Beastmen

"I looked up into the sky and there I saw my doom, lithesome yet dread. What creatures were these? How many tortures would I endure before peace was mine? A thousand wretched forms united only by a hatred that never ends. Malign and savage to the last, they brim with bitterness for the works of Man."

—Bestiarie Malificent^[1m]

The horned head of a Gor is often used as a symbol to represent all Beastmen.

The Beastmen, sometimes known as the Beastkin,^[11] the "Cloven Ones,"^[1a] the "Horned Ones," the "Beasts of Chaos" or even the "Children of Chaos,"^[4a] are a race of savage, mutant humanoids that bear various traits of bestial appearance, such as cloven hooves, muscular Human bodies, horned bestial heads and a primitive, malign intelligence.^[4b]

Usually found deep within the twisted woodlands of the Old World and beyond,^[2c] the Beastmen are a violent, war-driven race of savage mutants that seek only to plague and destroy the civilisations of Men and the rest of the mortal world. They prey on the weak and defenceless, striking at lonely settlements without warning in a rampage of destruction before disappearing into the protective darkness of their dark wilderness, running away from the dire retribution that often fails to follow.

To the citizens of the Empire, Bretonnia and the other civilised realms of the Old World, the Beastmen have come to represent creatures from a half-remembered age of nightmare. Proud of their origins, it is said that they are the descendants of ancient Men corrupted and twisted by the influence of Chaos when Chaos first came into the Known World during the Great Catastrophe following the destruction of the Old Ones' Polar Gates.^[4a]

A banner often used by the savage tribes of the Beastmen.

Men deceive themselves that the danger presented by the Beastmen has passed; that they are safe in their walled towns, that their steel and blackpowder, wizards' arts and engineers' creations will hold at bay the lowly beast-things that haunt the woodlands. Men tell themselves that the mutant creatures of the forest are disorganised and incapable of fielding armies that can threaten their crenellated, high-walled cities. They are quite wrong.^[1b]

To underestimate the Beastmen is a fatal mistake. The Cloven Ones are creatures of violence and conflict, and they are far more cunning than the Men of the Empire believe. Worse still, the more noble and haughty the foe, the more the Beastmen are driven to prove their own supremacy by casting them down from their lofty pedestal and trampling their bodies beneath blood-encrusted, filthy hooves.^[1b]

As such, these unruly, coarse and foul creatures go to war with savage intent, slaughtering the civilised races like cattle, burning down and shattering their homes, and stomping on the remains with their cloven hooves until there is nothing left but devastation and ruin. It is said that so long as Chaos maintains its foothold in the mortal world, the Beastmen shall plague the lands of Mankind.

History

For a complete chronology of the activities of the Beastmen warherds, see Beastmen Timeline.

Before the Beastmen

The origins of the Beastmen are closely tied to the origins of Mankind itself. Indeed, long before the collapse of the Old Ones' northern and southern Polar Gates, there was no such thing as Beastmen living in the world of Mallus of that ancient age. At this time, Mankind was a fledgling and largely unknown race, still confined to lands far from the reaches of the ancient civilisations of the Elder Races of the Dwarfs and Elves.^[1a]

The Old Ones, ancient, alien beings of incredible power, acted as guardians over the fledgling world they had transformed, staving off the development of undesirable mortal races and seeding the world with the first true forms of intelligent life. However, the Great Catastrophe, which saw the destruction of the Polar Gates once used by the Old Ones to travel effortlessly between their many worlds, unleashed the raw power of Chaos into the mortal world, an event which guaranteed its inevitable, if long-delayed, damnation.^[1a]

Great Catastrophe

The Beastmen were born from mutant Men and beasts twisted by the magical energies of Chaos that flooded into the Known World due to the destruction of the polar Warp Gates in the Great Catastrophe.

A great calamity befell the Known World during the years it was reshaped by that alien race known as the Old Ones. Something glorious, wonderful, and powerful died, and when it did, the Great Polar Warp Gates, once a marvel of the Old Ones' arcane technology, collapsed, and with their destruction the raw energies of Chaos flowed like a river over the harsh, lifeless lands of the Northern and Southern Wastes.^[1a]

Boiling out from the wound within reality itself were the Daemons of Chaos and their warping powers of magic. The effects of the gates' destruction created all manner of mutant abominations and new Chaos beasts as the energies of Chaos interacted with the flora and fauna of the mortal world. Eventually, the first mortal Chaos-worshippers were born of this interaction between Chaos and the mortal realm, which soon unleashed the initial assault of the forces of Chaos upon the world's people, among who were the first of the Beastmen.^[1a]

As the fabric of reality was torn asunder, from the skies fell pulsing comets of warpstone, great, green fragments of solidified magic blasted into reality from the open wounds of the Polar Gates. Contrails of unlight flared in their wake as they plummeted toward the untamed forests. The lands of the Known World were pounded and punished as if by the fists of the gods themselves. These huge chunks of solidified Chaos energy, thrown from the collapsing dimensional gates, set the very skies aflame.^[1a]

The warpstone fragments crashed into the world like meteors, felling endless tracts of forest and burying themselves inside massive craters of scorched earth. With each impact, the land was infected further by the raw stuff of Chaos. Its insidious taint worked outward into the fertile soil, suckled upon by the roots of ancient trees and seeping into the air breathed by the Human nomads and the beasts that populated the lands.^[1a]

As Chaos infected the lands like a malign cancer, the ancient forests of the mortal world began to stir, writhing with corrupted, magical energies. The primitives of the land and the beasts of the forest merged into hybrid, mutant beings bearing the characteristics and appearance of both man and beast. In time, the offspring of these creatures spread throughout the wilderness of the world, gathering in the dark places before unleashing their wars upon Humanity.^[1a]

Origins

Just how the Beastmen of the Old World came into being is uncertain, but there is an ancient legend, believed to be of Dwarf origin, that places the genesis of the Old World's Beastmen back to the collapse of the northern Polar Gate at the start of the Great Catastrophe. It tells of a time over five thousand years before the birth of Sigmar, when the earliest ancestors of Humanity still resided in the southeastern lands of the Southlands beyond the borders of Tilea. In this time, or so the legend tells, there was another race of heavy-set and passably intelligent humanoids to whom the gods (or perhaps the godlike creators of the Polar Gates) had first taught the skills of animal husbandry.^[16a]

These nomadic peoples travelled across the northeastern steppes of the Old World, taming dogs to help them herd wild boar, as well as the long-horned ancestors of modern-day cattle, and flocks of hardy goats. Then the northern polar gate collapsed, and the corrosive power of Chaos saturated this simple people, merging them with the only partially tamed animals that they herded, warping them into the first of the goat and bovine Beastmen that we recognise today.^[16a]

War of the Hammer and Rise of the Empire

Sigmar Heldenhammer, the first Emperor of Man, wielding his magical warhammer Ghal Maraz during his mortal life. Sigmar is deeply hated by the Beastmen for unifying the tribes of Men into the Empire and ending the reign of the Beastmen over the Old World.

For thousands of years the Beastmen and their nightbred kin ruled the forests of the Known World, preying upon the scattered, nomadic bands of Men as wolves upon sheep. Then a chieftain of one of these tribes named Sigmar Heldenhammer came bearing a golden, magical warhammer called Ghal Maraz that was the bane of all enemies, and united the Human tribes of the central and northern Old World, challenging the Beastmen for dominance of those lands.^[1a]

This warrior elevated Mankind in this region from a collection of loosely organised tribesmen into the great Empire of Man that dominates the continent today. The time before the rise of Mankind and the birth of the Empire is regarded by the Beastmen both as a part-remembered dream and as a legend. The Beastmen's rituals are full of references to a time when they ruled the lands of the mortal world unchallenged, and seek to give birth to a time when they shall do so again.^[1a]

For the Cloven Ones, the conflict they remember as the "War of the Hammer" heralded an age of bitterness and strife in which Mankind rose to undeserved and stolen power, with the God-King Sigmar unifying the tribes of Men into what would soon become the Empire.^[1a] With their power forever broken, the Beastmen of today hate Mankind with a deep loathing born of uncounted centuries of battle and self-righteous persecution. They seek a return to that primeval age when Men were little more than prey to be hunted and devoured, when the Beastmen were considered the true masters of the world.^[1b]

For Humanity's part, the Beastmen soon became creatures of horror and superstition, embodying and confirming their deepest fears of what might lurk in the forests of the Old World. It is said in the legends of Bretonnia that the Beastmen looked out from under the forest eaves, spying upon Men and in so doing knew their own impurity, while some scholars of the Empire hold that the Beastmen are simply jealous and resentful of Men's ingenuity and uncorrupted cleanness of limb.^[1b]

Whatever the case, all Men know that the Beastmen harbour a bitter hatred for Humanity. This enmity goes far beyond jealousy or spite. It is not just Men that the Beastmen despise so, but their civilisation, all their works and their gods. They are a bitter, savage race that have become so blinded by their bloodlust and Chaos corruption that they are disillusioned by the hardship and suffering of their own very existences. They are so filled with such unjustified hatred that they see Humanity as the cause of their suffering, for Mankind to the Beastmen is simply a reminder of a life that these creatures will never have a chance of experiencing.^[1b]

Anatomy & Physiology

"When the world was very young, a group of nomads drifted north into the icy steppes where they tamed wild dogs to help herd wild boar, long-horned cattle, and goats, which they raised for food and clothing. When the Gate of Heaven collapsed, Chaos was released into our world, saturating the people of the north. The loosed energy of Chaos melded these poor simple folk with their herds and other animals, warping them into the Beastmen we recognise today."

—Dwarf myth describing how the first Beastmen came to be.^[2a]

A map detailing the concentration of Beastmen warbands in the Known World. As might be expected, the largest concentrations of Beastmen populations are found in the Northern and Southern Wastes.

At their primal core, the Beastmen are indeed an unnatural fusion of Men and beasts, a transformation that came about when the Old Ones' polar Warp Gates collapsed, and the influence of Chaos smothered the Known World in its grip.^[1a] The term "Beastmen" is often used to describe a whole spectrum of different animal-like beings of varying appearance and distinction. To an extent, a Beastman is also classified as a mutant. Unfortunately, no scholar can truly say with certainty where a mutant ends and a Beastman begins. There is no absolute dividing line between Human and mutant, or between mutant and Beastman, or even between Beastman and Daemon; rather, there is simply a spectrum of Chaos taint.^[3a]

Nevertheless, all Beastmen are seen to be spiteful and mean-spirited creatures that revel in bloodshed and the spread of chaos and loathe order and the very concept of civilisation in all its forms. Beastmen are not believed to be creatures of nature for there is nothing natural about their existence. The Herdstones and rituals of the Beastmen corrupt the very essence of nature itself: it is for this reason Beastmen are especially loathed by the Wood Elves of Athel Loren, with whom the Beastmen have been fighting a gruelling secret war for centuries.

Appearance, Diet and Reproduction

"Under the pallid moon his skull cracked and his eyes rolled. Hair sprouted and jaw gnashed, legs swelled, snapping and grinding and gristle-cracking loud enough to wake a corpse. New joints and muscles buckled and stung, blood-slick horns forced from black-thatched crown, toes gammed and hardened into flesh-ridged hooves. A long braying laugh tore its way from Heinrich's wattled throat as his hairy face lengthened into a biting maw, thick with teeth to grind."

—The transformation of Heinrich Oncemann^[1l]

A savage Gor, the most common of the Beastmen breeds.

A typical Beastman generally has a certain appearance that is consistent with most other Beastmen breeds. Most Beastmen are known for possessing the heads, legs and cloven hooves of various mammals, the most common of which are usually the heads of cows or goats, though some have been seen with the physical traits of other animals as well. Their overall body, however, is noticeably humanoid, with the chest and arms resembling that of a Man. They are capable of walking in an upright posture, but some have been known to walk on all fours. Their matted hair is encrusted with blood and dung, a haven for fat ticks and colonies of fleas that keep the Beastmen in a constant state of painful agitation. Due to their harsh lives, a Beastman is also naturally strong and well-muscled.

The robust constitution of the Cloven Ones allows them to live upon the most meagre or unpleasant of diets. They are ultimately carnivores prefer great chunks of meat above all but, unlike their larger Minotaur brethren, they do not care if it is infested and maggot-ridden. Beastmen are also very well-known to be cannibals who gorge themselves upon the corpses of their own kind without hesitation; entrails, hair, horns, hooves and all, and believe that to do so is to inherit the strength of the victim.^[1d]

This diet of dead meat is supplemented with grubs, hairy-legged spiders, poisonous centipedes, plump blowflies, and other unsavoury foodstuffs, as well as the occasional lost child or lone woodsman. Human flesh is a highly sought-after delicacy to the Beastmen, and rivals have been known to fight to the death over a single Human arm or leg.^[1d]

As a product of Chaos mutation, Beastmen are typically born in one of three ways. The first is generally through natural, sexual reproduction between a male Beastmen and the more docile and least numerous female variants of their race.

A mutant child born as a Beastman and left for dead is discovered by another of their kind.

The second way is generally the most well-known. In this case, a child of two Human parents might be born with obvious signs of mutation. Unable to cure their child of this congenital Chaos corruption, the parents are forced by law to give up their child to a local priest or witch hunter to be properly euthanised before the child grows to become a Beastman proper. However, most parents are incapable of doing such a thing, and so to both expunge the child from their lives as well as the parents' sin, they would leave the child alone in the forest to die by exposure to the elements.

By doing so, the parents consider themselves clean of the sin of infanticide, and allow the gods to take responsibility for whatever happens to their mutant child. However, such a course of action almost never kill the child, for within hours of being left in this lonely state, the crying of the tiny mutant will signal other Beastmen to come to its location. The Beastmen will take the child as their own, and in doing so, swell the numbers of their tribes ever further.

The third way a Beastmen is born is when an adult Human is transformed into a Beastman at some point later in their life. Such a situation is a painful process which results in the Human gaining many bestial traits. Neither fully Human nor fully Beastmen, these creatures, known as "Turnskins," are never truly accepted in either Human or Beastmen societies.

Psychology

All Beastmen are surly and mean-spirited, for they know they are destined to live a short, brutal life of squalor, suffering and pain. When their blood is up and foul-smelling breath snorts from their gore-stained snouts, the Beastmen become belligerent and bellicose in the extreme, every gesture or glance brimming with hostility.^[1c]

The atavistic fury that each Beastman harbours within their soul is always but a moment away from the surface, and it is this rage that gives the Beastmen much of their unholy strength on the field of battle. Bitterness and spite simmers in the heart of every Beastman; it takes little more than a few well-chosen words to spur a Gor into a frenzy of unrestrained, murderous rage.^[1c]

The sounds of distant battle will cause a Beastman to prick up his tufted ears in an instant; a fight or duel upon a woodland path in the Old World will invariably bring dozens of Beastmen from all about in a very short space of time. Above all, though, it is the trappings of progress and civilisation that fan the embers of hatred burning within each Beastman's breast. A mere glimpse of bright colours, especially the colour red, will often be enough to get a Beastman's pulse racing with bloodlust. The sight of a proud flag or coat of arms, a pristine uniform or a magnificent statue elicits a powerful reaction in the Beastmen, for the things of Order are anathema to the Children of Chaos. All caution is put aside in a desperate attempt to tear down and befoul the offending article, to stomp it into the mud, smear it with dung or rip it to pieces and chew on the remains.^[1d]

Beastmen Breeds

Common Breeds

A pack of Beastmen comprised of the various breeds common to the Old World.

• Gors - Gors are the most common type of Beastman, distinguished by the fact they possess horns. Gors are a broad class of Beastman that also comprises more specific sub-types. Below the Gors are the lowly breeds of Beastmen which look up to them for leadership.^[2d]
  • Caprigors - Caprigors are the most common breed of Gor, recognisable by their goat- or sheep-like heads and legs and their curling or straight goat-like horns.^[2e]
  • Bovigors - Bovigors are bull- or ox-headed Beastmen who possess cattle-like horns. Bovigors are also bullheaded in their nature, being very competitive and prizing brute power over any form of subtlety. What differentiates these Beastmen from Minotaurs is their much smaller stature.^[2e]
  • Ungors - Ungors are much more variable in appearance than the other Gor subtypes. They possess some form of horns, but the Ungors themselves are not recognisable as either Caprigors or Bovigors. The most favoured Ungors might possess a spectacular array of horns, or a single, fine horn, but most have only small or misshapen horns, which other Beastmen find contemptible. They also are possess of the most humanoid appearance among the Beastmen, which does not enhance their respect among their brethren.^[2f]

• Brays - Brays are a lowly breed of Beastmen. Their name refers to the braying cacophony they make when they feast or fight together. Brays can appear in any form, and are mainly distinguished by the fact they lack any kind of horns, another indicator of their low status.^[2f]

• Turnskins - Turnskins are adult Humans who at a later stage of life began to mutate into a Beastman. Ostracised and despised by their former peers, they have no escape other than to flee Human society. Many of them become renegades and some manage to join a Beastmen tribe who will accept them, but only as slaves.^[2f]

• Gaves - Gaves are Beastmen born to normal Human parents. Some parents attempt to hide their child's deformities while others will kill it, but many mutant babies are abandoned near a forest, or set afloat in a river on a raft of reeds, to die of hunger and exposure. These creatures rarely die, however, as the ears of Beastmen are always alert to the cries of their own kind. These foundlings are adopted and raised by Beastmen, who consider such a child a gift of their own fell gods. Whether the child becomes a Gor, Ungor or Bray, they are held in higher esteem due to the purity of their birth.^[2g]

• Bray-Shamans - Bray-shamans are the intermediaries between their tribe and the Chaos Gods who possess the ability to wield the Winds of Magic like other wizards. The majority are not powerful enough to challenge the tribal chieftain, but some ambitious ones are more than willing and able to fulfil both positions. Bray-shamans are marked apart from other Beastmen by their heterochromatic eyes, which means that one eye is typically a different colour than the other. The specific colours are believed to signify the favour in which the shaman is held by a particular Chaos God. A Bray-shaman might repeat the colours of his eyes in his robes, so that he might display the sacred colours of the different Chaos Gods.^[2g]

• Beastwomen - Beastwomen are female members of their species and, compared to the Beastmen, are shy and gentle.

• Centigors - Centigors are centaur-like Beastmen who are a cross between four-legged creatures, such as horses and oxen, and the upper body of a humanoid. As a result they are able to wield brutal weapons while possessing the great speed and strength of beasts of burden.

• Minotaurs - Minotaurs are massive Beastmen who possess the head and hindquarters of a bull. Standing nearly ten feet tall, Minotaurs are a class of Beastmen unto themselves, but are nonetheless often seen amongst their tribes.^[2h]

Exotic Breeds

• Apemen - In the Southlands, there exist tribes of primitive yet intelligent subhuman primates who make use of tools, weapons and cunning in attacks on the other inhabitants of the jungles. Where ape ends and Beastman begins is unclear to many.^[4e]

• Eastern Beastmen - Tiger-headed Eastern Beastmen also called Tigermen are said to dwell in the Kingdoms of Ind in the Far East. These Beastmen are noble but fickle beings, as likely to burn villages as they are to protect them. One tribe of Tigermen known as the Bengal has taken up residence in the Eye of the Tiger, a deep cave located high in the Shambani foothills of Ind. "Monkey warriors" are said to live in the Mountains of Heaven and Grand Cathay was at one time ruled by a Monkey King who traded with the Skaven, but it is unknown if these beings were actually Beastmen.^[4e]

• Lakemen - These amphibian-like Beastmen are found primarily in the Lyonen region of the Forest of Arden, staging attacks from the waters, but seem to hold little regard for the other Beastmen breeds as they attack each other on sight.

A Pestigor Beastman of Nurgle

• Pestigors - Pestigors, those Beastmen who have been born especially blessed since birth by Nurgle, the Chaos God of disease and despair, are renowned and feared among their kind. They are a repugnant foe: their hide splits from a hundred lesions, ichor runs from their eyes and mouths, and their fangs and horns blacken with rot. Their spoor harbours foul contagions, and folklore has it that on dark nights they creep from the forests of the Old World to spoil crops, infect farm-beasts, and sicken peasants by spreading their dung around settlements. Though Pestigors are racked by pestilence, disease and malformations they still maintain the morbid vigour that defines all the mortal servants of their patron god. Their fur is usually brown but often hidden beneath dung and other filth, their forms bloated with disease and prominent abscesses and other obvious infections, cultivated to bloom in the shape of the Mark of Nurgle. Highly favoured Pestigors are blessed with the mutation known among them as the "Tears of Nurgle" -- infectious secretions that drip constantly from their ears, eyes, mouth, nose and every other bodily opening. It is also not uncommon for Pestigors who have found great favour with Grandfather Nurgle to become vectors for Nurgle's Rot. Unlike most Beastmen, Pestigors often possess only a single horn, much like the Lesser Daemons of the Plague God. Like all Nurglites, mortal and Daemon alike, Pestigors possess enormous fortitude in combat. They often scavenge and wear a surprisingly substantial amount of armour for Beastmen, and are generally more organised and well-disciplined in combat than most of their kind. Other Beastmen such as Gors and Ungors revere Pestigors who have been so blatantly blessed by the Dark Gods, respecting them greatly. Pestigors, like their patron god Nurgle, passionately hate all the mortal and Daemonic servants of Tzeentch and will seek to interfere with the goals of Tzeentchian forces wherever they may be found in the mortal world. Some Pestigors have been blessed with the ability to wield magic by their divine patron. Such Pestigor wizards draw upon the Lore of Nurgle to cast their spells like any of the Fly Lord's other sorcerers.^[12a][14b]

A Tzaangor as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.^[13]

• Tzaangors - Beastmen are creatures of pure Chaos and so exalt all four Ruinous Powers equally in their worship of Chaos Undivided. However, sometimes a she-gor spawns a whelp that is clearly a chosen one of the Changer of Ways, its fur patterned with the Mark of Tzeentch, or its horns curling to form that god's unholy symbol. These creatures are known as Tzaangors, and are feared and respected among their herd.^[12a] Drawn to the use of or sources of magic like moths to a candle, Tzaangors are unnatural Beastmen whose animalistic savagery combines well with their keen and cruel intellect. Armed with axes of bone, iron or crystal at their side, the Tzaangors are perfect fast flankers with a penance for a hit-and-run style of combat in which they often retreat into the woods to stalk the enemy before striking once more.^[13] The skin and fur of Tzaangors is often brightly coloured, especially their face and ears, with the most heavily mutated from the Beastmen baseline considered to have been especially favoured by Tzeentch. Tzaangors, like their patron god Tzeentch, passionately hate all the mortal and Daemonic servants of Nurgle and will seek to interfere with the goals of Nurglish forces wherever they may be found in the mortal world. Some Tzaangors have been blessed with the ability to wield magic by their divine patron. Such Tzaangor wizards draw upon the Lore of Tzeentch to cast their spells like any of his sorcerers.^[14a]

• Khorngors - A Khorngor is a Beastman, usually a Bestigor, who is sworn to the service of the Chaos God Khorne, god of war and rage. Khorngors prefer to bear the sacred colours of the Blood God such as red, have skin and fur which is almost a metallic brass in colour and texture, while their eyes are a milky white with red pupils. Many Khorngors possess the heads of great, slavering hounds with large jaws and fangs which drip with saliva. The most favoured Khorngors of the Blood God bear horns which take the shape of the skull-shaped Mark of Khorne.

• Slaangors - Slaangors are Beastmen, usually a Gor or Bestigor, who have sworn themselves to, or been especially chosen by, Slaanesh, the Chaos God of pleasure and pain. Like many of the devotees of Slaanesh, the fur of Slaangors is often dyed in eye-watering pastel shades, their eyes green and saucer-like and their horns mutated or deliberately grown to form the Mark of Slaanesh. Slaangors, like many devotees of Slaanesh, can be powerful sorcerers. In this case, Slaangor Bray-Shamans can use spells drawn from the Lore of Slaanesh as well as the Lores of the Wild, Beasts, Shadow and Death available to common Bray-Shamans.

• Naggaroth Beastmen - The Naggaroth Beastmen are a strange breed of scaled, bipedal Beastmen that dwell in caves and crevasses on the continent of Naggaroth in the New World. They are about the height of an Elf and covered head to foot in craggy, reptilian scales. These creatures are extremely primitive technologically, and war amongst themselves with their stone axes and clubs. On occasion, when times are hard or when the call of Chaos from the north grows strong, they descend from the peaks to raid Dark Elven settlements and join with the forces of Chaos.^[4e]

• Snakemen - Also called Naga, the Snakemen are the main inhabitants of the Hinterlands of Khuresh in the Far East and presumably a race of reptilian Beastmen.

• Beastfiends - Unlike those Children of Chaos found elsewhere in the Known World, Beastfiends, variants of Beastmen, have little resemblance to Men. Instead, these creatures of the Southern Wastes are fusions of beasts and Daemon rather than beasts and Men.

• Ymir - The Ymir are an offshoot subrace of Beastmen native to Norsca, who are hunted by young Norscans as a rite of passage.^[4e]

Beastmen Society

"They're in the woods, you know. Always there. Any time you go in the woods, chances are you're no more than a few leagues from a Beastmen camp. Mostly 'ey just takes foresters and charcoal burners, but every so often a band of 'em will come out of the trees and take a village or a town, burning and killing and looting. They's not so thorough as t' ratmen, you'll usually find one or two folk o' the village -- either hid, or fled an' come back, or sometimes left by t' Beastmen to tell t' tale to t' other villages."

—Old Hob, peasant farmer^[3a]

Forest Wanderers

The Beastmen tribes are among the many dangers to be found in the dark forests of the Old World.

Though the Beastmen dwell within the forests of the Known World, they rarely stay in one location for long. Beneath the dark forest canopy, they are often the prey of yet more disturbing creatures. They are tough and strong, for they must compete with the unimaginable horrors that also haunt the woods of Mallus.

The Beastmen build no cities, for order and construction are anathema to them. Instead, they move from place to place along ancient paths within the territory of each warherd, occasionally encroaching upon the domains of other tribes or making new paths through the civilised lands of Men. Though no sane man can make sense of it, there is sometimes a pattern to these movements -- sudden changes in direction, or an uncanny coordination between disparate warbands, that hint at a far grander plan.^[1g]

When a halt is called, the Beastmen establish temporary sites from which to launch their merciless invasions of the surrounding territory. After these violent events, the Beastmen would then return to their sites and celebrate their victories in overt displays of feasting and brawling.^[1g]

If the ruling Beastlord follows the tenets of Slaa -- as the Dark Prince Slaanesh, Chaos God of pleasure and pain is oft-known among the Beastmen -- then he will allow his Gors to rut and mewl and wallow in their own filth, as well as bathe in and consume enemy blood. This leads many Beastmen into a state of euphoria; to become what they call "gore-drunk." A generous Beastlord who grants his Gors such a boon will gather many followers.^[10a]

Being highly nomadic and far from stupid, a Beastmen tribe usually stays in one place only for a short period of time before moving on to find another suitable site in their hunting grounds, so as to avoid detection and holy retribution. Beastmen warbands will often roam for hundreds of miles before setting up camp again, frequently battling other Beastmen for the choicest spots. They roam far and wide, following the scent of fresh meat and hunting down whatever wanders into the ancient hunting grounds that they patrol. All the lands of the Old World are regarded as these very same hunting-grounds. It has always been so, since the coming of Chaos during the Great Catastrophe in a distant and legendary age.^[1g]

Encampment

A Beastmen tribe that has taken up residence near a corrupting Herdstone.

Beastmen build crude, temporary campsites from which to raid the surrounding areas, usually picking dark and dense parts of the forest that are near to major trade routes or Human villages. Caves can also serve a warherd as a good shelter, so long as it is near a regular supply of running, fresh water and offers a good view of the surrounding woods.^[1g]

The campsites of Beastmen are crude affairs, often consisting of little more than a large central bonfire surrounded by a mass of roughly hewn animal skins. Sometimes other skins, often still matted with gore, will be held up by sticks and branches to form makeshift tents. The more powerful breeds of Beastmen, such as the Minotaurs or Bestigor, take up the positions closest to the fire and closest to the food. The smaller Ungors are pushed to the extreme outskirts of the ring, and it has been known in winter for many of the weaker runts to perish from the cold and lack of nourishment.^[1g]

Wild, mutated Chaos Hounds prowl around the edges of the campsite, fighting over discarded bones and often preying on the smallest Beastmen. In other camps, hounds and hideously mutated Chaos Spawn, their bulk covered in matted fur, are kept in rough pens of sharpened stakes where they are taunted and starved until set loose in battle.^[1g]

The treetops all around the encampment are haunted by Harpies, twisted Chaos beasts that from a distance appear as winged and shapely Human women. These creatures follow the tribe wherever it goes, attracted by the remains of sacrificed victims scattered about the encampment. They squabble constantly for the choicest pickings of the food the Beastmen discard.^[1g]

Beastmen follow their food, so once they exhaust an area of fauna and people, they move on to some other camp. Their constant movement puts them into contact with other Beastmen, and battles between the tribes are quite common. After a particularly successful raid, the warherd will typically celebrate through the night, parading around the fireplace drunkenly, feasting on captives and enjoying the spoils of their victory.^[1g]

By noon the following day, the warherd will have abandoned its camp and moved on, discarding anything that cannot easily be carried. To stumble upon a Beastmen camp is not only to witness a cacophonous vision of hell in full flow, but also to consign oneself to a grisly and extremely unpleasant death.^[1g]

Warherds

The Beastmen build no cities, for order and construction are anathema to them. They live instead in tribal warbands, called "warherds" by the creatures themselves, each led by a chieftain called a "Beastlord" who is always the strongest among them -- a true Chaos Champion of the Ruinous Powers.^[15a]

These warherds roam far and wide, following the scent of fresh meat. They infest the forests and the wastelands of the Old World and the other nations of Mankind, being most numerous in the far north and the Drakwald Forest, but also gathering in numbers in the lands of the south such as chivalrous Bretonnia and bright Tilea where the ancient forests harbour hidden Beastmen camps. Eastwards to Grand Cathay and westwards across the Great Ocean beyond Naggaroth, Beastmen have also made their lairs. Wherever Men once roamed or still dwell, the Beastmen can be found.^[15a]

Blood-Grounds

A tribe of Beastmen on the hunt in their Blood-Grounds against their favoured prey -- Men.

The lands that the Beastmen use to hunt their prey are known collectively as "Blood-Grounds." Every single creature within the Beastmen's Blood-Grounds is prey, whether it flees as do the Goblins, evades as do the Wood Elves, or fights back as do the Men. Even the act of marching to war is akin to the hunt, of tracking or stalking the prey. Battle itself is like unto the act of a predator running down its prey, or the clash of rivals fighting to the last to determine the right to leadership and territorial dominance.^[1h]

The Beastmen that lurk within the Forest of Shadows, for example, are constantly at war with others who would shelter in its darkness. Every new day, the warherds clash with Forest Goblins, Human bandits and the shambling hordes of rotten corpses raised to Undeath by reclusive necromancers who hide from prying eyes in the woods. Because of this, the warherds of the Forest of Shadows, though fewer in number, are amongst the strongest and most belligerent in the entire Old World. When their strength waxes and they dominate their rivals within the Forest of Shadows, these Beastmen make war upon foes outside of it. It is then that the lands of Men truly know the raw strength of the Beastmen.^[1h]

Occasionally, the warherds of the Forest of Shadows have fought such successful wars against the others that dwell there that their enemies have been driven out of the forest to plague the lands all about. Such was the case when the warherd of Ul-Ruk the Redhom launched a genocidal war against the Forest Goblins of the Bitter-Eye Tribe. The war lasted three entire seasons, culminating in the remains of the Forest Goblin horde being driven from the woods straight towards the Imperial town of Ferlangen. The defenders of the town had barely time to muster before being overrun with screaming Greenskins. Sensing weakness, the pursuing Beastmen crashed into those Men who had survived the wave of Forest Goblins, hacking down the last of their number and putting the town to the torch.^[1h]

Less common a foe than the Forest Goblins are the Wood Elves, who are held in contempt by the entire Beastmen race for their love of stealth over strength. Conversely, the Wood Elves hate the Children of Chaos with a burning passion, for the Beastmen are the opposite of all they stand for, the ultimate perversion of the natural world that they hold so dear.^[1h]

Most clashes between the two races are fought on the verges of the supernatural forest of Athel Loren, east of Bretonnia. When the two mortal peoples encounter one another, a raging battle occurs. Should the Beastmen prevail they take perverse delight in chasing the Wood Elves down with packs of specially trained hounds. A Beastman that catches and eats a Wood Elf earns the honorific "Fey-killer" and little else, for the Beastmen have always found Elf flesh stringy and unsatisfying, with barely enough meat on the bone to feed an underweight Ungor.^[1h]

Beast-Paths

A Beastmen warherd rampaging through a hidden Beast-Path in the forests of the Old World.

The vast forests of the Old World are crossed by a spider's web of paths only the Beastmen know. Where these paths cross, there is to be found a site that is in some way significant to the Cloven Ones. These so-called "Beast-Paths" are located deep within the forests, far from the towns and highways of Men, yet they are far from hidden. Though native to the deep woods, the Beastmen are not naturally creatures of concealment and guile. When passing through the dense woodlands they simply barge their way through the foliage and trample flat the undergrowth.^[1g]

Over millennia of use, the Beast-Paths have become deep ruts in the ground, strewn with the bones of the enemy and other detritus. So dense is the undergrowth that grows on the embankments that the chances are that no Human tracker or huntsman seeking a Beast-Path would find one another simply by pure coincidence. Any huntsman who managed to stumble upon a Beast-Path would be extremely wise to turn and flee, for a warherd might be traveling the path and his own bones may soon be added to those discarded upon it.^[1g]

Occasionally, two Beastmen warherds will run into one another whilst traveling in opposite directions along a Beast-Path. In such cases, the Beastlords of each tribe will barge their way to the fore and meet in the centre of the pathway to decide which tribe will stand aside and allow the other to pass. Amidst much bravado and exaggerated strutting, the chieftains will engage in vulgar displays of power until one either stands aside or, far more likely, the two come to blows.^[1g]

The ensuing combat will consist of the two chieftains clashing horns and headbutting each other until one is knocked unconscious and the winner determined. The winner's tribe will then pass along the Beast-Path, the grinning Gors only pausing to relieve themselves upon the prostrate form of the defeated chieftain.^[1g]

Hierarchy

"In many respects, the society and hierarchy of Beastmen are almost as sophisticated as those of Humans. Its structure is rigid, so that every member of a tribe knows his or her place, is completely aware of which other Beastfolk are higher and which are lower in the hierarchy; very un-Chaotic, you might think! Yet movement within that hierarchy is always possible. Any member can challenge the leader or any other member at almost any time, whether formally or informally."

—Heinrich Malz, High Priest of Verena^[3b]

A Beastman ruthlessly taking over leadership of a Beastmen tribe.

The Beastmen live by the base laws of nature, twisted beyond recognition by the corrupting influence that is Chaos. Though they may walk upright and speak, the Beastmen are as close to animals as they are to Men. Violence simmers beneath the surface of every exchange, each Beastman seeking every opportunity to enforce his superiority over all others.^[1e] 

Domination is enforced with bloody violence, and every Beastman quickly learns his place under the heel of the warherd's chieftain. Should any one of their numbers show weakness, the victim will suffer for it, and his position within the warherd will be diminished.^[3b]

In more understandable terms, the Beastmen follow a violent hierarchy based upon the overall physical and martial prowess of a Beastmen as well as what kind of breed the particular Beastmen is.^[3a] Those that possess exceptional strength and bear the greatest blessings of the Dark Gods, such as magnificent curling horns, occupy the higher social tiers of their tribes. Those Beastmen that possess small horns or none at all, such as the lowly breeds of Ungors and Brays, are always socially ranked below those that do such as the Gors and Minotaurs. Hence, each warherd is led by a chieftain who is the strongest, most savage and most bestial amongst their numbers, who are known collectively as Beastlords.^[1e]

These primitive chieftains occupy the apex of Beastmen tribal authority. It is the Beastlord's absolute right to rule as he pleases provided that he has the strength to back it up. To maintain his position, he has to continually fight off challenges from his many jealous and power-hungry subordinates. He makes a totem from the pelts of those he has defeated to prove his right to rule, making his personal banner a gory record of his deeds and conquests.^[1e]

Inevitably though, one day a challenger will come who is stronger, younger and far more vigorous than the current incumbent, and then the chieftain's own hide will hang bleeding in the wind from the challenger's totem. From here, this vicious cycle is repeated again and again unto time immemorial.^[1e]

Tribal Roles

Status within a Beastmen tribe is typically regulated by the physically strongest individuals within the group. Those wishing to obtain a higher position simply have to challenge an opponent of higher status in a brutal and often fatal duel. The only exception is the Ungors and Brays, those Beastmen or other mutants who are not graced with the horns that are the most distinctive feature of this race. No Gor, or horned Beastman, would consent to being ruled by an Ungor or Bray, no matter how skilled or powerful the lesser Beastman might be.^[3a]

The occasional spirited Ungor who might step out of line is quickly torn to shreds by the Gors of the tribe.^[3b] In any case, such a situation never occurs in practice; Ungors and Brays are simply always weaker and less physically imposing than Gors.^[3a] Mutants who do not have at least one animalistic feature, even if it is so minor as enlarged, fang-like teeth, are rarely accepted into Beastmen tribes even with the status of Ungors. Instead, they sometimes form their own Beastman tribes, often led by outcast Gors or other powerful Chaos-corrupted creatures.^[3b]

Above the ordinary Gors in rank are the Bestigors, large and powerful Beastmen that occupy the highest position within their tribe just below the Beastlord himself. Some powerful Gors have too much ambition to be willing to serve as a Bestigor, and force their way up the tribal hierarchy still further. At this point, these Gor leaders are known by many names such as "Foe-renders" if they lead a regiment of Gors, "Gouge-horns" if they lead a regiment of Bestigors, "Wargors" if they command an entire warherd or "Beastlords" if they command several warherds.^[3b]

From here, the hierarchy becomes more complex; these different names are not merely local affectations, but precise statements of rank. These various Gor leaders will work together, each with their own smaller warband, coming together under one supreme leader of each horde. Fortunately, such co-operation is relatively rare, and the typical traveller would be most unlucky to be attacked by a Beastman warherd that is led not by one, but multiple Beastmen leaders.^[3b]

Beast Tongue

Runes of the variant of the Dark Tongue called the Beast Tongue.^[2i]

Like the Skaven, the Beastmen have a difficult time forming the words of the Dark Tongue of Chaos with their malformed, bestial mutant maws. As a result, they communicate using a crude mixture of Dark Tongue, body movements, grunts, clicks, and pops, collectively called the "Beast Tongue." This language sounds more like noise than a sophisticated tongue, being not much more than an indescribable array of muttering, growls and grumbling. Added to this are the shrieks, howls, and bleats that Beastmen use to punctuate and emphasise their phrases.^[2i]

Many scholars of the Old World engage in considerable debate whether Beastmen speak a language at all. The Beast Tongue is beyond Mankind's ability to speak, and in the rare instances when Beastmen deign to talk with Humans, they use a mix of basic Dark Tongue, body language, and gestures, only descending to Beast Tongue when frustrated. Regardless of prevailing opinions however, Beastmen are still fairly intelligent, and despite their brutish aspect, and the fact that some of their kind cannot speak at all, they use their tongue effectively, conveying a wide range of subjects and concepts.^[2i]

For their written language, the Beastmen use a simplified form of the phonetic runes used in Dark Tongue to mark herdstones or to leave messages for other members of their warherd. These are always crude, for Beastmen lack the precision needed to write clearly. Most Beastmen use their bodily wastes instead, finding that experience far more rewarding than taking the time to scribble something on a rock.^[2i]

Beast Tongue Lexicon

• Akhash - Blood

• Fuib - To see.

• Gorthor - Cruel

• Khar - rage; also Khorne when used as a proper noun.

• Nuis-Ghurleth - A title used for leaders.

• Shaabhekh - Lit. "Soul Killer"; a reference to the Green Knight of Bretonnia.

• Slaa - Ecstasy; also Slaanesh when used as a proper noun.

• Tduigu-Uis - A greeting used between Beastmen.

• Tzeen - Change; also Tzeentch when used as a proper noun.

Religion

"Chaos strong. Gors strong. Humans, Elves, Dwarf -- weak, weak, weak. We win. We fight, we kill, one day we win. One day soon. You -- if you lucky, we eat you, make you into part of us, make you better than you, stronger than any of you, stronger than all of you. Once this arm weak, like you. I eat many of your kind, now strong, strong, strong."

—Karzog, Bestigor Charioteer, Member of Gorthor's Herd^[3d]

Innate Chaos

A Bray-Shaman conducting a dark ritual to supplicate the Chaos Gods.

The Beastmen all worship the Chaos Gods as the one, true, divine power of the mortal world. The Beastmen are the product of the Ruinous Powers' corruption and as such are wholly dedicated to the spreading of their will to all lands of the Old World and beyond. As these Beastmen pursue their endless hunt against all civilisation, some Beastmen commit such acts of savagery and bloodshed that the attentions of the Dark Gods are turned their way.^[1e]

Ordinarily however, the Ruinous Powers pay little heed to the deeds of the Beastmen, knowing that the Children of Chaos will enact their will regardless of any gifts or rewards offered. The Beastmen are utterly enthralled to the magnificence of Chaos, and are thus totally free of any constraints imposed by these malign gods upon their thoughts and actions. They do as they please, and in so doing serve Chaos with every shred of their being.^[1e]

Though they do not truly comprehend it, the Beastmen are a vital part of the Ruinous Powers' eternal quest to subsume the world of Mallus in a roiling, turbulent tide of unreasoning change and constant war. It is the Beastmen that tear down the elegant Elven waystones that hold the power of Chaos in check by channeling ambient magic into the Great Vortex and replace them with herdstones -- primitive shrines that corrupt the earth around them.^[1e]

It is the Beastmen that hunt down and kill those who would otherwise remain out of the reach of the Chaos Gods. It is the Beastmen who plague the civilisations of Mankind, ensuring that their people shall not progress past their primitive states for centuries to come. So it is that the Cloven Ones remain at the forefront of the war against order and light, a war that only continues to escalate to apocalyptic proportions.^[1e]

Herdstones

A man is sacrificed to the Dark Gods at a Beastman herdstone.

Beastmen campsites are often set up around the sacred herdstones that are scattered throughout the dark forests of the Old World. Sometimes referred to as the "Chaos Heart," herdstones are sacred to the Beastmen, and all manner of offerings are left there to appease and earn the favour of the Chaos Gods; weapons, armour, the banners of vanquished foes and the corpses of mutilated enemies can all be found piled around the base of these stones. The floor of the clearing in which the herdstone stands is often strewn with an ankle-deep carpet of bones, the remains of the captives taken in battle and sacrificed by the Bray-Shamans to the dark glory of the Ruinous Powers.^[4d]

The herdstones are always erected in places of magical significance, usually over one of the baleful warpstone meteors that first brought the Beastmen into being all those ages ago. Most herdstones are located far from Human settlements, for no such settlement founded near one has survived more than a single season. They are well-hidden, often in the darkest and most inaccessible parts of the forests, deep within caves or on mountain tops, and there are almost always Beastmen warherds and Minotaur tribes nearby because of it.^[4d]

Two variants of Beastmen herdstones as rendered for Total War: Warhammer.

Any intrusion within a hundred leagues of a herdstone will cause every warherd in the region to descend upon the intruder with unrelenting wrath. Sometimes, particularly powerful Minotaurs take up the role of the keepers of the herdstones, becoming the fearful guardians of these most sacred Beastmen shrines.^[4d]

To gather the warherds, a raging signal fire is lit in the centre of the herdstone circle. Often, Bray-Shamans throw mind-altering herbs upon the blaze, sending up great swathes of strangely-coloured smoke curling into the sky. This fire is stoked with wood and carrion, and left to burn for days on end. Over the following nights, other Beastmen will slowly gather at the sacred stones, attracted by the fire and the smell of burning fat; each arriving Beastlord scratches his name or mark onto the central stone in the crude Beastman version of the Dark Tongue, known simply as the Beast Tongue, and his warherd sets up camp.^[4d]

A warherd of Beastmen gather before a herdstone.

It is at the herdstones that most of the important celebrations and festivals of the Beastmen take place. They are the rallying points where warherds can meet and join together without fighting breaking out instantly. They are also the place for feasting, most importantly the ritualistic "Champion's Feast," where the flesh of slain Beastlords and other Beastmen "heroes" are consumed by the herd.^[4d]

Forces of the Beastmen

"And so did the fair village of Sternburg come under the hateful, greed-filled gaze of the Beast. Intent these foul Beasts were of naught but the spilling of blood, the burning of houses and the butchery of all. Mayhap they wished to gather foodstuffs and drink, but I believe this beyond their bestial intellect. A night of terrors and tragedy it was for the people of Sternburg..."

—Arthus Reinhold, Scribe of the Middenheim Court^[5a]

Beastmen at War

A Beastmen horde on the warpath.

Creatures of violence and destruction, the Beastmen race are as unreasoning and deadly as the hurricane that tears apart the village, the plague that ravages the lands or the blight that kills the harvest. And yet the Beastmen are far worse, for they have little to do with the natural order of things. The carnage and despair they spread across the land is not part of the eternal cycle of life and death but a malevolent and deliberate attempt to tear down and despoil everything of beauty, peace or sanctity, replacing it with filth and ruin.

When it comes time for the Beastmen hordes to launch their invasion upon the lands of Men, the herds gather around a single holy site and form themselves into large hordes called warherds or, when several warherds agree to come together for a common purpose, brayherds.^[4b]

Even when gathered in their torrid encampments, the Beastmen can be seen brawling, shouting, rutting, drinking or filling their hairy bellies with raw flesh, for they are vital and virile creatures that are never truly still. From here, all the Beastlords of the tribes challenge each other for the right to lead the combined brayherd into battle.^[1i]

Once a leader is chosen, the Bray-Shamans of all the tribes conduct sacrificial rituals to their loathsome gods. Smelling the spilling of fresh blood, Minotaurs, Centigors, and all manner of Chaos beasts are seen joining the Beastmen on their hunt.^[1i] The coming of the horde is always presaged by a cacophonous braying. As if to amplify their already deafening war cries, the Beastmen employ war horns fashioned from the tusks of forest creatures or the horns of slain rivals.^[1k]

As daylight nears, the rituals begin their final climax. From the shrouded treeline, the atonal droning of warhorns is accompanied by the dolorous, arhythmic pounding of mighty drums made from the flayed skins of defeated foes. The horde carries a bewildering array of banners adorned with the heads of fallen enemies and daubed with the crude Beast Tongue runes that identify each herd. Such banners are used to increase the Beastmen's own stature, ensuring that even distant enemies can see the dominance and strength of the bearers. Soon, massed figures emerge from the mists and the horde becomes visible in all its terrible glory. ^[1k]

At the centre of the horde as it surges forward are heavily armoured, elite Bestigors. Equipped with huge axes taken from the treasures stacked at the base of each herdstone, these Beastmen hack into the enemy as farmers scythe down wheat. The Bestigors will fight to the death to take the banners of their foe, trampling enemy standards into the mud as the bulk of the horde comes on in their bloody wake.^[1k]

All the while, Gors and Ungors stalk through the undergrowth to encircle and hem in the enemy battleline, moving into the most advantageous positions before springing horribly effective ambushes upon the flanks and rear of the enemy army. Many a gunnery or archer battalion has believed itself safe behind sharpened stakes and defensible positions only to find that the Beastmen had them surrounded from the start.^[1k]

Alongside the brayherd comes the Minotaurs, driven to such extremes of violence by the scent of blood that they cannot wait until the day is won to feast upon their victims -- they gorge themselves on the flesh of their dying foes even as battle rages all around. Above the battlefield, ragged flocks of Harpies screech and squabble over the remains of the dead. Twisted Chaos Spawn thrash and writhe as the raw power of Chaos surges through their veins. Even larger creatures accompany the horde; terrifying Cygors, rot-clad Giants of the forests, and bloated, betentacled things that lurk within the forest bogs and can swallow whole a dozen men in a single gulp.^[1k]

When the warherds form up for battle, it is not as small, ragged bands but as fully armed and battle-ready armies united by the will of the chieftain. In contrast, the tactics employed by the Beastmen are not the practiced drills of many other mortal races, but the inherent guile of a pack of wild animals stalking and encircling its prey. They sense weakness and smell fear, surging forward for the kill and falling upon their prey in an orgy of butchery.^[1k]

Indeed it is fear that the Beastmen evoke, the sight of the horde sufficient to strike terror into even the bravest warriors, for such a menagerie of horrors can consume all before it. Once a Beastmen horde is on the warpath, nothing short of total annihilation shall stop these creatures from devouring the rest of the Old World.^[1k]

Infantry and Monstrous Infantry

• Brays - The lowest of the low, even Ungors look down upon Brays for their lack of horns and status among the warherd. They rarely live long, being the very last to get meat and forced to remain the furthest from the warherd's camp fires in winter. Brays take their name from the braying, whinnying, whooping cacophony they make when they band together to eat or kill.

• Ungors - Ungors are more dexterous than Gors and possessed of a wiry strength that makes them more than a match for most Men. They live to murder and despoil all that is wholesome and are extremely cruel and spiteful creatures. Ungors (meaning "no-horns" in the Beast Tongue) are not as strong or robust of frame as the Gors, but they more than make up for it in sheer malevolence. They are physically smaller than other Beastmen and their horns, if they have any, are less impressive and numerous. While Gors may have long and spectacular horns as deadly as any sword, Ungors usually have short prongs or horn buds sprouting from their skulls, not recognisable as those of a goat or any other type of beast acknowledged by the Gors. Due to this, they are not considered to be "proper" Beastmen. The race of Men, on the other hand, does not draw such distinctions. To them the Ungors are just as horrible, horns or no, for they are twisted aberrations of nature that live to murder and despoil all that is good and wholesome. Ungors are considerably more dextrous than their fellows, their sinewy hands able to carve runes, build wooden structures, and fix and bind the weaponry of their clumsier Gor brethren. So it is that Ungors fulfil a vital role in the society of the tribe, for without them, the warherd would soon be bereft of weaponry. Most Ungors take to the field in large herds, arming themselves with stout spears with which to impale their prey and carrying crude shields to protect their grotesque, pot-bellied bodies. In battle, Ungors are bullied into a semblance of order by the largest of their number, known as "Halfhorns," who seek a position in the battle line from which they can inflict the most pain and suffering upon the foe.

• Ungor Raiders - Ungor Raiders are those Ungor missile infantry tasked with the role of hunting out enemies for the warherds to prey upon. They have knowledge of the wilderness that is unsurpassed by even the most intelligent Gor, and it is they who sow the seeds of mayhem that soon blossom into full-blown destruction as the rest of the warherd falls upon their victims. Bands of Ungor Raiders range ahead of the warherd as it travels through the lands, sending runners back and forth to ensure the Beastmen army can bring its might to bear at the right place and time. Intelligence provided by Ungor Raiders enables the warherds to encircle and trap the foe, to launch ambushes from hidden paths and moss-choked vales, and to cut off the escape routes of those that believe there is still a route to safety. They are armed with the crude bows crafted by the Beastmen.

• Gors - Gors form the great mass of the warherd's infantry. Their appearance varies but all combine bestial features with those of Men. Rowdy and undisciplined, they bray, bark and bawl an unceasing cacophony that fills the hearts of Men with dread. The base form of the Beastmen, and that possessed by the vast majority of the Gors, is the head and legs of a goat and the upper torso of a man, albeit a particularly hairy and malodorous one. They have the savage fangs of wolves with which to tear great chunks of flesh from their foes, and muscular and robust (if flea-ridden) bodies well-suited to acting out their primal urges. To face a horde of Gors is to face anarchy and mayhem. Rowdy and undisciplined, they bray, bark, and bawl an unceasing cacophony that fills men's hearts with dread. Nonetheless, Gors are capable of taking to the battlefield in more or less ordered formations, a fact that many an enemy general has failed to understand until it is too late. Roving groups of Gors band into tight units that march beneath banners made from the flayed hides of their foes, while others tear the captured flags of defeated enemies, tattered and smeared with blood and dung. The Gors' raucous, bloodthirsty braying is accompanied by the atonal drones of crude pipes and horns in deliberate mockery of the Empire's proud regimental musicians.

• Bestigors - Bestigors are the strongest and meanest of all the warherd's infantry, and are prone to acts of excessive violence. Their size and ferocity means they carve a privileged position within the warherd, enforcing their superiority over the Gors and Ungors with random acts of excessive violence. In battle Bestigors form a solid, armoured mass of muscle and iron that charges forward, seeking out the elite of the enemy army who inherently challenge their dominant status. They wield their huge greataxes like executioner's blades, hewing the foe limb from limb and trampling their broken bodies into the mud beneath their unshod hooves.

• Pestigors - Pestigors, those Beastmen who have been especially blessed since birth by Nurgle, the Chaos God of disease and despair, are renowned and feared among their kind. They are a repugnant foe: their hide splits from a hundred lesions, ichor runs from their eyes and mouths, and their fangs and horns blacken with rot. Their spoor harbours foul contagions, and folklore has it that on dark nights they creep from the forests of the Old World to spoil crops, infect farm-beasts, and sicken peasants by spreading their dung around Human settlements.

• Tzaangors - Tzaangors are Beastmen who are born blessed by Tzeentch, the Chaos God of change and intrigue. They often serve in Chaos warbands of Northmen or Beastmen commanded by mortal Champions of Tzeentch or by his more powerful Daemonic servants when they manifest in the mortal world. The skin and fur of Tzaangors is often brightly coloured, especially their face and ears, with the most heavily mutated from the Beastmen baseline considered to have been especially favoured by Tzeentch.

• Khorngors - A Khorngor is a Beastman, usually a Bestigor, who is sworn to the service of the Chaos God Khorne, god of war and rage. Khorngors prefer to bear the sacred colours of the Blood God such as red, have skin and fur which is almost a metallic brass in colour and texture, while their eyes are a milky white with red pupils. Many Khorngors possess the heads of great, slavering hounds with large jaws and fangs which drip with saliva. The most favoured Khorngors of the Blood God bear horns which take the shape of the skull-shaped Mark of Khorne.

• Slaangors - Slaangors are Beastmen, usually a Gor or Bestigor, who have sworn themselves to, or been especially chosen by, Slaanesh, the Chaos God of pleasure and pain. Like many of the devotees of Slaanesh, the fur of Slaangors is often dyed in eye-watering pastel shades, their eyes green and saucer-like and their horns mutated or deliberately grown to form the Mark of Slaanesh. Those Slaangors with the face of goats, an animal long condiered an emblem of fecundity, are especially favoured by Slaanesh. Slaangors, like all servants of the Dark Prince, deeply hate followers of Khorne, particularly their counterparts among the Khorngors. Unlike most other Beastmen who detest Mankind and everything related to the race of Men, Slaangors often ally themselves to Human Chaos Cultists and join them in the depraved, orgiastic rituals they use to worship the Dark Prince. Slaangors, like many devotees of Slaanesh, can be powerful sorcerers. In this case, Slaangor Bray-Shamans can use spells drawn from the Lore of Slaanesh as well as the Lores of the Wild, Beasts, Shadow and Death available to common Bray-Shamans.

• Harpies - Upon the thermals of the sacrificial pyres soar the Harpies -- winged Chaos beasts with a savage beauty and the faces and torsos of Human women. They are creatures of cruel temperament, that is for sure, for flocks of Harpies delight in tormenting their victims and feast upon raw flesh. Harpies are particularly loathsome Children of Chaos, winged creatures with a body that is a parody of a Human woman. From a distance they may appear lithe and shapely, even darkly alluring, yet as they close their true nature becomes clear. A Harpy's face is distorted and twisted, with nothing of Humanity or intelligence in its eyes, only instinctive cruelty. Its lips are not those of a woman, but are twisted and leering, pulled back to reveal needle-like teeth dripping with blood and saliva. The creature's limbs are not soft or shapely, but hard and possessed of tendons like steel, that lend it preternatural speed and agility.

• Chaos Spawn - Some amongst the Children of Chaos are bestowed with an abundance of the Dark Gods' gifts, becoming creatures whose bodily forms epitomise nightmare and unreason. Such creatures might once have been great chieftains who called upon the favour of the Dark Gods one time too many. They might have been Bray-Shamans who drew too deep of the power of Chaos, their forms blasted beyond recognition by the raw power of magic. It may even have been one who strayed too close to Morghur, Master of Skulls, whose aura of transmogrification changes all. In some cases, the creature might simply have been born that way, in all likelihood slaughtering its beast-mother in the process. When the warherd goes to battle, the Chaos Spawn come shambling from their lairs. The Beastmen have no control over a Chaos Spawn's actions, and it will behave in a largely unpredictable manner. The Chaos Spawn will move towards the enemy and crash flailing into its ranks; teeth, claws, and tentacles tearing men limb from limb in a shower of blood and ruination before it is finally put out of its misery.

• Minotaurs - Minotaurs, also known as Bullgors, are massive, bull-headed monstrosities that constantly hunger for hot blood and red meat. Often growing to twice the height of a man and far greater in muscular bulk, their thick-skulled heads are broad and ugly, and their horns can eviscerate with a single thrust. Many have the cloven-hoofed hindquarters of a beast and other deformities of the body that the touch of Chaos brings. Though less intelligent than other Beastmen, they are unnaturally strong and powerful, and make formidable warriors. To the Minotaurs, the battlefield is a place of maddening excess. The scent of gore in their flaring nostrils drives them wild and they bellow their hunger for all to hear. They charge with a thundering impact, horns lowered to impale, then strike blow after blow against their hapless enemy. Once their victims have been hacked apart, the Minotaurs slake their thirst by tearing at the raw flesh with their gore-encrusted nails and gulping down great hunks of steaming meat whilst the battle rages on around them.

Melee and Missile Cavalry

• Centigors - Centigors are drunken, jealous creatures and carry out extreme acts of cruelty and violence on the battlefield. Each Centigor carries either a crude spear or horn, and wears limited amounts of chainmail and cloth, while their shields and decorations display both skull and the standard blasphemous Chaos motifs. Rising up from clawed hooves, their muscular torsos lead to a cruel-looking head, from which protrudes large, ribbed horns. Centigors are a disturbing cross between four-legged creatures, such as horses and oxen, and the bipedal beasts of Chaos, merged together by the Ruinous Powers in ages past. They possess the hindquarters and forelegs of their quadruped ancestors, granting them great speed and strength, but the upper body of a humanoid, with which they wield brutal weapons. Strong, vital and crude, these beast-centaurs are powerful creatures. However, they are not especially agile, and while they have great strength they lack the dexterity to manipulate objects with any skill or control. Centigors are bitter and spiteful, resenting their clumsy, awkward nature, and harbour a deep jealousy of creatures whose minds and bodies are better matched. As the sun rises and the warherds march from the herdstone to make war upon Men, the Centigors rouse themselves from their stupors, taking up the weapons of the Beastmen and galloping to war beside them. Centigors can serve as both melee and missile cavalry, wielding various close combat weapons or throwing axes.

• Centigors of Tzeentch - Centigors of Tzeentch are Centigors whose souls were sworn to the service of Tzeentch, the Chaos God of change and intrigue, before they were even born. They bear the Mark of Tzeentch, with all the power and risk that implies. Beastmen are creatures of pure Chaos, and so tend to exalt all four Ruinous Powers equally in the form of Chaos Undivided. However, sometimes a She-gor spawns a whelp that is clearly a chosen one of the Changer of Ways, its fur patterned with the Mark of Tzeentch, or its horns curling to form his unholy symbol. These Centigors are as bitter and spiteful as their non-Tzeentchian kin, with a stronger resentment for their own clumsy, awkward nature, and harbouring a deep jealousy of creatures whose minds and bodies are better matched. This feeds their arcane rage and makes them much more dangerous -- having been touched by Tzeentch, this is likely no coincidence.^[16]

• Centigor Chieftain - A Centigor Chieftain, also called a warhoof, is the chieftain of a warherd comprised entirely of the Beastmen breed known as Centigors. Strong, vital and crude, these musclebound brutes possess a raw and savage might. They carry themselves with swaggering confidence, revelling in their own superiority over lesser beasts. When the warherds of the Beastmen are summoned, it is not uncommon for Centigors to heed the call along with the more common breeds of Beastmen. While Beastlords and their bray-shamans observe the rituals of the warherd, the warhoofs strut and swagger about with vulgar bravado, swilling looted wine by the skinful and making outrageous boasts about their own prowess.

Chariots

• Tuskgor Chariot - Tuskgor Chariots are powerful wooden chariots driven forward by a Beastman rider and drawn by two extremely powerful mutant Tuskgors. The chariots of the Beastmen are ramshackle constructions, built from heavy pieces of lumber scavenged from the ruins of Mankind's buildings. They are roughly nailed together with huge spikes; even the largest Beastmen chariot shows no sign of craftsmanship or finesse. This matters little, however, because the brute strength and ferocity of the evil-tempered beasts that draw these chariots far outmatches that of mere horses, and the sheer weight of the chariot is enough to inflict terrible damage in its own right. Should the chariot shatter at the point of impact the crew care little, for they will have ridden down great swathes of the enemy in the process. The Beastmen's chariots are most commonly drawn by Tuskgors, as they are known. They are a grotesque, mutant combination of a great boar and a mighty ram, often betraying signs of other, less identifiable heritage. These savage creatures retain the cunning of their kind, but are entirely animalistic in appearance. These are the pugnacious and stubborn war beasts of the Beastmen, foul-smelling and hunchbacked animals from whose flea-infested forms sprout malformed tusks and horns with drooling maws. Crude, obese beasts, their skin is so thick and fur so matted that arrows or crossbow bolts can barely penetrate their gnarled hide. The Beastmen use these creatures as guards or to pull their chariots into battle. In battle, Tuskgor Chariots surge towards the enemy at breakneck speed, driving through the ranks of the foe with unstoppable force and scattering them as the Beastmen and Tuskgors strike out with hooves, horns and blades. Those chariots that survive the battle more-or-less intact are used to carry off the largest items of plunder, and have been observed leading long lines of chained captives off into the forests, never to be seen again. The fate of these captives is dire indeed, for those who are not sacrificed to the Dark Gods form the main course of the victory feast.

• Razorgor Chariots - Razorgor Chariots are a much larger and far more hard-punching variant of the more common Tuskgor Chariot, but instead of having two Tuskgors pull the chariot, one massive Razorgor is harnessed instead. Such is the size of these mutant monsters that few can truly survive a charge from even just a single of these beasts on the open battlefield. Regardless of who rides them, Razorgor Chariots cannot truly be steered or directed -- in fact all too often the Beastmen crew can do little more than hold on tight as the chariot careens toward the foe. Razorgors have beady eyes and poor vision, but when they catch sight of the enemy they are nigh-on uncontrollable. A charging Razorgor can flatten a tree or smash through a chapel wall when roused, so the mess that one of these snorting monstrosities at full charge can make of even the stoutest shieldwall is truly sickening.

Warbeasts

• Chaos Warhound - Brutish and bloodthirsty mutant beasts, the Warhounds of Chaos are tireless hunters built of little more than muscle and fang. On the field of battle, the Beastmen release these feral beasts to intercept the forward elements of the enemy army. Packs of Chaos Warhounds will hunt down and pounce upon enemy skirmishers and scouts, bearing them to the ground and ripping them to pieces in their desperate desire to kill. In the dark forests, twisted Chaos Warhounds stalk the night in search of prey. Their red, evilly-glinting eyes peer from the treeline, and saliva pools upon the litter-strewn ground as they taste the air for the scent of their next victim. Many a lone patrolman travelling in the woods at night has shivered at the sound of baleful howling in the distance, only to be confronted by the low growling of the pack that had crept up behind him whilst he was distracted. Regardless of form, Warhounds are all vicious killers and their harsh baying is a sure warning of the slaughter to come. They bound across the battlefield at an alarming speed, so a Handgunner will have scant moments to take their shot and no hope of reloading before the Warhounds' powerful claws rake them to the ground and knife-like fangs close around their throat.

• Razorgors - Razorgors are the far more massive cousins of the Tuskgors, mountains of mutated muscle and hair that are deadly in the extreme. As with all the Children of Chaos, Razorgors are disfigured by hideous mutations, but they generally have the aspect of a nightmarish, gigantic boar covered in spines, tusks and coarse hair. Though Razorgors are voracious omnivores, they prefer a diet of fresh meat, and Beastmen are their natural prey. Still, such is their appetite and fearsome metabolism that they are able to gobble down a knight in full plate armour and his barded horse in a matter of seconds. It is a widely-held belief by the Beastmen tribes of the woods that Razorgor have two natural states: a digestive torpor that sets in after they have gorged themselves, and blind, unthinking rage, which is by far the more common of the two. Once every decade or so a particularly powerful Beastlord will manage to harness several Razorgors at once. These are either herded into a loose pack and sent headlong into the enemy ranks, or used individually to pull chariots manned by the largest Bestigors. Regardless of who rides them, Razorgor chariots cannot truly be steered or directed -- in fact all too often the crew can do little more than hold on tight as the chariot careens toward the foe. Razorgors have beady eyes and poor vision, but when they catch sight of the enemy they are nigh-on uncontrollable. A charging Razorgor can flatten a tree or smash through a chapel wall when roused, so the mess that one of these snorting monstrosities at full charge can make of even the stoutest shieldwall is truly sickening.

• Jabberslythe - Jabberslythes are some of the most ancient Chaos beasts of the world of Mallus, and are certainly the most vile. They are an unwholesome union of toad, sludge-drake and insect, a creature so unearthly and grotesque that even the clearest of nature's pools will never reflect that abomination. Sentient creatures fare even worse, with many Humans known to die of sheer shock or madness that the appearance of this creature invariably induces. The horrifically hideous countenance of the Jabberslythe is sure to make even the most inspiring of leaders falter. An aura of madness surrounds the winged, toad-like creature, tugging at the sanity of all who witness it and warping their feeble minds. From the Jabberslythe's gaping jaws launches a grotesque, clawed tongue, spitting acidic bile from its throat. Foes quake in their presence, as likely to receive a spray of poisonous blood as they are to be caught in their claws, and dragged into their cavernous mouths whole.

• Feral Manticore - Manticores are huge, leonine Chaos beasts that soar on leathery wings. They are amongst the most powerful of all the predators that live in the Chaos Wastes' mountain ranges. The mutating power of Chaos ensures that no two Manticores are truly alike. Some have manes of writhing serpents, others pelts of iron scales, and many sprout spiked tales with a poison strong enough to boil a man's blood in his veins. However, all Manticores are berserk killers saturated with primal fury. They are so fierce that they are held by the Dark Elves to be incarnations of Khaine, god of war and murder.

• Cygors - Cygors are distant cousins of the Minotaurs, but they have diverged significantly from their kin. They are huge, hideously malformed giants, each possessed of a single eye in the centre of its forehead. Through this eye the Cygor is cursed to see not the material realm that mortals perceive, but the ever-shifting Winds of Magic as they blow through and around the indistinct, ghostly shapes that populate their world. Assailed by such visions since birth, Cygors are all quite mad. The sheer size and ferocity of a Cygor is terrifying enough to mortals, but those who know of their terrible hunger fear them above all else. To the wizard, a Cygor is utterly fearsome, for they knows that of all the warriors on the field of battle it is them alone the Cygor wishes to catch in its gnarled and calloused hands, their flesh it wants to tear apart, and their soul it must devour to slake its unending thirst for magic.

• Ghorgons - Ghorgons are the huge, four-armed, ox-headed monsters used by the Beastmen warherds. They have evolved from those Minotaurs whose extreme overconsumption of Chaos-tainted flesh triggered rapid growth and extreme mutation. As such, they now tower above the Gor herds, sprouting a line of rigid spikes in the back and an extra pair of arms, ending in bone blades instead of true hands. When capably channelled towards a common foe, the Ghorgon rampage through their ranks, brutally slaughtering their victims and consuming them whole. Their hunger however, is never sated. Should the well-spring of enemy flesh run dry, their ravenous focus is likely to shift, and those they once warred beside may soon become their next meal.

• Giants - Giants are monstrous humanoids with boundless strength and a prodigious appetite for violence, flesh, and alcohol. They are most often encountered in the far north of the world of Mallus, being fond of cold, rocky climates. However, some do make the deep forest their homes, whilst others descend from lairs in the Worlds Edge Mountains or Middle Mountains to join bands of Beastmen. Those that live in the forest are a particularly vile example of their breed. Their skin is often covered in green and brown mould, fungus and moss, whilst their long beards are matted and tangled with ivy and creepers. Giants do not make common cause with the warherds, instead following in their wake, joining in with the slaughter and slaking their hunger on cattle and their thirst on looted barrels of ale. Occasionally one of the forest-dwellers might be bound to the will of a Bray-Shaman by way of dark arts. Such a beast, emerging from the trees, trailing rotting litter, swathed in twisting vines and stinking of rank, woodland decay is enough to fill superstitious soldiers with heart-stopping horror.

• Preytons - Preytons are a savage and hateful breed of Chaos beast originally created by Beastmen Bray-Shamans that haunt the forested lands of Bretonnia in the Old World. So renowned is their ferocity that sightings of Preytons will draw Questing Knights from many miles around, seeking to prove their valour by slaying the beasts. Mighty and winged creatures born of the energies of Chaos, hybrid in form like the Chimera, Preytons bear upon their savagely equine heads a pair of blackened and serrated antlers, which have caused foolhardy knights to mistake them for majestic Great Stags, much to their error. The beasts, possessed of a dark cunning, will lure such knights into the depths of the forest before revealing their blood red eyes and rows of savage fangs when they leap from ambush to rend and tear their prey. The hides of Preytons are torn and mutilated, their fur hanging lank and in many places sloughed away to be replaced by ragged feathers or scales. Their forelegs and body resemble a dark and twisted stag, while their hindquarters sprout clawed, leonine paws and monstrous wings like those of a terrible black eagle. Whilst their appearance is truly evil, it is the legendary malice of the Preytons that makes them truly dangerous. Corpses mauled beyond recognition and stretches of forest befouled and trampled betray their presence. Anything foolish enough to enter such an area will be hunted down and slain, and often the Preytons will simply discard the torn corpse to rot, killing out of pure hatred rather than hunger.

• Incarnate Elemental of Beasts - Summoned through savage and secret rituals known to very few, the Incarnate Elemental of Beasts is a monster plucked from the most chilling of legends. A grotesque and towering, half-Human figure, the beast embodies the ferocity and merciless hunger of the wild. Its taut-sinewed form springs and bounds with ease through the densest wood or barren moor, running down its prey without mercy or cease and gorging on their flesh in an orgy of unrestrained bloodlust. It is said that summoning such a monster bears a dark and terrible price. Yet, such is the dire need of these endless days of warfare that when the land is threatened, the price is willingly paid, and the power of this Incarnate Elemental is brought forth to devour its master's chosen prey.

Heroes

• Wargor - As leaders among the Beastmen, the Wargors demonstrate an intelligence sorely lacking in the Doombull, yet their might and brutality is no less prevalent. Driven by an insatiable lust for battle, they wade into the thick of the fight with mace in hand, and relish in crushing the skulls of their foes. Cruel and ruthless, the Wargor lead with a total disregard for all but the kill. When they ride to war astride the menacing Tuskgors, the enemies of the Beastmen can only tremble with fear.

• Bray-Shamans - The Bray-Shamans of the Beastmen are vile to behold, their filthy bodies covered in matted fur into which all manner of crude fetishes and grim charms are woven. Their twisted features are often covered in a ragged hood, and they bear heavy braystaffs as both brutal weapons and symbols of their position within the warherd. Bray-Shamans occupy a unique niche in the brutal and bitter world of the Beastmen; they have no need to defend themselves from other members of their tribe, for none would dare assault them. Not even the mightiest Beastlord would harm a Bray-Shaman, for they speak the will of the Dark Gods, and those that defy the gods pay the highest price of all. Bray-Shamans are capable of drawing upon the Lores of Beasts, Shadow, Death and the Wild.

• Gorebulls - Gorebulls are the ferocious sub-leaders of the Minotaur tribes. Though they may not be as strong or favoured as the Doombull that they serve who is the chieftain of the tribe, they are still towering figures clad in heavy plate armour who wield hefty war-axes with which they can carve a path through the enemy and feast upon their flesh.

Lords

• Beastlords - The Beastlords of the warherds and brayherds are hairy, muscle-bound brutes possessed of a raw and savage might. Upon the battlefield a Beastlord is a force of untold destruction, gouging and butchering with horn, blade and claw. Their thick, hairy skulls are crowned with magnificent sets of horns as sharp and hard as any blade, and their robust and heavily-thewed bodies are covered with scar tissue and crudely rendered tattoos. They carry themselves with swaggering confidence, revelling in their own superiority over lesser beasts. The threat of violence is implicit in their every gesture. Upon the battlefield a Beastlord is a force of untold destruction, gouging and butchering with horn, blade and claw.

• Greater Bray-Shaman - Greater or Great Bray-Shamans are the greatest practitioners of magic within a brayherd. When the Beastmen go to war, the Great Bray-Shamans wield their powers to wreak terrible devastation upon the foe, their coruscating magic transforming enemy soldiers into hideous new forms, summoning the creatures of the forest, both large and small, to bite and rend, or driving enemy mounts to buck their riders to the ground, to gore and trample their masters. Armed with powerful Marks of Chaos, these fearsome mystics can access the most dangerous magic accessible to Bray-Shamans. Combined with their potent combat abilities, they are some of the most powerful members of the warherd. Great Bray-Shamans are capable of drawing upon the Lores of Beasts, Shadow, Death and the Wild.

• Doombulls - Doombulls are the strongest and most ferocious of the Minotaurs, towering bull-headed and cloven-hoofed beasts almost as broad as they are tall. Consumed by bloodgreed, Doombulls lay waste to their prey in an orgy of slaughter, maiming everything within reach of their gargantuan greataxes. As the savage Minotaur lords of the Beastmen, the Doombull charge their enemies head-on. Their vicious horns skewer all in their path, and anything left standing will feel the devastating brunt of their dual-bound chains. Though lacking in intelligence, these Bloodcallers make up for it with sheer animal strength, and a brutality of nature that drives them to gore and trample their foes with unbridled, bloodthirsty abandon.

Notable Beastmen

• Khazrak One-Eye - Khazrak is a powerful Beastlord whose forces have plagued the Drakwald region of the Empire for several years, descending without warning and then slipping away into the shadows once more. Khazrak has a unique ability to control and harness the unruly spirit of the warherd and devise simple but effective battle plans. He is unlike most Beastmen, with a patient and cunning mind at odds with the normal headstrong nature of his kind. Khazrak's warband roams the Drakwald, terrorising the townships and roads, and never before has a Beastman leader proven so elusive to retribution. No one is spared in Khazrak's attacks, his superbly trained Chaos Warhounds chasing down the few who manage to escape the warherd itself. Khazrak One-Eye is the arch-nemesis of Elector Count Boris Todbringer of Middenland.

• Malagor the Dark Omen - Where Malagor treads, mayhem and destruction follow. The Beastmen believe that he is the doom of Mankind personified. A powerful Beastlord and Great Bray-Shaman who has been blessed with mutant wings as gifts from the Dark Gods he serves, it is Malagor's whisperings that steer the course of the entire Beastmen race. The sight alone of Malagor, wings spread on high, has caused stout defenders to abandon otherwise impregnable walls and the mightiest of warriors to fall to their knees in abject defeat.

• Morghur, Master of Skulls, the Shadowgave - Reborn into the mortal world almost three centuries ago sometime in the twenty-third century IC, the heavily mutated Beastlord and Bray-Shaman known as Morghur was far from a Human child. With tooth and horn, he ripped his mother apart in his gory entrance to the world of Mallus, while her features mutated horribly. Her distraught husband reached forwards to strangle the twisted abomination, yet as his hands touched the foul creature, his body also was wracked with hideous mutation. Morghur is now an ancient and wholly unkillable Beastlord who has terrorised the forested woodlands of the Old World for centuries. Beastmen revere Morghur, believing that his spirit walked the mortal world even before the birth of their race; the incarnation of disorder and pure Chaos. They set out from thousands of miles away to stand in his presence, drawn to him by urges they do not question; a tainted pilgrimage that often destroys them. The bodies of most are wracked by fatal change. Only the strongest-willed survive such an encounter, though their minds are usually shattered and plagued by visions ever after. Those few that do live on with minds intact return to their warherds where they are regarded with awe and respect, and invariably rise to become powerful Wargors and Beastlords. The Bray-Shamans claim that if the physical body of Morghur is cut down, his spirit is reborn elsewhere. Indeed, creatures of similar description have been recorded all across the Known World, and darkness and taint has always followed in his wake. Legends within the Empire claim that in ages long past Morghur, known as the "Shadow-Gave," made the Drakwald Forest the dark and twisted place it is today. The Dwarfs know this being as the Gor-Dum and amongst Elves he is Cyanathair, which means "the Corrupter." Nevertheless, the only one to perhaps understand the true horror and revulsion that is Morghur is Ariel, the Queen in the Woods of the Wood Elves. It is she alone who truly perceives the black and expansive essence of Morghur, too powerful a spirit to be contained in a single physical form. A silent, unseen war rages in the dark forests of the Old World between the Asrai and the Beastmen. While Ariel seeks a way to destroy Morghur forever, every passing year ever more Beastmen are drawn to his distorted realm.

• Taurox - Known as the "Brass Bull," Taurox is a monstrous engine of destruction, formed of living brass in the shape of a terrible Minotaur Doombull and Champion of Khorne, dedicated solely to the spilling of blood in Khorne's name. Taurox is the Beastlord who was responsible for laying a trail of destruction all across the lands of the Great Forest of Talabecland. It is not just the warherds of the Gors and Ungors that are rising up in greater numbers than ever before. All across Talabecland there spread legends of this giant, bullheaded fiend with a body of living brass. It is told that this monstrous warrior marches at the head of a column of armoured Minotaurs fully a mile long, and that whenever the scent of flesh is carried upon the wind, whether it be Greenskin tribes, Human towns, or other Beastmen warherds, the column breaks into a frenzied stampede to seek and destroy them. The tales are corroborated by sentries across the Old World who have seen the forests scarred and torn down by the Minotaur army's rampage as it passes below. Riders following this trail of devastation on the swiftest of horses have reported its passage through and over market towns, armoured barracks, flagellant camps, sacred temples and riverside wharfs, leaving nothing but ruin and great smears of blood that extend out of the other side of each site for many leagues. Of the inhabitants of these unfortunate locales there is invariably no sign other than the odd scattered boot or broken sword. Most disturbing of all, the outriders swear that the Brass Bull's army is heading directly for Talabheim, and growing larger with each passing week. Taurox is an unstoppable force; a roaring, snorting engine of destruction virtually impervious to physical harm. Cast in the form of a grotesquely muscled Doombull, Taurox looms over his followers, a mountain of living brass with curving, bladed horns and a gnashing metal maw that constantly drools with gore.

• Ghorros Warhoof - Ghorros Warhoof, the "Sire of a Thousand Young," is a gnarled, ancient Centigor who is forever fighting, rutting or getting drunk. He claims to be the original patriarch of the entire race of Centigors and is served by a great horde of his Beastmen descendants, known as the Sons of Ghorros.

• Gorthor - Gorthor was the greatest Beastlord ever to have lived. With strength of arm and animal cunning, he united all the Beastmen tribes of the Middle Mountains over one thousand years ago in the late 15th century IC, during the time of the Great Crusade Against Araby. His, the largest horde of the Children of Chaos ever seen, ravaged the northern Empire in Ostland and Hochland almost beyond recovery, killing millions of Men and bringing two entire Grand Provinces to their knees before his defeat at the hands of the Order of the Blazing Sun, recently returned from the Crusades. Gorthor claimed that the Dark Gods had selected him as their emissary and prophet. Though he had no true magical powers, he had something of the Bray-Shaman about him, often being visited by nightmare visions of the future. Such was his fervour in battle that he was sometimes cloaked by coronas of dark magical energy, which protected him or struck out at his foes, a sure sign to other Beastmen that the gods truly favoured him.

• Moonclaw - Moonclaw, the "Son of Morrslieb," is an exceptionally hideous and insane Beastman born from an egg composed of warpstone that hurtled to the surface of Mallus from the Chaos Moon Morrslieb.

• Molokh Slugtongue - Slugtongue, the "Famine-Fiend," is a potent Great Bray-Shaman who specialises in turning lands barren to cause mass famine through his masterful use of the Lore of Death.

• Ungrol Four-Horn - Called "Blackheart," "Hornsthief," and the "Spurned One," Ungrol is a heavily mutated, two-headed Ungor who stole the horns of both his tribe's Beastlord and Bray-Shaman after murdering them in their sleep. Now the leader of an army of Ungor, mutants and fellow outcasts, he dwells within the Labyrinth of the Spurned, a warrior who wears his stolen horns as a crown and who has begun to master the basics of Wild Magic.

Videos

Total War- WARHAMMER - Call of the Beastmen - Trailer-2

Warhammer- Vermintide 2 - Winds of Magic - Cinematic Trailer-3

See Also

• Beastmen Timeline
• Chaos
• Chaos Gods
• Chaos Dwarfs
• Daemons of Chaos
• Norsca
• Warherd
• Warriors of Chaos

Sources 

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