WARHAMMER® ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING™

ZONE OVERVIEW

Norsca

Official Information from EA Mythic

Norsca is a forbidding realm of rocky hills and dark, overgrown pine forests haunted by long winters that blanket the land in perpetual frost. Though the jagged mountains and deep forests of ancient pine are a daunting challenge to men who would settle this cold northern expanse, the woods, rivers and bays of Norsca are rich with resources that sustain the hardy people who dwell there. Within the borders of this vast wilderness is a bountiful harvest for the many traders, trappers and fisherman that journey from the more civilized lands to the south.

In the eyes of most citizens of the Empire, Norsca is a wild and untamed land, full of dangerous creatures both natural and unnatural. Perhaps this is true in the deep north, but along its southern borders where Norsca joins with the northernmost provinces of Kislev, a civilizing influence has taken hold. Here, brave adventurers and resourceful frontiersmen who don’t feel at home in the cities and towns of the south cross the border into Norsca to find their fortune. Towns, villages, and isolated farms are scattered across the rugged landscape, and though their residents lead a hard life, they are largely happy in it.

For all the settling influence of civilization however, the dangers for which the land is known are quite real. In the northern reaches, barbarian tribes and followers of Chaos are numerous, and their raids frequently strike deep into the southern regions of Norsca. The residents of the villages here sometimes forge pacts with these tribes, intermingling and opening themselves to the influence of the Dark Powers through their alliances. Thus, even the most civilized of Norse are not to be trusted by righteous men.

The greatest dangers of Norsca are less commonplace by far, for this is the staging ground of Chaos. Here in the frozen north the servants of the Ruinous Powers draw together their numberless hordes, their ranks swollen with Northmen, twisted beasts, and terrible Daemons. These foul armies then march south into the lands of men, obliterating any civilization which stands in their way.

As the Age of Reckoning arrives, just such a force storms out of the brutal north, and down into the realms of civilized men. The isolated villages and settlements of Norsca find themselves besieged by the Chaos warhost and, stubbornly refusing to give up their way of life and join the invading army, prefer to fight to the death instead.

In the eyes of Tchar’zanek, leader of the warhost and Champion of the Raven God - one of the many guises of Tzeentch - the meager villages of the north are hardly a concern. They are at worst a nuisance, and at best a proving ground where his warriors may cut their teeth and gain a taste of the victory which must surely come in the south. Some villages hold out, defended by a courageous Wizard or hero. To these unfortunate souls, Tchar'zanek offers a bleak choice – join the legions of the Raven God, or be sacrificed in his name.

As the warhost marches, all that bars the way south is destroyed. Woods are cleared by unholy fire, and towns are put to the torch to make way for Tchar’zanek’s army. The advance of Chaos is as inexorable as the approach of a thunderstorm, and as ominous. This land will not be the stage of the final battle between the realms of Order and Destruction, for there can be no battle in a land so utterly defeated. Here, Chaos has won out completely over what little resistance there was, and has only gained momentum in the process.

Sacked and looted by the outriders of the advancing horde, the village of Gotland now serves as a base for the sinister agents of Tzeentch. Drawing on great magical powers to rend the very fabric of reality, they aim to consecrate the land itself with the essence of Chaos in the name of their dark master. When their sinister rites are complete the village will be used as a staging area from which the warhost will cross the borders of Norsca and begin its assault upon the nearby Empire. In towns along the Sea of Claws, the forces of Chaos gather and build, constructing great Dragonships that will carry them south to raid the coast of Nordland. This combined assault by land and sea will send the forces of the Empire reeling, unable to guess from where the next attack will come.

Norsca has always been a land of peril, but now it lies fully in the shadow of evil. Though it was never truly theirs, Norsca is now more lost to the forces of Order than ever before, and whatever buffer it might have provided against the forces of Chaos is now utterly overrun. It has become a place of bloodshed and ruin, and it seems it will remain so until men drive back the enemy warhost, or until Chaos ends the rule of men in the Old World once and for all.

The Ten Ton Thought:

The starting zone for the Chaos Warhosts should be a sweet and easy zone to start in right?  Wrong.  Norsca is where the forces of the Chaos Lord Tchar’zanek begin their march towards the Empire and it is here that their challenges start.  If you are looking for daemons, wild animals, and other competing servants of the Chaos Gods, then Norsca is the place.  Pity all the Chaos Gods can’t get along…

Want to discuss this and other Warhammer Online zones? Come post in our Enemies & Places forums reached by Clicking Here.