I've been reading some of the new Gotrex stuff that takes place in Age of Sigmar, and I find it really interesting and wanted to share some bits of it. Parts really remind me of how some folks feel about the new edition. Gotrex has long been one of my favorite fantasy characters, so it's been a blast seeing him in the new setting. More then that, one of the main themes is how the Age of Sigmar is not just a remake of the Old World, but actually a continuation of it. It's not a new world, so much as a new age.
First, before I get into the new stuff I figured I'd remind folks how his adventurers in the Old World Ended. Spoilers below obviously, so you have been warned.
As the End Times happened Gotrex and his buddies went on their last adventure, and it ended up with Gotrex and Felix meeting Grimnir himself in the realm of chaos. Grimnir had been there since his disappearance, slaughtering hordes of demons to stop them from invading the Old World. Gotrex had been forged and led here so that he could take over, and give Grimnir a chance to get back to the Old World to save dwarf kind (Well more or less.) Gotrex loved this and considered it a doom worth having.
Then we all know how it goes. The Old World dies, stuff blows up, Age of Sigmar comes about.
Now Gotrex has been spat back out and finds himself in the new Realms. And he's Pissed. He's lost his axe, lost his friends and literally lost his world. He finds this new reality ridiculous. He asks where the new dwarfs are and finds out their now called Duardin, and he replies that it's such a stupid name. He thinks the whole new reality is silly and stupid. The names, the people, everything. He just wants to find his old stuff, especially when he hears rumours that Grimnir's legendary axe (his old axe) is around somewhere, and when he finds out about the Stormcast he wonders if maybe Felix got uplifted and became one.
So now he's wandering around a world he doesn't understand, that he thinks is nothing but some sad, devolution of the one he knew. To add insult to injury the Fyreslayers he meets thinks he's Grimnir Reforged, the ratmen are still trying to kill him, and Grimnir (Who he partially blames for all this) isn't even around to be yelled at. He's sick of the gods just as much as he's sick of everything else.
There's a nice little novella as part of this years Christmas special edition stuff called The Bone Desert. It's $6 Canadian bucks and it's a fun little story.
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One of the things I'm really liking about the new Gotrex stuff, and what reminds me a great deal of the board sometimes, is that just like a lot of us Gotrex is constantly referencing the Old World. He's talking about Dawi and dwarfs, he's talking about killing skeletons in Sylvania, and it's interesting to see his frustration when the people he meets don't know what he's talking about. There's actually a really good interaction in the beginning of the little novella where he's asking the guide if there's any dwarfs in the settlement their coming to, and the guide doesn't know what a dwarf is. Gotrex finally has to sign, and ask if there's any Duardin there. Commenting on just how different, and not in a good way, they've become.
This was mostly just a random thought I had over the course of reading some stuff that I wanted to throw out and see if it generates any discussion. I like the way the Old World has become this kind of legend in the new world, and now we're seeing some of those old legends come back. Bringing more then just memories with them.