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Not to be confused with the legendary hero Tyleus, also named Tylos in some versions of his story.


"The manlings stood back to back and fought for their lives, but against the implacable ferocity and countless numbers of the verminous hordes their weapons were useless. The tide of monstrous rats flowed over them, dragging them down to be torn apart, the yellow chisel-teeth sinking into their soft flesh, the dark-furred mass drowning their pitiful screams with their hideous chittering..."

—An excerpt from the Tilean folk tale "The Doom of Kavzar"[6a]

Tylos, also called Kavzar, Kazvar, Kasvar,[5a] Tilae, Til, or Tumas,[9a] depending on the source, was an ancient city-state inhabited by both Men and Dwarfs located atop a hill in the Blighted Marshes between present-day Tilea and Estalia. Humans inhabited the surface while the Dwarfs had built a fortress underground, allowing both peoples to flourish thanks to the commerce between them.[3a][4b][6a]

Due to the legends told in the sacred book called Bellona Myrmidia (Reman edition) Kavzar was also the name of the wandering Human tribe who settled the city.[12a]

From the legends of the Dwarfs it is said that all around the fabulous city of Tylos rich and luxuriant fields of grain grew, while under the hills that offered the Dwarfs shelter, rich veins of the most precious minerals stretched deep into the dark. While the streets of Tylos were paved with silver and the buildings made of gold, the mighty temple dedicated to the gods was made of gromril, jade and marble. Above it stretched a great tower that reached an unearthly height but was never completed until the arrival of a stranger.[4b]

Yet a terrible misfortune was to befall this once prosperous kingdom, in time giving birth to the loathsome Skaven race and transforming the ruins of Tylos into the vast, subterranean warrens of Skavenblight, the capital of the great Skaven Under-Empire.[7a]

History[]

"And Tylos came to be recognised chief of the wandering Kavzar and sought to found a city for his folk. And he made covenant with Myrmidia to erect its walls, and so it was deftly done. Yet Tylos was unsatisfied, for the cities of the Elvenkind were greater, and so he bid his tribe to raise a white tower to the heavens. But Myrmidia scorned his pride and abandoned the city, and it fell to rapacious vermin, and therein foetid ground now lies, neglected and abused. And Elf and Dwarf fought, and the Elves departed, sailing their shining ships to the West, and the Dwarfsā€™ Everlasting Realm was brought low through the wickedness of Goblins, and Mankind filled the void and they did prosper and spread their seed. And Myrmidia took pity on the scattered tribe of Tylos, and walked among them as a mortal woman, and took up her Spear of Righteousness and Shield of Honour and slew the enemies of Men in their thousands. War was won with fire-forged metal, and the tribes of Tilea and Estalia raised her as their Queen. Yet fresh was the crown on her brow when a dart daubed in poison laid her low, and with her dying breath she bade them build a Great Ship, and she drifted seawards to the West, following the undying sun. And so she was raised once more to the halls of the divine, to rule the southern lands from a Heavenly Throne..."

—Extract from the Bellona Myrmidia (Reman edition), sacred book of the followers of the goddess of war, translated by Professor Heinrich GrĆ¼berhaus of the University of Altdorf[12a]

When the Elder Races made room for the Humans who emerged from their caves, the Elves and Dwarfs traded with these primitives, though slowly at first. But, soon, Humanity spread north from the southern continent, founding simple communities along the coast of the Tilean Sea and the Black Gulf. Eventually, these peoples moved north and erected the first cities. Of these early settlements, Tylos dwarfed them all. But, it would not last, for in punishment for their arrogance, the Gods cast them low, rained the fires of heaven onto them, and sent plagues of rats. What remained would be forever after known as Skavenblight, the festering, black heart of the Ratmen.[9a]

The cursed city of Tylos was founded between the Irrana Mountains and the Tilean Sea by savage tribes of primitive Men. These nomadic tribes had come to the rich and fertile lands in pursuit of the great herds of migratory beasts they hunted and, eventually, to trade their meagre wares atop a broad hill. In time, this meeting place became home to farmers, shepherds and craftsmen then, as the tribes intermarried and their numbers grew, great stockade walls were erected to defend the settlers.[11a]

Soon after, a wandering clan of Dwarf prospectors and miners also found the area. Immediately, they recognised the richness that lay within the mountains and the earth, and the two races formed an alliance. With the arrival of the Dwarfs, the city grew rapidly ā€“ wooden stockades were replaced with mighty walls of dressed stone, log-built longhouses were pulled down and, in their place, tall towers of granite climbed to the sky.[11a]

The prosperity of the lands, and the alliance between Men and Dwarfs, allowed the city to reach great heights of architecture and culture within a single human generation. The crowning jewel of the city would be a great bell tower, which would stand unrivalled as the highest structure ever erected in the Old World and would extend as far below the earth as it did above.[11a]

Doom of Tylos[]

In the land of Tilea, the elders of Tylos had commissioned their Dwarf allies to aid in the building of a mighty bell tower which would climb from foundations far below the earth to stand higher than the tallest tower. The work had taken many years and many masons had dedicated their lives to a tower they would never see reach its full heigh.[11b]

But as the tower neared completion, the Dwarfs could not raise the mighty brass bell up to the distant belfry. The elders of Tylos lamented and prayed for a solution. These prayers seemed answered when a hooded stranger came to Tylos, offering to raise the bell and complete the tower. All this stranger asked in return was that he be allowed to inscribe a dedication to his god upon the bell. The elders agreed and, at the strangerā€™s request, returned to their homes that he might work unseen.[11b]

The following morning, the bell tower stood complete, though of the stranger, there was no sign. As the people of Tylos looked on in amazement, not realising anything was amiss, the bell began to toll far above. When the bell tolled a thirteenth time, the skies darkened and a rain of warpstone began to fall, corrupting the city and poisoning the earth for miles around, turning rich farmlands into foetid swamps. The terrified people of Tylos ran to the doors of the Dwarf mines, but found them barred. Locked within their mines, the Dwarfs were overrun by an endless tide of loathsome vermin.[11b]

Tylos was no more and within its bleak, twisted ruins, evil creatures would lurk.[11b]

Notable Events[]

See also the Tilean Timeline for events concerning the whole territory of Tilea and sources for the below.


This brief timeline of Tylos has been compiled from Dwarf records and the few remaining Imperial and Tilean markings not destroyed by Skaven espionage. The dates are all recorded in the format of the Imperial Calendar, as is common among Old World scholars.[1a]

Prehistory (ca.-4419 to ca.-701 IC)[]

  • ca. -2500 to -2000 IC - A Tilean account states that the city-state of Tylos was founded sometime between -2500 and -2000 IC. Dwarfen chronicles contradict this and provide a more precise date.
  • -2000 IC - Dwarf accounts state that the first tribes of Men, known as the Belthani, migrate to the Old World from the Southlands. They were few in number, used tools and weapons made from wood and stone, and settled initially in the southern lands of the Old World that would become Tilea and Estalia.
  • ā€“1997 IC - The War of the Beard begins, with Dwarfs attacking High Elf colonies in what will one day be called the Old World. During the war the armies of Ekrund joined those of Barak Varr and Karak Azgal to battle the High Elves in the land that Humans would later call Tilea, destroying several towns and trading posts including two close to the present-day cities of Luccini and Tobaro.
  • -1950 IC - Looking for ore, the wandering Dwarf Kavzar Clan, from the Black Mountains, settled in the Human city of Tylos and established trade with the locals, between what are now called the Irrana Mountains and the Tilean Sea. The city grew even faster with their help and many advances in architecture and engineering were achieved.
  • -1880 IC - Humans begin construction of their great temple in Tylos. Dwarfs are recruited as Human gold helps offset the poor quality of ore in the nearby mountains. Work goes on continuously for the next 100 years. Battle of Black Gulf ends in Dwarf victory as triremes from Barak Varr outmaneuver the Elven fleet in the narrow waters near the Dwarf hold.
  • ca. -1780 IC - Tilean legends give this date for the destruction of the ancient city of Tylos in the Blighted Marshes. Dawi accounts claim that the Temple of Tylos is completed at this time and that soon after warpstone starts to rain down on the city from the green moon of Morrslieb. Within a year the city is overrun by swarms of giant rats and disappears into the wetlands of the Blighted Marshes.
  • -1500 IC - The Slann Lord Quex enacts a minor shift in continents. The worst hit of all was the Worlds Edge Mountains, for beneath this range was to be found the great Underway of the Dwarf Empire. Lava surged up from the world's depths to flood the halls of the Dwarfs, and untold numbers were incinerated in an instant or destroyed by the earthquakes. The Dwarf empire falls into decline. In the rest of the world the Skycastles tumbled in the Mountains of Mourn and a ragged breach appeared in the Great Bastion of Cathay, through which a hundred thousand vengeful Hung Marauders swarmed. The lands of ancient Tylos were blasted apart, before being drowned by the sea. As far as the Mage-Priests are concerned, the alignment is carried out according to the will of the Old Ones, as described on the Plaque of Otzli-Potec. Disaster at Skavenblight. The Great Machine of the Seer Order explodes. The Slann, ignorant of the newly emerged race, registered the energy and attributed it solely to their own powerful spells. To this day they have failed to make any connection. The Great Migration out of Skavenblight begins.
  • ca. -1600 IC - The first true Skaven claw their way at the ruins of Tylos already obsessed with acquiring warpstone.

Other Events (-2500 to 1780 IC)[]

To avoid giving arbitrary dates to critical events in Tylos history, those events without a specific date are collected here.

  • Unknown date between -2500 and 1780 IC - The leader Tyleus makes a covenant with the war goddess Myrmidia to build a great city. He ordered his people to build a tall tower, one to humble even the Elves. Myrmidia was appalled at this pointless toil, and, after many warnings, abandoned the city of Tylos, claiming she would return only when his people knew honour again.

Tales and Legends[]

Origin of the Skaven[]

Note: The precious few collected histories of the Skaven are sparse, conflicting, and full of guesswork, and those brave few who try to expand them find themselves constantly frustrated, if not burnt at the stake by the Imperial authorities. The history provided below, therefore, cannot be attributable to any inhabitant of the Old World, and should be treated accordingly.[4b]


Most of the events related in the myth recounted below, known as the "Doom That Came to Kavzar," are accurate. The community at Tylos was founded by the Belthani, one of the first known tribes of Men in the Old World, and was located between the Iranna Mountains to the north and the Tilean Sea to the south. Not long after Tylos was settled, a group of Dwarfs looking for ore deposits also discovered the region. Immediately recognising the richness of the mountains and the soil below, the two mortal races formed an alliance. Humans and Dwarfs worked and lived in perfect harmony, each helping the other according to their cultural strengths.[4b]

Although they still lived apart -- Humans on the surface, Dwarfs below -- the Dwarfs provided the necessary stone, metal and craftsmanship for the Human city to grow, while the Humans worked the fields to feed the populations of both the surface city and the under-city. The prosperity of the lands and the mountains of the region and the cooperation between the two great races allowed the city to rise to incredible heights of architecture and culture within a single generation. Their building techniques and engineering skills were the greatest ever seen on the surface of the Old World, and it would be centuries before any Human settlement would even come close to the wonders of the streets of the city. The crowning jewel of the city was their great tower, which remains unrivalled as the highest structure ever erected in the Old Worldā€”and, if legend is to be believed, it extended an equal distance below the earth as well.[4b]

Yet despite all their great science, the city builders could not raise the final keystone to the pinnacle of their mighty tower. It was then that the ā€œhooded strangerā€ mentioned in the Kazvar myth appeared. The identity of this figure is the most mysterious question surrounding the Skaven, and remains unanswered. The Skaven, in the very rare times they speak of their origins, refer to this figure as "The Shaper," who is said to be of an "older race" than theirs. This, combined with the rain of Warpstone summoned from the sky, points to the most likely conclusion: that the Shaper was one of the Old Ones, and that the first Screaming Bell (known to the Skaven as the "Great Shrieking Bell") hung from the top of the tower, made of an unbroken lance of white stone, a device designed to call down meteorites from the heavens themselves.[4b][6a]

Whatever the true identity and purpose of the stranger, the awesome power attributed to the bell is difficult to believe. With its peals, it brought down endless rain, mist and chill, wrapping that once-great city in a prison of darkness and deprivation. Then came the deluge of warpstone, twisting the landscape beneath forever more. The crops were poisoned, the ore corroded, and the Humans and Dwarfs annihilated by disease, starvation and murder. Even the city itself, its great and glorious architecture, was twisted and perverted by that rain of pure Chaos, remade into a cyclopean maze as hideous as it once was beautiful. And as the people perished and the town was reborn, so too were created the creatures that would devour those few left alive, and who would forever after call this mockery of a city their home. The Ratmen were born in slaughter, and their very first act was genocide.[4b]

Kavzar was no more and the vast warren-city of Skavenblight was born, but this would not be the end of the ratmen. In the years that followed the destruction of Kavzar they lay low in the world, growing fat on the resources acquired when they overthrew the city. It is believed that they were content with their new home, breeding in the warrens beneath and always searching for more Warpstone. One imagines there must have been great infighting and wars amongst their kind, as the creatures are a notoriously treacherous race. And they grew stronger as they culled the weak. But to the rest of the world the Ratmen remained hidden, a nightmare best forgotten, a plague amongst the swampy ruins of a long dead city.[4b]

About 1600 years before the birth of Sigmar, the ratmen surfaced once more. Out of the black pits of madness the creatures we recognize today as Skaven emerged from the warrens. With keen intelligence and humanoid bodies, these beings were the absolute masters of Skavenblight, and over the centuries they used Warpstone to learn the ways of magic. But after hundreds of years the Skaven depleted the Warpstone in the ruins of their city, forcing them to venture farther and farther outward to find this sacred substance. And the world was dangerous indeed, filled with Orcs and Goblins, migrating tribes of Human savages, and worse. The Skaven knew that the world awaited its true masters, so to achieve the conquest they felt was inevitable, the Skaven withdrew to Skavenblight to devise some way to crush the world between their paws.[4b]

Even today rumour has it that some piece of the great tower of Tylos is incorporated into each Screaming Bell, be it a chunk of masonry or some small part of the Horned Bell that sits within the tallest tower of the Temple of the Horned Rat.[1c]

Elven Reports[]

Elven scholars tell of this mysterious city that disappeared beneath the Blighted Marshes in the remote past. The city of Tylos would eventually become a legend amongst the people of the land. Tylos or Tyleus is also the name of a legendary figure in Tilean folklore, and is traditionally identified as the name of the father of the Tilean people. If these legends are true it could mean that the present Men of Tilea are descended from the primitive people who dwelt in and around the ancient city-state which disappeared beneath the Blighted Marsh some time before the Archaic Age in -1780 IC.[1m]

Although today's Tileans are unlikely to be direct descendants of the citizen of Tylos, who presumably perished in the cataclysm that engulf the city, they might well be descended from the tribes folk who tended the crops and grazed the flocks that fed and clothed the inhabitants of the nearby metropolis. One legends records a tithe of slaves levied on the tribes which had to be sent every year to Tyleus to labour on it's great building projects.[1m]

There are no known Elven ruins situated close to the Blighted Marshes. Perhaps this is because the Elves chose to avoid the ancient city of Tylos, inhabited, as it no doubt was, by savage and primitive Humans. The Elves traded with the humans, and perhaps it is from the mercantile Elves that the Tileans inherited their own traditions of trade. The superior culture and highly developed civilisation of the Elves must have made quite an impression on the people of Tylos who had little knowledge of metalwork or even writing before the Elves arrived.[1m]

In time, the settlement grew as they took the Dwarfs into their city, providing them with the knowledge of metalwork and masonry. Until the end of the city which it's narrated in the Tilean tale, "The Curse of Thirteen."[1m]

Bellona Myrmidia[]

Tylos

The ruins of the city of Tylos

Most information about the city of Tylos is shrouded in myth and is described in the Myrmidian holy book of the Bellona Myrmidia ("The War Goddess Myrmidia").[2a]

The Bellona Myrmidia begins with the tale of the tragically flawed Tyleus, the legendary father of the Tilean peoples. Tyleus made a covenant with raven-haired Myrmidia, a Goddess of Civilisation, Beauty, and Honour, and with her help built a great city for his tribe, the city of Tylos. However, this city was not enough for Tyleus, for he dreamed of surpassing the slender, white structures to the south. So, he ordered his people to build a tall tower, one to humble even the Elves. Myrmidia was appalled at this pointless toil, and, after many warnings, abandoned Tylos, claiming she would return when his people knew honour again. The fate of the city is unclear, but some scholars claim it fell to the Dark Gods, its corruption spreading outwards to form what is now known as the Blighted Marshes.[1a]

Centuries passed, and the shattered remnants of the people of Tylos spread through the other, southern tribes. After a great war with the Dwarfs, the Elves abandoned the Old World, and Humanity cautiously replaced them, slowly building new civilisations around the Elder Raceā€™s ruins. For reasons still hotly debated by her modern cult, Myrmidia then returned to the descendants of Tylos; however, she came not as a God, but as a mortal. It is said Myrmidia learned hard lessons in her early years, and was driven by her experiences to abandon her pacifist ways, and take up weapons of war to fight injustice. Over the years, and many battles, she gathered great heroes to her side, and within a decade had bound all Estalia and Tilea under her rule, staving off all manner of invasions and rebellions. But, just as Myrmidia was to be crowned queen, she was shot by a poisoned dart. As she lay dying, she ordered a great ship be built, and, it is said, sailed west upon it, there to return to her home amongst the Gods, known now, and forever after, as a Goddess of War.[1a]

Curse of Thirteen[]

See also The Doom of Kavzar to read the full known version of this tale.


THR-Collectors-Cover-Tower

An imperial tarot depicting the myth of the tower updated in modern times.

One common Tilean tale called The Curse of Thirteen or The Doom of Kavzar states that the city was destroyed after they constructed a large tower, and a stranger offered to complete it and crown it with a huge bell. When the bell rang out 13 times, rain fell constantly and rats roamed the streets. Eventually the Dwarfs disappeared, and the people of Tylos fled.[1b]

"Once upon a time, long long ago, Men and Dwarfs lived together beneath the roof of one great city. Some said it was the oldest and greatest city in the world and had existed before the time of the longbeards and manlings, build by older and wiser hands in the dawn of the world. The city lay both above and below the earth, in keeping with the nature of the populace that dwelt there. The Dwarfs ruled in their great halls of stone below ground and wrestled the fruits of the rock free with their day-long toil, while the manlings reaped the fields of swaying corn that surrounded the city with a patchwork blanket of gold. The sun smiled, men laughed, and everyone was happy.
One day the men of the city decided that they should give praise to their gods for their good fortunes. They planned a temple such as the world had never seen before. In the central square a colossal hall would be built and topped with a single, cloud-piercing tower. A tower so tall it would touch the very heart of the heavens. After much planning, and with the help of the longbeards, they set about their monumental task.
Weeks became months and months became years and still the manlings built. Men grew old and grey working on that great temple, their sons continuing their work through summer sun and winter rain. At last, after many generations, work began on the great spire itself. Years passed and the tower reached such a height that the manlings found it ever more difficult to take the stone up to the top. Eventually the work slowed to a crawl and finishing the tower seemed impossible. Then one came among the men of the city who offered his help in their great scheme. He asked a single boon of them in return and claimed that if they would grant him this, he would complete the tower in a single night. The manlings said to themselves. "What have we to lose?" and offered to make a bargain with the grey-clad stranger. All he wished was to add his own dedication to the gods onto the temple structure. The manlings agreed and the bargain was struck. At dusk the stranger entered the unfinished temple and bade the manlings to return at midnight. Clouds swept over the moons, cloaking the temple in darkness as the manlings left. All over the city, men watched and waited as the hours slipped past until, near midnight, by ones and twos, they gathered again in the temple square. The wind blew and the clouds parted as they gazed up at the temple. It rose like an unbroken lance against the sky, pure and white. At its very peak a great horned bell hung gleaming coldly in the moonlight. The stranger's dedication to the gods was there but of the stranger himself, there was no sign.
The manlings rejoiced that their father's fathers work was done. They surged forward to enter the temple. Then, at the stroke of midnight, the great bell began to toll, once.... twice.... thrice. Slow, heavy waves of sound rolled across the city. Four... five... six times the bell rang, like the torpid pulse of a bronze giant. Seven... eight... nine, the rolling of the bell grew louder with each ring, and the manlings staggered back from the temple steps clutching their ears. Ten... eleven... twelve... thirteen. At the thirteenth stroke, lightning split the skies and thunder echoes through the night. High above, the dark circle of Morrslieb was lit by a bright flash and all fell ominously silent. The manlings fled to their beds, frightened and puzzled by the portents they had seen. Next morning they arose to find that the darkness had come to their city. Brooding storm clouds reared above the rooftops and such rain fell as had never been seen before. Black, like ash, the rain fell and puddled in the streets, slicking the cobbles with darkly iridescent colours.
At first some of the manlings didn't worry, they waited for the rain to stop so that they might resume their work. But the rain did not stop, the winds blew stronger and lightning shook the high tower. Days stretched into weeks and still the rain did not stop. Each night the bell tolled thirteen times and each morning the darkness lay across the city. The manlings became fearful and prayed to their gods. Still the rains did not stop and the black clouds hung like a shroud over the fields of flattened corn. The Manlings went to the Dwarfs and beseeched their help. The longbeards were unconcerned -- what matter a little rain on the surface? In the bosom of the earth all was warm and dry. Now the manlings huddled in their dwelling, fear gnawing at their hearts. They sent some of their number to faraway places to seek help but none of them returned. Some went to the temple to pray and sacrifice their dwindling food to the gods but they found the temple door closed to them. The rain grew heavier. Dark hailstones fell from the sky and crushed the sodden crops. The great bell tolled a death knell over the terrified city.
Soon great stones cleft the heavens, rushing down like dark meteors to smash the homes of the manlings. Many sickened and died from no apparent cause, and the newborn babies of the manlings were hideously twisted. Skulking vermin devoured what little stored corn there was left and the manlings began to starve. The manling elders went to see the Dwarfs again and this time demanded their help. They wanted to bring their folk below ground to safety, they wanted food. The longbeards grew angry, and told the manlings that the lower workings were flooded and their food had also been devoured by rats. There remained barely enough food and shelter for them and their kinsmen. They cast the manlings out of their halls and closed their doors once more.
In the ruins of the city above, each day became more deadly than the last. The manlings despaired and called for succor from the dark gods, whispered the names of forgotten Daemon Princes in the hope of salvation. But none came -- instead the vermin returned, bigger and bolder than ever. Their slinking, furred shapes infested the broken city, feasting on the fallen and pulling down the weak. Each midnight the bell tolled thirteen times on high, seeming now brazen and triumphant. The manlings lived as hunted creatures in their own city as great rat packs roamed the streets in search of them.
At last the desperate manlings took up such weapons as they had and beat upon the Dwarfs door, threatening that if they did not emerge they would drag them out by their beards. No reply came from within. The manlings took up beams and battered down the doors to reveal the tunnels below, dark and empty. Steeling themselves, the pitiful remnants of the city's once proud populace descended. In the ancient hall of kingship they found the Dwarfs, now naught but gnawed bones and scrapes of cloth. And there they saw by the dying light of their torches the myriad eyes about them, glittering like liquid midnight as the rats closed in for the kill. The manlings stood back to back and fought for their lives, but against such implacable ferocity and countless numbers of the verminous horde, their weapons were useless. The tide of monstrous rats flowed over them one by one, dragging them down to be torn apart, the yellow chisel-teeth sinking into their soft-flesh, the dark tufted mass drowning their pitiful screams with their hideous chittering.....
Translated from the Tilean tale "The Doom of Kavzar" also called "The Curse of Thirteen" [1b]

The Tower Falls[]

Temple of Tylos

Sketch by an unnamed artist, found among the surviving working papers of the murdered scholar Anders Emmerich. Although it is unknown whether the tower shown above truly exists or is simply an artistic fancy, it is included here by a tantalising notation found written by the side of the sketch in Emmerich's hand. Enigmatically, the notation reads, "Kavzar is Tylos," a phrase the true meaning of which is at present unclear. (The Emmerich Papers: Pencil on parchment)[8a]

The Tower Falls (or at least this is the Reikspiel translation of the title) is an ancient Tilean text that in 1114 IC, was one of the possession of Lady Mirella von Wittmar, a noblewoman of Altdorf, Mistress of the traitor Prince Sigdan. The book gives a slightly different version of the story narrated in the tale The Curse of Thirteen.[7a]

On its pages of illuminated text, words are written in a cramped, spidery script, the drawings crude and horrible. A glance at the frontispiece could be enough to make a man's stomach churn. written before the time of Sigmar. It describes an ancient city of men, the most powerful in the world, a kingdom that shone like the sun. For all its might, for all its magic, the city was brought to ruin by the Skaven, razed so completely that even its name has been lost to legend.[7a]

The book describes how the ancient kingdom was destroyed. The Skaven didnā€™t assault the walls with armies. Instead, they burrowed beneath those walls and ferreted out men whose ambition they could exploit. Meek and fawning, they offered their services to those who would betray humanity for power. Through their proxies, they set brother against brother, and fragmented society until it festered with enmity and hate. Then, when the kingdom was sufficiently weakened from within, they rose up from their hidden burrows.[7a]

While containing no information on how to directly destroy the Skaven, the knowledge about them was handed over to the Grand Theogonist of the time to prepare him for the imminent threat that would unleash on the Empire.[7a]

Notable Locations[]

Amphitheatre[]

Megalithic in its proportions, the amphitheatre was a relic of the dim past. Constructed from gigantic columns of limestone, the structure existed as a series of towering arcades piled one atop the other, circling around a central arena. In the time before the Thirteenth Hour, the structure had been at the heart of Tylos. The amphitheatre had been designed to seat tens of thousands of spectators, a testament to the power and expanse of its human builders.[10a]

What games and spectacles, what pageants and plays had once drawn crowds to the arena is not known even by the Skaven who took possession of it after the fall of the city. Even the name of the structure had been lost in the dust of time. Its new masters had given it a new title, one that better reflected its new purpose, the Abattoir.[10a]

An arena that could seat sixty thousand humans was inconsequential to the masters of Skavenblight. In their religious zeal, the ratlords demanded a further seven layers to be built above the arena, bringing the total to the sacred number of thirteen.[10a]

A great pit could be opened up on the sandy surface of the arena, and little iron gates and wooden doors were set into the wall.[10a]

Trivia[]

Although it is never specified directly, it is strongly implied in the story of the Doom of Kavzar that the people of the city of Tylos or at least some of them have been transformed into the early forms of the Skaven race. Furthermore, in the description of the Fall of Tilea and Estalia it is pointed out that some of the typical characteristics of the Skaven appear to be grotesque caricatures of Tilean and Estalian ones, such as the tendency of those cultures to political intrigue and the heavy reliance on slave labour by the people of Tylos.[1b]

Tylos (Ancient Greek: Ī¤ĻĪ»ĪæĻ‚) was the name used by the Greeks to refer to Bahrain, as the centre of pearl trading, when Nearchus first reached it while serving under Alexander the Great.

The myth of a tower so high to face the gods is certainly taken from that of the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.

Sources[]

  • 1: Warhammer Armies: Skaven (7th Edition)
    • 1a: pp. 30-31
    • 1b: pp. 16-17
    • 1c: pg. 42
  • 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Salvation (RPG)
    • 2a: pp. 10-11
    • 2b: pg. 40
  • 3: Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War (5th Edition)
    • 3a: pg. 85
    • 3b: pg. 75
  • 4: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Children of the Horned Rat (RPG)
    • 4a: pg. 35
    • 4b: pp. 26-28
  • 5: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition: The Player's Guide (RPG)
    • 5a: pg. 134
  • 6: Warhammer Armies: Skaven (8th Edition)
    • 6a: pp. 252-253
  • 7: Blighted Empire (Novel) by C.L. Werner
    • 7a: Ch. 12
  • 8:The Loathsome Ratmen and All Their Vile Kin (Background Book)
    • 8a: pp. 71-73
  • 9: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition: Tomes of Corruption (RPG)
  • 10: Dead Winter (Novel) by C.L. Werner
  • 11: Warhammer The Old World: Rulebook (The Old World)
  • 12: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Up in Arms (RPG)
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