Sigmar and Stormcast in the Tallowlands

Sigmar's warriors and the folk of Rhô

Half mythic heroes, half brooding threat – so are the Stormcast viewed by the peoples of Rhô.

Sigmar's chosen – the Stormcast – are not common in the civilised southern reaches of the Tallowlands, though marching columns and whole armies are certainly seen, most frequently on the Lonely Road. Where they are sighted, Stormcast are the cause of much rumour, hearsay – and often panic – amongst the local populace.

Where they are found in the southern fiefdoms, Stormcast tend to be found in handfuls on the move, roaming from place to place in search of the enemies of Sigmar. When they come to settlements, the inhabitants make the sign of the hammer, and silently bring provender to the warriors; or else offer lodgings in a politely distant quarter of the village; or else dim the lamps and keep a low profile – all  in the hope that they will move on swiftly.

This is not to suggest that the Tallowlands is an impious place, nor that the Stormcast are not respected and venerated. There are numerous temples to Sigmar within the larger market towns and cities, and most men and women recognise and respect Sigmarite priests. Sigmar-worship is relatively new to the region. He is worshipped in larger towns in his gold-armoured aspect as protective warrior-god, but in more parochial rural districts, his worship is often conflated with older deities, such as Artha, god of the high places, or Hain'Amur, the armoured God.

A long history of warfare and trouble have made many amongst the folk of the Southern Fiefs self-reliant and inward-looking – though wary rather than hostile or mistrustful. If the Stormcast are viewed warily, it is not through fear; but through the knowledge that they are far from invincible, as demonstrated by the events of the Fall of the Sinian Empire.

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Heaven's Gate: Stormcast of the north

The events that led to the defeat and collapse of the Sinian Empire are hazy and uncertain even now, but today only one of the numerous great Stormkeeps that once dotted the Sinian Empire remains inviolate: Heaven's Gate. It lies in what was the capital city of the Old Empire, though now it is an embattled region under near-constant siege, a bastion of order against a sea of the monstrous denizens of Nygorach.

Heaven's Gate is semi-legendary amongst the people of Rhô. Its garrison of Stormcast have been battling valiantly for more than a century, their slowly-dwindling numbers periodically replenished and reinforced by questing warriors sent as honour-deputations – or seeking fame and glory – by numerous other Stormhosts. These groups range in number from massed ranks of gleaming Liberators sent by their masters to ensure a beacon of hope remains alight amongst the devastation, to mere handfuls of roving Vanguard-hunters seeking a safe haven after ranging through the Tolerance of Crows in search of the undead's ever-probing scouts.

The garrison of Heaven's Gate is thus colourful and varied, made up of veteran Stormcast from across dozens of Stormhosts, all fighting alongside one another. The Stormkeep is thus a symbol to all who value freedom and hope in the world, and to fight there is to stand as an alloy made stronger than its constituent parts.

While powerful, Stormcast are not inexhaustible. By decade-long tradition, they are therefore permitted to remain only until relieved. In practise, however many pay only lip service to this rule, or evenly openly flout it. Believing taking the war to the enemy to be the best way to defend the keep, Stormcast sally forth from Heaven's Gate, in groups both large and small, on those occasions when their strength makes it possible. Such deputations vary hugely. Some are as uniform as any other Stormcast force, while others are made up of allies and friendships made during their time at the keep, their heraldries as diverse and individual as any group of Southfief knights.

Such forces drive deep into the Charred Lands of the former Sinian Empire, in the thus-far vain hope of reclaiming the lost Stormkeeps of the former Sinian Empire; or of bringing ruin to the mad king-emperor of Nygorach and his ghoulish, benighted allies.

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Stormkeeps of the Southern Fiefdoms

Today, two Stormkeeps are particularly well-known amongst the Southern Fiefdoms: the first is great Mirrorkeep. Primarily this is home to the mages of the Celestial Council, a collective of mages and wizards who are amongst the few in the Tallowlands with the requisite magical, financial and political wherewithal to warrant a permanent presence of Sigmar’s champions. Their Mirrowkeep has this long provided barracks for the visiting Stormhosts. The second is Barbet's River Fort, a humbler and more specifically military base that guards the strategically vital Barbet’s River, not far from the artisan's city of Zhi-Sun on the southern coast of Rhô. Nominally home to their own Stormhosts, these Stormkeeps are often garrisoned by troops en route to Heaven's Gate; the warriors of the Stormhosts themselves out on manouevres or otherwise preparing for the ongoing campaigns against the denizens of the Charred Lands, far to the north.

The Stormhosts of the Mirrorkeep and Barbet's River provide the bulk of the Southern Tallowlands' might in the fight to hold back the ever-present risk of invasion from Nygorach. They bring what aid they can to the unfortunate souls who remain ekeing a living in the Tolerance of Crows. Despite their efforts, however, the border is vast. For every force of greenskin, beastmen or skaven that is interdicted by their patrols and brought to battle, another slips past, to raid and pillage the lands of Rhô.

Such duties mean that seeing a large Stormhost abroad in the Southern Fiefdoms is rare – but not unknown. While the independent kingdoms and principalities and other regions of the Southern Fiefdoms exist in a state of uneasy truth with one another, skirmishes and open warfare are far from unknown. In such cases, appeals to Mirror Keep or Barbet's River Fort – or the smaller groups of Stormcast that range the southlands – can help a weaker lord sway victory away from an apparently stronger or more belligerent rival.

Nor is mankind alone in Rhô. The elder races are fewer than man, true, but far from rare. While the Stormhosts broadly enjoy an uneasy peace with the most powerful kingdoms of the dwarfs, elves and other nominally civilised races that exist across Rhô, such a peace is conditional – and there are dozens of independent groups that owe no fealty to either Stonekeep or Oakhold. Indeed, many are openly hostile, viewing humans with indifference, scorn or open repulsion. As a result, bitter battles have been fought by the Stormcast against dwarfen throngs and elven hosts across blasted mountain ranges and humid woodlands; to the benefit of none but greedy kings – and the gleeful beastmen and greenskins whose interests are only strengthened by the internecine warfare of the so-called civilised folk.

Thus it is that the infrequent appearance of Stormcast across the Tallowlands is received with mixed emotions by the inhabitants. They are at once fêted as heroes and protectors of the denizens of Rhô, and shunned as ill-omened harbingers of doom and despair. Nevertheless, they remain dutiful, heroes all – and if bitterness festers within them at their half-hearted reception by the sons and daughters of Rhô, they are careful to keep it to themselves...

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Known Stormcast forces in the Tallowlands

The following Stormhosts have been recorded as operating in the Tallowlands within living memory:

[insert your Stormhost(s) here]

Brotherhood of Cynosure [apologist]

Also known as the Lodestar Warriors, the Brotherhood of Cynosure are dour, dutiful warriors; clad in bronze and stern in their duties. Never great in number, their warriors range the rain-chased hills of the Charred Lands, ever-vigilant for the creeping hands of the undead.






Heralds of the New Dawn [warmtamale]

A recently-founded Order who place great emphasis on proselytising and exhorting the not-fully-faithful. They consider example to be the best method of leadership, and so are often found at the forefront of battle or bringing aid to beleagured settlements. Sometimes called the Keepers of the Dawn Gate.