The Annals of the Old World

Beings of immense power descend upon the world and begin reshaping it according to their Great Plan. They create the polar gateways to channel magic.

The Old Ones create the Lizardmen — Slann, Saurus, and Skinks — as their servants and guardians of the Great Plan.

The Old Ones vanish. The polar gateways collapse, flooding the world with raw Chaos energy. Daemons pour into reality. The world is nearly destroyed.

Chaos daemons pour through the collapsed gateways and overwhelm the ancient world. The Lizardmen fight desperately to maintain the Great Plan.

The first Phoenix King of the Elves draws the Sword of Khaine and becomes the greatest warrior in history, driving back the daemon tide at terrible personal cost.

The Elven mage Caledor Dragontamer creates the Great Vortex, draining magic from the world and ending the daemon invasion. The Elven civilization is saved, but Caledor is trapped within the Vortex forever.

High Elves establish colonies across the Old World, including the sites of many future human cities. The Elven civilization reaches its greatest extent.

The Dwarfs and High Elves forge a great alliance, trading freely and sharing knowledge. This is the golden age of both civilizations.

A series of misunderstandings and provocations leads to war between the Dwarfs and High Elves. The conflict devastates both races and ends their alliance forever.

The Skaven, mutated by warpstone, begin tunnelling beneath the Dwarf holds. Their plague weapons devastate Dwarf populations.

One of the greatest Dwarf holds falls to a combined assault by Skaven and Greenskins. The loss is recorded as the greatest grudge in the Book of Grudges.

Though diminished, the Dwarfs hold their remaining strongholds. The surviving holds become more isolated but more defensible.

The warrior Sigmar defeats the Orc warlord Gorbad Ironclaw at the Battle of Black Fire Pass, uniting the human tribes and founding the Empire of Man.

Sigmar lays down his crown and walks east, never to return. He is later worshipped as a god, and the Church of Sigmar becomes the dominant religion of the Empire.

Without Sigmar, the Empire fractures into warring provinces. The Elector Counts fight for dominance in a period of civil strife that lasts centuries.

A mysterious plague spreads across the Empire with supernatural speed. Cities are depopulated, armies dissolve, and the dead outnumber the living in some provinces.

The Skaven emerge from their tunnels to claim the devastated Empire. Their role in spreading the plague is revealed, but the Empire is too weak to resist.

The plague burns itself out, and the Skaven are driven back underground. The Empire begins the long process of rebuilding, but the scars of 1111 never fully heal.

Asavar Kul leads a vast horde of Chaos Warriors, daemons, and Norsemen south. Kislev is overrun, and the northern Empire faces annihilation.

The city of Praag falls to Chaos and is twisted into a nightmare of flesh and stone. The horror of Praag galvanizes the Empire's resistance.

Magnus of Nuln rallies the Empire, forges alliances with the Dwarfs and High Elves, and leads a crusade that defeats Asavar Kul at the Battle of Kislev. The Chaos tide recedes.

Archaon collects the six Treasures of Chaos and is crowned Everchosen at the Altar of Ultimate Darkness. The greatest Chaos horde in history begins to form.

The Chaos horde overwhelms Kislev. The Tzarina Katarin fights desperately, but the northern realm is devastated. Refugees flood south into the Empire.

Archaon besieges Middenheim, the City of the White Wolf. The Empire rallies its forces for a final desperate defence. The fate of the Old World hangs in the balance.