Ranorian said:
Any Empire info in this book? The Empire forum is blowing up about Middenheim getting leveled, due to the meddling of that moron Teclis...wondering where they got the info.
I only mentioned the Lizardmen parts but here's basically the rest of the book.
Middenheim: Valten and the Supreme Patriarch of magic move up here after busting Karl Franz and all of the citizens of Altdorf away from the ruined capital. The emperor went to Averheim in the south, but due to the massive Skaven force these two went north. Upon arriving a Skaven army is laying siege to Middenheim, though the city is doing perfectly fine. Valten breaks the siege and rides into Middenheim.
At this point it's revealed that Boris Todbringer, the Elector Count, has basically gone crazy and thinks the Beastman Khazrak One-Eye (who took out one of Todbringer's eyes and vice versa) is responsible for all of the End Times, not Archaon. So he rides out with most of his best knights (Order of the White Wolf) and gets himself slaughtered, though he does successfully kill Khazrak in a duel.
Archaon arrives at Middenheim where he is pledged the loyalty of the Skaven by the Council of Thirteen by their messengers Screech Verminking (Verminlord special character) and Thanquol. Now with the 5 chaos factions combined into one force they attack Middenheim.
Now here is where weird I swear too much goes down. Apparently Teclis survived the sinking of Ulthuan (which means he's probably the Incarnate of Light since he sealed the wind into his staff) and sneaks past the chaos horde deep into the city. At this point he meets Ulric's true flame...and very much against the God's wishes steals it, resulting in Middenheim losing all of its protection and basically dooming the city. He then vanishes.
Middenheim is destroyed extremely quickly. Although Valten and the Gregor the Amber College Supreme Patriarch put up a hell of a fight. In the end they get cornered by the forces of Archaon's horde, Tzeentch's daemons led by Kairos Fateweaver, and a beastherd led by Malagor, the winged corrupting bastard.
In the end, Malagor dies, Kairos dies but comes back cause bullshit daemon magic, and the final battle between Valten, the Herald of Sigmar, and Archaon happens (just like back in the Storm of Chaos)
Also like in the original Storm of Chaos, Archaon defeats Valten after a good fight, but then a Deceiver Verminlord (Think giant Eshin assassin) appears and throws a giant ninja star that cuts Valten's head off before running away, cheating Archaon of the final blow. Gregor was a badass, killing both Kairos (temporarily) and Malagor as the last spark of Ulric fused with him, so think of him as the Herald of Ulric. He is beheaded by Archaon.
Due to Teclis' actions, Middenheim is completely destroyed. It's citizens are mostly captured and tortured, Ghal Maraz (THE WARHAMMER) is captured by Archaon as a trophy, and the Realm of Chaos moves far enough south to consume most of the Empire.
Also all of the Dwarf holds have fallen and the only Dwarf army left is the force following the Incarnate of Fire, Ungrim Ironfist who leads his force of super pissed off dwarfs to help save the empire. All the other dwarfs, including those in Karaz-a-Karak have fallen at the end of the book.
Karak Eight Peaks is abandoned as Queek Headtaker wins it by killing Belegar Ironhammer and giving Skarsnik a Skaven nuke in exchange for abandoning the city.
Character Death toll from this book: Valten, Herald of Sigmar; Supreme Patriarch Gregor, Herald of Ulric; Golgfag Maneater(the Ogre), who was crushed by a ceiling in Karak Eight Peaks (I think, not super clear); every dwarf character except Ungrim the Slayer King; Malagor the Dark Omen; Khazrak One-Eye; Graf Boris Todbringer, Elector Count of Middenland; Lord Mazdamundi, Lord of the Solar City; Lord Kroak; Lord Skrolk (Though he appears to be somehow brought back to life); Queek Headtaker; Ikit Claw (I think, this one isn't clear either); Kairos Fateweaver (who INSTANTLY respawned...somehow)
The book ends with the Skaven fusing with Chaos to become Super Chaos and Archaon sends Vilitch the Cursling and Kairos Fateweaver (so all his Tzeentch minions) to Averheim to burn the city and capture Karl Franz, also Khorne himself basically says they're going to fail which will weaken Tzeentch and make him the strongest, so apparently Archaon's big patron is the Lord of Skulls himself.
Also Nuln is destroyed by Thanquol and Screech Verminking