Nehekhara

Nehekhara and its cities, prior to the destruction of the latter in the End Times.

Nehekhara was the ancient land of the Tomb Kings, analogous to real life Egypt. It was a cradle of human civilization and prosperous enough to rival High Elves' culture. Thanks to one dick boner, Nehekhara became a bone-filled dry hellhole with majestic cities, then it later lost even those.

History

WFB

Unlike Egypt, it encompasses most of Warhammer Fantasy Africa as a giant desert where a whole topographical layer of skeletons sit beneath the sand (many of whom have a predilection to get up and get grumpy when disturbed). Originally a lush land that was rich in gold that developed civilization back when the rest of the humans in the world (other than possible Cathay) were tribal savages being kept as slaves by High Elf colonists or used as target practice by Dwarfs, Nehekhara was a paradise. It was ruled over by supreme rulers leading individual kingdoms which fought against each other constantly. Although there were fair differences between kingdom to kingdom, generally speaking the High Priests and the Kings (and rarely Queens) had supreme power over all. The pantheon of the Nehekharans was numerous and diverse, although death was a central theme in each important deity. Priests had their own magic Lore as a derivative of the Lore of Death due to the Winds of Magic tied to Death being the only one to blow through the land, making Nehekharans the first humans to not only discover but also master a form of magic independent of Daemon assistance.

Eventually, all of Nehekhara was unified under Settra the Imperishable, although with his death the kingdoms once again became independent. With the rise of Nagash the magic of the land became unstable, and in two wars all the kingdoms of the land united to wage war on the Undead threat. With the kingdom of Lahmia falling to Vampirism, the kingdom of Khemri (birthplace of both Settra and Khalida) lead the charge. In his (second) death throes Nagash cast a spell which killed all plant, animal, and human life in the land. The spell resurrected everything that had died as an Undead servant. With Nagash's death from Alcadizaar, who stabbed sleepy necromancer with a blade made of Warpstone, the spell was somewhat broken: the Nehekharans were still "alive" but no more slaves to Nagash's will.

Most Undead were devoid of much intelligence, only retaining enough to perform tasks with a degree of skill unseen in the skeletal servants raised by common Necromancy. But the nobility of the land, well-preserved in their elaborate tombs and burials, awoke with their personalities intact and their souls forever bound to the land that gave them birth and held their corpse in death.

Each former ruler sought to retake their throne, only to find a hundred generations of rulers prior and a hundred after also claimed the throne. The land became a giant battle of skeleton against skeleton, a whirling skull-tossing fight that would have made Khorne jizz himself watching had he known of it, until the former High Priests throughout the ages gathered and conducted a ritual to awaken the most powerful of the Tomb Kings who had not yet arisen. The greatest of them, Settra the Imperishable, immediately slapped the shit of EVERY other Tomb King and demanded them swear fealty to him. Those that did had their thrones and kingdoms divided between the families who all had a claim to them. Some, like Queen Khalida, were not particularly interested in rulership beyond what they saw as fair and became allies of Settra rather than servants. Others saw fit to rebel, and most were given fates worse than death (trapping their spirit in just their skull to be used as catapult ammunition is a popular one).

Modern Warhammer Fantasy History

More Tomb Kings continue to awaken, and each gets their shit slapped by Settra. Often, other races seek incursions into the land. Dwarfs invade seeking gold (which to them is not plunder, as non-Dwarfs are shit in their eyes and the dead have no claim to possessions...unless they're honored Dwarven dead anyway; good old Dwarven hypocris... honor). The Empire mounts expeditions for gold, or to seek alliances with the intelligent Undead (despite the heresy of it).

High Elves seek to establish Waystones in the land, sometimes with the aid and permission of the Tomb Kings and others against the will of the Undead. Bretonnians and Warriors of Chaos invade looking for challenges and loot, although this has never once turned out well for the invaders...

End Times

Despite being one of GW's more original ideas, the End Times was hard for Nehekhara. Nagash and Arkhan conquer Mahrak and Quatar by zerg-rushing them with all the skeletons from Nagashizzar, and Nagash using magic to entice a few of the remaining the Tomb Kings to turn traitor. After defeating Settra, Nagash used magic and sandstorms to pulverize Khemri, utterly destroying it. The rest of Nehekhara's cities only get a single sentence mentioning that Nagash and his armies destroyed them too. A bad end for an ancient (in-game) and relatively interesting setting.

The final nail in the fucking sarcophagus came in Age of Sigmar, with the Tomb Kings having been revealed to have been squatted.

Nehekhara and the Southlands as seen in Total War: WARHAMMER.

Regions

Prior to Settra there isn't much known about Nehekhara, so his (almost) unification of the nation is the start point of history. After his death it fragmented again, and every generation the cities had different histories based on the rise, fall, unification, and fall of empires; we also don't know much about this, mostly only if it was mentioned in the backstory of a particular TK. We also know little about who's in charge now, being given lists of names of characters who occupy the same city at times with no indication on if they managed to establish a treaty to share or if they're waging an active ongoing civil war. As a result, information varies wildly about the different regions, much of which comes from diverse canon sources such as Black Library and video games.

Land Of The Dead

The center of Nehekhara, politically and literally. The land where human civilization first arose, where the most powerful rulers in history originated from, and the place worst affected by Nagash's spell. Most of the Great Vitae River (AKA The Nile) lies in this land, although out of spite Nagash polluted its source high in the World's Edge Mountains called the Vitae Tarn which turned it red and poisonous, which is why it is currently known as the Great Mortis River. The Mortis Delta is extremely large, with the greatest cities built along its banks. The Swamp Of Terrors is where it turns stagnant, and is the deadliest place in Nehekhara post-poisoning.

• Khemri

Home city of Settra, obviously currently ruled by him, and thus the capital of the Tomb Kings. The architecture is the most elaborate and stunning by far in the world of humanity, rivaling and/or surpassing the lands of the Dwarffs and Elves.

The greatest landmark is Settra's pyramid which suffered no decay during the years between his death and resurrection, made of glowing white stone that is covered inside and out with the most powerful glyphs and surrounded by eternally burning flames, where the largest army in Nehekhara waits at the ready, where the activity of politicians and heralds of all the other kinds move about as if still alive due to the active nature of the political situation, and Settra himself sits on his golden throne covered in the rarest and grandest of gems to ever exist in the setting.

Nagash's Black Pyramid, the only pyramid to ever surpass Settra's, lies within sight of Settra's. Made of Warpstone, black marble, and the corpses of slaves, it contains as many glyphs as Settra's although oriented towards channeling the power of magic rather than of protection and longevity. Due to the power of the Warpstone largely being drained by Nagash's Great Spell the effectiveness of the Black Pyramid is greatly reduced, and since his original sources have been mined by Skaven over the years the resurrected Nagash cannot replace it (easily) which enabled Settra to drive him out after his resurrection. Modern depictions of the Black Pyramid show it to actually float rather than just be taller than Settra's. A faction of Tomb Kings dedicated to Nagash called The Sentinels remain in the Black Pyramid, guarding it.

• Zandri

Zandri is the oldest human city that still remains in the world, first founded by (a pre-Settra and thus non-Tomb King) ruler named King Zakash which makes it the first Nehekharan city and the root of Tomb King civilization. Human writing was first invented here, so the records that exist from this time are largely from oral tradition and mythology.

Nehekhara's main port through which the Great Mortis and the rest of the world are accessed by any king. The seas around the city are surrounded by the ships of those who thought the Tomb Kings would be easy pickings without the World's Edge protecting them. The fleets are partially kept still afloat with magic, while the crews still man their posts (including whip-wielding taskmasters, because that's just how its done in Nehekhara), all waiting in the ancient harbors for regal need. Despite being among the worst-affected cities by the ravages of time, looted many times by raiders particularly from Tilea, it remains second only to Khemri in power due to how important it is for any King wanting to reclaim their treasures from the descendants of looters.

The third great pyramid we know about in this region is the Pyramid of King Amenemhetum. According to old lore his tomb actually lies outside of Nehekhara given he was a naval king that conquered and established colonies thoughout the world, but in Total War: WARHAMMER his apparently non-tomb Pyramid lies in Zandri. According to 6th edition, the inscription on the doors says "And he did smite and destroy his enemies with great vengeance and furious anger...". Nehekharan, do you speak it, motherfucker?!

Technically there was an additional pyramid, but we'll get to that.

Amenemhetum should be the ruler of the city, but as soon as he awoke he fucked off to Tilea to reclaim all his stolen shit. Although it attempted to rise against Settra after first being conquered alongside its sister city Numas, they failed and so far have accepted his second rulership after he first brought Nehekhara under his control. Despite being an early ally of Nagash during his first attempt at rulership, they joined the rebellion against him and contributed many archers and since then have been an enemy of his. Alkhazzar II conquered the city after the first defeat of Nagash, with its final ruler being Alcadizaar the Conqueror whom they joined willingly during the second war against Nagash.

Amanhotep the Intolerant (of Dreadfleet fame) is the current ruler of Zandri, and vassal of Settra. He's a comedically unlucky Tomb King, with the details of his mortal life unknown other than his legendary spite and bitterness. During the Bretonnian Crusades he was abducted by knights who believed them to be the legendary hero Duke Cheldric and paraded through Bretonnia carried by Grail Pilgrims until he awoke and rampaged through their lands on his way home. He returned just in time to find that a pirate named Jaego Roth had sacked the city while he was away, using the treasure to purchase the services of mercenaries in a quest for revenge against a pirate. Determined for an epic revenge to match the epic plundering, he had the tombs of the nobility that had been robbed deconstructed and rebuilt on his flagship surrounding his own relocated pyramid, a gigantic barge called the Curse of Zandri, turning the ship into literally a floating fucking pyramid manned by Ushabti, oared by Heirotitans, and with a Necrosphinx as a figurehead and a gigantic holy sword at the front while being powered by a gigantic sapphire that was once the capstone of his pyramid and was given to Nehekhara by the primary god of the pantheon. He joined the vampire that Roth had been attempting to kill, and failed spectacularly (Roth did die and the vampire returned in the TWW continuity, so he got revenge even if it was inglorious). In the End Times/Age Of Sigmar timeline he managed to return just in time to get his pyramid sunk AGAIN by Nagash's third rising. In the Total War: WARHAMMER timeline he is nowhere to be found, his city ruled by the fucking Strigoi vampires of all factions. So he's a pretty absent ruler, which is fine since Settra is the one that is actually in charge.

• The Salt Plain

Not much info on this. Its a settlement in the Vortex campaign of Total War: WARHAMMER, without any real lore.

Ash River

Originally known as the Golden River before Nagash poisoned the land. Where the Golden met the Vitae was once the most fertile land known to mankind and the site of Khemri, and afterwards is one of the most deadly places on the planet.

• Numas

The second ever human city, the third in Nehekharan importance, and sister city to Zandri. While Zandri is located at the delta of the Mortis, Numas is located at the source near the Tarn where Nagash's poison was deployed. Despite the death found in the rest of Nehekhara, Nagash's curse wasn't enough to kill the life here; the only place in Nehekhara where 100% safe water can be found and food can be grown is located within the city borders.

The founder of the city was Zakash's successor named Khesek, who managed to subjugate the desert tribes and expand Nehekharan rule. Khesek's own successor Hekesh attempted to expand the rule of Numas by waging war on lesser kings, with unknown success. The subsequent ruler is forgotten, only that they were ineffective and the land became so unsafe that only the cities were safe due to safety in numbers. Settra conquered the city not long after, although it declared independence again after his death. Controlling both Khemri and Numas for a long period of time became the litmus test for wannabe uniter kings, and all failed to do more than attain momentary control for most of history. They sided with their fellow major cities against Nagash and fell into warring with their neighbors after. King Alkhazzar I finally conquered and kept them united with Khemri, which remained until the awakening of the Tomb Kings after Nagash's spell failed. Numas was the center of the great unending Tomb King civil war, directly resulting in the awakening of Settra. After putting his skeletal foot down and telling the kings of Numas to swear allegiance and play nice (turning the living skulls of those who refused into artillery for his catapults).

Two kings we know about are Phar of Numas (one of 2(+?) Phar characters) and Imrathepis the Crimson King Of Numas. The two absolutely hated each other, and were known for their love of the color red and their wrath. Phar was a Chariot-lover who lead from the front, always dismounting to take part in duels. Imrathepis is more storied, preferring the back of the Warsphinx and participating in wars against Orcs and joining Alcadizaar in the war against the Vampires. When he awoke, Imprathepis immediately went north to drive the Orcs from the Badlands where his kingdom had once controlled, then moving against the Ogre Kingdoms. He badly underestimated the Thunderfoot Tribe, which unleashed their Rhinoxen which wiped out his army leaving him and his Warsphinx alone where he cut down Ogres until eventually they cracked the statue and the Tyrant used his leg as a toothpick. While he was regenerating his descendant Prince Rakaph III decided to get revenge, using an army of 12 Warsphinxes to cause an avalanche that wiped out the tribe of Ogres. Phar on the other hand survived to participate in the defense of Nehekhara during End Times.

While we don't know which of them is actually in charge of the others, the only active one we know is Prince Tutankhanut, an obvious King Tut expy. He's the only Tomb King with a kingdom of living humans, as Scythan (Scythian expies?) refugees saw him as the avatar of their god and swore allegiance to him. The devotion goes both ways, with the living marching in his armies and sacrificing themselves without thought while Tutankhanut fiercely guarding them. The only other major king we know about is King Antarhak, who wielded a legendary magic spear that steals the life force of those it kills.

The Pyramid of Prince Tutankhanut is the only local pyramid we know about, and we don't have any details about it. If he's anything like his namesake, it was hastily constructed but completely untouched and full of literal toys.

• Quatar

The western entrance to the Charnel Valley. The post-death nickname is the Palace Of Corpses, with the pre-death city name being the Gateway of Eternity and the palace being the White Palace. It was once the largest Nehekharan city (technically "one of" the largest, but until they actually give us the names and ranking of the others its the largest as far as it matters). The path leading to said palace is lined with pillars and statues carved from the canyon walls.

The history of Quatar can be summed up by saying that if the final test for Khemrian kings was controlling Numas, the first steps of one is conquering Quatar; this apparently did nothing to diminish the beauty of the city, indicating it was likely never sacked by them.

The kings of Quatar somewhat broke the rules of succession for Nehekhara, giving the firstborn son to the Mortuary Cult like normal but having the secondborn son and hair ALSO be trained as a priest, making Quater ruled exclusively by Priest-kings. The palace was a beautiful place built into a mountain, surrounded by public parks and city squares full of fountains fed by the springs beneath the city, protected by anti-magic magic and carved from gleaming white marble. It was intentionally built to surpass Settra's great Khemri in beauty and splendor, although they chose not to build greater pyramids than his. Their military force, made up primarily of Tomb Guard, was the best in the land.

The current official ruler is unknown. We only know that there is a rumor that a Liche Priest (not a Priest-king) lives in the palace, and knows how to animate the statues surrounding it into a gigantic army of Ushabti and Hierotitans. Said priest is actually Sehenesmet, the Vizier of Quatar who is responsible for much of the statuary as well as their upkeep, not to mention the literal army of Ushabti and Hierotitans in the Valley Of Kings. A second rumor is that he managed to actually entomb himself in a giant statue, and controls it (so magic Mechwarrior) although he did this not for the power and durability, but to make EVEN BIGGER AND BETTER STATUES. A fanmade model of him actually was a finalist for the Golden Demon award, and in Warhammer Chronicles rules were added for playing him.

The local major pyramid is the Pyramid of King Phar. This is odd given that of the two Phar characters, neither of them are actually known to be from Quatar; most likely the more important Phar, King Phar of Mahrak, used to rule Quatar until it was taken from him by Settra and after his death Settra allowed him to be entombed there. Or maybe there's a third Phar, we don't know. Another noteworthy architectural feature is the Great Stone Guardian Of Quatar, a giant eagle/lion hybrid (so a Necrosphinx without a human face basically) that Sehenesmet brings to life when armies intend on smashing his fetishes statues march on the city.

• Springs of Eternal Life

We don't know anything about this, but the name is fairly descriptive and according to Total War: WARHAMMER the Necrarch begin the game with control of it and one of Khalida's quests involves restoring the shrine of Asaph there.

The Great Desert Of Araby/The Coast Of Araby/Land Of The Dervishes/Shifting Sands

Technically occupied by mortal humans today, the Arabyans are the Warhammer Middle Eastern expies (since Orcs & Goblins and Dwarfs occupy the actual Warhammer Middle East). They used to be ruled by the Nehekharans and live in continual danger of a king deciding to expand into the area (among the many, MANY other threats such as Mahtmasi and the Crusades of Bretonnia, to say nothing of the monsters and Daemons).

Regions and Areas of the Warhammer World
Areas of The Old World:	The Empire of Man - Bretonnia - Albion - Estalia - Tilea - Kislev - Norsca - Border Princes - Worlds Edge Mountains - Karak Eight-Peaks
Areas of The New World:	Naggaroth - Lustria
Areas of The Eastern Lands:	Cathay - Nippon - Ogre Kingdoms - Dark Lands - Kingdoms of Ind - Khuresh - Eastern Steppes
Areas of The Southlands:	Nehekhara - Araby - Badlands - Marshes of Madness
Other Areas of the world:	Ulthuan - Athel Loren - Chaos Wastes - Skavenblight - Lost Isles of Elithis
Main bodies of Water:	The Great Ocean - The Far Sea - The Sea of Dread - Inner Sea of Ulthuan