Gascoigne Marc - Tales of the Old World

This is a dark age, a bloody age, an age of daemons and ofsorcery. It is an age of battle and death, and of the worlds ending. Amidst allof the fire, flame and fury it is a time, too, of mighty heroes, of bold deeds and great courage.

At the heart of the Old World sprawls the Empire, the largestand most powerful of the human realms. Known for its engineers, sorcerers, traders and soldiers, it is a land of great mountains, mighty rivers, dark forests and vast cities. And from his throne in Altdorf reigns the Emperor Karl Franz, sacred descendant of the founder of these lands, Sigmar, and wielder of his magical warhammer.

But these are far from civilised times. Across the length andbreadth of the Old World, from the knightly palaces of Bretonnia to ice-bound Kislev in the far north, come rumblings of war. In the towering Worlds EdgeMountains, the orc tribes are gathering for another assault. Bandits and renegades harry the wild southern lands of the Border Princes. There are rumours of rat-things, the skaven, emerging from the sewers and swamps across the land. And from the northern wildernesses there is the ever-present threat of Chaos, of daemons and beastmen corrupted by the foul powers of the Dark Gods. As the time of battle draws ever near, the Empire needs heroes like never before.

Editors Introductionby Christian Dunn

Freedoms Home or Glorys Graveby Graham McNeill

Ancestral Honourby Gav Thorpe

A Gentlemans Warby Neil Rutledge

The Doorway Betweenby Rjurik Davidson

Birth of a Legendby Gav Thorpe

Haute Cuisineby Robert Earl

Paradise Lostby Andy Jones

Night Too Longby James Wallis

Grunsonns Maraudersby Andy Jones

The Man Who Stabbed

Luther van Grootby Sandy Mitchell

The Faithful Servantby Gav Thorpe

The Sound Which Wakes You by Ben Chessell

The Sleep of the Deadby Darius Hinks

Path of Warriorsby Neil McIntosh

Rat Trapby Robert Earl

Rotten Fruitby Nathan Long

Faithby Robert Earl

Portrait of my Undying Ladyby Gordon Rennie

Seventh Boonby Mitchel Scanlon

Rattenkriegby Robert Earl

Mormacars Lamentby Chris Pramas

The Chaos Beneathby Mark Brendan

Wolf in the Foldby Ben Chessell

The Blessed Onesby Rani Kellock

Dead Mans Handby Nick Kyme

Shyi-Zarby Dan Abnett

Tybalts Questby Gav Thorpe

A Choice of Hatredsby C.L. Werner

Who Mourns a Necromancerby Brian Craig

The Hanging Treeby Jonathan Green

The Doom that Came to Wulfhafenby C.L. Werner

Hatredby Ben Chessell

Son and Heirby Ian Winterton

Ill Met in Mordheimby Robert Waters

Totentanzby Brian Craig

The Ultimate Ritualby Neil Jones and William King

So Ive just finished going over the running order for this anthology (orshould that be uber-anthology?) and theres so much I want to say.

Should I tell you about the time that I was literally an hour away from the submissions deadline for issue 22 of Inferno! and still a story down when the mail arrived containing CL Werners synopsis for A Choice of Hatreds? Itblew us all away and was commissioned on the spot (thanks Clint!).

Or should I tell you about how Robert Earls Rattenkrieg was originallyrejected by an over-zealous assistant editor only to be rescued when another staff member read the synopsis and realised how great the twist is (its on page429 but at least do me the decency of finishing this introduction before you rush off and read it)?

I could tell you how happy I am that most of the stories that were commissioned to keep on the shelf for Inferno! (see, I learned my lesson from issue 22) have now finally been committed to print in this volume.

I could also tell you that because I didnt get to write a farewell editorialfor Inferno!, Im ecstatic to finally have the chance to thank Marco andall of the authors and artists for making it such a success for so many years.

Would it be worth mentioning how, like a gym teacher whose protg goes on to win the FIFA golden boot or Heismann Trophy, how proud I am that many of these authors have gone on to become top-selling novelists for the Black Library and other publishers and imprints?

Maybe I could tell you that although I miss Inferno! like a faithful family pet or a kidney, its great to see the tradition of uncovering new talentbeing continued through the Black Library short story competitions.

I could even tell you that these thirty-six stories represent the finest writing from almost a decade of Warhammer short fiction and will take you on a journey from the heartland of the Empire to the madness-inducing landscape of the Chaos Wastes.

Or maybe I should just step away from the keyboard and just let you read the stories?

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Shadows leapt like dancers around the tall garrets of the crumbling towersand Leofric Carrard was starting to think that it had been a bad idea to agree to Lord dEpees request to venture into the abandoned depths of his castle.

The blade of Leofrics sword shone with a milky glow in the moonlight, itsedge like a razor despite him never having taken a whetstone to it. The Blade of Midnight was elven and Leofric hoped that whatever enchantments had been woven in its forging would be proof against the monster they were hunting, a creature of the netherworld, neither alive nor dead.

The ruined inner walls of the gatehouse reared above Leofric, the ramparts empty and dusty, and the merlons broken and saw-toothed. The gateway before him sagged on rusted iron hinges, the timbers splintered and yawning like an open mouth. Beyond the gateway, he could see one of the inner keeps, its solid immensity a brooding black shape against the sky.

Do you see anything, Havelock? he called to his squire.

No, sir, whispered the squire, his voice sounding scared, and Leofric hopedthat this venture would not see Havelock meet as grisly a fate as his previous squire, Baudel. Leofric still saw the bloody image of Baudel in his nightmares, his belly ripped open by the forest creatures of Athel Loren.