Shyish
Shyish was originally the wind of magic related to all things to do with death. In the Age of Sigmar it has become the realm of Nagash. Shyish serves as the afterlife for the mortal realms: underworlds containing the souls of the dead are formed based on the beliefs of various cultures. This afterlife isn't permanent, as these underworlds will naturally fade when people forget about them. Although stereotypically seen as a spooky graveyard wasteland, Shyish is also home to pleasant heavens and terrible hells.
Warhammer Fantasy Battle
In the Old World, Shyish was the Amethyst Wind of death and endings. As such, the magisters of Shyish have the ability to drain away life and commune with spirits. Amethyst wizards are often shunned for the resemblance of their powers to Necromancy. However, the two are completely different: where Shyish is about embracing endings, Necromancy is about defying them. Amethyst magic also completely lacks the mental and physical degredation that Necromancy brings on its participants. The Libre Necris describes Necromancy as essentially using the Winds of Shyish as "tongs" to grasp Dhar or Dark Magic and channel it through the remains of the dead.
The Realm of Shyish
Shyish is a realm of entropy. The individual underworlds are created by the beliefs of a civilization, and whenever a religions or belief system is made a new afterlife emerges and if they fade away (whether this takes centuries, millennia or even longer) so does the afterlife centered around them. The souls are gradually reabsorbed into Shyish proper and can either be reborn or get taken by other beings.
The core of Shyish is apparently a huge, magical black hole and anything that would get sucked into it dies forever and never comes back, including Nagash himself. Shyish forms around it like a pearl forms around a grain of sand in an oyster, and while the black hole eats away at Shyish, Shyish regenerates keeping the black hole contained.
Age of Myth
Age of Chaos
Nagash fled back to Shyish after backstabbing Sigmar's forces. However Sigmar, mad about the betrayal, kicked down Nagash's door and hunted him across Shyish. They fought twice with Nagash fleeing both times before Sigmar could beat him. Eventually Sigmar left Shyish when he saw that the forces of Chaos had used this opportunity to gain a lot of ground.
Rather than make the most of Sigmar's departure, Nagash found himself and his forces taking on the forces of Chaos alone. It was a hard fight in the realm of Shyish, but Nagash and the undead were slowly ground down. It took Archaon himself to strike down Nagash. The Vampire Lord Prince Vhordrai tried to dispose of Nagash's remains to ensure the Chaos Gods consumed him, but he was thwarted by Arkhan the Black. Arkhan and Neferata later took Nagash's remains to the underworld of Stygyx where he would reform.
Age of Sigmar
Sigmar sent his forces to parley with Nagash, with predictable results both times. First Nagash threw Sigmar's offer back in his and attacked the Stormcast while the second time he double-crossed them.
He made a master plan involving a giant black pyramid (how original!) that could fly. He planned to absorb all the energy in Shyish and become super powerful (this sounds familiar) to the point that he would raise the dead everywhere and use them as an undead army to conquer everyone else (heard that one before). However he overlooked the Skaven (not the first time he did that) and they messed up his plans (yet again). This did have a different outcome, creating a void in the center of Shyish and raising armies of ghosts across the realms, creating the Nighthaunt faction who have a major hatred for Sigmar and friends.
This void also slowly sucks in all the afterlives, so now everyone who dies is sucked into the void where their souls exist in a state of insanity before being destroyed. Nagash can enter it and draw power from it, but he's the only one who can do so and even for him it means destruction if he stays there too long.
Forces of Shyish
Legions of Nagash
Flesh Eater Courts
Nighthaunt
| The Nine Realms of the Age of Sigmar | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hysh | ||||
| Ghur | Chamon | |||
| Aqshy | Realm of Chaos | Ghyran | ||
| Shyish | Azyr | |||
| Ulgu | ||||