The Celestial Realm is the only one of the realms untouched by the ravages of Chaos, and that is down to its undisputed ruler, the God-King Sigmar. In the Age of Myth, the Realm of Heavens was a paradise, with deities, demigods and mortals living together in harmony, creating great works that benefited all the people of the Mortal Realms. It was here that Sigmar forged his pantheon and it is here that the Gods of Chaos covet most of all, for to tear down the heavens would be to bring eternal Chaos to all. Since the coming of Chaos, Sigmar has turned the forges of Azyr to war, creating the Stormcast Eternals and launching his crusade to drive the Dark Gods from the Mortal Realms.

Shyish is the Realm of Death, of tragic endings and tortured souls. Consisting of a series of underworlds, the geography of Shyish is incomprehensible to mortal minds, each of the races of the Mortal Realms interpreting it in their own ways and after their unique customs. What all agree on is that Shyish is ruled with an iron fist by Nagash, the God of Death. A cold and unforgiving deity, Nagash is quick to punish and slow to forgive – as the Katophranes of the city of Shadespire discovered when they tried to defy Nagash and live forever. Their vengeful god cursed them to eternal torture, and Shadespire became a byword for his wrath. Now Nagash’s undying legions stir and all the Mortal Realms should fear his wrath…

The Realm of Light is, at its heart, a place of pure white magic, a beacon of light that shines across the cosmos. Yet, like all the Mortal Realms, the Ten Paradises of Hysh suffered greatly during the Age of Chaos. Ruled by the Lord of Lumination, the god Tyrion and his brother Teclis, Hysh was, for untold aeons, a safe harbour for many races of aelves and the great and wise among humans. But the insidious power of Chaos was able to corrupt even the pure light of Hysh. It became a lure for the prideful and those who sought perfection, taking their good intentions and turning them to dark thoughts and dangerous obsessions. And so it is that the light now signals danger, as much as it does knowledge and purity.

The Thirteen Dominions of Ulgu, the Realm of Shadows, are a land of secrets and riddles, where truth and lies merge, and the god Malerion rules in uneasy alliance alongside his mother, the devious Morathi. Wreathed in perpetual gloom, ranging from twilight to the pitch black of darkest midnight, Ulgu draws to it those who thrive on intrigue and manipulation. It is home to many aelves who flocked to the shadows after being freed from the clutches of the Chaos god Slaanesh. Twisted in body and mind, they found the shadows suited their temperament – and their desire to hide from other races. Indeed, Ulgu is known as a place to hide that which should never be found, as the mists of the realm have been known to swallow entire kingdoms as if they had never existed.

The Realm of Metal, Chamon, is a study in contradictions. Near its core, it is a land of verdant plains and pure water, all distinguished by a glittering metallic sheen. Here the people of the realm live in relative peace and prosperity, the great works of the duardin god Grungni providing them with protection. Towards the edges of Chamon, however, reality itself is under siege. The lands shift and merge, strange alchemical processes constantly altering the makeup of the ground and air. Inhabited by nomadic tribes that have become used to adapting, it is a land of wonder and horror – and untold riches for those brave enough to seize them. The Chaos god Tzeentch particularly covets Chamon, for both its ever-changing nature and the valuable secrets it holds.

The Realm of Life, Ghyran is home to life in all its forms. From the tiniest mote to the greatest and oldest trees and creatures, the ecosystems of the Jade Kingdoms blend ancient civilisation with the natural world, bringing them together in perfect harmony. Ruled by Alarielle, the Everqueen, it is a land full of lush gardens and nigh-impenetrable jungles, all of it existing in a cycle of regrowth that makes the air itself rich with the stuff of life. Across more than a dozen seasons, Ghyran thrived, until the Plague God Nurgle sent his forces to seize the realm and bring decay, turning harmonious life into blighted horror. Aided by Sigmar’s Stormcast Eternals, the Sylvaneth – Alarielle’s tree-spirits who inhabit Ghyran – fight hard to drive off the daemonic invaders and regrow their realm.

A near endless string of primeval continents, Ghur is the Realm of Beasts. Inhabited by a plethora of outlandish monsters and bestial hordes, it is a realm of the savage and the bloody, a land where brute strength and primal violence are paramount, and every creature, from the smallest insect to the mightiest gargant, is both predator and prey. No god could be said to truly rule Ghur, for it is a land that defies taming, but the mighty deity Gorkamorka is most at home here, for the eternal battles between tribes of orruk and ogor, and hunting the great beasts of the realm, suit his dual nature, sating both his brutal and cunning sides.

Aqshy is a realm of raging passions, and its landscapes reflect that, from raging volcanic mountain ranges to roiling seas of sulphur. The dozens of continents that make up the Bright Realm were once joined together, but the power of Chaos has split them asunder, making huge tracts of Aqshy only reachable by Realmgate – and this has made the battles for the Realmgates fiercer here than in perhaps any other realm. Life in the Realm of Fire is hard and short, and so the tribes that inhabit it burn brightly and well. After decades of battle against the savage Bloodreavers of Khorne, the coming of Sigmar’s Stormcast Eternals has reinvigorated the warriors of Aqshy, and their flame now burns brighter than ever before.

Not truly a realm at all, the dominion of Chaos is nightmare given form, a series of hellscapes that reflect the natures of the Dark Gods. Indeed, the gods and their realms are one and the same, all formed from the roiling aetheric energy of Chaos. As such, each god’s domain reflects its master’s natures: Khorne’s realm is one of anger and bloodshed, Nurgle’s a bountiful garden of life and decay, Slaanesh’s a hedonistic paradise of excess and temptation, and Tzeentch’s a mind-bending land of incomprehensible change. Within these realms, the gods themselves take form, watching over their mortal and daemonic servants, and planning their conquest of the Mortal Realms, all while striving against each other for power and dominance.