Gotrek and Felix: Myths and Legends

This is a dark age, a bloody age, an age of daemons and of sorcery. It is an age of battle and death, and of the world’s ending. Amidst all of 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 largest and most powerful of the human realms. Known for its engineers, sorcerers, traders and soldiers, it isa 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 and breadth 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 Edge Mountains, 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 nearer, the Empire needs heroes like never before.

INTRODUCTION

It has been many years since Gotrek Gurnisson, the most – or perhaps least – successful Trollslayer in the Warhammer World, first teamed up with Felix Jaeger, poet and student agitator. Many tales have been told of the pair’s adventures, which have spanned decades and crossed the world, from the darkest caverns beneath the Worlds Edge Mountains to the Chaos-corrupted lands of the distant north and the baking deserts and mysterious jungles of the far south.

Many strange myths and legends surround the pair. Some are true, and are recounted in the series of novels and short stories available from Black Library. Others, however, are tales told around campfires of the duo appearing in unlikely places at unusual times, tales of heroic battles against impossible odds. Three such stories are presented here, taken from Warhammer supplements of old.

Don’t spend time trying to work out where these stories fall into the timeline of the duo’s adventures – they don’t! They are possibilities, echoes of other realities where things went differently and the path walked by Gotrek and Felix was different from the one we know. They are truly myths and legends.

Enjoy them.

DEATH AND GLORY!

William King

‘Repent! This is your last night on earth! The end of the world is coming,’ the flagellant cried.

Felix Jaeger cursed the dark destiny that had dragged him into these terrible events. He should be at home in his father’s mansion, not listening to the ranting of some deranged maniac on the eve of what must surely be the one of the largest battles in the Empire’s history. This was no place for an aspiring poet.

Why did he have to be here? And where was Gotrek? The last time he had seen him the Trollslayer had been wandering off to booze with his fellow outcast dwarfs. What bad luck – they spend six days in the mountains hunting for trolls and when they return they find the Imperial army camped outside the walls of Hauptmansburg and all able-bodied men called to serve. All Felix had wanted was a decent meal and a comfortable bed, not a pitched battle with the hordes of orcdom.

‘Cast off your worldly goods! Dispose of your chattels! They will profit you not! The end is coming!’ the flagellant ranted.

Felix inspected the zealot with some distaste. The flickering firelight revealed an appearance that was most disturbing. His scrawny body was naked except for a loincloth and the tattered remains of a jerkin. Old scars criss-crossed his chest and legs. Fresh red blood dripped from a weal on his shoulders. Festering open sores marred his face and abdomen. Mad blue eyes glared out from his starved fanatic’s face.