Haargroth the Blooded

"With the coming of doom shall march a lowly boy. Anger shall be his nourishment, and blood his wine."

- The Prophecy of Fate, taken from the Celestine Book of Divination by Necrodomo the Insane

Haargroth the Blooded is a mighty and infamous Champion of Khorne and the the Jarl of the Graeling tribe of Norsca. Though formerly a goatherd, he proved his mettle in combat when he butchered a Beastkin warlord with his own axe. By chance, the weapon was blessed by Khorne, and set Haargroth on the path to glory. Soon enough, his frame began to swell with muscle and he towered over his fellow Norsemen, soon establishing his power over the tribe. When the chieftain, himself a powerful champion of Chaos, returned to his hall and found Haargroth seated on his throne, he challenged the warrior to battle. That night, the Graelings had a new leader.

Haargroth led his people on many great raids and invasions against their enemies. His longships had even ranged as far south as the mangrove-lined shores of Lustria. His savagery and bloodthrst were such that even the other savage warriors of Norsca dreaded the coming of his warriors, who were soon known informally as the 'Slaughterers of Haargroth'. Soon, his victories were beyond counting, and the plunder he had gained from his raids had made the Graelings wealthy.

But Haargroth sought only the thrill of battle and the exultation that could only be garnered from the clash of arms with a powerful opponent. To that end, he led his clan to the Chaos Wastes, decimating the many horrible creatures of that place in search of a foe whose blood would honour Khorne. Eventually, Haargroth came into battle with Archaon the Everchosen. Though Haargroth was mighty beyond all mortal perception, not even he could stand against a man bestowed with the ultimate blessings of all Four of the Chaos Gods, but rather than slaying Haargroth, Archaon recognized his strength and worth and offered him generalship of one of his armies. Thus, Haargroth became one of Archaon's Four, as was prophesied centuries before his birth by Necrodomo the Insane.

The Saga of the Blooded
The warrior who would one day rise to occupy the highest echelons of the Blood God's favour was once no more than a lowly orphan goatherd. A child without a father is at great risk in Norsca, for without anyone to teach him the ways of axe and sword, Haargroth was deemed unfit to join the men on the summer raids, doomed to a life of ridicule and without favour in the eyes of the dread deities of Norsca. However, this changed one fateful day.

While the chieftain was off raiding with his bondsmen, Haargroth tended to the goats as was his charge. One of the animals was found missing, however, having wandered off into the woods. Within the forest, he came across the bloody remains of the animal, having been feasted upon by a Beastman warlord, his snout still dripping with the creature's blood. He saw the beast's axe resting at one side away from his grasp, and he felt a voice urge him to take revenge. Rage smoldering in his heart, the young Norsemen took up the battleaxe and struck the Beastlord with such fury that he had almost hacked him in two from shoulder to belly. Again did Haargroth strike the monster, and again and again until he had reduced the mighty beast into a bloody stain on the ground. With this single act of anger, Haargroth took the first steps towards glory and power.

The axe, as it transpired, was a Daemon Weapon of Khorne, bound with the essence of one of his foul Bloodthirsters. As Haargroth rose up from the carnage he had wrought, he was astonished to see the blood upon the axe-blades vanish, as if absorbed by the weapon itself. He saw the axe's rough, wooden handle morph into flawless, shining stone and the weapon become encrusted with harsh runes. At once, Haargroth realized which amongst the Gods of Norsca had picked him out for greatness. Skinning the corpse of the Beastman and wearing its bloody fur about him as a cloak, Haargroth emerged from the woods a changed man.

Haargroth, his manner changed beyond all recognition and strengthened by the favour of Khorne, strode boldly into the Hall of the Graeling tribes. Seeing as how he was drenched from head to toe in blood and was swathed in the skin of a beastman, few men dared to challenge the goatherd turned warrior. Taking the chieftain's seat in the meadhall, Haargroth established his dominance over the hunters, elders and other non-warriors left in the tribe.

As the summer ended, the chieftain returned from the raids, his longships rich with plunder. His warriors bellowed the songs of their valour as they entered the hall. As was tradition, the chieftain was to enter last.