Realm of Ulgu

"Half-light, half-truth, half a life -- that is the best you can hope for, here."

—A Concise History of the Thirteen Dominions by Kretedes Glymm

The Sword of Judgement, the symbol of Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow

The Realm of Ulgu, also known simply as Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow and the "Grey Realm," is one of the eight Mortal Realms of the Cosmos Arcane that originally coalesced out of the magical energy of the Wind of Magic of the same name and the scattered remains of Mallus, the World-That-Was. It is a place of secrets and lies, where the laws of logic hold little sway. Ulgu has many names, all of them false, for its true name defies pronunciation, save when the speaker is in shadow and whispers, but even that is suspect. "Ulgu" is said by the Darkling scholars of the aelves to merely be a corruption of an ancient term in the Aelven tongue for "falsehood." Here Malerion, the god of shadow, reigns supreme and his will dominates all who dare enter his realm.

Regardless, certain truths about the realm are known. The Grey Realm is locked in a parallel orbit with its sister realm, Hysh, the Realm of Light. As a result, neither has night nor day -- in Ulgu there is only an oppressive, omnipresent twilit gloom, riven by deep oceans of shadow or pallid swathes of grey half-light. It is broken up into thirteen distinct regions -- known as the Thirteen Dominions -- each shrouded in its share of mist, illusion, and biding menace.

In the Age of Myth, Ulgu was said to be a home of philosophers and dreamers, a sanctuary for those seeking a softer existence than in other realms, such as Ghur or Aqshy. Those days ended with the coming of Chaos to the Mortal Realms. Ulgu in the wake of the Age of Chaos is now the graveyard of armies -- the scars of battle mark each of the Thirteen Dominions. The Cathtrar Dhule -- the "War of Shadows" -- is the terrible guerilla conflict between the Daughters of Khaine and the mortal and daemonic followers of Slaanesh, the Chaos God of pleasure and pain, who have come to Ulgu following their missing god's spoor. It has never abated, and Chaos has never managed to fully rule this realm. Entire armies have been swallowed in the Grey Realm's shadows with only corpses left behind.

The Thirteen Dominions of Ulgu, the Realm of Shadow, and its twin Hysh, the Realm of Light

The Thirteen Dominions remain independent, and have never been permanently united. Each boasts a multitude of competing kingdoms. Webs of intrigue and political manipulation bind these principalities to one another, as scheming kings and cunning viziers vie for supremacy, even as they marshal their forces against invaders. Much of this is due to the wills of Malerion and his mother Morathi. Secrets, conspiracies, and lies are as meat and drink to the Shadow King, who thrives on the quarrels of the Thirteen Dominions. Nor does the god of shadow's mother, the formidable High Oracle of Khaine, desire any power but hers to dominate within the Realm of Shadow and little occurs in Ulgu without her knowledge or consent.

While humans make up the largest population among Ulgu's peoples, it is the aelves native to the realm who hold the true power. In the Umbral Veil, Ulgu's darkest region, Morathi set her first and greatest temple-city, Hagg Nar. From the shadows of Hagg Nar, and Morathi's endless ambitions, the Daughters of Khaine were born. Lithe and cruel, this ancient blood-cult of aelven women has spread far from the mists of Ulgu since its creation, and every kingdom of the Grey Realm boasts several Khainite temples dedicated to different sects of the god of murder.

The Khainites, though, are not the only aelves in Ulgu -- within the inky seas of the Realm of Shadow lurk the dread Morladron, one of the grimmest enclaves of the Idoneth Deepkin.

One of the gloomy aelven cities of Ulgu

The human kingdoms of the realm are as varied as half-remembered dreams, but most are treacherous places, with swiftly changing rulers due to rampant assassination. Misthåvn, the so-called "City of Scoundrels," is one of the most unusual of Sigmar's Free Cities. A port city formed by a massive collection of ships moored to the shores of Cape Tenebrax, the city can be moved across the Penumbral Sea, or even broken up into its composite ships, as necessary. The city is divided into "armadas," many of which are commanded by cunning admirals or Scourge Privateer Fleetmasters.

Every form of illicit or contraband goods, from the darkest of illusory magics, to narcotics, to stolen Chaos weapons, are said to trade hands in this den of vipers. City natives pride themselves on their dubious reputation and all but openly mock the decrees of Azyr.

With the thinning of the gloom, when Hysh is in ascendance and the routes into Ulgu are clear, armies of those enslaved by the Dark Gods hurl themselves into Ulgu in ever-increasing numbers. The servants of the absent Slaanesh desperately search for any trace of their missing deity -- vast numbers disappear amidst the shadowed canyons, never to be seen again -- only the echoes of their screams remain. The convoluted tangle that is the politics of the Thirteen Dominions is near-irresistible to Tzeentch, the Changer of the Ways, Chaos God of change and intrigue and his equally cunning followers. The Tzeentchian convocations of the Host Duplicitous and the Grand Cabal are said to have made a grand wager over how many kingdoms they can each destabilise.

The Realm of Shadow as it appears to mortals.

Within the darkness of the Hushed Hills, a huge empire of Badsnatchers, spider-worshiping Grots, follow the arrogant Ogwotz Da Magnificent. The Badsnatchers make a point of stealing whatever each of their enemies’ values most: lands, treasures, or even people. The Skaven are also in evidence, though mostly as an unseen rumour, for it is the stealthy Clans Eshin who dwell here. Tales of shade-scuttling hordes and black-clad assassin-rats abound on the coasts of the Penumbral Sea and the Akkan Princedoms. In Duskwall City, a bounty on Skaven tails was declared after one of its most prominent merchant-princes was found in his bedchamber, partially devoured by vermin.

The effects of the Necroquake have done little to abate the Cathtrar Dhule; they have only caused hordes of ethereal undead to join in the constant frays. Despite Ulgu's myriad dangers, many believe the risks are worth the rewards of exploring it. The secrets of the Grey Realm are greatly desired by wizards and scholars, especially those of the Collegiate Arcane, and numerous exploratory expeditions have been sponsored. Other excursions are said to be funded by Azyrheim's and Hammerhal's noble aelven families, to find their lost kin, rumoured to be hidden somewhere in Ulgu. Most of these expeditions have failed, but scant few have returned to report as much. Of those who have survived, many claim that they were stalked and stymied even before they reached their destination.

Even with the coming of Sigmar's Tempest to the Mortal Realms, Ulgu has changed little. Its borders remain as obscure as ever, and few can say what goes on there. Not even those who call it home.

The Terrorgheist's ancestors may have come from Ulgu to Shyish, where they were enslaved by Nagash, the god of death.

Runemark

The runemark of Ulgu, the Sword of Judgement

The rune that is used to represent the Realm of Ulgu is the Sword of Judgement, a reminder to all -- noble or peasant alike -- that none can escape the judgement of the Grey Realm. The sword is often the weapon of choice of the aelven and human warriors of this realm.

History

"You should neither trust your eyes nor should you rely upon your other senses. They are not to be trusted, for this is Ulgu. And in this realm no fortress is ever safe -- for the shadows fall everywhere and there are many creatures that move at will through the darkness."

—Morathi, High Oracle of Khaine

Notable Events

Age of Myth

• Fall of Morathi - The essence of Morathi crashes into the Umbralic Sea in the Realm of Ulgu where she soon conjures mist elementals and shadow daemons for company after her form solidifies. Though immensely powerful, Morathi is angered that she does not yet command the powers of a full Ascended god like her son Malerion, the goid of shadow. Instead, she returns to her ancient devotion to Khaine, the ancient aelven god of murder and bloodshed, declaring herself his high oracle in the Mortal Realms.

• The Awakening - The aelven Ascended deity Tyrion, god of light and war, awakens in the Realm of Hysh with his twin brother Teclis, god of light and knowledge, and they begin to explore that realm. Malerion also awakens in the Realm of Ulgu and discovers his mother Morathi is also already present, though she has not attained full divinity -- yet.

• A New Beginning - Malerion, Morathi, Teclis, Tyrion and several cabals of wizards capture Slaanesh, the Chaos God of pleasure and pain, and imprison him in the Hidden Gloaming and begin to extract aelven souls native to the World-That-Was from the Dark Prince's essence. Teclis uses the reclaimed aelf souls to create a new species -- the Cythai in the Realm of Hysh, but they flee from him into the depths of the Gealus Ocean. Teclis the Illuminator reshapes this new species, teaching them magic in hopes of rebuilding the noble and glorious aelf empires that once existed on the World-That-Was.

• Expansion of Hagg Nar - Led by Morathi, the Daughters of Khaine spread outwards from Ulgu's temple-city of Hagg Nar. The high oracle has stolen the secret of Malerion's shadow-shifting magic, and those shadowpaths allow swift travel over the vast distances of Ulgu. Fighting all manner of foes across all Thirteen Dominions of the realm, the Daughters of Khaine secretly expand, establishing dozens of new temples.

• Great Culling - To purge new lands for settlement, monsters and Orruk tribes are slain, alongside several clans of men. When Sigmar comes to avenge his peoples, Morathi points out that they had been tainted by Chaos, and that their deaths were necessary.

• Blood Strife - The expansion out of Hagg Nar is not without growing pains, as each of the newly formed sects of Khaine seeks to dominate the others. Unchecked, natural rivalries descend into open battle. Morathi allows the civil war to run its bloody course, and uses it to weed out the weakest, as well as those she deems too ambitious.

• A Power to Rival Hagg Nar - The temple at Ironshard -- which will grow to become the major sect of Khelt Nar -- is founded by Morathi, overtly because of its surrounding defensible lies upon the centre of a powerful spiral of shadow magic. To clear the surrounding lands, the shrine's Daughters of Khaine are forced to hunt down and kill hundreds of the most monstrous creatures of the Shadowlands, as well as dozens of Bonesplitter tribes. It is a task they revel in, and which sees Khelt Nar develop rapidly.

• The Fragmented God - Although she secretly knows that she possesses the only surviving shard of Khaine, Morathi commands the god's followers to hasten his return to full strength by finding more lost splinters, and so many war covens are dispatched on holy missions to scour the Mortal Realms.

• First Caillich Coven - As the wars of the Cathtrar grow, Morathi is forced to call the first Caillich Coven -- a summons where every Khainite temple sends a tithe of warriors to the High Oracle. Luxcious' legions are halted at the Battle of Druchxar -- too late, however, to save the temple of Neff-Taal from utter corruption at the hands of Chaos.

Age of Chaos

• Aelf Wars - Conflicts begin between the Daughters of Khaine and the Idoneth Deepkin. Several enclaves, notably the Fuethán and the Dhom-hain, show a preference for stealing Aelf-souls over those of other races, whom they deem inferior. Although the temples of Morathi's kin prove difficult to find, hidden as they are in the Shadowlands of Ulgu, several war covens are found by the Idoneth and ambushed. The Khainites known as the Kraith vow revenge upon all Idoneth Deepkin.

• Beginning of the Cathtrar Dhule - Although spared the brunt of the Dark Gods' attention in the early days of the Age of Chaos, it is not long before a true assault upon Ulgu begins. Dozens of campaigns press inwards, assailing each of the Thirteen Dominions. The greatest nemesis of the Daughters of Khaine is the rapacious greater daemon Luxcious the Keeper.

• Skaven Wars - The Realm of Shadows holds many secrets. Following a hidden path that spirals into a mist-labyrinth, Morathi seeks to establish a new colony, but instead discovers a lair of skaven assassins. So begins a series of retaliatory strikes that escalate into the Skaven Wars, a conflict that sees many Khainite temples raided by the elusive ratmen. From small, running skirmishes to vast battles, each side seeks to uncover and destroy the other’s secret strongholds.

• Discovered by Daemons - The questing armies of Slaanesh grow more and more prolific. They seek any sign of their missing god, leaving no corner of the Mortal Realms unturned, but concentrating especially upon Ulgu. In the Realm of Shadows, an army led by the Keeper of Secrets Sslish the Depraved picks up the scent of an Idoneth Deepkin raid from the Aighmar enclave and follows them back to their colony. Sslish is defeated but more trouble is soon to follow.

Age of Sigmar

• Sigmar's Tempest - Sigmar launches his new war upon Chaos, soon sending his armies to all the Mortal Realms. Envoys search Ulgu for Morathi, but her shadowspells keep all Khainite temples hidden from the God-King. When it finally suits her purpose, the two sides join forces for the first time since the Age of Myth at the Battle of Dolmen Heights.

• The Seekers Return - The brief respite that followed the arrival of the Stormcast Eternals in Ulgu comes to an end as more and more mortal and immortal followers of Slaanesh pour into the realm. With the corruption of the shadowpaths by Chaos forces, the battles of the Cathtrar Dhule resume. Slaaneshi-led invasions strike over a dozen Khainite temples, and even Hagg Nar is besieged. The campaign to control the shadowpath network begins with the First Battle of the Murkfields. With swift invasions, Chaos armies rule the pathways initially, but counter-attacks by war covens reclaim many of the major routes. Across the Shadowlands, such battles still rage, absorbing a great deal of Morathi’s attention.

• Umbral Sea Ambush - Hoping to bring an end to hostilities between the Idoneth Deepkin and the Daughters of Khaine, High King Volturnos accepts a meeting with their leader, Morathi. He is eager to work out a truce between the two aelf peoples, but Volturnos is deceived. He has been lured into a meeting not with the High Oracle of Khaine, but with the Masque – a powerful daemon of Slaanesh. In the ensuing battle Volturnos loses an eye, but escapes with his life.

Current Events

Ulgu is home to many fleets of the aelven Scourge Privateers.

Only a fool would ever call Misthåvn, the City of Scoundrels, "safe," but recent events have stoked tensions and made the already treacherous deck-streets of Misthåvn more dangerous still. Murder is a near-pastime in the Realm of Shadow and all too common within the dank holds, but something truly wicked is tearing people apart in the city. Corpses, ritualistically cut and flayed, have been found in improbable, and occasionally seemingly impossible, places. Some say the cuts closely resemble the work of various sects of the Daughters of Khaine, angering Misthåvn's resident Witch Aelves; others say it is the work of Chaos, vampires, or mutter old disturbing tales of the nameless things that are said to lurk within the depths of Ulgu.

Misthåvn is a rough place, but even still many that are faithful to the God-King Sigmar dwell in this troubled Free City. Lord-Veritant Coldbyrne, the Stormcast Eternal who serves as the ruler of the city, is hard-pressed to police Misthåvn at even the best of times, and he deems that this new threat may be well beyond even his considerable skills. With tensions already running high and the various cut-throat factions of the city sharpening their blades for imminent fighting in the streets, the Lord-Veritant needs help that fears neither the shadows of the City of Scoundrels, nor the terrors that may stalk within them.

Notable Locations

The Realm of Ulgu (left) where it borders the Realm of Hysh (right).

• Penumbral Sea - Kingdoms of Flesh-eater Mordants floated in the Penumbral Sea.

• Quicksilver Swamp - Scyla Anfingrimm hunted and killed the ur-hydra Gorgahul here.

• Spyrglass Warrens - The Spyrglass Warrens were destroyed by Chaos Daemons. Urglom only survived by feeding on his kin.

• Shadrac Convergence - The Shardrac Convergence is one of the most important regions in the Realm of Ulgu. Situated at the meeting point of many of Ulgu's Thirteen Dominions, Shadrac is a nexus of trade and politics between the dominions. Yet, at its centre sits one of the most shrouded and gloomiest regions of all of Ulgu, the Umbral Veil, an ocean inside the Shadrac Convergence located between the continents Va-Leth and Greater Ulguroth. The ocean itself is south east of the Penumbral Sea and north of the Inner Shadrac. The Umbral veil contains the Helleflux, a geyser of pure shadow magic that emits bubbling mists of dark Ulgu energy into the realm.

• Umbral Deeps - The Umbral Deeps was one of the few locations where Archaon was repelled during the Age of Chaos.

Notable Realmgates

• Bridge of Sorrows - The Bridge of Sorrows is a Realmgate that connected Ulgu and Shyish. After it was opened and corrupted by Chaos, the Seraphon intervened.

• Penumbral Gate - The Arcway of Ulgu. The fate of this Realmgate is currently a mystery, as all forces sent there do not return.

Notable Inhabitants

• Caengan Lodge^[7]

• Shroudling Kings^[7]

Sources

• Warhammer: Age of Sigmar Primer (1st Edition)
• Warhammer Age of Sigmar Roleplay - Soulbound - Rulebook (RPG), pp. 182-183
• Malign Sorcery (2nd Edition), pg. 32
• Age of Sigmar: Core Book (3rd Edition), pp. 60, 118