The Vitriol Sea is a sea located to the south of the Great Parch. It connects to the landmasses of Capilaria, Flamescar Plateau and Khul’s Ravage. It touches the Ocean of Tears to the north east and the Ocean of Swords to the north west.
History
THE AGE OF CHAOS
After the creation of the Clavis Eye Chaos Rift during the Red Feast, daemons of Khorne wade through the Vitriol Sea and reinforced the Bloodbound hosts’ attack against the faithful of Sigmar and the barbarian tribes of the Great Parch. The tribes of Capilaria and other regions are forced to battle the Chaos forces. Many of these tribes turn to worship of the red gods to survive the slaughter or sate their savage lusts.
A huge portion of Capilaria is conquered by Korghos Khul and his Goretide, so much that his empire spans between the Vostargi Mont and the Vitriolus Reach.
The Daemons of Khorne traverse the Vitriol Sea from the Clavis Eye and reinforce the Bloodbound traitors that attack the barbarian tribes of the Great Parch. The faithful of Sigmar slowly lose the war of attrition that sees a hundred years of war known as the Red Century. Such is the violence that the irrigation networks of Capilaria, once laced with Aqua Ghyranis, now only run with gore and choke the plant life that fed the tribes, coming to resemble veins and arteries filled with clotting blood. The leaders of the defending tribes are taken by Sigmar and its people left to starve, which makes them easily conquered and forced to cannibalism.
THE AGE OF SIGMAR
The Hammers of Sigmar, along with other Stormhosts, land down from the Azyrian heavens and defeat the Bloodbound Goretide led by Korhos Khul, capturing the Igneous Gate to Azyr. They also destroyed the Gate of Wrath, a realmgate leading to Khorne’s domain, thwart Khul’s ambitions to become a daemon and force him into exile. The Stormcast capture the Brimstone Peninsula for Sigmar and wrest it from Khorne’s control, demolishing the holdings of the blood god’s servants, like the Jagtooth Forts, across the entire region and its realmgates become manned by the Lord-Castellants. The first Stormkeep, Fort Ignis, was built here. They used the highly defensible peninsula as a staging post to conquer the Great Parch.
During the Soul Wars, a new Chaos Gate, the Penterage Rift, has been opened to the Realm of Chaos right at the door of Fort Ignis by Khornate armies, precipitating an influx of daemons and a new conflict within the Brimstone Peninsula. Surrounding settlements have reorganized themselves for war again, and rumours of an very secret and powerful artifact at the local Stormvault of Dinorwig have caused armies to mobilize again all across the Brimstone Peninsula. The conflict attracted the attention of traveling orruk conqueror Olrog and his faithful alliance and their mercenaries. Olrog was quick to capitalize on the destabilization and with guile and brutality laid claim to much of the Brimstone Peninsula, at the dawn of the Age of Beasts. But the league of Azyrian nobleman and enterpreneur Lord Jarek Dracothfoote still managed to retrieve and secure the ultimate prize held at Dinorwig.
But the Brimstone Peninsula was not the only location in the region to be marred by destruction: at the end of the Soul Wars, a disaster in the stormvault underneath Hammerhal Aqsha, caused the titanic Charonhydra, a realmbeast imprisoned for millenia, to escape to the surface, leveling part of the city and diving into the sea. In the following years, it terrorized the Crescent Sea and the coasts of Capilaria, and with the advent of the Age of Beasts its attacks became ever more frequent. This suited Captain Morros Plaguewind, commander of the Rift Ravagers pirates, just fine: the Dawnbringer settlements were in disarray and defenseless. The Ravager fleet mobilized its allies and mercenaries and raided the coast of Capilaria for weeks, before a small Dawnbringer crusade led by Lord-Commander Bastian Carthalos himself arrived to provide relief, and defend the hard-won settlements. Some of these were lost to the Ravagers, and the two fleets did battle with the emergent Charonhydra: one in the hopes of crippling it, another to enslave it. Fortunately for the Dawnbringers, Carthalos’ forces were able to deal a grievous wound to the monster’s innards, forcing it to retreat and lay low for months or years. But not wihtout many casualties: both fleets receded to regroup and replenish their forces.
The small Crusade force is not enough to sustain the defenses for another wave of attacks, and the Lord-Commander has already left for other pressing matters. They will have to protect and salvage their lands while they wait for further reinforcements from Hammerhal.
Locations
Some of the known locations on this ocean and its coasts are:
- Aqshy Clavis Isles
- Bloodwarm Waters
- Drizzling Isles
- Emberkell Volcano
- Sigmar’s Bootprints
- Mordacious Sound
- Coast of Bone
- Khul’s Ravage
- The Jagtooth Forts: A series of fortress towers that once lined the cliffs overlooking the Vitriolus Reach.
- The Fyretines
- The Horn of Ignax
- Igneous Delta: The site of the Igneous Gate, where the Stormcast Eternals landed.
- The Shards
- Lost Isles of Gaitan
- Isthmus Lash
- Shatterglass Archipelago
- The Firefang
- Dagger Stab
- Swelter Gulf
- Sulphuric Sea: The acidic ocean surrounding the Igneous Delta.
- Rondel Wick
- Rippleghast Sound
- Unth
- Virgin Peaks
- Vitriolus Reach: Is a stretch of the Vitriol Sea.
Nations and Settlements
- Chakrik’s Folly: A thriving skaven undercity, despite being wracked by deadly earthquakes.
- Everlyme Point
- Fort Denst
- Hammerhal Aqsha half of the city of Hammerhal built around the Stormrift Realmgate, that connects to the other side in Ghyran, Hammerhal Ghyra.
- Irrigation Keep
- Skulpile
- Vandium: A near-unbreachable fortress-city with an alliance with the Vostarg Lodge.
- Sigmarite Strongpoints
Realmgates
- Stormrift Realmgate: The realmgate of Hammerhal, where the twin cities were built around the two sides.
- Gates Below
- Chronos Gate
- Fuestrom, the Fuethan Whirlway.
- Road of Thunder: This Realmgate sits at the center of the Goldforge and both the Stormkeep and city of Vandium were built around it.
- Penterage Rift: a new Chaos gate opened in front of Fort Ignis.
Inhabitants
- Crimson Horde: A vast Chaos marauder horde that lays to the east of Hammerhal Aqsha.
- Tribes of Burning Blood: The Khorne worshipping tribes of northeastern Capilaria. Their capital is the bloody city of Skulpile, a holy city of sorts dedicated to Khorne.
