When and where did the events in the 5th Edition 'Idol of Gork' campaign take place?

[Storyteller]

We are busy adapting the old 5th Edition campaign set 'Idol of Gork' to play in 8th edition and having fantastic fun (http://ubersreik.blogspot.com.au/sea...Gork%20Project).

What I'm keen to know is when in Warhammer history, and whereabouts in the Border Princes, the campaign is meant to be set. I know these details are probably kept deliberately vague so can fit in flexibly, and that the Border Princes are in a constant state of change - and I would change them anyway to suit our story purposes. But for the fun of it I'm interested in people's 'best guess' as to the 'when' (in Imperial history) and 'where' (in the Border Princes) the events are set.

In terms of the 'when', here is what I've come up with so far. The book describes two 'histories' which record the events described in the Idol of Gork box:

The first is included in a history of the College of Bright Magic. So one would think that the events were set after the foundations of the Colleges of Magic after the Great War Against Chaos - and presumably some time thereafter for the Bright Magic college to have a history to write about!

The second history detailing the campaign doesn't tell us much except that the history itself is written 100 years after the events. So, assuming the history is written at LATEST in the 'current' Warhammer year of 2522, it must have taken place some time before 2422?

In terms of the 'where', I noticed that in the campaign map of the Border Princes which comes with the 'General's Compendium' (7th Edition?) there is an 'Ironclaw Orc' camp marked, and the Ironclaw orcs feature in the campaign so I'd Rutgarberg (the Empire settlement in the region) was located either in this region or nearby.

Anyway, if any of you Warhammer History gurus or veterans of the old Idol of Gork campaign have any thoughts to add I'd love to hear them!

[Athelassan]

Well, you seem to have extrapolated about as much detail as there is to go on. Part of the problem is that there are vanishingly few good maps of the Border Princes and even those that there are (Tamurkhan, basically, if you don't count the unofficial Madalfred maps or the Shadow of the Horned Rat stuff)) are out of date, with emphasis put on the way that borders change so often there's no point permanently mapping them.

Regarding the date, early 25th century sounds fine, although there's no reason it couldn't have been written by someone "in the future" looking back on the present day. The campaign packs did tend to focus on "historical" events, though, so I'd run with your original instinct. It might be worth bearing in mind, although not ultimately relevant, that until 6th edition the "present" was often considered to be around 2512 rather than 2522, so that might shift the Idol of Gork campaign earlier. The only thing really to bear in mind, I think, would be the wider historical context. Grom's invasion was in 2424, if I remember rightly, so if Idol of Gork took place only two years before that, the apple cart's going to be upset fairly quickly. If you make it earlier, you have some more breathing room for the consequences to develop their own story.

[Craze_b0i]

It might be worth bearing in mind, although not ultimately relevant, that until 6th edition the "present" was often considered to be around 2512 rather than 2522,

Azhag died in 2515 so even in 5th ed the present day was at least 2515.

In terms of the 'where', I noticed that in the campaign map of the Border Princes which comes with the 'General's Compendium' (7th Edition?) there is an 'Ironclaw Orc' camp marked, and the Ironclaw orcs feature in the campaign so I'd Rutgarberg (the Empire settlement in the region) was located either in this region or nearby.

The Ironclaw camp may well be a reference to Idol of Gork (suggesting the orcs won?). But as far as I can tell the map is the general's compendium is a freak anomaly, many rivers and other features are either made up or in the wrong place. It bears no relation to any map before or since. So in terms of location it doesn't help a lot.

[Arnizipal]

The Ironclaw Orcs have a stronghold at the Iron Rock IIRC.
It's a mountain near the World's Edge in the Badlands.

[Craze_b0i]

The Ironclaw Orcs have a stronghold at the Iron Rock IIRC.
It's a mountain near the World's Edge in the Badlands.

Yeh but these are not the same ones. seems Ironclaw is a popular name.

[Arnizipal]

Could be a raiding band of greenskins who wandered away from their main fortress.

[Craze_b0i]

Could be a raiding band of greenskins who wandered away from their main fortress.

No because the orcs in Idol of Gork have their own fortress which is destroyed by the human settlers and the orcs are trying to get it back. Also the tribe has its own chieftan called Grotfang so they are a distinct tribe.

[Urgat]

He got a nice mini too, he was my first orc warboss model

[Storyteller]

Regarding the date, early 25th century sounds fine, although there's no reason it couldn't have been written by someone "in the future" looking back on the present day. The campaign packs did tend to focus on "historical" events, though, so I'd run with your original instinct. It might be worth bearing in mind, although not ultimately relevant, that until 6th edition the "present" was often considered to be around 2512 rather than 2522, so that might shift the Idol of Gork campaign earlier. The only thing really to bear in mind, I think, would be the wider historical context. Grom's invasion was in 2424, if I remember rightly, so if Idol of Gork took place only two years before that, the apple cart's going to be upset fairly quickly. If you make it earlier, you have some more breathing room for the consequences to develop their own story.

This was really helpful - I'll try to keep things a fair bit before Grom's invasion, especially as I have vague plans about playing out the invasion of Nuln as detailed in the General's Compendium at some point in the future!

Azhag died in 2515 so even in 5th ed the present day was at least 2515.

The Ironclaw camp may well be a reference to Idol of Gork (suggesting the orcs won?). But as far as I can tell the map is the general's compendium is a freak anomaly, many rivers and other features are either made up or in the wrong place. It bears no relation to any map before or since. So in terms of location it doesn't help a lot.

Yes, I've spent WAY longer than really makes any sense trying to match up the General's Compendium map of the Border Princes with the others which are floating around the web. I understand that the Border Princes are meant to change hands/have settlements razed to the ground so regularly that there isn't really any 'fixed' locations, but one would have thought the rivers and mountains and roads at least would have remained relatively consistent .

It does seem to suggest that the Ironclaw orcs won though... I wonder if that is a bad omen for the Empire force in our campaign!

So looking at the above I think I am going to try setting the campaign in 2414 (100 years back from about 2515). This way things are kept after the founding of the Colleges, AT LEAST 100 years before the 'current' timeline, and hopefully well out of the way of Grom's invasion - after all, if the Empire DO manage to win against the Ironclaws I'd like Rutgar to enjoy his domain for at least a few years before it all gets reduced to rubble by Grom the Paunch... of course, such is the way of the Border Princes.

Many thanks for the insights all of you - I know it was a fairly narrow question with few resources to back it up but you've helped me clarify my thoughts and given great suggestions.