Storm of Chaos Online Campaign - Campaign Background

Campaign Background

For several centuries, Archaon quested for the "Six treasures of Chaos". According to the myths of Chaos worshippers, the one who manages to gain all of them will bring about the final triumph of Chaos. He finally managed to gain the six treasures in the year 2521 IC. At the same time, the Chaos Warlord Surtha Lenk attacked Kislev and pushed through to the Empire, sacking the Ostland capital of Wolfenburg before being crushed by Imperial reinforcements.

At the same time, "Luthor Huss", a self-styled prophet of Sigmar, had started to challenge the hierarchy of the church of Sigmar. Huss claimed that the priesthood had become corrupt and decadent, ignoring the teachings of Grand Theogonist Volkmar and abandoning Sigmar's mission. Volkmar the Grim, raised an army and journeyed to Kislev to confront Archaon. They lost, Volkmar was slain, and the war altar of Sigmar was cast down. A new Grand Theogonist, Johann Esmer, was elected, and was the epitome of everything that Luthor Huss and other grassroots clerics despised.

Trapped in the Kislevite city of Praag, the Tzarina Katarin asked for aid from her old Dwarven ally Ungrim Ironfist, the Slayer King of Karak Kadrin, who responded by sending his armies, led by his son Garagrim Ironfist, to their aid.

As the horde of Archaon rampaged through Kislev and into the Empire, Emperor Karl Franz invited envoys from the neighbouring kingdoms, as well as representatives of the High Elves and from the Dwarfs to the "Conclave of Light". Here, he successfully gained the support of Bretonnia, the Dwarfs and the High Elves. Huss had in the meantime found a young man named Valten who bore striking physical resemblance to Sigmar as is described in the legends, except for a birthmark shaped like a twin-tailed comet, the main symbol of the Sigmarite church. Valten was also highly skilled in battle and had a will-power to endure wounds that would kill a normal man. Huss and his following travelled to Altdorf, the capital city of The Empire, where they demanded that Valten be recognised as the reincarnation of Sigmar and so proclaim him Emperor, ignoring the immense civil unrest such a declaration would cause. By now, it was late spring, and Karl Franz, both pragmatic politician and devout Sigmarite, could neither ignore nor accept Huss's demands. In the end, he proclaimed Valten was the "spiritual heir" of Sigmar, recognising that he was blessed to some degree, but wisely retained rulership for himself.

In the summer of the year IC (Imperial Calendar) 2522 Archaon attacked The Empire with the specific goal of desecrating the city of Middenheim, a holy site to the followers of Ulric, a warrior god who is second in popularity only to Sigmar.