The Fallen’s Vengeance

Table of Contents

Prologue

TFV World Map (?)

Historical Overview

Notes About Playing TFV

The Major Players

New Units

Credits

A Note From the Team (?)

Appendix I: Structure of the Imperial Legion

Appendix II: The Thirteen Tribes

Appendix III: Shade Compendium (?)

Prologue

Saymon Guilliman was troubled.

He glanced uneasily back at the two dozen cavalrymen he had selected as an escort, hoping his face was really as unreadable as he was attempting to make it.  He wondered if they would be enough, if they ran afoul of any of the tribesmen.  The scouts had said the enemy army was big.

It didn’t make any sense.  His uncle Roboute had insisted that the Thirteen Tribes were fractious, disorganized, and plagued by rivalries between clans, warlords, and castes.  The fact that they had attempted to form an alliance at all was unprecedented, and they would surely be torn apart by infighting before they could pose any threat.  General Elrach, who had been clashing with them on the borders for his entire career, confirmed it all.  Saymon was merely there to mop up the mess.

Saymon didn’t know what he was here to prove.  Maybe it was just that he was so unimportant, and the problem didn’t warrant the immediate attention of anyone else.  No matter.  His uncle had decreed that he would deal with the threat, and his uncle was the Emperor Roboute Guilliman I of Nasar, to whom no one said no.  Not even family.

But then, kinship and loyalty had never meant much in the long and sordid history of the empire.  Nasar had been founded by men who had betrayed their emperor in a war against a powerful sorcerer almost a thousand years ago, who had fled east after his defeat.  Two hundred years later the Nasar family was overthrown by the Guillimans.  The annals of both dynasties had run red with treachery, deceit, and fratricide.  Saymon Guilliman, however, had nothing to do with it.  He was a nephew, and a younger nephew at that, fourth in line for the throne.  And he didn’t want it.  He didn’t want to deal with what his uncle was facing right now.

His two dozen cavalry reached the end of the path where the forest opened up onto the great Oblanda Steppe, and suddenly he found himself wishing he hadn’t left most of his army at camp.

There was no steppe.  There was only a sea of steel and fur and fire and menace, all the way to the horizon.  No wonder Oblanda had fallen.

He only spent a moment gaping in horror before a more reasoning fear set in.  He spun his horse around, the command on his lips to retreat back to the safety of his own army, however smaller it might be.

A wave of dizziness struck him.  The landscape had changed.  Before him was a blank wasteland, and sporadic blazes of flame that seemed to be feeding on nothing at all.  Hadn’t there been trees there only a moment ago?  And something about the air was different…

But most of his attention was focused on the great figure armored head to toe in black, who straddled the plain as though it were the center of the world, and he owned it all.  In one hand he held a greatsword that seemed to hum with energy, and in the other a shield that probably weighed more than Saymon.  Behind him were arrayed his lieutenants: warlords in the graven plate mail favored by the champions of the tribes, sorcerors with wild beards whose bodies had been twisted almost beyond humanity, hooded men who radiated unmistakable auras of power.  One of the hulking figures was a demon, a creature of pure nightmare.  But the presence of the black-armored man was somehow unmistakable.

Zelgazra.  He who called himself the Leveler.  The “upstart king” of the Thirteen Tribes.

His men were fleeing, but Saymon found that he could not.  His head slowly turned to see the earth open up beneath his two dozen cavalry, watched as they collapsed into a pit that seethed with flame.  Gradually, almost casually, the ground reformed.

Saymon’s horse simply died underneath him.  It toppled over, caught his leg underneath.  Still, he felt as though he had no strength to struggle.  He only stared hopelessly as Zelgazra began to stride toward him.

All Saymon Guilliman could think of were the last words he had heard his uncle speak before he had left to deal with the tribesmen:  “What threat can these murderous heathens pose to all the might of Nasar?  We will crush them like insects.”

TFV World Map?

[add map here in final PDF – may require a few pages. This could also be done as an appendix.]

Historical Overview

The New Cath Bruig Empire

The Aftermath of Soulblighter’s War:

Following Soulblighter’s death, the newly resurrected Cath Bruig could barely be called an empire at all.  Alric had claimed the Ibis Crown, but with Madrigal destroyed and Muirthemne (now Llancarfan) still a windswept ruin, he had no administrative center, and many parts of the former Province had not even received word that he was emperor.  Soulblighter’s War had taken an odd toll; the fighting had been so quick and fierce that some towns were virtually untouched, while other parts of the West had been utterly razed, suffering worse than they had even during the Great War.  The Legion was reduced to barely half its strength from before the war, and the Heron Guard numbered in mere dozens.  With both the Scholomance and the Trow still temporarily in his service, Alric decided to establish a base of operations at Llancarfan and set to work restoring the city.

Barely a month after the defeat of Soulblighter, Thirteen Phoenix Rising, Commander of the Heron Guard, returned from a long and mysterious absence, which had begun when the other members of the Guard set aside their swords and became Journeymen.  He immediately took command of the Guard and the Legion, ordained a small crop of new Heron Guard from the heroes of the war, and mobilized the strongest surviving armies of the Province.  Within a year he had crushed all of the new empire’s enemies, including a rebel uprising, the bandits of the Chalk Hills, and Soulblighter’s surviving Shades.

Meanwhile, Alric and the remains of the Madrigal Legion, aided by the magic of the Scholomance, began to clear out the tens of thousands of tons of sand and rubble that blanketed the ruins of old Muirthemne and convert the desert around the city into workable land.  He also oversaw the beginnings of two other important projects: the reconstruction of the western cities, and the formation of a school of imperial warlocks under the tutelage of members of the Scholomance, which would continue to serve the empire after that mysterious order moved on.

Rise of the New Empire:

The great reconstruction continued under Alric for many years, but one night in the tenth year after Soulblighter’s death, the emperor simply disappeared.  A few scholars and the older members of the Heron Guard knew what this portended, and it was publicly announced that Alric had died peacefully, though rumors to the contrary spread wildly.

The only living man with blood ties to Alric was Quintas, the grandson of one of the emperor’s cousins.  Quintas was not as skilled in war or statecraft as his grand-uncle, and many doubted he would rule with strength; some whispered that it would be better to look to the distant family lineages of the old emperors instead.  However, Thirteen Phoenix Rising backed him immediately, and little else was said about the matter after that.  Many of Quintas’s potential opponents understood that the Commander would serve as the backbone the empire needed, with Quintas as little more than a figurehead; the remainder did not dare to oppose him.

Thus began an age of peace, more or less, that would last for another nine hundred and thirty years under the banner of the Cath Bruig.  The scholars called it an age of Light, though there was some debate about why it could so closely follow the Wolf Age, another age of Light, without an age of Darkness in between (for the reign of Balor had lasted a little less than eighty years).  The empire saw a long succession of emperors of Quintas’s bloodline, some strong and some weak; Thirteen Phoenix largely deferred to the former and pushed the latter aside through the commanding force of his personality, always serving as the true immortal heart of the empire.  The Barrier was terraformed steadily by the imperial warlocks and avatara for centuries until the entire eastern empire was green again, and Llancarfan became a vast, thriving city.

The imperial legions were brought up to full force and maintained a constant state of readiness over the centuries, always trained as rigorously as though it were a time of war.  The Heron Guard grew rapidly, for the Commander had decreed that the initiation tournament, which had been held septannually in previous ages, would become an annual event.  One of the empire’s greatest sources of pride was the invention of the crossbow, which quickly replaced the shortbow as the Legion’s ranged weapon of choice.  The school of the imperial warlocks in Llancarfan became the empire’s greatest center of learning, as well as a key source of artillery support for the empire’s infantry.  The Legion became one of the greatest forces of military might that the world had ever known.

Thus was peace maintained.

The Free City of Karnass:

Even during these times, however, the empire was not entirely without its troubles.  Gangs of bandits and rebels occasionally arose, though they were short-lived.  For a few years, a band of dwarven slavers caused significant mayhem and suffering in the far eastern end of the empire, but the invention of the crossbow allowed the Legion to overcome them.  One emperor, through a series of poor diplomatic choices, alienated the people of Gower, and although his successor managed to make amends and resume trade, the Gowermen vowed never again to fight by the side of the Legion.

Most noteworthy of all, however, was the rebellion of the city of Karnass.  Karnass was a relatively new city that had been founded during the later years of the reconstruction.  As a mining town, it grew incredibly wealthy, and its inhabitants were not coy about the fact; the city walls themselves were gilded all the way around, and its private militia – which some said was even better armed and trained than the imperial Legion – painted their armor gold.  The city was taxed heavily due to its wealth, and as the centuries passed, the people of Karnass began to feel that their city would grow far greater without the empire looming over them.  In the year 776 STA, they did something virtually unthinkable: they declared independence from the Cath Bruig.

In the months that followed, Karnass won a few key military victories, always at great cost.  The city’s golden army was at last forced to retreat entirely within the city walls – but it was here, taking up an almost impenetrable defensive position, that they won their brief war of independence.  The emperor at the time, Alric IV, refused to carry out a long and bloody siege against them and negotiated a treaty whereby the empire would recognize Karnass as a free city with its own laws and military, provided that it paid an annual tribute and never restricted trade with the Cath Bruig.  Somewhat surprisingly, Thirteen Phoenix Rising let this decision pass without objection, probably because he had fought almost no sieges in his millennia of life and preferred not to waste the lives of countless Legion men, particularly those of his Heron Guard, in a relatively unimportant conflict.  However, it is commonly believed that he is still waiting for a chance to reclaim the city.

The Present Day:

In the present day, life continues for the citizens of the Cath Bruig much as it has for centuries.  The empire is immensely prosperous, and its six great cities – Llancarfan, Tandem, Madrigal, Covenant, Tyr, and Scales – are huge, teeming economic and cultural centers.  The Legion is, for all practical purposes, unbeatable.  The empire maintains strong relations with the dwarves of Stoneheim and Myrgard, careful diplomatic ties with Karnass, and an uneasy truce with Gower.  So many years after Soulblighter’s death, it is almost impossible to fathom how anything could threaten its long-lasting peace.

But on the other side of the Eastern Mountains, very old enemies lie in wait.

The Empire of Nasar

Exodus to the Untamed Lands:

Even as the Cath Bruig underwent its reconstruction and ascended to the height of its power, an entirely separate, parallel story was playing out to the east.  

After Soulblighter’s death, most of the Fallen Lord’s human servants fled across the Eastern Mountains into the Untamed Lands to escape the wrath that they predicted would fall upon them from the new empire.  Almost nothing was known about the Untamed Lands, and they had very little idea what they would find there, or if they would even survive the hardships ahead – but to them, it was preferable to facing Alric and the Legion, because at least it would give them a chance.

This mass exodus split into two groups early on. The Free Company of Gower, which had survived Soulblighter’s War relatively intact, made its way across the entire continent to discover other civilizations in the Eastern Lands beyond, and made a name for itself there.  The rest of the motley army – a strange assortment of highwaymen, vengeful nobles, broken mercenary bands, and deserters – settled within the Untamed Lands.

They found the lowlands to be surprisingly habitable, for although they were surrounded by vast, hazardous tracts wilderness on all sides, the soil was fertile and the game was plentiful.  The Untamed Lands were sparsely populated by small nomadic tribes and by clans of vicious beast-men; over the course of several decades, the men from the West would slowly absorb the former through marriage and drive the latter to almost complete extinction.

During their exodus, the former servants of Soulblighter had little sense of cohesion, for they had come from many backgrounds and many parts of the continent, and had been thrown together by chance.  Many among their number vied for command, sometimes violently.  By the time they reached the fertile valleys, however, one man had assumed unchallenged leadership over the entire band through persuasion and strength of arms.  His name was Kryan Nasar.

The Nasars and the Guillimans:

Having chosen their new homeland, the men from the West spent many years establishing a firm foothold in the Untamed Lands and laying down their roots.  In his lifetime, Kryan Nasar oversaw the construction of the first city in the Untamed Lands, which he and his people named Klamar.  

As generations passed and the children of the Nasarites spread outward from their tenuous beginnings, the city became the seat of a new empire that spread across the entire southern Untamed Lands – or at least the parts of it that were remotely hospitable to human life.  The Nasar family ruled this empire for two hundred years, and in many ways, the history of their dynasty reflected their outlaw beginnings, for it was riddled with treachery, deceit, and fratricide.

It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that the Nasars were overthrown at the end of the second century of their rule by the Guillimans, another powerful noble family. Little changed as a result; the empire kept the name of Nasar, and the Guillimans continued the long-standing traditions of iron-fisted rule and familial strife as one emperor after another passed on the crown from a pool of his own blood.

By this time, the Nasar Empire encompassed six great cities: Klamar, Garit, Oblanda, Felor, Brigonde, and Helgava.  The Guillimans’ rule of their vast territory was militaristic; their emperors tended to favor bodyguards over advisors and generals over civil governors.  The people of Nasar, in turn, favored swords and assassins’ knives over complaints and petitions.  The Untamed Lands were harsh, and so were the people who lived there.  

The Nasarites maintained a deep hatred for the Cath Bruig, and they never made the difficult return trek across the mountains to make contact with the enemies of their ancestors.  Few people from the West would ever realize that Klamar even existed.  But when the Nasarites reached the eastern edge of the former Untamed Lands and established the port cities of Helgava and Oblanda, they discovered that across the narrow waters lay an entirely new continent, perhaps even larger than their own.  To the people of Nasar, this continent was known simply as the Eastern Lands.

The Eastern Lands and the Thirteen Tribes:

Most of the Eastern Lands was rich and prosperous, brimming with ancient, magnificent cities and proud cultures.  During that age, at least, it was a place where conflicts tended to remain localized and armies were usually hired rather than raised.  A vast network of trade spanned the continent, and the Nasarites immediately saw the opportunities to tap into it.  As a more warlike people, they traded mercenaries, arms, raw ores, and furs for the spices and treasures of the Eastern Lands.  Trade routes were established into Nasar, and the young empire maintained peaceful relations with many of the civilizations across the waters throughout the Steel Age.

Not all of the people they met in the Eastern Lands were friendly, however.  The northwestern portion of the continent was home to a fractious, warlike race of people known as the Thirteen Tribes.  The Thirteen Tribes worshipped thirteen dark gods of chaos and saw all other peoples (usually including the other tribes within their own nation) as fodder for their cruel and destructive whims.  They sowed terror wherever they went, and they were a constant thorn in the side of the civilized peoples of the Eastern Lands – but despite their constant infighting, they were far too powerful to destroy.

As soon the Nasarites became known in the Eastern Lands, the Thirteen Tribes began making war against them.  Here was a new, untested land, perhaps ripe for conquest.  They harried Nasar’s ships as they tried to land and hounded their caravans as they traveled between cities.  Every year, they sailed across the narrow strait that divided the two continents and conducted raids on the empire’s shores.  

Nasar was strong, however, and its people understood the art of war.  They repelled every invasion and successfully guarded their trade routes, at least for the most part.  For many Nasarites, the Thirteen Tribes were a welcome challenge, something entirely predictable to distract them from the constant intrigues and shifting political alliances of the empire.  And although the tribesmen seemed like an endless tide, their very nature prohibited them from banding together in numbers large enough to pose a real threat to Nasar.  The Guillimans, who had never been known for humility, assumed that it would always be so.

Return of the Leveler

The Crown of Chaos:

It was in the Eastern Lands, in the homeland of the Thirteen Tribes, that Alric at last resurfaced.  He must have seemed like a madman as he came among the tribesmen: thin, white-bearded, wearing little more than rags, with a gleam in his eye that stood in stark contrast to his weary, weather-beaten body.  He was clearly an outsider, but he called himself by the name Zelgazra, a word in their language that meant “falling star” or “comet.”  Most insufferable of all, he claimed to be the incarnation of one of their own dark gods: the Leveler.

Under normal circumstances, the tribesmen would probably have killed him outright.  For decades, however, their shamans had been reading signs that pointed to the culmination of an ancient prophesy, which stated that all of the Thirteen Tribes would unite behind one man who embodied the power of the gods.  The tribesmen had been preparing for a war of apocalyptic proportions for years, and their two greatest champions – a sorcerer named Mankar the Red and a warrior named Beorn – were amassing huge numbers of followers as each prepared to make a bid for rulership of the Tribes.

When news reached them of the madman who called himself Zelgazra, both Beorn and Mankar gathered warbands and went to see him for themselves.  Mankar took only a few moments to size him up before challenging him to single combat by sorcery – and Zelgazra slew him in a dream duel that melted the steppe around them to glass.  Beorn, who had witnessed this victory with awe, immediately declared Zelgazra to be the chosen champion of the gods and swore to follow him into battle.

Although few remained who would dare to oppose him, Zelgazra had not yet fulfilled to prophesy.  He gathered one champion from each of the tribes and led them into the dark caverns underneath the mountains of Kor, where they faced the Thirteen Trials of Chaos, a series of terrible tests set by the dark gods themselves.  Zelgazra and his champions overcame each trial in turn, and the Leveler claimed an ancient artifact of the gods known as the Crown of Chaos, which granted him the unquestioning loyalty of the Thirteen Tribes.

The Fallen Lords:

As soon as he had emerged with the crown, Zelgazra began to lay the groundwork for the true work of the Leveler: the conquest of all lands, and the despair of all living things.  The Thirteen Tribes were merely a part of this work, albeit an important one.  Zelgazra’s next act was to send out a sorcerous call to his most ancient enemies: the Fallen Lords.

Three of Balor’s Fallen Lords – The Watcher, The Tormentor, and The Red Terror – had survived the Great War.  The Watcher had been slain in the Dire Marsh, but he had been resurrected by his former apprentice and constant ally, The Tormentor.  The Red Terror, too, had supposedly been killed in the days after Balor’s death, but he had survived through means of his own.  For his own part, The Tormentor, who had always cultivated the idea that he was the weakest and most cowardly of the Fallen Lords, had disappeared so completely that he had been all but forgotten.

The three of them had spent the last thousand years lurking in the hidden corners of the world, gathering servants to aid them in the age of Darkness that they believed would inevitably come.  When Zelgazra called to them, they answered, and with them came armies of the newly raised dead.

In addition to these ancient necromancers, Zelgazra raised three new Fallen Lords of his own: his champion Beorn, whom he named Warhound; a horribly mutated but incredibly powerful sorcerer of the Tribes known as The Deformed One, who had been cast out at birth and had lived apart from his people as little more than an animal; and a man from the West who was shrouded in mystery, who called himself Wickerman.

The Fall of Nasar:

On the final evening of the year 999 STA, Zelgazra amassed his armies by the ocean on the edge of the Tribes’ homeland – undead and tribesmen alike, hundreds of thousands strong.  And on the first morning of the new millennium, he landed the first of his ships on the shores of Nasar.  

The Guilliman emperor and his generals, who had spent their whole lives driving back raids from the Tribes, assumed that they were up against the same disorganized rabble as always – and by the time they realized that they faced an army of unprecedented proportions, the cities of Helgava and Oblanda had already fallen, each within the span of less than a week.

The Nasarites used all of their strategic genius and threw every man they had at the Leveler’s army, but in the end, they accomplished little.  Six months after his initial landing, Zelgazra stood in the throne room at Klamar, and the emperor lay crumpled at his feet, gasping his last breath.  By this time, the empire of Nasar had been almost utterly destroyed.  Of the six great cities, only Garit remained, and it too was perched on the brink of destruction.  But Zelgazra left little more than a token force to deal with Garit; no force in Nasar could pose even a passing threat to him anymore, and he had more pressing goals.

Across the mountains to the west lay another empire – the same one that he himself, under another name, had revived from the ashes almost a thousand years before.  

And he would watch it burn.

Notes About Playing TFV (design philosophy, difficulty, etc.)

The Major Players

[Add a brief introduction to this section here?  Or just launch straight into the description of Raven?]

Raven
Deep in the Barren Desert, which stretches across the far southern part of the Untamed Lands, lies an ancient temple of Wyrd. Few know of its existence, but it is tended by a clan of monks and guarded by former rogues and exiles who have given up their old lives in service to Wyrd.  These guardsmen are led by a man named Raven, who both the monks and the guards claim has been at the temple for almost all of the many centuries of their order’s recorded history.  The guardsmen tell many stories about Raven, always outside of his hearing; some say that he is immortal, and that he was once a member of the Heron Guard.  Instead of the twin blades of the guard, however, he wields an ancient and heavily enchanted glaive – and if anyone at the temple had the knowledge to recognize that weapon, they would realize that Raven’s tale is stranger and greater than they could have imagined.

Emperor Trigalis
Trigalis is the current emperor of the Cath Bruig, the direct descendant of Alric’s grand-nephew, Quintas I.  Headstrong and stubborn, he is well known for his refusal to accept either argument or defeat.  Officially, no one can question an emperor except perhaps his closest advisors, but there are many who whisper that Trigalis is half mad.

Lord Philurin of Stoneheim
The dwarves have always been ruled by the strongest and most skilled among their number, rather than by lineage.  Although both of the dwarven cities still maintain councils of ephors, Stoneheim’s council has been all but replaced in recent years by an immensely popular military commander named Philurin.  The dwarf lord is reputed to have an unhealthy love for both high explosives and close combat.

Chief Avatara Yonginso
Placid, highly learned, and perhaps a touch arrogant, the Avatara Yonginso is the most talented sorcerer in the empire.  Yonginso is the direct descendant of another famous Avatara, Rabican, but due to the traveling nature of many of his ancestors, he was born in the Eastern Lands and possesses the blood of many nations.  He has seen much of the world, and some believe that he came to the West because he foresaw a great crisis there in the years to come.  He is attached to the First Legion and therefore accompanies the emperor into battle.

Seven Star Wolf
As one of the first group of Heron Guards to be ordained after Alric was crowned emperor, Seven Star Wolf is among the oldest surviving Herons and is now the commander of the emperor’s personal honor guard.  An unrepentant journal keeper, he has chronicled the empire’s history extensively, both officially and unofficially, throughout his life.  His journal accounts of Soulblighter’s War and its aftermath are held in particularly high regard by scholars.

Decaro of the Swift Swords
One of the strangest and most mysterious places in the Untamed Lands is the Forest of Creation, a place where magic permeates the very air and the trees themselves are said to walk.  The forest’s inhabitants kill almost all who enter, but there are rumors of one man who befriended them – if a word like “friend” can even be applied to their strange way of thinking – and now lives among them.

Zelgazra
As the new incarnation of the Leveler, Zelgazra is the mastermind behind the huge invasion force that has already spread across the entire Untamed Lands and is now amassing for an attack upon the West.  Like other Levelers before him, he allows his generals to carry out most of his dirty work, and he spends most of his time in a massive, impenetrable fortress known as the Red Keep, located in the far south of the Untamed Lands.

The Watcher
Bahl’al the Watcher is history’s great bogeyman.  He has plagued humanity for thousands of years, vanishing and reappearing wherever he can wreath the most horrifying destruction.  Dozens of his deeds, from the capture of the Dream of Unlife to the death of Mazzarin to the apocalypse at Tharsis during the Great War, have become legend.  By most reckonings, he is the most powerful mortal-born sorcerer who has ever lived.  He was almost slain by The Deceiver’s trickery, but survived through brute power.  He was turned to stone and shattered by the Legion, but his sorcerous essence within the stone was so strong that The Tormentor was able to resurrect him.  No strategy ever devised has been able to truly defeat The Watcher – and woe unto all who must face him in battle.

The Tormentor
Born in a remote village on the outskirts of Forest Heart, The Tormentor spent much of his early life as an outcast due to his cruelty and indifference toward other people.  He became obsessed with immortality at a young age and carefully traversed the magical wards at Silvermines to communicate with the trapped Watcher, who taught him the Dream of Unlife.  The Tormentor is perhaps the most ignored and least understood of the old Fallen Lords, by his own design.  As a general he is known for elaborate, fiendish traps and misdirection, but he spent much of the Great War hiding away in the ruins of his home village in Forest Heart; if he committed any deeds of great note during that war, he did not take credit for them.  The Tormentor is not to be underestimated, however; his cunning makes him as dangerous a foe as the Legion will ever encounter.  

The Red Terror
The Red Terror was once Dómhnall Caen (commonly known as “The Kain”), a general from Gower who served Connacht during his war against the Leveler and the Myrkridia.  One day, as he surveyed a stretch of coastline in preparation for a great battle, he came upon a strange amulet that seemed to call to him in a voice that only he could hear.  The artifact was of demonic origin, and Caen soon became obsessed with other planes of existence, dabbling in darker and darker arts in his efforts to communicate with the beings that dwelled there.  He served Balor during the Great War as The Red Terror, one of the Fallen Lords, and he was perhaps best known for sacking Madrigal during the final days of the war.  The dark arts he practices have transformed him into something not entirely human, but they have served him well, for he is capable of summoning powerful creatures from a variety of planes to aid him in his conquests. 

Warhound?
[I think I just want this section to include characters who appear in the campaign, but he does play an important role in the story through the journals]

Fulgor?
[This would probably just be redundant with the Shade Compendium entry]

New Units

Below is an overview of some of the new units the player will encounter in TFV.  It is intended to provide a sense of each unit’s abilities and tactical advantages and disadvantages – forewarned is forearmed, after all.  Some creatures remain a mystery even to the most knowledgeable scholars, however, and not all of them are listed here.

Forces of the Cath Bruig and Their Allies:

Imperial Crossbowmen
The crossbow was conceived three hundred years ago, when a small army of dwarven mercenaries and slavers in possession of the new dwarven rifle technology proved to be more than a match for the Cath Bruig shortbow.  The weapon’s inaugural suicide mission against the dwarves proved to be a remarkable success, and since then, the crossbow has entirely replaced the bow within the Legion.  The crossbow has significantly longer range than the bow, and its bolts deal more damage.  On the other hand, it is slightly more difficult to aim, particularly in the heat of battle, and most novices must learn to adjust to it.  The crossbowman must also take time to kneel and reload the weapon, which in some situations may mean that he will have difficulty retreating effectively.  Crossbowmen wear light armor and carry swords in addition to their ranged weapons, which allows them to engage with oncoming melee rushes or even serve as fairly effective reinforcements for the Legion’s infantrymen in a pinch.  Players can switch between the sword and crossbow using the inventory feature. 

Imperial Warlocks
Following Soulblighter’s War, the warlocks of the Scholomance sought an agreement with Alric.  They would have access to the empire’s libraries and other resources for a period of thirty years, and all of their past crimes against the West would be forgotten; in exchange, they would help to rebuild Llancarfan and create a new school of imperial warlocks who would aid the emperor and the Legion in the centuries to come.  These Cath Bruig warlocks have proven to be highly effective weapons and now fight alongside the men of the Legion in most combat situations.  In addition to the fireball attack that was originally taught to them by the Scholomance, they can also cast a swarm of smaller airborne fireballs in a wide spread.  This special ability is devastating at mid-range but can also be used to weaken large enemy formations from a longer distance.

Monks of the Wyrd
This order of monks tends to the ancient Temple of Wyrd in the Barren Desert, living a simple and peaceful life.  Because they are more attuned to the One Dream than most, they possess the ability to draw on its energy to heal their comrades.  This ability relies on mana, rather than the mandrake roots used by the Heron Guard.  The monks largely depend on the temple guards to protect them, but they can fight at close range with their quarterstaffs when the need arises.  

Karnass Golden Warriors and Bowmen
Since the Free City of Karnass receives no military support from the Cath Bruig, it fields its own army, and its people would have it no other way.  The warriors of Karnass are easily recognizable in their golden armor, and most reports agree that they are better trained and more skilled in combat than the soldiers of the Legion.  As part of its treaty with the empire, Karnass does not field crossbowmen; instead, its army relies on the outdated shortbow to equip its ranged troops.

[Consider adding a short bit about Dwarf Mortars to explain the new special ability?]

Dwarven Axe Warriors
The two-handed battle axe is an ancestral weapon of the dwarven people, but it fell out of favor during the Wolf Age and in the wars with Balor and Soulblighter, when the dwarves relied on consistent infantry support from the men of the West.  As the people of the Cath Bruig turned their thoughts to peace and renewal, however, the dwarves still mainly dreamed about killing Ghols, and they redeveloped melee weaponry in order to better protect their explosives experts. The fully armored axe warriors are slow but sturdy, and their armor gives them some added protection from “misplaced” explosives.

Dwarven Riflemen
The rifle is the latest development in dwarven combat technology, as the dwarves sought to refine the mortar into a longer-ranged weapon that would result in fewer casualties from friendly fire.  The rifle has a shorter range than the imperial crossbow, but it is highly accurate, and its bullets are almost impossible to dodge due to their high speed.  [Add something about the ability to kneel vs. stand to form two ranks – confirm that we’re implementing this]

Gower Hearthguards
The men of the Hearthguard are neither as strong nor as fast as their countrymen, the claymore-wielding madmen known as Berserks, but they are much more versatile.  The Berserks tell countless jokes about the inferiority of the Hearthguard in tones ranging from friendly mockery to outright contempt, but by the standards of any sane person, they are highly skilled warriors.  Each Hearthguard carries a number of spears strapped to his back, which he can either throw from a distance or use in close quarters, making him a deadly opponent at almost any range.

Forces of the Leveler:

Skeletons
Often referred to as “bonemen,” skeletal warriors are among the simplest undead to create and have been the favorite servants of many a necromancer.  They are much lighter and faster than thralls, but their extreme vulnerability to explosives is often seen as a crippling weakness.

Ghol Brutes
Since the Wind Age, the shamans of the Ghols have cultivated the Brutes as their own pet breeding project, singling out the largest and strongest specimens of their race in an ongoing effort to make these traits even more exaggerated.  Historically, the Brutes served as bodyguards for the shamans, but as time goes on they have become more and more numerous, and it has become common for them to be pressed into battle as shock troopers. 

Ghol Shamans
Ghols have always been characterized by a willingness to follow anyone with power, but within their own homeland, it is the shamans who lead them.  The shamans worship primeval gods whose names only they know, and the primary directive of these gods is the extinction of the dwarven race.  Ghol shamans possess many magical talents, but the most dangerous is a devastating earthquake spell that tears the ground apart in a storm of fire and debris.  The only disadvantage of this attack is that it is preceded by a smaller warning tremor, giving its victims a short time to attempt to flee.  Although they are physically weak, they are still slightly faster and hardier than most magic users, and their magic makes them somewhat resistant to the explosives of their most hated enemies.  

Ghol Devil Titans
In preparation for his conquest of the West, Zelgazra made a deal with the most powerful warlords and champions of the Ghols.  In exchange for an alliance with their people, the Leveler transformed them into [beings of great power], promising them that their new form would allow them to finally overcome the hated dwarves.  The Devil Titans tower over even the largest Brutes, and it goes without saying that they can deal heavy damage to their foes.  Perhaps their most terrifying attribute, however, is their ability to jump great distances, which allows them to quickly close the space between them and their enemies or even pass over city walls and other defenses.

Black Fens Skrael
These barbaric creatures have little in common with their distant cousins, the peaceful Skrael of the Drowned Kingdom of Yer-Ks, aside from their scaly skin and snakelike appearance.  Warped by their long isolation from other civilized races and the fading enchantments of the cataclysm that created the Black Fens, they are a constant threat to anyone who enters their territory.  They are versatile fighters who carry both slings and spears, preferring to attack from a distance but capable of defending themselves at close quarters.  They can also remain underwater for extended periods of time, making them highly effective ambushers.  Physically, however, they are relatively weak, and their slings have a shorter range than more advanced weapons such as the bow.

Marsh Golems
The “golems” of the Black Fens are actually the statues of an ancient city, deformed by erosion and brought to life by the ambient magic of the swamps.  These giants can punch through armor with ease, and since they are made of solid stone, they can shrug off most blows – though they are somewhat vulnerable to explosives.

Chaos Marauders and Marauder Archers
“Marauder” is the term most often used by the people of the Eastern Lands to describe the common warriors of the Thirteen Tribes.  The tribesmen live and breathe battle, and although they lack finesse or formal training, they make up for it with strength and relentlessness.  The majority of them wear light armor and wield swords or axes, but many tribesmen favor the shortbow.  There are even reports of marauders strapping barrels of explosives to their backs and detonating themselves in the midst of their enemies.

Chaos Warriors
The most powerful warriors of the Tribes are gifted with full suits of plate armor and powerful axes, expertly crafted by warrior-smiths and enchanted by the shamans.  These juggernauts are frequently seen leading bands of marauders into battle, but in times of war they often form their own elite squadrons, and a formation of fully armored warriors who know no fear or mercy is truly a terrible sight to behold.

Chaos Shamans
The shamans are the spiritual backbone of the Thirteen Tribes, leading their brethren in everyday rituals and giving voice to the desires of their gods.  As with any member of the Tribes, however, their most important role is on the battlefield, where they lend support to the warbands.  Their preferred combat spell rips up the earth and stone from the ground around its target, dealing immense damage to anyone in the immediate vicinity.

Demon Soldiers
These servants of the dark gods are the ultimate warriors: fast, single-minded, and difficult to kill.  A single demon soldier can easily overcome all but the greatest of mortal heroes, and a squadron of them can shred an entire regiment of common soldiers.  The most powerful sorcerers of the Thirteen Tribes can occasionally summon these beasts, but The Red Terror, whose specialty is conjuration, has drawn large numbers of them from their home plane to serve in his armies.

Credits

Project Management:
Horus
Graydon
A-Red

Map Design: [more below]
Graydon

Scripting: [more below]
A-Red
Graydon

Unit Models:
Souly
Plague Bearer
Zeph

Architectural Models:
Graydon
Ozone
Carlinho

Special Effects:
Jagman
Pyro
Oogabooga
Zeph
?

Sounds??

Journals, Flavor Texts, Dialogue, and Manual:
A-Red

Graphics:
Graydon (plugin preview, pregames, postgames, final maps)
Gizmo (some of the map content)
Briarus (some of the map content)
Ar (some of the map content)
Souly? (might be working on postgame stuff)
?

Additional Fear Work:
Horus
Graydon
A-Red

Additional Ambering/Unit Collection Modifications:
Horus

Additional Scripting and Consultation:
Khellek
Ghost

Additional Colormap/Mesh Work: ??
(possibly this is where to credit Sk8er4life, Ozone, Ribfeast)

Resources:
Ironduke (Berserks, Thralls, Myrmidons, Wraiths, The Watcher, Yonginso, various high-res unit sprites)
Cydonian/Creation Games (Monk?, various scenery and architecture)
Bungie/Badlands (Skeletons?, Treemen, Fir’Bolg, various scenery and architecture)
Vista Cartel (architectural models from Jinn)
Project Magma (TFL-related units and tags)
Gizmo (Hearthguard?) (Still have to implement these?)
Spiderweb Software (Marsh Golem, Shifter) (unless Souly is redoing these?)
Mauglir (architectural models)
Ozone (anything not included under Architectural Models) ???
Briarus (Dwarves)?
?????
(any other units?)
(I have no idea about any models, scenery, or proj collections we may have used)

Beta Testing:
Fury
Tireces
TarousZars
The Wolf
Gugusm
???
(Lots of testers. Hopefully Gray remembers more? Not necessary to list anyone here who appears as a team member in the credits)

Special Thanks??

(Mauglir taught Gray to make models)
(Khellek taught Gray a bunch of scripting)

[Figure out where to put these]
Sk8er4life (base mesh for Screaming Mountains, mostly redone)
Cenoxide (Philurin’s bomb) (technically made for TFV)
(Oz made base map for 417, basically entirely redone)
(Ribfeast made original base map for 416, completely redone, some textures kept)

A Note From the Team (?)

Appendix I: Structure of the Imperial Legion

Almost a thousand years after the defeat of Soulblighter, the Cath Bruig Empire is at the height of its power. The military arm of the empire is colloquially known as “the Legion,” as it has been since time immemorial, but it is in fact made up of 20 individual legions.

One legion = 10,000 men
Each legion = 10 chapters of 1,000
Each chapter = 10 regiments of 100
Each regiment = 5 squads of 20
(50 squads per chapter, 500 squads per legion)

First regiment of each chapter:
Each squad is composed of:
	12 Heron Guards
	7 Crossbowmen
	1 Senior Warlock
This regiment is led by a Heron Guard Major

Second through ninth regiments of each chapter:
	Each squad is composed of:
		12 Warriors
		7 Crossbowmen
		1 Warlock
	Each regiment is led by a Warrior Captain

Tenth regiment of each chapter:
	Each squad is composed of:
		12 Conscripts (Warrior trainees)
		8 Bowmen (Crossbowman trainees)
	This regiment is led by a Warrior Captain

One regiment in the first chapter of each legion is a specialists regiment (instead of conscripts):
	20 Rangers, who serve as guides and wilderness experts
	20 Dwarven specialists (mainly mortars)
	50 field armorers, fletchers, tailors, cartwrights, etc.
	10 Heron Guards

The First Legion is commanded by Emperor Trigalis.
	This legion has one Avatara for each of the first five chapters.
The Second Legion is commanded by Thirteen Phoenix Rising, Commander of the Heron Guard.
	This legion has one Avatara for each of the first five chapters.
The Third through Twentieth Legions are commanded by generals chosen by the emperor.
	Each of these legions has one Avatara.

Appendix II: The Thirteen Tribes

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Axe Wielder Tribe: Worships Axis, god of destruction. Axis’ servants are strong and wild, and his champions are forces of pure entropy.  Their nature is not to choose a particular target, but rather to rampage through the world like a hurricane, demolishing everything in their path.  Axis is represented by flames of light silver-blue.
Nightstalker Tribe: Worships the Shadow God, whose sphere is illusion and deception, and whose true name is known only to shamans of that tribe.  The deity’s followers speak little except in the name of ritual and conspiracy, and his champions are almost always assassins.  The Shadow God is represented by flames of dark raven blue.
War Maker Tribe: Worships Gallotier, god of war.  For Gallotier’s servants, the ultimate purpose in life is to be at war, and to destroy any force that can be overcome.  The tribe’s champions tend to be single-minded in their pursuit of objectives and highly skilled in squad tactics.  Gallotier is represented by flames of forest green.
Chaos Hounds Tribe: Worships Thragnessa, god of Death.  In many ways the polar opposites of the Axe Wielders, Thragnessa’s servants observe the world carefully and choose who must die.  They are more often assassins and lone-wolf warriors rather than banding together to form armies.  Thragnessa is represented by flames of light grey.
Flame Keeper Tribe: Worships Galrinak, god of fire.  Galrinak’s servants see fire as a pure, cleansing force, only destructive if harnessed as such.  They are sometimes hedonistic, but often calm and contemplative, preferring to suppress their emotions in order to think clearly.  However, they are fierce fighters, and can be explosive in battle or in any other situation where they believe it is necessary.  Galrinak is represented by flames of fiery orange.
Vulture Tribe: Worships Raagnaria, goddess of sorcery.  The hierarchy and ethos of the Vulture Tribe revolve around the power of magic, which they see as mankind’s only worthwhile gift from the gods.  Members of the tribe who are not gifted are seen as little more than guardians and tools for their shamans and sorcerors.  Raagnaria is represented by flames of purple.
Harbinger Tribe: Worships Xialgar, god of oblivion.  Xialgar’s servants are utterly cold, devoid of all emotions, and they seek nothing less than the end of the world.  For them, there is only the need for emptiness, complete and everlasting.  Xialgar is represented by flames of black.
Plague Bearer Tribe: Worships Silica, god of disease.  Silica’s servants take a fatalistic outlook – whatever happens, happens.  They can be cruel and vicious to those whom they see as enemies, but they are generally apathetic toward the rest of the world.  Sometimes when a plague strikes a nearby land, however, they have been known to sweep through and perform “mercy killings.”  Silica is represented by flames of putrid green.
Jaguar Tribe: Worships Nakria, goddess of the hunt.  Nakria’s servants are aloof to all but the hunt, and the challenges of the wilderness, in which they take great joy.  Their champions are highly social within their own tribe; they lead groups of companions not only in hunts and explorations, but also in huge drinking parties and orgies.  Nakria is represented by flames of jaguar yellow.
Blood Drinker Tribe: Worships Kornatha, god of blood.  Kornatha’s servants are highly ritualistic and prefer raiding over pitched warfare, as they prefer to capture their enemies alive.  Anyone they capture, and any member of the tribe who falls out of favor, is sacrificed to the god.  Kornatha is represented by flames of blood red.
Pain Bringer Tribe: Worships Devica, goddess of pain.  Devica’s servants are highly sadistic toward anyone not of their tribe, and masochistic as well.  They consider ritual scarring and other forms of self-mutilation to appease their god.  Their enemies fear them with good reason.  Devica is represented by flames of sensual pink.
Hellspawn Tribe: Worships Yata Ui, the Devil God.  Yata Ui’s servants are wild, unkempt, and senselessly violent, possessing little language beyond the bare minimum of necessary communication and little culture beyond the primal rituals they hold for their god.  Their champions are the paragons of this twisted culture, the most violent and untamed of the whole lot—and yet they often seem to possess some spark of greater intelligence, as though some potent, hidden will lies deep within their madness.  Yata Ui is represented by flames of bright crimson.
The Leveler Tribe: Worships the Leveler, the dark deity of the Cycle, who is responsible for plunging every other age into almost complete darkness and chaos.  The Leveler is represented by flames of ice white.

*Note: Demonic creatures are the creations and servants of the thirteen dark gods, and they too wear the colors of whichever god they follow.  Most demons, though not all of them, serve the Devil God, Yata Ui.

Appendix III: Shade Compendium

Below is a list of all the Shades in the Fallen’s armies.  Many of them do not appear in TFV, but this list can serve as a reference for the ones you encounter, and may help to paint a slightly broader picture of how the Leveler’s forces are deployed.

Zelgazra’s Shades

#Mankar the Red [Formerly Magnus the Red]:  Formerly a sorcerer of the Vulture Tribe.  Though it is rare for one of the Thirteen Tribes to have a single leader, Mankar became the unchallenged ruler of the Vultures due to his incredible sorcerous power. Unable to believe that anyone could best him in a spell duel, he challenged Zelgazra when the Leveler first appeared to claim rulership of the Tribes.  Zelgazra defeated him fairly easily, but was impressed by both his natural talent and his daring.  Mankar’s tactics tend to rely on avoiding close combat and using sorcery to carry the day. Guile, feint, confusion, and misdirection are the hallmarks of the troops under his command.  He is the most powerful sorcerer among all the Shades in the Fallen’s armies.
Alpharius: Greatest in favor among Zelgazra’s Shades, Alpharius was formerly a mercenary general hired to assassinate the Leveler – a mission at which he nearly succeeded.  He is now one of Zelgazra’s chief military consultants.  Alpharius is arguably the most skilled tactician in the Fallen’s armies, preferring to attack from as many sides in as many ways as possible, and with an emphasis on tricks such as sabotage, diversion, disguise, bribery, and stealth, usually carefully coordinated to result in labyrinthine secret plots. 
? Guilliman [Formerly Roboute Guilliman]: Before his death, Guilliman was the ruler of the Empire of Nasar and the entire southern Untamed Lands. Having fallen so far, he feels an intense hatred for Zelgazra, but due to his binding, he is forced to channel that hatred toward the Leveler’s enemies instead.  He is known for being Alpharius's rival in tactical genius. 
Pramalakesh [Formerly Perturabo]: Formerly a powerful sorcerer and engineer from the Eastern Lands. Known as a master of architecture and siege warfare, he designed Zelgazra’s two most impressive fortifications: the Gates of Hell and the Red Keep.
Viktar Crask [Formerly Konrad Curze]: Also known as “Night Haunter,” Crask was a champion of the Nightbringer Tribe in life.  His forces excel at sowing fear and confusion among their enemies, frequently use hideous cries and blood-chilling screams to unnerve their opposition. Crask prefers to fight weak and frightened prey and will very rarely voluntarily engage with forces that can withstand his own in fair combat.
Ghoban Durz [Formerly Leman Russ]: A former mercenary commander who was campaigning in the Eastern Lands against the famed Golden Company when he had the misfortune to encounter Zelgazra, who was looking for skilled field commanders.  He wears a suit of enchanted plate armor into battle and is known for his heavy use of close combat tactics and mass rushes.
Lothar Rodan [Formerly Rogal Dorn]: Formerly the general in charge of Klamar’s defense during Zelgazra’s conquest of Nasar.  He is known for his unwillingness to accept defeat and normally fights on even when it would be best to retreat.
Tigurius: Formerly a commander of the army of Klamar, and Lothar Rodan’s right hand man. Even as a Shade, he remains one of Rodan's lieutenants.

The Watcher’s Shades

Yakhaata Singh [Formerly Jaghatai Khan]: Chief among The Watcher’s Shades. Singh was a powerful sorcerer who was born in the Eastern Lands, but was exiled from his homeland and went to dwell among the Thirteen Tribes.  Even though he was foreign-born, his power was so impressive that he rose to become the high chieftain of the Vulture Tribe, a title he held for nearly a dozen generations.  He had been granted long life, but was not immortal, and he fell out of favor when Mankar the Red rose to power.  As a result, he made a pact with The Watcher and willingly became a Shade.  He is known for lightning-fast hit and run tactics, in which he typically uses the fastest form of troops available.
Vulkan: A former champion of the Flame Keeper Tribe, known for his preference for close-ranged missile fights and heavy use of fire-based attacks. He is also known to field better-armored and -armed troops than most other forces.
Cynric: A Shade from the Great War, formerly a great general from Covenant who was considered to be the best hope of the Light in the days before the formation of the Nine.  Though he won many battles against the Fallen Lords, Cynric stood virtually alone against the Fallen, and he was harried mercilessly and grew gradually less and less effective. After forcing Shiver to retreat at Tyr (a battle which is believed to have been a distractory ruse), he received news that Soulblighter had broken through the defenses at Covenant and rushed his army down to the city, losing many stragglers along the way. At last he reached his broken home city and engaged in a massive, unorganized battle with The Watcher that lasted for days, although Cynric himself was slain on the first evening.  He is a great tactician who tends to rely on splitting his forces and using large numbers of missile units.
Sethaze: A Shade from the Great War, a former Avatara who died before the formation of the Nine.  He is known to seek out those he sees as the most worthy opponents and engage them in single combat, particularly dream duels.
Rang Taggar: A former champion of the Axe Wielder Tribe in service to Warhound.  His warband was beaten to the destruction of a small town by The Watcher’s forces, and he began a short-lived vendetta against the Fallen Lord.  Like any true Axe Wielder, he is known for wanton destruction with a distinct lack of tactical consideration. As a Shade, he serves as one of Yakhaata Singh’s lieutenants.
Guul Taggar: A former champion of the Axe Wielder Tribe and son of Rang Taggar. He was killed trying to slay The Watcher in revenge for his father’s death. As a Shade, he serves as one of Yakhaata Singh’s lieutenants.

The Tormentor’s Shades

Fulgor: One of the oldest remaining Shades, and the second most powerful sorcerer among all of the Shades in Zelgazra’s armies. He has served as the Tormentor’s chief Shade from the time of his binding (shortly before the Great War), and is by far his most powerful and most trusted servant.  Fulgor is much like his master in war, tending to engage in trickery, plots, and small unexpected attacks rather than open warfare.  Unlike most Shades, he shares a bond with his master that is something akin to friendship.  It was Fulgor who recovered The Watcher's remains during the Great War, allowing The Tormentor to bring him back to life.
Mortarion: The Tormentor’s most favored and powerful Shade after Fulgor, formerly a champion of the Plague-Bearer Tribe who willingly submitted to Shadehood.  He commands the bulk of The Tormentor’s military force (including the lesser Shades), since both The Tormentor and Fulgor prefer trickery and magic over open warfare.
Pox: One of The Tormentor’s Great War Shades, a former Avatara who was captured by the Tormentor after a battle and cursed with a terrible wasting plague that slowly killed him.  He was given the name Pox to add insult to injury.  He despises The Tormentor and distances himself from the Fallen Lord where possible; he is most commonly found following in the wake of Mortarion’s army, picking off scattered survivors of the greater Shade’s battles.
Festerheart: One of Mortarion’s lieutenants, formerly a witch-lord of the Black Fens.
Anhakar: One of Mortarion’s lieutenants, formerly a sorcerer of the Plague-Bearer Tribe who rebelled against Zelgazra.
Matas the Rivener: One of Mortarion’s lieutenants, formerly a mercenary commander employed by Nasar.

The Red Terror’s Shades

Angron: The Red Terror’s chief Shade, A former champion of the Blood-Drinker Tribe.  He was killed when he and his personal warband refused to join Zelgazra's forces.  He and his warband of three hundred managed to hold off The Red Terror's Demonic hordes for four weeks before finally succumbing to the overwhelming numbers.  He is known for bloodlust and a berserker mentality, preferring melee combat and headlong charges, all tactics and stratagems forgotten in the name of spilling blood and taking skulls.
Lividius [Formerly Lorgar]: Formerly a rogue sorcerer-general from Nasar who led a cult to the dark gods of the Thirteen Tribes.  He is known for his worship of Chaos undivided and his religious zeal, and his forces march into battle chanting litanies of faith to the dark gods.
Shangahar [Formerly Sanguinius]: A former Hellspawn Tribe champion who willingly submitted to Shadehood under The Red Terror. He is known for his unpredictability, and his armies are somewhere between the berserkers of Angron's forces and the well-disciplined troops of Roboute Guilliman.
Cerivus: A former member of the Nine, and the only Shade to be bound by The Red Terror during the Great War.  He was tasked with the defense of Madrigal in the final days of the war; when The Red Terror captured the city, he found the Avatara holed up in the palace basement and slew him personally.  As a Shade, Cerivus remains a powerful but tactically foolish general who is known for retreating if he believes it is in his best interest.

Wickerman’s Shades

Corax: Chief among Wickerman’s Shades, he was formerly a captain of the Nasarian army at Helgava, responsible for assassination and guerilla warfare. He was killed by a trap set by The Deformed One.  He is known for his lethal surgical strikes and fearsome stealth tactics.
Shigeru Kai [Formerly Kayvaan Shrike]: One of Corax’s lieutenants.  He was a mercenary from the Eastern Lands who served the Helgavan army and who distinguished himself at Corax’s last stand against The Deformed One.
Shadow: One of Corax’s lieutenants.  He was the general in charge of the Helgavan army at the time of Helgava’s destruction.  He was a weak tactician, and it is partly due to his incompetence that Helgava fell.  He was slain in combat by the Shade Corax, who had served and hated him in life.

Warhound’s Shades

Elrach the Lion: Chief among Warhound’s Shades, formerly the high commander of all the armies of Nasar and right-hand man to Emperor Roboute Guilliman.  He was a tactical genius, but his one failing was a stubborn refusal to give ground, and it was that failing that got him killed.
Ironhands [Formerly Ferrus Manus]: Formerly a legendary Nasarian sorceror-smith.  His hands are made of living iron, the result of plunging them into the enchanted Silver Shone River while in contact with an iron pendant.  He created the powerful Black Shield (now wielded by Zelgazra) before becoming a Shade, but he now makes weapons and armor for the champions of the Thirteen Tribes.  He rarely serves as a field commander.
Fulgrim: Formerly a descendent of the deposed original royal line of Nasar, and later a champion of the Pain Bringer Tribe, despite being foreign-born, for his skill as a torturer proved to be virtually unmatched.  He is known for his pursuit of ultimate perfection.

*Note: The Deformed One, the weakest of Zelgazra’s Fallen Lords, does not have any Shades.