The Emperor's Lost Mines - Introduction

The Emperor's Lost Mines - Introduction

Many centuries ago, when the age of Chaos was ended by Sigmar's intervention, the races of the Tallowlands, many of them simple ordinary folk, rose and took arms against the forces of Chaos.  They joined with Sigmar's Stormcast Eternals to retake their lands in the name of order*

They needed to start equipping armies and anyone willing to fight..  In the southern realms of the Tallowlands, they found what they needed.  Rare ore from the hills and mountains and the purest coals and fuels for which to make a Forge - the forge of spells.  It was from here that the finest weapons and armour would be made, both magical and non-magical to equip the forces of Order as they pushed back against the forces of chaos at the start of the Age of Sigmar.  

One of Lucifer216's beautifully painted Stormcast Eternals

It was a time of unity, a time of peace — but it could not last.  Soon the Sinian Empire formed in the North and the races of men, dawi and aelves faded back into their fiefs and squabbles.  They had pushed chaos almost fully out of the Tallowlands and they wanted to enjoy the peace.

The Mine though, and the Forge of Spells, was not forgotten.  The area became first an outpost of the Sinian Empire and later a vassal Fief ruled from Krag-maw Castle, all the while supplying now a small but still significant number of magical weapons to the heroes and generals of the Sinian Empire.  Some of these would be locked in vaults but many of these were put to active use in defending the Sinian Empire from threats both internal and external.

Eventually, complacency set in.  The mine itself was overcome.  There are conflicting reports.  Some say it was a local Necromancer, yet other a beastman raiding party. Perhaps they both raided it.  The result was inescapable.  The mine was looted and its glory and even its very location were lost.  The Sinian Empire was too busy with internal problems to try and recover its remote outpost and its location was lost to time.

*Although behind closed doors this was a simple desire to be freed of slavery and tithe brought by the complacent and ancient forces of Chaos.