First Skaven Civil War

The First Skaven Civil War was a Skaven conflict fought between 17 and 600 IC between the forces loyal to the Council of Thirteen and those loyal to Clan Pestilens.

Prelude
For many years the Skaven Under-Empire have been united in one way or form, for none could defy the ruling of the Council of Thirteen and the numberless hordes of ratmen under their control. However, by the year of 17 IC, rumors began to rise in the west as a growing power began to present itself upon the Under-Empire once more. Ages ago, during the Great Migration, this power were just one of many clans migrating out of Skavenblight and making their own domain within the wider world. They had passed beyond the knowledge of the Council, all that was remembered was that they swore they would one day return. The name of the clan had long since been forgotten, the only thing that was certain was that they ventured into the hot dry deserts of Araby and there they found it. From below the lands of Araby, the Clan found a massive inter-continental tunnel that stretched beneath the Great Ocean and made its way towards the damp jungle-continent of Lustria.

From below, the Clan arose from under a great Temple-City deep within the central jungles. There, they claimed the city for the glory of the Horned Rat, and fought off and killed the Lizardmen armies that tried to reclaim their city. But it was not these mighty reptilians that proved the downfall of their clan, but one enemy that no sword nor spear can ever destroy. The dire swamps and jungles of Lustria began to takes its toll on the verminous horde, as diseases of many kind began to sicken and kill the Clan from the inside. With only a few hundred of their brethren left, the vermins begged their lord and savior, the Horned Rat to deliver them from this nightmare. With their fur soaked in sweat and blood, with boils all around their bodies, their fevered brains were wracked by visions called down upon them.[5b]

It was then that the Skaven knew now what they had to do. If they dedicated themselves to the Horned Rat, they will be spared. If they scoured the lust jungles of the south for victims to be sacrificed, the Horned Ones hunger will be appeased. If they grew to worship the very diseases that is killing them, they will finally be borne anew. And so from the darkest desperation, the disease ratmen of Clan Pestilens were born upon this world and the beginning of the Rise of Sotek.

Following their rebirth, Clan Pestilen grew strong, plundering the ancient archives of the ruined cities of Lustria of arcane secrets long hidden within sealed vaults. They brought back sacrifice after sacrifice for their vile god, bringing to him the blood and body of their reptilian enemies. The clan looked further and further to dedicate themselves more to the essence of corruption itself, for their devotion to their god was unquestioned. However, with the Skaven threat becoming far to large to simply ignore, the other Temple-Cities were forced to mobilize their forces and end the Clan once and for all. After a great many battles, the Skaven armies were pushed back all the way to the ruined city of Quetza, where there, they were encircled by the full-fledge armies of all the Temple-Cities, gathered to finally rid the world of the Pestilent Threat once and for all. Encircled and isolated, the Plaguelords of Clan Pestilen was forced to flee the continent.

The pestilent host spent a decade fighting their way towards the shoreline, and it was from there that they create a fleet of rotting ships to bore them towards the jungles of the Southlands. There the clan was established, strongholds were built, fortress lairs were raised, and the Clan prepared for their confrontation with their brethren of the north. When the emissaries of their Clans reached the doorsteps of the Council Chamber within Skavenblight, they demanded that they reclaim their rightful place within the Under-Empire and proclaim Lord Nurglich as a member of the Council of Thirteen, as was promised to them from the Horned Rat himself.

Civil War
Enraged at this transgression, the Council killed the emissaries and threw their rotting corpses within the outskirts of the grand city to be made as an example to those that would try to defy their dominance. In retaliation, Clan Pestilen moved forward with their long-planned offensive. With the use of biological weaponry, the Clan devastated whole Strongholds of Skaven all around the Southlands. One major clan, Clan Merkit fought on against the invaders, but Clan Pestilen planned a faster solution and unleashed foul cauldrons filled with warpstone and putrescence upon the network of caverns within Merkit's Stronghold, killing the entire Clan within a matter of hours. It was said that only Lord Merkit and his personal retinue of honor guard were the only survivors of the massacre.

With the loss of Clan Merkit, the Council responded by amassing several armies of Clanrats, supported by the Warlock-Engineer of Clan Skyre in their push against Clan Pestilen. Their response was late, however, for by the time the armies have engaged Clan Pestilen, the remaining Southland Clans have changed their allegiance to the new growing power. With their armies bolstered by fresh recruits, Clan Pestilen had the sufficient numbers needed to engage the Under-Empire head-on. As the years passed, the war was escalating uncontrollably into a full fledged Skaven Civil War, with whole armies of their kind slaughtering each other for the cause of the ambitious few. The war grew so fierce that it also began to take its toll on the Under-Empire, both financially, militarily, and politically. So unstable and incompetent was the Council at dispatching Clan Pestilen that several other Skaven Clans revolted against their tyrannical reign, either joining Clan Pestilen's cause, or made war for their own personal gains.

The Civil War dragged on for the better part of four centuries as the civil strife killed untold thousands, if not millions of Skaven lives, but neither side could get the other one to yield, with the northern hemisphere still dominated by the Council of Thirteen, while the Plague Lords controlled the South. Many Clans stood apart during the conflict, joining sides with whoever had the upper hand, while others joined those with the highest bitter. The Civil War eventually grounded to a stalemate as neither side could gain a lasting victory over their rivals. For many years afterwards, the Council tried and failed time and again at dispatching the treacherous Clan from power, but none could find a particularly good solution at countering Clan Pestilen's use of biological warfare. It was perhaps by the blessings of the Horned Rat that their salvation came not from the South nor West, but from the East. Just like Clan Pestilen before them, a growing power have also taken the ancient Migration of their ancestors, and made their way towards the East, and it was there that they did not learned disease and plagues, but one of a more silent and lethal nature. The deadlock was broken by the reappearance of another long-lost clan, for the assassin-adepts of Clan Eshin have finally returned to the great Under-Empire.

The black-clad assassins of Clan Eshin pledge their allegiance wholly to the Council of Thirteen, bringing with them offerings and gifts containing the heads of Warlords, Chieftains and Plague Lords that dared to overthrow their holy dominance. The Council wasted no time in using the Clan's skillful assassins to good use, killing off Warlords and powerful Leaders to further disrupt their enemies war-effort. Soon support for the Clan began to erode, and slowly but surely, it soon became clear that Clan Pestilen was losing this war. Realizing that their position is becoming unattainable, the Plague Lords requested a parlay with the Council and a cease to the fighting. The Council reluctantly agreed, and Lord Nurglich made his way towards the capital city of Skavenblight. After surviving several assassination attempts on his way to the city, Nurglich abased himself before the Great Temple of the Horned Rat and unreservedly placed the resources of his clan at the disposal of the Council of Thirteen.

However, many within the Council wanted him dead for the devastating Civil War that he had brought upon the Under-Empire and called for his execution. Nurglich anticipated this, and to further his point, he revealed to the whole Council a single small vial. With fanatical eyes, he told them that he was carrying a vial of Yellow Skull Fever, one of Clan Pestilen's most virulent diseases and any further attempts at his life would leave him no other choice but to release the contagion there and now upon the very heart of Skavendom itself.

Swallowing their pride, the Council greeted their long lost brethren back with open arms, and Arch-Plague Lord Nurglich earned the right to a trail by combat against one of the Council of Thirteen. Though it was a near thing, the Plague Lord used a poisonous bite to defeat his opponent, Lord Vask, the most vulnerable member within the Council Chamber in single combat. With that deed, Clan Pestilen has cemented their place within the Under-Empire.