It’s that time of year again and Black Library have released their usual Advent Calendar, only this time it’s a little different to previous years. Firstly, it’s themed entirely around Chaos – specifically the Call of Chaos. Secondly, with Warhammer Digital (previously Games Workshop Digital Editions) now seeming to come under the Black Library banner, this year’s Advent Calendar combines the two strands with each day providing a new short story as well as a new gaming supplement.
Day seventeen in Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar, Glory From Chaos sees the return of Jetek Suberei from Chris Dows’ previous Deathwatch short story, First To Hunt. Taking place at the beginning of his journey as a White Scar, it sees the young warrior on his first mission as a full Marine, joining his brothers in an all-in charge against the forces of the Tzeentchian sorcerer lord Karnel. Having run Karnel to ground after a long hunt, the Scars see the end of their task in sight, but Karnel has other plans for how the day will turn out.
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On the sixteenth day of Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar it’s a battle for supremacy as two Khornate champions duke it out in Andy Clark’s Age of Sigmar short story Gorechosen. The slaughterpriest Akhagor leads his warband into the Scorchpit, a veritable arena of death filled with all manner of foes to battle, while the aspiring deathbringer Vorhak chafes under his command and threatens to turn the warband against him. With the realm of Fire under assault by the Stormcasts, can Akhagor lead his army to glory and reach his destiny?
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Day fifteen in the 2015 Black Library Advent Calendar provides Blood and Iron, Robbie MacNiven’s second contribution and the third story to feature the might of the Iron Warriors. On the Dark Mechanicum forge world of Dementius, Warpsmith Ferrix oversees the gory rituals necessary to bind a powerful daemon into the body of a captured Titan, sacrificing much to create a weapon of devastating power. As the blood flows and the daemon rises, Ferrix knows he must use all of his knowledge and skill to complete his greatest work.
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The second week of Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar comes to a close with The Crystal of Fate by Guy Haley, which sees a Tzeentchian champion hoping to usurp the absent Kairos Fateweaver and ascend to daemonhood. Determined to take back his domain from the invading Stormcasts, Duke Phostrin strikes a pact with the sorcerer Chalix to venture into the realm of Tzeentch himself and take ownership of the titular Crystal of Fate. Can he survive long enough to reach his goal, and will it give him everything he hopes?
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It’s halfway to Christmas and time for the thirteenth story in the 2015 Black Library Advent Calendar – A Song for the Lost by Robbie MacNiven. Ulix, a young Ecclesiarchy novitiate, suffers under the harsh regime of his zealous bishop, taking refuge in the comfort provided by the mysterious Sister D’Fey. While his fellow novitiates shy away in fear he seeks out her company in the darkness, unwittingly ingratiating himself with something far beyond what he realises. The innocent actions of a young boy prove to have far reaching consequences, for Ulix and the Imperium at large.
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David Annandale joins the party with the twelfth story in Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar, contributing The Prodigal, an Age of Sigmar micro short which sees another champion of Chaos causing trouble in the realm of Light. Hidden within almost-impenetrable mountains and suspended above the ground by light itself, the city of Lykerna is a sanctuary from the darkness until Graunos, a fallen son of the city, returns at the head of an army of Khorne to take vengeance in the name of his god for perceived past mistreatments.
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Day eleven in Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar sees the second Iron Warriors story in short order, in the shape of Graeme Lyon’s Black Iron. Warsmith Kallus, tired of standing as castellan on his legion’s home planet Medrengard, approaches Abaddon the Despoiler with a view to selling his to the Black Legion in exchange for a chance of action and greater glory. Sent on a mission to capture an Iron Warriors-held forge world in the name of his new legion, he leads his warband against his former brothers without second thought.
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It’s Chaos versus Chaos in The Last Gift by Josh Reynolds, the tenth short story in Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar series. Ompallious Zeyros, champion of Tzeentch and strong contender for most bonkers name of the year, leads his followers against the plague-ridden defenders of a Nurgle fortress as he hunts down an old friend. Once as close as brothers, he and the scarcely less impressively named Ephraim Bollos took different paths and embraced opposing powers, and finally they come together for a final showdown
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Day Nine of Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar returns to 40K and sees the first involvement of the Iron Warriors, with Siegemaster by Chris Wraight. Warsmith Bakulos journeys through the bleak, battle-wracked world of Harrowar in search of an absent lieutenant, seeking answers to why the war is still unfinished despite all the precious resources that have been expended. As he searches through endless siegeworks he reflects on his history with the absentee Iron Warrior, looking back at battles fought long ago.
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