Chapter 1

"This was a dark age, a bloody age, an age of daemons and of sorcery. It is an age
of battle and death, and of the world's ending. Amidst all of the fire, flame and
fury it is a time, too, of mighty heroes, of bold deeds and great courage."

"And then the most unlikely new Player entered the world and changed the balance in
unforeseen ways. Perceived by all parties known as an accident, modern Germany had
been transported into this world. At first reluctant to join the dance, the Germans
found that they had no chance but to be part of the new world."

Itza, Lustria, Warhammer World

Lord Mazdamundi, greatest of all living Slann was pleased. The spell he was
conjuring came along beautifully. Parts of the Lustrian coastline had to be
redesigned. A strip along the western coast of the continent hindered the fishermen
of his subjects rather itchingly, so after becoming aware of that problem, the Lord
decided to solve it. Shaping whole continents was unproblematic for someone of his
magical Power, but to do it perfect, that was an art applied. Which was the reason
Mazdamundi for hours had solely concentrated on the spell he was weaving.

It would have taken him mere minutes to cast it, but since he wanted perfection,
everything was arranged like it should be. The Lord could not know that his desire
for a perfect spell execution would change the World forever in ways even he never
imagined.

His concentration bundled on one thing, his spell, the Slann Lord did not recognize
the Chaos Demon, which had slipped through all defences of Itza, until the creature
was in striking distance. The Demon, tasked to kill one of those entities who kept
the anti-Chaos seals around the Polar continents up, struck with all of his magic
enhanced might. The Slann was far from being a pushover and while his magical
senses warned him late, it was enough to throw up a shield which lessened the wound
to a painful, but non-fatal hit. Mazdamundi´s counterattack sent the Demon back
screaming to the Chaos realms, banished forever, but the collateral damage was
done. With the Slann Lord's concentration shifted on a life and death struggle, his
main spell, fed in addition from the ritual place Mazdamundi was in, went out of
control. Even the Slann could not dispel or otherwise stop it, the Winds of Magic
already resonating and amplifying the half cast spell into reality. Mutating it in
ways not desired.

The magical energies ripped through the World and into the beyond. The feedback of
the spell sent all Slann into a magical sleep. It would be centuries before they
could awake again. Maybe it was divine intervention, a chaotic chance or a sign of
the Old Ones, in reciprocity the Winds of Magic infused the Great Seals with such a
Power, that no Chaos force would bring them down before the re-awakening of the
Slann. But this positive was offset by the shockwaves spreading out, shaping and
shaking the Warhammer World to it's core.

And one tendril ripping through Space-time would send the fates of the Warhammer
World into a new direction. If it would be in favour of Chaos or in favour of the
Races living there, only time could tell.

Tower of Hoeth, Ulthuan, Warhammer World

The most famous High Elf Lore master outside the Elven Lands awoke with a scream.
What his Magesight showed him was unbelievable. The Winds were singing in concert,
while spreading around in totally random fashion. Teclis had never heard of a
magical disaster on that scale. He doubted that such an occurrence had ever taken
place during the lifetime of Elvenkind.
But it was not his Land which would bear the brunt of this. No, across the Silent
Sea and how could it be any different, Teclis thought, the "Old World" in the thick
of events as well- once again!

Two of his Adepts had come to the sleeping room of their Master, looking as shaken
as he was. Projecting a front of calmness he did not feel, Teclis addressed the
two. "Aurulia, Rafador, prepare our travelling supplies! I feel we will be needed
in the Humans Old World very soon."

Northern Hemisphere, Earth, Sol System

Earth was on it´s usual rotation around the Sun, when controlless Qhaysh appeared
out of Space-time, bathing most of the Northern Hemisphere in it. Unknown
phenomenoms erupted out of "nowhere". And since it was a shaper spell in the
beginning, the Winds of Magic shaped and changed Earth on their pass.

The whole thing was over in eight minutes. When it was over, bizarre changes had
happened. Mountains where none had been, new woods, new deserts, new lakes, often
existing landmarks were reshaped into new or exaggerated forms. But after having
stomached the first shock, a second, greater one came after assessing all that
happened. Had the Chaos Gods been looking out for Earth, they would have laughed
like seldom before.

To the shock of all, where Germany had been mere hours before, now a muddy, swampy
landscape, dotted with twisted flora and fauna, spread out. Some truly scared
people were found by search teams, their clothes style from bygone days, talking in
a dialect of Dutch.

With Germany, her over 81 million people and her industry gone, 2012 became "the
year, the economy died", as an aged folk singer sang. The global economy already
strained, the sudden disappearance of such an important market, economy and more,
such a large producer of quality goods, let it crash down like stone.

It would be many years until Earth could recover from that loss and the new
Geographic. But for Earth the question remained: Where was Germany?

Outside the Chancellery, Berlin, Germany

The people of Berlin, the people of Germany were staring into the sky, seeing and
trying to comprehend the second Moon there. So nobody at first recognized that
among the crowd outside the chancellery the German Chancellor herself was standing.

Angela Merkel was a Doctor of Physics, so this weird Light and it´s aftermath had
sent her brain into overdrive. It had actually been a fairly normal morning in
Germany, when at two minutes past eight a glazing, rainbow-hued light suddenly
appeared. For further 4 minutes, messages from all across Europe, North America and
Northern Asia came in about the same happening there. The alarms had already been
rung, the government members called for an emergency meeting, the Bundeswehr on
High Alert, when from one second to the other everything from outside Germany went
silent.

Then, as suddenly it began, it was over. Not more than eight minutes, according to
the nuclear clocks in Braunschweig. The institutions of Germany tried to reach all
Germans via phone, Radio, TV and police acting as town criers. Everyone should go
home, turn on TV and Radio and wait for a message by the Chancellor, which would be
aired in a quarter of an hour. Then, a further one when more was known. But for
now, it seemed the light did not damage anything big in Germany.

Angela Merkel had hit the right tone for her compatriots. Stating that Germany was
not under attack and such an event was totally unprecedented. She asked the Germans
to keep calm and that any news would be aired as soon as possible, but considering
the bizarre circumstances, the Government needed some time to gather informations
to get a clear picture. And that she would give a message with the newest
informations in two hours.

After her speech, the chancellery and the meeting room of the government was
flooded with totally weird messages. Roads across the borders simply vanished after
the border lines, unknown vistas beyond Germany's frontiers.

An hour later, all government members needed a pause, too strange were the
messages. Soon the infos from the fly-overs by the Luftwaffe would come in, until
then, a pause was given. So Angela Merkel had gone to mix with the crowd outside.
Her scientists brain was pondering the possible answers, none which pleased her,
because while theoretically possible, it should not happen in reality.

Being the daughter of a pastor, she prayed silently. "Dear Lord in Heaven, where
are we?"

Luftwaffe Flight 31, flying over "somewhere"

The cameras and sensors of the two Recon-Tornado Jets were recording, doing their
work and the pilots, having flown more than 300 kilometres deep into the unknown at
times, were now pulling their control sticks, bringing the planes onto a course for
home.

During the first phase of this Recon, the three men and one woman in the Jets had
been fully concentrated on their duties. They still concentrated on their jobs, but
since there were no "Bandits", UFOs or any other kind of enemy flights opposing
them, the pilots could talk a little.

Hauptmann (Captain) Gerd Troppmann, the flight leader, could not and did not want
to hide the amazement he felt. "This all is totally far out! This cannot be France,
Belgium or Switzerland below us. There is no way we could see a high mountain range
from the position where Paris should be, if we were just ... displaced ... in time,
like in a science fiction novel."

Oberleutnant Sybille Glaser, the sensor Officer of the other Tornado, affirmed
that. "You are fully correct, Herr Hauptmann. Nothing ... no place we flew over
corresponds to what should be there. And I am still weirded out by that Big River
close to Aachen (Aix-en-Chapelle). A River mouth which easily can compete with the
Amazonas Delta. A "time travel" for lack of a better reason, would have been back
to the time of the Dinosaurs for that to be even remotely possible. But the
settlements we saw and the size of them, limit a possible time displacement to 4000
years, tops.

So, we are on another world, if this is not one of the freakiest nightmares I ever
had and will wake soon."

"What shall we do now?" spoke up her pilot.

Troppmann answered that. "We? We do our job, return to base and then... then we
have time to freak out and hope for a solution of any kind."

Castle Wegelsburg, Palatinate, Germany

Michiko Furukawa rubbed her eyes for the fifth time in the last hour, then looked
again. The rubbing had not helped, she still saw something she should not see here
- again.
Several years earlier Michiko had met and married her German husband and left Japan
to live with him. She worked as a translator and adult education centre teacher.
Her husband and she had used a holiday to go on a hike in the Palatinate Forest.
They began their hike early and by eight o´clock they had reached the Wegelsburg
with it´s fantastic out view. The restorated Castle ruins stood on rather high
altitude, nearly six hundred metres above sea level, with a great view not only
over the Palatinate Forest, but the Vogesen mountains in France as well. The French
border was just a short walk away from the Castle.

When the strange light hit, the pair took cover in the Castle until it was over.
Returning outside, they looked around. On the German side, nothing had changed,
everything as before, as much as could be seen from the Castle. But looking to the
French side made both involuntary gasp. There were still some mountains, but some
lower plains where none had been as well. And the kicker which sent the two into
shock, were the four Japanese-style Castles they could see from their place on the
Wegelsburg.

More than a hour had gone by with Michiko and her husband unsure what to do. Then a
person looking distinctly like a Samurai of a bygone Age and his entourage of 4
other persons equally looking as coming from Old Japan, neared the Castle entrance.

As a born Japanese, Michiko could easily see that those 5 were projecting a defiant
facade, but were as scared as she was.

Reaching a decision, Michiko said. "I go and talk to them"

"Do you think that is wise, Dear? You might be a 'known' face, calming them, but if
they are what we think...I just want you safe."

Michiko pressed a fast kiss on her husband's mouth. "I know that you will defend
me, but they are as scared as us. I might be able to keep this civil."

Then they just looked at each other and began to laugh. The whole situation was
just too bizarre to think too deeply about, for now.

While Klaus secretly readied his Swiss Army Knife, just in case, Michiko walked up
to the arriving people.

Tomoyuki Isamo, Samurai and Daimyo in service of the Emperor of Nippon, tried to
keep all things straight. The whole situation was a bedlam. Just a short time
before, he was patrolling his possessions close to the Silent Sea Shore, when the
Winds of Magic played havoc with Nippon like never before.

Now there was no Shore line anywhere, he and his entourage were somewhere inland.
Or better, his land was now fully inland! Seeing two people on the tower of a
ruined foreign Castle, Tomoyuki decided to confront them, if they were simple
victims like he was or responsible. If responsible, the wrath of a Samurai would be
the last thing they would see.

He was happily surprised to see a Nipponese woman greeting them, but beside her
stood a gaijin no kami, one of those very pale travellers and traders who sometimes
visited Nippon.

"Hajimemashite! Watashi-tashi wa Furukawa Michiko to Klausu desu. Dozo yoroshiku

onegaishimasu!"

Interesting...a south western dialect here in this region. But that can wait for
later. at least I can talk with somebody.
"Kochira koso! Watashi wa Isamo Daimyo desu. Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu!"

After the proper greeting ritual done, the talk began in earnest. Neither Michiko
nor Tomoyuki knew that their talk would be one of those few things which kept the
whole situation from spinning out of control early on.

Chancellory, Berlin, Germany

The chancellery resembled more an overcrowded concert hall than the central point
of the German executive. Dozens of work groups analyzed data, while the rooms were
acceptable, the floors were a cacophony of cell phones ringing, printers working
and beeps from laptops, sprinkled in-between were people bringing food and drink to
the assembled groups. In the central meeting room the German government stayed in
emergency session now that the first news from the Recon teams came in.

It was a nightmare. All roads, walks, railways, pipelines simply cut off at the
border lines and while a lot were thankfully sealed off by the "event", not all
were. No radio, TV, Internet, telephone calls from outside Germany came in, the
only positive was that 8 satellites were still in orbit and could be controlled.
But beyond that no signal from the rest of Earth.

The landscape beyond the borders was totally unknown and it became "worse". For the
last 30 minutes messages came in, saying that the Baltic Sea had vanished, while at
the Benelux-border of North Rhine-Westphalia a very large and broad river was now
flowing. Topping this off were the calls from the Palatinate and Baden that they
now bordered on a piece of "Old Japan", whose inhabitants insisted that they never
heard of a "Germany" and were "transplanted" as well.

This was enough to drive someone to drink! The various people in charge gave orders
out while being put up with an literally endless stream of news.

"The THW and specialists are working on the pipelines, Herr Minister."

"We added a new part to the maps. These photos came from the Recon flights over the
'Baltic'. Damnation, that are quite a mass of trees for a ocean arm!"

"And so dry, Tim." "Funny!"

"Were is the chancellor? We have line standing to the Palatinate. This Daimyo Isamo
guy could be convinced to try this 'magical contraption'. He is willing to listen
to us -for now."

"Give me Ludwigshafen, Manfred. They have to power down what processes can be
stopped and paused. And then you talk with Leverkusen."

"Thomas, how is the deployment of the rapid reaction forces going? They have to
keep the eastern and southern borders controlled... No, first, the Rhine is still
flowing and second, Angela is talking with someone of these peculiar Japanese guys
down there... Yes, authorize a jet transfer for the diplomatic and combat
engineering teams. If we can keep the lid on in the Southwest, this can only be
helpfu- No, we still cannot say if everyone else is gone or we went somewhere
else."

"No, tell this ox that this is a national emergency. Under what stone did he sleep?
They have to keep the grid working..."

"I need the laptop with the H1 on it." "Here, Martina!" "Danke! Please, print this
out, six copies. One for Angela, one for Wolfgang and Ursula, the other three for
rotation. Oh, make another one for the Archive."

The time for the next chancellor´s message was nearing, when a state secretary
walked into the government meeting room. He was as white as a wall.

"Mein Gott, Olaf, you look ill. What happened-"

"Sorry, Frau Bundeskanzlerin, I found out, I believe I found out where we are."

"Somehow, I doubt we will like it, right?" addressed Angela Merkel the secretary
dryly.

"Oh ja! I cannot get my head around it, how it is possible, but..."

Wolfgang Schäuble, the interior minister, made a dismissing hand gesture. "Olaf,
please tell us like taking medicine-fast- maybe it will be more palatable then,
hopefully."

"Yes, Minister. We have put together the data our air and ground Recon teams
gathered."

A beamer powered up and the state secretary connected his notebook with it. The
picture shown was Germany.

"The good news first. We need it. The good news is that Germany is in one piece, so
to speak, even Helgoland has called in, as did the Islands in the Baltic even if
they are now part of some inland. ..." He nodded to a silent question.

"Oh Yes, it will become more strange, a lot more. It seems that all vacationers in
other nations were transported as well. They suddenly found themselves in their
homes again. No matter where they were before. Well, pardon I have to correct
myself, as long as the persons where on the northern Hemisphere. From what I see on
my newsfeed, some people who were in Australia are still missing.

And for some reason it seems that there are some handfuls of persons, who are
foreigners and were outside Germany when this catastrophe began, who still were
deposited with us here. This is something for the scientists, maybe they have a
connection to Germany in some way.

"But back to the momentarily more important things."

He pushed a key on the notebook and the image of Germany changed, becoming embedded
into some sort of land. Germany was coloured blue, with some red and white coloured
"chunk", around the size of Hessen, sticking at Germany´s south-western borders.
The rest of the landmass surrounding was in an off-white colour, while the sea and
rivers were in a dark blue. Then Olaf added a second picture, a map, for comparison
and it really looked similar, the only difference were Germany and this piece of
Nippon in one picture like an overlay.

"I am absolutely sure I do not recognize this place. Where from did you get the
map?"

"I am sorry if it sounds totally mad, but ... my son and my daughter are longtime
fans of a tabletop game named Warhammer. They often tell and show me stuff about
that game. When we created the map from the recon data, I directly saw the
similarity to a map of that fictious game world. And no, I cannot fathom how we can
be transported to a world that for all that is holy, should only be a product of
imagination. And I cannot predict how similar the world and her nations might be to
those depicted in the game books and novels.- I assure you it is not some sort of
sick joke. I nearly blacked out when I saw the connection."

For a full minute the room was deathly silent, the persons in it contemplating
something that should not be posssible. Then Angela Merkel, noticable more pale
then usual, spoke up.

"Olaf, would you please send someone to gather some books about this 'Warhammer
world' in a shop for us? We have to look up what -might- be identical to this first
found. Maybe it will help us when we meet the rest of the world here.

We have to create work groups for the different nations. We have to get a grip, let
us take it like a new country back home on ... Earth. And if someone has a really
good idea how we can put this 'information' into my message to our compatriots
without sounding like madman, I am open for suggestions."

RoyalPalace, Couronne, Bretonnia

"Sire, we have an urgent message from our border with the Wasteland. The Marienburg
troops have gone somewhere or vanished. If you want, we can advance and take what
should be under your benevolent rule instead of the greedy traders in Marienburg."

King Lioncour of Bretonnia read the parchment one of his advisors brought in.
"Didier, is this proofed?"

"Yes, my Lord, our border posts think the Marienburgers became fearful of the
strange Dragon in the Sky they saw shortly after the mercenaries fled."

"A strange Dragon?"

"Yes, Sire. He flew high above and was unusually loud and fast, from what the
couriers told me."

"Could this be the Dragon from the prophecy the Lady gave me? The dragon I will
bring down?"

"I thought about that as well, when I heard the news, your Highness."

"Didier, alert the closest Dukes and knights. It seems the time for bringing part
of the Wasteland under the warming rays of civilisation is nigh. For Bretonnia and
the Lady!"

"For Bretonnia and the Lady!"

"Regensburg", Europe, Earth

Rain was pouring down, making the swampy ground even more an unsightly molass. The
trees looked healthy, but gave off some twisted vibe. Jaroslaw Permisyl leaned
against their green Mercedes G, together with Jaap Brunkje, a geography professor
from Leiden in the Netherlands. The two were part of one of the international
research teams trying to find out what happened to or with Germany.

It was mind boggling. According to the GPS and the old-fashioned land navigation
done by the professor as proofing, their team of 8 in 4 Off-Roaders stood where the
oldest marketplace in Regensburg should be. Yet, there was only mud and some
vegetation here and there. The Pole and the Dutch watched the geologists taking
probes.

"Prof, what do you think what happened here? This is really creepy, are they all
dead?"
"I know the rumours in the newspapers, but let me tell you, I doubt that the
Germans died. Everywhere on the northern hemisphere the changes did just happen
like here. Structures did not vanish, no matter how strong the changes were. So if
nothing is standing here, even no ruins, Germany has to be somewhere else. Most
colleagues and I think that Germany was transported to another world and where we
now stand, was part of that other world. This is why the geologists and biologists
are swarming all over the place."

"You mean we, Earth, was attacked by some aliens?" Jaroslaw's tone carrying over
his scepsis.

"No, if some race or entity is powerful enough to do something like 'the Event', an
attack would have taken us out. No question. We think a total disaster happened
there, where ever that might be in the universe. Earth and Germany in special were
just in the wrong place at the wrong time. You want a tea? I need something to warm
me up."

"Yes, Jaap, thank you. Can I ask you a question? All nations are hush-hush about
waht happened to them and I know you have information we grunts do not get. Tell
me, how bad is it? The consequences of Germany gone poof will be bad enough, but
why do we hear so few things about the other changes? What is hidden?"

Jaap Brunkje was rummaging in the Mercedes and began to answer Jaroslaw´s questions
under four eyes, when a cry let the two men turn their heads. Jaroslaw being
outside the car did not get more out than Holy mother o-