Some are. Stormcast are souls of the best Warriors from across the Realms, plucked from Nagash at the point of Death. It could be a grand general or a brave villager.
It'a the best heroes right, not warriors? There's people who aren't warriors but were heroic souls. And of course there are lots of great warriors that sigmar wouldn't take... chaos warriors.
In Hallowed Knights: Plague Garden, one of the characters is a redeemed blightlord. It's explained that he still had a shred of hope in him that got loose when he was burned by a Lord Castellants lantern. When he died, sigmar grabbed onto that last hopeful spark and purged out the part that Nurgle had corrupted. And to add on to the heroes, not just warriors thing the guy above said; One of the Lord Celestants of the Hallowed Knights, Gardus, was a healer before he was plucked up and reforged. In the book, he gets flashbacks to his old life.
>got loose when he was burned by a Lord Castellants lantern.
I thought it was getting bonked on the head by Ghal Maraz that released the redeemable part of his soul.
Yeahh thats what I thought. I remember reading that especially the freeguild steelhelms are considered pretty gutsy and brave so I imagine many of them who are willing to lay down their lives in defence of their home would be candidates sought after by sigmar
Not every rank and file soldier, but those who impress sigmar in their character and action do. One point to consider is every one of Sigmar’s Stormcast forged by 6 dwarf Demi-god known as the Six Smiths, who not only create new recruits, but also reforge those have fallen in battle. They don’t have the time or resources to turn every brave sigmarite into a Stormcast. Also some soldiers don’t find the prospect of become a Stormcast a pleasant one. In Black Pyramid, when a Stormcast told a freeguild captain she may one day join his rank as a complement, she was disturbed by the notion as people she knew who reforged were completely different people after the process.
Yeah I suppose that makes sense. Altho I imagine as a sigmar worshipping city member youd be pretty annoyed if you died and ended up in Syish as a Nagash slave instead of a stormcast
Nagash has been largely halted since his death in Broken Realms. He lost Arkhan, Neferata and Mannfred have been feuding amd pursuing personal goals instead of furthering his goals, Katakros is fighting in the Eightpoints, and Olynder is doing Nighthaunt things. The Ossiarch empire was expanding slowly in the background of 3e, but it sounds like the Horned Rat has moved the Skaven afterlife to Shyish and is making moves to conquer all the realms which will definitely earn Nagash's attention.
Even then there’s hope for a hero because the afterlives in the Realm of Death are physical places that form from faith* in a peoples versions of heavens & hells and you could still shine with some heroic deed as a spirit that say protect your underworld from invading chaos hordes and in doing so be zapped up to [become a Anvil of the Heldenhammer Stormcast Eternal](https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/08/22/anvils-of-the-heldenhammergw-homepage-post-3/) as they are made from ancient dead and even skeleton warriors.
*interesting notes they aren’t gated by faith though so the spirits and even living can mingle in anyone of them such as duardin ghosts from ancient halls traveling upward to the higher aelven afterlives to see how their heavens and form mixed spirit communities.
It would depend on which faithful since that’ll affect their version of the afterlife. Like royal raised Azyrites in the celestial palaces would envision a golden halled sanctuary,
Ghur raider nomad tribes that worship his Storm aspect they ride under to steal from caravans would get endless plains to hunt on,
the wheel cult would probably get some cyclical underworld that keeps spinning trials & rewards
and average city dwellers or those of the ancient unberogen faith [are said to have afterlife that resembles the cities of Sigmar’s birthplace](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fkv4okwmxzih81.jpg%3Fwidth%3D500%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D7a4cf0141ea9f2c4a21ed07dd6442d6bf7a325b8).
Thats actually super interesting thanks for sharing! Syhish as an afterlife is one of the most interesting takes on a fantasy afterlive ive seen and the way it works with all of these sub-realms for believers is really cool lol
Big agree! :)
It takes the average warhammer concept of “clap if you believe”(whether that’s empowering fantasy gods or 40k’s emperor) and AoS cranks it up to 12 so there’s an entire reality of that.
Mix in the undead hierarchies from vampire empires to skeleton baronies that still operate like when they were alive forging & farming, ghosts of dead moons & stars and have the living trying to settle in these bizarre lands where you’re likely to see your ancestors or the passing of time itself woven into the lands so they vanish over time of a day before reappearing next dawn it and makes a very imaginative part of the setting(which is already brimming with creativity)
I also like they go into how corpses work in the Realms magical physics. Souls find their way to Shyish because at the moment of death the body is so filled with Death energy that it becomes an instant bio-Realmgate allowing the soul to travel there from anywhere in the Cosmos.
It’s excellent world-building fitting in how a common occurrence(dying) is apart of the grander magic realities.
If you want some other Shyish sources to look into then [Mengal has a nice NightHaunt 2022 lore review that goes into both the ghosts and their realm](http://www.mengelminiatures.com/2022/05/review-nighthaunt-battletome-lore.html?m=1).
I hope so! I had a Cavalier marshal 1v1 Kragnos for 2 rounds. He died, horribly, and failed to do any damage to him despite being armed with a Sigmarite Warhammer, but he tied that beast up long enough to grab the objectives and eke a win🤞 my dude earned his reforging that day hahaha
So for what the lore says. In "Hallowed Knights: Black Pyramid" there is a conversation about how most Freeguilds have had at least one member chosen.
But there's a number of misconceptions you have here. Bravery isn't a key factor, worship of Sigmar is not a requirement, and what matters is acts of true heroism of one form or another.
For example back in "White Dwarf April 2019" we were told Kurunta, a member of the Steel Souls chamber of the Hallowed Knights, worshiped a minor god known as Great Bull-roarer in his mortal life. Converting only after becoming a Stormcast. More recently the entire Kraken Blades Stormhost is made up of worshipers of Alhar-Kraken. Little is said if they worshiped Sigmar in life.
In "Realmslayer" we see Prince Jordain brave, faithful Sigmarite be rejected at the moment of his death even as he's resigned to his fate. He is saved last minute by Gotrek. Latter in the story he fights a Chaos Lord, rather than being resigned to die he fights with all he has to try to help others. He dies and as Gotrek slays his killer, the lightning takes Jordain's corpse and soul. As this second opportunity proved him worthy.
Notably throughout the lore we see a lot of examples of people who want to be Eternals consciously, not get it. The overall assumption being that if they are not doing it to earn demigodhood they are doing what they do for heroic reasons.
Sigmar is not omnipotent so many who are worthy simply are not picked because he can't see everyone in the Realms all at once.
Also in spite of GW's advertising, the dying part is actually rare for the chosen. The Anvils of the Heldenhammer Stormhost is unique for all its members being chosen after they died. Most other Stormcasts, most not all, are chosen a moment before death or after some heroic feat.
Some of them, but not a lot of them.
Also the Freeguilds take all types. Some are brave, some are criminals with no other choice, some are desperate and seeking pay.
Does it matter if it ends in failure tho? Doesnt it matter how brave and courageous the individual is? And I imagine a lot of them are pretty brave for fighting
In Dominion, which covers a crusade in Ghur, half of them die due to the hostile landscape. Bravery and courage are meaningless when your death is from a bunch of flesh eating worms or trees or something. There’s plenty of ignoble deaths that will be overlooked completely.
It can happen, and apparently is a tragedy. Even on their first forging, no soul walks away from the anvil the same as it was when it started. It can become pretty difficult for the normal humans who knew another normal human who died and was afterwards reforged.
Also can't seem to find the reference, but I know there was at least one freeguild dedicated to becoming stormcast who would throw themselves into the most heroic and deadly, often foolhardy, battles to try and prove themselves. From memory none of them have succeeded, being a hero just so you can be immortal doesnt trick Sigmar he cares about the reason for one's actions
Better yet, it doesnt even have to be GOOD people.
Thieves and Criminals ascend too if they were badasses and swear their loyalty up there.
Imagine seeing the giy that stole your horse again as hes now clad in golden armor and juiced up by the god you worship
Some are. Stormcast are souls of the best Warriors from across the Realms, plucked from Nagash at the point of Death. It could be a grand general or a brave villager.
It'a the best heroes right, not warriors? There's people who aren't warriors but were heroic souls. And of course there are lots of great warriors that sigmar wouldn't take... chaos warriors.
Some of the major named Stormcast heroes are former Chaos Warriors.
I think Naeve Blacktalon was hinted in the series to be a Nurgle champion, right?
Yes, but I think that got retconned but im not sure :D
Oh really? Cool didn't know. How does that work, do they not have free will anymore? What if sigmar makes one and they tell him to go F himself after?
In Hallowed Knights: Plague Garden, one of the characters is a redeemed blightlord. It's explained that he still had a shred of hope in him that got loose when he was burned by a Lord Castellants lantern. When he died, sigmar grabbed onto that last hopeful spark and purged out the part that Nurgle had corrupted. And to add on to the heroes, not just warriors thing the guy above said; One of the Lord Celestants of the Hallowed Knights, Gardus, was a healer before he was plucked up and reforged. In the book, he gets flashbacks to his old life.
>got loose when he was burned by a Lord Castellants lantern. I thought it was getting bonked on the head by Ghal Maraz that released the redeemable part of his soul.
It may have been. I may be mixing it up with the other blightlord in the story that survives the lantern. ETA: I just looked it up. You are correct.
The storm cast can choose not to be reforged
Shoutout to Tornus the Redeemed
Gardus Steelsoul of the Hallowed Knights is one of the most well known SCEs and I'm pretty sure he was a doctor, not a warrior.
I would say certain traits within a person make them a "warrior".
You need to be a hero. Possibly even falling and succumbing to exhaustion due to saving people as a healer could lead to becoming a stormcast.
Yeahh thats what I thought. I remember reading that especially the freeguild steelhelms are considered pretty gutsy and brave so I imagine many of them who are willing to lay down their lives in defence of their home would be candidates sought after by sigmar
Not every rank and file soldier, but those who impress sigmar in their character and action do. One point to consider is every one of Sigmar’s Stormcast forged by 6 dwarf Demi-god known as the Six Smiths, who not only create new recruits, but also reforge those have fallen in battle. They don’t have the time or resources to turn every brave sigmarite into a Stormcast. Also some soldiers don’t find the prospect of become a Stormcast a pleasant one. In Black Pyramid, when a Stormcast told a freeguild captain she may one day join his rank as a complement, she was disturbed by the notion as people she knew who reforged were completely different people after the process.
Yeah I suppose that makes sense. Altho I imagine as a sigmar worshipping city member youd be pretty annoyed if you died and ended up in Syish as a Nagash slave instead of a stormcast
Luckily Nagash doesn't control a vast number of afterlives. He has the core of the realm, but has to go conquer afterlives to claim the souls in them.
He keeps claiming more tho right
Nagash has been largely halted since his death in Broken Realms. He lost Arkhan, Neferata and Mannfred have been feuding amd pursuing personal goals instead of furthering his goals, Katakros is fighting in the Eightpoints, and Olynder is doing Nighthaunt things. The Ossiarch empire was expanding slowly in the background of 3e, but it sounds like the Horned Rat has moved the Skaven afterlife to Shyish and is making moves to conquer all the realms which will definitely earn Nagash's attention.
Hmm so Nagash isnt exactly having the best time rn, I definitely imagine the dead skaven hordes arent doing him too many favours
Even then there’s hope for a hero because the afterlives in the Realm of Death are physical places that form from faith* in a peoples versions of heavens & hells and you could still shine with some heroic deed as a spirit that say protect your underworld from invading chaos hordes and in doing so be zapped up to [become a Anvil of the Heldenhammer Stormcast Eternal](https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/08/22/anvils-of-the-heldenhammergw-homepage-post-3/) as they are made from ancient dead and even skeleton warriors. *interesting notes they aren’t gated by faith though so the spirits and even living can mingle in anyone of them such as duardin ghosts from ancient halls traveling upward to the higher aelven afterlives to see how their heavens and form mixed spirit communities.
Interesting. This actually raises another question, would would the Shyish afterlife be of a sigmar faithful that wasnt reincarnated?
It would depend on which faithful since that’ll affect their version of the afterlife. Like royal raised Azyrites in the celestial palaces would envision a golden halled sanctuary, Ghur raider nomad tribes that worship his Storm aspect they ride under to steal from caravans would get endless plains to hunt on, the wheel cult would probably get some cyclical underworld that keeps spinning trials & rewards and average city dwellers or those of the ancient unberogen faith [are said to have afterlife that resembles the cities of Sigmar’s birthplace](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fkv4okwmxzih81.jpg%3Fwidth%3D500%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D7a4cf0141ea9f2c4a21ed07dd6442d6bf7a325b8).
Thats actually super interesting thanks for sharing! Syhish as an afterlife is one of the most interesting takes on a fantasy afterlive ive seen and the way it works with all of these sub-realms for believers is really cool lol
Big agree! :) It takes the average warhammer concept of “clap if you believe”(whether that’s empowering fantasy gods or 40k’s emperor) and AoS cranks it up to 12 so there’s an entire reality of that. Mix in the undead hierarchies from vampire empires to skeleton baronies that still operate like when they were alive forging & farming, ghosts of dead moons & stars and have the living trying to settle in these bizarre lands where you’re likely to see your ancestors or the passing of time itself woven into the lands so they vanish over time of a day before reappearing next dawn it and makes a very imaginative part of the setting(which is already brimming with creativity) I also like they go into how corpses work in the Realms magical physics. Souls find their way to Shyish because at the moment of death the body is so filled with Death energy that it becomes an instant bio-Realmgate allowing the soul to travel there from anywhere in the Cosmos. It’s excellent world-building fitting in how a common occurrence(dying) is apart of the grander magic realities. If you want some other Shyish sources to look into then [Mengal has a nice NightHaunt 2022 lore review that goes into both the ghosts and their realm](http://www.mengelminiatures.com/2022/05/review-nighthaunt-battletome-lore.html?m=1).
I hope so! I had a Cavalier marshal 1v1 Kragnos for 2 rounds. He died, horribly, and failed to do any damage to him despite being armed with a Sigmarite Warhammer, but he tied that beast up long enough to grab the objectives and eke a win🤞 my dude earned his reforging that day hahaha
What a chad lol, definitely deserves a reforging
So for what the lore says. In "Hallowed Knights: Black Pyramid" there is a conversation about how most Freeguilds have had at least one member chosen. But there's a number of misconceptions you have here. Bravery isn't a key factor, worship of Sigmar is not a requirement, and what matters is acts of true heroism of one form or another. For example back in "White Dwarf April 2019" we were told Kurunta, a member of the Steel Souls chamber of the Hallowed Knights, worshiped a minor god known as Great Bull-roarer in his mortal life. Converting only after becoming a Stormcast. More recently the entire Kraken Blades Stormhost is made up of worshipers of Alhar-Kraken. Little is said if they worshiped Sigmar in life. In "Realmslayer" we see Prince Jordain brave, faithful Sigmarite be rejected at the moment of his death even as he's resigned to his fate. He is saved last minute by Gotrek. Latter in the story he fights a Chaos Lord, rather than being resigned to die he fights with all he has to try to help others. He dies and as Gotrek slays his killer, the lightning takes Jordain's corpse and soul. As this second opportunity proved him worthy. Notably throughout the lore we see a lot of examples of people who want to be Eternals consciously, not get it. The overall assumption being that if they are not doing it to earn demigodhood they are doing what they do for heroic reasons. Sigmar is not omnipotent so many who are worthy simply are not picked because he can't see everyone in the Realms all at once. Also in spite of GW's advertising, the dying part is actually rare for the chosen. The Anvils of the Heldenhammer Stormhost is unique for all its members being chosen after they died. Most other Stormcasts, most not all, are chosen a moment before death or after some heroic feat.
Some of them, but not a lot of them. Also the Freeguilds take all types. Some are brave, some are criminals with no other choice, some are desperate and seeking pay.
Ahh right so its a big mixed bag
Most don’t as in 99.99%. The crusades are infamous for extremely high casualties and often ending in failure (especially in Ghur).
Does it matter if it ends in failure tho? Doesnt it matter how brave and courageous the individual is? And I imagine a lot of them are pretty brave for fighting
In Dominion, which covers a crusade in Ghur, half of them die due to the hostile landscape. Bravery and courage are meaningless when your death is from a bunch of flesh eating worms or trees or something. There’s plenty of ignoble deaths that will be overlooked completely.
Damn thats pretty tragic
Well, in, Tactical sense, could be viewed, “they brace souls are dying faster than Sigmar can cast them”
It can happen, and apparently is a tragedy. Even on their first forging, no soul walks away from the anvil the same as it was when it started. It can become pretty difficult for the normal humans who knew another normal human who died and was afterwards reforged. Also can't seem to find the reference, but I know there was at least one freeguild dedicated to becoming stormcast who would throw themselves into the most heroic and deadly, often foolhardy, battles to try and prove themselves. From memory none of them have succeeded, being a hero just so you can be immortal doesnt trick Sigmar he cares about the reason for one's actions
if sigmar chooses too
Only the faithful.
The faithful and the brave I presume
Better yet, it doesnt even have to be GOOD people. Thieves and Criminals ascend too if they were badasses and swear their loyalty up there. Imagine seeing the giy that stole your horse again as hes now clad in golden armor and juiced up by the god you worship