The following changes that have taken place in the geo-political situation from OTL listed by nation or major grouping first the forces of order part one then two soon, then disorder in another couple of updates.

  2490-2510 Brettonia, the rise of Mousilion, the industrial and economic growth associated with this has altered the balance of power, forced the growth of urban centers and the reduction in rural populations hence the noble overall military power has been reduced but their incomes and potential purchasing power has risen. Driving a rise in imports of luxury goods and the middle class required to organize that trade, distribution, sale, processing and local manufacture (pre-revolutionary France is the perfect example of this with the fall of feudal power and the rise of state power) of these goods. The infrastructure improvements being funded/introduced by the new 'Duke' mean that the price of food and various basic goods has decreased and there is the start of a cash economy rather than one of barter and various exactions by the nobility and knightly classes. They are at the early stage of proto-industrialization and simultaneous agricultural revolution. With the exception that Mousillion is in a state of early single resource extraction bootstrap industrialization and an advanced agricultural revolution funded by the profits of the first.

  2490--2510 Marienburg, the melting pot of the Old world was not unaffected even in the early stages of the changes started by the 'Engineer' the increasing trend of forming the early precursors of corporation and earth OTL trading companies meant that investment such as Mousillion and all over the Old world could be targeted and have a broad ranging effect beyond the enterprise due to its scale and footprint. Success causes emulation so more money that OTL warhammer sat in banks or was wasted on fripperies or war could be spent elsewhere meaning more wealth that could be spent on more effective war. The drainage technology trialed in Tilea was an investment in part from the city so as to not waste money when they started their own massive works to make the wasteland profitable and make it support the food needs of the city and its rapidly expanding industrial park and administrative dorm suburbs. The money saved on paying for transport of food from medium and long distance led to further funds available for medium and small scale investors to put their surplus into colonial and other risky or stable ventures gambling for a return with the blessing of Ranald! The growth of proto stock exchanges and the potential introduction of some kind of fiat trading currency to replace the easy to subvert coinage system also showed the imprint of ideas from the hub of learning that was the engineers home and stronghold.

  2490--2510 Kislev, other than various fluctuation in prices some down some up there was not much impact from the Engineers's presence other than a change gradually in the weapons used by the various expeditionary imperial forces during the 90's. There was an increasing pressure from the north by the usual suspects, however things were mostly the OTL status quo. By the 2500's various things had changed the siege of Praag signaled the major turning point. All territory north of the Lynsk was abandoned to the forces of darkness accept various enclaves guarding fords and other vulnerable points. The changes in military technology from the south as well as Erengrad allowed the use of extensive fixed fortifications, (ala first world war 1 /American civil war style) defense in depth along and behind the river line. This line also incorporated various magical, supernatural defenses and wards put in place and maintained using the magical auxiliary core formed from volunteers from all the imperial wizardly powers. At the same time as this was taking place using both military and impressed civilian labor, other labor formations drawn from displaced people and the young and old were being used to improve transportation infrastructure, build canals, dams, mines, factories, gunpowder mills then to man them in return for wages and food (being supplied as a subsidy by the Imperial government) Kislev could be said to be an economy similar to OTL Russia just after first world war crossed with Stalinesque command economy communism under a warrior nobility increasingly divorced from traditional feudal structures by the pressures of war and invasion.

  2490-2510 Norse dwarves, After the destruction of Karak Drak by the forces of Chaos the other strongholds and mines came under increasing pressure and daily assault. Even the toughest traders from the south would not risk the danger. Around 2450 King Silverbeards heir, Varaken Siverbeard (who had survived the fall of the hold and managed to retreat with the remains of the army after the final fall of the last hall and tunnel of their home.) organized a great exodus admitting that holding onto everything would just mean all their deaths. They would of course return to reclaim what was theirs by right and history, the process took a long time and was not completed until 2485 when the last southern hold was abandoned, sealed as much as possible all relics and treasures taken, mines sealed, booby trapped and blocked. The long ships of the Norse dwarves were in everyway superior to their evil human neighbors so it was not long before they arrived in Erengrad in successive waves (the ships returning for more cargoes from raw minerals/gems to ancestral treasures and entire clans including babes in arms and beardless youths and mothers. They quickly in the main moved further inland towards the worlds edge mountains. Karak Kadrin was a favored choice given the similarity in some ways with their similar warlike cultures. Some cases traveling south to Barak Varr to form their own exile communities and aid their cousins in their own fight until they were ready to strike back to the north to reclaim their ancestral lands and holds. They have no real united front now they have pulled back from their homelands, they do form a large part of various holds who have a need for colonists such as Karak Eight Peaks and Karak Kadrin.

  2490-2510 Cathay, little change from OTl other than an increase in direct trade with the west and various state that acted as middlemen with them. Some military technology was passed on via at first the kingdoms of Ind then after that the Imperium of Khuresh allowing an increase in the variety and quality of firearms an to increase exponentially, there were also rumors regarding various groups of advisors from the west facilitating this transfer east and back again. (more information to follow) their economy can be classed as fully developed agriculturally but in a state of proto-industrialization as regards to anything outside weapon manufacture and luxury goods production.

  2490--2510 Ind/Khuresh, the various kingdoms and independent cities carried on much the same from 2490-2500. The reputed various cults and religions were heavily infiltrated by Chaos cultists and rebellion seethed under the surface due to high food prices, corrupt governance and uneven wealth distribution. However from the hinterlands of Khuresh arose a new power based upon a merger of eastern, western and other species technologies led by a mutant being called Shivasan, he was reputed to have four arms and too have great magical power and intellect. This power (the Imperium of Khuresh) quickly united the major kingdoms of Shivsan's homeland, he was reputed to have various advisors from Tilea and Estalia as well. This was aided by the efficient tax structure he imposed being fair to all noble to common man. He was intolerant to all worship of the ruinous powers which given his appearance? (I am writing an update for the far east of warhammer world at the moment so I could not restrain myself from a little spoiler) before striking out to Ind taking Lanka by 2502 then further invasions and surrenders over the next few years until He ruled both Ind and Khuresh by 2510. This was all aided by the increase in trade in various specialist goods, spices, sugar, cotton cloths and other goods with the west. This was in return for of course gold etc, however military technology, advisors were welcome, magical training and sharing of knowledge with existing supernatural practitioners and so on.

  2490-2510 Ulthan, 2490-2500 was a period of increasing trade with the human kingdoms, the various OTL conflicts and tribulations still assailed them. The major difference was the long distance cargo capacity of the human realms ships rose due to evolving naval technology leading to an expanding fleet meaning a larger sum collected in tolls for them but a subsequent rise in piracy meaning that more patrols were required to maintain their dominance than before. The human ships were more than happy to help with piracy suppression this lead to a decline in piracy from western Arby due to the death toll on their part being too high. Also various smaller groups sailing or canoeing as it may be from coastal villages and strongholds on the eastern coasts and beyond on the voyage to Ind and the far East. the Elves herded them and the new guns of the human ships destroyed them. This led to a reevaluation to a degree of the need for more power in their own weapons in this age of larger threats by the Sea Elf traders. Their economy could be classed as primarily agrarian ruled by an eternal aristocracy, however they have significant military weapon manufacturing and naval construction facilities and technology. Their trading empire is based on tolls, speed and the fear of others in regards to they previous.

  2490-2510 Border Princes, the fractured nature of this land and complicated history of repeated invasions by greenskins and others has meant that it has not taken any significant place in human affairs. However this is changing gradually with the rise of larger cities and the growing wealth of certain inhabitants allowing greater centralization and state building.

  Somjek 2400-2510 has grown from a sleepy coastal town of exiles and renegades into an industrial centre (with the financial support of Barrak Varr.) with large factories turning out simple items for export to the empire with their lower cost of labour and ready access to dwarf mechanical support from their engineers guild this is generating large profits.

  The destruction of the yellow eye goblin tribe was achieved by hiring several Rota of Kislevite lancers from the wars in the north to settle in the grasslands (after helping to shatter their wolf riders and killing their younglings and burning their nests.) these were supported by the usual militias and mercenary units common to this dangerous land. This allowed for the growth of agricultural land around the growing city, exploitation of resources such as clay, gravel and limestone for construction and other materials for industry.

  The road network to Tilea and the rest of the border princes was also improved with help from the dwarves (often following or improving on the remains of their previous network established before the war of the Beard to trade with the elf colonies in Tilea and beyond.) this has allowed more settlements to be created and many monsters purged by the enlarged/better armed armies of the Princes.

  Mattroca 2490-2510 is rapidly becoming an agricultural powerhouse with the draining of the marshes from 2495 onwards. (with Tilean and Dwarf investment) This has allowed both population growth and a massive local lowering of food prices directly effecting the standard of living of their biggest customer, the city of Somjek. The city itself by 2500 has a large number of food processing facilities from a fish salt works, large scale flower mills, meat preserving factory and associated slaughter houses the list goes on! The Havigir river was also improved with locks and other works (often building upon the ruins of the system that the dwarves had built to transport their own wears south from the mountains in better years and now rebuilt using their money generated by more selling of products/machines to the humans) allowing the cheap and luxury foodstuffs to be easily shipped up river to the large number of farming and mining towns there.

  Cavanal 2400-2510 this town is changing into a city based around transhipment of goods once just another often besieged settlement in the wilderness. The local prince has taken over or conquered almost all of the surrounding towns and hamlets (with monetary assistance from various mercantile interests in Tilea) the hills to east are also good land for grapes and olives. There have been estates and farms growing both for countless centuries but they are often beset by bandits, greenskins or their jealous neighbours in the other Principalities this has changed since the consolidation of territory that is happening now. The land along the river is also good for grains though not so much for rice as is the case further south. There are also several mines producing iron ore, tin and copper (all from alluvial deposits either lightly or formed since major dwarf mining efforts in the area) in the lowest hills and valleys.

  Thessos 2490-2500 lies at the junction of four major roads since improved and reopened with the purging of the Blue Faced Orc tribe. This effort was led by a crusading army of Brettonian knights and a mercenary army hired by the Dwarf clans of Karak Grom and Sedazund. The intent was to allow free passage from Tilea to the Border Princes interior and Barak Var without interference from Greenscum. This military action not only allowed the free flow of trade but cleared the way for the spread or farming, quarrying and mining. The city teemed with caravans and wagons at certain times of the years when produce flowed over the mountains to the dwarf karak's and holdings. Then onto the Tilean cites beyond, manufactured goods, weapons, gunpowder, exotic goods such as sugar and spices came in return. Other caravans of heavy wagons carried grain and other foodstuffs north to the various other karaks in the vaults and the black mountains. The warehouse district was large allowing the barges that transhipped to the wagon trains to store their goods before their transport was ready for the journey. 2500

  Zvorak 2490-2510 was the garrison town before the road left the flat lands and rose to the mountains and the old dwarf pass. Extensive fortifications were built on the new model with moats and earthen berms rather than stone walls. This was along with creating multiple routes into the pass that allowed good options for a military commander, as well as the main roads that led in to the town itself from the rest of the Border Princes. The government was closely associated with the league to the south but had its own clique of Myrmidia worshippers and a puppet Prince (of old Brettonian decent, so get him drunk and a likely lass on his knee and bingo!) who recruited disposed mercenaries from Tilea rather than turning the place into an armed camp. None the less the army had cleared the pass of Greenskins and bandits and secured the supply routes at least for now from most of the other direct threats in the area.

  Argalis 2490-2510 the southernmost city and capital of the newly formed (2501) Southern League of the Eagle, consisting of Argalis, Myrmidens (in the southern Black Peninsular) Vardanos and Pugno this was influenced by the strong worship of Myrmidia in the area (nurtured for many years by missionaries, priests and the establishment of various monasteries and nunneries) and the influence of the Tilean faction of that faith. The government was a 'Council of the Eagle' consisting of sworn knights and Templers of the faith of the Goddess. The palace and government buildings were enlarged and trade increased with the south of Tilea via the mountain pass and the sea route. This was stimulated by the richness of the shellfish and fishing grounds of the Lagoon of tears. There was s large fleet of shallow draft ships maintaining and harvesting sealife from this waterway. Pollution by anyone of the waters was punishable by death laid down by statute by the Council.

  The area becoming a kind of theocratic state under the rule of the cult and associated families (though because these were often prominent or from ruling clans of the area there was no real change other than name and greater centralization of one court rather than many and a reduction in associated graft to a degree) This by the nature of the religion led to a greater degree of militarization than was the norm even for the warhammer world with compulsory training for all children male or female from age 7-15 conscription into land or army battalions for the use of the state. This was balanced by the fact that during important agricultural times much of their military work was helping in farming enterprises often their own family ones depending on the situation.

  Fantabad 2490-2510 The city at the mouth of Mad Dog Pass was always short of manpower, especially to control their fellow cities of Zenres, Vitrolle and Mirstadt. However in 2494 an investor came forward based in the Empire he was willing to underwrite the cost of a large army to help conquer his neighbours, help hold, fortify the pass to helping trade into the east and the dangerous dark lands. In return he wanted 20% of the trade tax (though he did continue paying and maintaining the army as well) on caravans going through and back.

  This conquest of his neighbours was completed by 2500 and the last of the first slew of rebellions quashed by 2505. The prince of Fantabad then declared himself king and installed cronies and loyal generals as rulers in place of the deposed and often destroyed princely families. The road network was improved and guard stations and signal towers installed. The army so it was kept busy was sent on expedition to keep the Greenskins pruned back lest they swarm north and destroy the valuable trade with the dwarfs and others.

  Other times it helped with constructing terraces and planting fruit trees to supplement the already famous groves of Apricots and apples. The area exported many wagon loads of produce along with many other delicate and unique things on top of the wines that they turned into potent brandy and clear medical alcohol. The army allowed (as time went one they became both more veteran and armed with the latest weapons gaining access to the Hammer rifle before the Border Princes or Estalia) these things to flourish and meant that the investor made his money back many times as most of the 20% was ploughed back into the area growing the trade even more exclusive of the unreliable Darklands and Cathay trade. The population growth meant that the mercenary army became a kind of honorary state army as many of their younger recruits were locals and had no interest in returning to their putative 'homelands'.

  2490-2510 Arby, traditionally the main source of income for the coastal states and kingdoms was piracy upon the merchant traffic of the southern sea and those merchants who risked going into the black gulf without escort from the dwarf ironclad fleet. The increase in the Lustria trade not only excited some migration of pirate clans to the new world to take advantage of the opportunities opening up there it also encouraged large groupings and fleets to take care of the defensive formations of the treasure and spice fleets when trying to capture prizes etc. One of the major needs of the various pirate forces was the acquisition of cannons and gunpowder weapons as they had little or no native production of such. This was due to the increasing use of these things by their foes and in fights between themselves over choice raiding territory. The advent of better and more efficient weapons and ships by the various other human based naval powers caused a drop in success rates even with the larger fleets and more heavily armed ships. The survivors turned on each other for the scraps causing mass depopulation in some cases such as where all adult men in a settlement were employed in piracy and they all fell at sea...

  It was at this point that various mercantile agents from Tilea and Estalia approached the coastal rulers with a proposal for investment in specialist agricultural goods. Many refused but those that did started to see the benefits during the 2495-2505 period. The extra income where others were struggling allowed some consolidation of territory and enforcement of central rule in areas where there had been none. This was along with a large rise in exports, imports of finished goods and military equipment.

  From 2490-2505 A prophet one Hakim Mustafanas arose in desert preaching that the coastal Arbyans had become decadent and subject to the whiles of polluted races and desired to become the new Sultanate supported by dark magic once more! He raided the coastal areas along with his 'holy army' and made a general nuisance of himself (it was hard to notice at first given the desert tribesmen's tendency to steal, kill, rape anything in sight at all times anyway.) until one day he was wondering in the desert near his oasis camp (led there by a dream so say..) when he came upon a letter giving the location of hidden sources of gold and jinn stored in their special magical chests. Using this and a ruthless ability to find traitors and plotters (some say led by more blessed visions and precognition, he wrote in his journal...) He united the majority of the desert tribes and clans to forge an army over 40,000 strong including the baggage train handlers, various slaves, women and children. The scattered records found upon investigation showed that he was planning to gather his army at several oasis in the deep desert then march on the coast then to the soft southern nations to purge the infidel and extinguish the perversions of other races from the world! The reason for the lack of knowledge of this army was that according to the few survivors reports that reached the coast.

  'A great feast was held before they were to set out where the great leader proclaimed that another army was coming to support their forces in battle, before this could happen a disaster! Something was placed into the food and drink of all the camps rendering them insensible and in many cases dead, then from the sands and from concealed tunnels nearby Ratmen scurried forth! They carried away those they could use and cruelly used those they had no need for such as the old, very young and those obviously suffering from the side effects of the potion! This action destroyed the population of the desert tribes for many years to come as not many managed to escape.'

  2505-2510 The lessening of pressure from the tribes due to the great massacre/slave raid allowed increasing exploitation of the desert ranging from salt, camel herding, caravan routes to the south (mostly bringing ivory from the great plain of the tuskers just north of the mighty southlands jungles.) to rare mineral extraction. The coastal regions themselves had started to export increasing amounts of citrus fruit, olive oil, grain, raw, processed minerals, salts and nitrates.

  2495-2510 due to the lessening profit margins of piracy in the north and in general there had also started to be more state involvement in the burgeoning slave trade in the south, previously it was small scale traders raiding further inland than the periodic Dark Elf coastal slaving raids for black skinned primitives and dark skinned Halflings or pygmies as the local language named them. When the larger ships (those sponsored and supported by the states of the northern Arby states rather than small scale captains and such.) started to become more common they fought with Dark Elf and Norse raiders for the areas of coast that contained the largest numbers of natives (all located far enough away from the scattered lizardmen areas that no conflict was caused!) 2500-2510 this trade intensified with slave farms being set on the coast to produce food for the traders to feed to their stock on the voyage to the new world and to produce new potential slaves by having captive populations next to their slave forts. They also kept most of the choice women to themselves to despoil rather than sell them on. There was also large numbers of Arbyan slaves sold overseas as well due to the ritualized raiding of the tribes and the harsh nature of life in the northern cities. The Arby economy can be said to be growing from a disordered one based on piracy and internal strife to one where the agricultural revolution is starting to take place and medieval feudal brigandage systems of governance are giving way to centralized monarchies and tyrannies promoting, agricultural expansion, mineral extraction and military modernization.

  490-2510 Giants, they were scorned; drunken, stupid, cruel and often slaves to others but in some small cases had managed to capture their own territory and resources (the Badlands and other wild spaces were the most common areas for these families and small clans as opposed to loners or Slavegiants) Though all types of Giants were disappearing from the Old world and even the forgotten places of the world from 2450-2490 aprox meaning that the survivors were even more valuable to the Greenskin tribes and Chaos armies that desired them for cannon fodder.

  The Slavegiants population stayed fairly static, though these levels fluctuated as only the larger Ogre tribes could afford to keep even a small family of Giants both enslaved and fed enough to stay useful to their captors (so producing any meaningful number of offspring from any given family grouping, trading of male giants between settled Ogre tribes for stud duties was also a common practice especially as the 'wild' population dwindled) The only change over this period was the attempt to utilize some kind of armor for their slaves from black iron sourced from the Chaos dwarves.

  Then in 2490 five super fortresses of the ancient Sky Titans came to rest in the middle of their ancient lands (now mostly vacant apart from a few caravans, wandering monsters and Ogre tribes) onto the mountain ranges from which they had fled many thousands of years ago. When the Ogres of the past climbed these peaks they found them empty so assumed that they had finished the last of the Skytitan race. They enslaved the wandering children of those who already fallen, often protected by their families to allow them to escape in the first place taking with them to the lowlands of the Mountains of Mourn.

  The super fortresses are powered by magical machines that protected them from warp influences, sight and allowed it to fly among other functions. This device was not small in fact upon examination many of the larger cruder metal implements of the Ogres were scavenged from destroyed suburban Skytitan homes and reworked also various toy guns and hand weapons were taken.

  The secret of the most secretive of the Worlds races is that the Giants brain only starts to work efficiently when regularly above a certain altitude. They had according to themselves been developed by the Old Ones alongside the second birthing of Slann, their purpose was to erect the large scale physical constructions, high level work in the numerous mountains and newly risen plateaus (at first only to assist magical machines but after the fall they took up more of the load when required.) and helped to defend the mountains of Lustria and Naggaroth from the hordes during the first invasions along with any other form of assistance they could give their ancient allies.

  After the repulse and the ending of the initial chaos incursions the Skytitans were rewarded with domain over wherever they desired, they asked for the mountainous area in-between the far east and the arid lands in the Old World that came to be known as The Mountains of Mourn and the Giant lands. They spent many years making their new home to their liking incorporating Old One magi-tech and also receiving some assistance from the Slann as well as their servants in achieving some of their goals. These were of self sufficiency and freedom from want and war, achieved by magnificent isolation and material defenses. Only the original city fortresses constructed with the direct help of the Old Ones in times long past retained the ability to fly by 2700 IC though even the meanest mountain-top house sported some ancient item of power from minor to major.

  The Giants needed meat and lots of it to live at such heights and prosper so they maintained the herds and other stranger animals that they had adapted from local species with intensive breeding and genetic engineering. The Skytitans were also aided by the many mag-mechanical marvels inherited from the Old Ones, isolated from the damp heat some of the more delicate instruments and devices lasted longer (as well as less attacks by the various other species of this planet). Supporting marvels used to monitor the animals (the drones for this stopped working first, after a few thousand years. This was due to their small size making repair impossible for even the youngest self aware youngling.)

  While the youngest under the instruction of the oldest (the youngest rational Skytitans were also the smallest and able to perform some level of precision work) performed those tasks that their elders could not. Their society was solitary but there were several super complexes of houses and some civil infrastructure present along with fortifications and defenses built against the reappearance of the evil ones even in their secure fastness. (The four chaos gods have long memories and always hold a grudge) Many smaller houses and family groupings spread out east and west from there occupying secure locations, strategic choke points as well as mountains that appealed to their version of aesthetics.

  The Skytitans acted as distant overall guardians of the Mountains allowing some Dwarves (mostly either explorers, prospectors or mad-dwarf's permitted as they could extract and refine the minerals that the Old Ones machines that previously did the work could no longer perform due to malfunctions) to survive in their shadow, some mines, breweries and minor Karaks were established and lasted at least in a diminished fashion until the post Maw period. When the Ogres had finished with the Skytitans they forced the defenses finding little but full supply rooms and those dead who had not yet been interred (badly injured volunteers who had vowed to help fool the stupid creatures with their deaths and dismemberment) leaving their 'Tyrants' to crow to the heavens of their prowess before they moved on in their fashion following their almighty appetites.

  Before the Ogres arrived in a foul smelling wave of brutality, stupidity and could 'smash em' From the East a species of strange beings (that came to be known as 'Halflings' having fled from their larger cousins the Ogres before the advent of the great maw due their habit of eating them when the herds had traveled out of easy reach, this was also the period when the Ogres started to eat Cathayn Children and animals) to live on the lesser mountains and in the valleys under their protection, the majority of the 'Halflings' stayed however those that were the most indolent and mischievous choose to go west in hope of finding more fertile and gentle lands that reminded them of their lost homeland of verdant steppes and plentiful food. (Also to escape the dour nature of the Skytitans, the high altitude and boring food) They were not missed by the more sober leaders of the other Halflings ready to help the Mighty titans in their herding and the various tasks too delicate for even the children to perform easily, such as farming barley especially and hops in the warmer spots of the valleys. The coming of the Ogres changed all this eating the slow and driving the majority from their settlements up the mountains where great numbers fell unnoticed while the majority carried on fleeing.

  2720 IC The survivors of these destructive acts both Dwarf and Halfling could only retreat to one place with the twisted Dwarf-kin in the Dark Lands preventing the northern route while the southern route was deadly, infested with Greenskins of one kind or another and primitive aggressive human tribes all jockeying for position. So they begged for sanctuary from the last hidden fastnesses of the Skytitans before they left to escape with a nucleolus of their herds and their new allies.

  After taking off the cities flew to Lustria where they settled in the highest peaks of the Lizards domains, instead of in the previous thousands of years when population pressure demanded it large fortified mountain top fastness were established. The smaller passengers of the Skytitans were not permitted by the Lizardmen to stray beyond the bounds set for the Skytitans themselves. Though not appearing in many of the annals of the Lizards the Skytitans were potent magic users themselves and often provided their strength in secret to aid the Slann in their endeavors in return for their tenancy of the mountains and valleys.

  This meant that while there was extensive mining and over the years much refining no actual permanent settlement was permitted. The high altitude of course affected some individuals but over time the survivors either became acclimated or clustered in the few habitable high valleys permitted to them by the Slann and their servants. The cites themselves initially constructed with only the Titans themselves in mind were modified into warrens with the Dwarves choosing mostly the lower levels and the Halflings mostly being ensconced in the higher wall. Often their airy dwellings could be found in the rafters built to the same proportions as everything else here. They had to of course hold up the titanic edifices that were even the medium sized public spaces and even such mundane things as kitchens and banquet halls.

  The keen minds and smaller hands as well as the clandestine help from several of the younger Slann and their direct servants meant that some of the smaller devices such as the herding drones and some of the automated production facilities were restored to functionality. At the same time both the smaller species managed to produced cruder technology after doing so that was more sustainable and managed to make the cities comfortable for themselves even homey (such as steam heat in their houses, hydraulic lifts to travel up and down and food production facilities suited to their own size rather than their overlords requirements) overtime their technology became more efficient mirroring in some way and surpassing in others their counterparts in the Old World.

  Though many times the Skytitans, Dwarves and even the Halflings could have directly aided their allies in battle or repairing the damage of the multiple foes over the years the Slann insisted that there was a sacred Tablet that said that when the times are right the Titans and their servants must return to the world that they came from to right the wrongs of the past. And until this time is nigh they must remain within the bounds that have been predicated for them.

  In the lead up to the Endtimes the Titans sent expeditions to the east to collect their fallen kin (that had always filled the titans with sorrow that they had to leave their descendants in ignorance and poverty to make the world a better place eventually) and perform magical operations upon them that to a degree could rectify the mental restrictions that living at lower altitudes had placed on them and meaning that their children will be of the pure Skytitan heritage that is their birthright.

  The population of Skytitans was never that high and the addition of the Giants meant that their population might recover from the lows that it had reached by the time that the Endtimes was upon them while the dwarfs were also of a small population they managed to keep at stable levels due to little or no conflict with the evils of this world up to this point. The Halflings however had prospered and now managed all the food production and processing for their masters (given their size this meant large numbers were engaged to just one loaf of bread or prepare one mammoth carcasses for cooking and preservation) so unlike in time past their halls were filled with the smells of cooking and the sounds of chattering happy beings ready to support and even participate in the long predicated conflict to come.

  2491 after the cities had established themselves their allies and friends the dwarves immediately started the process of revitalizing and repairing the underworld of support mechanisms and magitech that had been left behind when the cities had flown away into the far west (the ignorant Ogres never even noticed when the war was going on, too busy gorging themselves on meat and engaging in debauchery with the Dwarves and Halflings remaining beer supplies.) The Halflings as well as the younger Skytitans and the rehabilitated Giants went down into the valley and the misty slopes and repaired the fallen field walls, water troughs, irrigation systems and so on. The use of magic meant that the first crops were ready in half the time that should have been possible meaning that supplies to brew and eat were readily available.

  The moment the first herds became established in their former ranges was celebrated in all the cities by the whole population, it was at this time the first Ogre tribe wandered down the Ivory road and came across a series of large grain fields and could hear the trumpeting of mammoths and other creatures. They also spied the figures of Giants and other tiny beings tending to these same foreign things.

  To say that they were dumbfounded was an exaggeration, of course they charged immediately to slaughter the animals and enslave the giants. Unlike in ages past the drones that watched the herds and fields along with the flesh and blood workers were armed. They were golden in color and hovered several feet in the air using some arcane methods to do along with magical lightening projectors (long metal rods that pulsed with strange powers and lights) that as soon as they made an aggressive move they fired each beam touching one Ogre then the next flashing through up to four before the energy had dissipated and only badly injured the fifth that it struck. However there were several of the machines in range and in minutes they managed to injured or kill the entire tribe in less than five minutes. The workers, herds and herders were not even much affected as the stupid creatures had not even thought to arm the Leadbelchers for battle before rushing in to the fight.

  There were many such encounters over the next few years though never sought for as the migratory tribes did not communicate so when some disappeared the others just thought they had wandered off for booty or food or a mercenary contract from someplace or person. Their population in most of the mountains was not effected however some puzzlement was starting to seep into the various major 'Tyrants' consciousnesses.

  The first contact the outside world had with the Titans had many consequences; it came in the form of a merchant caravan transporting among other things the material that the road was named for. It was massive in size numbering over several hundred people in number and if you included the guard force the number rose to a thousand in total. At the center were the many wagons, mule/pony pack trains and even some camel trains all carrying goods and silver for Far Cathay. The merchants either rode or sat on the wagons while the mercenaries marched or rode as was their training or preference.

  When they came upon the first signs of civilization, as the Ogres had before them they stopped in amazement, however unlike them they approached with peace in their minds. The first meeting was one of confusion as the Halflings spoke their ancestral language rather than Reikspeil and the Giants spoke their own language unrelated to any other tongue. Luckily for them there was one dwarf from the west, he was a young (50 or so) adventurer and was looking for the fabled riches of the ancient giant lands so that he could raise the money to restore his clan to its former prominence in his Karak.

  After a few mistranslations (though the dwarves language was similar after thousands of years there were some differences) The Merchant council that administered the caravan and owned all the shares in it decided to trade some of their goods to the Skytitans in return for the unique goods to use for greater purchases in Cathay. Over the years this contact only increased both ways in fact some caravans returning from Cathay only went as far as the giant lands before turning around once more to the east while others continued back to the west. This helped the decreasing profits from the purely historical trade as more and more of this traveled on hulls protected by increasingly deadly escort ships (some manned by former Tilean pirates) traveling in convoy.

  These goods consisted of the same high value low weight goods that had always been the meat and bread of the trade, they consisted of rare metals refined into ingot form, silver mined from beneath the titans fortresses (and the immediate peaks beyond by their dwarf allies.) the simple potato in all its various species (it being most useful in the mountainous environment that they lived in) was a marvelous trade good and food for the people of the caravans. The goods also ranged to marvelous simple magical devices such as lightening staffs, super magic armor and simple rune weapons that never go blunt.

  The introduction of the simple potato in 2495 to the Empire is credited with raising the population along with the various agricultural enterprises being undertaken at this time in the Empire and beyond. This food stuff also spread to Cathay and helped to do the same there to some degree, though only the Northern provinces and the far west were really suitable for the cultivation of the crop on a large scale sue to weather and climate restrictions.

  2510 The presence of the reborn Skytitans (though known to them their reborn power meant they had to ignored) was forced upon the major Ogre tyrants when the revenues they used to maintain rule over their 'subjects' were reducing along with the value of their Ivory (supplies from the plains of the tuskers in the Southlands delivered by merchants from northern Arby meant that the price and journey time were much reduced) that their hunters brought in. This lead to the second war…….

  2490-2510 Southern Wastes, (Antarctica WH analogue, described as treeless and infested with Beastmen, this means that at the time of the fall it must have either had a human civilization like the Albian men of legend or primitive tribesmen like the OTL ancestors of the Warhammer Old World Beastmen or both?) The various points where the land masses of the north were close enough for the primitive rafts and craft available to the inhabitants were guarded by High Elven fortresses and patrol warships preventing an easy escape. There were no cities and few native land species that could both survive the cold and the constant waves of magical radiation released by the fallen southern warp gate. Marine species though strange and mutated by northsea standards (even in the seas near the northern wastes) were harvested by the Beasts as the only reliable source of protein even in the few areas shielded by mountains and glaciers that could support animals larger than a rabbit

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  2490-2510, there arose a Gor leader in the largest Warherd of the southern Beastmen, whose territory contained the largest stretch of territory that was shielded by the central mountain range that divided the continent from the former polar gate. He was called Icebreaker Gut Shredder (so named for his white fur, allowing ambush hunting during the long winter season and his habit of using the carved horn of a former shaman complete with runes that caused any wound inflicted by this weapon to never stop bleeding until they died no matter how long that took unless it was broken by a very powerful magic user in return) In 2492 a Dark Dwarf slave ship was shipwrecked on the sea shore claimed by a herd under the control of Icebreaker. The survivors, slaves included were taken to his summer campsite next to the coast not far as the harpy flies from the 'Fortress of the Dawn' and the hot lands of the Southlands. His judgement was to change the history of the whole continent and the world beyond!

  The slaves those that did not have skills useful to his plan were eaten in a great communal feast after their sacrifice to the patron daemon of the warherd 'Gargomelous the Wizened' (A minor tzeenetch daemon who was low down the pecking order and could only secure such an obscure area for itself) the surviving slavers and the engineers from the Dark Dwarf crew were tasked with salvaging the wreck of their vessel and using the materials to produce more vessels and ships that would be capable of avoiding or defeating the cursed high Elf ships! At first the stubborn dark dwarfs refused saying that there was no materials to make such things in this bleak land.

  Then Icebreaker led them on a journey to the feet of the mountain range that sheltered everyone from the tempest just a few days journey to the south. In the light of the fading sun the sight of a settlement of the Old Ones was revealed. Much was ruined, even their advanced technology and magical abilities could not resist the march of time and the elements even then it was impressive. Ignoring these ruins he led them to an opening in the cliffs abutting the settlement that was once a door but the metal door had been peeled back at some time in the past by some demonic creature or other until it became a forbidding portal instead.

  The Dwarfs went forward themselves to investigate finding that inside was the remains of advanced forging equipment and access to stockpiles of raw materials, (that though they had sat still for aeons were just fossilized due to the environment) mining tunnels and disused blast furnaces. Though advanced the engineers amongst them knew what they were seeing and together with the wreckage from their own ships and what other materials the Beastmen brought to them over the coming months and years they constructed forges and furnaces capable of producing the metal needed to construct the hulls of steel dragon ships (due to the constraints still placed upon the dark stunties by the size of the Old One ruins and other factors these were the best that they could do)

  2495 Icebreaker leads a fleet of two hundred steel hulled dragon ships on a raid of the Elven Fortress of the Dawn; this was led by an ironclad format ship complete with primitive cannons and a few originals from the wrecks. They managed to sack the town and the docks before being driven off by the magic of the mages that were employed by the High Elven authorities of this ancient keep. He then

  2496 he led a 250 strong fleet this time with more success on the human slaver forts of the west coast of the southlands just south of the plains of the tuskers, reducing most of them to smoking rubble and taking the slaves that had been awaiting transport to the new world for their own purposes, mostly for resale to the dark Dwarf slavers who infested the waters on the east side of the Southlands.

  2497 While Icebreaker was away raiding again and gathering resources rivals leading smaller herds and some within his own that were jealous of his power otherthrew his appointed regents! They ordered the enslaved dwarfs to produce fewer ships that were better armed and enforced this by using the magic users in the herds that had been displaced by Icebreakers favourites (usually worshippers of other powers such as Nurgle or Slaneesh) he learned of this through spies in the beastmen traitors ranks and insights gifted to him by his patron and the God that oversaw all. He responded to this by enlisting a small fleet of Dark Dwarf slavers that had been stalking the waters off the coast of the mid Southlands waiting for a Lustria treasure fleet to arrive on its way to the Old World in return for freeing their fellow beings they would help him storm the port where the opposing ironclads guarded the harbour against his warfleet.

  This action was successful in sinking them with minimal loses among icebreakers forces, however he took steps to ensure that his authority would not be challenged again and concentrated the formerly mostly migratory populations of warherds into smaller areas so to make them easier to control and exploit. He also persuaded the dark dwarfs to base themselves in his territory on the proviso that he provide them with slaves, resources and they provide him with weapons (this decision was especially attractive as a location to them not just due to the Old One ruins but also due to the nearness to the south Polar Gate that meaning it was easier to bind daemons and warp creatures into their weapons and machines here than in their homelands.) this allowed him to fight the High Elves and the human ships that wanted to use the straights on more even terms for now.

  2498 Icebreaker planned his most audacious raid yet on the High Elven island city of Tor Ulanor (off the eastern Southlands). This was defended by a large fleet of Elven ships and a fleet of human Galleons led by a squadron of Sea going Ironclads and Woodclads fresh from the yards of Marienburg. The sheer size of the Beastmen fleet meant that many if not most ships made it to shore, some after being either damaged or savaged by cannon and others magical weapons fire. There were of course plentiful causalities in both the crews, ships and morale. This was often offset either by the nature of the various patron gods of the warherds (lending protection through sorcererous means or just not being that affected by having one limb being blown off) or the pure chance of one shell or ballista bolt hitting there or here.

  They released his army onto the shore where the usual shock wave attack that they are renowned for took the outer defences by storm before getting hung up looting the city below the inner fortifications rather than concentrating on advancing on them as per the battleplan. While this was happening the surviving human and Elven ships (that had not been swarmed by the monstrous creatures fighting through their fleets on the way to landfall that is) slaughtered the remaining crews and stay behind warherds tasked with keeping the ships available for any eventuality. This was the height of planning for these creatures!! (They also used the practice of lashing humans to wheels to steer captured wooden ships along with their cursed metal hulled daemon ships and navigate their ships like some kind of organic component.) A few of course escaped none of which contained Icebreaker, each surviving ship going their separate ways both to avoid pursuit and because they were controlled by individual warherds and various smaller other survivors of the guard force.

  The army and Icebreaker Had finally got themselves under control (most of the Khornite bands had spent themselves charging the imposing massively tall Elven inner walls of the citadel or were busy hunting down civilians to sacrifice to their gods!) and started to fashion ladders and try and located ropes for crude grappling hooks. Several failed assaults rushed forward and were slaughtered by super accurate bow fire and archaic magical warmachines (along with all the usual ballista's and intricate repeating weapons of OTL line-up) Icebreaker himself came to the fore prodding the coteries (that he had been keeping together for just this eventuality) of Shamans before himself before they started perform their rites and incantations to bring down those impressive walls and stymie their efforts to slaughter his kinbeasts and foil his own advancement in the eyes of his foul Gods.

  They had managed to project a spell that stopped the movement of all mechanical parts in the main weapons of the defenders allowing several determined groups of Beastmen to scale the walls and melee with the stoutly armoured members of their elite defence forces) while the attempts to force a breech met resistance from the spell reinforced walls. This was not enough however as the foul ones were repelled once again, before another attempt could be made a Elven wizard flew down mounted on a pure white feathered Griffon. His mount reared in the air halting his amazingly fast dive upon the foe! This was only a few manlengths from the ground before then he raised his right arm and released a lightning bolt spell straight into the middle of the group of twisted and fetish adorned Shaman Beastmen! This sent them into the air along with bits of them flying there was also one solitary human seemingly bound in chains visible on the edge after the other had been felled by the impact. The wizard followed this up by landing his steed before the scum could recover then advancing upon Icebreaker himself.

  The duel between the two of them took some time and was magnificent but the real purpose of the attack was revealed when a human army composed of the substantial marine component of the crews of the human fleet that had joined with their commercial partners to defeat this attempt to destroy their livelihoods. This force was composed of rifle musket armed troops and the more traditional arms of polearms, cutlasses and crossbows etc. The duel came to an end when Icebreaker managed to strike down the mage and split his body in twain by a strike from his enchanted massive cleaver 'Icicle' before he could finish his victory bellow the griffon came for him enraged that he had killed his master! He managed to also kill this loyal creature but not before it had ripped out one of his eyes and slashed through his rough upper body armour as if it was not there leaving bleeding rents in his gore soaked fur.

  While this was going on the human army had shattered what cohesiveness remained to his army and a host had issued forth from the gates of the Elven fortress and were busy slaughtering Icebreakers own warherd, of the creature himself nothing was ever found of him after the battle but he has not been heard of since. The remaining Beastmen were hunted down on the island over the next few days though a few managed to last a bit longer hiding in various hidden spaces and such the threat had been ended and repair work aided by their human allies had already started to take place while the extra labour was available.

  The survivors of the attack managed to make it home to their various home territories rather than the harbour of Icebreaker as they rightly suspected that the Dark Dwarves would not welcome them! In fact the sole ship that did attempt this (from a closely allied warherd of their great leader) was capture and the crew enslaved to work alongside the already enslaved females and young ones of the great ones own herd (the Dwarves had magical means to spy on the outcome fo the battle so as soon as they saw his defeat overwhelmed their 'guards' and took control of the Old Ones facility and the associated town that grown up along with the shore side installations. They remained it Zarr Kadrack or city of Sorrow (because of the shame of being enslaved after the rebellion the survivors all committed ritual suicide rather than be exiled to some even more Hellish outpost) and contact was established with the homeland along with the first shipment of Greenskin and Hobgoblin slaves arriving of course being that Beastmen have always made poor workers these were required. The harsh climate and hostile natives meant that the settlement remained small but important given access to fresh resources and advantages of the location in terms of interdicting trade and their enemy's plans and dreams.

  2499-2510 The Beastmen survivors either reverted to their previous lifestyle or conducted limited piracy paying for repair, new ships, weapons and armour from the Dwarves with the loot and slaves acquired from their activities. This was combated by the various mercantile powers by forming convoys and increasing the armament of the ships protecting these enterprises meaing that as time went on most piracy by these creatures was either on other forces of darkensss aborad on the oceans or on each other.

  2490-2510 Troll country, was 'ruled' in the far north western region by the Troll King 'Throgg' his capital was in Skraevold Town (under which giant hovels of whole logs and treetops his lair lay) he and his subjects were "Chaos Trolls' being 'highly honored in the eyes of the Changer of the Ways, for rarely does any creature combine mutation with such natural size, power, and sheer vitality. Yes, a Chaos Giant may be larger, but a Chaos Troll is so brim-full of life and energy as to be almost impossible to kill. Knock it down, and it comes back stronger and angrier than ever. Much like Chaos itself."—Drakar the Questioner (warhammer wiki) His territory ranged into the foothills of the Trollheim mountains where small forts guarded the entrance to Shadow pass (which lead into the heart of the Norsican mountains and from where most his wealth came from in the form of tolls upon merchant caravans of twisted humans and Chaos Dwarves carrying anything from slaves to finely wrought steel items), down to the River Groene and along most it its length west until the plains met the forest. This territory was debated between the northern Sarls and the Chaos Troll horde with frequent fighting and covert raids.

  The east was bordered by the northern branch of the river Groene (east of which lay the territory of the Baersonlings Though armies of their fellow worshippers of the dark powers often travelled through his lands as long as the traditional sacrifices were left in the correct spots nothing was done. However if this did not take place organized raiding and ambushes would take place (rather than the usual low level of raiding by trolls not party to his rule or just maddened by the corrosion of chaos on their minds. So generally the required lip service was paid to king Throgg but little else.

  Thorsafn was a fortified village of the Sarls just outside (the farthest real lowland forest short of the wastes proper) the northern lobe of the Gorlan forest that marked the last fortified place before you fully entered the territory of the mad Troll 'King' It was the exit point of the Everthunderpass that lead north into the wilds of Norsica as well and was a major invasion route into the richer southern lands of Kislev and beyond. There were major permanent campgrounds surrounding the stockade complete with latrines and water troughs ready for the springtime rush and the autumn return.

  Holmstein was on the southern coast of the estuary of the river Groene and was a major shipbuilding center with many slipways and lumber mills processing the wood of the forest of Gotland brought to them by the inhabitants of the villages of Gotland and Ulfenwyr. These individual Sarl tribes paid homage to various warlords and petty kings only rarely would a leader arise to unite them all.

  The classic longships of the Norse were sold at auction every summer solstice, where the various festivals and rituals of the Dark gods were also celebrated at the same time in mocking fervor of those that were held further south in the warm lands. The prospective raiders and pirates, kings seeking new fleets, warbands of knights seeking transport to war and other more mysterious figures. This brought in a large income to the Jarl of the town and his sub tribe of Sarls in the past his ancestors had risen to the position of high king (or over warlord of the tribe and other attached forces as was always the way in large chaos armies) and maybe they would again? At present this was used to finance his own fleet expansion and the expansion of the various side industries of large scale lumber felling such as pitch collection, turpentine and charcoal production (from offcuts etc) this facilitated a new facility of a small gunpowder mill and underground magazine along with a small workshop manned by captured southern and apprentice Norse gunsmiths.

  Selthis Lysk was a fortress west of Holmstein north of the Wulfseige forest that protected the road from there to Graennae town. It was manned by a group of Sarls who worshipped Nurgle so it seemed in to a state of total decay and was surrounded by the rotting remains of rubbish tips and dug up graveyards among the still formidable earthen and wooden defenses. The made an imcome from the toll they charged on the road, in times past this was little but with the changes taking place in the west this had changed.

  Graennae Town was placed on an island on the Kalti River Delta that was tidal in nature and was formerly surrounded by the Kalti swamp lands that stretched for many miles inland. It was until five or so years ago just another tribal town on the coast with its homegrown and visiting Norse raiders and visiting warbands and northmen or Chaos knight led armies etc.

  Then came a stranger from the far south that had turned to the true gods and brought knowledge to their followers so they might better fight the foe. He stayed two summers and one winter there. During this time he organized the large pool of slave labor available at this time (as a large army of the hated southerners had recently been defeated by a larger army of Sarls) This added to the already large group of slaves used to maintain, plant and harvest the crop lands around the town itself in the highest lying marshlands. Using this he ordered the digging of large scale drainage works and dams, along with constructing water pumps (manned as a punishment by errant slaves) to move water from one area to another. This allowed larger fields and different crops to be grown due to the employment of various Nurgelite shamans and mages (who created a miasma that raised the temperature of the area and allowed larger yields of sickly calorie rich foods, incidentally laced with spores that infected them with blessed plagues over time) also more cattle could be raised on better gazing meaning that warbands and armies going south had better access to food on the hoof that did not have to be stolen along with staple foods and consumables. By the time he (for points further north) left food production was such that a large surplus could be sold to the sparse lands of the north as well as supplying some of the needs of the endless stream of forces trickling to the south every spring and them some of them coming back.

  The need for constant and growing slave labor meant that a large slave market also grew up in the town itself meaning that fortifications in stone were required to protect them from fellow raiders and hostile forces wanting to steal their slaves, ships and gold. Each large local tribe maintained a clanhouse in the central district where any business needed at harvest time or during slaving season was conducted. This central area consisted of over imposing stone and thatched great halls covered in totems, sacrificial victims, enemies and sometimes just ancient bones. There was district beyond this of merchant houses, slave merchants compounds, weapon workshops, taverns, brothels and all the other things needed to make a small city rather than a primitive town. Finally there came the salve quarters consists of hovels and firetrap tenements or terraced houses built from mudbrick and roofed with whatever they could scavenge. They was no need for guards as next came the walls facing the land which were mostly concerned with keeping the workers in rather than defending anything (there were gangling towers whose inhabitants spent much of their time looking at the slaves rather than the farmlands and swamp outside the walls and defenses) The seaward defenses eventually sported several hell cannon bastions protecting the harbor and the breakwater, painstaking constructed to protect the shipping from the warp infused storm of the Sea of Claws and other less friendly visitors.

  The drained farmlands and slaves plantations succored by vile magic continued until Jarrpen (on the coast) in the south, where the southernmost food growing areas were viable due to warmer climate alone. Jaarpen boated a fine harbor that many raiders sailed from in the summer months bringing their cargo to fence for rough sprits ale, women and food meaning that there was some transshipment up the coast to Graennae town of slaves and booty. During harvest time the population grew massively with slave gangs driven by cruel men from the far north and groups of women and children eking out a living while their men-folk went south for death, glory or returning heavy with wealth and slaves.

  The territory of the Bearsonlings started near the town of Vinnskor set in the edge of the Sturen ridge overlooking the southern tributary of the River Goene, there was little that grew at this lattitiude and due to the winds flowing south little that was wholesome so herding was common and the 'Bears' who lived south of the mountains lived in a fashion little different from their nearest neighbors in Fort Stagnov (now abandoned) to the east who had formerly protected the Kislevites from raids originating from along Black Blood road leading to the pass that fed the major land invasions into the southlands since the time before recorded history.

  Hellpit (mostly dealt with in a separate section) over looks this road/route too and with the withdrawal of the Norse dwarves has taken over their abandoned working (often having to work for years to clear booby traps and engineered mine tunnels collapses) meaning that both the power of Clan Moulder has now grown to new heights in this local area.

  VinterHolm is the last major Bearsonlings settlements at the end of the Last Hope Pass leading to the base of the Fjelljer fjord. It survives on a toll charged on caravans going to the north and warbands and armies going south. They can do this as they are the first place with portable water in several long long days travel (the Goromadny Mountains are the wind break for the warpstone laden winds of the northern wastes so even to the warped drinking spring water from these slopes causes almost instant mutation and death to all those not strong enough to resist) the road leads to Skoegenburg then Kzarla where the road carried onto Black Blood after passing Hellpitt. All these towns and settlements fed themselves on herding reindeer and hunting the wild beasts while waiting for the advent of the fighting season where the roads came alive with pilgrims, armies, small warbands warriors and Chaos knights.

  By 2510 all kislevite, peoples forts and settlements in the Troll country and most of the northern Oblast had either been abandoned, destroyed or in the case of nomads just moved their herds and yurts south over the river Lynsk defensive lines. All farms and infrastructure were destroyed to prevent their use by the foe and to the extent possible natural resources such as springs or stock dams were destroyed or poisoned. Farmland seeded with weeds and inimical plants, orchards chopped down for firewood and animals hunted out or driven over the river crossings.

  2490-2510 Giants, they were scorned; drunken, stupid, cruel and often slaves to others but in some small cases had managed to capture their own territory and resources (the Badlands and other wild spaces were the most common areas for these families and small clans as opposed to loners or Slavegiants) Though all types of Giants were disappearing from the Old world and even the forgotten places of the world from 2450-2490 aprox meaning that the survivors were even more valuable to the Greenskin tribes and Chaos armies that desired them for cannon fodder.

  The Slavegiants population stayed fairly static, though these levels fluctuated as only the larger Ogre tribes could afford to keep even a small family of Giants both enslaved and fed enough to stay useful to their captors (so producing any meaningful number of offspring from any given family grouping, trading of male giants between settled Ogre tribes for stud duties was also a common practice especially as the 'wild' population dwindled) The only change over this period was the attempt to utilize some kind of armor for their slaves from black iron sourced from the Chaos dwarves.

  Then in 2490 five super fortresses of the ancient Sky Titans came to rest in the middle of their ancient lands (now mostly vacant apart from a few caravans, wandering monsters and Ogre tribes) onto the mountain ranges from which they had fled many thousands of years ago. When the Ogres of the past climbed these peaks they found them empty so assumed that they had finished the last of the Skytitan race. They enslaved the wandering children of those who already fallen, often protected by their families to allow them to escape in the first place taking with them to the lowlands of the Mountains of Mourn.

  The super fortresses are powered by magical machines that protected them from warp influences, sight and allowed it to fly among other functions. This device was not small in fact upon examination many of the larger cruder metal implements of the Ogres were scavenged from destroyed suburban Skytitan homes and reworked also various toy guns and hand weapons were taken.

  The secret of the most secretive of the Worlds races is that the Giants brain only starts to work efficiently when regularly above a certain altitude. They had according to themselves been developed by the Old Ones alongside the second birthing of Slann, their purpose was to erect the large scale physical constructions, high level work in the numerous mountains and newly risen plateaus (at first only to assist magical machines but after the fall they took up more of the load when required.) and helped to defend the mountains of Lustria and Naggaroth from the hordes during the first invasions along with any other form of assistance they could give their ancient allies.

  After the repulse and the ending of the initial chaos incursions the Skytitans were rewarded with domain over wherever they desired, they asked for the mountainous area in-between the far east and the arid lands in the Old World that came to be known as The Mountains of Mourn and the Giant lands. They spent many years making their new home to their liking incorporating Old One magi-tech and also receiving some assistance from the Slann as well as their servants in achieving some of their goals. These were of self sufficiency and freedom from want and war, achieved by magnificent isolation and material defenses. Only the original city fortresses constructed with the direct help of the Old Ones in times long past retained the ability to fly by 2700 IC though even the meanest mountain-top house sported some ancient item of power from minor to major.

  The Giants needed meat and lots of it to live at such heights and prosper so they maintained the herds and other stranger animals that they had adapted from local species with intensive breeding and genetic engineering. The Skytitans were also aided by the many mag-mechanical marvels inherited from the Old Ones, isolated from the damp heat some of the more delicate instruments and devices lasted longer (as well as less attacks by the various other species of this planet). Supporting marvels used to monitor the animals (the drones for this stopped working first, after a few thousand years. This was due to their small size making repair impossible for even the youngest self aware youngling.)

  While the youngest under the instruction of the oldest (the youngest rational Skytitans were also the smallest and able to perform some level of precision work) performed those tasks that their elders could not. Their society was solitary but there were several super complexes of houses and some civil infrastructure present along with fortifications and defenses built against the reappearance of the evil ones even in their secure fastness. (The four chaos gods have long memories and always hold a grudge) Many smaller houses and family groupings spread out east and west from there occupying secure locations, strategic choke points as well as mountains that appealed to their version of aesthetics.

  The Skytitans acted as distant overall guardians of the Mountains allowing some Dwarves (mostly either explorers, prospectors or mad-dwarf's permitted as they could extract and refine the minerals that the Old Ones machines that previously did the work could no longer perform due to malfunctions) to survive in their shadow, some mines, breweries and minor Karaks were established and lasted at least in a diminished fashion until the post Maw period. When the Ogres had finished with the Skytitans they forced the defenses finding little but full supply rooms and those dead who had not yet been interred (badly injured volunteers who had vowed to help fool the stupid creatures with their deaths and dismemberment) leaving their 'Tyrants' to crow to the heavens of their prowess before they moved on in their fashion following their almighty appetites.

  Before the Ogres arrived in a foul smelling wave of brutality, stupidity and could 'smash em' From the East a species of strange beings (that came to be known as 'Halflings' having fled from their larger cousins the Ogres before the advent of the great maw due their habit of eating them when the herds had traveled out of easy reach, this was also the period when the Ogres started to eat Cathayn Children and animals) to live on the lesser mountains and in the valleys under their protection, the majority of the 'Halflings' stayed however those that were the most indolent and mischievous choose to go west in hope of finding more fertile and gentle lands that reminded them of their lost homeland of verdant steppes and plentiful food. (Also to escape the dour nature of the Skytitans, the high altitude and boring food) They were not missed by the more sober leaders of the other Halflings ready to help the Mighty titans in their herding and the various tasks too delicate for even the children to perform easily, such as farming barley especially and hops in the warmer spots of the valleys. The coming of the Ogres changed all this eating the slow and driving the majority from their settlements up the mountains where great numbers fell unnoticed while the majority carried on fleeing.

  2720 IC The survivors of these destructive acts both Dwarf and Halfling could only retreat to one place with the twisted Dwarf-kin in the Dark Lands preventing the northern route while the southern route was deadly, infested with Greenskins of one kind or another and primitive aggressive human tribes all jockeying for position. So they begged for sanctuary from the last hidden fastnesses of the Skytitans before they left to escape with a nucleolus of their herds and their new allies.

  After taking off the cities flew to Lustria where they settled in the highest peaks of the Lizards domains, instead of in the previous thousands of years when population pressure demanded it large fortified mountain top fastness were established. The smaller passengers of the Skytitans were not permitted by the Lizardmen to stray beyond the bounds set for the Skytitans themselves. Though not appearing in many of the annals of the Lizards the Skytitans were potent magic users themselves and often provided their strength in secret to aid the Slann in their endeavors in return for their tenancy of the mountains and valleys.

  This meant that while there was extensive mining and over the years much refining no actual permanent settlement was permitted. The high altitude of course affected some individuals but over time the survivors either became acclimated or clustered in the few habitable high valleys permitted to them by the Slann and their servants. The cites themselves initially constructed with only the Titans themselves in mind were modified into warrens with the Dwarves choosing mostly the lower levels and the Halflings mostly being ensconced in the higher wall. Often their airy dwellings could be found in the rafters built to the same proportions as everything else here. They had to of course hold up the titanic edifices that were even the medium sized public spaces and even such mundane things as kitchens and banquet halls.

  The keen minds and smaller hands as well as the clandestine help from several of the younger Slann and their direct servants meant that some of the smaller devices such as the herding drones and some of the automated production facilities were restored to functionality. At the same time both the smaller species managed to produced cruder technology after doing so that was more sustainable and managed to make the cities comfortable for themselves even homey (such as steam heat in their houses, hydraulic lifts to travel up and down and food production facilities suited to their own size rather than their overlords requirements) overtime their technology became more efficient mirroring in some way and surpassing in others their counterparts in the Old World.

  Though many times the Skytitans, Dwarves and even the Halflings could have directly aided their allies in battle or repairing the damage of the multiple foes over the years the Slann insisted that there was a sacred Tablet that said that when the times are right the Titans and their servants must return to the world that they came from to right the wrongs of the past. And until this time is nigh they must remain within the bounds that have been predicated for them.

  In the lead up to the Endtimes the Titans sent expeditions to the east to collect their fallen kin (that had always filled the titans with sorrow that they had to leave their descendants in ignorance and poverty to make the world a better place eventually) and perform magical operations upon them that to a degree could rectify the mental restrictions that living at lower altitudes had placed on them and meaning that their children will be of the pure Skytitan heritage that is their birthright.

  The population of Skytitans was never that high and the addition of the Giants meant that their population might recover from the lows that it had reached by the time that the Endtimes was upon them while the dwarfs were also of a small population they managed to keep at stable levels due to little or no conflict with the evils of this world up to this point. The Halflings however had prospered and now managed all the food production and processing for their masters (given their size this meant large numbers were engaged to just one loaf of bread or prepare one mammoth carcasses for cooking and preservation) so unlike in time past their halls were filled with the smells of cooking and the sounds of chattering happy beings ready to support and even participate in the long predicated conflict to come.

  2491 after the cities had established themselves their allies and friends the dwarves immediately started the process of revitalizing and repairing the underworld of support mechanisms and magitech that had been left behind when the cities had flown away into the far west (the ignorant Ogres never even noticed when the war was going on, too busy gorging themselves on meat and engaging in debauchery with the Dwarves and Halflings remaining beer supplies.) The Halflings as well as the younger Skytitans and the rehabilitated Giants went down into the valley and the misty slopes and repaired the fallen field walls, water troughs, irrigation systems and so on. The use of magic meant that the first crops were ready in half the time that should have been possible meaning that supplies to brew and eat were readily available.

  The moment the first herds became established in their former ranges was celebrated in all the cities by the whole population, it was at this time the first Ogre tribe wandered down the Ivory road and came across a series of large grain fields and could hear the trumpeting of mammoths and other creatures. They also spied the figures of Giants and other tiny beings tending to these same foreign things.

  To say that they were dumbfounded was an exaggeration, of course they charged immediately to slaughter the animals and enslave the giants. Unlike in ages past the drones that watched the herds and fields along with the flesh and blood workers were armed. They were golden in color and hovered several feet in the air using some arcane methods to do along with magical lightening projectors (long metal rods that pulsed with strange powers and lights) that as soon as they made an aggressive move they fired each beam touching one Ogre then the next flashing through up to four before the energy had dissipated and only badly injured the fifth that it struck. However there were several of the machines in range and in minutes they managed to injured or kill the entire tribe in less than five minutes. The workers, herds and herders were not even much affected as the stupid creatures had not even thought to arm the Leadbelchers for battle before rushing in to the fight.

  There were many such encounters over the next few years though never sought for as the migratory tribes did not communicate so when some disappeared the others just thought they had wandered off for booty or food or a mercenary contract from someplace or person. Their population in most of the mountains was not effected however some puzzlement was starting to seep into the various major 'Tyrants' consciousnesses.

  The first contact the outside world had with the Titans had many consequences; it came in the form of a merchant caravan transporting among other things the material that the road was named for. It was massive in size numbering over several hundred people in number and if you included the guard force the number rose to a thousand in total. At the center were the many wagons, mule/pony pack trains and even some camel trains all carrying goods and silver for Far Cathay. The merchants either rode or sat on the wagons while the mercenaries marched or rode as was their training or preference.

  When they came upon the first signs of civilization, as the Ogres had before them they stopped in amazement, however unlike them they approached with peace in their minds. The first meeting was one of confusion as the Halflings spoke their ancestral language rather than Reikspeil and the Giants spoke their own language unrelated to any other tongue. Luckily for them there was one dwarf from the west, he was a young (50 or so) adventurer and was looking for the fabled riches of the ancient giant lands so that he could raise the money to restore his clan to its former prominence in his Karak.

  After a few mistranslations (though the dwarves language was similar after thousands of years there were some differences) The Merchant council that administered the caravan and owned all the shares in it decided to trade some of their goods to the Skytitans in return for the unique goods to use for greater purchases in Cathay. Over the years this contact only increased both ways in fact some caravans returning from Cathay only went as far as the giant lands before turning around once more to the east while others continued back to the west. This helped the decreasing profits from the purely historical trade as more and more of this traveled on hulls protected by increasingly deadly escort ships (some manned by former Tilean pirates) traveling in convoy.

  These goods consisted of the same high value low weight goods that had always been the meat and bread of the trade, they consisted of rare metals refined into ingot form, silver mined from beneath the titans fortresses (and the immediate peaks beyond by their dwarf allies.) the simple potato in all its various species (it being most useful in the mountainous environment that they lived in) was a marvelous trade good and food for the people of the caravans. The goods also ranged to marvelous simple magical devices such as lightening staffs, super magic armor and simple rune weapons that never go blunt.

  The introduction of the simple potato in 2495 to the Empire is credited with raising the population along with the various agricultural enterprises being undertaken at this time in the Empire and beyond. This food stuff also spread to Cathay and helped to do the same there to some degree, though only the Northern provinces and the far west were really suitable for the cultivation of the crop on a large scale sue to weather and climate restrictions.

  2510 The presence of the reborn Skytitans (though known to them their reborn power meant they had to ignored) was forced upon the major tyrants when the revenues they used to maintain rule over their 'subjects' were reducing along with the value of their Ivory (supplies from the plains of the tuskers in the Southlands delivered by merchants from northern Arby meant that the price and journey time were much reduced) that their hunters brought in. This lead to the second war…….