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Skaven2

The Skaven are a race of humanoid rat-men, who inhabit the caves, tunnels, mines, and sewers of the Earth. They control a vast Under Empire which reaches from the western half of the Earth to the Eastern coast of Nippon.

The god of the Skaven is the Horned Rat, whose high priests form the Council of Thirteen. The direct agents of the Council are an order called the Grey Seers. Most of Skaven society is organised into innumerable clans, all of which are ruled by the Council. The four Great clans mercilessly dominate the weaker Warlord clans.

The Skaven are a race that can compete with the humans, and Orcs for total numbers and yet their excistence is known by very few humans. This is a trait that they are quite fond of, and it is a great pain that the Dwarves are being slowly destroyed by a race that the vast majority of humans have no idea even exists.

The Skaven would be created by Fronos as he went about his tasks of organizing the small things of the world. All of his care and devotion went into their creation, and at first they worked heavily alongside him moving with him causing Fronos to constantly look massive as he was surrounded by a mass of Skaven. The Skaven were primarily founded within the forests of eastern Europe, and worked heavily alongside the Woses of whom were one of the only race that ever treated Fronos and the Skaven with respect. The Skaven were devastated during the Eternity War leaving them without any home in Europe, and the emotionally devastated Fronos who had fought with the forces of the Titans during the Eternity War would abandon the Titans during the Titan Civil War turning himself into a great Rat and leading the Skaven to the Italian Alps where he plans to destroy Zeus's first human city in the form of Kavzar. Led by Fronos the Skaven overwhelm the outer Thaigs of the Empire of Ital and begin to spread throughout much of the eastern section of the Italian Alps where they surround the city of Kavzar, and this continues for decades as the humans and Dwarves of this area remain completely unaware of their growth. Fronos enacting his plan of destruction would menipulate the humans of Kavzar into constructing a mighty tower celebrating their golden age, and then watched and moulded his skaven for the near four decades that the construction went on for until finally as the tower reached so high the humans couldn't build higher he came to them and offered help in the guise of an old man, and they accepted allowing him to turn the tower into a living symbol of the Skaven.

Physiology[]

Skaven

Skaven are usually around four to five feet tall when they stand up straight, although the largest can reach six feet tall. Fur covers their bodies except for their ears, muzzles, hands and fleshy rat tails.

Fur colour indicates a Skaven's role in society. Most Skaven are brown or piebald. White or grey is rare and indicates leadership, intelligence and especially sorcerous ability. Those with black or dark brown fur tend to be the largest and the colour is considered the mark of a born killer, and most dark furred Skaven become elite warriors or assassins.

Skaven are twitchy, agitated creatures. Their metabolism allows them to burn energy at an incredible rate, boosting their agility and speed to unnatural levels. This effect also gives them an enormous hunger, which after heavy exertion can be so bad that the Skaven visibly weakens and dies. As a result the Skaven will feast on the dead of either side after a battle.

Female Skaven are rare and, at most, semi-intelligent but are capable of giving birth to huge litters very frequently. This means that the Skaven are probably the most numerous of all races.

History[]

Creation of the Skaven[]

They laughed at me and called me a sneak. Told me all about how I constantly hid myself in the dark places of the world. They kept telling me these things until I created something that would never whisper mean things at me again.
Fronos

The Skaven would be created by Fronos as he went about his tasks of organizing the small things of the world. All of his care and devotion went into their creation, and at first they worked heavily alongside him moving with him causing Fronos to constantly look massive as he was surrounded by a mass of Skaven. The Skaven were primarily founded within the forests of eastern Europe, and worked heavily alongside the Woses of whom were one of the only race that ever treated Fronos and the Skaven with respect.

The Eternity War[]

Main Article : Eternity War

The Eternity War
I'm sure beasts had fought before we sparked the Eternity War, but it wasn't until we got into their heads that the mortals truly understood the level of depravity they were capable of. We caused all of it.
Trolloc Coruption
The Great Bloody One told them that they had once controlled the world until the other's took it from them. He created in them an anger, and a violence that the Trolloc would unfurl to the point that there was no going back to what they once were.
Tek

The start of the Eternity War would begin with the corruption of the Trolloc of whom changed from their industrious, and noble ways when they interacted with the now corrupted Chaos God Khorne. At this time in history the Noble Titans were being torn in half but they didn't yet know that this was happening so they watched unknown as the Trolloc were corrupted by the Chaos God Khorne . Khorne offered their leaders great power in return for their loyalty to his beliefs. The Trolloc leaders knew nothing of this kind of evil, so they accepted his offer as genuine, and this would lead to their downfall and the downfall of the peace in Europe. With Khorne now in their midst he changed their peaceful culture into one of utter decadence and violence. The strongest rose to the top, and of all of these the strongest was the legendary Trolloc Mazrak of whom fell from being a priest of Elune before the corruption to becoming a mindless creature of violence. Mazrak would embroil the Trolloc into a massive civil war which would eventually lead to the complete control of the Trolloc Empire into the hands of Mazrak and by extension Chaos.

It is said that once we were spread throughout even Ind. In those ancient days we were the most powerful army in all of Central Asia, and it is said that so strong were we that we frightened even the forces of Chaos. It is said that so frightened were they that they were forced to destroy our people in Ind with treachery. Poisoning the swamps themselves we were destroyed in Ind. Atleast thats what the legend says.
Huldul Andreesesh

During the early stages of the Eternity War the forces of Chaos would also target the loyalist Argonian forces of Ind which had spread quite rapidly across Ind and were a real threat to the Chaos forces of the Charr if the fighting got intense in Cathay against the Murloc, and Furbolg. Thus in order to defeat the forces of the Argonians and make sure that the Murlocs of Cathay, and Furbolg would be fighting alone against the Charr it would be Slanaash, and Malekor who would convince Nurgle to destroy the Argonians with his diseases. Crafting the disease he would unleash it into the swamps of Ind and the Argonians would be devastated by the disease throughout the entirety of the Eternity War and during this time despite the best efforts of Hist nothing could be done to stop the ravages of the disease which was being spread by Nurgle. Hist in his desperation to save his people went to Nurgle and found him during his conversations to be completely callous and devoid of the laughter and humor that Nurgle had once been known for, and thus unable to get assistance from Nurgle the once dominant population of Argonians in Ind was completely wiped out leaving them dominant on the islands around Argonia only.

The War Begins[]

Main Article : The Eternity European War

Eternity War2
The Eternity War was the first cast of the die. Before the Eternity War the world was at peace. The Trollocs, Murloc, and Woses had devided much of the world between themselves, and they continued to live in peace. This was ended with a single thought as Khorne corupted the Trolloc.
Zeus

The Eternity war was the first true conflict of Chaos, and it single highhandedly destroyed the three largest empires in Europe, and left the land ripe for the colonization of the Dwarves, and Elves, and later the Human race. As the Trolloc had become corrupted by the Chaos God Khorne the other Empire's of the world along with the Titans became aware of this change but thought it a different matter then the betrayal of Khorne. The Murloc, and the Woses continued on their peaceful path but unknown to them the Trollocs had been corupted by the God that created them in Khorne. Khorne had turned them to his service and instead of trade the Trollocs begin fashioning massive cities for the construction of huge armies with which to conquer Europe. From these cities they silently built these armies and then prepared to launch a massive suprise invasion of the Woses, and the Murlocs. As the cities of the Trollocs grew to incredible size the Noble Titans became fully aware that something had changed but were duty bound to not interfere, and instead believed that they could assist the nobler races by creating more races into the world. During this time the last of the creations of the Titans would enter the world of which some were the Trolls, and the Draenie. All the Titans did not sit idle during this time as many felt they needed to intervene and several Titans including Aphrodite, and Motrin engaged in an arming of the Woses so that they would survive the Eternity War. Also Neperune of whom created the Murloc was unstoppable as he openly engaged in assistance for his creation. In the years directly preceding the Eternity War the Woses would be dealt a harsh blow when their benefactor in the form of Jupiter would be killed by Khorne, and Tzeenech after she resisted their words of Chaos, and without Jupiter the Woses religion somewhat collapsed for a time leading them astray at exactly the moment they needed faith the most.

Mazrak

Mazrak would fall during the final days of the Eternity War.

Malekor didn't care a thing about the Woses, or the Murloc. He didn't want to see the world survive indefinetly, but luckily for the world he wanted to destroy the world himself, and was inclined to help us.
Aprhrodite

The initial invasion was devastating to the Woses, and the Murlocs but the Murlocs were especially damaged by the conflict as they were less prepared then the Woses due to their being the weakest of the three races individually. During this initial onslaught with the corruption of the Titan Nurgle the forces of the Asura would also join the Trolloc and attack the forces of the Woses and Murlocs but were noticeably not putting forth their entire forces. City by city the Chaos honored forces of the Trolloc overran the world and left the Murloc and Woses devastated in their wake. Khaz'Kul would take part in the Massacre of Xaesa where the Trolloc in the guise of negotiations would break this truce and massacred the large city of Xaesa killing several of the leading political leaders of the Woses and shattering much of their war effort. Eventually after centuries of fighting the Woses had lost a significant portion of their empire and began to lose the war, and defeat was only a matter of time. Following this it is said that the Woses made a deal with a Tree Spirit of whom came to their leadership saying that he would help them win the war if they would swear themselves to do a debt for the spirit once the war was done. This Tree Spirit was in fact the spirit of Malekor hidden in plain sight, whom wanted to undermine the efforts of Tzeneech and Khorne and assisted the Woses in defeating the Trolloc. With the assistance of the spirit of Malekor and his forces helping the Woses began to turn the tide back in their favor. With the spirits help they finally managed to take the fight to the Trolloc's part of the forest, and in a titanic battle the Woses destroyed the remaining Trolloc in a massive battle at the edge of the Drueden Forest. During this battle the forces of the Asura would also turn against the Trolloc and their betrayal of the Trolloc would cause the routing of an entire flank of the battle leading to the disastrous defeat and eventually Khorne cursing the Asurans. Following this victory Malekor's forces were unstoppable as he alongside the Woses and remaining Murloc pushed the Trolloc all the way back to their massive cities. It was in the cities that Malekor would create massive spells that literally destroyed the area of the cities and left the Trolloc in a state of destruction. The surviving Trolloc would flee to the forests, where they became nomadic, and their inner soul filled with fear of creating cities by the design of Malekor.

Capture of Khairne[]

Following Jupiters death Khorne would become quite boisterous in his discussion of murdering Jupiter, and while this was something that angered many of the Titans it would be her two sons Ulric, and Taal that would become enraged by the death of Jupiter and under the leadership of Ulric they would begin a plan to target Khairne for revenge against Khorne. Ulric, and Taal against the wishes of Zeus who forbade any action following the death of Jupiter would enact their plan when they entered the Trolloc Empire in secret and would capture Khairne bringing her back to their holdings in central Germania where they hid there trails to such an extent that no one discovered their involvement and it was in this position that they imprisoned Khairne with Taal becoming her personal jailer.

Invasion of Albion[]

Main Article : Trolloc Invasion of Albion

Please Zeus. Khorne and his trolloc are razing towns all across Albion. I need you to believe me that he is involved.
Ingri

During the fighting of the Eternity War it would be Khorne who personally led his Trolloc Empire onto the island of Albion where he targeted the island for destruction due to the relatively large number of Titans on the island and their loyal following there. The Trollocs would make their initial landing in Kent where they were resisted by Ugret of whom commanded a desperate defense of the shore hoping to hold them off long enough for the rest of the Albion Pantheon to gather their forces for the real battle to come. Despite Ugrets best attempts she would be defeated at the Battle of Kent and despite surrendering she would be brutally executed and all her forces killed by the insanity of Khorne who no longer truly existed as he once did. Following the initial invasion of the Trollocs into Albion it would be Ingri, alongside her Albion Pantheon that would lead the forces of Albion in resisting the invasion but despite stoic defenses and several large victories she was pushed back mile by mile northward towards Helms Deep. As Helms Deep came under siege by the forces of Khorne it was Nurgle that intervened in the fighting joining with Khorne to assist in destroying the city, and while Lahmfada held Helms Deep it was Ingri that traveled with Ailpean to Olympus where they traveled to beg Zeus for assistance. Ingri who was close friends with Metis the lover of Zeus believed that this relationship and bringing proof would be more then enough in order to gain the support of Zeus, and thus as she and Ailpean traveled to Olympus the two were filled with hope.

Plea for Help[]

Despite bringing proof of what was happening Zeus was unwilling to intervene and thus Ingri returned without any real assistance but led the Albion forces in the Battle of Helms Deep (Eternity War). After Zeus was unwilling to assist Ingri it was Zeus's lover Metis that secretly followed Ingri back to Albion and travelling to Helms Deep despite all titans being commanded to not do this she rejected this command and having seen demons and Trollocs fighting there she returned to Olympus with a captured Trolloc of whom she believed would prove to Zeus of the involvement of Khorne. Instead of proving the guilt of Khorne her actions would be seen by Zeus as a betrayal and thus with Poseidan in the room and after a long argument with Metis it was Zeus that would kill her and then lie about her death stating that she had fled Olympus and had no idea where she went and forbade any discussion on her again as she was labeled a traitor. While they had not gained the support of the loyalists of Zeus during their time in Olympus it was Ailpean that was approached by Tzeneech of whom remained in Olympus as no one had discovered him as the ringleader, instead believing that Khorne was the first of these chaos gods. Tzeneech would destroy the shield on Ailpean and corrupted him with fear and anger leading to Ailpean returning to Albion with his grandmother a completely changed man. While at first during the fighting the defenses held and Lahmfada even killed one of the children of Khorne the betrayal of Ailpean who had become disillusioned and easy pickings to Tzeneech led to the near collapse of the defenses of Helms Deep. Ingri would be killed by Khorne but before the final blow could fall on the fortress Khorne and Tzeenech abandoned the attack in order to deal with a massive Asura attack in central Europe leaving the traitors under Ailpean to fight alone at Helms Deep.

Albion Civil War[]

Following Khorne abandoning the fight it was Ailpean that took control, but the conflicted recently corupted Chaos Titan was unwilling to totally turn against his family in the Albion Pantheon, and his conflicted leadership would come to ahead following the arrival of the Khorne luietenant Khaz'Kul. Khaz'Kul would leave the fighting in the Fade to return to Albion at the behest of Khorne and returning to Helms Deep he joined Ailpean in continuing the assault on the fortress. After Khaz'Kul begin to summon demons to support the war it was Ailpean that had a break from his coruption and would lead his own forces in a massacre of the Trollocs at Helms Deep and during this massacre Khaz'Kul and Ailpean would fight with Ailpean killing Khaz'Kul. Now having turned on Chaos Ailpean would approach the defenders and realizing that his coruption had changed him permently he would convinse his family to kill him which his son Lylr would be the one to mercy kill him.

Burning of Ygdrassil[]

Main Article : Burning of Ygdrassil

Despite remaining neutral due to the words of their King Hircine it was the Treekin that would be attacked during the Eternity War by the forces of Chaos who seeing the threat they posed would launch a massive assault on Ygdrassil leading to the Burning of Ygdrassil and the all but end of the global Treekin nation.

Asurian Civil War[]

Main Article : Asurian Civil War

Kyliss would following the Dance of Lirith find herself increasingly overcome by emotions and in this corruption she went to her beloved mathlann in an attempt to save herself, but by the time she got to him she had changed dramatically and Mathlann refused to help her instead banishing her from Ulthuan. Kyriss having been rejected by Mathlann fought during the Asurian Civil War but was extremely reluctant and this reluctance turned to outright resistance when the Chaos aligned forces begin summoning demons to join their side and she was able to use what little strength she had left to secretly betray her forces feeding information to her cousin Isha.

Post Eternity War[]

The Skaven were devastated during the Eternity War leaving them without any home in Europe, and the emotionally devastated Fronos who had fought with the forces of the Titans during the Eternity War would abandon the Titans during the Titan Civil War turning himself into a great Rat and leading the Skaven to the Italian Alps where he plans to destroy Zeus's first human city in the form of Kavzar.

Invasion of the Alps[]

Led by Fronos the Skaven overwhelm the outer Thaigs of the Empire of Ital and begin to spread throughout much of the eastern section of the Italian Alps where they surround the city of Kavzar, and this continues for decades as the humans and Dwarves of this area remain completely unaware of their growth. Fronos enacting his plan of destruction would menipulate the humans of Kavzar into constructing a mighty tower celebrating their golden age, and then watched and moulded his skaven for the near four decades that the construction went on for until finally as the tower reached so high the humans couldn't build higher he came to them and offered help in the guise of an old man, and they accepted allowing him to turn the tower into a living symbol of the Skaven. Summoning Great Magi he caused constant rain in the Valley of Kavzar causing great flooding leading to those outside the city to retreat into the city, and also causing the Dwarves and humans to argue eventually leading to the Dwarves of Karaz-D-Izdark to barr there gates which was just what Fronos wanted leaving them isolated and open for attack.

Fall of Karaz-D-Izdark[]

Fall of Kavzar[]

Stories told by fire[]

Main Article : Birth of the Skaven

All decent folk find the common rat repulsive. Harbinger of disease, it scavenges on our waste-heaps and frightens our children. how immeasurably worse is the foul Skaven - standing on its hindlegs in foul parody of a human. Rats as tall as man, and blessed with the most vile intellect and cunning. They are the dark side of our soul, come to destroy us for our sins.
Albrecht of Nuln

Little is known about the origins of the Skaven race by the other races of the world, and thus a single story has become the prevailing idea of where they were born. The people of Europe and the world believe that is probable that they were created in the ancient city of Kavzar by a mysterious stranger who completed the unfinished temple of the gods and hung a great horned bell from the top of the tower. As the bell rang for the thirteenth time lightning lit up the sky and dark storm clouds gathered. As the weeks went on the rain never stopped and the vermin of the city grew bigger and bolder until they overwhelmed the inhabitants of the city. The Story of the fall of Kavzar is legendary in the folklore of Estalia for the same reasons as it is with the Skaven. 

The Under Empire[]

Over the next two hundred and eighty years or so the newly born Skaven race grew rapidly. There was pressure to expand the tunnels under the city, as the surface world was too dangerous for the Skaven. Eventually they began work on a huge device that they thought would open up large rifts beneath the ground for the Skaven to inhabit. Unfortunately for them the great warpstone-powered machine failed catastrophically - releasing huge waves of magical energy across the globe.

Dwarves Fighting Skaven

War with the Dwarves[]

As the Skaven rebuilt themselves far away from prying eyes they begin to encroach on the mines of the Dwarves. At this point the Dwarves were beyond their strength so the Skaven simply burrowed into their holds, and built there strength in response to some future moment where they could strike.

It was the War of Vengeance, and the depletetion of the Dwarven armies that finally delivered this moment, and the Skaven begin instigating the migration of large numbers of Goblins into the areas of Dwarven Holds in an attempt to further weaken the Dwarven Empire of Karak Ankor.

Organisation[]

Further information: Great clan , and Warlord clan

Skaven society is divided into thousands of different clans, all of which are subject to the authority of the Council. There are four powerful clans, known as the Great clans, which dominate the countless weaker Warlord clans. The Great clans are highly specialised and have become an established part of the greater hierarchy of Skavendom.

The Warlord clans, innumerable and expendable, also have a role in the greater scheme of things. The Clanrats of the Warlord clans make up most of the warriors in the armies of the Skaven, with the Great Clans lending their specialised support. Warlord clans have a definite hierarchy, although the positions are in no way fixed. Skaven advance as far as their cunning, ruthlessness, treachery, ambition and strength take them. Skaven within the Clan constantly struggle to ascend as well as to defend their positions from would-be usurpers. At the very peak of each Clan is the Warlord. In some of the larger clans there will then be a second rank of lesser Warlords. The next level is formed by the Chieftains, followed by a warrior class composed of Clanrats and the elite Stormvermin. At the very bottom of Skaven society are the teeming masses of the Skavenslaves.

SkavenArmy2

Society[]

"Skaven society is a tyranny moderated by assassination."

-Unknown Skaven Slave

Skaven society is a lawless world where the strongest and most cunning rise to the top, while the weakest are eaten or enslaved. Every Skaven is constantly fighting for supremacy, whether to advance, or to defend his position from would-be usurpers. Fights are usually not to the death, but any Skaven who is maimed will quickly be dispatched by the victor. Treachery is not seen as dishonourable in any way, indeed it is the traditional way of advancing in Skaven society. The most important material used by the Skaven is warpstone. It is used as an ingredient in magic, technology, mutation, metallurgy, poisons and even their currency.

Religion[]

Main Article : Horned Rat

The god of the Skaven is the Horned Rat. Its sacred number is thirteen, and so thirteen is an important number is Skaven society. For example, there are 169 Grey Seers (13 × 13). Vermin Lords are Daemons of the Horned Rat, and can be summoned by a Grey Seer. This is often used as a threat to unruly Warlords, although no Grey Seer would dare to summon a Vermin Lord unless they absolutely had to. The Horned Rat is the god of the Skaven race, and is worshiped by all of the many clans. It is often depicted as a large Skaven with one or two sets of horns on its head. Because of the large amount of Warpstone present in Skaven territories, and the fact that the rat-men themselves are mutants, much discussion has been made as to if the Horned Rat is actually a god of Chaos.

Technology[]

Skaven technology is heavily warpstone-based. Virtually everything they create has at least a tiny piece of warpstone in to increase its potency and deadliness. The majority of Skaven weapons are developed by Clan Skryre. The Warlock Engineers of Clan Skryre create infernal engines of destruction, and then bind magically energy to the machine to increase its potency and destructiveness. Some of the most feared and deadly weapons created by Clan Skryre are the Warp-lightning Cannon and the Warplock Jezzails.

The Skaven of Clan Moulder are expert at breeding and mutating other living beings to create the perfect killing creature. Their Master Moulders create unnatural creatures to sell to other Clans. Some of the more infamous creations of Clan Moulder are the Hell Pit Abomination and the hulking Rat Ogres.

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