Sigmar – a keen-minded schemer, or a grandiloquent fool? To this day, opinion is mixed, even among his allies. This week, Warhammer+ serves up an episode of Loremasters that looks into one of Sigmar’s most controversial plans – the Stormvaults.
This network of magical catacombs had one role – to lock away the many staggeringly powerful entities and artefacts that Sigmar discovered across the realms during his questing days in the Age of Myth. They double up as treasure troves of realm-ending relics as well as prisons for especially malign and dangerous souls.
But are they even any use? Though they’re designed to keep people out, Sigmar’s apparently impregnable Stormaults somehow keep getting cracked open. So we put it to you – his grand plan is actually a bit silly. Think about it – all over the realms, hidden horrors are being exhumed. In Shyish, Lady Olynder managed to open the Midnight Tomb, which, like a calamitous loot box, unleashed Katakros and two horrific endless spells – Lauchon the Soulseeker and the Shards of Valagharr. Not really a great look for the Heldenhammer’s big ideas.
Many Stormvaults were looted over the years. In Ghur, the Orruk Megaboss Gordrakk famously made off with a titanic skull which he later used as a battering ram in the Siege of Excelsis. If Sigmar didn’t want all these things to keep getting pilfered, perhaps he should have set up some kind of alarm system – or just hidden them better
Ah, but he did find a way of hiding them. His old pal Teclis gave him the mighty Enlightenment Engines, devices designed to elevate humans to the level of aelven intelligence. Sigmar didn’t trust Teclis, though – not surprising if you consider how detached the aelven god had become from reality.* Working with the Duardin god Grungni, he reversed the workings of these devices to create the Penumbral Engines.**
These bizarre machines emanate an aura of stupefaction that forces people to forget all about them, preventing all sorts of meddling. Unsurprisingly, this had a major unintended consequence – dangerous prisons would fall into myth. Even worse, it also upset Teclis in the process. Encouraging trust issues when allies are so thin on the ground isn’t a smart strategy – no wonder Morathi went rogue.***
Ahem. Ok, for a more balanced look at the history of the Stormvaults, you’ll want to check out the latest fantastic episode of Loremasters, which goes deep into all the intricacies of Sigmar’s debatably flawed plan over on Warhammer+.
You’ll also be able to watch some top painting tips from a Citadel Colour Masterclass that’s all about T’au skin tones. And in our very own Warhammer Vaults, we’ve amassed a heap of treasures, including issues 386 to 388 of White Dwarf, and all the lore from Imperial Armour: The Doom of Mymeara, which makes for a lovely bedtime story while you wait for your new Aeldari to arrive.****
Subscribe to Warhammer+ to get all of this and loads more, including further episodes of Loremasters, a whole heap of cool Warhammer animations, and exclusive offers for subscribers.
* You can watch Loremasters: Teclis for more about everyone’s favourite detached aelven god.
** Grungni also isn’t a fan of Teclis. No surprise there.
*** You can read all about her sneaky road to apotheosis in Broken Realms: Morathii
*** Spoiler: it does not end well for the Aeldari.
