The Realm of Beasts has ever been a place of savagery and destruction, defiant in the face of Sigmar's feeble attempts at liberation. But now, deep within the mountains of the Ghurish Heartlands, something ancient stirs. A god long-trapped is about to awaken, and the drumbeat of war calls. Ferocious Ironjawz, gluttonous Ogors and towering gargants all set their sights on the human interlopers, determined to cast down their keeps.

When calamity befalls their home, Gunnar Brand must step up to lead his tribe, embarking on a grim and perilous exodus through a Realm of Fire ravaged by war. Haunted by an unfulfilled oath, his duties as chieftain soon conflict with his deep-rooted sense of destiny, and he discovers that the attentions of the Dark Gods are not so easily ignored.

Deep in the wilds of Ghyran, a former warrior priest preaches for humanity to reject the gods. The sole survivor of a massacred Dawnbringer Crusade, Amara Fidellus believes that Sigmar has betrayed her – and when she faces execution for such blasphemy, it’s only the intervention of a drunken, taciturn and incredibly violent Slayer that saves her life. Now bound to Gotrek Gurnisson by a life-debt, Amara finds herself caught up in his quest for revenge.

After fleeing the authorities in the Imperial city of Altdorf, Felix Jaeger swears a drunken oath to dour dwarf Gotrek Gurnisson to record his death saga. In the cold light of day, Felix's worst fears are confirmed as he learns that Gotrek is a Trollslayer - a dwarf doomed to seek out a heroic death in battle to atone for an unknown personal disgrace. Their travels throw them into a string of extraordinary adventures as Felix tries to survive his companion's destiny.

For Ianthe, war is all too familiar. A former soldier in the Astra Militarum, she now serves Inquisitor Covenant as an agent of the Throne. Her first mission sees her investigating a cult called the Children of Eternity. Falling foul of the local Enforcers, Ianthe soon learns that war in the shadows is seldom straightforward and that the local, angry law-keepers are the least of her troubles.

Gotrek Gurnisson is the greatest Slayer of the age. He is a relic of a dead world, a sworn enemy of Chaos and a stranger in the Mortal Realms. Now, reborn and hungry for vengeance, he crosses the war-torn lands of Chamon armed with new oaths, pitting himself against the forces of evil. Accompanied by the aelven assassin Maleneth Witchblade, Gotrek marches to war with the Fyreslayers of the Grymm Peak Mountains, with a newfound sense of purpose. The fire in the Slayer's soul has not gone unnoticed, however. Far beneath the sea, the Idoneth Deepkin are stirring.

A malevolent threat looms over the once great city of Excelsis. For as long as the treacherous Ortam Vermyre lives, civilisation is no longer safe within the Realm of Beasts. Witch Hunter Hanniver Toll must brave the deadly seas and jungles of the Taloncoast to stop Vermyre before he can reach the legendary lost city of Xoantica. For within this forgotten ruin lies an artefact of darkest sorcery that possesses the power to reshape reality itself: the Silver Shard.

Cado Ezechiar is a wanderer who has outlived the memory of the age that made him. A Soulblight vampire who accepted the curse as his people and kingdom fell to Chaos, he now roams the Realm of Death and beyond seeking retribution and salvation for the ones he failed. Aided by the bound spirits of those he lost, Cado follows a path of revenge, hunting the servants of Chaos to slake his need for blood while seeking the Sorcerer of Change who destroyed his kingdom.

When Malus Darkblade learns the location of a powerful relic, he decides he wants it for himself. Malus leads an expedition into the dangerous Chaos Wastes in search of this great weapon but finds far more than he had bargained for. Possessed by a powerful daemon, he must undertake an epic quest to save his very soul.

As the War for the Realm of Life continues, Lord-Castellant Lorrus Grymn leads the battered remnants of the Steel Souls warrior chamber against the sargasso-citadels of the Verdant Bay. The Hallowed Knights claim victory, but at a terrible cost - Grymn is lost to Realm of Chaos. Now Gardus, newly reforged and fresh from the destruction of the Scabrous Sprawl, must lead his warriors into the foetid heart of Nurgle's realm in search of the Lord-Castellant, where they must once more brave the horrors of the Realm of Decay....