FOREWORD

The following represents something of a pet project; it began as an attempt to create a cohesive and integrated magic system (to allow the inclusion of so-called 'Colour' magic) and expanded somewhat to include a revised creation myth (since I don't like the Slann). Originally, I was going to follow this up with a completely new set of rules for magic. This is no longer the case as I am currently working on alternate ideas much closer to the original ideas of WFRP magic, which came about as a result of writing the following. So I suppose you could say that I've changed my mind. Regardless, I hope that the following might be able to provide some inspiration, or at least an entertaining yarn…

Greg

The Warhammer Universe

The Warhammer universe is much the same as our own, for it is governed by the same fundamental laws of physics. In fact, there is but one difference between the two, and it is sometimes known as 'Warpspace'. Other names for this phenomenon include 'the Warp', 'the Sea of Souls', 'the Ether' and 'the Spiritual Plane'. But these are by no means exhaustive, for there are (and have been) many terms used to describe what is not only the source of great and wondrous magicks and beings, but is also the greatest threat to the world, if not the universe.

In essence, Warpspace is an additional dimension, which seems to exist as distinct from the material universe and yet occupies the same space. Unlike its material counterpart, Warpspace consists of pure energy that flows in eddies and currents. It has oft been likened to an ocean or sea, for it can be calm in places and stormy in others. But crucially, Warpspace is inextricably linked to the material plane, in that the movement and action of the former shadows that of the latter - or perhaps vice versa.

Experiments have shown that all matter exerts an attractive force in the Warp, and that Warp energies are consequently densest around planets. It has also been shown that matter shapes the Warp energies that are drawn to its 'anchor' (or 'shadow') in the void. As a result, all physical matter exists (to some degree) in the Warp in the form of specific energy patterns, and these patterns may be placed into one of eight groups.

The first four of these groups are known collectively, as Elemental. They are Earth, Fire, Air and Water, and they make up all of what we know to be tangible and material. It is perhaps obvious to note that these four states are generic and consist of many components. For example, Earth consists (amongst others things) of various types of rock or metal that exist in a solid state, whilst Air encompasses all gaseous forms.

The remaining four of these groups are termed Metaphysical, as they are intangible and yet make up all of what we know to be 'life'. They are often referred to as the following: Life, Death, Spirit, and Body. Life is the vivifying and animating force behind all forms of flora and fauna, just as Death is the inevitable end to the cycle. On the other hand, Spirit represents rationality and thought, whereas Body refers to the primal and carnal impulses. A fuller explanation of these may be found below under Magick.

It is important to note that there is balance in all of these things; i.e. Earth vs. Air, Fire vs. Water, Life vs. Death and Spirit vs. Body. And the same applies to two further types of energy - Light and Dark. Light does not exist normally within the Warp, and is described below under Magick. On the other hand, Dark appears to be the foundation of all Warp energies. It is the raw essence of Warpspace unshaped by the material world. Again, more on this may be found below.

Of the ancients and their fall

It is said that in the time before time the Warhammer was a very different place, for there were no monsters or mutants or magicks, or even gods. That was before the time of the Ancients. The Ancients, it is said, were beings with powers of magick before such a thing was known. They appeared from nowhere and instructed the Elves in many things, all the while wearing Elven forms as we would our garments. Ancient Elven writings say that the Ancients were aware of the Warp and could manipulate it with the strength of their minds, and that they recognised such potential in the Elves. It is from this time that the Elves gained their deep knowledge of the world (although the Ancients were largely silent of the Warp) in addition to the lore of metals and runes. Elven tales from this time mention how the Ancients were for their part enamoured of the Elves' art and music. However, this all ended with their departure and the subsequent calamity.

'The Time of Woes' and the changes wrought upon the world at that time seem to be due to the magicks of the Ancients and, specifically, their control over the Warp. The Ancients travelled to the world using dimensional portals, which they created at each pole. These were great gates; the bounds of which were marked by powerful runic symbols, which ripped a hole in the fabric of reality and created a tunnel to another place. The causes of the catastrophe to follow are unknown, although it appears that the Ancients' civilisation was at stake for accounts tell of their bidding the Elves farewell, saying that they had grave matters to attend to but that they would return. They did not return, and soon after, the Warpgates collapsed and spilled the fabric of the Warp into the world. Tides of Dark magick flowed across the land, causing change and upheaval upon all it touched. The Elves were little affected thanks to the fortuitous position of their home, but many animals and plants were sorely tried. From the fall there arose many monsters and mutants, and some even say that Humanity was the product of the warping effects of the void.

But after the initial tumult, when the tide of Dark magick finally began to slow, the material world finally began to exert itself and started to shape the Dark magick just as it had in the Warp. And so the Dark tide began to split into the above eight forms, which gathered about their constituent parts. Thus, the earth drew the magicks of Earth to itself, and the deserts and volcanoes drew Fire magicks. To the oceans and seas went Water, and to the skies, Air. The base, primal magicks of the Body were drawn to the animals, plants, and sentient races. However, these races' psyches were also empowered, as their minds became the focus for Spiritual magicks. And amidst all of this, the material plane and that of the Warp began to overlap. This was the birth of magick in the world.

But there was a final effect to the cataclysm. And that was the creation of the gods.

The gods and their nature

To many, the Ancients will seem to have been the true masters of the world and, in many senses, they were themselves gods. They are not, however, the gods that you and I know today. For they arose unnoticed amid the chaos and destruction.

So it came to pass that as the Warp spilled across the lands, so the planes converged and magick became medium. Know then that the inhabitants of the world had long known of their spiritual selves and yet could not perform the magicks of the Ancients. However, as the planes converged the Elves too gained a spiritual awareness alike that of the Ancients, as did many of the sentient beings of the world. Still today the Elves remain the most developed of the races, for only they have a developed psychic connection with the world around them, and this gives them a closeness to nature that men have yet to touch the edges of - and perhaps never will.

But not only did the sentient races become aware of their shadow-selves, so too did the world around them. And think not that the world sprang to life, or that the gods leapt upon the earth clad in their known guises, for it was not so. Instead, I shall tell you of the childhood of the gods and of how they came to be full-grown. Indeed, I shall tell you of how they still grow today. Let us begin.

The first lesson in the lore of the divine is to know that the gods are not equal in stature, for there are those that are greater, and those that are lesser. So some of the divine pantheon are known as the Elder Gods, and some as the Younger Gods. The difference is this: the Elder Gods are the incarnations of the world and each represents one of its constituents (i.e. Fire, Air Water, Earth, Life, Death and Body). But note that they number seven and not eight. The last group - Spirit - is not represented by a single deity. Rather, it consists of many deities, and they are known as the Younger Gods. The younger gods represent the complex array of emotions felt by the sentient beings of the world.

With this in mind, know that the gods began as murmurs in the Warp - echoes of their constituent parts. Thus, for a while each acted only as the sum of their constituents but it was not long before the gods came to take a physical form according to their nature. And so the Elves began to hear rumours of wondrous sights. One of the first of the Elder Gods encountered by the Elves was Manann (or Mathlann, as they knew him) for he had taken the form of a great whale and tossed their ships upon the waves (as was his wont). But this was only true of the Elder Gods. Ironically, it was the so-called Younger Gods that grew apace. The reason for this is because they are formed from a part of every individual's psyche (although some more, some less) and so grew to include traits common to the Elves. And so it was the Younger Gods that were first encountered by the Elves for at that time they frequently took mortal form. The Younger Gods are Verena, Ranald, Shallya and Myrmidia. Verena was loved best by the Elves as she came to them first under the stars clad as a beautiful and tall Elf. The called her 'the Lady of the Stars' and to this day, that is the most popular image of Verena, although she (like all the gods) may assume any form or gender.

The Elder Gods only began to assume the form that we know today after the Elves and Humans had taken to worshipping them, and here the relationship between the gods and their worshippers becomes clear. It also becomes apparent how and why the gods develop over the ages. A good example is that of Taal, God of Animals, the Wilds and the Hunt. It was soon after their first encounter with Verena, some two hundred years after the Time of Woes, that the Elves began to see a great stag in the depths of the woods though each time it fled from them. The Elves recognised Taal as the spirit of the forest and paid their respects to him. At that time he was a frightening apparition that would on occasion attack Human and Elf alike, hunting them as a great bear. Yet he would occasionally approach in the form of a stag and merely observe with curiosity. Most of the time, he would just retreat into the forest if encountered. Over the ages, Taal began to appear to the Elves as a tall and bearded Human who carried a great spear. Primitive Humans had given him the name Taal in their ancient tongue and had worshipped him as a great god, though the Elves knew him as Karnos. Over the many millennia, Taal has come to represent the great hunter, and no longer attacks the inhabitants of the woods. For he has lost some of his animalistic ferocity and it is believed that the increasing civilisation of the Humans that worshipped him had some impact upon Taal. Now it is easy to see how the gods represent not only their material constituents, but the sum of their worshippers. Thus Mórr has the coldness and darkness of death combined with the sombreness that is present in the majority of his worshippers (i.e. the bereaved). On the other hand, Manann is still the fickle and elemental god of the oceans but he has changed in some ways over the ages. For example, Manann may be appeased by following certain traditions known to most sailors, but the only reason for this is because his worshippers believe in these superstitious rites.

There is one final and very important aspect to this relationship between deity and worshipper. It is a little-known phenomenon, but the consciousness of a god may actually be divided. This occurs where there is a great disparity between the emotions of that god's worshippers. The prime example of this is the tale of Mórr. Mórr is the god of death. He is the inevitable decline and end to all things. But he is also the protector of the souls of the departed - a role imparted upon him by the grieving. There is, however, a rather different group of worshippers of death, and they are those that celebrate in it. They comprise of the murderous and the cruel, and they delight in blood and death and torture. In response to this disparity, part of Mórr's realm broke away (as described below under Religion) and came to be he who is known as Kháine, the Lord of Murder. This has also happened to a couple of the other Elder Gods, namely Rhya and Manann. Rhya lost a portion of herself to form a deity called Ecate (see Religion), whilst Manann has an alter ego as Stromfels, the God of Predators and Reefs.

Of the dwarfes

The Elves have always maintained that they are the oldest of the races, and this is why the Ancients chose to impart them with some of their knowledge. This is true, although it was the deep empathy that the Elves possessed which impressed and endeared them to the Ancients. However, not all of the Ancients chose to abide with the Elves. Some wished to explore the earth, its plants and animals. So it came to pass that soon after their appearance, one of the Ancients came across another race living far to the south of what is now the Old World. They were a short and stocky people of great endurance, who were able to withstand the extremes of heat and cold in their environment. Such were the ancestors of the race now known as Dwarfs.

The Dwarfs were an old race, although their slow reproduction and harsh environment had hindered their development to a greater degree than the Elves. They were, however, by no means uncivilised despite their numbering few. In fact, they possessed an advanced social structure based on bloodline, which comprised a number of clans, each led by the oldest male in the clan. As today, the Dwarfs (or 'Khazad' as they called themselves) respected age and wisdom, and the length and colour of a Dwarf's beard was a measure of this. Unlike the Elves, the Dwarfs had very specific gender roles and this seems to have been due to a natural feature of the Dwarf race - that approximately two-thirds of all births were male. The result of this was that the role of the female Dwarfs came to be childbearing and housekeeping1, for there were more than enough males to forage and hunt, and because Dwarf children were comparatively slow to mature.

The Dwarfs were at that time living in small villages, each a collection of sturdy cabins around which they grew some few crops. The majority of their food was obtained by hunting, for even then the Dwarfs were ingenious craftsmen and they could create not only excellent stone tools, but also cunning traps for their prey. But above all the Dwarfs displayed a natural artistic flair in their craftsmanship, which was applied to anything from weapons to domestic items.

Now the Ancient (whose name is not recorded) spied upon the Dwarfs for many seasons, and came to love them for their hardiness, pragmatism and honour. And so he decided that he would go among them and teach them, as he had taught many of the Elves. Therefore he assumed the visage of an ancient Dwarf with a magnificent long white beard (which would be the envy of any Dwarf) and took the name of Grungni. Upon entering the Dwarf village, he was greeted warmly in the way of the Dwarfs, and offered a place at the clan chief's table. So it was that he began to instruct the Dwarfs in the lore of metals and smithing (and many other things besides). In all the things, the Dwarfs were eager pupils, though especially in the crafts, and it was not long before they began to express their artistry in their new-found lore. Now it soon became apparent to the Dwarfs that their arid environment was far from being rich in the necessary mineral resources, and so they asked Grungni where they might find more. In reply, he told them of the mountains to the north and of the plentiful supply of ores and gemstones that lay at their heart. So it came to pass that following a meeting of the clan the Dwarfs abandoned their village and followed Grungni northwards. For nigh upon a year they travelled and although some hardships did before them, they finally stood before a great peak, which rose from the jungles. "This" said Grungni, "is Karaz-Zorn, and here we shall make our homes".