[hider=Skaven Under-Empire (WIP)] [color=ed1c24][b]NAME:[/b][/color] Skaven Under-Empire [color=ed1c24][b]OVERVIEW: [/b][/color] Deep beneath the nations of the world a mass of furred bodies writhe as a tumultuous sea. Dark hearts and darker minds plot meticulously. Final victory will be theirs, the children of the Great Horned Rat will one day blanket the surface, it is prophesied. [color=ed1c24][b]RACE AND CULTURE:[/b][/color] The cruel treacherous Rat Men of the Under-World, the Skaven seethe below the world of men building their tunnels and plotting. A Skaven's place in society is determined at birth by their fur. White or Light Grey Skaven are taken aside to become Grey Seers, Warlock Engineers, and the like. Black Skaven are taken aside to be warriors of their tribe. Brown Skaven are slaves from birth, with but little hope to improve their standing in their short lifespans. However they are born the Skaven that survive into adulthood plague the surface world. [i]Power must be taken. Whether by sheer force or cunning the old must die for the new to come to power. The victor will likely consume the vanquished. Power is kept through fear, watch as the new Overlord crouches over his dying predecessor, hear his labored final breaths then never forget what comes next. If your New Warlord could do that to the Old One what chance do you have against him. Set your rivals upon each other, cloud their minds, gather support by laying claim to your victories, kill any who question you. Any threat to your power must be met ruthlessly. Remember as you rise in power that you become a bigger target. Those you have left behind will envy you and your rivals for that next position are now that much stronger. Do what you must to survive. Lie, betray, murder, betray, show the others that you are to be feared. This is how we bring about the prophecy of the Great Horned Rat, this is the road to the Great Ascendancy.[/i] [color=ed1c24][b]GOVERNMENT:[/b][/color] The Council of 13, also known as the Lords of Decay, have long guided the Under-Empire on it's path to dominion. Composed of representatives from the 11 strongest Skaven clans, the greatest Grey Seer of the time, and the Great Horned Rat himself, they work together to avoid a third Civil War that might delay their ultimate conquest of the surface world. [color=ed1c24][b]INDUSTRY:[/b][/color] Skaven are both very advanced and very rudimentary in much of their technology. With little regard for the safety of their littermates and no willingness to take responsibility for any accidents, much of their weaponry tends to stop development once it is anywhere near functional. This hasn't stopped them from creating marvelous and horrifying weapons of war, some near as likely to kill their operators as their targets. While Skaven are capable of being competent builders they are more likely to simply take over or sink a human or dwarf city, then section it off haphazardly to house their voluminous brood. [color=ed1c24][b]MAGIC:[/b][/color] Skaven do not have access to any of the standard lores, instead they have two of their own. Lore of Ruin - The province of the Grey Seers, the Lore of Ruin allows Skaven to harness the power of Warp energy itself. Including Howling Warpgale, Warpstorm, Death Frenzy, Scorch, Cracks Call, and potentially the Curse of the Horned Rat. Lore of Plauge - The Lore of Plague is a foul magical technique. Specializing in matters of disease and decay this lore is repellent and thoroughly evil. Including Pestilent Breath, Bless with Filth, Weeping World Sores, Vermintide, Wither, Cloud of Corruption, and Plague [b][color=ed1c24]MILITARY:[/color][/b] The Under-Empire draws from each of it's clans, as the Great Horned Rat has decreed, to bring ruin to the realms of man and spread Skavendom across the surface world. From Clan Legere comes an ancient approach to war, From Clans Moulder and Riktus come the Stormvermin and Rat Ogre warriors, Disease and filth follow in the footsteps of the Plague Monks of Clan Pestilens, Sorcery and Science are joined with unholy ingenuity by the Warlock Engineers of Clan Skrye fielding various abominations and intricate mechanisms. [b] [color=ed1c24] Core[/color][/b] [hider=My Hider] Skavenslaves [hider=My Hider] Whatever race Skavenslaves come in they are above all other things expendable. Captured humans do not tend to last long, but may in their short time prove some use if only as food or sacrifice. Ranks swell by the thousands due to breeding rates and interclan wars. In the Under-Empire a slave with the slightest injury will likely be detected and devoured by his own kind, on the warpath slaves are whipped to the frontlines to act as fodder. In the aftermath of a battle they may well serve as food for larger Skaven exhausted from the effort. [/hider] Clanrats [hider=My Hider] This vast verminous horde make up the bulk of the infantry of any Skaven war party. Lithe, scrawny, often little more than four to five feet tall, the clanrat is not a fearsome opponent on it's own. Often armed with little more than light armor and scavenged weapons, alone they will likely only attack when their opponent is injured or otherwise weakened. Together, driven forward by the beat of terrible drums or the simple screeching of thousands of their ilk, they will ruthlessly hurl themselves into the frey against even obviously superior forces. Lined up in ranks or surging forth as a verminous tide they attack in great blocks to overwhelm their foes with sheer numbers, then immediately feast upon the dead whether friend or foe. [/hider] Stormvermin [hider=My Hider] Readily distinguished from their scrawnier clanrat littermates. One head taller and darker in color, their powerful builds and thick necks allows them to ably wield the best equipment available to the Skaven. Selection begins from infancy, ratlings starving out their weaker siblings for food sometimes turning their appetites to those siblings themselves. After battle they are awarded first choice, of weapons, of gear, and of food. Any clanrat fool enough to try to eat first may himself be eaten. Particularly effective regiments of Stormvermin may be traded to other Clans. In battle they often form up behind the Skavenslaves and Clanrats, moving to the front only when the tide is turning hard against the Skaven or when the disposable lower castes have spent their number on the battlefield. [/hider] Rat Swarm [hider=My Hider] Knowingly or not the hordes of swarming rats that heavily infest most human cities perform a service for the Skaven. As a Skaven army marches the masses of these tiny bodies will congregate in a tide beyond numbering. Swarms will burst forth from the sewers, pouring across the streets and overpowering man sized creatures. Lowly and desperate Skaven will eat them as they march, Clan Pestilens will infect them in their tousands, and soon a sea of red light will weave in and out of the cities of man, bathed in flickering light as their cities burn. [/hider] Giant Rat [hider=My Hider] Long ago Clan Moulder learned to breed, mutate and surgically alter rats. These foul and unnatural creatures are the most common and cheapest creation Clan Moulder has to offer. From a distance they may be mistaken for large dogs, but as they rapidly close distance the eyes of man will quickly make out their hairless tails and a variety of mutations. Additional heads, limbs, or tails. Bony spike-like or armor-like growths, tusks, exposed ribs, oversized incisors or claws, gruesome boils. Some even walk upright or lope wildly, their rear legs attached to crude wheeled carts their tails fused with maces. Clans Mortkin and Karrion often dye their hides and brand them with clan symbols. [/hider] Night Runners [hider=My Hider] When unfortunate armies of men engage with Skaven and suddenly find themselves surrounded it is often the work of Night Runners. A blade in each hand and only lightly armored this core unit of Clan Eshin slink around the flanks of enemy formations, hoping to lure pursuit into an ambush. They cannot stand long against heavily-armed or armored opponents, and as such often face high casualties as they work deep in enemy territory. It is not uncommon for them to utilize a Warp Grinder to burrow under enemy lines and surface as a distraction, throwing themselves into the fray their lives sacrificed en masse. [/hider] [/hider] [b][color=ed1c24]Elite[/color][/b] [hider=My Hider] Rat Ogre w/ Packmaster [hider=My Hider] The Rat Ogre is the most infamous monstrosity of Clan Moulder. One of the largest and most fearsome of their creations these beasts are literally stitched together using Warpstone Balm. Standing as tall as any two men, they carry the speed and ferocity of the Skaven and the brawn of the Ogre, the desperate hunger of both somehow magnified. A Rat Ogre has the strength and the mindset to fight an entire company of soldiers single handed. Incapable of almost anything save killing, wholly consumed by the instinct to rip and tear, they require a Pack Master to steer them during battle and afterwards to separate and chain them. Each Rat Ogre bears countless scars, some from their creation, some from battle, and some of self-harm. Packmasters are the specifically trained handlers of these and other foul beasts. Fierce warriors are needed to guide these ferocious half-mad creatures, packmasters must be half mad themselves to risk becoming another meal for their merciless pack. Clan Moulder thus will often sell the packmaster alongside his pack, by necessity and at great price. [/hider] Plague Monks [hider=My Hider] Zealots, utterly dedicated to the spread of corruption and decay, the Plague Monks are entirely consumed by their devotion to creating the ultimate disease. Knowing they will likely not be alive to see the ultimate glory of the Skaven, the Plague Monks shamble forward none the less under their singular banner, the Half Rotted Corpse of one of their fellow Skaven crudely mounted atop a banner pole. Filthy tattered robes display their failing bodies beneath. Covered in blisters, rotting bandages fused to their bodies by the foetid fluid of weeping sores, surrounded by the sickly sweet smell of putrefication and accompanied by a cloud of flies. Near death as they seem they chant the Rites of Infection, their pace quickening as they near the battlefield. Finally hurling themselves into the frey amongst their verminous brethren. Eyes bulging, mouths foaming, the monks enter a fanatical frenzy. Immune to pain after years of suffering, they stab wildly with rusted words and staves encrusted with filth. Their utter devotion and decent into madness allows them to survive injuries that would kill a normal Skaven, often fighting on until wholly dismembered. [/hider] Plague Monk Censer Bearers [hider=My Hider] The most insanely devoted of the Plague Monks march amongst their verminous horde bearing this, a hollow spiked metal ball attached to a length chain. Within the cavity is a large shard of warpstone, as the Plague Censer Bearer nears the front lines he pours the vile contagions of Clan Pestilens upon the warpstone shard, releasing foul green noxious fumes. Contact with the flesh of their victims causes the skin to erupt with sores and weeping blisters. Rhythmically swinging their censer, never faltering nor retreating they are fearless in combat, continuing on their rampage until they are all cut down. As their flesh screams in ruin their ecstatic minds are focused only on the duty at hand. [/hider] Gutter Runners [hider=My Hider] The best of the Night Runners become Gutter Runners. Eschewing even the Light Armor of the Night Runners they sacrifice any ability to survive enemy blows in favor of absurd speed and acrobatics, allowing them to bring more death more quickly to the enemies of the Skaven. Gutter Runners are often used to assassinate enemy commanders or destroy key enemy artillery pieces. Elite skirmishers and scouts their attacks are quick and effective, frustrating their enemies by quickly appearing, striking, and then dissolving into the darkness once more. Working on behalf of the Council of 13 these masters of stealth are responsible for many suspicious deaths and acts of espionage throughout the realms of man and occasionally even amidst Skaven society. They bear some large portion of the responsibility for the destruction of the Empire's history of Skaven attacks. [/hider] [/hider] [b][color=ed1c24]Elite Artillery Teams[/color][/b] [hider=My Hider] Warplock Jezzails Warpfire Thrower Ratling Gun Doomflayer Poison Wind Mortar Warp Grinder [/hider] [b][color=ed1c24]Rare[/color][/b] [hider=My Hider] Doomwheel Hell Pit Abomination Plague Claw Catapult Warp Lightning Cannon Death Runners [/hider] [b][color=ed1c24]Heroes[/color][/b] [b][color=ed1c24]Lords[/color][/b] [b][color=ed1c24]Named Characters[/color][/b] [/hider]