Timandra Whitecastle makes her debut for Black Library with Galene of Ulgu, a tale of the Daughters of Khaine in the Mortal Realms. Far from her home in the shadowed mists of Ulgu, witch aelf Galene and her sisters march to the aid of Greywater Fastness in the realm of Ghyran, defending against the sinister forces of Nagash. After suffering a terrible defeat which sees her sisters turned against her in death, Galene finds herself in the company of another survivor, a human captain of the Freeguild. Injured and terribly outnumbered, the two of them nevertheless set out to strike back against the necromancer leading the undead invaders.
Told in a reflective, thoughtful first person, Galene’s voice comes through in an interesting mixture of ardent (and violent) faith and aelven superiority, with an edge of bafflement at the antics of men. It makes for a characterful, engaging story as Galene finds herself frustrated at fighting the bloodless undead and begrudgingly forced into an odd-couple pairing with the unnamed Freeguild captain…albeit more because of his surprisingly powerful weapons than anything else. With a slightly sinister atmosphere, all mist-shrouded swamps and dreary abandoned villages, a strong tone of voice and a Khainite thirst for bloodletting, it offers a fresh and enjoyable take on Age of Sigmar, grounded in the familiar but offering something different as well. If it ends on a slightly unexpected note, leaving Galene’s arc open-ended and ripe for further exploration, it’s nevertheless satisfying in its own right as a short but interesting look at the tensions between the Daughters of Khaine and the other forces of Order.
See also: the main Age of Sigmar reviews page on Track of Words
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