Narrative: The Tragedy of Old Ravenmarch, Lore and Rules for Play (Spooktober)

The grand finale to the Spooktober event is here, and is it a big one. This is the second part of a series diving into the lore of one of my Age of Sigmar armies. 

Ravenmarch, the progenitor to Heldenmarch in the Silverlight Realm, is now a cursed land, and this post will dive into its history, conflicts, and even rules for brining Ravenmarch to life on the tabletop. 

 

Geography

Tucked in the far north-eastern quadrant of the Silverlight region sits the decrepit kingdom of Ravenmarch. Once a mighty empire in its own right that stretched into Menhir and beyond the Scrape, it is now relegated to the lands east of the River Stromlos. 

Ravenmarch was once split into five distinct regions: Northmarch, Eastmarch, Southmarch, Westmarch, and the Crownmarch in the center. Only the Eastmarch remains fully within the kingdom. 

The northern border is crowned by the Auric Sea, which the original founders of Ravenmarch sailed across from distant lands. Once plied by fishing ships, many of the harbors now lay silent. 

The eastern border is more ambiguous, as open steppes give way to forests and ravines. As such, the Eastmarch had always been largely uninhabited. 

To the south lie the desolate mountains of the Scrape. Dense pine forest covers much of the land, but rich mining towns once thrived here. 

Finally, the western border is the River Stromloss. Across this river sits mighty Heldenmarch, forever a reminder of the glory that once belonged to the Children of the Raven.  

History

Centuries ago, men, dwarves, and elves sailed across the Auric Sea, fleeing some long forgotten terror in their old homelands. They made landfall and established a city, named Rothenztyn in honor of their leader.  In time, the people would claim the coast, establishing the towns of Muldorf and Valden, named for the son of Rothen.

At the passing of Rothen, Valden was consumed with despair. Praying to his gods but finding no answer, he fled into the wilds, intending to die. However, he witnessed a great migration of ravens and crows, and he set out to follow them. For days he ventured, until the great flock landed upon the boughs of a mighty oak tree. 

Within a knot of the tree was a pool of amethyst, the faintest whispers rising from within. Entranced, he spoke back to the pool, and was shocked to hear the voice of his father. He had found a portal to the realm of the dead. 

From this discovery grew the city that would become known as Oldztyn, as well as the religion of the Amethyst Cult. The keepers of the portal, the Cult grew in power and knowledge. Soon, not only could they commune with ancestors, but draw spirits back into the realm of the living. In a quest for ever greater power, the Cult would gradually use these spirits as a source of energy for magic and dread machinations. 

Then, on the day now called Hexennacht, the dead broke free from their chains. In their bid for power, the Cult had finally drawn too much, calling upon the spirits of great souls such as kings and ancient heroes. Too proud to be bound in such a manner, these souls raged against their captors. An outpour of death energy roiled across the land as they tore free, and millions of souls returned to their decrepit bodies. 

War blazed all across Ravenmarch as the dead released their anger. After years of devastation, the dead were finally appeased at the sundering of the great oak, so that no more souls could ever be harvested again. An uneasy peace was established, with the living abandoning the Eastmarch across the River Stromloss. 

Unbeknownst too all, upon the destruction of the portal no souls could return to the realm of the dead...

Military Structure

Although no longer a conquering force, the many leaders of Ravenmarch still maintain standing armies out of either tradition or paranoia. Due to the events of Hexennacht, the abundance of returned leaders has created a never ending series of internecine conflicts as they all seek to become the one definitive ruler. 

There is however, a strict hierarchy amongst the dead. Those nobles who could afford the process of preservation have returned with most of their flesh intact, though now a constant need for flesh blood to preserve their flesh has driven them to vampirism. These individuals remain the peak of Ravenmarch society. 

Below flesh is bone. Those whose spirits were able to return to their skeletal remains can still enjoy a level  of primacy, even ruling over large swathes of land. Even the lowliest of skeletons still retain their personalities, and answer their lord's call from fealty or customs from their living past. 

Lower still are the spirits. Either their remains were destroyed or kept within enchanted coffins, these spirits are now cursed to roam, forever searching for their bodies and a place to rest. This has caused most gheists to be bitter, angry creatures, some devolving into madness. However, some spirits can still attain high levels of power, often baited along with promises of having their remains returned to them. 

The lowest levels are the members of the Amethyst cult. Regardless of their status as either vampire, skeleton, spirit, or living, all of the dead despise the Amethyst Cult for their role in capturing their souls. To protect themselves, many of the Cult have turned to Necromantic arts, binding an undead soul to their whim. This has caused the dead to hate them even more.

Current Events

After centuries of internal conflict, some clear leaders have started to emerge once more. Vathek Grimst holds the strongest title, currently ruling much of the Crownmarch from Olztyn. Triglav, Lord of Embers, rules in the Southmarch from Grunheim, though he constantly has to contend with insidious Skaven interlopers. The Court of the White Lady, a conglomerate of spirits, resides in Hexenheim, and lay claim to the Northmarch. The Eastmarch remains consumed with petty squabbles of lesser souls. 

As many of their wars wind down, the dead look once more across the River, to the abundant lands of Heldenmarch. Many view that country as the rightful property of Ravenmarch, and have been agitating for a renewal of hostilities. Already some border conflicts have arisen, with the occasional clash of whole armies.

Not all of the dead remained in Ravenmarch. Some colonies existed elsewhere, in Menhir and even the far off Amber Fiefdoms. Of course, with souls no longer able to entirely depart the Silverlight Realm, the undead can now lash out anywhere within the region, no longer just those of Ravenmarch origin...

Rules for Playing in Ravenmarch

Below are some rules for playing games of Age of Sigmar in the Silverlight setting. These are narrative focused, so don't expect them to be necessarily be balanced. As always, you should always talk with your opponent before trying any new rules. Feel free to mix and match as you please!

To determine where you are fighting within Ravenmarch, roll a d6 and reference the table below for effects on gameplay. Instead of randomly rolling, you may choose a result from the table to match the style of game you desire.

1. Bone fields: Set up the battlefield with minimal scatter terrain. Death armies can add 1 wound to any abilities that allow you to return models to the game. 

2. Grunheim, the Ember City: Set up tree terrain throughout the battlefield. It is considered difficult terrain and incurs a minus 2'' movement penalty. Flying units ignore this penalty. 

3. Bogs of Darmstadht: Set up 6'' radius markers throughout the battlefield to represent bogs. Only infantry units may move through the bogs. Moving through the markers incurs a minus 1" movement penalty. Units that end their movement on one of the markers must roll a d6 for every model still within the marker. On a result of 6, that unit suffers 1 mortal wound. Flying units ignore these penalties. 

4. Ruins of Olztyn: Set up ruined buildings as terrain. Units gain cover if they are within the footprint of a ruined building, but they may not garrison the structure. 

5. The Sundered Oak: Set up a large tree in the center of the battlefield. Units within 24'' suffer 1 mortal wound. Units within 18'' suffer d3 mortal wounds. Units within 12'' suffer d6 mortal wounds. Units within 6'' suffer 3 + d6 mortal wounds. 

6. River Stromlos: Set up river terrain bisecting the battlefield. The river can only be crossed at 3 points, spaced evenly along the river. These crossings can be up to 6'' wide. Flying units ignore this penalty.