Not to be confused with the Black Ark or the Blackarc Battery.
The Black Arc,[1a] sometime called Black Ark,[2a][3a] is a powerful Skaven magical artefact. It holds a large chunk of pure Warpstone suspended in energy. Opening the arc was said to bring down the wrath of the Horned Rat on a foe and cause devastation upon all present.[1a]
At the time of the Black Death in 1111 IC, the Black Arc was a bronzed Giant skull imprinted with a block of purest Warpstone that was inscribed with the "Thirteen Tyrannies," sacred dictates that if followed by his children would appease the Horned Rat.[3a]
History[]
In 1111 IC the Black Arc was paraded by the Seer Lord Queekual through the warrens of Skavenblight after he arranged for the Black Death to be unleashed on the Skaven capital in an attempt to reduce the growing political power of Clan Pestilens, the religious rivals of the Order of the Grey Seers, on the Under-Empire's ruling Council of Thirteen. The appearance of the Black Arc was intended to reinforce the understanding among the Skaven that it was the Grey Seers, and not the Plague Priests of Clan Pestilens, who were the true chosen of the Horned Rat.[3a]
In 2491 IC, Bagrian infiltrated Skavenblight and stole the Black Arc, returning to study it in his monastery at La Maisontaal. The Grey Seer Gnawdoom was dispatched to recover it and made a short-lived alliance with the Lichemaster Heinrich Kemmler to attack the monastery, [1b] killing Bagrian and retrieving the Black Arc.[2a]