The Order of the Fiery Gate - An Age of Sigmar Blog

 As she lay on the the ground, the shifting environment around her flickering between momentary sensations, and as her lifeblood drained away, Ania recalled the final moments of her failed assault. It was as if fate itself had fought against her - and, of course, it had, for such was the will of the Raven God. Her tribeswomen scattered and butchered by the Orruk’s living idol. Her chimeras flailing uselessly, wild and unruly. Her dragon gunned down before the same warmachines that would later claim her. Her own Chosen, waylaid and by the treacherous magics unleashed by this hellscape, helpless to fight back as they were cut down. And her faithful warriors, fighting ot the last as their plans crumbled around them.   Their allies had not fared much better, of course, but she could tell that the eye of Tzeentch had turned its gaze on her at such a pivotal moment, and fate had aligned against her struggle.   At the last moment, she had seen an opportunity, a last lifeline...

The Plain of Sigils, Hysh Grisnakh Toofpulla idly tugged at the chains tethering him to his monstrous mount’s thickly-plated hide. The great, green maw-krusha snorted in irritation, eliciting a scowl from Toofpulla. The orruk pulled hard on the chain this time, about facing the brutish creature so that he could see the army arrayed behind him. Before him stood the strongest of the Toofpullas, the brutality of the orruk tempered in the fires of the Flamescar Plateau and all the horrors and foes it was home to. Before him stood a mighty Waaagh! indeed. But he knew that I would not be enough for what they were about to face. He turned to his left where the Runefather and his kin were arrayed – rank upon rank of duardin ready and eager to wet the blades of their axes with the blood of man and daemon alike. Toofpulla grimaced as the Runefather approached, astride a mount the colour of volcanic glass and blue magma. ‘Your brutes grow restless,’ called Folkvar-Grimnir to Toofpul...

  Although she would not admit it, Ania Straka was desperate. Furious, and desperate.   The past months had been met with mixed successes and undiluted failures. While she could rival and even best the other forces roaming the Flamescar Plateau, her early successes against the Ironjawz had quickly evaporated as they grew into an unstoppable force that no faction could truly eclipse for long. Each fleeting victory had become a prelude to a later defeat.   And of those victories, what cost? The destructive forces that the loathsome Karnack and his host wrought were invaluable, and it fell to her army to be their bulwark. Each battle, more and more of her sisters died, while the daemons they died to protect flickered in and out of existence in a mockery of mortality. There was no satisfaction in these victories. She bought them with the blood of her comrades, sacrificed at Tzeentch’s altar.    Even that had been insufficient. The Eternia Realmway had fallen t...

Folkvar-Grimnir found himself in that same dark place his dreams often took him to. In his hand he held a torch, but he had none of his other possessions with him. 'I thought I'd find you here, my little friend,' came a sinister, familiar voice from the impenetrable darkness. He held his torch out at arm's length and took a tentative step forward. A great, winged shadow loomed into view. 'You,' growled Folkvar. 'What do you want now, you thagging great mutant?' 'Now, now,' clucked Karnack, his three avian heads coming into view as he strode forward. 'Still smarting from our last encounter, are we?' 'I'm assuming you're here for some other purpose than to gloat? Or has being a triple-headed chicken wizard become so boring that you've started haunting my dreams?' Karnack threw back his three heads and laughed; shrill and unnatural was the sound. 'I do so enjoy our little chats, Folkva...

The stink of sorcery hung heavy in the air as the Hrukvorn Lodge trudged bravely on through the howling winds. Though the Brightblade was gone, his scouts remained in the northern reaches of the Flamescar Plateau, and it was from them that Folkvar-Grimnir had learned of the presence of the vampire corsair's minions in the Sorrowpeaks. That they had chosen this place to create a foothold was unsurprising, saturated as the place was in death - or so Runesmiter Alsvir informed him. What troubled him were the reports of a captive duardin - a large and cantankerous Fyreslayer. The shadows of Ahramentia lay all around, jutting forth from the snow like desecrated graves. An icy wind whipped the snow into vicious flurries, stinging the exposed skin of the Fyreslayers. Suddenly, Alsvir - who marched at the head of the column astride his magmadroth - halted the column. 'What is it?' shouted the Runefather. Alsvir waved a hand, gesturing for silence, then motioned to his ear. ...

'This has been a farce from the outset,' spat Folkvar. 'By Grimnir, manling, I am an arse hair away from breaking oath...' 'This was but one battle in a much larger war. Now-' 'Those beasts have control of the Realmway!' roared the runefather. 'Did Sigmar drop you on your head when he sent you to us on that bolt from the blue? The gods only know where they've gone now.' 'We are not the only ones fighting for the Plateau,' replied Brightblade calmly. 'They have the gate for now, yes, but they will not hold it forever. Yes, we have struggled to gain a foothold in the north – the orruks have seen to that. And that is why I suggest we venture south.' Folkvar breathed in slowly through his nostrils, then puffed out the air in a long, exhasperated sigh as he fought to control his temper. 'So, you want to take the fight to the Chaos filth. What's your grand plan then, Lord-Veritant?' 'The Disc...

Folkvar-Grimnir found himself surrounded by darkness. The air was cold, still and silent. The only things he could see were the cold, white lanterns that stretched off in a line into the abyss, their meagre light swallowed up by the black. He felt compelled to follow the lights, and so he did. He walked on for what seemed like an eternity, though his instincts told him that this was a place where the normal laws of space and time did not apply. And so on he trudged.  He examined the runes hammered into his hands and his arms; they did not glow, and nor could he feel that constant, thrumming heat that he had become so accustomed to. For the first time in a long time, he became aware that he felt cold. He remembered that he had had a weapon, his Magmadroth... the lodge. Were they things that had been important, or were they the memories of another life?  'It's been a long time, Hrokisson...' came a voice that at once was familiar yet strange, cold and yet warm. From out...

 “Mistress Straka, it appears our allies have been delayed. We will be facing these foes alone.”  If Ania’s expression was affected by this news, her beak-shaped helmet betrayed nothing to her second-in-command. She was stood on an outcrop, surveying the battlefield, her disc daemon hovering next to her bearing her shield and staff. After a moment, she spoke.   “Then we will have to settle for a fair fight. A shame, but unsurprising, Magister. We cannot trust any of our allies, especially other servants of the Raven God. Too many moving parts, too many unknown quantities.”   Her subordinate stood silently for a moment, as if picking her words carefully.  “Mistress Straka... Ania. Is this wise? Even now, Aqshy is Khorne’s territory. This is a land of violence and uncertainty. I am not sure what lies in these lands that could be worth risking our strength. In service to Zaronax, no less.” Ania did not immediately reply, so the Magister continued. “Yo...

  From the moment she was born, Ania Straka knew she was Ania Straka.   She knew, but she didn’t understand. She was a problem child. Ragtha, as her parents called her, spent her first years screaming constantly, as if in a state of perpetual fear and confusion. And she was. Her infant brain could not comprehend the memories it carried, only that it did not belong here. It was trapped in a vessel that was not its own, with no idea of how it had got there.   As she grew into a small child, she became known for her wild imagination. She came to know herself, her soul. She had been reborn from somewhere else. When she told her parents that she was Ania, not Ragtha, they hit her. Her tribe told her tales of the World That Was, and the four Gods and their Everchosen who had purged it of its wickedness. Ania knew as soon as she heard the stories that this was where she was from, that she was a traveller from a different time. And though the tribe never spoke the Gods’ name...