The back story to WAR
It is a desperate time for the Emperor. A terrible Chaos Plague defiles his lands, ravaging the populace and weakening his armies. Meanwhile, the Dwarf holds in the nearby World's Edge Mountains have come under siege by a massive greenskin horde. Honor-bound by an ancient oath, the ruler of the greatest nation of men in the Old World has dispatched several regiments to assist the embattled Dwarfs, further depleting the Empire's already thin defenses.In this dark hour, a new threat appears. Under a sky darkened by a crimson eclipse, a great warhost erupts from the wastelands of the north. Bearing the banner of Tzeentch, Changer of the Ways, the army of Chaos marches south for the borders of the Empire, crushing everything in its path.
With the Dwarfs fighting desperately to slow the ferocious greenskin "Waaagh!", the Emperor realizes that his only hope of defeating the encroaching legions of Chaos lies with the High Elves of Ulthuan. Upon receiving the Emperor's dire plea for help, Finubar, Phoenix King of the High Elves, sets sail at the head of a mighty fleet of warships laden with battalions of High Elf warriors.
No sooner have the Elven fleet weighed anchor in the Imperial capital of Altdorf, when word comes of a new menace: the vile Dark Elves have invaded the island of Ulthuan! It now becomes terribly clear to the Phoenix King, the Emperor and the High King of the Dwarfs that a vast conspiracy is at work. In his heart, Finubar knows that only Malekith, Witch King of Naggaroth and Lord of the Dark Elves, could orchestrate such a plot. He is not mistaken.
Click for larger imageMonths earlier, Malekith's seers had foretold the coming attack on the Empire by the forces of Chaos. The Lord of Naggaroth moved swiftly to capitalize on this rare opportunity. Using his formidable arcane powers, Malekith forged amulets of dark magic and gifted them to the leaders of the most powerful Orc tribes in the greenskin lands. Within each talisman were bound potent spells to greatly increase the strength and fortitude of the Orcs, but the treacherous Witch King secretly included one additional spell - a spell of command that compelled the tribal warriors to unleash their boundless aggression on the mountain holds of the Dwarfs. The cunning Lord of the Dark Elves knew that if the Emperor could not rely on his Dwarf allies for help, he would have no choice but to call upon the High Elves.
Mere hours after Finubar's war fleet had set sail for the Old World, Malekith launched a massive invasion against the island home of his hated kin. Scores of Black Arks descended upon the vulnerable lands of the unsuspecting High Elves. Rank upon rank of Naggaroth's fiercest warriors belched forth from their dark depths, and with them came nightmarish beasts and terrifying engines of war.
Surrounded on all sides by fearsome adversaries bent on their annihilation, the leaders of the Dwarfs, the High Elves and the Empire forge a pact to fight together as one power. The Alliance of Order is born, and its members swear an oath never to lay down their swords until their enemies are destroyed.
Now, the greatest armies ever assembled collide in an epic war pitting the forces of darkness and destruction against a stalwart alliance of men, Elves and Dwarfs. A new age is dawning in the world of Warhammer. It is an age of bitter rivalry and lethal conflict, of vile treachery and legendary heroism. This is the Age of Reckoning.
