I can. Mostly.

Rats are always burrowing beneath. In the lore they have a vast Under Empire that spans under continents. There are four major Skaven clans: Eshin(assassins / ninjas), Skryre(techno freaks), Moulder(they specialize in moulding rat breeds, like Rat Ogres and such) and Pestilens(they believe in disease). Clan Fester, Vermintide's clan, is a small offshoot of Clan Pestilens. They apparently got exiled.

The people we play are simply random people that happened to find themselves in a bad place at a bad time. Sergeant Markus Kruber is a simple Empire Soldier and he acts as a body guard for Victor Saltzpyre, an Imperial Witch Hunter(think of them as of Gestapo-they are literally geheimniss Stadt polizei aka State's Secret Police). They were escorting Sienna Fuegonasus, a renegade Bright Wizard(Pyromancer / Fire Mage) to a trial before Magic Council(don't know the name lol). Bardin, the Dwarf and Kerillian, the Elf, simply were there. Bardin was looking for whereabouts on Karak Zorn, a lost Dwarfen Hold and Kerillian...who knows. Some emo boi, right?

The couch GAL is Olesya Pimenova, a Russian(called Kislevite in Warhammer) of unknown background. Some even think she's a witch. But not much is known. About the ghostly horses, it's because they are a gift from Cristoph Engel, a Gray Wizard(Illusion Mage). They're called "shadow steed" afaik.

The main goal for our heroes is to survive and help others as much as possible while at it. Oh and also carry it out dirty work for the tavernkeep Franz Lohner. Who is most likely an Imperial Spymaster. Or perhaps even just an another form(Simulacrum) for Cristoph Engel. Details are as of yet unknown. Given that he's literally surrounded by meat and that the name is RED MOON Inn, he could be also a Vampire or a Vampire Count spy.

As how do they know...the two big reasons are because Franz Lohner instructs em on what to do and because Markus Kruber is originally from Ubersreik. But his family moved to Talabheim(afaik). Concerning the DLC, in Drachenfels, they know because of Lohner(and Summoner's Peak is self evident), in Karak Azgaraz they know because of Bardin(some even suspect he is from Azgaraz), in Stromdorf they are initially instructed by Lohner and the rest is linear sequence and DoTR...the same as Stromdorf honestly.

Is there anything more you wish to know?

nah you did a good job is there books or stuff i can read it sounds intresting

To expand a bit on what he said: this isn't called the End Times for nothing, this is a bad time world-wide, so there no real "good" place to be at the moment. And a major city like Ubersreik, the one where the game happens, probably is far from the worst one; there appears to be quite a few more survivors than just our heroes and the couple people you encounter, judging from mission "briefings" and Quests & Contracts descriptions.

As for your question about books, there is a lot of Warhammer literature. Most of it doesn't really cover the End Times though - and most of the good one certainly doesn't. You can start reading the Lexicanum though, it is full of information; start on that page for example and then go to the links that pick your interest:
http://whfb.lexicanum.com/wiki/Warhammer_world

Originally posted by Lagging Like Larry:

likewhere did the rats come from?
Who are these ppl we play as
whos the couch guy? why is he ghostly
whats the main goal for our heros?
how do they know what to do

okay, so long-form version:

the rats(Skaven) live underground and want to take over the world. once, they attacked the empire en-masse centuries ago and they took over the city vermintide takes place in. the leader of this particular army of ratmen is called Rasknitt and has, for some reason, been trying to retake the city and using it to screw with that green moon for the last couple years. this is his third attempt and second actual action against the city, and the first one that was an open assault. the ratmen are following Rasknitt because they're dying of a plague and he can apparantly cure them, and said he will once the city is his.

the player characters are here largely because of saltzpyre. he's a witch hunter and is dedicated to stopping plots like this, but he's got a mad-on for the ratmen and heard rumors they were active in the city. so he uses arresting the mage as an excuse to bring her there and hires the soldier to come along. the dwarf and elf were going for different reasons and just decided to tag along with him to save time.

the person on the coach is actually a woman, olyesa. her horses are ghostly because they're magical constructs made by the grey wizard you help out in one level. no, we don't know how they know each other. there's a lot of unanswered questions about how the people helping our heroes are so prepared for all this.

the heroes are trying to free the city from the ratmen. they don't really have time for a bigger plan than that and they do pretty well, considering. they know how to do it because for some reason, they guy at the bar as spies everywhere, including in the ratmen apparantly and is part of bankrolling a resistance effort to see the city freed. we don't know how he has so many connections and it's a little suspicious, but he's at least earnestly helpful and honest about wanting the skaven gone.

the other time Rasknitt attacked the city is in an RPG adventure called "the edge of night". the advennture itself is good, but that version of the RPG was a mess so it didn't get a lot of attention.

Originally posted by Lagging Like Larry:

nah you did a good job is there books or stuff i can read it sounds intresting

Depends on what you like. Are you asking for general knowledge or for specific tales? There isn't that much of former, but plethora of latter. But most of it is rather hard to find right now, seeing how most stuff is out of print. Except select few that either deal with history or are End Times / Age of Sigmar crap.

Yeah, your best bet if you're looking for "genric", non End Times- or Vermintide-related Warhammer novels would be older ones like the Gotrek and Felix series. Pretty sure there's at least one that's focused on them fighting Skaven.

If you want a general overview, check the Lorebook in-game.

Originally posted by darth.crevette:

Yeah, your best bet if you're looking for "genric", non End Times- or Vermintide-related Warhammer novels would be older ones like the Gotrek and Felix series. Pretty sure there's at least one that's focused on them fighting Skaven.

Literally named "Skavenslayer". I've a hunch that "they should call you Skaven slayer" should be written as such "Skavenslayer". You know?

I like history books like the Sundering, the Legend of Sigmar and various others like Mathias Thulmann or Brunner the Bounty Hunter. Though I cherry pick by factions, you most likely won't catch me reading anything about Chaos or Undeads.

I NEED MORE BRETONNIA NOVELS / GAMES / WHAT HAVE YOU! (though I'll settle for Empire Knights if need be)

Originally posted by Gorwe:

Originally posted by darth.crevette:

Yeah, your best bet if you're looking for "genric", non End Times- or Vermintide-related Warhammer novels would be older ones like the Gotrek and Felix series. Pretty sure there's at least one that's focused on them fighting Skaven.

Literally named "Skavenslayer". I've a hunch that "they should call you Skaven slayer" should be written as such "Skavenslayer". You know?

I like history books like the Sundering, the Legend of Sigmar and various others like Mathias Thulmann or Brunner the Bounty Hunter. Though I cherry pick by factions, you most likely won't catch me reading anything about Chaos or Undeads.

I NEED MORE BRETONNIA NOVELS / GAMES / WHAT HAVE YOU! (though I'll settle for Empire Knights if need be)

Terrible news for you then- Game workshop actually hates bretonnia, and has since the leadership of the board changed because they're too easily proxied. large swathes of both the US and EU love them but GW hates them and wants us to forget.

but we don't because ♥♥♥♥ that.