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#Post#: 2126--------------------------------------------------
Skaven Ascendency Overview
By: guest158 Date: April 9, 2017, 9:10 pm
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Skaven
The Skaven are an insidious, malevolent race of humanoid rat-men
and one of the most prolific. They follow an irregular cycle:
they fight amongst themselves, expand their empire, multiply
their population and surge throughout the galaxy to unleash
sudden havoc. Eventually the Skaven weaken, often due to the
violent treachery of the clans and sulk back to their lairs.
They are decay and entropy made manifest. It should be noted
that the Skaven have little to no understanding of the Force and
perceive it to be magic granted to them by their god.
Physiology
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 color 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 (Force
sensitivity). Those with black or dark brown fur tend to be the
largest and the color 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 will probably become the most numerous of
all races.
HTML http://i.imgur.com/nBCPHgl.jpg
Organization
Skaven society is divided into 53 different Skaven clans, all of
which are subject to the authority of the Council of Thirteen.
There are four powerful clans, known as the Great clans, which
dominate the weaker Warlord clans.
The Great clans are highly specialized 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 specialized 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.
Society
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 dishonorable 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
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 supposedly Daemons (Force beings) 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.
Military
It is rare for a single clan to go to war. More often a Skaven
army will contain many different clans temporarily allied
together to achieve some unknown goal. The core of the army will
be a sea of Clanrats and Skavenslaves. Which specialist troops
the army has depends on what deals the Warlord has done with the
Great Clans. For example, if the Warlord got a good deal with
Clan Moulder there will be a large number of Giant Rats and Rat
Ogres. On the other hand, if the Warlord has made an alliance
with Clan Mekanikal he will have many Weapon Teams to support
his Clanrats and Stormvermin.
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 Mekanikal.
The Warlock Engineers of Clan Mekanikal create infernal engines
of destruction, and then bind Force 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.
Government
Overview
The council actually consists only of 12 members, titled the
Lords of Decay, the Horned Rat being figuratively the 13th
member. It gathers in Skavenblight and attempts to lead all
Skavendom, a most difficult task. Their political predecessors
were the Grey Lords.
Their main agents are the Grey Seers, who often advise and
coerce the individual Skaven Warlords, rulers of the Warlord
clans, towards the appointed goal.
Counted amongst their most important assets are the adepts of
Clan Kaskit. These stealthy assassins are sent to murder
rebellious Warlords or individual opponents. This creates a
reign of fear and terror in which internal rebellions are kept
to a minimum.
An ambitious Skaven may seek to become a Lord of Decay. To
fulfil his ambition he must first touch the Pillar of
Commandments and survive. Afterwards he must challenge an
established member to a fight to the death. If the challenger
wins he will then become a full member of the council. Some have
touched the pillar and a few have even survived, but none has
managed to defeat any of the current members of the council, who
have survived all challenges for over 200 years.
The workings of the Council are very complex. Each member casts
a single vote but his respective position also influences the
proceedings. A simply majority seems to suffice for most
occasions.
Organization
The Horned Rat figuratively holds the position 13. At his
immediate right and left are 1 and 12, considered the two most
important positions. Then come the remaining pairs in the
following order of importance: 2 and 11, followed by 3 and 10, 4
and 9, 5 and 8, and finally the positions 6 and 7 who are the
furtherest away and the least important ones.
Faced with a proposal a council member may vote in favour,
against it, or abstain; in the last case he vetoes the vote of
his numerical counterpart.
As an example: If Lord Kritislik dislikes a particular proposal
he may choose to wait for Lord Morskittar's vote.
If Lord Morskittar votes against the proposal, Lord Kritislik
may safely also vote against it, thereby ensuring that the two
most influential votes are firmly placed against it. This show
of unity of the two most important members of the council will
very likely carry a certain weight to other members.
If Lord Morskittar votes in favour of the proposal, Lord
Kritilik can choose between voting against it or abstain. The
first option is somewhat safer solution if a clear majority
voted against the proposal already and will not antagonize Lord
Morskittar needlessly. The second option may antagonize Lord
Morskittar, especially if Morskittar's vote is vital to secure a
majority.
However even if a proposal is in favour of Lord Kritilik's
interests he may still vote against the proposal (or abstain)
purely to spite Lord Morskittar...
This state-of-affairs ensures that higher ranking members of the
council usually need the support of some of the lower ranking
members, and vice-versa. All of this leads to manipulations,
bribes, rivalries, backroom deals, shady agreements, favouritism
and conspiracies, resulting in simple political corruption.
Assassination attempts among the members of the council are
considered rather too crude (and simply non-effective). Its
members usually try to manipulate the greater circumstances to
force an appropriate resolution of the council.
The current makeup of the Council of Thirteen is as follows:
Position 13: Figuratively held by the Horned Rat.
Position 1: Lord Kritislik the Seerlord, head of the Order of
the Grey Seers.
Position 2: Lord Gnawdwell, Warlord of Clan Mors.
Position 3: Lord Kratch Doomclaw, Warlord of Clan Rictus.
Position 4: Lord Paskrit, Warlord-General of all Skavendom.
Position 5: Lord Vrisk Ironscratch, Fleetmaster of Clan Skurvy.
Position 6: Lord Griznekt Mancarver, Warlord of Clan Skab.
Position 7: Lord Scythe, Soulcarrier of Clan Morbidus.
Position 8: Lord Condorak, Warlord of Clan Carrion.
Position 9: Lord Sneek, Nightlord of Clan Kaskit.
Position 10: Lord Nurglitch, Arch-Plaguelord of Clan Pestilens.
Position 11: Lord Verminkin, Packlord of Clan Moulder.
Position 12: Lord Morskittar, Lord Warlock of Clan Mekanikal
Clans
Overview
Skaven society is ruled by a violent hierarchal order of clans,
where treachery and tyranny are constants. The Verminus Clans
are the most numerous while the Greater Clans are the most
important and ruling over all of those is the Council of
Thirteen.
Greater Clans
Skavendom is largely dominated by the four Greater clans.
Constantly conspiring and feuding against each other, they agree
in one matter: the status-quo, which puts them at the top, has
to be preserved. Any ambitious Warlord clan threatening their
joint dominion has to weakened and if needs be, mercilessly
crushed.
Even through each of the four Great clans is much more powerful
than any single Warlord clan, they are concerned with the rise
of Clan Mors, the most powerful Warlord clan.
Each of the infamous Greater Clans have their own
specialization, troops, armaments and methods of waging war:
Clan Mekanikal, technological savants that provide war machines.
Clan Kaskit, stealthy assassins.
Clan Moulder, breeders of war beasts.
Clan Pestilens, spreaders of disease and plague.
Verminus Clans
The bulk of the Skaven population belongs to the Verminus Clans,
known as the Warlord Clans in the World-that-was. They are
formed of petty overlords and teeming hordes beyond count. A
Thrall Clan is a Warlord clan which has pledged its allegiance
to one of the four Great clans.
At the top is a Skaven Warlord who intimidates everyone through
threats and punishment while rewarding faithful followers. He
also keeps an ever watchful eye on their progress, and disloyal
behavior and incompetence are punished mercilessly. The
lieutenants in turn dominate their underlings through the same
means. Beneath the captains of the Skaven forces run the mass
make-up of the Clan, the Clanrat. Besides forming the rank and
file of every Skaven army, they are also tasked with the daily
chores and tasks within a Clan's warren. An ambitious young
Clanrat has to prove his worth. A common way to climb the social
ladder is to conspire against and eventually murder one's
immediate superior, thereby creating a suitable opening in the
social ladder. As a consequence all superiors watch their
underlings carefully and try to intimidate them into fearful
obedience and "remove" too ambitious ones. At the very bottom of
the clan hierarchy are the innumerable Skavenslaves. While some
slaves are non-Skaven, most are Skaven either born into slavery
or captured from rival clans in war. These are destined to never
see the light of day again as they toil their whole lives in the
mines and tunnels or are sacrificed in bloody rituals to the
Horned Rat.
Here is a list of all the Skaven Clans currently in existence:
Kaskit- Great Clan
Moulder - Great Clan
Pestilens - Great Clan
Mekanikal - Great Clan
Mors - Warlord Clan, the most numerous and powerful of the
Warlord clans, may soon fall victim to the four Great clans.
Rictus - Warlord Clan, breeds an unusual high number of
Stormvermin.
Skab - Warlord Clan, it was recently severely decimated by an
alliance of Clan Ferrik and Clan Carrion.
Scruten - Warlord Clan
Carrion - Warlord Clan, expert scavengers.
Crooktail - Warlord Clan
Ektrik - Thrall Clan, thrall of Clan Mekanikal.
Famin - Warlord Clan
Feesik - Thrall Clan, member of the Pestilent Brotherhood, led
by Clan Pestilens.
Ferrik - Warlord Clan
Fester - Thrall Clan Member of the Pestilent Brotherhood, led by
Clan Pestilens.
Festerlingus - Warlord Clan, a breakaway of Clan Fester.
Festus - Warlord Clan
Gangrous - Warlord Clan
Gnaw - Warlord Clan
Gowjyer - Warlord Clan
Gratzz - Thrall Clan, member of the Pestilent Brotherhood, led
by Clan Pestilens.
Gristlecrack - Warlord Clan
Gritak - Warlord Clan
Gritus - Warlord Clan
Grutnik - Warlord Clan
Klaw - Warlord Clan
Kreepus - Thrall Clan, thrall of Clan Kaskit.
Krik - Warlord Clan
Krizzor - Warlord Clan
Liskit - Warlord Clan
Makris - Warlord Clan, was too ambitious and defied the Council
of Thirteen. As punishment it was butchered without mercy, but
members of the clan do survive.
Mange - Warlord Clan
Mawrrl - Warlord Clan
Merkit - Warlord Clan
Morbidus - Thrall Clan, member of the Pestilent Brotherhood, led
by Clan Pestilens.
Mordkin - Warlord Clan
Rikek - Warlord Clan
Rikket - Warlord Clan
Septik - Thrall Clan, member of the Pestilent Brotherhood, led
by Clan Pestilens.
Skaul - Warlord Clan
Skitr - Warlord Clan
Skitterbite - Warlord Clan
Skrapp - Warlord Clan
Skrat - Thrall Clan, member of the Pestilent Brotherhood, led by
Clan Pestilens.
Skrittlespike - Warlord Clan
Skurvy - Warlord Clan
Skuttle - Warlord Clan
Skully - Warlord Clan
Sleekit - Warlord Clan
Spittle - Warlord Clan
Treecherik - Thrall Clan, thrall of Clan Kaskit.
Volkn - Warlord Clan, its warriors bear blades of black obsidian
and they are known for dying their fur bright red.
Vrrtkin - Thrall Clan, thrall of Clan Mekanikal
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