"When the sun rests, and the world is dark, and the great fires are lit, and the ale is poured into flagons, then it is time to sing sagas as the Dwarfs do. And the greatest saga is the saga of Sigmar, mightiest warrior. Harken now, hear these words, and live in hope."
- —The Legend of Sigmar[2a]
Map of the tribal territories of Men in what would become the Empire during the reign of Emperor Sigmar Heldenhammer. The Unberogen lived in the southernmost extent of the region in the fertile basin formed by the River Reik, centred on their tribal capital of Reikdorf.
The Unberogen, known previously as the Hunberokin people, were an ancient, war-like tribe of Human barbarians that populated the lands of what is today the Reikland, and as such the Unberogens are the direct ancestors of the modern day Reiklander.[1b] This tribe had settled within the domains of the Old World in ca. -1000 IC, alongside many of the founding tribes of Men that made up much of the later Empire. Upon arriving in the land, the Unberogens displaced the former agricultural tribes of Men that already lived there, and settled around the area along the banks of the River Reik known as the Reik Basin.[1a]
From here, the Unberogen founded a number of settlements that bordered the Grey Mountains and the River Reik. The greatest of these settlements was founded upon the confluence of the Reik and the River Talabec, which served as the tribal capital and was named Reikdorf.[1b] Over the next few centuries, the Unberogen waged war and formed alliances against many of the other tribes of Men in the region such as their neighbours the Teutogens and Thuringians, until finally their then-chieftain, Bjorn Unberogen, fathered a son who he named Sigmar Unberogen.[3a]
The birth of Sigmar marked a great change in the fortunes of the Unberogen. When Sigmar became King of the Unberogens after the death of his father, he led a campaign of extermination against the hated Norsii tribe for the role they played in the death of his father.[2b] With the Taleuten, Cherusen and Udoses under his banner, Sigmar led the Unberogens and their tribal allies to victory after victory until all the major Human tribes of the central and northern Old World were finally united under his leadership. Following this unification, Sigmar led his people towards Black Fire Pass and won a great victory against the Greenskins who had long threatened the Human tribes, breaking their power in the Old World once and for all. In the aftermath of this victory, the Unberogen became a founding member of the newly formed Empire of Man under the rule of the first Emperor of Man, Sigmar.[1c]
Contacts with Tileans[]
The originally Tilean settlement of Nuln, constructed during the years that saw the rise of the Reman Empire on the borders of the newborn Empire of Man, was where the first holy sites dedicated to Verena and Shallya in what eventually became Imperial territory were established.[4a]
The language of the Unberogen tribe was formalised early in Imperial history, and a written form was created using the Classical alphabet of the southern realms influenced by the Dwarf runes of Khazalid, resulting in the written language now referred to as Old Reikspiel.[4a]
Notable Unberogen[]
The Unberogens were fierce followers of the god of war and winter Ulric before the later deification of Sigmar after his abdication and disappearance.
- Sigmar Heldenhammer - King of the Unberogen and founder of the Empire as the first Emperor of Man.
- Bjorn Unberogen - Former King of the Unberogen and father of Sigmar.
- Redmane Dragor - Father of Bjorn Unberogen
- Cradoc - Cradoc was the Unberogen tribe's healer during the reign of Bjorn and Sigmar.
- Pendrag - Banner-man and shield-brother of Sigmar
- Ravenna - sister of Trinovantes and Gerreon, and former lover of Sigmar. She was slain by the actions of her brother Gerreon.
- Trinovantes - Shield-brother of Sigmar who died during the Battle of the Bridge of Astofen.
- Gerreon - Gerreon was a highly skilled Unberogen swordsman who was the twin brother of Trinovantes. After Trinovantes was slain at the Battle of the Bridge of Astofen, Gerreon tried to kill Sigmar who he blamed for his twin's death, but mistakenly killed his sister and Sigmar's beloved Ravenna instead. Filled with guilt, he fled Reikdorf and eventually sought comfort in the Northern Wastes where he was transformed into a Champion of Slaanesh and eventually ascended to become the Daemon Prince Azazel.
- Wolfgart - A shield-brother of Sigmar
Trivia[]
The Unberogen may be loosely based upon the Franks of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Several points can be attributed to this. Firstly, they occupy a land that mirrors the Rhineland of real-world Germany. The second is the formation of the Empire and the rise of their king. The rise of Sigmar mirrors the rise of Charlemagne, the Frankish king who united most of the tribes of what would become Germany into his confederation, which later resulted in the formation of both the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire. Charlemagne would be crowned in A.D. 800 by the pope as the first Western emperor since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476.
Gallery[]
