Forn, the Runeson who fell afoul of Gotrek at the beginning of Realmslayer and was friends with the Battlesmith Broddur who followed Gotrek for the better part of that story, is one of the main characters. It deals with events in the Unbak lodge some time after Gotrek left them.

An unknown enemy assassin makes quick work of the Unbak Runefather and the heir apparent, while also stealing the Runefathers last will and testament (Called Oathplaques in the parlance of the lodges) leaving the lodge with a succession crisis, as its not really a primogeniture succession with Fyreslayer Lodges, more of a merit based succession. And the 5 remaining Runesons, all being being the noble warrior hotheads (not sorry) that they are, all think that they should take the lead.

If you are familiar with the Fyreslayer lore, you know that succession conflicts like this are why the Fyreslayers are so scattered. Other lodges have torn themselves apart fighting over leadership, or packed up and left. The brothers almost have a falling out then and there, but they find a clue about who the assassin(s) could be. They all swear to avenge the murder of their dad and sibling before they iron out who becomes king of the castle.

This leads them on a campaign to a Moonclan enclave, which the 5 Magmadroth riding brothers and a Battlesmith( Broddur’s predecessor) make quick work of, but not without taking a few licks themselves. They then find out that they were misdirected by Skaven, the true culprits of the assassination(but not entirely), which then leads them to the Skaven stronghold which they also devastate.

While all this action is taking place, the brothers banter and compete amongst themselves, which was fun. Think of Gimli and “It still only counts as one!” type stuff. There is also some dialogue between Forn and the Battlesmith, and you get the sense that maybe Forn doesn’t really have the ambition to be a Runefather, but the rivalry with his brothers and the genuine concern for their wellbeing keeps him going, instead of striking out to form his own lodge.

We then find out that it was a Verminlord Deceiver that killed the Runefather and Runeson. He’s trying to cripple the local Moonclan and the Unbak with his schemes. He left a trail that led to the Moonclan so that they could weaken each other, when that partially failed, he was hoping the Runesons would die assaulting the skaven lair, but that didn’t work either. They find the Oathplaques but realize that they were vandalized, leaving the succession crisis still up in the air. The Verminlord taunts them, and leaves. The Battlesmith tells the remaining Runesons that whoever kills the Verminlord will become Runefather.

They chase the Verminlord into its lair and after some vicious fighting, they prevail. One of the Runesons kills the Verminlord and the remaining brothers accept him as Runefather. They are given a choice to serve the new Runefather, or strike out on their own and found their own lodge. One brother chooses to serve and is given the newly vacate Moonclan stronghold to form his own lodge. Forn decides to quest out on his own, to forge his own legend and mentions that he wants to see what Broddur got himself into with following Gotrek. Wonder if Gotrek and Forn will meet again?