The Threefold Curse Denied

Barotta opted to deny the Threefold Curse. Rather than pick one option, he chose all three - but did exactly the opposite of what was required.

Facrast did not burn. Instead, its peoples came together, united and free of civil war for the first time in living memory. Thus the Horned Darkness was spurned.

Solace was not sucked into the Vortex. The sorcerer Nereus did not get one of Barotta's hearts, not Krawl's. Nobody offered up their sword in his service. Instead, Nereus got his old sword back, and willingly abandoned his great ritual. Thus was the Four Powers spurned.

St. Annard's Penance didn't see the masters burn, nor the pillars fall. Instead, the Chosen were extinguished and the world abandoned, and the sleeping dead may slumber forevermore. Thus was Malal spurned.

It's a story worthy of retelling. This is not how the Threefold Curse normally plays out. The Champion denied all the Gods, seeming without care for their inevitable wrath. Presumably, the way forward is now firmly shut, and all manner of trouble now awaits.

The Threefold Curse

The Threefold Cruse is a recurring theme in many Chaos myth cycles. The Champion is presented with three choices, all of them in some way bad. To go forward in his quest (often for daemonhood), he must then pick one of these three evils - and suck up the consequences. More often than not the hero of these tales pick the wrong option and die horribly. Or refuse the challenge - and are cursed by the True Gods. More rarely, the champion succeeds at one task, only to find he has been tricked.

Barotta's Threefold curse, as penned:

The Fall of Solace
Onto a world where men live like ants,
Where the sorcerer Nereus prepares the Ritual of Ages.
Offer him your heart and your sword.
Thus the Way shall be opened and revealed onto thee.

The Rising of Facrast
Onto a war-torn world on the edge of nowhere,
Where enemies three await with weapons ultimate.
Offer up the world on the Horned One's altar.
Thus the Way shall be opened and revealed onto thee.

The Sacrifice of St. Annard's Peace
Onto a hidden world of toil and bondage,
Where the ancient dead slumber away the eons.
Offer the oppressors to the Avenger.
Thus the Way shall be opened and revealed onto thee.