Chapter X: The Empire
T he e mpIre “As always, the Empire is one dagger thrust from anarchy.” — Unidentified Assassin
C hapTer X
T his chapter presents information about the main setting of WFRP , the Empire. It is primarily intended for the Game Master and includes much information that would be unknown the common Imperial citizen. Players should not read this chapter without their GM’s permission. — o VerVIew —
T he Empire is the largest and oldest nation of the Old World, and the greatest human bastion against the ever-present threat of Chaos. The realm ruled over by Emperor Karl Franz stretches from the Sea of Claws and Kislev to the north, to the World’s Edge Mountains to the east and south and the Grey Mountains to the west. Almost all of the Empire is covered with ancient, dense forests that provide haven for all manner of wild and evil creatures. The villages, towns and cities are islands of civilization amongst this rugged wilderness, and the people of the Empire fight a constant battle of survival against the ever-encroaching perils that surround them. T he T Ime of s Igmar The history of the Empire stretches back two and a half thousand years to a time when the Elves had long since left the shores of the Old World, the Dwarf empire was embattled in its mountain fastnesses and mankind was a primitive, scattered race, preyed upon by Chaotic beasts, rampaging Orcs, vile Goblins and the terrifying Undead. In this dreadful time arose the greatest leader of men to have walked the world—Sigmar. Later to become an unparalleled warrior and canny war chief, the charismatic son of the Unberogen tribal chieftain first rose to prominence whilst just a young man. A marauding Orc warband captured King Kurgan Ironbeard of the Dwarfs and it was Sigmar and his warriors who defeated the Orcs and rescued the Dwarf King. In return for this mighty deed, Kurgan gifted Sigmar with his rune hammer, the legendary Skullsplitter—Ghal Maraz in the Dwarf tongue—that has become the greatest icon of the Empire’s power and a symbol of the ancient alliance with the Dwarfs that lasts to this day. Seeing his people enslaved and butchered by the greenskins that overran the lands, when Sigmar became chieftain of the Unberogens, he led his tribe on a long war to drive out the evil creatures from
the hills and forests of his home and beyond. For nearly a decade he fought against the Orcs and Goblins, and as the ancient tribes of men allied themselves with the Unberogens or were driven into the north and south, Sigmar forged a nation in the heat of battle. This campaign culminated in the Battle of Blackfire Pass, where Sigmar and his war chiefs stood shoulder to shoulder with the Dwarfs of King Kurgan and faced the largest Greenskin horde that has ever gathered. Outnumbered but defiant, the alliance broke the horde and scattered it back to the south, breaking the Orcs’ power in the lands north of the Black Mountains. It was after this hard-won battle that the chieftains agreed a pact that would bind their fates together and those of their descendants for two and a half millennia. Sigmar was presented with a magnificent crown by the Dwarfs and was the first man to take the title of Emperor. For over fifty years Sigmar built his new Empire from the devastation left behind after the wars against the Orcs and other dire foes, and under his reign his people flourished and multiplied. These were by no means times of peace, for there were still many horrific monsters to be slain in the wilds, and rivals to Sigmar’s power to be crushed in battle. At nearly eighty years old, though still a formidable warrior and matchless leader, Sigmar could feel the weight of years upon his shoulders and surrendered the crown of Emperor to his chieftains. He passed into the east, legends tell, to make one last journey to Karaz-a-Karak to visit his lifelong friend, Kurgan Ironbeard, though what happened to him after that is not known. Sigmar left no heir to take up his mantle. To avoid a potentially devastating war for supremacy, the tribal chieftains agreed to select one from amongst their number to rule in Sigmar’s absence. To this day the Emperor has always been a first among equals rather than an absolute monarch. Over the long centuries the lands of the tribes became formal provinces and the chieftains took the title of Counts. Within a
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