It is said that the world is prone to fall into Chaos; it is as God made it. The natural order was meant to maintain stability until the Changing of the Guard occurs. This is a time when the natural order is broken and the Chaos gods are free to unleash their evil upon the world. We know when this day occurs as there is always a red moon in the sky, and it is said that stars are even pulled down from the heavens. The Changing of the Guard however, does not permit the Chaos gods to destroy the land as they cannot manifest themselves onto our plane. Instead they use their many followers and children in the World to spread chaos for them. Sometimes it gives them a chance to convert more followers to their power, but mostly they delight themselves in the suffering and pain of others. Only those they see fit can uphold Chaos will be granted their powers. But the Chaos god's gifts are a curse in disguise. By accepting Chaos into your soul you unintentionally bind yourself to the whim of any Chaos god that granted said power. You cannot fight it, but only accept the consequences. For those unwilling to serve Chaos are indispensable and if you are not killed by one of Chaos' followers, then expect a fate far worse from the gods themselves.
For a long time the Empire and her many allies have combated Chaos in the Old World for centuries. The greatest and disastrous campaign the Old World had ever seen just passed with the defeat of Archeaon's horde at Middenheim. With the Storm of Chaos broken, the world is now trying to rebuild itself after the great devastation of the Archaeon's campaign. Despite the fact, however, that the Emperor has decreed a victory it has yet to settle over the land. Pockets of resistance are found everywhere and the Hordes of Chaos still harass small towns, too far for the Emperor to send a substantial military force to aid his subjects.
Despite this instability there are places that have yet to see the nature of Chaos, only hearing of it from Old World traders. The lands I talk of are those of the great empire Cathay, which is far too east and is considered with little thought from the Old World citizens. This sort of thinking can also be said of the people who inhabit Cathay also. Cathayan's believe that Old World problems would never reach their existence, which is in part true due to the vast World's Edge Mountains and the Eastern Steppes. These natural barriers, along with the Ogre kingdoms in the Mountains of Mourn, make anything crossing from the Old World to the Eastern lands a tiring, troublesome, and dangerous task. Huh, little of what they know, because in a few days the Changing of the Guard will be upon the Worlde once again. And from what's been happening, it seems that a Chaos company that my men have been tracking is heading toward Cathay. For what purpose would they head through Ogre territory for Cathay I do not know, but that is not my concern. The only thing that I have been concerned with is my orders to track and kill all Chaos resistance towards the Empire, even if it means tracking them to the ends of the Worlde. But there has been a dreadful cloud over the camp and the men are weary to continue chase. The horses are also acting strange, but this can only be due to the natural order giving way to Chaos. This shall not deter me from my task, however, to rid this retched Chaos company from the world and strike down all its members to hell itself. Even though the men are reluctant I tell we do this for hearth, home, and God. What greater reason could there be to continue our quest and besides…… history remembers the bold.
