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Of
Chaos
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The Second Daemon War
Many Scholars to this day still believe that SlythRa’s gift was in fact
a type of geas, which gave him unholy powers but would also give the powers
to he who slew SlythRa in single combat. The chronicled records of the second
Daemon war provide evidence to reject this claim. SlythRa’s gift was in fact
a powerful stone set inside a talisman. The lesser Daemon Lords who had
perished in the first war had served their purpose to their masters. Such as
Xagraxis who had been sent to his death by his master, Oz. Oz was and still is the greatest Champion of Khorne, and at the
time he was pleased that Amon Chakai had made the first move against SlythRa.
He had underestimated Amon’s powers, however, and was surprised when he
learned that Amon had succeeded in killing himself and SlythRa. Oz was not alone in his quest for the stone, however. Zegroth, the newly
appointed champion of Slaanesh had also learned the truth that SlythRa’s
powers were in the form of a Talisman. So like vultures to a carcas, the
armies of Oz and Zegroth, both aware of each other’s presence, marched to the
supposed ruin of SlythRa’s castle in search of the stone. As both armies arrayed on either side of the plague valley, both Daemon
Lords were shocked to find the castle standing intact. It was supposed to
have been completely disintegrated by Amon’s explosion, a blast said to have
been heard as far away as Kislev. The fact was that SlythRa had returned and rebuilt his abode, and once
again it seemed as though the outcome of the war would be decided in a
titanic battle. It had taken SlythRa many years to escape from the warp and
return to the material plain and during this time Oz and Zegroth had been
battling with the newly arrived High Elves and Wood Elves to reach the valley
of pestilence. The Elven Alliance, at the command of Silvas and Tyrannoc, had joined
forces when they learned of the growing threat in north. The High Elves sent
a huge fleet to join with the Wood Elves who were encamped on the western
coast of Norsca. Sailing over the sea of claws
proved costly and nearly a fifth of the fleet was sunken by storms and
monstrous sea creatures. When the High Elves finally disembarked they found
themselves in the middle of an on going shore battle between Chaos Warriors,
Beastmen and the Wood Elves who were desperately trying to defend their camp.
With the arrival of the High Elves, however, the servants of Chaos quickly
retreated back into the Chaos wastes. An odd occasion it was as Wood Elf greeted High Elf with joy and hope.
After several days of organising and rest, the alliance set forth to
SlythRa’s abode. Unlike Oz and Zegroth, they knew that SlythRa had returned,
but what they did not know was that another dark agent was working secretly
against them. It was Amon Chakai who had roused the deep dwelling beasts to
attack the High Elven fleets and it was he who had sent the Chaos Warriors
and Beastmen to attack the Wood Elves. The Greater daemon of Tzeentch was
intent on seeing the three daemon Lords, SlythRa, Oz and Zegroth destroy each
other without the interruption of Elves. The Elves on the other hand, were
attempting to beat OZ and Zegroth to the Valley of Pestilence and then kill
SlythRa and destroy the stone. Amon Chakai sent a huge host of Tzeentch daemons to intercept the Elven
alliance. The two forces met on the Shadow plains, just south of the scorched
peaks which marked the boundaries of SlythRa’s territory. The battle lasted
for three long days and nights and if Amon Chakai had been present it may
have been a different story. The Elves had positioned themselves on a low
hill and with the massed ranks of spearmen and wave after wave of Wood Elven arrows;
the dark host was slowly beaten back into the night. The Alliance had won,
but not without a cost. The Daemons had had superior numbers and hundreds of
Elves lay dead. Tyrannoc himself had been severely injured in the battle. The Elves still believed that they had a large enough army to defeat
SlythRa, as long as they reached him before Oz and Zegroth. But that was not
to be so. Amon Chakai had slowed them down for long enough, and now Oz and
Zegroth lay but a days march from SlythRa’s castle. When the Elves did arrive
from the south, they were at a loss when they saw both Oz and Zegroth camped
on either side of the castle, and the walls of the castle itself swelled with
a host of diseased Daemons. For almost a day, the three forces surrounding the castle played
stalemate, neither of them willing to make the first move. Then suddenly
cries of despair and confusion sounded from the rear of the Elven army. From
the south, behind the Elven force, a dark shadow swept across the valley and
all who saw it knew what it meant. The Elves had battled through all of
Amon’s tricks and traps and now the Greater Daemon himself had arrived.
Reminiscent from the first war, a tide of Tzeentch Daemons surged over the
valley sides and into the rear of the Elven army. Unknown to anyone else,
the night before the battle, Oz and Zegroth had made an unholy pact and
joined forces. When they saw the confusion in the
rear of the Elven army, Oz seized the initiative and charged forwards with
Zegroth. Bloodletter and Daemonette fought side by side as they scaled the
walls of SlythRa’s castle and were met by uncountable Plague Bearers. In the Titanic battle that
followed, both Amon Chakai and the Elven alliance retreated from the
battlefield. After a furious siege, the armies of Oz and Zegroth finally
overran SlythRa’s defences and the castle was sacked. After the battle, Oz
flew into a terrible rage when he learned that SlythRa had slipped through
the siege lines and escaped. SlythRa
had only just managed to escape with his life, but during the confusion of
the battle he had lost his precious stone. Not knowing that SlythRa had lost
the stone, the alliance between Oz and Zegroth quickly broke down, with each
daemon blaming the other for the loss. The Elven alliance retreated back
into the old world and parted in good terms as the High Elves sailed back to
Ulthuan. The alliance had served its purpose; the stone was lost to the
Daemons. And so the stone that was to flare
up the fourth war was lost again. Scholars are at a loss as to explain what
happened to the stone. All agree that SlythRa had lost it. Some say that it
lie buried under the rubble of SlythRa’s castle, others say that somehow the
High Elves got hold of it and took it back to Ulthuan without their Wood Elf
allies knowing. Amon Chakai, it seemed, was
content with the proceedings of the war. The final outcome he had perhaps
predicted or even influenced, for who knows how deep rooted the plans of Amon
Chakai are? SlythRa searched for the stone for many years afterwards but his search
proved fruitless. SlythRa had lost his godlike power and cursing his ill
fortune his nature turned ever more hateful. His rise to power would
come again in the following years when he would once again thwart Amon
Chakai’s plans. It remains somewhat of a mystery as to why Oz and Zegroth did not fight
after their alliance ended. They had lost no contempt to each other and both
retreated back to their dwellings until the third Daemon war came. Extract from the ‘Ire De Daemonicus’ From books 2: Battle
of the Shadow Plain
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