Direchasm

Warhammer Age of Sigmar

by Graeme Lyon, Dale Lucas, Denny Flowers

A Warhammer Underworlds anthology

Direchasm has opened, and the war for Beastgrave is fiercer than ever. Discover the hopes, fears, and greatest battles of the many warbands who fight in the darkness in this collection of all-action short stories.

READ IT BECAUSE
Discover some of the many warbands who battle endlessly in the darkness of Beastgrave in a selection of tales that pit them against one another in desperate struggles for survival.

THE STORY
Beastgrave is starving. Poisoned from the inside by the treacherous Katophrane Curse, the Ur-Mountain forever calls warriors to its bloody depths in its desperation. Myriad warbands answer from across the Mortal Realms, some seeking treasure, others power, and yet more wishing only to kill. None find what they came for, and even death is denied those who enter Beastgrave’s halls.

Now, a new area has yawned open, the Direchasm – a place of darkness where warbands fight endlessly. Some, like Myari’s Purifiers – noble scions of the Lumineth Realm-lords – have come to purge the taint from the mountain. Others, such as The Dread Pageant, seek any sign of Slaanesh, and will stop at nothing until the lost deity is found. To achieve their goals, both must battle the likes of The Wurmspat, Rippa’s Snarlfangs and The Grymwatch. Beastgrave demands blood, but those who enter its caverns soon find themselves lost to its fury, doomed to fight an endless war.

CONTENTS
The Mountain's Call by Graeme Lyon
Ghastlight by Anna Stephens
Last Rite of the Hag Queen by Dale Lucas
The Root of Death by Clint Werner
The Rage of the Mountain by Danie Ware
Claws of Famine by Miles A Drake
The Jabberslythe's Grin by Ben Counter
Heart of the Beast by Gary Kloster
Halls of Gold by Thomas Parrott
The Gnawblade by Denny Flowers
Chains of Fate by Nicholas Wolf

Genres: Fantasy

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 12, 2020

About the author

Graeme Lyon is the author of the Warhammer Age of Sigmar novella Code of the Skies and the Warhammer 40,000 novella Armour of Faith. He has also written a host of short stories set in the worlds of Warhammer, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Warhammer 40,000 and Blood Bowl. He lives and works in Glasgow.

Reviews

[Tim Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dirchasm is a collection of short stories published by Black Library/Games Workshop to tie in with the release of Warhammer Underworlds: Direchasm - the core box for the 4th "season" of their Warhammer Underworld series of board games. 

All of the stories take place in the Beastgrave, a living mountain in the Realm of Ghur. Beastgrave was a new setting for the Warhammer Underworlds games introduced in the third season. The first story, The Mountain's Call, features the two warbands included in the Direchasm game - Myari's Purifiers Lumineth warband and The Dread Pageant Hedonites of Slaanesh warband. The last story, Ghastlight, also features the Dread Pageant. The rest of the stories involve characters from warbands released in previous seasons, mostly Beastgrave (Season Three), but there are a few that were introduced in Season One or Two (which took place in the ruined city of Shadespire, in the Realm of Shyish) that have, in one way or another, made their way out of the city and into Beastgrave. 

The stories are interesting enough and provide a bit more background "fluff" for a number of the factions available to play in the game and build a little context in which to play the game for those that are more interested in narrative than just playing a game. 

[Michael Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Telling the stories of the different warbands for the Warhammer Underworlds game just works. There is enough information on who they are and their motivations to make me intrigued to want to play them in the board game. How were the Wurmspat given their name? Who are the Dread Pageant?
There wasn't a bad story in the bunch.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent collection of short stories highlighting the brutality of the depths of Direchasm within Beastgrave. The warrior bands are dynamic and forced to partake in Valhalla hell, fighting/dying/and being reborn to fight again.

[Alex Van De Wiele · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of very excellent short stories! Really liked seeing so many of the minis brought to life, especially the flesh eater courts, Myari and the Lumineth, and the Ogor and his gnoblars. No overarching story, but a great window into many characters and factions.

[Madison Kemp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book on a whim and didn't know what an anthology was. I ended up enjoying the format, though. It was easy to drift in and out of the book, and I understand each Age of Sigmar faction a little bit better now.

[Jackson Handley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The high points are very high. Special mention to "Claws of Famine" and "Heart of The Beast."