- CREDITS «+ ower execute orpicen Bob Watts * citer cxeanve oFFceR Matthew D. Wilson presioent Sherry Yeary mecron oF PUBLICATIONS & MaRKETING Michael G. Ryan waRwaciane GRAPHIC DESIGNER DIRECTOR _—_SCULPTING DIRECTOR PLAYTEST COORDINATOR i nea @ DESIGNED BY Richard Anderson Ron Kruzie Jeff Olsen Matthew D. Wilson GRAPHIC DESIGN & LAYOUT _—_LEADDIGTAL SCULPTOR INFERNAL LEAD DESIGNER & DEVELOPER Richard Anderson ‘Doug Hamilton ‘Chuck Elswick Jason Soles Jordan Twaddle ees “Travis Marg, [ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT Alraicy Seas Irek Zielinski es Recs William Hungerford 'SENIOR ART DIRECTOR ‘Steve Saunders PLAYTESTERS: Jett Olsen Mike Vaillancourt Javier Gaeia Urea Jack Coleman ‘Will Pagani alos Castano Wiliam Hungerford ‘Wiliam Schoonover CovER ILUSTRATOR "Tony Konichek “Andrea Uderz0 DIGTAL ENGINEERS wate tea MOR WRITER & CONTINUTY Suanerrger PS Douglas Seacat ILLUSTRATORS. pay ae Carlos Cabrera ia oma Jack Taylor wrens ‘Anna Kharitonova Seas Faye Repos Josh Colén Ben Lo ‘STUDIO COORDINATOR et it Matt Goetz, Raphael Labke Stuart Spengler eae coma TERS ones sage pers Gate wea William Hungerford eon Jordan Lamb Jeft Olsen Michael G. Ryan eae JR Godwin Jason Soles c Hosey & TERRAIN SPECIALIST Wil Pagani Matthew’ D. Wilson CONCEPT ARTISTS, NEW MODELS Danny Samuels rorroR cone PHOTOGRAPHY Michael G. Ryan ae Jordan Twaddle Andrea Uderz0 Mike Vaillancourt ; ‘Mat Wilson [ADDITIONAL STAFF SUPPORT EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT & OFFICER MANAGER Justin Dieter CUSTOMER SERVICE Jack Coleman, Matt Razincka, Faye Reppas Tr aomnusraator Tebibu Kelelew CORVENTION maxAcER John Swinkels SOCAL MEDIA Manse Josh Col6n foto prooucer Tony Konichek pRODUCTIN RECTOR Mark Christensen Techwoat omecToR Kelly Yeager ache vsnpeme nanaGeh Joc Lee es CASTING SUPERWSOR Erik Reiersen PRODUCTION Jonathan Adams, Sheri Arellano, William Binder, Johan Cea, Bryan Dasalla, Ethan Denson, Chad Elliott, Afonso Falco, Joe! alkenhagen, Brinn Alexander Green, Jeffrey Handley, Evan Kang, Justin Lee, David Lima, Loren Lower, Bryan McClaflin, ‘Soon Ratanavong, Jack Taylor, Jeremy Taylor, Tanner Thomas, Chris Tiemeyer, Ben Tracy, Gabe Wilcox WARMACHINE: Oblivion Privateer Press Ine Foronline customer service, ‘705 136th PL NE, St. 120 email fontdeskaprivateerpres.com Belevue, WA98005| ‘Tel 25) 63.5900, First printing: August 2019 ‘ Fax (25) 648-5902 Printed inthe US.A PRESS, Aveontens copyright 201-2019 Pvaee Pres ne All Rights Hered Aliademarh containers incding Piste Preston Soa Pe rr WAROMACTNES, WARMACHINE High Command, cepa, Convergnce ofCyee® Conyorge, CON Si Fo te a Memon Protectorate, Rotbuten of Sera, Retuton,watcaster®, ware, HORDES®, HORDED Sieh afer, Khadr, otter ct Mee Caan: foe Wicked Harve Legian of Everlight Legion, Some, ood Taboos, Cama, Ce sa thai legon ae property of Privates Press 1705 136th PL NE, Suite 12, Bellevue, WA 2805 privateerpress.comCONTENTS Nothing Lasts Forever Of Beginnings and Endings Infernals. Origins Existence in the Abyss archy of the Nonokrion Order Tactics Infernal Units Infernal Masters. Infernal Horrors Infernal Fodder. Infamous Infernalist Cults Notable Infernalists Model Gallery Order of Illumination Origins Thamarite Reconciliation Life in the Order of Illumination. Hierarcy and Training Tactics Order of Illumination Units. Agents of the Order luminated Soldiers. Iluminated Squads of Renown, Morrowan Alllied Forces Unusual Allies. 5 6 16 18 20 22 23 26 26 28 30 34 36 40 44 46 48 as so st s2 53 55 56 58 6 Archons. Menite Archon. Primal Archon Morrowan Archon, Thamarite Archon Dhunian Archon Void Archon Rendered unto Ashes: Part I Oblivion Campaign System Agendas & Player Factions Scenario Tree & Play Schedule Army Building Terrain Omen Cards Campaign & Scenario Structure. Scenario Tree Stygian Prophecies Campaign. Prologue Tiers Finale Rendered unto Ashes: Part II Theme Forces Revisited Theme Forces & Requisitions New Oblivion Theme Forces Theme Forces 76 86 ©8888s 92 94 97 110 12, 126 127 127 128NOTHING LASTS FOREVER For almost 20 years, we've spooled out this yarn about heroes, villains, and kingdoms at war. We've caused nations to rise and {gods to fall. We've killed tyrants, crowned kings, shattered cities, and forged legends. I won't lie—little of this was planned from the beginning, It’s been a journey of discovery for us as much as ithas been for you. At the risk of offending my many colleagues, Vltell you the dirty little secret of the storyteller: we're only ever a step or two ahead of the audience. In the beginning, there was Alexia: a light in the darkness that ‘would guide our path. We didn’t know where she would take us, but before we knew it, she had laid the foundation for what ‘would become our legacy. The Iron Kingdoms was born and to it, untold stories of adventure, valor, atrocity, and conquest. All of this spawned from the tale of one wayward young girl and the blackened blade that whispered in her ear. How far we have come. ‘We are world builders. It's a term often spoken too casually by those who do not grasp the magnitude ofits meaning. We build ‘worlds in your imagination. As we etched the maps of western Immoren, we founded nations you could believe in, We populated continent with races, created cultures, and conceived a detailed history spanning millennia... despite never having existed at al. Through primers and Monstemomicons and world guides, we built a realm that has consistency, obeys rules, and is governed by an unwavering cosmic law. But barely knowing it, from the beginning we designed the end. In imagining the forces that defined the inhabitants of the Iron Kingdoms, we set in motion a saga destined for an epic conch ion, There is no arc toa status quo setting; to tell a story, there must be change. Conspiracies must unravel, prophecies must be fulfilled, and in the end, debts must be paid. It’s a price we've lived with for along time, but a reckoning we've been looking forward to fulfilling, We've known for years that our carefully curated setting, could not go on forever, that it would someday have to face the demons wwe had set upon it centuries—or rather, just decades—ago. Whether you have been along for the ride since the beginning or have only just now been exposed to the churning, evolving, ever- changing landscape upon which WARMACHINE and HORDES battle, you're a participant in everything about this world that has been wonderful and exciting and fulfilling, You've crossed. time and space and immersed yourself in an ongoing tale of mythic proportion, and you've forged your own legend among, the heroes who define the Iron Kingdoms. What happens next, we storytellers owe to you, for giving us the opportunity to indulge our whim, And for that, we thank you. And now, we've come full circle. To create, we must destroy. But don’t despair. An end of one era only marks the beginning of another. And so it goes. Matthew D. Wilson Invictus By William Ernest Henley Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance Uhave not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, Lam the master of my fate: Lam the captain of my soul.a AF. : ae es s ~ i os ee Ry « awe ™ Of Beginnings and Endingsoo discover some forgotten remedy for my ailing goddess, ‘some sign of the others who did not return, the Vanished. 1 left behind my home, my family, my people on this fool’s errand, sleeping alone under the uncaring stars and subsisting on scraps like a wandering dog. It was a journey that required me to make bedfellows with murderers and cultists, sacrificing piece by piece my morals in a fruitless search for answers. Or Twas a seeker. I journeyed the world trying to ‘My long path brought me here, to my home among the stones. ‘The barrier between our world and all others is thinnest here; it is so scant that I can hear the songs of other realms in my dreams. ‘My search for truth ended in Henge Hold, where all those scraps 4 gathered were collated by visions gifted to me as I slumbered. While such visions led me ultimately to the truth I sought, it came with a high cost. While I thought I searched for hope, what I found was madness. In the last, [gave up even my own identity. The youth who dwelled in the Mistbough Forest, who looked with wonder on the gleaming cities of fos, is no more. My home is now stone and mud, apart from all others of my kind. They call me the Hermit of Henge Hold now. It is as good a name as any other. ! once put aside my old name, a symbolic gesture, but now I no longer even remember it. Mie fol ofa young life made me think hope could be found if searched in the right places, Instead, 1 discovered the truth Oblivion awaits. {All that we have cherished and valued and thought imperishable is fleeting, and even our immortal selves will be bartered off by emotionless beings, our essence will become but another number inthe accounting ledgers of a vast and faceless machine. ‘ais account is true, so far as any telling of such events can purport to be. | have gathered it over the years of a wasted life, snatched {from bits over centuries of toil. In it, have compiled the words of “hedge prophets rotting on their deathbeds, scriptures stolen from Immoren’s oldest churches, folktales told around fires, and records ~ of my own people stretching back to before the time the sky bridge fell and lit an empire afire, scorching all life from the east. I have "seen visions of truths that others cannot know. “Lwhite this as a final warning, one last attempt to make others ‘mend their ways. This record may serve as my epitaph. The gravestone words of my life, and that of too many others to give @ number. If any survive the dark days ahead, perhaps they can Took back on these words and understand—as much as any could— he arrogant and shortsighted choices that led us to where we now id ourselves. world as you knew itis no more. Only greed and cruelty reign Those who have passed are lucky, forthey need not endure the ror that awaits those yet living. There remains a small chance sing this, though it grows slimmer with each passing hour. __OF BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS In the Beginning.. ' «there was nothing. An infinite span of roiling darkness, chaos, and potential. And then, between the beats of those cosmic moments, they were born. Motes of power coalesced. Long before our world came to be, there were sparks of malevolent thoughts out in the deeper darkness, fighting with one another, seeking dominance. Closer to where we would come to exist, something more ordered came tobe. Itis unclear whether gods or the world came first though itmay be the first god was also the world. Other gods formed in the greater emptiness beyond, bringing substance where they gathered, and each making the world its dominion as best they could. In the moment of the world’s birthing, the infinite pulled itself into pieces, erecting membranes between the possible and the impossible, between the realms of body and spirit. On one side of the veil was the realm of spirits, the place most know now as Urcaen. On the other, its rigid mirror, the realm of matter and physical law. We call this Caen, though visions suggest there may be other worlds with other names, perhaps in a number beyond counting, each with its own mirror. [cannot speak to those places, In the earliest days, neither Caen nor Urcaen were how we know them now. They were looser places, still forming, and connected. It was easy to cross from one to the next. The first god was the Mother, Dhunia, a being of gentle comfort and warmth who made from her flesh the clay of the physical ‘world. The seasons flowed with her thoughts and moods, both warm and generous and cold and cruel, and from her all life would ultimately descend. Either born from her or drawn to het endless fertility came an infinite beast, the ever-hungry serpent It offered hunger to the mortal world and the fangs and claws by which one could sate that desire. Using the flesh of the Mother ‘he Wurm gave birth to ravenous hunting beasts and power toll who professed to act as it did. The first peoples who arose on Caen were said to carry in theit veins the very lifeblood of the world, and they worshiped the Mother and called the Wurm their father. These were the trollkin, followed in turn by ogrun, gobbers, and other wilderness races often overlooked by the civilized. In time, Dhunia tired of the Wurm and so created the Hunter to drive it away. This chase took both to Urcaen, there to remain, but the Hunter, soon known as Menoth, let behind a people spawned in his likeness. They and the other earliest peoples lived in tribal barbarity left to fend for themselves in a world that sought to feast upon them Even as life multiplied on Caen, other gods emerged to secure places for themselves in Urcaen. There was the mountain-god Ghor, selfish and cold, who created a race of slaves as implacable as its own slopes. These would one day become the Great Fathers, ‘who would revolt and slay the mountain to earn their freedom. ‘The distant sun and moons intermingled to create the greatest and wisest gods, the Divine Court, eight in number, who would give rise to my own doomed people: Lacyr, Ossyris, Nyrro, Ayisla, Scyrah, Lurynsar, Lyliss, and Nyssor. They took command over the vital cycles of life, the passage of time, the turning of day to night and back again, and the whee! of the seasons.These divine beings stood on the broader, more expansive side of the looking glass, where existence bent to their faintest thoughts, They looked upon this fertile realm of spirit and claimed their places init, crafting with the power of their desires The Divine Court created the Veld, a great forest within which they erected a palace, a place hard-won from the hostile wilds of the helish landscape beyond. At the Veld’s borders prowled an endless array of voracious spiritual beasts that would have despoiled this paradise if not driven away. Elsewhere, other gods settled, with the Great Fathers erecting a great tower from the rocky innards of their creator. Between long bouts of chasing and wrestling with the Warm, Menoth built a retreat where he could recoup and rest—at first, a place for a simple fastness but one that became a gleaming fortress and eventually a great city gilded in fire, gold, and marble, The Mother alone remained in the world of Caen, her power devoted to making it lush and fertile. And all the while amid the hellish elemental landscapes of trackless Urcaen, the Wurm stalked, going wherever others would not and where it could gambol and devour to its heart's content. Its bestial progeny hunted on Caen while it hunted for souls that had passed over, In time, the gods turned their attention upon the mirror of their realm, Over uncounted years, they refined the physical world to become pleasing to their eyes, sculpting the mountains and carving ‘out oceans. Their creations in the mortal realm were grand but incomplete. My gods could see a void that needed filing: creatures to look back at them and praise them, to acknowledge their greatness. ‘They looked on Dhunia’s children and Menoth’s teeming progeny and dreamed of creating something like them yet more refined. Their interest was drawn tothe glimmers of spiritual power left after these mortals perished, which wafted to Urcaen and there entiched the gods they praised. Within each mortal was a spark of the dlvine: a soul. With great interest, the gods watched how, as mortals came together in unity, they spontaneously created new souls. Short- lived and simple unions though they were, each coupling created something new and infinite. The gods saw that such an act of creation ‘would profit them beyond the simple vanity of worship. ‘The Great Fathers returned to Caen’s mountains, there to make ‘wives of clay and with them sire the clans of what would become Rhul. By the guidance of their divine parents, Rhulfolk carved a worthy civilization amid their mountains. So, too, the Divine Court Jooked upon these lesser beings who could speak and sing but who wore misshapen and unlovely to their eyes, and the great beings knew they could do better, Lacyr, the Narcissar of Ages, accepted the mantle of creation after a long period of thought and consideration, ‘weighing how tocraftasingular people, one in form akin to Menoth’s humanity but superior in every way. Her creation would be the elves of Lyoss birthed by Lacyr but aided by the ret ofthe Divine Court. Even the insensate Divine Beast understood the value of mortal souls, though it let others create as it hunted and devoured those souls that landed in its realm, far from the domains of their gods. ‘And some gods were heartless, bestowing life and then abandoning their creations to an unfeeling world, while others—the Divine Court above all—wished to see their children prosper and granted them many talents and gifts to help their souls flourish. 1 was not the gods alone who looked upon the shining souls of mortals and coveted what they represented, The parasitic and malevolent beings that had formed in the great Outer Abyss watched and envied what the gods had wrought. The place where they dwelled was a black afterbirth of creation, devoid of anything resembling the divinity of Urcaen or the potential of Caen, a place of neither death nor life but of horror and shadow. Though possessed of immense power and appetite for more, these infernals could not create life like the gods. Their realm had no material mirror. They could only languish in their black prison, separated from the other realms by vast distance and a thickening barrier. Still, though they could not pass into the spitit ‘or mortal realms, they knew the value present in both, Infernal hungered for the power of souls, catching faint whiffs of thefr potential through the barriers between worlds. Through great trial and effort, the infemals learned they could send their thoughts, if not their beings, into other realms, these = to taunt and tempt and lure. So, the infemals sat, hungey and OF BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS gejealous, peering across the expanse of infinity at the other worlds fd ater resins thot conained what they so desired. Orders of ‘nfernals probed atthe skin of places like Urcaen and Caen, scking. ‘ulnerabiitin where they could extend threads of thie immense |» Fence. They learned to touch the minds of mortal, which they | eu gad crt wih promis of power in echnge or | prital energy. But these were just morsels to a starving man. "They needed more. Much more, The infernals saw the bounty in “ Dreaen asthe greatest posible feast and s0 st out to probe its © detenses burning up myriads upon myriads of captured souls to ip vay at whatever wesknewes they could discover. “This probing eventually led an infernal society called the Nonokrion (Order to uncover a weakness in the firmament of Urcaen. In the most verdant and beautiful expanse of the spirit realm, these {nfernals discovered they could push into the home of the Divine Court, the Veld. Left raw and weakened by the outlay of energy required to create the elven people, the Veld had drawn perilously ‘lose to the chasm of the Outer Abyss. Almost within reach. Escape from the Veld ‘The first attempts at incursion into the Veld by the infernals were poorly understood by the Divine Court. They had long battled |< fetal spirits from the hellish wilds where the Wurm prowled. # Tt was easy to mistake the new horrors as another variant on "this theme. But soon Lurynsar, the god of Scouts and Summer, 7 otermined this was a ar greater peril one that might be capable | of anniilating their best-lad defenses Eee Lacyr risked her sanity to peer into the Outer Abyss, to view this foe with her keen intellect. She saw thatthe highest infernal were infinite beingy—given to equaly infinite desires. Some’of these beings were of a scope akin to the gods. She felt their malice and “their manger to east. S0, too, the Divine Court realized their acts of generosity had created abilities. Efforts to pass culture, wisdom, and the power over to their mortal followers had required gifts be sent from the {as the infernals began to probe the border of the Veld, the ine Court decided to act. In couneil, they decided the scope of the "was too great and the souls of the fallen within the Veld would. flee the parasitic infernals and collapse the passage behind is would require the help of their mortal children. The gods «to pass through the veil and into Caen to live among the “safe from infernal attack—at least for a time. Once the threat and the infernals had found easier prey, they could return te their journey, Nyssor the Grand Crafter an construction of a bridge in Urcaen while elven engineers /Nyssor’s work in Caen—creating the Bridge of Worlds. tion lasted over two hundred years. Though the span ‘entire life, it was but a moment tothe gods, built with as infernal horrors clawed at the gates of the Veld to be de andi arrow from the arsenals of the gods. With the spping at their heels, the gods abandoned the Veld sd the way behind them. Drawing on a great deal of the F BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS divine power they had invested in their home, they reinforced the barriers between Caen and Urcaen as well as between Urcaen and the Outer Abyss. Each of these realms was driven apart, and the distance between was hardened. Many of the would-be invaders were destroyed in the process, a fitting end. But this left the Divine Court cut off from what remained of the Veld and its inhabitants. It was hoped this would be a temporary absence, ‘What was lost could be remade. ‘Their great haste, at least by divine standards, may explain the disaster that occurzed when the Divine Court crossed the threshold to Caen. It may have been an inevitable consequence of the vast and unfathomable energies involved. From my visions, I believe the gods had forgotten how brittle the material world to be compared to the fluid and resilient fabric of the realm of spirit. Whatever the cause, though the Bridge of Worlds functioned as intended, it collapsed upon their passage, exploding with tremendous arcane force and unleashing chaos. This was the Cataclysm. It rent asunder the empire of Lyoss—the civilization of my ancestors—and cracked. the very bones of the world. Even today, the Cataclysm’s power is felt in the east, with the never-ending turmoil of the Stormlands. Despite the Cataclysm, the Bridge of Worlds had served its purpose. The Divine Court had escaped the infernals, who were thrown back to the Outer Abyss. Taking the surviving elves under their wing, the Divine Court journeyed through storms to forge ‘a new home to the west in the Mistbough Forest, the kingdom of Tos. But while they remained for centuries with their people, Caen ‘was not their native land, and they languished in the material world, growing weaker. When at last they left to return to the Veld, it might have been too late. In the intervening time, the barrier between worlds had become even stronger. Human Gods In the years the Divine Coust remained with their people to build Jos, humanity multiplied and spread farther west. Many had turned to worshipping bestial totems, their ancestors, or other now- forgotten gods. The Molgur rose as a tribal confederation revering the Wurm above all. Menoth saw this and became wrathful. He retumed to his people, rebuking them for forgetting him, and he chose priest-kings to build civilization in his name, He imparted gilts, including the building of walls, agriculture, the power of fire as weapon and symbol, and his strict, unyielding laws. They began to reclaim the wilderness and to spread the worship of the Creator to wayward tribes. The Cataclysm saw their frst city abandoned as the desert claimed it, but they would soon erect an even greater, city once called Calacia, then Caspia, which remains their greatest stronghold. They subjugated and beat back the followers of the ‘Warm and Dhunia, enacting bloody erusades by sword and flame. 'As human civilization spread, two special humans rose to prominence in Caspia—the twins Morrow and Thamar. Born in a time when humanity’s only choices were to kneel in obedience to Menoth, supplicate themselves to the Devourer Wurm, or risk the uncertainties of an afterlife spent in the hells of Urcaen, they offered another path. They rejected slavery and fear, blazing a new way forward for their race. Morrow taught there was more to life than obedience to an absent and uncaring god and suggested mortals could improve their lot through their deeds.They both spoke of sel but their teachings were different. Morrow saw in humans the will and control over one’s own destiny, potential for self-sacrifice and courage. His time as a soldier gave him perspective on finding honor even in the grimmest hours. Morrow understood the limitless potential of the human soul and how one could, through deed and thought, nurture those souls, empowering them beyond the capacity of their birth. His sister Thamar’s message was the darker side of that coin, poi this n tyranny. To the throngs suffering under Menite rule, both Twins {ng out the virtues of selfishness and autonomy. Yet amid sssage was also a lesson of freedom and a rejection of offered a hope not yet unimagined. The Menites tried to repress their growing throngs of adherents with fire and steel, punishing all who followed the words of Morrow or Thamar. Perhaps the Menites could have stamped out he faith in its early days, had Morrow not proven the strength of their philosophy or Thamar the depth of her convictions, Menite scrutators made cruel examples out of the Morrowan and ‘Thamarite followers, performing public executions that left the the Twins banded together and marched on those governing Caspia. In their hour condemned lingering for days. In response of victory, Thamar executed the leader of the Menite faith, much to Morrow's grief, for he sought a more peaceful truce. He exiled his sister along with her adherents, only to see her return as an enemy, Proving his belief in his own teachings, Morrow sacrificed himself for the good of all and then ascended as a self-made god. In their fervor, the witnesses to this transfiguration fell upon Thamar, killing her and prompting her own ascension to godhood, ‘This was the ultimate proof of the teachings of both Twins—that the mortal soul could rise to divinity. Born of mortal flesh, made magnificent on the moment of their deaths, the Twins founded a bipartite faith of light and dark and entered into Urcaen as equals, toone another and to the other gods. Though the Menites tried for a time to repress thes foiths while they ‘were in their infancy, something unheard of transpired in Ureaen, Thave seen with my own eyes the vision as the Lawgiver, once the Hunter, accepted the Twins in Urcaen, with certain promisesintended to seal an accord between them. Menoth saw an opportunity in their rise. For too long he had been in his City of Man, protecting the souls st the Wurm, So that he might focus on his ancient foe, the Lawgiver bestowed upon of his fallen, fighting a defensive battle agai Morrow a measure of oversight of humanity. Morrow accepted these terms and for a long time upheld the trust placed in him. He vowed to regulate his sister and her followers and to not give to mankind any greater gifts than the ones Menoth had already provided, Orgoth Occupation While the Nonokrion Order infernals suffered setbacks following their failed attack on the Veld, others hadi risen to power through manipulation of the mortal realm. Potent infernal masters from the Fellgoeth Order whispered offerings into the dreams of mortal promising power and the bestowment of black gifts. Through tumbral proxies, which passed into Caen through a web of shadows, these infernals offered to contract with susceptible humans, trading souls for their gifts. Many mortals failed to comprehend the gravity of this cost and signed away their souls willingly, only dreading their fate when the terms were about to come due. The Fellgoeth were most successful with a confederation’ of human conquerors on one of Caen’s continents to the west of Immoren. Already brutal and violent, these humans eventually eschewed their traditional worship of their Creator and offered themselves wholly to a cabal of infernal masters. In return, they swept across their nation, using blood and shadow to turn every inhabitant they encountered to worship—or sending them as offerings for the sacrificial pyre. The infernals bestowed great strength, endurance, and occult power. The infernal-worshipping Orgoth forged an empire that soon spread across the world OF BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGSFleets of their dreaded black ships descended on scattered island peoples and even to the southern continent of Zu. While all other seafarers learned to respect and fear the tempests of the Meredius, the Orgoth carved through the waters as a black iron blade. So, too, did the Orgoth land on the western shores of Immoren, beginning one of the darkest periods in the continent's history. During the long occupation, the Orgoth caused no end of suffering. Many thousands regularly went as sacrifices, their souls either captured in occult vessels for later use or harvested for the infernals. The land became a kingdom of tortured slaves under the whips of a cruel master. Desperate Measures Such desperate times lead to desperate measures. While brave souls did their best to fight back, and a few pockets of resistance yet kept the occupiers at bay, without a remarkable tum of fate, the occupiers’ hold on Immoren would be unbreakable, Even the ‘gods became concerned Morrow looked into the future to seek a way forward. He witnessed that if the Orgoth were not stopped, it would lead to the extinction of both his and Thamar's faiths as widespread death eradicated their worshipers. No matter which threads of fate he explored, Morrow saw no way to prevent this outcome. Thamar would be the one to find a solution. She foresaw that the Immorese needed powerful new weapons, abilities long-denied OF BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS them: the power to change reality by force of will, Such magic ‘was practiced by other races but denied to humanity by Menoth, Such a change would require difficult and arduous rites, where even the full extent of Thamar’s power and knowledge were inadequate. She saw at once she would require outside aid. To test the worthiness of her plan, Thamar spoke of her ideas to Morrow, who looked again into the future. He saw now one path with a ray of hope, dark though it may be and rife with terrible consequences. He consented that Thamar should proceed, that they must secure magic for humanity at all costs, To forestall one doom, they might need to embrace another. Knowing the elves had been specially endowed with power and that their gods had come to Caen to be among them, Thamar instructed her Chosen to approach the highest priests of Ios with a request for knowledge. She hoped to arrange a meeting of divinities. The goddess did not know yet that the elven gods had already left, seeking to return to the Veld. Embittered by the absence of their gods and terrified of outsiders, the elves refused and insulted the envoys of the dark goddess. They did not share even the smallest fragments of their knowledge. Thamar considered this an inexcusable affront but remained convinced that important lore might be gained from the Divine Court. She sent Thamarite spies to steal losan lore. In this way, she discovered scraps of heretical and forgotten teachings from ancient Lyossan sects with veiled references tothe threat of beings beyond. Urcaen, She read of the construction of the Bridge of Worlds andthe Cataciysm. Thamar pieced together this puzzle, combining it with lore she had already unearthed on the Nonokrion Order, and discerned the infernal shadow behind the actions of the losan gods. ‘This information confirmed a course of action she had already predicted would be necessary. Even before the elves refused her, she had considered turning to the infernals to solve her dilemma, ‘knowing as she did that they had the proven ability to empower ‘mortals, having done so with her first scion before his ascension. ‘Thamar made contact with a powerful executor—a being high in the Nonokrion hierarchy—a being known to some as Teldoquorin, the Sounder at the Gates. Bringing her first scion to assist in the negotiations, Thamar set out to seal a contract with these beings. The Nonokrion Order expressed its willingness to grant Thamar’s request, though it would not be easy or simply done, It would involve a tremendous outpouring of energy in a ritual of a complexity beyond even divine reckoning. And this would require a commensurate payment. Certain she had deduced the desires of these beings, Thamar offered as payment assistance in locating the very gods that had once escaped infernal grasp. Great as this offer was, Teldoquorin demanded more. For the ritual to be completed, he would need a vast harvest of souls, though the full payment could be deferred. In some distant future, the Nonokrion Order would come for the Claiming, during which no less than two-thirds of human souls, would be theirs. By deferring this payment, Immorese humans could recover from the Orgoth, spread, and multiply, thus ‘expanding the scope of the Claiming, The leaders of the Nonokrion (Order knew that such an arrangement would ensure their ultimate supremacy overall rivals, particularly the Fellgoeth. ‘Thamar did not hesitate to agree. Great as this price was, it held the only possible hope for a future. There has never been a more self-assured or confident being than Thamar, so convinced was she of her own infinite potential. Given the Claiming would be deferred, Thamar felt certain she and her brother could find a way to evade paying the cost. No binding, however strong, could hold her...or so she thought. She included in the contract the stipulation that those who were truly devoted to Thamar and her scions would be shielded from direct infernal interference. She foresaw her worshipers rising to be the leaders of those who survived the Claiming, should it come to pass. The goddess and infernal executor forged their pact. Within a generation, the first human sorcerers would rise from the enslaved population, and the infernals turned to their mortal followers on Caen to hunt down the elusive elven gods. Ten years after the bargain was made, disaster struck Ios. The Rivening caused priests of nearly all the fanes to go insane, seen by many as a sign, that some great tragedy had occurred to the Divine Court. Three short years later, the first human to display the Gift of Magic was discovered—evidence that both Thamar and the Nonokrion Onder had upheld their ends of the bargain. What befell the Divine Court? That is a story filed with tragedy and pain. “fas Ambushing the Divine — a ‘The visions haunt me and shattered my mind. fam not glad He witnessed the last stand of my gods. I see them time and age when close my ees. Ths krowiedge is wha I sought asa Seeker Now I wish I could forget. ‘The Divine Court succeeded in finding a place where the veil was _ thin. Where at last the Veld might be opened to them again, should they be able to forge a key. It was far from Immoren’s shores, in a dank and fetid place on another land, at a site of slaughter where two numberless armies had met their bloody end. So many souls” hhad passed in such a short time that the veil was torn and rent. Even here, such a passage would not be easy. The gods had to conduct a rite incomprehensible to mortal minds. It was this lingering, this gathering of ritual strength, that would be their undoing. Itenabled them tobe tracked. Humanity’sdarktwinfound them. She did not reveal herself, but she called to her unholy allies. _¢ She told them where to go. In crossing between Caen and Urcaen, the Divine Court would pass through a void, an emptiness in all realities, a place that was nowhere yet connected to everywhere. I was like the surface of a stagnant pond into which the infernals could cast their lures, their hooks, their nets. ‘ ‘And so, in the moment of their return, as seven members of the Divine Court expended so much of their strength to dive through the vell, they were ensnared and dragged elsewhere, To grounds of i infernal choosing, where all the advantages were theirs. Even in this direst of calamities, my gods were not easily subdued. ‘i They fought well. At another hour, I will sing of this battle of my gods, for it was glorious, even if horrific and tragic in the end, They fought d= horde of infernals beyond number, led by masters so powerful - they might as well have been gods themselves. None fought harder than Ossyris, the Sovereign of Conflict, consort of Lacyr. As his ending came, he sought to shield his lover the mother of all elves, with whom he had fought side by side. His last act was to hurl a wounded Lacyr away from their battle, past the shells of connecting realms, together with her tee oe her as ruler of the gods. His protection almost came too late, she was bleeding and greatly diminished, her divine vitality ¢ but spent. Reduced to little more than an echo of what she or ‘was, she fused into her mantle as ruler of the gods. Lurynsar and Nyrro, gods of Summer and Day, also fell, consumed by darkness. I know not the fate of Lyliss, of Autumn, but I ha seen her stricken and wounded, screaming as her mind shattere Thave seen her set adrift and bleeding in the void. A worse welcomed the dead into the afterlife. She the infernals seized and captured, binding her inthe hope of turning her into a to unlock the Veld and thereby gain acess to Utcaen, ThisAt the outset of the clash, Lacyr had enough power to send Scyrah away, Lacyr told Scyrah that she alone had the ability to shield their people and possibly bring about the rebirth of the Divine Court. Scyrah did not welcome salvation, believing she should have fought alongside the others. Her relief at enduring isa shame she caries stil. Seven was the number of gods ensnared. Nyssor, Father Winter, | was not among them. He had already gone his own way, guiding his chosen people far from Ios inthe hopes of securing a different destiny, Yet in that hour of their capture, Nyssor sensed what transpired and could not turn his back on his family. He went to ‘them at once, using all his craft and cunning, though he arrived {00 late to do more than witness their defeat. Without him, more might have been lost. [Nyssor seized Lacyr’s mantle and escaped with it, following the path that Scyrah took. Seeing her drifting off course, he helped guide her back to Caen, so she could return to Ios and watch over her people. In time, after both had returned wounded and diminished, Nyssor realized Lacyr’s mantle might restore Scyrah, allowing her to inherit the power of the Narcissar of Ages, that last remnant. But to see this come to pass, he had to stop his own fading, which required sealing himself in a vault of ice, together ith the mantle, while Scyrah fell into slumber. He left instructions "with his priests, who sought to make peace with their cousins in los "but were turned away. “Where is the mantle, that fragment of Lacyr that might have heralded a rebirth? I weep to say I do not know. When Nyssor’s vault was shattered by an undead abomination that had once been an losan lord, the mantle vanished. I fear it has fallen to the void between worlds and is lost forever, together with any hope of salvation. So, even the heroics of gods are undone. Once more | nearly all paths lead to darkness. There is a glimmer of light, but it | will require all the peoples of Immoren to unite, to put aside their “Aierences, which has neverhappened Alshare the same oe, jst sit was under the Orgoth “of power, though its full effects were not felt at once, requiring, development and refinement as well as invention, Still, even early "on, having this weapon to wield against the interminable Orgoth | ignited the fires of hope in the Rebellion. Potent spells helped pockets of Immorese resistance fight back against the occupiers, ening their hold. The Orgoth were no longer invincible 1uman familiarity with magic grew, their natural tendencies sed innovation helped it thrive. The humans of Immoren se always clever people; during the years of the Clockwork PES si Yaad devised alitany of machinus encgeslpore -only natural that this cleverness be applied to the arcane. discovered new ways for magic, codifying such discoveries ough runic formulae, the invention of mechanika that fused technology and magical principles, and ultimately in the ation of the cortex and colossal war machines. - BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS ‘Combined, these developments gave the rebels the chance to fight the Orgoth on equal footing for the first time, and the repressed people of Immoren came together against the occupiers to drive them back from the continent, though it took many decades. During the two hundred years of rebellion, evidence of the compact with {nfernals came to los. The first soulless elves were born, confirming some Iosans’ fears that human magic was connected to the absence of their gods. This inspired the rise of the Retribution of Scyrah, a sect dedicated to eradicating human mages. In the Outer Abyss, the Nonokrion Order watched with glee as their rival Fellgoeth lost footing on Caen. Each battle the Orgoth lost resulted in fewer souls sacrificed. Their shrines built to deliver these souls were destroyed or buried. Every time an Orgoth champion fell in battle, yet another Fellgoeth asset went to waste. By the Rebellion’s end, the occupying force in Immoren was wiped out and the last who fled its shores brought the terrible riplung plague back to the Orgoth homeland, stripping the Fellgoeth ofits power. The Nonokrion Order took its place as ‘one of the premier cabals of all infernals—already eager to ensure a rich Claiming when the time came to collect on its debt. The Rise of the Iron Kingdoms In the centuries that followed, the Nonokrion Order continued to grow. It took careful steps, having leamed from its overreach into the Veld, preferring to cultivate single individuals and family dynasties over many years. The designs of mortals aided them in this work. Old geudges germinated in fertile soil amid the new kingdoms, growing into conflicts that have continued almost without ceasing. While gutter-cultists and ambitious arcanists pledged their loyalty and offered a trickle of souls as an offering, the Nonokrion Order valued more those in seats of power who could influence events on a broader stage. Lords and kings under the infernals’ sway allowed them to foster influential cults free from the scrutiny of religious orders and to weaken the resolve of whole nations against the perfidy of the infernals, Many of the most storied and beloved rulers of these nations were under the influence of infernal manipulations, knowingly or unknowingly, helping to advance infernal power in the mortal realm. Enough bodies to make a mountain of the dead have fallen in petty border squabbles and civil strife. Whole tribes and nations have fallen into the graveyard of history. Each passing generation knows that the question of the next war isnot one of “if” but of “when.” For centuries, places like the Thornwood have lapped up blood spilled in battle, made only worse by the Nightmare Empire of Cryx and the Dragonfather Toruk’s appetite for corpses and long-minded ambitions on the world. ‘The constant strife and conflict in Immoren plays to the infernals desires. The more desperate circumstances become, the more likely it is that mortals will tur to those infernals for aid. Great battles in history have been fought as offerings to the Nonokrion ‘Order, with the souls of the battlefield dead offered in sacrifice ‘Those who go to war often do so out of a sense of duty, honor, or faith to their gods, not knowing that the general who sends them to die answers to distant masters.In the four-hundred years since the Ongoth were driven from westeen Immoren, the Nonokrion Order has amassed souls, devouring their spiritual essence for strength and reshaping them into warriors for their upcoming invasion of the mortal world Some have tried to forestall this inevitability, though, pursuing dark deals of their own. The Wicked Harvest the Old Witch of Khador, Zevannah Agha, has been one of the few beings to fully understand the coming conflict. She knew quite well that all the armies of civilization and the wilderness could not stand against the ravenous tide of soul-hungry invaders The Old Witch is callous enough to know that things sometimes rust get worse before they get better; so, to fight the infernal corruption, she accepted perhaps the strangest of allies. Agha entered into her own pact with the Defiers, once humans of prehistory who stood against the god Menoth and were hurled alive into the bowels of Urcaen. Millenia in the spirit realm transformed the Defiers into beings unlike anything in existence, and they amassed a force of living nightmares and_grymkin servants. They desired to return to Caen to enact the Wicked Harvest, a promise to reap a grisly toll of those they deemed corrupted by Menoth’s construct of civilization ‘The Wicked Harvest promised to inflict much pain and death fn the Iron Kingdoms but was also certain to snatch up many mortals who had forged pacts with the infernals. Choosing the better of two evils, the Old Witch worked with the Defiers, using, ‘mortal proxies to grant them access to the mortal world. As the Wicked Harvest began its reaping, many infernalists fell beneath its indiscriminate scythe. Whole cabals of cultists died to packs of sgrymkin, and even several highly placed individuals the infernals had spent decades grooming were snuffed out. Losing so many mortal assets in so short a span no doubt forced the Nonokrion Order’s hand. If they intended to enact their bargain, it would have to be immediately, est they lose even more marked souls that would sustain them in the mortal world, The Old Witch could never have halted the Claiming, but by forcing the infernals to act immediately, she and her Defier allies offer a thin strand of hope that some may yet survive it. Do not forget that the infernals have acted with haste. Their plans are not perfect, and utter despair serves them. The Claiming Wah It has all built to this. The Nonokrion Order gathers its cultists from the corners of Immoren to prepare for its assault, These misguided souls prepare the way for their masters, building gates that will allow them passage into the world. They stand ready to. betray those who trusted them to open the way. From these gates will pour forth an army unlike any ever seen on Caen before and horrors to match those of the Orgoth. There may be a chance to save the world, to drag it back from the brink of this indiscriminate desolation. I have gone forth to the oracles and prophets of every people, trying to persuade them to ut old enmities aside. I would beg all who would listen to band together and stand firm against this destructive force. To preserve even the smallest part of the world we know. The Twins still believe they can fight this foe, and they rally their faiths. But alone they cannot stand. If humanity falls and is lost, all others will also fall. This is the fate we now rush toward as though embracing our ‘own destruction. Allliving souls on Caen are fodder for these masters of destruction. ‘The time to join against them is vanishing. Every bargain the infernals have struck, every contract they forged with men seeking an immediate gain with no regard for the future, has weakened this world and made it easier for those who would devour us all Our world is poised upon the brink of oblivion. I stand witness, an instrument of fate. We must unite or perish Tiwill witness the outcome either way. OF BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGSFORCES OF WARMACHINE: INFERNALS rnvaders from beyond the worlds of both the living and the [= the infra epresent the greatest thet, bo rea and existential, ever faced by the people of western Immoren. They step onto Caen through portals of darkness and smoke, and wherever they stride, reality warps and tears. Any who behold the inferals is at risk of madness as the mind struggles to process impossible sensations and stave off a palpable aura of dread, ‘They are nearly incomprehensible alien beings, each possessed of tremendous powers, patience, and demonstrating utter ruthlessness, Their careful plans span centuries, with the roots of their present invasion reaching back more than thirty human generations to when they first struck their bargain with the dark goddess Thamar. They see no value in life. They have long lurked in the Outer Abyss, watching the people of Caen and coveting, theirsouls, which to them are the ultimate resource. Though normally barred from the physical world of the living, infernals have devised ways to break through the cosmological barriers. They barter with mortals called infernalists, who are taught the rituals to summon them and who are rewarded in turn with bons. The only way to barter with an infernal is to offer them souls—the infernalist’s own and those of myriad victims they seize and sacrifice. Even the necromancy of Cryx pales before the unholy horror of the infernal. For centuries, infernals have plotted and schemed from a distance) feared by all but rarely seen. That has changed with the Claiming. that is now upon Immoren. Having broken through the barriers between worlds with the help of their hapless human agents, the infernals have come to tip the balance on Caen once and for all. For eons, they jealously watched souls slip from the mortal realms to the hails of their gods. Hungry for this most valued resource, they reckon their debt is due. This debt originated with the Orgoth Occupation when all the inhabitants of western Immoren were made slaves and their gods could do little but look on, aghast. Those tyrants were ultimately thwarted through divine arrangements made with infernal that facilitated human magic. But salvation came with a deferred price cone that is now being paid in full =Origins Before there was Caen or Urcaen, there was only darkness. A reat infinite Abyss. In this Abyss swirled knots of dense spiritual tnergy, which in time accumulated and became conscious. The first impulse this consciousness felt was malice. Beings stirred in the void and became self-aware, each realizing they were not lone but were instead surrounded. They were selF-born into onflct and strife. Those that could outwit others around them— either to evade or consume their rivals—endured, becoming stronger, smarter, and capable of actions subtle and obscene. Some learned to survive by surrendering to their betters, by offering to serve, and so a crude hierarchy emerged. It was in this crucible that infernals came to be. Nothing is known. with certainty of this primordial state of being, but it is thought to predate all life. The Outer Abyss coalesced into a reality unique {o itself, apart from and with its own fundamental laws quite distinct from other more familiar realms that would emerge later, giving rise to gods and mortals. ‘Though to say so is considered heretical or blasphemous, the origins of infernals may not be so dissimilar from those of the first Primordial gods, who were also self-born in the darkness from _ vast pools of spiritual energy. Though priests of the major faiths "would never credit this fact, there might not be much difference "between entities like Menoth, Dhunia, the Devourer Wurm, and the elder infernals aside from their relationships with the souls of ‘mortals connected to them, ‘The first infernal societies formed before Caen existed, and others have risen and fallen in the intervening eons. These groups are paranoid and internecine by human reckoning, arisen when individual infernals learned the value of banding together to pool resources and power. The shape of infernal society does not resemble anything crafted by the sentient races of Caen. | There is no sense of kinship between infernals, no bonds of loyalty, love, or civic duty, only temporary stability reinforced "through intimidation, calculation, and long-laid schemes. Even ‘cruel beings like the skorne have values and virtues unknown to the infernals, who do not possess concepts of trust, honor, or commitment. Whatever their ethos, itis largely inscrutable to ‘motals. Ascribing to them the motives of lesser beings can be a fatal mistake. The infernal perspective is truly alien. ‘The scope and number of infernal societies is unknown to the people of Caen. The majority of Immorese contact with these ___beings has been with the Nonokrion Order, a society that has | revealed itl ofits inner workings. This order is thought to be "one of the more powerful organizations in the Outer Abyss. It ‘engaged in interminable wars with potent rivals. For untold nia, infernal societies have fought for supremacy, survival, BEE crater chore ofthe vast extre-worldly soul markets, Such Sapo persist, fucled by trading in souls that have been seized Mirbm oer worlds, Mortals have often been caught up in these GBblit always to thelr detriment “Greater infernals can only manifest on Caen for short periods of time before reality itself forces them back to the Outer Abyss | Bssause the mater ‘worl is antithetical to these beings, physical lacie ‘manifestation requires their mortal servants to first open a gate to the Outer Abyss by enacting exact, complex rituals that poison the ‘mind and spirit. When a greater infernal manifests on Caen, their force of will and power is such that the world warps around them) become temporarily as fluid as the Abyss. Witnessing this happen can provoke psychic turmoil in mortals, shattering fragile minds. From their dark and strange realm, greater infernals use their ‘occult powers to peer into neighboring realities—worlds like Caen and others as well. In the forgotten ancient past when this first transpired, the infernals were filled with envy by what they saw in Caen and Urcaen. The spiritual energy that is their essence and currency is abundant in places that teem with life. It lows in great tidal torrents between the world of the living and the realm of the afterlife. Infernals do not exist as part of this common cosmological reality. This gives them certain advantages but has led to a paucity ‘of raw spiritual essence in the Outer Abyss, where every scrap is fought over and hoarded. From their perspective, Caen and Urcaen represent a vast untapped reservoir, one they desire to plunder. The tangible horrors infernals create to fight their wars—either against other infernals and when invading other worlds—are made possible by harvesting immortal souls. The soul of an intelligent being is dense with enriched spiritual energy. To the infernal, this is a resource that can sustain all oftheir industry and serve as the foundation for their very reality. Corporeal bodies are viewed by infernals as an inferior and unimportant side effect of life. A body is just an anchor that holds a soul for a brief span in the material world. In death, the soul is liberated from the flesh, which is cast aside to rot. Valuable as they are however, souls are also slippery and elusive. On Caen, most souls of the slain seek to pass to Urcaen. Infernals have had to earn ways to interfere in this process, developing techniques to ‘mystically “mark” souls for their collection. The conflicts between mortals are viewed as insignificant to infernals, aside from the opportunities they offer for the acquisition of souls. While mortal wars can provide a glut of souls, in most cases the majority of these will escape their clutches. thas required Jong, and carefully laid plans to arrange for greater harvests, and. many of the greatest conflicts across Caen have been part of machinations by these timeless beings of the Outer Abyss, By peering into other realities, infernals learned how to send tendrils of thought past the barriers that separate the Outer Abyss from the other worlds. They gathered information and deduced ‘methods to communicate indirectly with thinking beings in these pplaces—through dark mirrors, by invading dreams with whispered thoughts, or sometimes by manifesting secret glyphs and runes hidden within other writings to be deciphered by power-hungry occultists. In time, infernals mastered ways to tear holes in reality with the assistance of mortals on the other side, creating portals and gateways that would allow them to visit Caen directly. By such techniques, infernals could be summoned, at least for a bref time. Infernal manifestations on other worlds are difficult to arrange and temporary, less like actual transit and more like casting a reflection upon a stagnant pond. From their Abyssal realm, infernals siphoned the souls offered to them by their supplicants in other worlds, bringing an influx of this vital spiritual resource.For centuries, infernals have bartered with mortals on Caen— ‘offering boons of power in exchange for payment in souls, This has become their primary focus and most important avocation—a cycle of predatory harvesting that is unending, For untold millennia, they have preyed upon countless other worlds and ties, mastering subtle temptations and more forceful invasive techniques, all to steal the spiritual essence that they can shaj like clay. Infernals are the ultimate parasites and seducers, ith smaller contracts and small requests but eventually bringing exploiting their own immortality to cull other worlds, first wholesale ruin, Each contract they make, each foreign soul they steal, is a small piece of a larger puzzle. exist in relative t, they In contrast to the infernals, the gods of Ure: confi luxury. Though theirs is also a realm of endles tem engendered by proximity to Caen, which tems with life. Urcaen and Caen exist are connected to a thriving spiritual ecos; insymbiosis, each one side of a conjoined mirror. Spiritual energ} flows between the two amid acts of divine creation and shaping then back to Urcaen after the living perish. Some spiritual energy—such as that found in lesser animals and beasts— remains on Caen and is recycled through the goddess Dhunia to the goddess. caen ina cycle This is also true for the souls of those devote But the souls of most thinking beings return to U that is fundamental to cosmology. Life multiplies and spiritual energy prey, by birth grows, strengthened by the strife between predator and \d death. The gods benefit from this cycle and are strengthened by the souls connected to their worship. Infernals es a vast supply of Thus, the gods have ever {enemies of the infernal view this cycle with hatred and envy—it plac spiritual energy beyond their gras been the greate From the beginning, infernal societies worked from the shadows to undermine the gods, seeking to infiltrate their worshipers, to test the barrie They fostered infernalism between realms and exploit any weaknesses. hherever their message could reach the minds of inquisitive, power-hungry, or desperate occultists. Many of these efforts were individually small and easily overlooked, but in the aggregate, they advanced subtle plans. These plots to. secure mortals were accompanied by larger and more elaborate schemes to besiege the gods dwelling in Ureaen and to undermine the faiths that rei {forced the barriers protecting Caen. The greatest struggle in Immorese history—the Orgoth invasion and its later Rebellion—can be viewed in the context of strife between two specific infernal si empowered by their “dark gods, belonging to a group called the Fellgoeth. These tyrants were ultimately overthrown, thanks to the Gift of Magic negotiated between Thamar and the rulers of the infernal Nonokrion Osdet ties. The Orgoth were understood by some as infernals INFERNALS‘Much of Immorese suffering and the deaths of thousands can be attributed to the competition between these two groups and the ‘mortals who served them. And the events leacling up to the current invasion of Caen are also deeply rooted in this struggle, one that extends back long before the rise of the Orgoth Empire. ‘The Nonokrion Order was the first group to succeed in threatening the souls of Urcaen, exploiting a vulnerability in the Veld, a region of Urcaen inhabited by the elven Divine Court. Though these gods kept the cause a secret from their mortal worshipers, infemal intrusion prompted their exodus from Ureaen, resulting in a great cataclysm that destroyed the elven Lyossan Empire bout also thwarted the Nonokrion Order for a time. Desperate ‘measures undertaken by the elven gods prevented additional intrusion into Urcaen and safeguarded the souls of the fallen dead, though at a great cost of lives. The Fellgoeth subsequently gained a considerable lead over their rivals millennia later by securing influence over the Orgoth Empire, the dominant human civilization on Caen at its height. — ‘The Nonokrion Order was nearly eclipsed and defeated by its rival until it was able to secure a pivotal contract with the ‘Twins, Morrow and Thamar, a pair of ascended Immorese gods. Facing the extinction of their faiths and thus driven to desperate I ce, Moscow agreed with Thamar to lize extraordinary I iclemposier tue humane of western Immoren with the .Githof Magic in order to overthrow the Orgoth. Thamar entered Anovtatons ihhe Cate Arie nian thei Bae! the Nénoktion Ores and eventually cared the Cit SbF Magic for humanity. The contract she sealed was vast and far- iis cixoencnsurete cont. By this arrangement was humanity given magic, and soon mechanika was developed, the Eee sxcs it, and she Orgoth driven rom knmoren. | “The Nonokrion Order rose to dominance while the Fellgoeth Peiahbe and waned, retreating back into the shadows a he INFERNALS ‘Though Thamar’s bargain enabled the eventual defeat of the Ongoth, all sides understood it for what it was: a countdown to inevitable hostility Struck between master negotiators operating inthe absolute absence of good faith, the gods of Caen were set to pay a price too dear to bear, And for the infemals, no quantity of souls could ever slake their thirst. Both sides immediately began to prepare forthe reckoning, with the gods girding their worshipers fora great confrontation and the infernals preparing methods of casting the gods themselves from Caen so they may yet claim its entire bounty for themselves. The infernals are aware that both Morrow and Thamar seek to renege on their agreement and intend to fight to avoid paying. what was promised. The gods have drawn upon their reserves to send divine champions to protect the mortals of Caen. Armies of great power have been raised on both sides, and the infernals intend to claim their due. All old debts are being called in, with infernalists being revealed at every layer of Immorese society. Existence in the Abyss ‘To understand infernals, one must understand what they lack ‘Their Abyss is a largely barren and desolate place, a land of bleak ‘wastelands and darkness, of shadow and wan light, where spiritual essence is rare and fleeting as it is gathered and hoarded by the predatory beings that survive there. This includes the greater infernals as well as a variety of more bestial beings occupying niche in the Outer Abyss akin to fauna on Caen. Their world does not feature life as it exists on Caen, even though its creatures may resemble living beasts. These beings are intrinsically creatures of spirit; their forms are mutable and strange and obey none of the rules that govern the living, The forms they take when summoned to Caen are not entirely identical to how they manifest in thei | native reality, where they are more shadow than substance. The (Outer Abyss isa place where nightmares and horrors walk, where everything is potentially hostile. Just as the forms of its denizens are mutable, s0 is the underlying reality of the Outer Abyss. It is a place forever in flux. Will and thought are forces that mold and shape realty. The landscape shifs and reforms by the mere act of being observed. In place of weather manifestations resembling shifts in elemental forces can sometimes sweep through portions of the Outer Abyss. A darkened cavern can be suddenly lit by sheets of fire that appear briefly before dissipating. An arid waste might be bisected by what appears to be a river of molten steel or mercury. Jagged and crystalline boulders hover over an otherwise featureless plain, while a rain that resembles blood washes down to coat an area in an cily layer of caustic slime. These seemingly unpredictable environmental manifestations are almost always a result of infernal thoughts elsewhere or a side effect of a clash of ideas between potent infernals, sometimes far from the manifestation site. ‘The most stable and lasting structures in the Abyss are those that were willed into existence by the minds its masters, Greatet infernals seize great swaths of territory, which they dominate as. tyrants. Infernal cities arise at their whim wherever several gather erupting as though from nothing—buildings sprouting up from the smoky mist in defiance of any considerations of gravity ot the limits of ordinary materials. Strong infernals carve off entizefiefdoms for themselves, where the geography changes to match theiralien imaginations. Places inhabited over an extended period oftime do take on greater solidity and constancy, though even these seemingly tangible structures are a mental abstraction. Doorways do not necessary connect adjoining chambers, and even basic concepts such as “up” or “down” are unreliable. The geometry and layout of infernal structures seems to fold through more than three dimensions, anc what resembles gravity is a matter of perspective. Inferal structures do not obey natural laws. The many ways that Abyssal reality seems impossible would be a tremendous strain ‘on mortal minds, were they capable of enduring here. As with Urcaen, however, living beings do not have the means to travel to or survive in the Abyss. Almost every aspect of the environment would be hostile to them; there is nothing akin to air to breathe, food to eat, or water to drink. Even spiritual beings such as the sods of Urcaen would find this environment hostile, though they would be better equipped to endure it for a time. Similarly, while infernals have brought back countless souls to the Abyss, their existence there is unlike what they would experience in Urcaen. Captive souls are rendered largely insensate and kept preserved until they are torn apart for their spiritual essence and utilized as a material resource. Frequently employed to create horrors, such souls can also form the foundation of many of the more impressive and lasting infernal cities and structures. Therefore, even the greatest buildings in the Outer Abyss are remnants of shattered minds, carrying lingering thoughts and memories of the damned. Infernal Writings tits heart, the Nonokrion Order is a vast hierarchy of clerks, agents, auditors, archivists, curators, and executors, all working together to maintain the continuity of their primary enterprise: the fluid movement of souls from the mortal realms to the Outer Abyss. The acquisition and movement of these souls requires a vast bureaucratic ‘machinery along with a nuanced knowledge of all recorded languages necessary to ensnare the souls of lesser beings into their bargains. At “le BG @ we RE ACOHMAE Utilizing a written language of incredible sophistication and power, this bureaucracy produces countless volumes of contracts, reports, and metaphysical research to be stored within great vaults and libraries. All knowledge from the most trivial to the most arcane gleaned from across various mortal realms is carefully recorded and catalogued so that is can be referenced at any time it is required. It is very likely that the seemingly endless array of tomes and scrolls found in the possession of infernals are perceived differently by these beings. They do not read the same way mortals do—they are able to absorb the entirety of meaning in a massive tome in an instant, just by touching such a volume, Nonetheless, they value the preservation of such lore. Encrypted within these letters, signs, and sigils isthe root of all known magic: When Thamar first laid down her own dark alphabet, Telgesh, which would later be harnessed as the foundation of human magic, she studied the infernal runes left inscribed on the ruins of Morrdh. From this partial record she was able to assemble an arcane script that would both lead to her own ascension and provide the basis for the magical formulae still used in the present day. Among the greatest of bons an infernal can bestow upon a mortal infernalist is the gift of a tome of their own manufacture. These blasphemous works are said to be owned by the most valued and skilled of infernalists, though some small number have fallen into the hands of the Sancteum and Thamar’s septs. Those who tried to parse them insist that true infernal tomes are dense with imperceptible information, with meaning secreted within hidden glyphs that exist ‘between the visible words, between the lines, and even between the pages themselves. In reading such forbidden lore, the mind is opened to invasive thoughts that originate beyond the physical realms. The complex writings on these pages shift and change from one reading to the next, revealing new mysteries. Mastering such texts invites ‘madiness but can provide insight into hidden secrets 4 2‘The infemals understand recorded language to be a method of making thought fixed and tangible, which relates to the value placed in written contracts signed and sealed. Originating in realm in which thought and willpower can be manifested physically, infernal documents are articles of potent metaphysical power. The signing of a contract with an infernal is binding and absolute. It is an exercise in will and creates a binding vow in therefore having both a mystical the form of a concrete obje ‘and a material tangibility. The very process of signing an infernal contract indelibly marks one’s own soul. ‘The connection between art and infernals is less well established or understood, though certain infernal entities have demonstrated an interest in other forms of communication. There are said to be contracts sealed by painting, sculpture, and even song. Similarly infernalists claim cities in the Outer Abyss contain works of twisted and impossible artwork that reflects the labyrinthine ‘minds of these creatures and that, if observed by mortals, would provoke either transcendence and insanity...or both Hierarchy of the Nonokrion Order Each infernal society has its own distinct hierarchy, and titles and epithets used in one may not apply elsewhere. That the infernals recognize echelons of authority has been confirmed and stated by multiple infernalists who are in direct communication with them, though in many respects, the details of these organizations remain mysterious and poorly understood. As with all things infernal, the weight given to specific titles or terms is a matter of translation and interpretation, one often undertaken by occultists with imperfect understanding, 2991 INEEPNALS ‘Superficially, the Nonokrion Order is organized like a vast trading company whose primary purpose is the acquisition of a sole commodity. The organization and its labors are maintained by a bureaucratic machine of inhuman complexity and scale. This great ‘bureaucracy is proof against the chaotic forces of the Outer Abyss and the true power behind the Order. It not only harnesses the knowledge and organizational capacity of the Order, it also ensures its smooth operation by providing a hierarchy that guarantees the cooperation of a multitude of malignant infernal beings. While individually, powerful infernals are beings of great intellect, they do not easily abice cooperating with their own kind, preferring to orchestrate their own schemes in isolation. Having to report to any master is sorely resented. For this reason, infernal loyalties are generally a patchwork of debts and constantly shifting alliances. The relationships between infernals is thus as treacherous and rife with potential betrayal as exists between the lich lords of Cryx. The structure of the Nonokrion Order effectively suppresses internal strife while harnessing the malice, influence, capabilites and raw cognitive power of its constituent membership. Rising through the ranks requires strength, guile, and commitment to the Order. The leaders that rule longest and best are not only those who have acquired vast spiritual resources and who can terrify those beneath them with demonstrations of insurmountable mastery, but those who have also assembled vast networks of agents whose reach can span worlds. This has led to the rise of a ‘complex hierarchy among the infernals of the Nonokrion Order with large gulfs between its echelons. Rising to leadership positions isa matter of longevity and consistency in securing victories, as well as 1 prodigious influx of marked souls culled from other worlds. The ruling classes of infernals are unimaginably ancient and puissant beings, as much gods as any other being given that appellation.The lowest echelons of the Nonokrion Order are crowded with clerks, auditors archivists, andl overseers who maintain the vast bureaucracy ofthe organization. Reigning over them are the curators and executors and their worlds-spanning networks of agents who are directly charged with the acquisition of souls the chief enterprise of the Order. In times of need, the leadership of the Order can call upon the raw physical might of their infernal horrors and lesser shock troops such as the terrifying howlers and vicious griever swarms. The powerful infernals who conduct negotiations with mortals and directly foster infernalism are known as curators. These beings are vital t the infernal soul economy, and each is expected to spread infernal influence and harvest souls from other worlds. There is a wide range of power between one curator and the next. Collectively they are known as the Curate Proconsular a body that self-regulates itsmembership to ensure all ae working toward the greater goals of the Nonokrion Onder. There ae thought to be thousands of infernals at this ter, with a select few chosen to act as proconsuls, who serve asliaisons with the executors that make up the next higher tier. Both caurators and executors are harvesters of souls and, in the aggregate, maintain the fundamental power base of the Nonokrion Order. Their ‘work is paramount, but they cannot claim to know the plans and ambitions of those who rule above them. ven world Executors coordinate the efforts of curators on a The distrusting nature of the infernals, however, ensures that the executors do not exclusively rely on the influence and resources ofthe curators serving them and maintain their own networks of beings on the realms that are of interest to them. They can leverage contracts far beyond the scope of those a curator customarily handles. Itis said that entire civilizations have risen or fallen based ‘on the manipulations of executors. They do not negotiate for single souls but are reserved for greater harvests, including implementing binding contracts that cross generations or centuries of time, There are alleged to be two tiers of power above executors, tholigh no mortals have ever dealt directly with these beings. Collectively known as the Cadre Architectia, architects are the great planners of the Nonokrion Order. Higher beings of tremendous vision and foresight, architects are the transcended shapers of the greater plans of the Nonokrion Order. It is they who set the executors in motion and evaluate how the harvest of resources is affecting greater plans. The architects appear to have been focused for several thousand years on regaining access to Urcaen, and it was to this end that they approved entering into extended contracts with humanity through the goddess Thamar. It is the architects who have set the invasion of Caen in motion. Zaateroth, the Weaver of Shadows, is presently their chosen instrument. Above even the Cadre Architectia is a trio of remote and aloof beings, the Magnate Tritorium. This triumvirate speaks as one, and their unity is considered to be the absolute ruler of the Nonokrion Order. As the architects are akin to gods, this trio is beyond their comprehension, existing on a higher level of awareness and power. The Magnate Tritorium is ever focused on the other infernal societies at war with the nothing whatsoever to do with lowly matters like the invasion of. Nonokrion Order. They have Caen, which is seen as a mere harvesting operation. Their attention remains fixed on the machinations of counterparts within the Fellgoeth and other infernal societies that would destroy the Order. ‘To them, only infernals matter; lesser beings might as well not exist. Tactics Infernals and their minions are quite different in their approach to battle than are mortal armies, which is only natural given their unusual perspective on the world. The infernals do not muster armies in a traditional sense, nor do they impose any INFERNALS