttufe

[Gorthor21]

Has anyone dropped any ideas?

[Beastmaster]

As fine as democracy is, maybe it would be easier if someone just started. Set a realm, roughly outline an area, give a name for a city and, thus, start the ball. Once it rolls, others will jump on with ideas, I would think, placing their favorite landscapes/races around and in it, which lets it grow naturally in the directions each writer wants. Just an idea. 😊

Maybe if someone who knows enough about the current state of the lore (so not me 😅) just picks an area and a city that is currently not fleshed out, so we don’t clash with the official lore? Could be a coastal city or on a river, so that there’s a bit of trade and travel going on, while still being potentially hard to reach?

Edited April 30, 2020 by Beastmaster

[Moldek]

I agree with @Beastmaster , personnally I already spend a lot of time on various social media and whatsapp family groups and such. I know I won’t be able to be too active in voting and collaborative worldbuilding, but I’d love to write something in a framework that’s already decided, either by headmaster @JPjr or those of us who want to vote and flesh it out. 

I’ll keep an eye on this thread anyways!

 

[Gorthor21]

i think we should just start coming up with ideas and once there are a bunch you start the voting.  
 

I vote a Tzeentch cult rooted deep in the city with all that entails.  Maybe Nagash Worshippers corrupting people to necromancy resulting in gang wars between the two

[Moldek]

3 minutes ago, Gorthor21 said:

i think we should just start coming up with ideas and once there are a bunch you start the voting.  
 

I vote a Tzeentch cult rooted deep in the city with all that entails.  Maybe Nagash Worshippers corrupting people to necromancy resulting in gang wars between the two

I agree, and I vote that this city is a huge city dating back from the age of myth. It used to pay heavy tributes to chaos but is now on the side of order, although the inhabitants are fiercely independant, with a large number of religions and peoples having their seats on the council.

And obviously it was built over the corpse of a gigantic godbeast!

[Sttufe]

39 minutes ago, Moldek said:

I agree, and I vote that this city is a huge city dating back from the age of myth. It used to pay heavy tributes to chaos but is now on the side of order, although the inhabitants are fiercely independant, with a large number of religions and peoples having their seats on the council.

And obviously it was built over the corpse of a gigantic godbeast!

Of course, of course, I am voting for the godbeast having done some pretty bad thing, and now the various factions are trying to study/destroy/manipulate the god beast. Prolly gonna be writing some KO based stories around that, maybe with some spooky nurgle bugs causing some havoc in their research facility. Maybe do some Fyreslayer mercenary type thing with the cults. Democratic government seems the route to go, and maybe even having it so that it was overrun in the Age of Chaos, occupied by some cultists, and then Order came back and booted them out. Probably could incorporate that the survivors of the various cultists are the ones who now want "their" city back.

[Gorthor21]

What realm should this take place in?  Should there be a situation like Hammerhal where trade is from the realmgate or like Excelsis where trade is done based on a magic substance like a realmstone?  I think if we stick with a realm they have talked about a lot then it would give us a better framework to build on as well as providing how the laws of physics function there.  
What type of god beast are we talking here? Like an Ignax level power or something more like the squig one that burned up in the sun.  I think something like the lodestone griffin from Chamon would be cool where it is so powerful on its magical nature that it warps reality around it. 

[Sttufe]

2 hours ago, Gorthor21 said:

What realm should this take place in?  Should there be a situation like Hammerhal where trade is from the realmgate or like Excelsis where trade is done based on a magic substance like a realmstone?  I think if we stick with a realm they have talked about a lot then it would give us a better framework to build on as well as providing how the laws of physics function there.  
What type of god beast are we talking here? Like an Ignax level power or something more like the squig one that burned up in the sun.  I think something like the lodestone griffin from Chamon would be cool where it is so powerful on its magical nature that it warps reality around it. 

Interesting idea I just thought of, in the Age of Myth, emboldened by the exploits of the gods themselves at achieving stability and peace, a city was arisen on a solidified, for lack of a better term, in the Realm of Chaos. During the Age of Chaos, it was overrun quickly, however the majority of the population was unable to flee. They dove beneath the ground, into hidden bunkers, and floated through the churning void, keeping failing stabilizers and reality anchors online. Not well explored realm, but we can pretty much do anything, as Order wants this beachhead, Chaos wants it to suffer total existence failure, Destruction wants to destroy some more things and Chaos offers good krum- er fight, and Death also wants to get back at Chaos. It has realm gates which are hidden and lead to above ground, meaning that the liberating SCE had to fight in the Realm of Chaos itself, causing some detrimental effects to the legions fighting (reforged 3x as many times as the other hosts has to do something bad to your psychology, amirite?) however in the end they won. Obviously heavy presence of everyone, and a major state of rebuilding, everything is shipped in because it is literally hurtling through the Realm of Chaos, and all that kind of stuff. Lots of heroic stands and a very unique take.

Edit: Woops that was a lot more in detail than I wanted: Basics, in the Realm of Chaos, founded in the Age of Myth, barely reclaimed from destruction in the Age of Chaos.

Edit 2: Maybe involving a sleeping god beast which is the only thing stabilizing it, and if it wakes up everything dissolves so half the mages are dedicated to keeping it asleep/alive.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Sttufe

[Gorthor21]

I’m not sure about pocket realms hurdling through the realm of chaos.  Maybe a hidden realm gate leads there and chaos cults use it to move in reinforcements or flee if need be.

 

i was thinking more on the duality if the Azyrite faiths versus those that we considered heresy to build on my earlier post with vampire covens masquerading as nobles and Nagasaki death cults preying on the downtrodden using them as will vessels of sacrifice to fuel the power of the necromantic cabals.  You could have slanneshi pleasure cults, Nurgle plague congregations, Tzeentch cabal meetings as much as hidden Khornate gladiatorial fight clubs .  
 

Maybe separate the city by segregation based on class instead of race so the rich have the best defensive parts of town alll the duardin, aellves, and oomgi ass have to dwell in close confines.

question is do the dominate the landscape around their city with outposts and free guild forts all over the place.  
 

one thing I think we should all do is try and write from the perspective of the characters or armies you would prefer to be canon there like how there are shameless plugs for all the new kits in the BL literature that comes out with a release.  It’s a good technique to try and narratively make a mediocre or bad unit you like seem awesome in the lore. Sell your arguments you know.   

[Moldek]

@Sttufe I think your idea is cool but a bit impractical for the realm of chaos bit. I’d rather have it in a more « normal » region so it gives people room to explore the areas around, write about neighbour cities etc.

I do like the idea of a sleeping godbeast, that has to be kept frome waking by a covent of wizards. Maybe that’s how you get political power? The more wizards your faction provides, the more influence you gain...

[Sttufe]

5 hours ago, Moldek said:

@Sttufe I think your idea is cool but a bit impractical for the realm of chaos bit. I’d rather have it in a more « normal » region so it gives people room to explore the areas around, write about neighbour cities etc.

I do like the idea of a sleeping godbeast, that has to be kept frome waking by a covent of wizards. Maybe that’s how you get political power? The more wizards your faction provides, the more influence you gain...

Yes thinking back I can see why it is a bit impractical, I do like the idea of class segregation, and combined with the whoever provides the most wizards would be pretty cool.

[NinthMusketeer]

What about the corpse of an immense godbeast, one slain in the age of myth. It died on its 'back' and has sunk into the ground somewhat over the ages, its spine now lies underground while multiple ribs jut up from the ground as individual towers. Each tower formally belongs to a [powerful mage/runemaster/leader/whatever] and his or her [clan/family/gang/subfaction/whatever] which are constantly vying for political control over the main city built within the bounds created by the rib cage. Walls have been built between the rib-towers and the towers themselves also carry major responsibility in defending the city, flinging projectiles, spells and whatnot at incoming attackers.

During the age of Chaos the city fell* from within, the rib-tower masters either turning to chaos or murdered by those who did. What was once political conflict between the towers became outright warfare which continued until the region was liberated through the efforts of Order (insert faction here). By isolating and attacking the towers individually the Order forces were able to methodically retake the city in a piecemeal fashion despite being heavily outnumbered; each of the tower masters was pleased to see another fall while in their arrogance believing they could emerge victorious if the forces of Order attacked them.

Once the towers were under Order control the city itself, reduced to ruin by centuries of conflict, could be rebuilt. However this still left the matter of the spinal-cavern. It lay beneath the ground, theoretically connected to all of the rib-towers and also of great import for it contained the [insert realmgate]. Yet in each of the towers those passages had been ominously sealed, leaving only one means of entrance; the main gateway that lay at the base of the godbeast's skull...

*At the moment fluff states that no non-chaos human cities were left by the time the Stormcast came down, so having the city survive throughout as non-chaos would be against the cannon.

[Sttufe]

4 hours ago, NinthMusketeer said:

What about the corpse of an immense godbeast, one slain in the age of myth. It died on its 'back' and has sunk into the ground somewhat over the ages, its spine now lies underground while multiple ribs jut up from the ground as individual towers. Each tower formally belongs to a [powerful mage/runemaster/leader/whatever] and his or her [clan/family/gang/subfaction/whatever] which are constantly vying for political control over the main city built within the bounds created by the rib cage. Walls have been built between the rib-towers and the towers themselves also carry major responsibility in defending the city, flinging projectiles, spells and whatnot at incoming attackers.

During the age of Chaos the city fell* from within, the rib-tower masters either turning to chaos or murdered by those who did. What was once political conflict between the towers became outright warfare which continued until the region was liberated through the efforts of Order (insert faction here). By isolating and attacking the towers individually the Order forces were able to methodically retake the city in a piecemeal fashion despite being heavily outnumbered; each of the tower masters was pleased to see another fall while in their arrogance believing they could emerge victorious if the forces of Order attacked them.

Once the towers were under Order control the city itself, reduced to ruin by centuries of conflict, could be rebuilt. However this still left the matter of the spinal-cavern. It lay beneath the ground, theoretically connected to all of the rib-towers and also of great import for it contained the [insert realmgate]. Yet in each of the towers those passages had been ominously sealed, leaving only one means of entrance; the main gateway that lay at the base of the godbeast's skull...

*At the moment fluff states that no non-chaos human cities were left by the time the Stormcast came down, so having the city survive throughout as non-chaos would be against the cannon.

I love this one. We could have that the towers have been reclaimed and resettled by their respective peoples and guilds, and a shanty town has already arisen around it. The major goal is to clear out the ribcage of whatever is in it (probably death and/or skaven) and the other goal is to open/block the tower gates. Depending on who you ask of course.

[Moldek]

I’m liking how this thread is progressing. It’s a great way to write collectively we each add just one or two details to what was previously stated.

Building off of those amazing ideas, I suggest the main realmgate is situated inside the mouth of the godbeast’s skull. It is big enough for 30 men to go through side by side, and a hard point of entry to take as most rib-towers have direct line of sight over the skull.

[Gorthor21]

What kind of creature is the godbeast? I feel like that would give us a good visualization of how the landscape would form around such a huge skeleton.  Depending on how many ribs are on the skeleton we decide on we could use that to determine how many magic users we would need for our ruling council.  
Another thing that got me thinking is the Ossaiarch Bonereapers.  A place like this made of bone and magic out the wazzu would be a prime target for them.  All I can think of is it is just too far from Shyish for them to have gotten there yet or the skeleton isn’t made from bone in the first place .  Maybe a form of stone but then there are the petrifex elite guys who use fossils.  We could opt for it to be made of some magical stone that defies logic just to make it unappealing to the Ossiarchs.  
 

I just want to put it out there that I think one of the stable human shanty towns shanty towns should be called “Bone Town”.

Edited May 3, 2020 by Gorthor21

[Sttufe]

5 hours ago, Gorthor21 said:

What kind of creature is the godbeast? I feel like that would give us a good visualization of how the landscape would form around such a huge skeleton.  Depending on how many ribs are on the skeleton we decide on we could use that to determine how many magic users we would need for our ruling council.  
Another thing that got me thinking is the Ossaiarch Bonereapers.  A place like this made of bone and magic out the wazzu would be a prime target for them.  All I can think of is it is just too far from Shyish for them to have gotten there yet or the skeleton isn’t made from bone in the first place .  Maybe a form of stone but then there are the petrifex elite guys who use fossils.  We could opt for it to be made of some magical stone that defies logic just to make it unappealing to the Ossiarchs.  
 

I just want to put it out there that I think one of the stable human shanty towns shanty towns should be called “Bone Town”.

I think that we could say it is in Shyish, and I was kinda thinking a salamander - esque creature. I think that basically they opened the up underside of the ribcage, it is kind of a massive bone processing facility occupied entirely by the Osssiarchs. Obviously other threats are also in there, and we have the Chaos cults, but those guys are the main antagonists.

[NinthMusketeer]

I think it would be a big target for OBR, who would be a major threat the city would have to deal with. 

[Gorthor21]

I feel as though sticking the city in Shyish is like putting a huge bullseyes on them.  I could understand if the realmgate in the skull led there but actually in Shyish and in the habitable parts is right in the prime area of the OBR expansions.  I vote we put the city in a realm other than Shyish as Nagash is pretty ruthless against enemies in his domain and I also feel that using him like they did in Warhammer fantasy as a seducing evil that worms it’s way in like a demon(i.e. Azhag the Slaughterer).  If it’s a stable society we are trying to write up they we don’t want to doom having over them right away.  The threats can be overt like with roving hordes but I feel it leaves more for the dramatic and suspense if we leave the greater threats as something trying to make its way in and gain control subversively as opposed to crushing oppression like they showed in Aqshy during the realmgate wars.   I would vote either Ghyran or Ghur as either of those two have plentiful foodstuffs for the ol’ Inter-Realm trade.   Though Chamon would be really cool as there haven’t really been a lot of lore written about it there.  There are even places in one realm where the magic of another flows into like an animal graveyard in ghur or an ever active volcano in Ghyran.  We could make a place in Ulgu influences by the ever changing ways of Chamon or a corner of Ashy where the life giving powers of Ghyran overflows an a mad jungle that constantly grows has popped up.  The way they constructed this setting really does boggle the mind in its possibilities.   

[Sttufe]

1 minute ago, Gorthor21 said:

I feel as though sticking the city in Shyish is like putting a huge bullseyes on them.  I could understand if the realmgate in the skull led there but actually in Shyish and in the habitable parts is right in the prime area of the OBR expansions.  I vote we put the city in a realm other than Shyish as Nagash is pretty ruthless against enemies in his domain and I also feel that using him like they did in Warhammer fantasy as a seducing evil that worms it’s way in like a demon(i.e. Azhag the Slaughterer).  If it’s a stable society we are trying to write up they we don’t want to doom having over them right away.  The threats can be overt like with roving hordes but I feel it leaves more for the dramatic and suspense if we leave the greater threats as something trying to make its way in and gain control subversively as opposed to crushing oppression like they showed in Aqshy during the realmgate wars.   I would vote either Ghyran or Ghur as either of those two have plentiful foodstuffs for the ol’ Inter-Realm trade.   Though Chamon would be really cool as there haven’t really been a lot of lore written about it there.  There are even places in one realm where the magic of another flows into like an animal graveyard in ghur or an ever active volcano in Ghyran.  We could make a place in Ulgu influences by the ever changing ways of Chamon or a corner of Ashy where the life giving powers of Ghyran overflows an a mad jungle that constantly grows has popped up.  The way they constructed this setting really does boggle the mind in its possibilities.   

I like the Ulgu plus Chamon, that sounds pretty great.

[Gorthor21]

So like the city is built within, around, and upon the remains of a gargantuan drake-like godbeast within the realms of Shadows where like celestial bodies from Chamon come through the sky causing things to change alchemically and in the mouth of the skull is a realmgate to the realm of Death.  Underneath of the city is a warren of catacombs as well. 

[Sttufe]

1 minute ago, Gorthor21 said:

So like the city is built within, around, and upon the remains of a gargantuan drake-like godbeast within the realms of Shadows where like celestial bodies from Chamon come through the sky causing things to change alchemically and in the mouth of the skull is a realmgate to the realm of Death.  Underneath of the city is a warren of catacombs as well. 

Occupied by the Ossiarch who instead of walking out of the skull walked inside of it and nobody noticed.

[Moldek]

3 minutes ago, Gorthor21 said:

So like the city is built within, around, and upon the remains of a gargantuan drake-like godbeast within the realms of Shadows where like celestial bodies from Chamon come through the sky causing things to change alchemically and in the mouth of the skull is a realmgate to the realm of Death.  Underneath of the city is a warren of catacombs as well. 

I like this! Agents of nagash plotting to gain influence on the council through cults and espionage, the spheres of chamon bringing tzeentch’s whispers to ambitious wizards ears... and of course ulgu is a land of intrigue and scheming, perfect for shadow wars.

could the catacombs be composed of the fossilized remains of the Godbeasts’ guts?