Ushoran’s curse – the warping of reality in the mind until it resembles some hale chivalric kingdom, no matter the awful truth – was unleashed amongst his spawn when the Mortarch escaped the Shroudcage. Yet it was the pan-realm apocalypse of the Age of Chaos that allowed it to spread so vigorously. As the ruinous hordes butchered and burned, ancient and proud nations fell. The survivors became easy prey for the infectious madness of the Abhorrants. On some level, perhaps they realised it was better to embrace the shared delusion of noble hunts, courtly intrigue and valorous quests than to acknowledge the gory hellscapes their homes had become. For all their degeneration, their sheer unwillingness to accept reality’s horror allowed them to survive the Age of Chaos, after a fashion.

Artist: Thomas Elliott