WARHAMMER® ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING™

ZONE OVERVIEW

Troll Country

Official Information from EA Mythic

Troll Country is the name commonly given to the cold and desolate territory that lies to the north of Kislev, and to the south of the Chaos Wastes. The landscape is every bit as harsh and unforgiving as the creatures who inhabit it; tall formations of jagged rock jut upward from the earth like the fingers of some monstrous creature trying to claw its way to the surface. The ground is broken and uneven, with steep inclines and sudden, treacherous pits and valleys. A chill wind blows perpetually across the bleak and barren terrain, rattling dead, dry leaves that hang from the skeletal limbs of the scrawny trees which dot the landscape.

As the name suggests, this arid, rocky land is infested with Trolls of every kind. In the valleys and crevasses where small streams still flow, River Trolls tromp through the muck in search of their next meal. On the wind-swept highland slopes, hard-skinned Stone Trolls slumber in dank caves by night and spend their days chasing wild goats or beating upon each other with crude clubs made from the trunks of trees. Far to the north lurk the most dangerous Trolls of all, the vile Chaos Trolls. Exposure to the mutating energies of the Realm of Chaos has provided these creatures with awesome, savage strength and unnatural fortitude.

To understand the importance of this remote and forbidding land to the events of the Age of Reckoning, it is first necessary to know the tale of a nobleman of the Empire, Anton Jaeger, who lived long ago. In a bid to increase his standing, Lord Jaeger set out to win the heart of Leticia Gaertner, second cousin of the Elector Count of Ostland. He proposed in front of the entire court, but was turned down.

The humiliating defeat shattered the nobleman’s pride, and he returned to his lands a broken man. Overcome with shame and despair, he commanded all of the members of his large family, as well as all those who served them, to pack their belongings and prepare for a long journey. So it was that more than a hundred folk of the Empire, noble and commoner alike, left their homes behind and made their way northward.

After an arduous journey far beyond the borders of the Empire, Lord Jaeger finally called a halt and ordered his great retinue to build a town, which he named Felde. For generations after, the inhabitants of Felde successfully defended their walled city against assaults from Trolls, marauding Northmen and even the dread creatures of Chaos. Recently, however, a far more insidious threat visited the people of Felde, and now the town is little more than a ruin: it is in this remote settlement that the terrible plague sweeping through the Empire was born.

Following a trail of clues first uncovered far to the south, soldiers of the Emperor's newly-commissioned Order of the Griffon have come to Felde to uncover the mystery of the plague's origins. It is a puzzle that must be solved if the Empire is to be saved from the ravages of the deadly epidemic.

When he receives news of the Empire's expedition into Troll Country, Warlord Tchar'zanek dispatches his own elite warriors, the dreaded Raven Host, to prevent the Order from unraveling the tangled threads that comprise the story of the plague's creation. The Raven Host has another, more sinister purpose for their foray into Troll Country; rumor has reached Tchar'zanek's ears that an ancient artifact of great power can be found there, in the possession of a particularly ill-tempered Chaos Troll.

Though Troll Country is far from the more civilized quarters of the Old World, the events that transpire there will have far-reaching ramifications. The brave forces of the Empire have a rare opportunity to gain valuable insight into the nature of the terrible disease that is decimating the populace. But foes are closing in on all sides and meanwhile, far to the south, the invading Chaos warhost continues to carve a path of destruction through the heartland of the Empire, drawing nearer to Altdorf with each passing day.

Ten Ton Thought

Not quite owned by Chaos or the realms of men, the are known as Troll Country is just that; owened by Trolls. With a now abandoned city that once boasted a small populace of Empire citizens, both sides of the Imperial Chaos conflict are interested in this large piece of land that divides them. It is rumored that from this location the dark Chaos Plague that haunts the Empire was set loose, and even now Knights of the Order of the Griffon are about looking for clues!