https://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Gorthuar&feedformat=atomWarhammer - The Old World - Lexicanum - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T23:31:42ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Thutep&diff=6745Thutep2007-11-04T21:16:20Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
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King '''Thutep''', one of the kings of the [[Dynasties of Khemri|third dynasty]] of [[Nehekhara]], was the predecessor to his brother [[Nagash]]. He took the throne after their father [[Khetep]], greatest since the time of [[Settra]], but was not long upon it.<br />
<br />
Nagash, the [[High Priest of Khemri]] at that time, was plotting against Thutep's life, with the intention of taking the throne for himself. One dark night, when the moon was shadowed, he and a loyal group of soldiers snuck into the palace and took Thutep. They put him in the pyramid of King Khetep and left him for dead.<br />
<br />
The next morning, Nagash proclaimed himself High Priest and King of [[Khemri]], a post never occupied before or since by one person. This makes Thutep one of the most unfortunate kings in the history of Khemri.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]<br />
[[Category:Persona]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Khetep&diff=6744Khetep2007-11-04T21:13:33Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Khetep''' was the regent of [[Queen Rasut|Queen Rasut's]] infant son. When the child died Khetep assumed power immediatly, and proceeded to use the power of [[Nehekhara]] for his own glorification. He began the [[Dynasties of Khemri|3rd Dynasty]]. He was the father of [[Nagash]] and [[Thutep]].<br />
<br />
He had the [[Great Pyramid of Khetep]] built within the [[Necropolis of Khemri]], taking one million slaves twenty five years on the order of their king to construct. This acted as a beakon, showing the rest of Nehekhara that Khetep was all powerful.<br />
<br />
All of the kings of Nehekhara bowed to Khetep in his time, and a golden age like never before was thrust upon the people.<br />
<br />
After the King's death, his son Tuthep succeeded him.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]<br />
[[Category:Persona]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Khetep&diff=6743Khetep2007-11-04T21:12:16Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Khetep''' was the regent of [[Queen Rasut|Queen Rasut's]] infant son. When the child died Khetep assumed power immediatly, and proceeded to use the power of [[Nehekhara]] for his own glorification. He began the [[Dynasties of Khemri|3rd Dynasty]]. He was the father of [[Nagash]] and [[Thutep]].<br />
<br />
He had the [[Great Pyramid of Khetep]] built within the [[Necropolis of Khemri]], taking one million slaves twenty five years on the order of their king to construct. This acted as a beakon, showing the rest of Nehekhara that Khetep was all powerful.<br />
<br />
All of the kings of Nehekhara bowed to Khetep in his time, and a golden age like never before was thrust upon the people.<br />
<br />
Khetep was followed by King [[Thutep]].<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]<br />
[[Category:Persona]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6742Nagash2007-11-04T21:09:28Z<p>Gorthuar: /* King of Khemri */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King [[Khetep]]. He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his father's pyramid. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother [[Thutep]] took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from black stone, which would come to be known as the [[Black Pyramid of Nagash]].<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over - [[Nagashizzar]]. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true [[vampire]]. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the [[Vampire Masters]] decided to flee, with only [[W'soran]] remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by many jealous undead kings with their combined armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6741Nagash2007-11-04T21:09:03Z<p>Gorthuar: /* The greatest in learning */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King [[Khetep]]. He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his father's pyramid. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother Thutep took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from black stone, which would come to be known as the [[Black Pyramid of Nagash]].<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over - [[Nagashizzar]]. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true [[vampire]]. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the [[Vampire Masters]] decided to flee, with only [[W'soran]] remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by many jealous undead kings with their combined armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6740Nagash2007-11-04T21:08:05Z<p>Gorthuar: /* King of Khemri */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara). He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his [[Black Pyramid of Nagash|Black Pyramid]]. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother Thutep took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from black stone, which would come to be known as the [[Black Pyramid of Nagash]].<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over - [[Nagashizzar]]. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true [[vampire]]. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the [[Vampire Masters]] decided to flee, with only [[W'soran]] remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by many jealous undead kings with their combined armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Arkhan&diff=6739Arkhan2007-11-04T21:06:34Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Arkhan''', or Arkhan the Black, was the vizier to [[Nagash]] in [[Nehekhara]]. He fought and died for Nagash, although his current status of death is unreliable. He was slain in combat with an army led by [[Lahmizzash]]. He had built the [[Black Tower of Arkhan]] which has special properties allowing it to move around the desert each morning.<br />
<br />
Arkhan was ressurected by Nagash to fight at the head of his army when he returned to Khemri during the reign of [[Alcadizaar]]. He fought alongside [[Wsoran]], a member of the [[Lahmian Court]].<br />
<br />
It is said by the nomads that Arkhan has risen again as there is life (or unlife) seen within his tower. If this is the case then Nagash will probably soon follow and a new time of death will be upon the world.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]<br />
[[Category:Persona]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Great_Pyramid_of_Khetep&diff=6738Great Pyramid of Khetep2007-10-31T18:23:24Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>The '''Great Pyramid of Khetep''' is located within [[Khemri]] in the lands of [[Nehekhara]]. It was built for one of the greatest kings of Khemri, [[Khetep]].<br />
<br />
Khetep was the regent to the son of [[Queen Rasut]] but when the child died, he took the throne himself. One million labourers worked for twenty five years to build his pyramid and all the peoples of Nehekhara fell on their knees to him. He made the land prosper like never before, hence his burial in a huge pyramid.<br />
<br />
As Nagash, Khetep's son, seized the trone from the King's other son, Thutep, he entombed his brother in their father's pyramid.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Black_Pyramid_of_Nagash&diff=6737Black Pyramid of Nagash2007-10-31T18:19:04Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>The '''Black Pyramid of Nagash''' is part of the [[Necropolis of Khemri]] within [[Nehekhara]], the land of the [[Tomb Kings of Khemri]].<br />
<br />
It was built under the reign of the evil sorceror [[Nagash]] by uncounted souls. It took fifty years and is the largest pyramid in Khemri, dominating even that of [[Khetep]]. It is made of stone the color of ebony, imported from cities all over Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
After being defeated by the army of the Seven Kings, Nagash abandoned his pyramid and it remained undisturbed for over a millennium. Even when centuries later Nagash's army entered Khemri to drag King [[Alcadizaar]] to the Great Necromancer's fortress of [[Nagashizzar]], the pyramid remained empty. However, 1,111 years after being killed by Alcadizzar, Nagash regenerated his body inside the pyramid, something he would do again, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of [[Sigmar]].<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6736Nagash2007-10-31T18:18:11Z<p>Gorthuar: /* The Great Necromancer */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara). He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his [[Black Pyramid of Nagash|Black Pyramid]]. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother Thutep took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over - [[Nagashizzar]]. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true [[vampire]]. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the [[Vampire Masters]] decided to flee, with only [[W'soran]] remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by many jealous undead kings with their combined armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Black_Pyramid_of_Nagash&diff=6735Black Pyramid of Nagash2007-10-31T18:17:38Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>The '''Black Pyramid of Nagash''' is part of the [[Necropolis of Khemri]] within [[Nehekhara]], the land of the [[Tomb Kings of Khemri]].<br />
<br />
It was built under the reign of the evil sorceror [[Nagash]] by uncounted souls. It took fifty years and is the largest pyramid in Khemri, dominating even that of [[Khetep]]. It is made of stone the color of ebony, imported from cities all over Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
After being defeated by the army of the Seven Kings, Nagash abandoned his pyramid and it remained undisturbed for over a millennium. Even when Nagash's army entered Khemri centuries later to drag King [[Alcadizaar]] to the Great Necromancer's fortress of [[Nagashizzar]], the pyramid remained empty. However, 1,111 years after being killed by Alcadizzar, Nagash regenerated his body inside the pyramid, something he would do again, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of [[Sigmar]].<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6734Nagash2007-10-31T18:05:57Z<p>Gorthuar: /* The greatest in learning */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara). He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his [[Black Pyramid of Nagash|Black Pyramid]]. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother Thutep took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true [[vampire]]. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the [[Vampire Masters]] decided to flee, with only [[W'soran]] remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by many jealous undead kings with their combined armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6733Nagash2007-10-31T18:05:24Z<p>Gorthuar: /* The greatest in learning */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara). He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his [[Black Pryamid of Nagash|Black Pyramid]]. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother Thutep took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true [[vampire]]. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the [[Vampire Masters]] decided to flee, with only [[W'soran]] remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by many jealous undead kings with their combined armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6732Nagash2007-10-31T18:04:33Z<p>Gorthuar: /* The greatest in learning */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara). He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his [[Black Pyramid]]. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother Thutep took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true [[vampire]]. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the [[Vampire Masters]] decided to flee, with only [[W'soran]] remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by many jealous undead kings with their combined armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Khemri&diff=6731Khemri2007-10-31T18:04:05Z<p>Gorthuar: /* Nagash */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Khemri''' was the greatest city of the [[Tomb Kings of Khemri]]. Located at the heart of [[Nehekhara]], it was the greatest and most powerful city of its time. It was built by [[Settra]] around -2500 IC as his captial.<br />
<br />
It is located on a river originally known as [[Great Vitae River]], now known as the [[Great Mortis River]]. The land around is flat, surrounded by fertile flood plains and then expansive deserts, leading to Araby. The fertile lands provided ample food for the population and the flat desert around gave them advanced warning of incoming enemies. Also, its position on the river means it commands the trade routes to the east of Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Most other cities in Nehekhara, when not rebelling against its rule, paid vast amounts of tribute in gold, slaves and military units. This made Khemri the greatest centre of trade and finances, military power and it boasted the biggest pyramids for its dead. Two of these major cities were [[Zandri]] and [[Numas]].<br />
<br />
It also contains a vast area known as the [[Necropolis of Khemri]]. It is a labyrinth of hundreds of smaller pyramids dwarfed by the [[Great Pyramid of Settra]], and in turn dominated by the [[Black Pyramid of Nagash]].<br />
<br />
==Nagash==<br />
When Nagash arose, he was given the rank of High Priest of Khemri. He desired the title of King, and as such killed all in his way. He placed the current king, his own brother, in the tomb of King [[Khetep]], their father.<br />
<br />
Khemri was sieged by various kings, united to destroy Nagash. They succeeded and abandoned the Black Pyramid of Nagash. Khemri was sacked, badly damaged and its population destroyed.<br />
<br />
Hundreds of years later, Nagash returned. He poisoned the land and killed huge amounts of the population. Soon, the dead outnumbered the living. The king, [[Alcadizaar]], was captured by Nagash and dragged to his citadel, where he was imprisoned.<br />
<br />
Nagash then unleashed his spell, killing all of the living for hundreds of miles around. Eventually the ancient kings rose from their slumber and fought over control of the cities. Khemri was eventually conquered by Settra, who proceeded to take over the rest of Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
==Famous Locations within Khemri==<br />
Several locations in Khemri a reknown throughout Kehekhara. These can be huge pyramids, temple complexes, burial sites and spectacular sphinxes. Some of these include:<br />
<br />
*The [[Necropolis of Khemri]]<br />
*The [[Great Obelisk of Khemri]]<br />
*The [[Great Pyramid of Settra]]<br />
*The [[Great Pyramid of Khetep]]<br />
*The [[Tomb of Queen Rasut]]<br />
<br />
Khemri still stands to this day, but it is far from its former glory. It huge towers of gleaming gold and pyramids of shining limestone and alabaster are decaying from age, rotting like the corpses of the people. The [[Liche Priest]]s are tasked with the preservation of such monuments but, like themselves, they still collapse under the weight of time. The priests may be timeless, but the monuments they protect are not.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Khemri&diff=6730Khemri2007-10-31T18:03:16Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Khemri''' was the greatest city of the [[Tomb Kings of Khemri]]. Located at the heart of [[Nehekhara]], it was the greatest and most powerful city of its time. It was built by [[Settra]] around -2500 IC as his captial.<br />
<br />
It is located on a river originally known as [[Great Vitae River]], now known as the [[Great Mortis River]]. The land around is flat, surrounded by fertile flood plains and then expansive deserts, leading to Araby. The fertile lands provided ample food for the population and the flat desert around gave them advanced warning of incoming enemies. Also, its position on the river means it commands the trade routes to the east of Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Most other cities in Nehekhara, when not rebelling against its rule, paid vast amounts of tribute in gold, slaves and military units. This made Khemri the greatest centre of trade and finances, military power and it boasted the biggest pyramids for its dead. Two of these major cities were [[Zandri]] and [[Numas]].<br />
<br />
It also contains a vast area known as the [[Necropolis of Khemri]]. It is a labyrinth of hundreds of smaller pyramids dwarfed by the [[Great Pyramid of Settra]], and in turn dominated by the [[Black Pyramid of Nagash]].<br />
<br />
==Nagash==<br />
When Nagash arose, he was given the rank of High Priest of Khemri. He desired the title of King, and as such killed all in his way. He placed the current king, a mean infant, in the tomb of King [[Khetep]].<br />
<br />
Khemri was sieged by various kings, united to destroy Nagash. They succeeded and abandoned the Black Pyramid of Nagash. Khemri was sacked, badly damaged and its population destroyed.<br />
<br />
Hundreds of years later, Nagash returned. He poisoned the land and killed huge amounts of the population. Soon, the dead outnumbered the living. The king, [[Alcadizaar]], was captured by Nagash and dragged to his citadel, where he was imprisoned.<br />
<br />
Nagash then unleashed his spell, killing all of the living for hundreds of miles around. Eventually the ancient kings rose from their slumber and fought over control of the cities. Khemri was eventually conquered by Settra, who proceeded to take over the rest of Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
==Famous Locations within Khemri==<br />
Several locations in Khemri a reknown throughout Kehekhara. These can be huge pyramids, temple complexes, burial sites and spectacular sphinxes. Some of these include:<br />
<br />
*The [[Necropolis of Khemri]]<br />
*The [[Great Obelisk of Khemri]]<br />
*The [[Great Pyramid of Settra]]<br />
*The [[Great Pyramid of Khetep]]<br />
*The [[Tomb of Queen Rasut]]<br />
<br />
Khemri still stands to this day, but it is far from its former glory. It huge towers of gleaming gold and pyramids of shining limestone and alabaster are decaying from age, rotting like the corpses of the people. The [[Liche Priest]]s are tasked with the preservation of such monuments but, like themselves, they still collapse under the weight of time. The priests may be timeless, but the monuments they protect are not.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Vampire&diff=6729Vampire2007-10-31T11:43:46Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Vampires''' are a type of [[Undead]] existing in the Warhammer World. Their origins trace back to [[Nagash]] who gave an [[Elixir of Damnation|elixir]] of his own blood to the first vampire, [[Neferata]] to grant her youthful immortality. This transformed her into a creature with a constant thirst for blood. Neferata went on to infect eleven individuals she deemed worthy and these became the [[Vampire Masters]]. <br />
<br />
During a War with [[Alcadizaar|Alcadizaar the Great]], which resulted in the sacking of the Vampire capital of [[Lahmia]], five of the Vampire Masters were slain. Fleeing Lahmia the vampires regrouped upon meeting up with Nagash and were made generals of his armies in another war with Alcadizaar. When Alcadizaar defeated them once more Nagash cursed the Vampires to be burnt by the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
After this event the vampires dispersed and fled north from [[Nehekhara]] and across the known world founding their own Bloodlines. Of the seven, only five Bloodlines are detailed in the background and playable in the game. These are as follows:<br />
<br />
* The [[Blood Dragons]], founded by Abhorash who defeated the curse by drinking the blood of a [[Dragon]] (hence the name). A famous stronghold of the Blood Dragons is [[Blood Keep]] in the [[Grey Mountains]]. They are known as some of the most formidable fighters in the Warhammer World.<br />
<br />
* The [[Lahmians]], an almost exclusively female bloodline. They were founded by Neferata, the first vampire.<br />
<br />
* The [[Necrach]], founded by [[W'soran]] are physically weak but exceptionally able in the usage of Necromancy.<br />
<br />
* The [[Strigoi]], craven bestial monsters with much in common with [[Ghouls]]. [[Ushoran]] was their master.<br />
<br />
* The [[von Carsteins]]. Perhaps the most famous bloodline within the [[Empire]]. The founder of the von Carsteins is unknown for certain as the first mention of them as 'von Carsteins' is [[Vlad von Carstein]] who appeared many millenia later in the Empire province of [[Sylvania]]. The likely candidate however is [[Vashanesh]] who is the only other Vampire Master named. Vlad and Vashenesh might be one and the same, but then again, might not. Quite what Vashanesh' identity is remains one of the mysteries of the Warhammer World.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Vampire Counts]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Blood_Keep&diff=6728Blood Keep2007-10-31T11:42:04Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Bloodkeep''' in the [[Grey Mountains]] is the fortress monastry of the former order of the [[Dragontemplars]] After the arrival of [[Walach Harkon]] from the [[Blood Dragon]] bloodline, the Dragontemplars were all turned to [[vampire|vampiriam]].<br />
<br />
[[Karl Franz]] defeated the Dragontemplars in the Battle of Bloodkeep, and the surviving [[vampire]]s fled, but the fortress ruins may still be haunted by [[undead]]...<br />
<br />
[[Category:Vampire Counts]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6727Nagash2007-10-31T11:40:33Z<p>Gorthuar: /* The Great Necromancer */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara). He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his Black Pyramid. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother Thutep took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true [[vampire]]. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the [[Vampire Masters]] decided to flee, with only [[W'soran]] remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by many jealous undead kings with their combined armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Lahmia_(city)&diff=6726Lahmia (city)2007-10-31T11:37:52Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>{|align="right" style="border:1px solid black; background-color:#AE8D68;padding:0px;margin-left:1em;"<br />
|<br />
{|style="border:none; background-color:#69553F;padding:5px;"<br />
|<font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#BAAB86"><b>DE</b></font> <br />
|}<br />
|<br />
|[[lex_de_whfb:Lahmia|Lahmia]]<br />
|<br />
|}<br />
<br />
'''Lahmia''' is a city in [[Nehekhara]], the land of the [[Tomb Kings of Khemri]]. It is located on the eastern side of the [[Worlds Edge Mountains]] and in the northern region of that area.<br />
<br />
It is first mentioned as being conquered by King [[Rakhash]] and then [[Rakaph II]]. It was again conquered by [[Khetep]] along with the rest of the Nehekhara. The King of Lahmia, [[Lahmizzar]], led the armies of the 7 cities against [[Nagash]] but was slain at Nagash's own hand. Eventually, [[Lahmizzash]] managed to defeat Nagash but it was also at this time that [[Khalida|High Queen Khalida Neferher]] was slain by [[Neferata]] of Lahmia.<br />
<br />
Lahmia became known as Cursed Lahmia after it was discovered that vampires resided there. Neferata was the first vampire and held her [[Lahmian Court]] where she created more vampires. Finally, [[Alcadizaar]] conquered Lahmia and it was razed to the ground as an infernal place. All of the population was enslaved and the city left for ruin.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6725Nagash2007-10-31T11:04:20Z<p>Gorthuar: /* Nagash's return */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara). He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his Black Pyramid. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother Thutep took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true vampire. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the Vampire Masters decided to flee, with only W'soran remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by many jealous undead kings with their combined armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6724Nagash2007-10-31T10:59:53Z<p>Gorthuar: /* King of Khemri */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara). He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his Black Pyramid. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother Thutep took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true vampire. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the Vampire Masters decided to flee, with only W'soran remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over a 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by jealous undead kings with armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6723Nagash2007-10-31T10:58:52Z<p>Gorthuar: /* King of Khemri */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara). He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his Black Pyramid. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Nagash's brother Thutep took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[reatan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true vampire. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the Vampire Masters decided to flee, with only W'soran remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over a 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by jealous undead kings with armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6722Nagash2007-10-31T10:58:34Z<p>Gorthuar: /* The greatest in learning */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was the son of King Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara). He joined the Nehekharan Mrotuary Cult and quickly became first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests, he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the Mortuary Cult, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his Black Pyramid. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara), Nagash's brother, Thutep, took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[reatan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true vampire. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the Vampire Masters decided to flee, with only W'soran remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over a 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by jealous undead kings with armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6721Nagash2007-10-31T10:52:47Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== The greatest in learning ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests , he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the order of the mortuary priests, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his Black Pyramid. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
== King of Khemri ==<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara), Nagash's brother, Thutep, took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[reatan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true vampire. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the Vampire Masters decided to flee, with only W'soran remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over a 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by jealous undead kings with armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Talk:Nagash&diff=6720Talk:Nagash2007-10-31T10:51:58Z<p>Gorthuar: New page: ==Improvement?== Right, I just imported the whole article from Wikipedia, because it was much better than what we had here. However I'll be the last person to say it's enough. Any ideas o...</p>
<hr />
<div>==Improvement?==<br />
<br />
Right, I just imported the whole article from Wikipedia, because it was much better than what we had here. However I'll be the last person to say it's enough. Any ideas on further improvement?</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Necromancer&diff=6719Necromancer2007-10-31T10:50:29Z<p>Gorthuar: /* Miniatures */</p>
<hr />
<div>'''Necromancers''' are evil sorcerors who use their powers to raise the dead to form vast hordes of the [[Undead]]. They also know ways to drain live from their opponents, make them age and let them die in moments, while they extend their own lifespan nearly to immortallity. At the end any Necromancer becomes an undead being himself, called a [[Liche]]. They practice [[Necromancy]] a perversion of the [[Lore of Death]] and are found in [[Vampire Counts]] armies. The first and greatest of them was [[Nagash]]. <br />
<br />
Other renown Necromancers are or were:<br />
* [[Heinrich Kemmler]], also called the Lichemaster<br />
* [[Dieter Hellsnicht]], the Arch Necromancer of [[Middenheim]] and<br />
* [[Arkhan|Arkhan the Black]], chief lieutennant of Nagash and also a powerfull Liche<br />
<br />
Necromancers are able to ride on [[Nightmares]], [[Winged Nightmares]] or even dread [[Zombie Dragons]]. In the past some Necromancers have also ridden living monsters like the [[Manticore]] instead of undead constructs. <br />
<br />
==Miniatures==<br />
[[Games Workshop]] has published various miniatures of Necromancers and Liches, including [[Special Characters]] like the giant figure of [[Nagash]], [[Arkhan|Arkhan the Black]] on his winged [[Skeleton Charriot]], [[Heinrich Kemmler]] and [[Dieter Hellsnicht]] as well as some generic Necromancers on foot and one mounted on a [[Nightmare]].<br />
<br />
{|align="center"<br />
| [[Image:Kemmler.JPG|thumb|center|120px|[[Heinrich Kemmler]] the Lichemaster]] <br />
| [[Image:Dieter Hellsnicht.JPG|thumb|center|150px|[[Dieter Hellsnicht]] on back of his [[Manticore]]]] <br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category: Vampire Counts]]<br />
[[Category:Undead]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Necromancer&diff=6718Necromancer2007-10-31T10:50:07Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Necromancers''' are evil sorcerors who use their powers to raise the dead to form vast hordes of the [[Undead]]. They also know ways to drain live from their opponents, make them age and let them die in moments, while they extend their own lifespan nearly to immortallity. At the end any Necromancer becomes an undead being himself, called a [[Liche]]. They practice [[Necromancy]] a perversion of the [[Lore of Death]] and are found in [[Vampire Counts]] armies. The first and greatest of them was [[Nagash]]. <br />
<br />
Other renown Necromancers are or were:<br />
* [[Heinrich Kemmler]], also called the Lichemaster<br />
* [[Dieter Hellsnicht]], the Arch Necromancer of [[Middenheim]] and<br />
* [[Arkhan|Arkhan the Black]], chief lieutennant of Nagash and also a powerfull Liche<br />
<br />
Necromancers are able to ride on [[Nightmares]], [[Winged Nightmares]] or even dread [[Zombie Dragons]]. In the past some Necromancers have also ridden living monsters like the [[Manticore]] instead of undead constructs. <br />
<br />
==Miniatures==<br />
[[Games Workshop]] has published various miniatures of Necromancers and Liches, including [[Special Characters]] like the giant figure of [[Nagash]], [[Arkhan the Black]] on his winged [[Skeleton Charriot]], [[Heinrich Kemmler]] and [[Dieter Hellsnicht]] as well as some generic Necromancers on foot and one mounted on a [[Nightmare]].<br />
<br />
{|align="center"<br />
| [[Image:Kemmler.JPG|thumb|center|120px|[[Heinrich Kemmler]] the Lichemaster]] <br />
| [[Image:Dieter Hellsnicht.JPG|thumb|center|150px|[[Dieter Hellsnicht]] on back of his [[Manticore]]]] <br />
|}<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category: Vampire Counts]]<br />
[[Category:Undead]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Arkhan&diff=6717Arkhan2007-10-31T10:47:24Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Arkhan''', or Arkhan the Black, was the vizier to [[Nagash]] in [[Nehekhara]]. He fought and died for Nagash, although his current status of death is unreliable. He was slain in combat with an army led by [[Lahmizzash]]. He had built the [[Black Tower of Arkhan]] which has special properties allowing it to move around the desert each morning.<br />
<br />
Arkhan was ressurected by Nagash to fight at the head of his army when he returned to Khemri during the reign of [[Alcadizaar]]. He fought alongside [[Wsoran]], a member of the [[Lahmian Court]].<br />
<br />
It is said by the nomads that Arkhan has risen again as their is life (or unlife) seen within his tower. If this is the case then Nagash will probably soon follow and a new time of death will be upon the world.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Khemri]]<br />
[[Category:Persona]]</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6716Nagash2007-10-31T10:45:42Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
<br />
== Early life ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests , he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[Liche High Priest|High Priest]] in the order of the mortuary priests, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his Black Pyramid. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
<br />
After the death of their father, Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara), Nagash's brother, Thutep, took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
<br />
Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
<br />
Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true vampire. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the Vampire Masters decided to flee, with only W'soran remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over a 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by jealous undead kings with armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuarhttps://whfb.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Nagash&diff=6715Nagash2007-10-31T10:45:03Z<p>Gorthuar: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Nagash''' was the first [[necromancer]], arguably being one of the most powerful mages of all time. He caused the destruction of the civilisation of Nehekhara and created of the [[Undead]]. He is himself a [[liche]] able to command the undead.<br />
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== Early life ==<br />
<br />
Nagash was first and foremost among the priests of [[Khemri]]. Like all mortuary priests , he was searching for a means of achieving immortality. Despite his rank of [[High Priest|Liche High Priest]] in the order of the mortuary priests, however, he coveted even greater power. <br />
<br />
Though Nagash was already well versed in the magical embalming arts of Nehekara, it is said that a group of [[Dark Elf]] captives proved essential to his quest for immortality. One among their kind was a sorceress. She revealed everything she knew about magic to the High Priest of Khemri.<br />
<br />
Nagash learned of the Chaos Gate in the far North and the Winds of Magic that blew from it, and how they may be harnessed by a careful practitioner. Unlike the sorceries of Khemri, which relied on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned that mortals could manipulate magic for themselves. He learned of Dark Magic and of how it coagulated into warpstone.<br />
<br />
When the sorceress had outlived her usefulness, Nagash executed her companions, blinded the sorceress, removed her tongue and hands and buried her alive within his Black Pyramid. With her knowledge, Nagash had become one of the few humans to truly master Dark Magic. He wandered the Necropolis of Khemri, summoning spirits of the departed and daemons with his new power, and learned great secrets.<br />
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After the death of their father, Khetep (first of the 3rd dynasty of rulers in great Nehekhara), Nagash's brother, Thutep, took to the throne, becoming the ruler of all Nehekhara. But Nagash was now convinced to try a bid for absolute power.<br />
<br />
One night, as the clouds covered the sky, Nagash slew his own brother, entombing him with their father. The next morning, his hands still covered with the blood of his brother, Nagash claimed the throne of Nehekhara for himself. As there was none other to gainsay him, the ascension was not contested.<br />
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Nagash used his new knowledge as the basis for a new branch of magic which he called Necromancy. This magic greatly extended his lifespan and enabled him to reanimate the bodies of the dead. Nagash ruled Khemri with fear, and forced countless slaves to labour for fifty years to build the greatest pyramid in Khemri from Black stone, which would come to be known as the Black Pyramid of Nagash.<br />
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Nagash penned all of his knowledge and findings within several tomes made of human flesh and flourished with human blood. These works became known as the Nine Books of Nagash. Many others in Khemri flocked to his promise of immortality and power. The most notable among these was [[Arkhan]] the Black, Nagash's chief lieutenant, as well as a third of the Priests of Khemri. <br />
<br />
However, the other Kings of Nehekhara were aghast at the reign of terror which Nagash had begun. Enraged at the corruption he had brought and the culture of fear and terror, the kings from seven other, lesser cities allied themselves in order to remove Nagash from his throne. A powerful army was raised to march on the legions of [[Khemri]].<br />
<br />
But Nagash was not to be so easily defeated. Using his Necromancy, he raised an army of the undead, a horde of skeletons to destroy the attacking armies. Such a thing was unheard of, and in the death obsessed culture of Nehekhara, it was recognized as the greatest of obscenities. Hundreds fled, terrified by the thoughts of battle versus the departed, however all was not lost. Although many did flee the sight of the dead army, the forces of the other kings rallied and Nagash was ultimately defeated, but not slain.<br />
<br />
As Arkhan, the greatest swordsman of his time, gave his life to protect his master, Nagash fled to the northeast to plot his revenge against the lands of his birth in the Cursed Pit of Nagashizaar. It was generally decided at that time that all that Nagash had wrought during his accursed reign should be destroyed. Great fires consumed much of what Nagash had done and written--his precious Nine tomes were believed to be among the ashes, though a very few copies managed to escape the wreckage. That all of his tomes were not destroyed would eventually come back to haunt Khemri and Nehekhara, just as the shadow of the Black Pyramid haunted it constantly.<br />
<br />
== The Great Necromancer ==<br />
<br />
During this time, wandering in the desert, it is thought that Nagash came to the very point of death - only to cheat it and emerge as a [[Liche]], the greatest of his kind, so much different of the ancient Liche Priests of the Mortuary Cult. He came to Cripple Peak and discovered there a secret deposit of [[warpstone]].<br />
<br />
Within the mountain he built his abode, a fortress-city to inspire terror and awe the world over--Nagashizzar. The mountain's highest peak was it's tower. Nagash learned how to manipulate the warpstone, and at Nagashizzar he forged many of his famed artifacts of power including his wretched sword Mortis, his Crown of Sorcery, and his Black Armour. Prolonged exposure to the mutagenic warp stone twisted Nagash into a hideous monster, no longer recognisably human. It increased his size and his strength but left him little more than a walking skeleton.<br />
<br />
Such a large amount of warpstone drew other creatures, namely [[Skaven]], who fought a massive war against Nagash for control of Cripple Peak. The Skaven armies were vast, but Nagash's magic abilities were also massive, as were his armies of undead. Nagash forged a truce with the Skaven though: he would give them warpstone if they would lure several orc tribes into the pits beneath his fortress. The Skaven agreed, wary of his plans.<br />
<br />
For hundreds of years the kings continued to rule Nehekhara much as they had before. In [[Lahmia]] the reigning Queen [[Neferata]] came across a copy of one of the Books of Nagash. She was captivated by the dark lore contained within and begun studying Necromancy.<br />
<br />
Finally driven, by her quest for immortality, to make a pact with Nagash, she took an elixir distilled from his own blood. The moment the elixir reached her lips, Neferata's fate was sealed. She had chosen damnation and exile--as had her predecessor and mentor, Nagash. Her heart stopped beating, and she became more than human while also becoming something less than human. She became the first true vampire. Nefereta gathered to her the eleven greatest minds and champions of Lahmia, and gave to them each a portion of this elixir. They were the Master Vampires, from whom all other vampires in the world are descended.<br />
<br />
Fearful of the wrath of the Gods, the famed King Alcadizaar of Khemri gathered together all the armies of Nehekhara and waged war on the twisted queen. Despite the powerful magics and armies of Undead unleashed by the vampires, the threat of Lahmia was crushed by a huge army mustered by King Alcadizaar. The queen fled Lahmia with a retinue of the six remaining Master Vampires she had created.<br />
<br />
Those who fled were met by Nagash in the mountains of the north, and he embraced them as spawns of his own corrupt magic. These vampires became his captains. Nagash sent these undying warriors to make war with Nehekhara at the head of a mighty army of skeletons.<br />
<br />
But Nagash had underestimated his former countrymen. Alcadizaar the Conqueror was the greatest general of his age (the 6th dynasty of Nehekhara) -- and some argue the greatest King to ever rule Khemri -- and led a unified army against the undead invaders. After many years of bloody war the hordes of Nagash were pushed back. As such the Vampire Masters decided to flee, with only W'soran remaining at Nagash's side eager for more necromantic lore. Nagash was furious and cursed all vampire kind to burn in the rays of the sun.<br />
<br />
So bitter and evil was Nagash that he decided that if he was not allowed to rule all of Nehekhara then no-one could. He concluded that it was better to slay everything in Nehekhara than see it ruled by someone else. The first part of his plan was to get his Skaven allies to pollute the river Vitae, whose life-giving water the people depended upon. After he had tainted the river it became black and foul, and has since been renamed the River Mortis. Soon after the corruption of the Vitae pestilence ravaged the lands of Nehekhara. <br />
<br />
Alcadizaar was forced to watch as first those he loved died, including his wife and children and then watched his beloved kingdom crumble before him. When a new army of the undead invaded Nehekhara, it was led by W'soran and Arkhan, whom Nagash resurrected as a powerful Liche. The meek defences put up to stop the invasion were easily thwarted and Alcadizaar himself was captured by the fell beasts. He was not executed though. Instead he was thrown into a cell in Nagashizzar to be tortured.<br />
<br />
It was now, with Alcadizaar imprisoned and Nehekhara on its knees that Nagash revealed the conclusion of his evil plans. He began to weave one of the most powerful spells ever to be attempted. At the pinnacle of his power Nagash unleashed a mighty wave of sorcerous energy which washed over the land for hundreds of miles, causing everything that was living to decay and die, and all that was dead to rise again. Nagash planned to use his necromantic powers to raise the entire population of Nehekhara as an unstoppable army, which he would use to conquer the entire world, and there is little doubt he would have succeded had a strange turn of events not taken place.<br />
<br />
The Skaven leaders, the Council of Thirteen, watching from afar, realised the threat posed by this latest development. And, eager for control of Nagash's large deposit of warpstone, they rushed into action a plan to destroy Nagash, for they realized they would be amongst the first to feel his wrath. A powerful blade was made out of pure warpstone, a blade so deadly and volatile that even the wielder would eventually succumb to the effects--the Fellblade. Infiltrating Nagashizzar, the hooded Skaven freed Alcadizaar from his captivity and gave him the blade. <br />
<br />
Still weak from the power he had exerted casting his immensely powerful spell, Nagash was recovering when Alcadizaar stumbled into his throne room. Surprising Nagash in his moment of weakness, Alcadizaar cut off one of Nagash's hands. Stumbling back, Nagash unleashed deadly magics at Alcadizaar. As he did so, his hand ran off into the shadows like a huge spider. Despite both being fatigued and weakened by their ordeals, the ensuing battle was titanic.<br />
<br />
The Council of Thirteen, watching the battle unfold, joined their magic powers together to protect Alcadizaar from Nagash's onslaught, even as they were slowly being killed by Nagash's power. But finally it was Alcadizaar who emerged victorious. Flying into a rage, Alcadizaar flew at Nagash and hacked away at him until Nagash was left in many small pieces.<br />
<br />
Looking out across the land at his destroyed people, Alcadizaar fell into despair. He took Nagash's crown and stumbled around his empty kingdom being driven mad by his ordeal and the warpstone blade of the Skaven. Eventually he died, and the artefacts were taken up by others. The Skaven gathered every piece of Nagash's body and burnt them in fires of warpstone, scattering his ashes across the world. However they missed his hand--the dreaded Claw of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Nagash's return ==<br />
<br />
One of the effects of Nagash's spell that the old, long dead kings of Nehekhara were brought back to life. However without the Great Necromancer's will to command them, they retained their free will, and were tended to by the Priests who it seems had finally reached their prophesised immortality. Thus, ironically through Nagash's attempt to destroy the lands of Nehekhara, he had given them a cruel mockery of life, creating the realms of the [[Tomb Kings]].<br />
<br />
Nagash did not stay dead. Using the power of his Black Pyramid, he was able to knit his body back together, piece by tiny piece, over a 1,111 years. The next time he rose, he found the lands of Nehekhara defended by jealous undead kings with armies of skeletons equal to anything he could muster. Nagash challenged the reigning king of Khemri, the first King Settra, for the rule of Nehekhara. Settra and the other Kings, furious at what Nagash had done, chased him from Nehekhara.<br />
<br />
Returning to his fortress, Nagash found the Skaven had mined most of the warpstone away. Nevertheless, in one night, he drove all the Skaven from Cripple Peak. The Skaven made many attempts at regaining Cripple Peak, but having been defeated by Arkhan who once again joined his master, they decided that they had gathered enough of warpstone, and left Cripple Peak for good.<br />
<br />
Nagash, still weak from his death, realised he needed his old magical artefacts to reassert his power, including his stolen crown. So Nagash forged a new hand to replace his missing one out of a warpstone alloy. The crown had been taken north into the Badlands, where it fell into the hands of [[Orcs]] who raided across the Black Mountains and seemingly disappeared. Nagash led a great army into the nascent Empire to reclaim it but was defeated and slain by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik, having his skull smashed by Sigmar's mighty hammer Ghal-Maraz.<br />
<br />
According to Mannfred von Carstein, Nagash's defeat at the hands of Sigmar resulted in a curse laid upon all vampires: for their refusal to come to his aid, they would forever be weak against the power of Sigmar. It has long been claimed that sufficient faith in any deity would be of aid against vampires, but it appears that the Sigmarite faith now has additional potency against the undead.<br />
<br />
In IC2515 (two and a half millennia after the formation of the Empire) The powerful Orc Warlord Azhag the Slaughterer was killed in combat with Seneschal Kessler of the Knights Panther. His crown, which gave him sorcerous powers as well as nightmarish visions and insights uncommon for a Orc, was taken to the city of Altdorf and sealed in the Imperial vaults, where it remains to the present day. It is something of an open secret among readers of the background that this is in fact the crown of Nagash.<br />
<br />
== Modern times ==<br />
<br />
Nagash once again returned to life, 1,666 years after his death at the hands of Sigmar, in the night known as the Night of the Restless Dead. It is thought he is again re-building his power. Though only a fraction of his former self, he is still one of the most powerful beings in existence, worshipped by some as the god of Necromancy. He knows he cannot be reckless again, so he bides his time until he can once more take on the world.<br />
<br />
Its believed that he is currently enacting his will in the world through the manipulation of others, in particular Lichmaster Heinrich Kemmlar and his henchman Krell, and even Mannfred Von Carstein, who had a talisman from Khemri origin that Nagash previously used to have complete control over the undead. <br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
<br />
Johnson, J., King, B., Blanche, J., Gibbons, M. 1994. ''Warhammer Armies: Undead.'' Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-872372-67-8<br />
<br />
Von Staufer, Marijan. 2006. ''Liber Necris: The Book of Death in the Old World.'' Nottingham: Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-338-5</div>Gorthuar