Personal Lore examples :)

[AthlorianStoners]

Hi guys! 

Me and my friends have just started playing Age of Sigmar (7 of us) and we have come to this forum SO MUCH to get rules clarifications and basically learn how to play.  We've been building some background for our armies and I wanted to share them here, as well as make a space for people to share their own lore. 

On top of that, if people had any advice, additions or critiques for our lore, please feel free to offer them! 

This is the personal lore behind my own army: 

Stone Elves - A group of Mages and Warriors from a region in Hysh called Athlorian. Athlorian is situated in a massive vale surrounded by mountains, with mant great cities and communities within the vale. The warriors were alive during the fall of The Age of Myth, and were witness to Nagash's betrayal. As Sigmar and his forces  returned to Azyr, the High Born went back to Athlorian to protect their homes from the rise of Chaos. The 12 most powerful Arch Mages of Athlorian undertook a great spell that would protect Athlorian from Chaos. The spell worked, forming a protective barrier around the Vale, but at a cost. All the warriors and mages inside were turned to stone, trapped for thousands of years as the Age of Chaos reigned. But, when Sigmar and his Stormcasts returned, some hope returned. This partially freed the warriors and mages, returning them to life but leaving them trapped in stone form. With their families long dead, and lacking a need for food or sleep, the Stone Elves of Athlorian live only to fight against Chaos. 

I hope you guys like it! I have written more for the army and I can share what the other guys have. Thanks for letting us join your community!

[Menkeroth]

 

Greetings! Welcome to this forum - a good place indeed. It's great that you write fluff for your models, this is what I enjoy as well and consider to be very important for the hobby. Some suggestions:

 - write more of your vale. How does it look? what is particular about it? Hysh is the Realm of Light, reason, symmetry and hidden meanings. Would be good to use this info for your land!

- stone elves is really an interesting idea. Will you be painting the models as stone ones then?

- Unfortunately, Chaos reigned for only 500 years

 And here my post from another place and time, hope it helps!

First of all, you should decide what your miniatures do, how they regard themselves. For example, I intend on merging together my Lothern Sea Guard and black ark corsairs of the dark elves (or aelf exiles as they are called now) into my own force of the Scourge Privateers (who now consist of corsairs, scourgerunner chariots and kharibdyss with the amazing fleetmaster. But who knows what they will get when their own battletome comes out?). They are privateers, i.e. they traverse the seas and oceans of the Mortal Realms, hunt down different monsters and sell them to the highest bidder. But not only. They are also pirates and attack enemies of the Order (i.e. all who belong to the forces of Chaos, Death and Destruction) and sometimes even those fighting for Order as well — it depends. My forces sail the seas, pillage what they can and sell everything they don’t need to those who can pay (but mostly to Azyrheim and different peoples of Azyr). All plunder is stored in many coastal fortresses and island strongpoints across the realms, where my corsairs can also rest, take new supplies and repair their ships, and my Lothern Sea Guard is invaluable in defending those strongholds (now they are just Sea Guard for that matter).

Next, you should decide how the rest of the world sees your warriors. How they treat them? My pirates are allies of Sigmar and most factions of Order, they help them when they can and sell them weapons and supplies taken from different enemies, but of course, not always — everything can happen. But mostly they at least cooperate with the others — from the Stormcast Eternals and Eldritch Council to the Dispossessed duardin and the Fyreslayers.

Finally, you must choose symbols and emblems for your miniatures, because they signify their allegiance and structure. Decide how your army is structured, what chain of command it has. How diplomacy is organized? My forces are commanded by my highborn aelf prince on griffon (one of my most favorite models!), all the others serve him and have their own champions as sergeants apart from two special units that are led by friends of him and in fact are independent forces like allies — a unit of swordmasters of Hoeth with an aelven archmage and a squadron of the Dragon Blades (former dragon princes of Caledor) with their Dragon Noble (mounted prince with the banner in my case). They occasionally fight alongside one another and have also their own agendas. As for the fortresses, each is defended by the sea guard (mostly) and commanded by different officers who have authority to deal with allies and those willing to cooperate. Hence each strongpoint is a city where the garrison is mostly soldiers, it serves as docks for ships and store for plunder, and is maintained mostly by its garrison. All have everything they need to perform their duties and survive in the hostile environment — after all, most strongholds are in the realms which were taken by Chaos long ago. They have armories, training grounds, living quarters, kitchens, forges and storehouses, and so serve as staging areas for our operations in a region.

[AthlorianStoners]

47 minutes ago, Menkeroth said:

 

Greetings! Welcome to this forum - a good place indeed. It's great that you write fluff for your models, this is what I enjoy as well and consider to be very important for the hobby. Some suggestions:

 - write more of your vale. How does it look? what is particular about it? Hysh is the Realm of Light, reason, symmetry and hidden meanings. Would be good to use this info for your land!

- stone elves is really an interesting idea. Will you be painting the models as stone ones then?

- Unfortunately, Chaos reigned for only 500 years

 And here my post from another place and time, hope it helps!

 

 

Thanks so much! 

- I have a description of the vale, if you were interested in hearing it! I'll leave it at the bottom. 

- Yeah, I have painted them as stone. I went for silvers, greys and whites with a Nuln Oil wash and then dry brushed and highlighted with greys. I think they look pretty cool myself haha. They have Red for cloth/flags/jewels and Gold for their weapons. 

- Oh damn that sucks. I wish it was a much longer period

- Your Faction sounds awesome! Do you have any models of your guys? I'd love to see. 

And here's some more about Athlorian:

- The Athlorian Vale is surrounded by massive mountain ranges, vast and expansive walls of stone thats peaks are lost in the clouds. Stone fortresses and watch towers dot the mountainside, with monasteries and signal towers built into the various bluffs. As well as this, many aeries are built into the mountain, the vast caverns being used to breed and house the Griffons, Eagles, Rocs and Dragons of the Vale that are yet to be bonded to a rider. Pathways and passages have been chiseled into the mountainside, allowing for resources, supplies and troops to freely travel throughout them, though these paths are known only to the Aelves themselves. 

The Vale itself is lush and vibrant, covered in forests and lakes. A cold climate, most of the Vale is often covered in a light snowfall, though in winter the snow sometimes reaches the height of a man. The forests are large, having grown for so long in peace and been boosted by the latent magic of the vale that they have far exceeded their natural size. Animals of all kinds live within the Vale, predators and prey. As well as the forests, there are large lakes, with clear pristine water. The largest of these lakes, the Opal Eye, leads out into an underground river that extends beneath the mountains and eventually reaches the oceans. 

The cities of the Vale are Twelve in number, one for each of the great wizards who gave their lives to maintain the spell that protects Athlorian. Each city was built around the stone bodies of the mages, tapped unmoving, their life force dedicated to maintaining the barrier. Should one of them fall, the barrier will collapse, allowing Chaos to freely enter. Each of the Twelve cities has a different culture and dress, though all trade and communicate with each other freely, the notion of conflict long since disbanded. 

The years spent free from outside conflict have allowed the Aelves of Athlorian to form a strong, unyielding society, based on free trade and equality. Each member of the community is allowed to freely choose their path. The Stone Warriors, recently resurrected, serve as the Vale's guardians and man monasteries in the city. Treated with reverence, these Warriors are renowned within Athlorian and are treated with the utmost respect. 

The Stone Warriors themselves are often clouded with sorrow. Left with little hope, the Stone Warriors often engage in nights of song and poetry, sombre events that reduce those living Aelves who attend to tears of sadness and empathy. These nights and the honorific and respectful festivities that follow, are known as Mourning Odes. The Stone Warriors also perform similar songs on the battlefield, their drummers and trumpeters echoing the hollow emptiness their warriors feel with their dark melodies. 

The politics of the Vale are public and open. Each city has a Lord, who is advised by a council comprised of Masters, each a master of their respective field (Smithing, Farming, Magic etc.). Each Lord is also accompanied by a Stone Lord, a Stone Warrior who leads in times of war or conflict. All Lords answer to the Vale King, who presides in the 12th city. He his guided by the High Masters, and a Stone King, the leader of the Stone Warriors. 
 

[Menkeroth]

31 minutes ago, AthlorianStoners said:

Thanks so much! 

- I have a description of the vale, if you were interested in hearing it! I'll leave it at the bottom. 

 

 

2

It is good written! I like it, short but all essentials are covered, just all you need to set your story in this place! Great. But from your first piece I've got an impression all of your elves were set in stone, but it appears that only some of them? 

33 minutes ago, AthlorianStoners said:

- Yeah, I have painted them as stone. I went for silvers, greys and whites with a Nuln Oil wash and then dry brushed and highlighted with greys. I think they look pretty cool myself haha. They have Red for cloth/flags/jewels and Gold for their weapons. 

 

Great! do you have pictures? You could start a thread for them in the painting section.

33 minutes ago, AthlorianStoners said:

- Oh damn that sucks. I wish it was a much longer period

I too. 500 years for a whole age? That's too few.

34 minutes ago, AthlorianStoners said:

- Your Faction sounds awesome! Do you have any models of your guys? I'd love to see. 

Aye, but painted only three - I work slowly albeit steady, and with all my factions. But still, here . Thanks

[AthlorianStoners]

8 minutes ago, Menkeroth said:

It is good written! I like it, short but all essentials are covered, just all you need to set your story in this place! Great. But from your first piece I've got an impression all of your elves were set in stone, but it appears that only some of them? 

Great! do you have pictures? You could start a thread for them in the painting section.

I too. 500 years for a whole age? That's too few.

Aye, but painted only three - I work slowly albeit steady, and with all my factions. But still, here . Thanks

- So, all the warriors are stone. The civilians and children, people who don't fight, were spared the effects of the spell. So, basically everyone in my army is stone, but the people at home are not. 

- Yeah I do! I might take some nicer ones though and start a thread. 

- Ah that sucks. Let me know when you finish more, the ones you've done rock!

[Soulsmith]

Sounds really fascinating so far. Reminds me of the Vale in ASOIAF, all mountainous and cold, but also plentiful and quiet. Like Aelven Switzerland. I am curious as to what is actually in Hysh, as I am trying to ground my DoT atm.

[Menkeroth]

3 minutes ago, AthlorianStoners said:

- So, all the warriors are stone. The civilians and children, people who don't fight, were spared the effects of the spell. So, basically everyone in my army is stone, but the people at home are not. 

 

Now I understand. An interesting idea indeed! This reminds of similar story in the Beastclaw Raiders book, where one tribe was frozen because of their Everwinter, but Sigmar's Tempest freed them.

5 minutes ago, AthlorianStoners said:

- Yeah I do! I might take some nicer ones though and start a thread. 

That would be great to see indeed!

5 minutes ago, AthlorianStoners said:

- Ah that sucks. Let me know when you finish more, the ones you've done rock!

Thanks! I will be adding new ones as the time goes, don't worry. With work and plans to move to another place it's a bit slow, but I think next one is coming soon

[AthlorianStoners]

42 minutes ago, Soulsmith said:

Sounds really fascinating so far. Reminds me of the Vale in ASOIAF, all mountainous and cold, but also plentiful and quiet. Like Aelven Switzerland. I am curious as to what is actually in Hysh, as I am trying to ground my DoT atm.

Thanks! Thats exactly the type of vibe I was going for, something that can be both harsh and pleasant (huge ASOIAF fan btw). 

Yeah, I am praying for a Hysh/Aelf release soon. Anything really, feel so left out when my friends use their Battletomes and stuff haha. 

[Rungi]

@Menkeroth Where'd you see only 500 years for Age of Chaos? I've been looking for more specifics on the timing and would love to study up.

@AthlorianStoners Great idea for a thread. The unique fluff folks are coming up with is hands-down my favorite part of AOS. Here's mine:

The Karakigrom and their kin lived as refugees, known as "reclaimed" in the slums of Azyrheim and scattered surrounding settlements. They scraped together an existence performing typical duardin tasks such as smithing, mining, masonry etc. Some were able to raise families, funneling meager earnings from selling their crafts into taste-less food for their families, and go through life unnoticed by the Azyrite noble classes. Others lived in a constant inebriation (no small task for dwarf) while attempting to dull their ever-present shame, living away from the gaze of those who had not been chased from their homelands and collecting in bands of ranging beast-hunters or berserker-warriors for hire. For all, their honor had suffered a great blow from the retreat to Azyr and few were able to truly find peace.

There were rumors however, rumors of a young king who was prophesied to emerge and once again lead the Karakigrom back to Chamon. Supposedly this king would hail from the clan's royal blood-line, able to trace his lineage back to a Northern hold in the World-That-Was and famous for their willingness to brave the highest peaks and most infested passes in order to carve out and protect dwarven settlements and outposts. This was not a clan of great wealth or fame, but rather one known for their loyalty and adherence to old traditions. Those who had actually heard the prophesies themselves knew his name, Rungi, and hoped he would earn the title of Revenger by emerging one day with the presumed-lost book of grudges and embark on something called the Barazi-Wyr. For most though, this Ice's Promise was an old rin's tale told to babes born in Azyr in order to preserve what little tradition and sense of clan they had left.

...That is until there was a late-night knock on the doors of family heads scattered throughout the reclaimed slums. These select few, some elder heroes from forgotten times, others emergent champions training in secret, gathered around a table in an underground store-room and watched in awe as a youthful dwarf unstrapped a broad tome from his even broader shoulders, unleashed a cloud of dust as he opened its ancient pages, and loudly proclaimed the grudge that tore at the deepest parts of their hearts. This set in motion a crusade of epic proportions, set on accomplishing a task that was both fantastic and basic to the existence of the Karakigrom clan - to return to the Realm of Metal and create a hold like those of old for duardin to live in privacy and honor. 

This was the Barazi-Wyr . 

Enjoy friends. Excited to see what others create!

[Menkeroth]

19 minutes ago, Rungi said:

Where'd you see only 500 years for Age of Chaos? I've been looking for more specifics on the timing and would love to study up.

It's a shame but I can't find this now (although I'm sure I read it somewhere), but even then books, for example, "Getting started with the age of Sigmar" state that the Age of Chaos lasted only some hundreds of years.

[AthlorianStoners]

2 hours ago, Rungi said:

@AthlorianStoners Great idea for a thread. The unique fluff folks are coming up with is hands-down my favorite part of AOS. Here's mine:

The Karakigrom and their kin lived as refugees, known as "reclaimed" in the slums of Azyrheim and scattered surrounding settlements. They scraped together an existence performing typical duardin tasks such as smithing, mining, masonry etc. Some were able to raise families, funneling meager earnings from selling their crafts into taste-less food for their families, and go through life unnoticed by the Azyrite noble classes. Others lived in a constant inebriation (no small task for dwarf) while attempting to dull their ever-present shame, living away from the gaze of those who had not been chased from their homelands and collecting in bands of ranging beast-hunters or berserker-warriors for hire. For all, their honor had suffered a great blow from the retreat to Azyr and few were able to truly find peace.

There were rumors however, rumors of a young king who was prophesied to emerge and once again lead the Karakigrom back to Chamon. Supposedly this king would hail from the clan's royal blood-line, able to trace his lineage back to a Northern hold in the World-That-Was and famous for their willingness to brave the highest peaks and most infested passes in order to carve out and protect dwarven settlements and outposts. This was not a clan of great wealth or fame, but rather one known for their loyalty and adherence to old traditions. Those who had actually heard the prophesies themselves knew his name, Rungi, and hoped he would earn the title of Revenger by emerging one day with the presumed-lost book of grudges and embark on something called the Barazi-Wyr. For most though, this Ice's Promise was an old rin's tale told to babes born in Azyr in order to preserve what little tradition and sense of clan they had left.

...That is until there was a late-night knock on the doors of family heads scattered throughout the reclaimed slums. These select few, some elder heroes from forgotten times, others emergent champions training in secret, gathered around a table in an underground store-room and watched in awe as a youthful dwarf unstrapped a broad tome from his even broader shoulders, unleashed a cloud of dust as he opened its ancient pages, and loudly proclaimed the grudge that tore at the deepest parts of their hearts. This set in motion a crusade of epic proportions, set on accomplishing a task that was both fantastic and basic to the existence of the Karakigrom clan - to return to the Realm of Metal and create a hold like those of old for duardin to live in privacy and honor. 

This was the Barazi-Wyr . 

Enjoy friends. Excited to see what others create!

That is AWESOME!!! So cool man. I jumped over to your blog and your army is amazing. Where did you get that Bear from? It kicks ass!!!!!

[awcamawn]

Was kinda underwhelmed by the age of chaos lasting only 500 years myself. From the 'general aos lore thread:'

On 12/12/2016 at 6:08 PM, shinros said:

General Summary of the Age of sigmar setting from the end of end times up to this point. By Lord Kragen(With his permission I could add his post to this thread)

 

  Hide contents

The story of the Mortal Realms is divided in three ages, though I like to make a bit of a division on the first one, to make the working around easier. The key for this, though, is the information we've from the Campaign book Godbeasts.

 

The first era of time is the Age of Myth. Those that have read the introduction of any AoS book will know this was a golden era, the moment where Sigmar built the pantheon and civilization flourished. Okay, there's three periods, at least for me:

-First is the "Age of Void" this is the period between the death of the Old World and the moment where Dracothion began with the creation of the realms. We have no numbers whatsoever here, but they are irrelevant as there's no realms here so it may as well not exist.

-Then would follow the "Age of Rebirth" (this is a nickname I've given, no such name is given to this period, just to mark the dramatic turnpoint that is Sigmar's return). During this time the realms are formed, and the people start re-appearing alongside the Gods. Sigmar, though, is still nowhere to be seen. If the campaign books' scarce data on the matter are to be believed, this period of time would have lasted around 300 years (the books give an approximation never outright stating so) and would conclude with Sigmar making act of presence in the mortal realm.

-Sigmar return's to the realms. This, to my eyes, would mark the beginning of the Age of Myth proper. He travels to find again the Incarnates (and some chick he rescues. My bet is the sisters of twilight or Elspeth Von Drakken) and reunite them. Once he finishes his quest, which takes between two centuries and a quarter of a millenia. By the time he's gathered the Pantheon he turns his eyes to build civilization proper. Now, this is the moment where the numbers get wonkiest because the only thing we know is this: that the Obisidian Monarchy (and for those who don't know who they are, they are the re-branded Tomb Kings. They are at war with Ogors, possibly Beast Claw Raiders) was of the first civiliations to appear, but we don't get a hard number so it's guesswork.

My guess is that they took about as much as the city of Excelsis and the others to properly form. That means somewhere between 20 to 100 years, though, I'd say 50 (which is the time that took for Excelsis to reach its proper status) is the most accurate guess.

The Obsidian Monarchy prove instrumental for further mapping the timeline as they are stated to have ruled for 1200 years. This, coupled with the fact that the Age of Chaos lasted 500 years (again, they don't give the exact number, but say that it's been over 500 years, so we will go for the round number), means that the Age of Myth proper lasted 700 years plus the 300 years that Sigmar took to gather the other Gods. Thus we have that the golden age of the setting lasted around 1.000 (most likely guess) to 1.100 (the most time-consuming guess).

During this time, civilizations and peace would bloom. Orruks, Undead, Aelfs, Duardin, Humans, Grots, and the Care Bears lived together. EVERYONE coexisted in bliss and built their homelands, ruled by the Gods (with Sigmar at the helm) from the city of Highheim, the original capital of Azyr.

It was also during this time that people would start to get afraid of Death. This fear, would start feeding the forces of Chaos, making the latches at the end of each Realm, their versions of the chaos wastes, grow. Once the critical mass was reached, at the Twilight of the Age of Myth, the Nexus Wars began.

This conflict is the bridge between both eras, since its two phases mark the ending of the Age of Myth and the Beginning of the Age of Chaos.

Archaon's forces invaded the realms but the gods kept them at bay and managed to Hold the Nexus and Allpoints. The Nexus was the massive city that laid at All-points, which are the point of connection to ALL eight realms. Think of its strategic importance and you'll understand why Archaon would later build the Varanspire, his fortress, here.
Gorkamorka went to start punking stuff sometime here, beginning to weaken the alliance as the orruks betrayed Sigmar and they started wiping out the realms from Ghur. It is during this time that the Ironjaw Orruks appeared.

Still, Order held the line. Until some pointy eared trio decided to be selfish again. So at this point most people know the aelfs were mainly trapped in Slaanesh's stomach. Tzeentch, ever so kind, told them where to find slaanesh. They, instead of being reasonable, went to the rescue with ALL THEIR ARMIES. They punked She-Who-Thirsts and freed the Aelfs just in time for them to see chaos' victory, since the remaining forces of Order couldn't manage to hold off the Nexus (just too many people and their numbers had been too diminished by their departure).

The fall of the Nexus Marks the end of the Age of Myth and the beginning of the Age of Chaos. The three Aelf-stooges abandoned the war, hunkering down in their realms like the panzees they are. Soon the other forces did so. Alarielle and Grungi abandoning the fight.

Only Sigmar and Nagash (props for the guy, say whatever you want, but the was the last to abandon goldie-boy) held the line against the forces of Chaos. Until, AGAIN, Tzeentch interevened and tricked Sigmar and Nagash. The events of the battle are left unclear, but it was so rage-worthy that Sigmar went on a rampage of revenge across Shysh and Nagash still hasn't gotten over it. Nevertheless, the alliance between undead and the heavens was broken.


Ironically, it was the God of Change, not the god of war and blood, whom won the Nexus-Wars, as it wouldn't have been possible to achieve outright victory.

Sigmar kept on for a bit, but knew it was in vain. His successes were temporary and too costly. Disgusted with the failure of his servants (and mainly HIS failure) he retreated to Azyr. During the ending stages of the Nexus Wars, millions flooded Azyr's gates. As the forces of chaos loomed, Sigmar was forced to close them, letting countless souls at the forces of chaos' mercy, even when they were meters (and minutes) away from salvation.

The God-King decided to take the reign, the council of mortal rulers was (forcefully and painfully) deposed and he assumed absolute rule of Azyrheim. He gathered the gods in a parley (using a thingamagyc) and asked their assistance one last time. With each gift, the bulwark of Azyr and the keys of the making of the Stormcasts were laid upon.

For centuries, he prepared and studied. When the moment was right, he unleashed the stormcasts, his soldiers made to go toe to toe with the chaos warriors and began the Realmgate Wars and the Age of Sigmar.

Now, I won't go too much into detail but this conflict lasted between 18 to 20 years.

Meanwhile cities flourished and peace (or a veil masquerading the wars) was restored. This time is roughly two generations, a bit less. So it's, again, a safe bet to assume it's been 50-60 years

Thus, with all said, here's the timeline:

Age of Myth: 1300 years divided in two periods.
Age of Chaos: 500 years in a single period.
Age of Sigmar: from 68 to 80 years. Current period.

Sorry for the text wall, but pretty good timeline pieced together from the scattered clues we have so far for those interested.

[Rungi]

Thanks @AthlorianStoners. Bear is from Scibor Miniatures, figure riding him is from Reaper.

That's really helpful @awcamawn. Thanks 

[Davariel]

@AthlorianStoners Your army's story is great; stone elves is certainly a unique and interesting idea! And your writing really captures that sense of tragic sacrifice that suits elves so well. 

It's great to see all the background people are coming up with these days. Compelling stories and detailed lore have always been one of my favourite parts of the hobby, and it's just wonderful seeing how people are making the realms their own. 

My own army's backstory revolves around a powerful Sylvaneth clan and a group of aelves who came to coexist early in the Age of Myth. Together they founded the Kingdom of Thardeia, which became a beacon of unity and hope in Ghyran... at least until chaos came and everything went to ****  I haven't written much down about them (yet!) but there's some backstory in my plog here if anyone's interested. 

[Soulsmith]

In terms of my own armies backgrounds, check out my blog for the greenskins, or my Tzeentch plog in the painting and modelling section for the start of the story. Still working out how to ground my DoT, but they're essentially wandering artefact hunters, securing magical knowledge for the only ones who deserve it. Think I may put them in Hysh though, need a city they can be recruiting acolytes from and where the coven is situated, since it's mostly Tzaangor and daemons that roam.

[Menkeroth]

32 minutes ago, Davariel said:

My own army's backstory revolves around a powerful Sylvaneth clan and a group of aelves who came to coexist early in the Age of Myth. Together they founded the Kingdom of Thardeia, which became a beacon of unity and hope in Ghyran... at least until chaos came and everything went to ****  I haven't written much down about them (yet!) but there's some backstory in my plog here if anyone's interested. 

 

In the grand alliance book it's stated the sylvaneth and Allarielle detest the Wanderers as they have abandoned Ghyran in the direst of times and strayed too far from the ways of nature, but if your guys stay with their tree allies til the end, then it's fine  I've thought like this about my future wanderers, but I don't like trees that much (although their model range is amazing if a bit small) and I certainly like the idea of nomad elvish tribes. Anyway, magical kingdom where elves and trees live together is what works every time (after all, Tolkien created Lothlorien not from scratch!), so it's always great to see

[Menkeroth]

37 minutes ago, Soulsmith said:

In terms of my own armies backgrounds, check out my blog for the greenskins, or my Tzeentch plog in the painting and modelling section for the start of the story. Still working out how to ground my DoT, but they're essentially wandering artefact hunters, securing magical knowledge for the only ones who deserve it. Think I may put them in Hysh though, need a city they can be recruiting acolytes from and where the coven is situated, since it's mostly Tzaangor and daemons that roam.

 

 

If they are nomads, then you don't really need to place them in one realm or give them some stable cities - after all, everything changes! Or you can go the other way - really place them in one city or kingdom and just send from time to time expeditions to other corners of the realms to seek what they've seen, for example, in their visions (a great scenario to play, by the way). I've decided to do exactly this - my boys will live in the Spire of Bronzed Dawn in Chamon, on a great island floating in the air like the one where the Eldritch fortress of Ephrix from the "Quest for Ghal Maraz" was situated, just without the argent falls. And from there they will carve their kingdom and attack other lands in search of artifacts and treasures. Also you can place your cultists in cities and Tzaangors in some dark dungeons and caves!

[AthlorianStoners]

1 hour ago, Davariel said:

@AthlorianStoners Your army's story is great; stone elves is certainly a unique and interesting idea! And your writing really captures that sense of tragic sacrifice that suits elves so well. 

It's great to see all the background people are coming up with these days. Compelling stories and detailed lore have always been one of my favourite parts of the hobby, and it's just wonderful seeing how people are making the realms their own. 

My own army's backstory revolves around a powerful Sylvaneth clan and a group of aelves who came to coexist early in the Age of Myth. Together they founded the Kingdom of Thardeia, which became a beacon of unity and hope in Ghyran... at least until chaos came and everything went to ****  I haven't written much down about them (yet!) but there's some backstory in my plog here if anyone's interested. 

Awesome man, I'll check it out!

[Soulsmith]

6 hours ago, Menkeroth said:

If they are nomads, then you don't really need to place them in one realm or give them some stable cities - after all, everything changes! Or you can go the other way - really place them in one city or kingdom and just send from time to time expeditions to other corners of the realms to seek what they've seen, for example, in their visions (a great scenario to play, by the way). I've decided to do exactly this - my boys will live in the Spire of Bronzed Dawn in Chamon, on a great island floating in the air like the one where the Eldritch fortress of Ephrix from the "Quest for Ghal Maraz" was situated, just without the argent falls. And from there they will carve their kingdom and attack other lands in search of artifacts and treasures. Also you can place your cultists in cities and Tzaangors in some dark dungeons and caves!

Indeed, issue is I want to narratively follow certain characters. Feel like the coven in the city would recruit members, and then use magic and other means to transport them out to the rest of the force when required, though I guess I could consider my own great library or other such structure that outwardly sides with Sigmar, but is actually an isolated repository of Tzeentchian artefacts.

[SuperHappyTime]

Honestly my own story lore avoids most of the Age of Sigmar fluff by it taking place it another Realm.

[Menkeroth]

Then it should be called another game and setting maybe?

[Menkeroth]

A bit of my duardin fluff.

They were living in Chamon since the Age of Myth. One of the duardin clans, Bronze Helms, founded a stronghold in the Argent Glass Mountains, where they established their own royal dynasty and lived for a long time. The life was simple but well, and they were happy, hunting, mining and building. But then came Chaos. Daemonic legions of the Great Conspirator and his mortal followers burned everything in their path with fire, and war raged on for centuries, for the first incursions on Chamon were sporadic and weakly organized and Sigmar's Pantheon repelled them with ease. But as the time went by, it became dire, and when the godly alliance collapsed, nobody could withstand the fury of the Dark Gods for long. Seeing that there can be no second chance, the king Ranulf Alriksson ordered children, women and those too old to fight to flee to the Gates of Azyr, and with the rest of his warriors he held the enemy at bay, slaying them with his mighty hammer even as blue fire engulfed him. So ended the Age of Prosperity.

 

But despair is not in the nature of the duardin. They didn't forget nor forgive those who forced them to abandon their homeland, but they didn't want to give up either. They established a new stronghold in Azyr, in place called Mountains of Lost Stars. Here the clan under the guidance of Vengar Ranulfsson, heir of the fallen king, returned to the days of prosperity and peace. The stronghold itself was divided into three levels: garrison, living quarters and mining level. On the garrison level the majority of warriors guards the entrance to the keep, and here all the armories, training grounds and barracks are located. In living quarters live all those who currently does not serve in the military (every duardin, even the king's heir, is to serve two years after he comes of full age). Here you can find everything you need for a peaceful life - king's palace, treasury, libraries, forges, courts, temples to Grungni, Valaya and Grimnir, schools. On the mining level duardin mine all the resources they have found here - coal, gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, oil and gems, which are delievered via mine carts across the railways to elevators which lead then to the living quarters. Also there is a large underground lake, which provides the stronghold with fresh water and leads all the way up to the surface and into the Sea of Cerulean Waves, so the duardin built there large docks and steam ships which help trade with other races of the Realm of Heavens.