The River Arduil is the waterway marking the border of Ellyrion and Avelorn, forming a gentle bow in the coastline of the latter realm where it remains separated from the Sea of Dusk by a forested headland. From here, one can see towering trees rise up from the edge of the land, sprawling forests stretching eastward as far as the eye can see in vivid splashes of green, russets, and gold. Misty with distance, the blue crags of the Annulii are but a distant smudge on the horizon, a barrier between the kingdom of the Everqueen and war-torn Chrace. Barely a yard and a half below the surface is the riverbed, impassible to any ship but those of the Asur. Cold and icy from its journey down the flanks of the Annulli, the water churns with the agitation of nymphs near the river's centre. Maybe you want to read about Warhammer Fantasy Lore History and Geography Realm of the Sorcerer.
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Almost as great in scale as Khorne's domain is the Crystal Labyrinth of Tzeentch, an iridescent plateau whose brilliance sits in stark contrast to the Blood God's wastelands. Whilst the crystal labyrinth is not so massive as Khorne's kingdom, it dominates the Realm of Chaos no less. Countless glittering pathways spring from the very heart of the labyrinth, fractal filaments that inveigle their way into the dominions of other gods and so bind the Realm of Chaos together. No Daemons guard the crystal labyrinth, yet a journey through it remains perilous nonetheless. Only the strong-willed can negotiate its countless corridors, for the maze's walls reflect not only light, but also hope, despair, dreams, madness and terror. As if this were not challenge enough, there is no fixed path through, merely a constantly changing series of obstacles and traps created by Tzeentch's unconscious mind. Those trammelled by the labyrinth come to no physical harm, yet no one can escape these halls of infinite possibility with sanity intact. At every step the air is thick with broken dreams, and everywhere the light sparkles with fragments of shattered personality. Places of Note
Maybe you want to read about Warhammer Fantasy Lore History and Geography of Tor Anlec.
Once the capital of Nagarythe, the city of Tor Anlec was sacked and raised during the Elven Civil War in part for its subservience to Malekith, the Betrayer. The ruins of Anlec have been refortified, fought over, and cast down again more than once, and even today they draw the Dark Elves back to the lands of their ancestors. Some whisper that more Elves have died fighting over Anlec's ruins than anywhere else in Ulthuan. History After wielding the Sword of Khaine to banish the Daemons from Ulthuan, Aenarion set his capital and established his kingdom in the ravaged northern lands of Nagarythe. Here rose the great fortress of Anlec, a bastion against the Daemons from which the armies of Aenarion could sally forth. Its towers rose higher than any other city in Ulthuan, and five curtain walls surrounded a central keep that could hold ten thousand warriors. It was a city built as a defiant gesture to the legions of Chaos, its black and silver banners proclaiming that these were Aenarion's lands. To him came the most warlike and vengeful Elves, to serve in the army of the Deathbringer. Hunting, duelling and other blood sports became common in the Court of Aenarion and it was here that the most proficient warriors gathered to hone their skills in daily battles against encroaching Daemons. Nagarythe became a land obsessed with war and death.
The Black Arks Citadel of Ecstatic Damnation and Jade Palace of Pain beached amidst the ruins of Nagarythe. Malekith had chosen his landing site well, amongst the overgrown fortifications of ancient Anlec. He would build Anlec anew and from the lands of the great Aenarion would strike out to reclaim his rightful rulership of Ulthuan. With many thousands of slaves labouring beneath the cruel whips of the overseers, the ramparts and bastions of Anlec were built again around the foundations of the Black Arks. Upon the site of Aenarion's throne room, Malekith raised his flag in proclamation to Ulthuan that Aenarion's heir had returned. As slaves began to erect a new palace to the glory of the Witch King, the Dark Elves moved south and besieged Griffon Gate, beyond which were the verdant Inner Kingdoms. It wasn't until VI, 300, during the Scouring of Ulthuan, that Anlec was again sacked and raised to the ground, this time by the armies of Tethlis the Slayer. For all his guile and sorcerous power, there was nothing the Witch King could do to halt the tide of High Elves pouring into Nagarythe. He abandoned Anlec, breaking out of a siege that lasted for two hundred days, and made for the sanctuary of the Blighted Isle. Left empty, mighty Anlec was destroyed by Tethlis' army; razed from existence by blade, fire and magic. Even the stones from which it was built were melted or ground down so that no trace of Anlec remained to stain the lands of Ulthuan. At the centre of the palaces had stood an Altar of Khaine, which had claimed so many Elf lives their spirits could be heard screaming in torment around its baleful stone. The altar and the earth beneath it, saturated with the blood of so many sacrifices, were dug from the ground and taken out to sea, where they were dropped into an undersea chasm. To this day, the shrieks of the Witch King's victims haunt the waves of that coast, terrifying sailors who dare cross those seas. In IX, 10, the Dark Elves would again rebuild the citadel of Anlec in the Shadowlands. As before, Anlec became the foundation of the Dark Elves' occupation and was rebuilt over the course of a decade using iron-hard black stone from the quarries of Naggaroth. Though lacking the sheer size and grandeur of its previous incarnations, this new Anlec was still a formidable fortress and a secure base from which Dark Elf armies once more besieged Griffon Gate. Eventually, after more than three centuries of bloodshed, Mentheus of Caledor's army succeeded in pushing back the hosts of the Witch King to the gates of Anlec itself. Here, in IX, 380, the Dark Elves turned and faced Mentheus, determined that Anlec would never again fall. The Witch King led his army from his black chariot, and the fighting raged for the better part of three weeks. In the final assault on Anlec, Mentheus was slain by a bolt thrower. His Dragon, Nightfang, went berserk and the Dark Elves were scattered by the Dragon's rampage. The Dragon was eventually slain with dark spells, but by then Anlec was lost and Malekith was forced to quit Nagarythe once again, his bitterness and rage greater than ever. The Witch King did have one final revenge. Driven mad by his dreams, overwhelmed by the terrors unleashed by the Dark Elves, Phoenix King Morvael committed ritual suicide within the Flame of Asuryan. Maybe you want to read about Warhammer Fantasy Lore History of Algard.
The legends of Algard, the renowned Grey Wizard, are rife with half-truths and fictitious tales, not surprising perhaps, for a practitioner of the Lore of Shadow. However, one enduring myth turned out to be true--Algard had achieved his collection of eldritch tomes into a fastness so well protected that it no longer truly existed on the mortal plane. Only Algard knew how to summon his keep and its treasures, but this secret was lost with his disappearance. Towers of Screaming Death Such is the haphazard nature of the Realm of Chaos, that now and again, during times when the Winds of Magic blow most strongly, Algard's towers reappear, materializing beneath the storm-blackened and unnatural skies. Sensing the presence of the arcane trove amidst the storm, the dreaded Chaos Sorcerer Mortabulous led his army and a host of monsters into the Empire to plunder the magical hoard. Maybe you want to read about Warhammer Fantasy Lore History of Astarielle.
The lady Astarielle was Everqueen to the High Elves of Ulthuan and the first wife of Aenarion the Defender, the first Phoenix King. She is considered the first Everqueen only because she is in fact the first ever recorded. Her two children, Morelion and Yvraine, would both become highly important. On one side, her son's family gave many great heroes, including Tyrion and Teclis. On the other side, her daughter and all her descendants would be the next Everqueens, the spiritual leaders of the High Elves. History With the collapse of the great polar gates, Chaos swept across the world in what was known as the Great Catastrophe. Everywhere, civilisations burned and madness overtook order. Ulthuan suffered greater than any other land, for many amongst the daemonic host thirsted for Elven souls above all others. Had great heroes not arisen to meet the challenge, the Elves would have been utterly destroyed and their land made over into a court of pandemonium. Greatest of these heroes was Aenarion the Defender, first of the Phoenix Kings. It was he who rallied the Elves to hold back the daemonic tide, and his example ever spurred others to greater deeds. In time, Aenarion took the Everqueen Astarielle as his wife, and she bore him two fine children: Morelion, and Yvraine. As the Phoenix King fought to preserve Ulthuan, the Everqueen withdrew into the hallowed woods of Avelorn to raise their children as far from war as those days would allow. Avelorn had so far been spared the horrors of the invasion, for the Daemons sensed that the Treeman Durthu and his kind were not dissimilar in nature to themselves, and were wary of attacking their domain if easier prey was close at hand. Such a state of affairs could not last, however. One fateful day, when Aenarion’s army was campaigning far from Avelorn, a daemonic host greater than any yet seen descended upon Avelorn, and the slaughter began. As Avelorn burned, Durthu and his kind fought alongside the Elves - they could have fled back to the great forest of Athel Loren, but chose to stand with their allies. Many were destroyed, others were driven mad with despair, yet still the spirits of the forest battled on. But Avelorn could neither be saved by valour nor by strength of arms. Hour by hour, the Elves and spirits were driven deeper into their heartlands, until finally there was nowhere left to retreat to. It was late on that last day that Astarielle came to Durthu with a desperate request: that he rescue her children from the coming doom. For a time, Durthu stood silent, as the forest burned around them, the tears and pleas of his petitioner seemingly unheeded. To carry blooded creatures along the Oak of Ages’ worldroots would no doubt be seen as a dire transgression, and he was minded not to invoke the wrath of his peers, yet in his time in Avelorn, Durthu had seen how the Elves and forest spirits had been far stronger and wiser together than they had been apart — if either survived the darkness, that strength would surely serve the great forest well in whatever world followed. So it was that when Durthu spoke again, he agreed to Astarielle’s request. But, he cautioned, there would be a price to pay. If he saved the Everqueen’s offspring, the great forest would one day claim many Elves as its own, so that they might serve and protect it as they had tended the land of Avelorn. Was the Everqueen, he asked, prepared to sacrifice the future to preserve the present? Now it was Astarielle’s turn to fall silent, for there was something ominous in Durthu’s tone. Yet she had little choice - if Yvraine died, the line of the Everqueens would die with her, and the Elves would soon after fade forever.
As the spirit led Morelion and Yvraine away, Astarielle summoned what little of her magic remained unspent and went calmly down into the battle to meet her destiny.
Astarielle was slain in the attack and their children could not be found amongst the carnage. Her fate was so dreadful that the Elves refuse to speak of it, and drove Aenarion to taking up the cursed Sword of Khaine. |
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