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“ | Six Treasures shall be his Mark. Forged from the Other World, six treasures shall he Possess. Upon his head the Crown shall see all, and Open Eye will prove woe to mortal kind. Then shall he ride unto the world. Here will be Four united unto One. And five shall be the armies of Doom. Then will the world know that the Last War has begun. With the coming of doom will march a lowly boy. Anger shall be his nourishment and blood his wine. And from the land tamed will rise a champion. Disease shall be his downfall and savior divine. A King's son shall be the Chosen. In power will he thrive and glory in his name. And with the coming of the End of Times, the Old will fall by the Hand of the New. | „ |
~ Archaon's monologue. |
Archaon, also known as The Everchosen and originally known as Diederick Kastner, is the secondary antagonist of the Warhammer Fantasy tabletop war game, serving as the main protagonist of his own books, the main antagonist of both Storm of Chaos and The End Times and the overarching antagonist of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. His Warhammer 40,000 counterpart is Abaddon the Despoiler.
Biography[]
Conception[]
Virtually nothing is known about Archaon the Everchosen's early life or childhood. From the few pieces of information that survived his attempts to purge them, however, it is known that Archaon is not his true name and that unlike most Chaos champions, he was not born in the Northern Wastes. According to legend, Archaon was once an Imperial citizen of Nordland called Diederick Kastner, a Templar Knight of the God Emperor Sigmar, who was zealously devoted to battling the forces of Chaos.
Quite fittingly, however, the man who would one day seek to bring ruin and destruction to the world and all of its people had a very dark origin. According to the dread Book of Divination, a foul book penned by the heretical mystic Necromodo the Insane, the ultimate champion of the Dark Gods of Chaos would be born from an unholy union between the north and the south, the two mortal enemies united through the Everchosen's blood. Even though this wretched article was locked away within Liber Caelistior, the dark priests words were eventually proven true.
In the year 2390 of the Imperial Calendar, Emperor Magnus the Pious slew the 12th Everchosen during the First Great War against Chaos. With this victory, the new emperor defeated a great enemy and brought temporary peace to his domain allowing the Empire to rebuild and reorganise. In spite of this victory however, the followers of Chaos had still left their mark upon the land. Unbeknownst to the masses, the greatest of these threats was born in the small fishing-village of Hargendorf.
At some point during the war, the settlement was attacked and overrun by a Chaos host, leaving the helpless residents at the mercy of the warp tainted men. One of the participants in this engagement was Be'lakor, the First Daemon Prince of Chaos, who had taken possession of one of the invaders. On that day, Be'lakor, in the guise of a human, would father a child via a helpless peasent woman. Despite what happened to her, this poor Imperial citizen would (for reasons unknown) see her pregnancy to term, eventually giving birth to a healthy baby boy.
What happened to the child afterwards however, is hotly debated.
- According some sources, he was raised by his family, who chose to ignore his origins. He later married, started a family and eventually joined the Templar Knights of Sigmar of his own volition.
- Other sources however, claim that the boys mother died either during or shortly after giving birth to him. The womans husband, fully aware of his step-sons origins, felt no love for the boy and abandoned him upon the steps of the local temple. There, the infant was found and adopted by one of the priests, who raised him as both his own son and in the ways of the Warrior God Sigmar.
Whatever the case, these early years were probably the happiest of Deidrick Kastner's life and if fate had been kinder to him, it might very well have remained that way.
Abandoning Sigmar[]
According to rumor, Archaon was once a Templar of Sigmar and zealously devoted to battling the forces of Chaos. But then he read ancient manuscripts written by Necrodomo the Insane, which told about the nature of Chaos and took a blasphemous stand against the Sigmar religion. What particularly caught his attention was the Prophecy of Fate the manuscript spoke of.
Enraged by what he’d read, he burned the temple and the manuscripts, calling the gods liars and turning against Sigmar forever, before he hunted down and slew his entire family. Now calling himself Archaon, he headed into the Chaos Wastes, offering himself to the Chaos Gods as their tool of destruction. The gods used their dark powers to increase Archaon’s lifespan, so he spent a century searching for the six treasures of chaos while taking control of the northern tribes.
The "End Times" series of books, however, tell a different story. There is little doubt to the credibility of his being a former Templar of Sigmar, but his story is written differently; a scant few years after the first Great War against Chaos (in the year 2390, as reckoned by the Imperial Calendar), the man who would become Archaon was born in the Imperial province of Nordland. However, he was not a true-blooded Imperial- "it was foretold in the Liber Caelistior, the dread Book of Divination penned by Necromodo the Insane, that North and South would meet in the Everchosen's blood". This was true, for Archaon was the spawn of rape, courtesy of a champion from the Varg tribe of the Warriors of Chaos forcing himself upon a fleeing innocent from the village of Hargendorf.
His step-father loathed the child and, following his mother's death, abandoned the baby on the steps of the temple of the Order of the Twin-Tailed Orb. A local Sigmarite priest raised him in his parents' stead and, for a time, Diederick Kastner - as he was known then -knew some form of happiness. Alas, his true origin and his vile destiny eventually became known to him. Despair captured him and, in that moment, he had one hope to save his soul- he would undertake a pilgrimage to the Temple of Sigmar, in the Empire's capital city of Atldorf and pray for his salvation.
Journeying many miles, with his horse being his only friend on this long journey, Diederick reached the temple. Kneeling in piety towards the Golden Statue of Sigmar, he begged for a sign, something to help keep the darkness from taking his soul. The statue remained silent as stone and, in that moment, Diederick knew he was damned for eternity. Cursing the gods of the south (and renouncing his once boundless faith in them) -but also refusing to embrace the Dark Gods that his true father had followed -the once-pure man that had been Diederick Kastner accepted that his duty was to end the world (if only to repay the Fates for the cruel joke they had played on him). Thus did Diederick Kastner die... and so, also, did Archaon take his place.
The Mark of Chaos[]
The first treasure of Chaos that Archaon sought out was the Mark of Chaos, which marked the bearer as the chosen warrior of all the Chaos Gods. Archaon went to get this one from the Altar of Darkness in Naggaroth along with a small band of Chaos warriors called the Swords of Chaos. They battled their way to a huge citadel and upon entering, found it so dark that when one tried to light a torch, it was snuffed out. Unafraid, Archaon marched alone into the darkness, slaughtering hundreds of the misshapen monsters that had infested the citadel. He reached the altar for the Chaos Gods, offering up the hearts of all the creatures he’d slain. Archaon then emerged, the Mark of Chaos eternally burning on his forehead.
The Armour of Morkar[]
The second treasure was the Armour of Morkar, an extremely strong set of dark armor that was worn by the first Everchosen, who’d been killed by Sigmar. Leaving Naggaroth aboard a stolen ship of black metal that was pulled by a sea drake, Archaon took command of a seafaring warrior band. Sailing to a mysterious land, home to strange half-humans that had felt neither the sun nor moon, Archaon battled them and reduced their cities to nothing in 6 days. He delved deep into their necropolis where he found the Tomb of Morkar and inside, the armor. But as Archaon reached out to claim it, Morkar’s spirit animated the armor, attacking him and unleashing a rain of blows. However Archaon spoke a curse in the tongue of the Unberogen tribe, stopping the assault for a moment. This gave him the chance to strike the armor down, driving out Morkar’s spirit and letting Archaon claim it.
The Eye of Sheerian[]
The third treasure was the Eye of Sheerian, which was named for the Sorcerer of Tzeentch who found it. When mounted in the Crown of Domination, it granted the possessor prophetic and omniscient powers. Fresh from gaining the armor of Morkar, Archaon went after the Eye of Sheerian, which was in the treasure horde of a Chaos Dragon called Flamefang. Since the dragon held the Eye dearer than any of its other treasures, Archaon had to make his request for the Eye by driving his ax into Flamefang’s head. The two battled for ages with Flamefang breathing fire on Archaon and even swallowing him at one point, but the Armour of Morkar kept him safe. Slicing his way out of the dragon’s throat with great ferocity, Archaon left Flamefang’s throat in tatters and the dragon died, allowing Archaon to take the Eye of Sheerian from his chest.
Dorghar, the Steed of Apocalypse[]
The fourth treasure was Dorghar, Steed of the Apocalypse, a huge demonic horse. Archaon battled his way through the Daemons guarding the palace of the great Agrammon, before sneaking inside, using a creature that was a hybrid of man, mammoth, and insect. Within Archaon noticed every form of creature imaginable, along with some that could not be imagined. He snuck into Agrammon’s stables, tracking Dorghar via the smell of sulfur that it emitted. Despite Dorghar bursting into flame and changing shape, Archaon broke it and rode it out of the Realm of Chaos. Many armies pursued him, but with the Steed of Apocalypse carrying him, Archaon outran them all until they dropped dead of exhaustion.
The Slayer of Kings[]
The fifth treasure was the Slayer of Kings, a powerful sword with the soul of an enraged demon called U’zhul trapped inside it. Archaon heard it rested upon the Chimera Plateau and headed there after stealing Dorghar. The warriors fighting there saw his determination and the great destiny that awaited him and quickly flocked to his side. After slaying the Chimeras guarding the higher plateaus, Archaon and three companions headed for the top. Upon reaching the top, Archaon was able to look out over the entire world and swear that all of it would be his. But suddenly the mountain behind him turned over as if it were a sleeping creature and Archaon realized it was actually Krakanrok the Black, father of the Dragon Ogres. Knowing that even he didn’t have the power to defeat such a gigantic monster, Archaon and his companions snuck past. However Krakanrok was holding the Slayer of Kings to its chest and one of Archaon’s companions, Prince Ograx the Great was able to lift one of the monster’s huge claws. This allowed Archaon to claim the sword but the spirit of U’zhul began to shriek, causing Krakanrok to start waking. Thinking fast, Archaon slew Ograx, quenching the Slayer of King’s thirst for royal blood and letting him sheath it, and returned to his cheering followers.
The Crown of Domination[]
With five of the dark relics in his possession, Archaon's journey was almost complete. However, in order to achieve his dream and become the Everchosen, he needed to find the sixth treasure. The last and most important one of all: the Crown of Domination. This unholy ornament was the symbol of the Everchosen's power and absolute control over the forces of Chaos. Once it rested upon his brow, none would dare to challenge Archaon. However, for the first time since he began his unholy mission, fate was not on Archaon's side. Inspite of his determination and desire, the crown eluded him. For many decades, the contendor and his army traversed the Chaos Wastes, slaughtering any and all in their path. Yet the crowns location was not recorded in any text and the leads they followed always turned up dead or empty. For a brief moment, it looked as though Archaon's mission would end in failure and the world would be spared from his evil.
Then, finally, after many years of pointless wandering, a priest of Tzeentch revealed to Archaon that there was somebody who could tell him the crowns location. This individual was none other than Be'lakor, the creature responsible for both his birth and his suffering. Using a dark ritual, Archaon summoned the creature that was essentially his father to him. The pair showed each other no affection, with Archaon demanding to know the location of his prize. Masking his true intention, Be'lakor who sought to claim the power of the Everchosen for himself, told his spawn that the crown rested within an ancient shrine at the peek of Worlds Edge Mountain. As a gesture of "good-will" he offered to guide the champion to its location.
Archaon accepted this offer. Leaving his army behind to fight against the local beasts, he took only Dorghar with him, before following the Prince of Darkness to the shrine. The demon led Archaon through twisting paths, climbing higher and higher with each step until finally, after a day and a half of travel, they stopped before a giant double gate, concealed upon one of the icy peaks. This, as Be'lakor explained, was the first ever shrine of Chaos and the place of the final judgement. It was here that the one who wished to be the Everchosen would face their greatest test. Archaon may had defeated countless daemons, rivals, innocents and other evils, but now, he would face a test from each of the Dark Gods. In order to claim the Crown of Domination and the mantle of the Everchosen, Archaon would have to show the thirsting Gods that he was not only their strongest follower but that he was also truly undivided, favouring none of the over the other.
Knowing that he would get no second chances and that failure would result in either death or something much worse, Archaon realised that this was a challenge that he must truly face alone. As the giant gates swung slowly open, the prospective Lord of the Apocalypse dismounted and entered the shrine.
Upon entering, he was confronted by a huge maze, filled with daemons and other foul creatures, all tainted by the warp, each with a single purpose: protect the crown from the unworthy. Naturally, with the Slayer of Kings and the Armor of Morkar at his disposal, Archaon was easily able to overcome these obstacles. The real danger had yet to reveal itself. Yet at long last, Archaon met his challenges. One by one, each of the Chaos God's tested him, ready to find out whether or not this man was indeed worthy of their blessing and his title.
- First came the trial of Grandfather Nurgle. The Lord of Rot and Decay unleashed the full might of his garden upon the mortal man. Archaon's armor and body began to wither, until finally he could barely walk. Yet even as his body gave out, his mind remained strong, urging him to keep moving. As such, Nurgle recognised Archaon's determination and endurance, allowing him to continue.
- Next up was Tzeentch. After healing the prospective champions body, the Lord of Change threw a physical obstacle in Archaon's way; a second labyrinth, made from enchanted crystals. Within these tainted gems, Archaon saw visions of his past, potential futures and alternative realities. Some were impossible to achieve, whereas others were just as likely to happen as the next. Refusing to be deceived, Archaon blindfolded himself with a strip of cloth, then navigated the maze, using nothing but his instincts to find his way out. Only after the whispering stopped did Archaon remove the binding, having proven to Tzeentch that he cared about nothing but his own goal.
- Slaanesh, the Dark Prince of Excess took its turn and their challenge was far more difficult than either of the previous ones. Within the hall of pleasure, Archaon was confronted with every desire that a man such as himself could yearn for: fine foods, thirst quenching wines, endless wealth, undying loyalty and pleasurable company. It could be his for all of eternity, if he would just sample them. Yet, even as his senses burned with desire, Archaon recognised these temptations for what they were: empty promises made by puppets of the Dark Gods. As such, Archaon marched through, ignoring each and every object/person, showing the Prince of Pleasure that he had an indominatable will.
- Upon exiting the last chamber, Archaon was not confronted by another chamber but a causeway. Upon either side of the walkway was a raging fire so intense, that, even from this distance it burnt his very flesh and hair. Looking across the bridge however, he could see a doorway. With his objective finally in sight, Archaon stepped forwards, only for his final challenge to emerge. With a roar of anger, a giant Bloodthirster burst forth from the flames. Blessed by Khorne, the God of Blood and Warfare, this foul entity, the embodiment of its master, would be Archaon's last great obstacle. With no choice, Archaon battled the Greater Daemon, sustaining serious injuries over the course of the engagement. Eventually, however, Archaon manged to wrestle the Bloodthirster’s weapons from its graps, before strangling the beast to death with its own whip. As the warp creature disappated, Archaon fell to his knees, weakened and exhausted but alive.
A moment later, the burning fire vanished and the scene around Archaon changed. Having demonstrated his superior strength to the Blood God, the labyrinth, the chambers and the causeway Archaon had passed through disappeared. The armored warrior found himself kneeling within a simple, withered shrine. Across from him, was a throne, upon which sat a withered corpse of a long dead chaos worshipper. And there, upon the ancient skulls brow sat a simple black and gold crown with eight points, small enough to fit beneath the helm of Morkar and with space for the Eye of Sheerian. The Crown of Domination!
With an evil laugh, Archaon mustered the strength to rise and rip the relic from its resting place. The moment he touched it, his wounds began to heal and his body started to course with a power such as he had never felt before. Triumphant, Archaon raised his treasure towards the heavens. His quest for the six relics was finally over.
Turning his back on his long dead predecessor, Archaon exited the shrine and returned to his army. Standing before the men that had pled their allegiance to him, Archaon was once again approached by Be'lakor. Aware of the Demon Princes intentions, the Thirsting Gods as a final insult and punishment ordered their oldest servant to crown their new champion. In accordance to his master's instructions, Be'lakor united the crown with the eye. Then, as a twin-tailed comet flew overhead, Be'lakor set the crown upon his spawns brow. As he redonned the helm of Morkar, Archaon's followers began to chant their lords name; that of the thirteenth Everchosen. The transformation that their master had started over a century earlier was finally complete. They had helped him take one step closer towards the death of the Old World and the forthcoming of the apocalypse.
On that day, Diederick Kastner was truly reborn. The Templar Knight of Sigmar was completely destroyed and Archaon the Lord of the End Times was born.
Storm of Chaos[]
With a huge army of Chaos warriors behind him, Archaon marched into the Empire from the north, while his herald, Crom the Conqueror, marched over the Worlds Edge Mountains, attacking from the east. Knowing that he would lose if Man, Dwarf, and Elf stood against him, Archaon had only one choice, to strike hard and fast at the Old World. The Lord of the End Times planned to invade Middenheim, capital city of Middenland, then enter the Temple of Ulric and corrupt the Eternal Flame within. By using his essence to corrupt the flame, it would be extinguished and signal the End Times. Archaon’s campaign went well and he even managed to fell Volkmar the Grim with one strike from the Slayer of Kings. He laid waste to three Imperial provinces before entering a climactic battle with the Empire’s forces. Archaon personally took on Valten, Exalted of Sigmar in one-on-one combat, eventually striking him what seemed to be a mortal blow. Luthor Huss managed to strike Archaon on the head, but the Lord of the End Times knocked him away. However he was attacked out of nowhere by Grimgor Ironhide, who smashed his shield and struck him in the face. But though he held his blade as if to finish Archaon, the orc instead just declared “Grimgor iz da best!” and left the field. His campaign finished, Archaon apparently retreated back into the Chaos Wastes, leaving the Empire a mess.
The end times[]
The time-line "Storm of Chaos" has been recently replaced by the End Times,In which it goes back to the moment when Archaon is crowned by the jealous and megalomaniac daemon prince Be'Lakor.
After getting crowned, Archaon begins to gather all the north tribes, chaos workshippers, enemy races of the Empire and other forces of the Warp to create the greater army in history. Also, the chaos storms begins to intensify, summoning demons and other vile creatures of the Warp.
Naggaroth, the citadel of the dark elves, and Kislev, an important human country next to the Chaos Desert, are the first to fall against the horde of daemons and barbarians of Archaon. After staying out of business in a short time,a chaos giant army leaded by Crom the Conqueror, a loyal subordinate of Archaon, begins a battle for Ostermark against the Emperor Karl Franz and a vampire apparently redeemed named Vlad Von Carstein, but the battle was not honorable, Harkon, another vampire, gets seduced by the dark power of chaos and (apparently) kills the beloved emperor Karl Franz, with the human army horrified and hopeless, Ostermark is another city that belongs to Archaon and the Chaos Gods.
Later, Ku'gath, father of the plague, delivers three pitchers of Nurgle to Archaon, which he delivers it too to the three champions of Nurgle, the Glottkin brothers. They shared the putrid and great power of the pitchers with Gutrot Spume and Orghotts Daemonspew, a minor champions of Nurgle, and lead they armies to the South, the home of the Empire and his citizens, mages and knights.
The first citadel to feel the "devotion" of the Glottkin's armies was Marienburg, the coastal citadel. The Glottkin annihilated the city and reduced it to ashes, making useless the armies of the Empire, now joyless for the loss of his Emperor.
The Worm Lords (the Glottkin) landes to Nordland and Erengrand, but highly followed by the Orcs. They are in the way of Talahbeim (which is in the the heart of the Empire territory), despite the efforts of his citizens, there is no hope for them; Talahbeim is destroyed but the Worm Lords Army have not the characteristic of being butchers, the survivors of the town fled to Atrolf, the capital of the Empire.
Karl Franz,which he surprisingly survived of the attack of Harkon, stays now in Atrolf, ready to defend his city to death if it's necessary. The Glottkin and Karl Franz fight among his armies, but Karl is only one men,and The Glottkin are three, the three greatest Nurgle champions. After a long battle, Karl Franz loses his battle, and the Glottkin want to keep him alive to see the city he defended ruined.
When all hope seems lost, Vlad and the King of Bretonia, Louen Leoncoeur, join the battle, and Karl Franz, who is almost dead, receives divine powers for Sigmar, the almighty god of the Human Empire. With all these forces combined, the Glottkin are defeated (not dead) and their armies retreat. The battle is won, but Atrolf is now destroyed.
In the end, Archaon meets with Kairos Fateweaver (a powerful daemon of wisdom, who can see the future) and he says to him that all goes just as he wanted, he uses the Glottkin just to enfeeble the Empire, then he would finish it with a Khorne army, but Kairos told him that he should be afraid of something more than humans.
Age of Sigmar[]
In the new world created by the God-King Sigmar after the destruction of the old one in The End Times, Archaon is revived by the Chaos Gods to be their everchosen champion once again. Now he has a new goal, destroy the new world to recreate it without gods and kill the last gods out there.
By the time that the Age of Sigmar (for which the game is named) has reached its inception, he is already dangerously close to his goal. Seven of the Eight Mortal Realms already lie under his control (with the last realm, Azyr- the Realm of Heavens -remaining under Sigmar's domain) and the Allpoints- formerly the Eightpoints (a sort of highway that linked all Eight Realms together) is under his control, serving as his personal fortress. That being said, he hasn't been seen in the Allpoints for some time (though offerings have been left at his throne, which is afforded the same reverence as he is). His exact location remains unclear, though the coming of the Stormcast Eternals should definitely be cause for him to mobilize all his forces against Sigmar's legions.
Despite the presence of the Stormcast Eternals (and their potentially endless numbers), Archaon is largely unfazed by his enemy's latest work- as the decimation of all members of the Hammers of Sigmar Stormhost that were sent to face him should make clear. He did have aid in this fight, having turned Kiathanus- a Lord of Change -into a bracelet that allows him to view events that have not yet happened (this apparently is serving as a new version of the Eye of Sheerian, as the original was shattered in the fight over what remained of the world-that-was).
Personality[]
Archaon is a chaos champion who is unusual. He is one of the few (if not the only one) who seek the will of the Chaos Gods to extend the Realm of Chaos, and not for his own profit, and maybe for that the Chaos Gods chose him as their herald.
The cause of his loyalty to the Dark Gods comes of his days as a priest-warrior of Sigmar, which in thse days he committed the "error" of reading The Divine Book of Fate. It is still unknown what he read, but that changed him forever. Making him blame and hate his own gods, burning his home and kill his own family to erase his history and true name.
Archaon is also cunning, clever and very merciless, even with his own men. His extreme punishments makes him sometimes venture near the moral event horizon, for instance: Melekh, a powerful chaos champion of Tzeentch and his son, Cyspeth, were devoted heralds of Archaon until the day he failed to conquer the Bohsenfel Castel. For this failure and for teaching the young Cyspeth what happens if someone disappoints him, Archaon ordered his personal guard to slay five hundred men of the army of Melekh, and later decapitated Melekh himself, making his own son watch it.
Powers and Abilities[]
Archaon is a powerful warrior and general, as well as skilled in the ways of Chaos. The six treasures that he collected to become the Everchosen grant him many dark abilities. The Mark of Chaos grants Archaon the benefits of all the other marks, but on an even more powerful scale. The Armour of Morkar makes him invulnerable to all but the strongest of attacks and the Eye of Sheerian grants him prophetic powers, letting him avoid enemy attacks. Archaon usually rides Dorghar into battle, a powerful demonic horse, and wields the Slayer of Kings, an incredibly powerful sword that has the soul of the enraged and insane demon, U’zhul, within. Archaon can unleash U'zhul's power to become a lethal force, but sometimes the blade will seek to attack the Lord of the End Times' allies and even Archaon himself and U'zhul cannot be re-restrained until the end of the battle. The final treasure, the Crown of Domination, strengthens Archaon’s allies while striking fear into his enemies.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Archaon on the Warhammer Fantasy Wiki