More than a thousand years after the Age of Sigmar, the Empire he struggled to create rests on the edge of destruction – the reign of the greedy and incompetent Emperor Boris Goldgather has shaken down the great and prosperous edifice of his erstwhile realm. Without warning, a terrible and deadly plague strikes, wiping out entire villages and leaving towns eerily silent through the long frozen months. As the survivors struggle to maintain order and a worthy military presence, vermin pour up from the sewers and caverns beneath the cities, heralding a new and unspeakable threat – the insidious skaven! A thousand years after the Age of Sigmar, the Empire is struck by a deadly plague which decimates the population. In its wake, the foul skaven move to lay claim to the land of men.

Second novel in the Time of Legends: The Black Plague series The Black Plague spreads across the Empire, followed by a tide of monsters from legend: the skaven. In Altdorf, Emperor Boris' troops valiantly hold off the ratmen while the corrupt Emperor escapes to safety. In Middenheim, Graf Gunthar and his son Mandred defend their city against a horde of the vile invaders. And in Sylvania, the skaven find more than they had expected in the form of the necromancer Vanhal and his army of the dead... an army that gets larger as the plague worsens.

The final part of The Black Plague trilogy. The Black Plague has done its work, and the ravaged Empire is ripe for the picking. As the dread armies of the skaven sweep across Sigmar's realm, each of the great cities looks to its own defence - except Middenheim. As he gathers warriors to his banner and liberates towns and villages from the verminous menace, Graf Mandred begins to embrace his destiny as the future leader of a united Empire - if he can survive the trials to come.