Universes In Review - Warhammer (Being Part II of III).

As mentioned last time the Warhammer world sways always from the standard fantasy setting. It is occupied by many races present across the spectrum of fantasy fiction (Yes, you Tolkien. Especially you.). Men, Orcs, Giants, three flavours of Elves and two flavours of Dwarfs, are all key factions, but certainly not the only groups. Undead (two flavours), Beastmen, Lizardmen, Ogres (in a very un-Shrek take on the creatures) and Skaven (rat-men) also inhabit the world. Above all it is the insidious presence of Chaos that marks the Warhammer world as different.


The Warhammer World. Somewhat familiar?


The two most prominent realms of men are the Empire (with a mix of German and the Renaissance with some clockpunk thrown in, as well as wizards.) and Bretonnia (chivalric France is an overwhelming influence). Other countries are also ruled by the race of men, but are less often explored, including Kislev (Tsarist Russia), Norse, Tilea (Renaissance Italy, and home of the mercenary army) Estilea (Spain) and Araby (Guess). There are also hints of realms to the of east of the “Old World” the lands of Cathay and Nippon, but these are only ever given passing mentions. Ogres occupy their own kingdom (Mongolia), as do Chaos Dwarfs, and Lizardmen (S. America). Dwarves live within vast mountain holds. High Elves (in a superior sense, not drugged to the eyeballs) live on island of Ulthuan, Dark Elves occupy the desolate land of Naggoroth and Wood Elves hide within the deep woods in Bretonnia. Orcs, Goblins, and Beastmen roam the world, a threat to any creature they come across. At both poles the stuff of Chaos pours into the world, corrupting and seducing while around the globe, two moons orbit, Mannslieb and the dark moon Morrslieb, one an ordinary rock, the other hypothesised to be made of pure warpstone.

The four gods Chaos, Khorne (The Blood God), Slaanesh (The Pleasure God), Tzeentch (The Changer of Ways) and Nurgle (Grandfather Pestilence), are worshipped in the lands of the North, where their dominion is greatest. The landscape is twisted by unnatural forces, plains of skulls stretch for miles, monsters and abhumans fight in perpetual combat, time runs no set course, monstrous buildings defy the laws of physics and daemons stalk the land. Human warriors fight to win the favour of these foul gods, slaughtering enemies or sacrificing non believers on bloody alters. Chaos is fickle and a champion may just as soon be turned into unnatural forms than receive a boon.



Above all it is Choas that sets the Warhammer world/background apart from others. There is a feeling of impending apocalypse, possibility of death around any corner, a deep sense of the strange at times and horror and black humour walking hand in hand. It is the largest part of the engine that drives the world, but is but one part amongst many.

The above barely scratches the surface of the history of just one of Warhammer’s many factions. Each has it’s own internal history as well as the massive external conflict that rage across the planet.

Now for a bit of history. This will start as a fairly wide, before narrowing down to focus on the Empire, as this is the main setting for much of the Black Libraries’ output.

Over 3,000 years before what is considered “present day” Dwarves and Elves fought each other for the Old World. After hundreds of years at war the two sides retreated to their own realms. The dwarves into massive holds within the mountains, and the Elves over the sea to the island of Ulthuan, where they were driven apart by civil war. The two factions split into High Elves and Dark Elves, who were defeated and fled Ulthuan to the land of Naggaroth, where they remain, waging war on their hated cousins and all other races. The elves that did not return to Ultuan settled in the forests of the Old World, becoming the Wood Elves.

Orcs and other creatures filled the vacuum left by the Elves and Dwarves, including humanity. Early settlers were split into tribes, and living in a state of constant warfare, against both the monsters and other humans. At this stage the lands of the Old World became distinct, each country forging their own way out of darkness. In the lands that would be coming the Empire this was bought about by Sigmar Heldenhammer. Sigmar’s birth was marked by a great twin tailed comet seen in the sky, an omen of great and terrible things to come. Sigmar united the tribes of men and pushed back the Orc’s, and forged friendship with the Dwarves after rescuing their King. The former tribesmen divided the land into great provinces, each ruling as a count under Sigmar as Emperor. Following his disappearance, a new Emperor was elected from amongst the counts, a practice that has continued to the present day and the reign of Karl Franz. Sigmar become deified by a growing cult and became patron god of the Empire.

The history of the Empire has ever been troubled. Plagues unleashed by the rat like Skaven have spread across the land, there wsa a time when three Emperors vied for the throne, and massive invasions by Orcs tribes. Vlad Von Carstein, Elector Count of Sylvania was revealed to be a vampire and raised an army of undead, which marched to the very walls of Altdorf, the Imperial Capital, itself. The vampires he sired continue to prey on the Empire to this day.

Chaos is also at large within the Empire. Invasion after invasion has poured down from the North, through Kislev and into the Empire. Beastmen roam the forests, and strange creatures walk the night. The city of Mordheim was destroyed by a second twin tailed comet, showering the crater with wyrdstone and drawing treasure hunters from across the world.



The Black Libraries’ books only add to the depth of the Warhammer World. Some expand on pieces of the background, such as Steven Saville’s “Vampire Wars” covering the reign of the Von Carstien’s and their century long war against the Empire, or the Time of Legends series which delves into the furthest reaches of the worlds history, telling of Sigmar’s life, or the rise of the Liche King Nagash. Other books follow adventures unfolding in the present, such as the Genevive trilogy, (about a female Vampire, written by horror buff Kim Newman under the name Jack Yeovil). Or the acclaimed Gotek and Felix series by William King (Cover shot above), the saga of a Dwarf with a death wish and the human noble bound to following him after making a drunken blood oath. Gotek remains unsuccessful in his quest as the pair battle creatures from Trolls to Daemons to Dragons. Different again are C L Werner’s “Brunner” stories, the titular bounty hunter is a man without conscience, who’ll take any job, if there is enough gold offered.

The books provide a solid selection of fantasy stories, ranging from pulpy actioners to horror to crime and more besides, set it a brilliantly realized world. It's well worth picking one up and giving it a read if you get the chance.

Over time various elements of canon have fallen in and out of favour, or been rewritten. At times the universe gets a bit Dr Who and you can see the cracks. Some of the older books from the Black Libraries catalogues are being released as omnibus editions, often with extra content and hopefully with such wrinkles ironed out.

Right, that possibly enough from me. Hopefully it was enlightening if nothing else and you know a little more about what is on the odd section of shelves at the local bookstore the Black Library books seem to colonise.

Next post will be on the Warhammer 40,000 ‘verse. And after that a book review, which will hopefully make a bit more sense than it would ahve now the background is filled in a bit.