The year 2491 was a dark year for the faithful of Taal, the god of Nature, whose temple lay high in the mountains between Bretonnia and the Empire. Here follows an account of these dire events.

Bagrian, High Priest of Taal, walked over the floorboards to look out of the shattered window as the last of the days sunshine was hidden by the horizon. His face was a mask of cold fury. Shards of coloured glass crunched under his sandalled feet. The beautiful stained glass windows had been inspirational creations, spectacular devotions to Taal that had taken years of loving attention to create. Now they were in ruin, as was much of the abbey. Only the temple itself still stood. The rest of La Maisontaal Abbey had been ruined, and the smell of charred wood and swirling ash filled the cool night air.

The High Priest raised his gaze to encompass the fields surrounding the abbey, and his expression hardened. Dark shapes were silhouetted against the dying red sky: evil, twisted creatures were out there, abominations of nature which had no right to be walking the earth. Those creatures were opposed to all that he believed in and were an affront to his god.

Concealed with arcane spells of protection and shielding, Bagrian had slipped unnoticed into the bowels of the mighty stronghold of the foul rat-men, that dark, crumbling city beneath the marshes known as Skavenblight. His journey had reaffirmed his belief that these creatures had no place in the world, and he had learnt much of the Skaven in his brief foray. He had discovered that it was the Chaos-infused substance known as warpstone that millennia ago had twisted the rat-creatures into the hideous beings they were today. He had hoped that studies of this dangerous substance might provide a clue as to how to eradicate the unnatural creatures from the world forever. With this in mind, Bagrian magically transported a small black box full of warpstone to his study in the abbey of Taal, high in the Grey Mountains. The rat-creatures flew into a frenzy when they discovered that the box was missing. Despite being magically concealed, Bagrian only barely escaped the seething Skaven lair. How could he have known that the box was an item sacred to the abhorrent Skaven, the cursed Black Ark of the Horned Rat?

It had taken only days for the foul creatures to appear. Taal only knows how they had found him, so far from their subterranean hell-hole, but find him they had. Three nights later, he had been awoken from his slumber by a vision of his god, alerting him to danger. Rushing into the corridor outside his room, he found the night watch lying at their posts, their throats slit. Hunched black figures prowled the abbey, moonlight glinting on their vicious blades. Calling on the powers vested in him by his god. Bagrian caused a great ball of light to appear above the abbey, burning like a miniature sun and illuminating the entire grounds. The black-clad Skaven cowered before the sudden light, and Bagrian quickly dispatched them with his powerful magic.

The next morning, fear filled the abbey and shock and fright could be read in the eyes of initiate and monk alike. As night began to fall, movement could be seen in the distance, and the first wave of attacks began. Led by Gnawdoom, a crazed and powerful Skaven sorcerer, and the hideously mutated Throt the Unclean, the twisted rat-men descended on the abbey, crashing over the walls in a horrid, unstoppable swarm.

The monks of Taal stood bravely before them, fighting with mace and hammer. The air was filled with crackling sorcery as the Grey Seer pitted his magic against that of Bagrian. Throt, a powerful master mutator of Clan Moulder, directed his foul rat-spawn creations against the abbeys defenders, and twisted rats of gigantic proportions scrambled over the walls. The battle raged for half the night, and the outer walls of the abbey were slowly reduced to rubble. The overwhelming numbers and ferocity of the Skaven had slowly pushed the monks back.

As the moon reached its zenith in the sky above, a second terror descended on the beleaguered abbey. His soul filled with a growing despair, Bagrian looked into the clear sky, only to see the stars being blocked out by huge, dark shapes. On leathery wings, immense, deadly Fell Bats swooped down onto the monks, draining several of blood before taking to the air once more. The monks recoiled in horror as an army of the dead marched out of the mountains to the north. The Skaven advanced with increased confidence now that their allies had arrived.

At the head of the legion of corpses strode the dread Necromancer Heinrich Kemmler, the Lichemaster. For years this . evil sorcerer had been causing terror along the borders of Bretonnia, laying waste to villages and towns as his army's ranks swelled with those he slaughtered. At his side was the towering figure of Krell the Twice Damned: his soul pledged to Chaos and his long-decayed body cursed to walk the earth once more. No doubt the Necromancer planned to use the power of the cursed warpstone to enhance his already dangerously powerful necromantic abilities.

In horror. Bagrian turned to the small graveyard just outside the abbey grounds as hands pushed up through the wet earth. The bodies of dead monks rose from their graves at Kemmler's command, turning sightless eyes upon their former brethren. Dismay washed over Bagrian, for such obscene acts should not be possible on the sacred, consecrated grounds of La Maisontaal. The Lichemaster was powerful indeed! Groaning, the rotting bodies of countless Zombies staggered towards the monks, and the battle became even more terrible.

Bagrian ordered the monks into the temple of Taal, sealing the immense solid door behind them. He knew that if the two parties acted together, they would quickly overcome the last of the abbeys defenders, but that was not in the nature of these suspicious and evil-hearted beings. Indeed, the unholy alliance swiftly fell apart and the two unnatural enemies clashed.

While the powerful sorcerers Kemmler and Gnawdoom were focused on each other, Bagrian managed to get past their magical defences. Free from its corporeal burden, his spirit burst from his body and sped into the sky. Soaring high above the earth, Bagrian scoured the lands in an attempt to find some aid for the beleaguered abbey. After nearly an hour of searching, his spirit-eyes found what he sought. Camped less than a day's march away from the abbey was a force of Bretonnian knights. Descending to the ground, his spirit form passed through the command tent, coming invisibly face to face with the proud Duc Tancred.

Looking within the heart of the noble Bretonnian Grail Knight, Bagrian saw that he had a true and noble spirit, and hope surged through him. The Grail Damsel at Duc Tancred's side gasped as she perceived the spirit of Bagrian, though no other in the tent could sec him. Swiftly, Bagrian told her of the plight of the abbey of Taal. The Damsel quickly relayed the message to the Due. Hearing the name of the hated Heinrich Kemmler, the Grail Knight surged to his feet, shouting for his army to make ready to ride to war.

Bagrian glared over the shattered remains of his once proud abbey. As he watched, the two forces came forward once more to resume their struggle. Doubtless, both Kemmler and the Skaven Grey Seer Gnawdoom wanted the warpstone hidden in the strangely decorated black box for themselves.

The forces of Skaven and Undead clashed once again as the sky turned to darkness overhead, their fighting even reaching the inner compound of the abbey below. The sound of chanting echoed through the temple as the monks of Taal intoned devotions to their god. Bagrian was at peace within himself, though he raged against the abominations that stalked the night outside. He knew that if his god decreed that his time was upon him, he would face it without fear. If his god decided that he would live to fight to restore the natural order of the land, then he would survive this day.

There was a sudden shout within the temple, interrupting the chanting that stopped suddenly.

"Look to the west. Father Bagrian! By Taal, we are saved!

Running to the west windows, Bagrian saw a great cloud of dust billowing in the distance. Riding before the dust-cloud were the proud knights of Bretonnia. pennants dancing in the wind as they galloped towards the abbey. He saw elements of the Skaven and Undead forces turn to face this new threat, while others kept fighting each other.

Feeling the power of his god flowing through him, Bagrian turned resolutely to the monks who crowded behind him.

"I will join our allies, and smite the abominations this day in Taal's name! Guard the Ark well in my absence." - With those words he swept towards the great double-doors that guarded the entrance to the temple. The doors swung open at a gesture, and he stepped through them. The burnt ruins of the abbey were littered with bodies, some furred, others in various stages of decay. The great doors swung shut behind him, and Bagrian gazed in hatred towards the figures of Kemmler and the Skaven Grey Seer, Gnawdoom. They sensed his power across the battlefield and instantly began their mental assault.

The Skaven army swiftly broke away from the Undead forces, pulling back to regroup. The Bretonnians thundered over the rocky ground and the three armies faced each other, the abbey in the centre. Standing on the steps of the temple of Taal, Bagrian raised his arms high in the air. There was a sudden flash of light, and contorting lightning arced towards the Undead and Skaven ranks. At an unheard signal, the three armies charged towards each other, and the vicious, desperate battle of La Maisontaal began in earnest.

Although at first the Skaven and Heinrich Kemmler's Undead forces fought together, this unholy alliance soon broke down when the treacherous Skaven unleashed a number of hellish Warpfire Throwers into the ranks of Zombies in an effort to destroy the Lichemaster. The Necromancer walked unscathed through the green flames, and turned his forces against his deceitful allies. Allowing the Skaven and Undead to engage each other, Duc Tancred held his forces back for a single heroic charge, which smashed the forces of the Skaven, splitting them. Despite this the rat-men fought on in desperation, attacked on two sides.

While Throt the Unclean directed his utated creations against the Undead and Bretonnian forces, Grey Seer Gnawdoom hurtled over the battlefield, borne aloft by the power of his magic. Accompanied by a small group of black-clad Gutter Runners, he managed to fight his way inside the temple of Taal and recover the Black Ark. The High Priest of Taal, Bagrian, was killed in this attack, stabbed countless times by the poisoned blades of an assassin. Many say that Bagrian brought this end upon himself, and that his interest in warpstone reeked of the taint of Chaos.