Well damn, that's quite the amount of effort you're putting in for that. You've certainly got me anticipating the results, at least.
And actually yeah Skinner's Spire sounds nice. Though mayhaps not Spire, Uzkulak's very dwarfy as a place and thus not really prone to spires.
...
Skinner's Stone?
Skinner Rock?
...
I'll have a think about it.
Well damn, that's quite the amount of effort you're putting in for that. You've certainly got me anticipating the results, at least.
And actually yeah Skinner's Spire sounds nice. Though mayhaps not Spire, Uzkulak's very dwarfy as a place and thus not really prone to spires.
...
Skinner's Stone?
Skinner Rock?
...
I'll have a think about it.
Unless "Skinner" happened to be the name of the USA commander to seize Uzkulak, but I see where you are coming from as "Keep" and "Hold" are not words that would be used by a Skaven in reference to a building or settlement.
On a side note, I ran the battle (a lovely use of four hours) and the Grey Seer did manage to get the Dreaded 13th Spell off on the Chaos Lord without my fudging any dice. On the other hand by the Horned Rat are the various Warriors of Chaos absolute blenders. Every single Clanrat, all 240 of them, and four of the six Stormvermin platoons, so 80 out of 120, were dead by the end. That's on top of the Rat Ogre squad and the Master Moulder dying at the start of the second turn because CQC against a Chaos Lord with a Daemon Weapon ends poorly for everyone. The 40 Rat squads of Clanrats could, at best, average two to three kills per turn against the regular Warriors. The Chaos Lord never took a non self-inflicted wound and absolutely eviscerated everything they came in contact with, especially the one time they managed to catch a Fang Leader alone and force the Challenge. Poor Archipiebald, you cowered in the rear and fled for your life with the best of them and even managed to take out the Chaos Lord's Juggernaut with your Ratling Gunner team.
Not that that helped because the Chaos Lord themself is fucking unbeatable in CQC (S5+D3 with 5+D6 Attacks) and you were well within Charging distance.
The omake is coming along and currently at around 1k words and not done with the fight and haven't done any POV stuff yet. Gonna try and finish it up and do some editing and hopefully post it up by tomorrow night.
Finally done, I stayed up all night and have to get up in two and a half hours but I churned out an entirely unedited version of the omake that clocks in at over 3.5k words because I was inspired and then refused to let myself stop just so I could be done with it.
As always, any feedback or stuff like that is appreciated. Feel free to highlight anywhere that I misspelled something, missed a word or added one, or if you think I need to just generally work over a section.
-------------------
The Horned Herald
-------------------
As the Chaos Warriors entered the Road of Skulls the Skaven retained the element of surprise.
Riding atop his Juggernaut of Khorne, the Chaos Lord rode along the Road of Skulls with his honor guard of eight Knights of Chaos and eight times that number in Warriors, each of them clad in Chaos Armor forged by maddened smithies that dwelled farther North than even the Norsii frequented.
Far ahead of the rest of his legion the Lord desired to see just what manner of ruin the chittering Ratmen of the Southern lands had heaped upon the Dawi Zharr. After rounding the final turn the Lord looked out upon the rolling desolation and breathed deep of the frigid air as if inhaling the carnage and slaughter of the dwarves.
In a moment between breathes, when the Juggernaut and the Chaos Warsteeds were silent, a low thud was heard from behind them. Reversing direction and commanding the Knights to his side the Chaos Lord realized the trap too late to stop it.
The Ratmen had been far closer than the Chaos Lord had suspected, from behind every stone and shadow poured hundreds of Skaven in scarce armor, wielding swords and carrying shields. Hundreds of barely armored Skaven filled the pass shoulder to shoulder, and behind the Clanrats assembled six platoons of regimented Stormvermin, three platoons in front and three behind the Warband, each platoon commanded by a stoic and better armored Skaven who had a saber on their hip and a musket whose barrel glowed with a green light in their hands.
The Chaos Lord seethed, his eyes filling with red and his mind with whispers from his spear when a loud BONNNNNNNNNNNNNGpulled his entire attention behind him again and towards a towering structure of wood and stone topped with a Bell. The structure rolled and shook slowly towards the encircled Warband as the Grey Seer who rode atop cackled wildly with eyes trailing green smoke. One of the six platoons of Stormvermin was pulling the structure and the carriage it rode on while the bell itself was worked by an absolutely massive Rat Ogre.
The Warband's attention pulled in every direction, and the Chaos Lord's toward the Grey Seer in particular, they were caught off guard as with a thunderous roar, explosion of stone, and the crushing of a dozen of the Clanrats that had composed the front line half a dozen other Rat Ogres burst from a tunnel below and lumbered into a charge towards the Chaos Lord and his Knights.
With a cracking whip and a shock-prod the Master Moulder who rose out of the tunnel behind the Rat Ogres drove them forward with such fervor that the Ogres cracked the stone beneath them with their charge. Bracing atop his Juggernaut the Chaos Lord called for his Knights to gut the beasts but the Warsteeds and their Riders had not been prepared for the all-out charge of a Rat Ogre squad led by a Master of Clan Moulder and his personal creation. Half the Knights were swept away in the initial clash, crushed in their armor or eaten by the mutant Skaven. Rallying himself the Chaos Lord brought his Daemonspear to bear and decapitated one of the beasts and gutting another, and though its organs and blood were pouring out to the ground the Rat Ogre did not fall.
The Knights knew that to falter so close to their Lord was to invite their own doom and so pulled their steeds back around for the counter-attack but the Master Moulder had already begun corralling the Rat Ogres with his shock-prod sending visible bolts of electricity across the flesh of the Rat Ogres, and when the Knights rode in for their attack the Master gestured contemptuously and touched the shock-prod to the helm of a Knight. As the prod was intended to force even a frenzied Rat Ogre to heel the Knight was cooked alive in his armor and his steed was sent twitching to the ground before bursting into a fountain of black and red ichor.
Cursing the Knights' incompetence and threatening to eat their hearts the Chaos Lord called for his Warriors to aid in dealing with these pests.
Sixteen of his Greatswords responded with zeal as, with warpstone ammunition flying by their heads or deflecting off their armor, they charged the Rat Ogres and like a tidal wave of daemonic steel and blood the Warriors washed over the Ogres and slew them all, the Master of Moulder's attempts to flee back to the safety of the horde of Clanrats cut short by an iron boot snapping the Skaven's knees like dry tinder before a sword found the vermin's throat.
With another roar the Chaos Lord, his remaining knights, and attending Greatswords formed their line and charged into the mass of Clanrats that blocked his path, the Knights and Greatswords joining in with ululations and cries of, "Blood for the Blood God!"
The Skaven, proving that their time training with the USA had paid off, absorbed the charge with ease, that is to say that only thirty Clanrats were trampled to death or cut down by Daemonspear and Lance. The rest of the horde was able to hold their position and prevent the Chaos Lord from breaking through into the backlines and trample the Stormvermin gunners.
While the Chaos Lord attempted a break into the Dark Lands to his rear the remainder of his Greatswords had moved to engage and stall the procession of the Clanrats and the Grey Seer atop his Bell. Ratling Gunners sprayed warpstone ammunition over the dozens of Warriors but, save for the unlucky few that caught a bullet through their eye-slits, the Warriors of Chaos were undaunted. However the same wild sprays of warpstone had far more of an effect on the Skaven themsevles, perforating all the Clanrats that had stood between the Ratling gun and the Warriors.
Watching the ambush begin to turn against him the Grey Seer order the attending Rat Ogre to begin ringing the Bell as the Seer began to crackle and spark with eldritch lightning. As the Rat Ogre struggled to ring the great Bell the Grey Seer hauled back with his hands and for a moment a crack in the Veil was opened as the Bell tolled once and the Seer hurled a great bolt of Warp Energy into the charging Warriors disintegrating four of them, armor and all.
Despite the men beside them evaporating in a burst of color and heat the remaining warriors tore into the Clanrats that made up the front line and cut through half of the first wave like so much chaff, nearly causing the frontline to collapse upon impact. Only the screaming toll of the Belland the knowledge that a Grey Seer was present and watching prevented the Clanrats from attempting to scurry away. Crawling over the still gurgling bodies the Clanrats managed to rat-pile a few of the Chaos Warriors, jamming swords and daggers into the handful of openings in the armor or suffocating the Warriors beneath the sheer press of bodies.
While the Clanrats struggled to find any weakness in the Chaos Armor the Ratling Gunners and the Fang Leaders were finding that warpstone ammunition made for a much more effective weapon than sword or claw. Warpmuskets and Ratling guns vomited a hail of green glowing metal that cut through another crowd of Clanrats but leaving luminous holes in the black armor of the Chaos Warriors. Reloading their guns they judged the gurgling death rattles of nearly a dozen Northmen worth far more than the Clanrats killed in the hail of bullets.
Despite their sudden casualties the Warriors fought twice as fiercely, crushing the first two waves of Clanrats thrown in an attempted rear charge against their Lord. However the third wave was composed not just Clanrats pulled from Mors but the three full platoons of Stormvermin and the tide of fur and still was able to meet and stymie the relentless assault that had trampled and pulped the previous two. The Warriors momentum halted, the loses for the Skaven mounted quickly and in minutes the remaining Clanrats and two of the three platoons of Stormvermin, nearly two hundred Skaven, had been reduced to a squelching, mewling, and bleeding carpet beneath the heels of the Warriors who continued to froth and wail with an unholy fervor.
Now numbering only nine of their original thirty-two the Chaos Warriors of the rearguard were to the Grey Seer's eye easy picking. Pulling upon the Winds of Magic again the Grey Seer bid his attending Rat Ogre to toll the Bellwith even greater force and with an earthshattering BONNNNNNNNNNNNNGthe ground beneath the remaining Warriors burst upward in a gout of flame, cooking half the remaining Warriors as if they had been within a brass bull.
Taking advantage of the Horned Rat's generosity and example, the Grey Seer began pulling not just from the Winds but the bones of the Earth and with a soft stamp of his foot and a guttural curse a maw formed around the Warriors, long fangs and sharpened teeth visible as the last of the Chaos Rearguard and dozens of Skaven corpses plummet into the chittering maw that swiftly slams shut leaving a line of cracked earth that glows a baleful green to mark their consumption by the Horned Rat.
With nothing impeding his path forward the Grey Seer turns his eyes towards the Chaos Lord who was battering his way through Clanrats and Stormvermin like a Hellpit Abomination through a nursery. With a gesture and a shout of, "March-March!" the remaining Stormvermin push the Screaming Bell forwards and closer to the Seer's quarry.
-----
"RAAAAGGGGHHH!"
RIP AND TEAR
Ragnvald the Fleshtaker's spear split the skulls of three of the disgusting Ratmen in a single strike before tearing it free with an eruption of bone, blood, and brain matter as he swept the Daemonspear through the neck of a fourth while the Juggernaut gored and ate a fifth. Searching over the mass of fur and leather armor the Lord of the Fleshtakers pointed his spear towards the only rat on the frontline that wore an appropriate amount of metal armor.
"FACE ME YOU GUTLESS WORM!"
REND AND MAIM
Even over the constant chittering of the multitude of vermin surrounding him and the voice of the Daemon within the Misericorde that echoed constantly in his mind, Ragnvald could hear the "Eek," that the cowardgave as it scurried even further away from the front line. Letting loose another roar he drove his Juggernaut of Khorne to trample and crush the pathetic creatures that thought to trap him, as the Juggernaut's brass and burning blood turned Clanrats into paste so too did Ragnvald's spear cut throats and open chests like uncorking champagne.
"FLEE THEN."
RUN IT DOWN.
The Skaven lines shattered as the Juggernaut and the Chaos Lord seemed to become shrouded in heat like a furnace, Ragnvald's shouts drowning out even the tolling of the Bell and his presence overshadowing even the knowledge that a Grey Seer was on the other side of the battlefield.
"COWER IN YOUR WARRENS."
LET NONE ESCAPE.
The Knights and Warriors followed in the wake of their Lord, trampling and cutting down the fleeing Skaven. Hooves shattered bones and crushed skulls, bodies pilled upon lances like meat on a skewer before falling off as the width of the lance's base split the chests completely apart, and the Warriors took great joy in splitting Skaven nave to chops then leaving them to writhe adding their blood to the growing mat of caked earth and fur.
"HIDE IN THE DEEPEST PIT YOU CAN FIND."
TAKE THEIR SKULLS.
"Regroup and brace-brace! For the Underempire, else be put to the Lash-Lash!"
The fleeing commander shouted and for the Stormvermin the threat yanked on fears drilled deep into the most animalistic parts of their minds, so shaking with fear they reformed their lines. This did nothing to aid them rather ensuring that they were lined up in neat rows as the Juggernaut barreled into them without slowing its canter.
"COVER YOUR TRAIL IN PUTRID FILTH."
BURN AND KILL.
The Stormvermin did not have time to break this time, dying in droves, as the Knights were still catching up with their Lord and the Warriors yet behind even the Knights. Ragnvald's pace was slowed only by the fact that the Juggernaut was forced to pull short by the pit that the Rat Ogres had burst from, the still fleeing Skaven having simply leapt the gap.
"I WILL BURN THIS WORLD AND-"
CRUSH THESE INSE-
Whatever Ragnvald had been about to say was cut off, as the moment his eyes found the cur that had run from his challenge the head of his Juggernaut disappeared like someone pulling a stuffed animal's head inside out and he was sent tumbling to the ground.
------
Fang Leader Archipiebald was possessed of a grin that would have made any of his former subordinates evacuate their bowels as he watched the Chaos Lord become unmounted as his steed evaporated under the concentrated fire of the Ratling Gunners that the Grey Seer had ordered him to bring. Twenty warpstone rounds flew from the Ratling's barrel towards the great beast of Brass and Blood that the Chaos Lord had ridden and now the creature was a puddle of molten blood and brass that was steadily evaporating in the mountain air. Better still many of the rounds that had missed the beast had found their way into the bodies of the Knights that had been following close behind their Lord, the final three Knights falling with their steeds and Lord.
Archipiebald's smile was short lived as the Chaos Lord picked himself up, rising to his full height of ten feet.
"DIE."
"DIE."
With that echoing word the Chaos Lord raised his spear to the sky and in an instant hundreds of gallons of blood were swept into the air. Pointing the spear towards the Ratling Gunners, who were still braced behind their smoking gun, hundreds of needles formed from the boiling blood rained down and tore them apart, penetrating their flesh and flash boiling their blood in a horrific display as parts of their body ruptured from the sheer pressure of steaming blood building in their extremities.
Archipiebald managed to duck and dodge in time to avoid the assault which seemed to have been centered slightly off of the gunner's position, a mistake on the fool-fool Chaos Lord's part. Archipiebald was not one to look such a fortunate even in the face and took advantage of his distance to turn tale and make a decent head start.
"LOOK AT ME, YOU PUISSANT SACK OF MEAT."
At least, that had been his plan. It appeared that even on foot and in plate armor the Chaos Lord was still faster than he was. Towering over the trembling Skaven the Chaos Lord stared down and seemed to wait for the Skaven's response.
Seeing no alternative but to fight Archipiebald swiftly flicked his poisoned tail blade up and into the knee joint of the armor. The blade bit deep into the Chaos Lords's flesh and the poison mingled freely with his blood.
The thunderous laughter that followed was not what Archipiebald had expected but he did not have much time to expect anything as his head soon slipped from his neck before being caught by the ears in a gauntleted fist.
-----
Hoisting the decapitated head and his spear to the sky Ragnvald roared in triumph, "SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!"
SLAUGHTER FOR KHORNE!
With that utterance the flesh began to slough off the Skaven head and reveal a perfect bleach white skull. As the ears disintegrated in his fist, Ragnvald adjusted his grip and buried his spear into fresh corpse so that he could behold the skull in both hands.
CROWN TO CROWN, SKULL TO SKULL, GIFT OF GODS TO MORTAL MAN.
Ragnvald's hands spasmed and the skull turned to powder as his fists clenched. His skull felt like he was being branded with the Mark of Khorne anew. The moment passed quickly and, shaking his head, Ragnvald felt a new sensation. Reaching up to it he found that the once sweeping horns attached to his helm were now anchored much more directly to him! Laughing again he hefted his spear and turned to see how the rest of the battle was fairing.
The last thing that Ragnvald the Fleshtaker ever saw was the face of an enormous rat with countless horns and eyes that burned like Morrslieb.
----
Finally he was within range; the Bellringing out as the carriage ground to a stop. Pulling out one of his warp tokens and cracking it with his teeth the Grey Seer crooned at the sensation as he swallowed it. Reaching into his robes he withdrew the Orb of Power he had spent months and dozens of favors preparing for this very moment.
With a gesture of his staff and the Dread invocation, the Orb cracked and raw power flowed out from the Grey Seer and cross the battlefield. As the Chaos Lord turned around he was enveloped within a growing tear in the fabric of reality. A Presencedescended upon the battlefield causing the Stormvermin to huddle closely, the Rat Ogre to moan piteously, and even the Grey Seer to tremble at what they could feel reaching out from Beyond.
-----
"What is happening?!"
You are waste-wasted on the mindless god.
KILL THE VERMINOUS GOD.
"Reveal yourself and let us see whether the power of the Blood God is something you are willing to face sorcerer!"
I already have, but your eyes remain shut-closed to my glory.
MAKE IT BL͚̞̭͙̃ͪ̔̚͟E͈̯͕̭̤̳̼̍̔ED-BLEED
"Khorne give me strength!"
Such rage-rage is useful and many of my children have forgotten that to bring the world to ruin will require more-more than just bombs or spells or disease.
WHAT-WH͎̖̙̗͍ͤͦ̓͂̂ͪ͒ͬA̤̯͔̒̀́̎̅̽͆̊̀T IS IT DOING TO US?
"AAAGGGGGGGHHH!"
That fool-fool of a god thought to give you a gift of another weapon when you already had one that was more than adequate, allow me to show you true-true power and a true-true blessing for someone worthy of such things.
AAAAAGGGHHHHH!
"What have you done-done to me?!"
Made-made you far better than you ever had been but know-know that I do not give-give gifts. Go and work-work my will Ragefang Fleshtaker, and prove that I need not make you regret-regret my infinite benevolence.
"Y-yrk-yes oh most terrible of Gods, Su-hng-Supreme Master of the Winds, and fon-nnt-font of Skavendom, Thy will be done."
----
As the green glow faded where a Chaos Lord of ten feet in brass armor festooned in trophies and emblems of the Blood God stood now a Skaven seven feet tall remained, kneeling on the all fours and breathing heavily. Replacing the brass and skulls, the armor had become an alloy of iron and warpstone possessed of only a single sigil, that of the Great Horned Rat and the Council of 13 blazing brightly on the breastplate.
Scampering down from his perch atop the Screaming Bell the Grey Seer chittered and shivered with excitement. He had done it, as Lord Thanquol had commanded he had turned one of the great champions of the Dark Four to the Great Ascendancy! As he approached with a hop in his step the Grey Seer began to slow as he took in the finer details of this new massive Skaven.
Its fur was… grey. Once the Grey Seer was mere feet away from the kneeling form he could tell that the helmet was no longer a single mass of steel with horns attached but that the helmet now went over and around the horns! He had created a Grey Seer, this was something unheard of! Unprecedented! The Underlord would have to honor him exceeding all expectations in such a way!
Continuing his inspection the Grey Seer chittered and squeaked excitedly, looking for any other oddities about this new creation. Satisfied that he had seen everything he marched up to the fresh Skaven and stood tall before placing a paw on top of the helmet, "Rise-rise, Quickclaw an-"
"Too loud-loud," Ragefang rumbled as his hand mashed the Grey Seer's head. Turning to face the still terrified Stormvermin and moaning Rat Ogre he spoke, "We must go-go back to great-great Underlord Thanquol and Skavenblight. I have much to learn-learn and report-tell. The Great Horned One wills this!"
Ragefang wasn't sure exactly whether the Great Horned One truly willed it but he would rather tear out anyone foolish enough to squeak a word in protest's spine than let them delay his getting somewhere to learn about and adapt to his new body and instincts. His tail's uncontrollable swishing suddenly stopping as he felt it wrap around something, like a creeper vine around a stem.
It appeared that his daemonspear had been captured by the spell's effect as well for his spear was no longer the barbed instrument of blackened iron and gleaming brass it once was. While the blackened iron was still present the brass had been transmuted to warpstone and where the barbs has once formed the a crude Skull of Khorne they had melded with the spearhead now forming the shape of the Horned Rat.
KILL-EAT THEM BEFORE THEY CAN PLOT-SCHEME AGAINST US.
Looking back at the Stormvermin as they struggled to turn the carriage around while rapidly loading it with the armored corpses of his former servants, Ragefang grinned beneath his helmet and hefted his spear and the Grey Seer's staff, "Soon-soon, the slavethings are necessary. For now-now."
------
EDIT: Some editting done, nothing structural just some polishing and final touches. Also Ragefang's picture is appropriately Green.
Your effort is lovely, but your numbers don't really reflect real lifestyle -I recommend multiplying things by a hundred or so. 64 Chaos Warriors is a little pathetic for an invasion force with a Chaos Lord.
And the Skaven, in the Dark Lands, wouldn't have less than tens of thousands in a random encounter.
Besides that, it's excellent! The detail and emotion is quite thrilling. A fair few missing words and such, though.
Your effort is lovely, but your numbers don't really reflect real lifestyle -I recommend multiplying things by a hundred or so. 64 Chaos Warriors is a little pathetic for an invasion force with a Chaos Lord.
And the Skaven, in the Dark Lands, wouldn't have less than tens of thousands in a random encounter.
Besides that, it's excellent! The detail and emotion is quite thrilling.
I think he mentioned that it was a single Chaos Lord who rode ahead of an army with his honor guard as he wanted to see what the Skaven had done to the dark lands.
Your effort is lovely, but your numbers don't really reflect real lifestyle -I recommend multiplying things by a hundred or so. 64 Chaos Warriors is a little pathetic for an invasion force with a Chaos Lord.
And the Skaven, in the Dark Lands, wouldn't have less than tens of thousands in a random encounter.
Besides that, it's excellent! The detail and emotion is quite thrilling. A fair few missing words and such, though.
I will go over the Omake after I get home from work to clean it up, I just really wanted to post it up last night/this morning. If you wouldn't mind highlighting wherever I made an error or you think could use a go over in a more general sense I'd appreciate it!
But as @Mortis said, the long and short of it was that this wasn't an invasion force but a Chaos Lord, plus his honor guard, wanting to see for himself what he would be facing after participating in the destruction of several Warlord clans in the Chaos Wastes, and the Skaven Grey Seer had not been so much a random encounter as told, "Go here as quickly as possible and when you see a person who matches X description cast the Dreaded13th Spell on them."
The Horned Rat knew that Ragnvald would pass by to way he did when he did, that the Grey Seer to be sent had been preparing to try and show their aptitude in magic by casting the Dreaded 13th Spell in a critical battle or moment, and so ordered Thanquol to send X Grey Seer to The Road of Skulls with all due haste. A minor example of FATE's BITCH in action.
The Grey Seer in question simply happened to be already at Uzkulak and so it was easy to round up a fast attack force not already occupied with preparing for some other battle. Thus requisitioned they beat feet and carriage to the Road of Skulls with only a few days to spare. One thing not mentioned in the Omake is that there had been hundreds of Skavenslaves who had dug the tunnels along with the Clanrats but most if them simply died, so by the time Ragnvald showed up the slaves were utterly useless for anything other than being perishable rations since the Grey Seer in his haste to get to the Road of Skulls skipped visiting the quartermaster all together when he "requisitioned" troops.
Generak Skaven short-sightedness and being told there are "only" 75 Northmen coming made the Grey Seer a touch overconfident and bringing along a mere 360 Skaven, a Master Moulder, and 5 Rat Ogres.
I choose to skip establishing those in the Omake since it isn't about the Grey Seer.
More practically, I spent four hours hashing out a battle between the numbers I'm referencing. While simply adding zeroes wouldn't be difficult it would turn the narrative of such fight into a multi day long battle rather than the ambush I want to present it as.
@Pathos
I myself am also now properly awake, and I rather liked how you handled Khorne's bloodthirsty howls in his mind, and the overtaking by the Horned Rat.
@Pathos
I myself am also now properly awake, and I rather liked how you handled Khorne's bloodthirsty howls in his mind, and the overtaking by the Horned Rat.
Glad to hear that the Font trick was well received.
And yeah, the Daemon of the spear was horrified at being created as an aspect of the Great Horned Rat and thus widening, however little, the scope of the Horned Rat's domain and adding another component, however slight, to Skaven culture and nature.
I decided to use speech only for that scene as the Infinite Warren seems like it should be rather difficult to conceptualize and exist within for a non-Skaven who doesn't understand the majority of what the IW represents or the Skaven psyche's depths and depravities. That said, I wanted to avoid having the Horned Rat speak too much in the first place which is why the scene itself is so short since it is an actual god and I rather wanted to avoid Ragefang coming off as stepping anywhere near Thanquol's toes or tail.
Glad to hear that the Font trick was well received.
And yeah, the Daemon of the spear was horrified at being created as an aspect of the Great Horned Rat and thus widening, however little, the scope of the Horned Rat's domain and adding another component, however slight, to Skaven culture and nature.
I decided to use speech only for that scene as the Infinite Warren seems like it should be rather difficult to conceptualize and this exist within for a non-Skaven who doesn't understand the majority of what the IW represents or the Skaven psyche's depths and depravities. That said, I wanted to avoid having the Horned Rat speak too much in the first place which is why the scene itself is so short since it is an actual god and I rather wanted to avoid Ragefang coming off as stepping anywhere near Thanquol's toes or tail.
I found it hilariously ironic that the Chaos Lord's Eye of the Gods reward was Razor-sharp Horns and received RIGHT before "seeing" the Horned Rat and being transformed.
I found it hilariously ironic that the Chaos Lord's Eye of the Gods reward was Razor-sharp Horns and received RIGHT before "seeing" the Horned Rat and being transformed.
Best part was I had forgotten about the Eye of the Gods special rule being a thing so I found it again when I was double checking how Verminous Valour worked and then double checked the Chaos Lord's rules for his weapons, "Daemonsword" and Blood Curdling Howl, and his items, Necrotic Phylectary and Bronze Armor of Zhrakk, when challenging a Skaven when their entire unit is dead.
I fucking howled when I got razor sharp horns cause I had been trying to figure out what to do with the Mark of Khorne and then I remembered, "What's the Mark of the Horned Rat's chosen? Horns and Grey fur!"
You know this is gonna fit wonderfully with the order to Gnawdwell to find a replacement for Queek if it's canon. One psychotic murderhobo with a penchant for close combat for another.
You know this is gonna fit wonderfully with the order to Gnawdwell to find a replacement for Queek if it's canon. One psychotic murderhobo with a penchant for close combat for another.
Actually that's a really good idea, I'll probably do that.
Very very nice, @Pathos. It'll be a while before I can add it to the index, but still. Very nice job. I'll give more substantial commentary when I get home.
Best part was I had forgotten about the Eye of the Gods special rule being a thing so I found it again when I was double checking how Verminous Valour worked and then double checked the Chaos Lord's rules for his weapons, "Daemonsword" and Blood Curdling Howl, and his items, Necrotic Phylectary and Bronze Armor of Zhrakk, when challenging a Skaven when their entire unit is dead.
I fucking howled when I got razor sharp horns cause I had been trying to figure out what to do with the Mark of Khorne and then I remembered, "What's the Mark of the Horned Rat's chosen? Horns and Grey fur!"
When I first read it I was wondering, dazedly, if it was the beginning of the Dreaded 13th. Then I thought about it, the wording of Khorne at the moment, and looked it up. It was hilarious.
You know this is gonna fit wonderfully with the order to Gnawdwell to find a replacement for Queek if it's canon. One psychotic murderhobo with a penchant for close combat for another.
I completely missed whatever the actual decision making for this turn was, I'd appreciate a point in the direction of our laundry list of what the Under Empire is going to do.
Their whole society is almost fundamentally unstable, and it's largely because of the Horned Rat's personal intervention that an under-empire even exists at all. They're a species of basket cases - heck, even Horripila, who've largely managed the horrible hygiene issue that comes with being Skaven, did it by institutionalizing the development of OCD in their clan members.
This particular facet actually really amuses me in that with Uzkulak being a Mors/Horripila settlement and the sheer amount of psychological manipulating that the two clans use on their members the result in a generation or two being a settlement of terrifying obsessive-compulsive Skaven who live by shared collection of exacting rules, schedules, and habits instilled/beaten into them.
Just, this image of a group of Skaven literally tearing out their fur at the sheer thought that Pestilens exists or killing and eating somebody in a fit of rage because the other Skaven touched them without washing their hands.
I completely missed whatever the actual decision making for this turn was, I'd appreciate a point in the direction of our laundry list of what the Under Empire is going to do.
@Xantalos
I don't think @Pathos meant to imply that Ragefang was a Grey Seer-given the Khornate beginnings and how he killed the actual Grey Seer. It was more the Grey Seer thought "horns? Must be a Grey Seer" because that's what horns on Skaven are for Skaven.
@Xantalos
I don't think @Pathos meant to imply that Ragefang was a Grey Seer-given the Khornate beginnings and how he killed the actual Grey Seer. It was more the Grey Seer thought "horns? Must be a Grey Seer" because that's what horns on Skaven are for Skaven.
@Xantalos
I don't think @Pathos meant to imply that Ragefang was a Grey Seer-given the Khornate beginnings and how he killed the actual Grey Seer. It was more the Grey Seer thought "horns? Must be a Grey Seer" because that's what horns on Skaven are for Skaven.
What exactly the effects of the Horned Rat's corruption of the Mark of Khorne and transformation of Ragnvald into Ragefang are something I figured I'd leave up to @Xantalos rather than speculate on myself. Since it came up though, personally I figured Ragefang would possess an innate resistance to any Non-Horned Rat derived magics, a resistance that would be empowered or extended while wielding the Staff of a Grey Seer, but I figured that Xantalos would have a better idea of where to proceed.
Ragefang is a definitely a "Grey Seer" in terms of being a Chosen of the Horned Rat and being marked as such via fur color and horns as such. What he lacks is the inherent outward magical ability that most people would associate with Grey Seers since he is definitely not the standard template and came from a definitely "FUCK MAGIC" background.
Just as there is a certain variety in the Chosen/Prophets of the other gods I figured that Ragefang might work as an interesting take on what it means to be a "Chosen of the Horned Rat" rather than just raw magical power. Perhaps that what it means to be marked as a "Grey Seer" is to be blessed and empowered by the Horned Rat to bring about cataclysmic Ruin, Destruction, and the work eternally towards the Great Ascendancy rather than purely through Magical means? There are far more Skaven who cannot use magic than can, and united as they are now perhaps Ragefang is needed to act as the more direct mouthpiece towards that section of Skaven society.
As always, up to you I'm just happy with how much everyone seems to like him.
Yeah, I do like that. Even fits with his imminent inclusion into Mors, since it's tended to be a hotbed of non-orthodox ideas what with being a political enemy of the Grey Seers. I'll be considering what exact properties Ragefang has, but he will appear in the future, probably soonish actually - he fits quite well in with the narrative I have planned for the Estalian campaign, so he'll almost certainly make an appearance there.
*muses more*
Yes, that'll be ... that'll be neat. Imma go steal inspiration from a certain imperial knightly order quest, methinks...
Oh and @Xantalos because I didn't mention it, yes The Horned Herald is definitely a perfect title. I'll actually be nabbing that title to put at the top of the omake!
Oh and @Xantalos because I didn't mention it, yes The Horned Herald is definitely a perfect title. I'll actually be nabbing that title to put at the top of the omake!
