That same season sees the rise of Neos’ strange siblings – the Isle Decrepita, a land where the dwindling of years rules supreme, and the undulating island of Irridia, where even the soil itself is pregnant with new life. From this union is born the spring island of Neos, a thriving new kingdom that rises from the waters in the east to reveal at its heart a huge geomantic birthmark in the shape of Ghyran itself.

Each spring the lands themselves mate, and the seeds of new domains are planted, the sub-continent of Verdia making geological congress with its neighbour, linking with Thyria via the stamen-like promontories known as the Triske Isles. Thyria enjoys divine patronage too, for this is a land where the Hunter God is often seen, migrating over from the eastern land of Kurnotheal. There, all the life-forms are female, and every birth season they mate with the inhabitants of the land’s counterpart, Thyria, where all the life-forms are male. The birth of new lands - Intrigued by the unusual quirk of Verdia’s diverse ecosystem, Alarielle takes up residence within that subcontinent.It’s not a complex story, but then it doesn’t need to be – straightforward adventures stories are often the most fun, after all!Ĭlick here for the main Age of Sigmar page on Track of Words.Ĭheck out City of Secrets on Amazon anything you buy via this link will help to support Track of Words. There are occasional glimpses of tie-in mentionitis, especially when the Tzaangors and other Tzeentch Arcanites turn up, but it largely avoids the pitfalls of the earliest Age of Sigmar stories and manages to feel fresh and valid throughout. There’s a clear sense that it was intended to deliberately veer away from the Realmgate Wars style of books and explore a little of Age of Sigmar that hadn’t been shown before, and it does that very well. It all feels quite familiar, but enjoyably so, and while at times it’s somewhat predictable it’s always fun. It’s a delightful breath of fresh air within Age of Sigmar, as is the way Horth incorporates the Stormcasts of the Knights Excelsior, painting them as distant, implacable figures who to the mortal citizens of Excelsis appear as dangerous and, at times, horrifying as any external enemy.Ī novella masquerading as a novel, it’s really quite short…but the pace and the simple narrative help it feel satisfying despite its brevity. It feels much more grounded than the Stormcast-focused Realmgate Wars series, pulling in influences from old-school Warhammer stories as well as non-Warhammer fiction – there’s even a hint of Ankh-Morpork in the cramped streets of the Veins. What that does, beyond ensuring that the narrative is nicely moving along at all times, is allow Horth to spend a decent amount of time exploring Excelsis and looking at how the various groups of its inhabitants find ways to coexist and survive. Nothing new with any of that, and they tread a path that’s pretty much what you expect, but there’s something really enjoyable about watching things play out in a comfortably familiar way. Their enemies at first are human and very grounded, before more fantastical (and more Warhammer-y) antagonists appear later on. Toll, meanwhile, is knowledgeable, well-equipped and connected, and driven by a fierce purpose…but far from infallible. After stumbling upon a sinister plot and accidentally experiencing a powerful prophecy, Callis finds himself working alongside the Witch Hunter Hanniver Toll as they race against time to prevent the city’s destruction.Ĭallis is a solid, satisfying character brave and capable but not exceptionally so, a relatable sort of everyman who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time but manages to just about survive through a mixture of skill and luck. Armand Callis is a corporal in the Coldguard, one of only three Freeguild regiments left behind to defend Excelsis while the majority of its forces march to deal with a vast gathering of Orruks. Nick Horth’s Age of Sigmar book City of Secrets, set in the city of Excelsis in the realm of Ghur, was the first to deal predominantly with mortal characters rather than Stormcast Eternals.

City of secrets age of sigmar