It was a stormy day when the scattered forces finally emerged onto the island of Albion proper. The forces of the Goblins, Trolls, Undead, and Chaos were united under the leadership of the mysterious Dark Emissary. Amidst ferocious gale winds and rain, a loose collection of the expeditionary forces of Dwarfs and Elves were joined by strange Lizardmen streaming out of the foliage to try and defeat the collection of marauding forces before they established further reach onto the island.

The Dark Emissary was joined by a strange beast seemingly grown from the island of Albion itself: a Fen Beast. It rampaged into the High Elves’ lines, but stalwart defense managed to resist its predations.

Magical spells from both sides swirled and eddied, and the strange fates woven about the island shifted alongside the battle’s results. The forces united under the Dark Emissary were bested, but only temporarily as they had extensive reserves waiting behind their initial battle line. The defenders had dabbled in Battle Magic and Elementalism, while the full host of magic lores leveraged by the attackers included Waaagh Magic (had been most powerful on Albion, surely what lured the scattered tribes there), Daemonology, Necromancy, and of course the Dark Emissary’s own destructive spells. That left the Winds of Magic on the island at the following point (chart active for upcoming 3/13/25 game):

Lore	Rank	Effect
Illusion	One	+3 to the casting total of each spell, but any double rolled (except a double 6) is a Miscast
Waaagh! Magic (plus Gork and Mork)	Two	+2 to the casting total of each spell
Elementalism (plus Lustria and Troll)	Three	+1 to the casting total of each spell
Saphestry, Naggaroth, and Athel Loren	Four	+1 to the casting total of each spell
Truthsayer	Five	Normal rules apply
Battle Magic (plus the Lady, Hashut, and Great Maw)	Six	Normal rules apply
Dark Emissary	Seven	Normal rules apply
Necromancy (plus Undeath and Nehekhara)	Eight	-1 to the casting total of each spell
Dark Magic (plus Beasts)	Nine	-1 to the casting total of each spell
High Magic	Ten	-2 to the casting total of each spell
Daemonology (plus Daemons, Horned Rat, and Chaos)	Eleven	-3 to the casting total of each spell, but there is so little magical energy here you cannot Miscast or cast a Perfect Invocation

What would happen next? And what of the strange figure seen summoning power atop the ridge line of the hills–lightning striking his upraised staff? The lightning strikes illuminated a set of Ogham Stones in a central clearing–and even at a distance the carved glowing runes in them spoke of immense magical power to those that controlled it. Forces from all sides raced forward to try and be the ones to secure it!

• Warhammer Old World