Mortkin


 * "Surrender Von Raukov to me, or I will crush your city. All of Volganof will die. I swear to the gods your suffering will be great. You have a single day to decide your fate."


 * - Lord Mortkin Mortkin.jpg

Lord Mortkin, also known as the Black-Iron Reaver, was the leader of the mighty Chaos host known as the Fell Legion and a great king of the Norscans. Many are the rumours of him, the sagas sung to his glory by the skald chanters of the Norse. In some tales, he is the son of a bloodthirsty warrior king, fathered by his union with a daemon succubus and born under a blood-red sky. Another that he was a chieftain of the tribes, beguiled by the lure of power. In this tale, the barbarian returned from a mighty raid covered in glory and the favour of the gods, yet he sought more. When the man who was Lord Mortkin ventured into the true north, he was changed beyond all recognition.

History
The Rise of the Black-Iron Reaver Whatever his previous life, Lord Mortkin won great renown in the twilight lands. Time passes strangely near the great rift and perhaps years, decades or even centuries went by as he travelled that blasted hellscape. In that time, he continued his search for even greater challenges than those he had overcome in the mortal world: he cast down the Leprous Council, foul Sorcerers of Nurgle, he bound Skulex the Great - fiercest of the Fire Dragons - to his will through trickery and lies, bested a two-headed giant in a contest of strength and fought Valkia the Bloody to a standstill, earning the grudging respect of Khorne's shieldmaiden. The Chaos Gods clearly favoured him and many were the warriors of Norsca who joined him. Yet despite the glory he gained, the power he was granted, or the honour he was afforded in the halls of the northern kings, the Black-Iron reaver sank occasionally into a despondant gloom - perhaps feeling a pang for his lost humanity, a tug from earlier years of a life he left behind.

Rage of the North
The Empire would soon come into a terrible reckoning with the Lord of the Fell Legion in 2515 IC. However, in order to fully understand those events, one must go further back and remember the events of the 3 years prior.

In 2512 IC, the Realm of Chaos waxes and spreads. The savage Norsemen, seeing this as the sign of the favour of their Dark Gods, begin to once again to spill out of Norsca to savage the civilized lands of the south. The only warning of their raids the harsh blaring of warhorns and bellowed oaths to cruel gods. The Northmen tore their way through the lands of Kislev and soon came upon the Empire, burning cities and towns and turning aside whole armies. Their attacks grew even more deadly in the coming years, and the longships of the Chaos Marauders began streaming in greater numbers from Norsca when the ice broke. In response, the Imperial Navy sent an armada of warship to the Sea of Claws to stem the tide of raiders. Nordland redoubled her coastal patrols. However, it was Ostland that took the most aggressive steps of all.

Led by Count Valmir Von Raukov and his son, Oleg, the province of Ostland girded itself for war. Von Raukov, a war-like man by nature, had suggested the unthinkable - to launch reprisal raids into the lands of the Enemy, to the unholy lands of Norsca, just as as Sigmar himself had done in ages past. With a new, massive army of newly mustered state-troops, Valmir led the raids in 2513, putting several coastal towns of Norsca to the torch. His son had perhap exceeded his father in that regard, putting many settlements to the torch as well. Much of the Empire, noble and commoner alike, toasted the accomplishments of the Von Raukovs, announcing Valmir as a true hero of Sigmar's realm. Others however, protested, fearing that these audacious attacks would draw the ire of the Norsemen, or worse, that of their Dark Gods.

Vengeance of the Fell Lord
Word of the raids spead quickly enough throughout the Northern Wastes. Some tribes howled in indignation, others welcomed the challenge, eager to fight men so anxious for battle. But Lord Mortkin, Lord of the Fell Legion, champion of the Chaos Gods and Jarl of many tribes had not spoken since hearing of the raids. For by chance, the coastal town of Ulfennik, the place he had once called his home, had been razed to ground at the hands of the Ostlanders. By Oleg Von Raukov himself no less. Brooding, the mighty champion locked himself within his fortress of blackest iron in the deepest depths of Norsca, and in his unholy fury, made yet another pact with his gods.

Many are the champions who seek to rise to ultimate glory when the Realm of Chaos waxes. t such times, the gods often choose a single champion to place their greatest blessings on, so that he may lead their worshipers to the final ruination of the world. Archaon  Everchosen was long on the path to becoming this champion, but his fate was not yet decided. Nurgle  put forth a Pox Sorcerer to be this lord,  Khorne  a warrior-king of the Norse,  Slaanesh  his own favoured son Prince Sigvald, only  Tzeentch  chose a champion not his own - the Lord of the Fell Legion, the mighty Mortkin. Lord Mortkin, pious in the manner of the Norse, alone venerated the Dark Gods in great and equal measure. But he was ever his own man, looking after his own interests first. The gods were wary of electing a man who might fail to do their bidding, but nontheless were united in granting Mortkin their ultimate blessings. When Mortkin, alone and raging within his fortress, swore his oath to the gods that he would carve his wergild from the flesh of the civilized lands, his oath was heard.

Thus it was that when Lord Mortkin emerged from his self-imposed exile, it was with single-minded purpose. Lord Mortkin strode forth, with the full might of his Fell Legion marshalled behind him, to put an end to the tribal warfare that had riven the Norsemen apart and lead them southward to bring ruin to the Empire. To aid in this, Mortkin bound Kargharak the Bloodthirster and his host of daemons to his banner. Mortkin's horde then arrived upon the icy plains and laid waste to all those who would not bow before the Norse King.

Zakhar the Sorcerer, Master of the Coven of the Eternal Eye, was the first to pledge his alleigance to Mortkin, having seen the gods promise glory to him in his visions. An easy claim to believe, for Mortkin had already smashed aside all the hosts of rival champions with ease. Already at his command marched rank-upon-rank of black-armoured warriors and hordes of slavering daemons, and even a great dragon flew at his command. Lord Hackbile soon joined Zakhar, pledging his plagued warriors to Mortkin's cause. In addition, many lesser barbarian chieftains of Norsca and beyond bent their knee to Mortkin, the tribes of the Blackaxes, Kin-Slayers, Beast-Flayers, Crow Brethren, Wyrmkin and the Scourge of the North led by the champion, Volrung Axeblade all joined to fight alongside the mighty king.. After eight days of butchery, Mortkin led his savage host southwards.

The horde crossed from its homeland of Norsca into the tainted wastes of the Troll Country before Kislev, absorbing the various barbarian tribes raiding from their holding there as well as the newly materialized daemonic hosts into their massive number. The Norsemen ravaged their way through Kislev, still cloaked in melting snows. The nomadic Ungol tribes were soon hemmed on all sides by axe-wielding berserkers, and Ungol blood soon warmed the icy ground. Through the maelstrom of raiders, the spear-head of the army marched, a horde of barbarian warriors angled straight at Ostland. Mortkin at the head, paused at the scorched ruins of the dead city of Tzeskagrad and commanded Zakhar and his sorcerers to enact the Ritual of Shrivelled Hands - an unholy spell to locate the Beastman tribes and summon them to war.

Mortkin's messangers rode the hidden paths of the Forest, guided along their way by the gnarled hand talismans claimed from the bodies of the people of Tzeskagrad, to find the greatest chieftain of the Beastmen - Ul-Ruk the Red, and bring his warherd under the command of the Norscan Chaos Lord. When they presented the talismans to Ul-Ruk's shaman, they foresaw the darkling dreams of conquest and glory and nodded ascent to their chieftain. With a thundering roar, Ul-Ruk roused his people to war. Within weeks, thousands of cloven hooves marched northward to pledge their steel to the Northmen's cause, and Ul-Ruk the Red bent his knees to offer his loyalty to Mortkin. Thus, the old bonds between the Children of Chaos and the Men of Norsca were reforged.

His army bolstered by daemonhosts and hordes of raging beastkin, Mortkin reaped conquest after conquest as he ravaged the province of Ostland. Smashing aside the armies of Ostland mustered by Oleg Von Raukov from the Osforts and the Kislevite forces led by Piotr Sergayev who attempted to stop his path of destruction. The survivors of the Norscan invasion fled to the most well-defended city in the province, Volganof. These included Oleg Von Raukov and his sickly brother, Vassily. The other members of Count Valmir's family, such as his wife, Ivana Von Raukov, were lost to the tender mercies of the Northmen. Valmir Von Raukov would return only to find more and more of his home in ruins, just as Mortkin had, and the Lord of the Fell Legion doubtless took great pleasure in that fact.

Soon, the Norscan army converged upon Volganof. The whispered counsel of the daemons bound to Mortkin told him best to cripple the Empire, to bring about the Final End for Sigmar's realm that the gods wished him to. But Mortkin, so mighty that even daemons begged his clemency, followed naught but his own counsel in war.

Characterization
In life, Mortkin was a conqueror. A warrior-king and iron-willed leader bent on gaining glory and power. Yet somewhere along the way he came to long for his lost humanity even as he gave more and more of himself to the gods. Despite the great honour he was afforded by his people, the Norse, Mortkin found himself sinking into despondency on occasion. As the story goes, he had faced and overcome all challenges, and all he know sought was an ending.

Mortkin was capable of great passion and anger when roused. The destruction of his home lifting all feelings of dejection from him and fostering pure rage and will to see those responsible for the crime suffer. When he strode out of his fortress, with his oath made, Mortkin made decisive steps to put an end to the petty clan rivalry and bring the warriors of Norsca under his banner. Truly, he was a capable and fearsome man when crossed.

Though devoted to the Dark Gods, venerating all equally, Mortkin was ever his own man first, and looked after his own interests before his duty to the gods. After he exacted vengeance with the brutal slaying of Oleg von Raukov, Mortkin resolved the end of his tale. For he had accomplished all he desired and there was nothing left for him to live for, ultimately he wished for the glory of the afterlife, however it might be, over serving eternally as a slave to the Dark Gods. He had set out to take vengeance for his home and wanted nothing else. Indeed, Kurt Helborg, in the aftermath of the Slaughter, reflected that Mortkin was not a daemon in human flesh as many thought a Norscan would be, but rather a mortal man, with the same desires and soul as any other.

Ultimately, Mortkin's humanity is a grim lesson to all those who claim to stand against Chaos.

Powers
It  is  u ndenia ble that  Mortkin was a terrifyingly powerful Champion of Chaos. When he entered the Chaos Wastes, he defeated many challenges, not the least of which was defeating a giant in a test of strength and fighting Valkia the Bloody to a standstill, both feats speaking volumes of his incredible strength and skill in battle. His attacks were devestating, often described as being so lethal that he could kill giants in a single strike. He also defeated the Leprous Council, potent Sorcerers of Nurgle, which also spoke well of his ability to resist magic. Indeed, Mortkin showed great resistance to arcane powers, evident also in how the Ice Blade of Von Raukov, a relic of Kislev entrusted to them by the Ice Queen, did little to pierce his armour.

When the gods saw fit to make him their instrument, Mortkin was filled with the power of Chaos so much so that it throbbed in a great aura around him. That such powers did not cause him to devolve in a Chaos Spawn are evident of his willpower and the level of his favour in the eyes of the gods. Mortkin was able to call upon his powers to become a lethal killing machine (more so). He was also made impervious except to the most powerful spells.

Mortkin was an able and charismatic leader. He brought the Northmen under his banner in such numbers that his leadership could only be matched by one of the Everchosen themselves. His presence made his warriors unbreakable in battle, and they would fight on more strongly in his presence. Such was the respect he was afforded by the Norse. His campaign of conquest which left much of Kislev in flames and ravaged almost the whole of Ostland also speaks highly of his skill as a general.

In addition to his battleaxe, Mortkin bore the Hellfire Sword and rode upon a Juggernaut, a gift from Khorne for his bloodletting in the Chaos Wastes.