"Well, Marbad’s a good man and his people were scratching a living on the edges of the marshes at the mouth of the river. They’d settled there after King Marius of the Jutones drove them from their homeland after the Teutogens had taken their lands. I suppose it’s possible to live there, but why anyone would want to, I don’t know. The marshes are dangerous places, full of sucking bogs, corpse lights and daemons that drink the blood of men."
- —King Bjorn Unbergoen, telling the woes of the Endals and the Jutones
Map of the Barbarian Kingdoms
The Endals are an ancient war-like tribe of Human barbarians populating the lands of what would be the Wasteland, and as such, it can be speculated that they and the Jutones are the ancestors of the modern day Westerlander. The Endals once occupied the lands north of the Riek Delta, which would be the lands between the Sea of Claws to the West and the Forest of Laurelorn to the East. However, when the Jutones came from the East, they drove the Endals out of their homeland and into the bogs and marshes at the mouth of the River Reik.[2a]
In response to the influx of Jutones into the marshes, King Marbad, the chieftain of the Endals already scratching out a living there, founded the settlement of Marburg on the Reik estuary. Here he discovers an ancient Elven blade and names it Ulfshard, a symbol of power amongst the ruling elite of the Endals.[1b] King Marbad was a close friend of King Bjorn, father of Sigmar and King of the Unberogens. When the Greenskins of the Bloodmaw Tribe descended upon the Endal and Unberogen homeland from the Grey Mountains, King Bjorn and King Marbad fought together in the ensuring conflict, saving King Bjorns life in the process. In return for this blood debt, King Bjorn rode to the Endals aid when Mist Daemons began to terrorize the Endal homeland. In repayment, King Marbad offered up Ulfshard and his sword-oath to King Bjorn, but ever an honorable king, he allowed Marbad to keep his sword as gratitude for his friendship. Ever since then, the Endals were the first of the Imperial tribes to have united under Sigmar's Empire long before he even became their King, and then Emperor.[2a]
The Endals and even King Marbad himself were present in the funeral of King Bjorn, honoring him when he died fighting the Norsii invaders of the north.[2b] When the Bretonni left the lands of the Empire when they heard of the impending Greenskin invasion, the Endals were given free reign over their abandoned lands.[2c] In gratitude and their eternal oath to King Sigmar, the Endals under King Marbad were present within the Battle of Blackfire Pass, where King Marbad sacrified himself so that King Sigmar had the chance to take down the Greenskin Warlord and end their invasion once and for all. Sigmar, sorrowful for the lost of a dear friend, honored King Marbad with the greatest funeral alongside all the heroes of Black Fire Pass. The Endals became stalwart allies of Sigmar's Empire until the time when Marienburg bought its independence from the Empire.[2d]
Lore Conflict
- Like the Jutones, the Endals history is conflicted as there are three sources which detail their history.
- In the Legend of Sigmar novels by Graham McNiel, it stated that the city of Marburg was heavily hinted to be the future site of Marienburg. It also stated in the last chapter of "God-King" that the lands of Jutonsyrk were lost to the Undead and the rulers of the Endals and Jutones have since intermarried.
- In the Sigmar's Heir book, it mentioned the Endals of King Marbad as well as the supposed city known as Marburg, which like the novels, hinted heavily to be the future site of Marienburg. Unlike the novel however, Jutonsyrk was never abandoned nor lost to any external threat and was present in the 9th century when Emperor Sigismund the Conqueror invaded their lands and made them part of Westerland. The Endals and Jutones were never mentioned to have ever intermarried.
- In the Marienburg: Sold Down the River book, unlike the previous two sources, never mentioned the Endals and instead told in detail that it was the Jutones who inhabited the marshes around the future site of Marienburg, and like Sigmar's Heir, the Kingdom of Jutonsryk was still remaining until the time of the 9th century.
In adaptions
- In the video game Total War: Warhammer, a quest battle for Balthasar Gelt takes place at Marbad's Tomb, which has been overrun by undead.