"Ah, yes. The Plague Monks. Where to begin? These wretched creatures have wholly embraced the diseased aspect of their horned god. They inflict themselves with sickness, drawing strength from it and gaining some measure of immunity to mundane diseases. So inured are they to pain and discomfort that they hardly feel it any longer. Driven by a fury and zeal that only the truly religious can comprehend, the Plague Monks are certainly one of the Skaven’s most disturbing and terrible innovations."
- —Steffan Paulus Adelhof, Scholar of Wolfenburg[1f]
Banner of Clan Pestilens
Clan Pestilens is one of the four Great Clans of the Skaven that are feared throughout the Under-Empire for the vile diseases and plagues these ratmen have created, mastered and unleashed upon the mortal world. Probably the most feared of all the Great Clans, these Skaven are watched carefully by their enemies and allies alike, having been the main aggressor and instigator of both of the great Skaven Civil Wars that ravaged much of the Under-Empire for four centuries, and almost succeeded in overthrowing the rule of the Council of Thirteen.[3a]
Also known as Plague Monks, the disciples of disease and decay, these Skaven have dedicated an unhealthy fervour to spreading pestilence and corruption in the name of the Horned Rat to all those they see fit, even their own brethren. These foul warriors are not only recognisable by their characteristic decayed and diseased appearance, but also by the terrible stench and infections that always accompany them. The clan embodies a rival sect of the worship of the Skaven deity known as the Horned Rat; they believe that the Horned Rat's aspect as the bringer of ruin through diseases and pestilence is the only true way to embody the deity. As such, Clan Pestilens is comprised of religious fanatics who seek to become the physical embodiments of their god in his guise as the Harbinger of Disease.[3a]
Clan Pestilens is the leader of an alliance of Thrall Clans known as the Pestilent Brotherhood which is united in their support for Clan Pestilens' interpretation of the Horned Rat's will and their opposition to the orthodox religious beliefs embodied by the Order of the Grey Seers, the Horned Rat's traditional priesthood.
Unlike their brother clans, Clan Pestilens does not sell their military service to other clans for mere economic gain; rather, they only lend their warriors to any cause they believe will further their own religious objectives. Their current leader, Nurglitch VII, the arch-plaguelord of Clan Pestilens, has ensured a position of power for the clan on the Under-Empire's ruling Council of Thirteen.[3a]
History[]
Origins[]
During the Great Migration of the ratmen, one faction of Skaven travelled through the Southlands into Lustria in the New World.[1a] The original name of that clan which crossed the Arabyan deserts is now long-forgotten.[3b]
In Lustria, these Skaven were confronted with massive underground chambers in the ruined temple-city of Quetza shaped over millennia by the Lizardmen's Slann mage-priests who often spent long periods within them in quiet contemplation. The large caverns seemed tailor-made as a stronghold for the ratmen, as they gathered strength for forays into the abandoned temple-city and surrounding jungle.[5a]
Whether above ground or beneath, however, the Skaven were ravaged by new and terrible diseases for which their vital systems were wholly unprepared. They died horribly and in droves, their rodent bodies wracked with pain, their bellies vomiting bilious fluid, and their skins disfigured by innumerable seeping boils.[5a]
What follows is not generally known, for the Skaven do not keep records of the past and Clan Pestilens has retold the story numerous times over the centuries. Scattered and inconsistent tales shared between the Plaguelords of Clan Pestilens suggest that when the final remaining ratmen lurched back into the caverns to regroup, they instead encountered a horror in the depths beneath Quetza. Inside a previously undiscovered, filth-ridden throne chamber rested a corpulent Daemon marked with the same weeping sores, foul stench, and bulbous lesions that mutilated their own bodies. It is said that the leader of these ratmen, desperate to save their vile hides, promised what remained of his clan to the Daemon and its master, who they proclaimed as the Horned One, and embraced the plagues that had so thoroughly decimated him and his kinsmen. On that day, those Skaven truly became Clan Pestilens, the bringers of plague, disease, and filth.[5b]
From that moment, Clan Pestilens gained strength, in number and in power. Under the supervision of their Daemonic master Uthl'kritchnaak, an Exalted Herald of Nurgle, and in exchange for secret knowledge of illness and disease, they redirected strands of the Geomantic Web below ground and into the Daemon's chamber, providing it with direct access to the energies of the Old Ones. When next they emerged into the jungle, the plague-bearing Skaven wreaked havoc among the Lizardmen of Lustria, in a scourge of pestilence that swept the continent.[5b]
For centuries, the plagues seemed never to end, for just as one burned through the populace and died out, a new, more terrifying infestation emerged, and the process started all over. All the while, the Skaven of Clan Pestilens continued their unholy experiments, expanding their network of warrens beneath the continent of Lustria and emerging above ground only to release afflictions newly engineered from their Cauldrons of a Thousand Poxes.[5b]
The Lizardmen began to notice the Skaven invasion when the temple-city of Chaqua was afflicted. The so-called "Prophecy of Sotek" had predicted the land of Lustria would fall victim to vermin that walked upright, but that the Time of the Rodent would come to an end when a fork-tongued serpent heralded the arrival of a new god named Sotek. Chaqua itself was soon ravaged by disease, and the populace despaired -- but at that time, a twin-tailed comet appeared in the sky. Before succumbing to the plague, the Slann mage-priests interpreted this sign as the "serpent with the forked tongue" and declared the time of the prophecy was nigh.[5b]
The Rise of Sotek was a long protracted war that lasted from -1339 to 100 IC. It ended with the Lizardmen driving the Skaven from the continent, drawing on the power of the serpent god. The exodus of Clan Pestilens was a war in itself, with Sotek himself manifesting and hunting the rotting fleets of the Skaven across the Great Ocean.[6a]
First Skaven Civil War and Aftermath[]
The survivors of Clan Pestilens made landfall in the far Southlands and established a new stronghold there in 50 IC.[3f] They then sent emissaries to the Under-Empire's subterranean capital of Skavenblight announcing their return and their role as the Horned Rat's new priesthood of decay, demanding breeding rights, warpstone tithes and a seat on the Council of Thirteen as the Horned Rats' true priests.[3b] The Council of Thirteen had no need for a new faction with which to share their power, however. The Lords of Decay had the Pestilens emissaries butchered and sent their rotting cadavers back to the Plaguelords as a lesson in humility.[1b]
In response the Plague Monks overran the city of Bhagrusa, seemingly lashing out in anger at the nearest city of Men, but their true plan was revealed when they besieged the Skaven stronghold hidden beneath it. All communication with the distant Skaven hold ended immediately. The Council of Thirteen, concerned, dispatched a scouting force, and after several months they discovered what had befallen the former Human city.[1b]
It was empty of all life and full of pestilential Skaven corpses, their bodies showing the ravages of terrible disease. The Plague Monks had surrounded the stronghold of Clan Merkit with great cauldrons filled with warpstone-laced bubbling offal and putrescence, and used great bellows to fill the caves below the city with noxious mists carrying all manner of deadly diseases. Those who fled to the surface were captured and enslaved, and only Lord Merkit himself and a handful of lieutenants escaped to tell the tale.[1b]
When the Council of Thirteen sent armies of Clanrats south, armed by the newly emerged Great Clan Skryre, they found that most of the clans in the Southlands had already capitulated before the ruthlessness of Clan Pestilens, accepting their new religious creed as their own.[3c] The council's inability to deal with Clan Pestilens destabilised their authority, and many Warlord Clans splintered off from the rest of Skaven society, either waging war against each other or joining Clan Pestilens in the Southlands.[1b]
For over 400 years, the Under-Empire was divided, with the tunnels of the Old World in the hands of the forces of the Council of Thirteen and the Southlands in the hands of the plaguelords of Clan Pestilens and their allies. Many clans stood apart, allying with whomever they deemed to be the stronger side at the moment. Double-crossing, espionage and the unleashing of new plagues were rife, but the two blocs were at a stalemate.[3c]
Everything changed with the return of Clan Eshin from the Far East. Trained in the arts of assassination in Grand Cathay, their black-clad murderers could infiltrate the most well-defended lairs and slay the mightiest foes without ever being discovered. Clan Eshin swore allegiance to the Council of Thirteen and immediately set about to destroy Clan Pestilens. For generations, Clan Eshin used fear and assassinations to bring the unruly clans back under the council's control, slowly breaking down Clan Pestilens' hold on the Southlands.[1b]
Clan Pestilens eventually accepted that the situation had become untenable. The plaguelords requested a parley and Pestilens' ruling Arch-Plaguelord Nurglitch underwent a great pilgrimage to Skavenblight, surviving numerous assassination attempts on his journey north. He abased himself before the Great Temple of the Horned Rat in Skavenblight and pledged his full support to the Council of Thirteen. Furthermore, he informed the council that he carried a vial of Yellow Skull Fever with him and further attempts on his life would leave him no choice but to release it in the heart of Skavendom. So it was that Clan Pestilens was granted the right to a trial by combat to gain one of the seats on the Council of Thirteen. With his poisonous bite, Nurglitch killed Lord Vask and took the Seventh Seat, ending the First Skaven Civil War with Clan Pestilens joining the ruling oligarchy of the Under-Empire.[3c]
The Black Death and the Skaven Wars[]
With Skavendom finally united, plans for the achievement of the race's Great Ascendancy began. The target was the Empire of Man, the largest and most powerful realm that could resist the domination of the Skaven, as well as serve as a source of slave labour and food to raise enough Skaven to overrun the rest of the mortal world. At the behest of Vecteek the Murderous, Grey Lord of Clan Rictus, the Skaven worked to keep the Empire divided, with Clan Eshin assassinating Count Vilner of Drakwald. Clan Pestilens, under the guidance of Arch-Plaguelord Nurglitch IV's apprentice Plague Priest Poxmaster Puskab Foulfur, developed in 1111 IC a disease that would afflict Men, but not harm Skaven. To the surprise of all, Seerlord Skrittar, the leader of the Council of Thirteen, put his support behind the use of the plague. Only Clan Mors and Clan Skryre opposed Clan Pestilens' disease in the end.[7a]
Poxmaster Puskab's new fame lead several clans to try and forge an alliance with him, among them Clan Verms. Verms was the main provider of the fleas that would be used as the primary vector to transmit the new disease, which was called the Black Death. Clan Verms' Warlord Blight Tenscratch promised to raise Puskab Foulfur to become the new ruling Nurglitch of Clan Pestilens if he would share the glory of the Black Death with Clan Verms.[7b]
Furthermore, Tenscratch wished to use a modified version of the plague against rival Skaven clans. Puskab seemingly allied with Clan Verms, but in secret undermined the clan's efforts, instead currying favour with Nurglitch IV by betraying Verms' plans to his master and infecting the ratmen of Clan Verms with a modified strain of the Black Plague. When Tenscratch aided Puskab in passing each of the Twelve Tests of the Horned Rat required to challenge Nurglitch for his seat on the Council of Thirteen, Puskab instead betrayed Clan Verms and challenged their lord Tenscratch in Nurglitch IV's stead. After Puskab killed Tenscratch with pestilential magic and took his place as one of the Lords of Decay, Clan Pestilens was the first clan among the Skaven to control more than one seat on the Council of Thirteen.[7e]
The Black Plague proved successful beyond all of Clan Pestilens' estimations. The disease was fast-spreading and fast-acting, killing its victims in days if not hours after the symptoms presented. No known medicine could help, and the speed of the disease provided no time to study it. The ratmen introduced the plague in the southern provinces of the Empire and let it spread through the trade routes, causing many to believe that it had been spread by Tilean tradesmen. Communication at the time was limited, and it was only when the disease decimated the streets of Nuln and Talabheim that the true extent of the epidemic became known.[1c] When the Empire was on its knees, the Skaven attacked, with Clan Pestilens deacons providing their support in what Men would later call the Skaven Wars.
In the eastern part of the Empire, the Skaven found unexpected resistance. A necromancer named Frederick van Hal, but known to history as Vanhal, had risen in Sylvania, clashing with the ratmen over control of the warpstone reservoirs of the land. Seerlord Skrittar, leading the forces of Clan Fester, was forced to rely on the Plague Priests to fight the Undead.[8a] Vrask Bilebroth, a plaguelord of Clan Pestilens, came to Sylvania with his disciples, yet found the Black Plague ineffective against the Undead. The seerlord, sensing opportunity, decided to keep Bilebroth around in order to demonstrate that the disease had its limits and only faith in the true path of the Horned Rat as represented by the Grey Seers might guide the Skaven to victory.[8b]
In the north of the Empire, Puskab Foulfur conspired with Vrrmik of Clan Mors to unseat Clan Rictus from the Council of Thirteen, causing them to abandon the army of Clan Rictus and Clan Eshin against the troops lead by Mandred von Zelt, son of Elector Count Gunthar von Zelt of Middenheim.[8c] Calling upon Clan Mordkin, Seerlord Skrittar continued to wage his campaign against the Undead for control over the Sylvanian warpstone. Skrittar was finally defeated during the Battle of the Plague Dragons, when Vanhal summoned scores of Zombie Dragons using a Storm of Magic.[8d] With the seerlord fallen and the Clans Fester and Mordkin depleted from the long battles against the Undead, Vrask Bilebroth used the opportunity to gather most of the warpstone for Clan Pestilens. In doing so, he was able to usurp Clan Festers' position on the Council of Thirteen by forcing the survivors into the Pestilens-controlled alliance called the Pestilent Brotherhood, ensuring that Clan Pestilens' now controlled three seats on the Under-Empire's ruling body.[8e]
From this point on, Clan Pestilens was the most powerful clan in the Under-Empire, even eclipsing the political might of the Order of the Grey Seers. Planning on controlling all of Skavendom, the Plague Priests whispered promises for each clan to occupy the surface world, expending their resources to control the land while Clan Pestilens would rule secure. The rest of Skavendom would splinter into a hundred petty wars among themselves, keeping them weak and divided, while Clan Pestilens would take the place of the Grey Seers and rule from the shadows.[9a]
These aspirations did not come to pass. Among Men, a leader arose who united the remnants of the Imperial provinces. Under Mandred von Zelt, now an Elector Count after his father had perished during the attack on Middenheim, rode forth to face the ratmen. After years of facing cowed and outnumbered opponents, the Skaven were unprepared and unwilling to face an onslaught of armoured knights.[3d] Mandred won victory after victory against the Skaven. After slaying Vrrmik at the Battle of the Howling Hills, he ended the attempt of the Skaven to conquer the surface and brought to a close the Skaven Wars in 1124 IC. Mandred, now called "Mandred Skavenslayer," would go on to be elected Emperor Mandred II.
Among the Skaven, Seerlord Queekual began his own plan to topple Clan Pestilens. Using enslaved Human physicians and alchemists, he began to tinker with the Black Plague in order to turn it against Clan Pestilens, making it even deadlier to Skaven.[9b] Preaching that Mandred's victories were a divine punishment by the Horned Rat for the Skaven who had followed the heresies of Clan Pestilens, Queekual warned against becoming too attached to fiefdoms and dominions and becoming like man-things instead of proper Skaven.[9c]
As Clan Pestilens failed to stop the resurgent Human armies of the Empire, a catastrophe consumed the Under-Empire -- the Black Plague spun out of control, infecting and killing Skaven at an exponential rate. Each Skaven clan accused the others of being behind the affliction, while the disciples of the plaguelords blamed their masters' rivals. The majority of the population of Skavenblight turned against Clan Pestilens, blaming them for the disease, a belief further incited by the Grey Seers, who at last saw the opportunity to reduce their religious rivals' power.[9d] The masses of ratmen even tried to storm the Bilious Basilica in Skavenblight, causing Nurglitch IV to make a long pilgrimage to Blisterdeep, the ancestral capital of the clan in the Southlands. Puskab Foulfur was torn asunder by a mob.[9e]
Despite the failure of the Great Ascendancy under Clan Pestilens' leadership and the mistrust Pestilens now elicited among the Clanrats of the Under-Empire, Clan Pestilens retained their three seats on the Council of Thirteen. However, now forced into a background role by their unpopularity, Pestilens forged a new alliance with Clan Eshin, using Skaven-controlled conflicts such as the Tilean upheveals and the Arabyan Great Crusades to rebuild their strength.[3d]
Some seven hundred years after the end of the Skaven Wars, Clan Pestilens was again in a position to strike against the kingdoms of Men on the surface, this time targeting Bretonnia in 1812 IC. Here the disease of choice became known as the Red Pox, named for the bloody welts that appeared on the victim's face and throat. The Red Pox was slower to kill than the Black Death, making it slightly easier to contain, but greatly extending the suffering of its victims.[1d]
The Red Pox first appeared in Bordeleaux, then some years later in Brionne, before spreading east along the River Brienne, and south into Tilea. Once again, the Skaven waited until the entire southern region of the Old World was ravaged by disease and depopulation, then attacked. They sacked Brienne and Miragliano, and lay siege to Quenelles. However, the lords of northern Bretonnia were not slow to retaliate, and with the aid of the Wood Elves of Athel Loren, soon drove the Skaven back underground yet again.[1d]
Second Skaven Civil War and Aftermath[]
Having failed a second time to bring about the Great Ascendancy, Clan Pestilens declared that the reason for this was the continued existence of heretics in the Council of Thirteen. Many of the Lords of Decay instead demanded that the plaguelords be removed from the council entirely. After months of intense political manoeuvering, blackmail, bribery, threats and assassination, a vote of the full council was ordered.[3e]
On the day of the vote, Clan Pestilens attempted to seize control, declaring the Lords of Decay to be heretics. Many Warlord Clans rose up with them. Fighting erupted between the Albino Guards of the council, the Plague Monks and the other clans of Skavenblight.[3e]
Thus, the Under-Empire descended into its second civil war, which would last four hundred years. It was only ended when the Horned Rat himself intervened, gifting his children with the Black Pillar of Commandments that would determine who would sit on the Council of Thirteen thereafter. Since that time, Clan Pestilens has been reduced to possessing only one seat on the council.[3e]
In recent centuries, Clan Pestilens has spread from its mysterious strongholds in the Southlands northwards as far as the mountain ranges of the The Vaults and even the Grey Mountains in the Old World.[10a]
Religion[]
"If any is to command here, it should be me. To Clan Pestilens will go the honour of overthrowing the man-city. We have great plans! Great plans! It is our secret weapon that will destroy the human city!"
- —Vilebroth Null, representative of Clan Pestilens during the Invasion of Nuln.[4a]
A Plague Monk of Clan Pestilens armed with a Plague Censer.
The plague-ridden Skaven monks of Clan Pestilens emerged from the Lustrian rainforests centuries ago. Their initial contacts with the Under-Empire were less than peaceful as chornicled above, but after a time an accord was reached and Clan Pestilens became a productive segment of the Under-Empire. Riddled with disease and contagion, the Skaven of Clan Pestilens are devout worshippers of the Horned Rat. Though they recognise the Horned Rat's other divine attributes and portfolios, they prefer to focus solely on his ability to create, control, and spread plagues, pestilence and the ruin and decay they bring.[1c]
After the clan's workers and captive labour are taken into account, the majority of Clan Pestilens' military strength lies in its Plague Monks. The Plague Monks are religious zealots dedicated to the worship of the Horned Rat in his aspect as the bringer of disease. Their bodies are riddled with plague, and so used are they to pain that they barely feel it any longer. Combined with their religious fervour, this resistance to pain makes the Plague Monks incredibly capable combatants, especially en masse.[1c]
The Plague Monks believe that the rest of their Skaven brothers have been misled by the Horned Rat's orthodox priesthood among the Grey Seers. They feel that the average ratman has been blinded to what they profess to be the true face of the Horned Rat; namely, pestilence itself. The clan's overriding goal is to bring the rest of the Under-Empire into the fold, while avoiding declarations of heresy from the Grey Seers. Appeasing the Grey Seers for the time being is the only way to succeed. In time, once their victories have been secured and the rest of the Skaven clans have been won over, the Grey Seers, too, will follow their example, or die.[1c]
Like the Grey Seers, the Plague Monks, Plague Priests and Plague Deacons of Clan Pestilens believe the time of the Skaven's Great Ascendancy is fast approaching. Pestilens' peculiar twist on this mythology is that the Horned Rat will only allow such a victory if the majority of the Under-Empire has converted to their form of his worship. How else can one explain the failures wrought time and time again by the bumbling campaigns of the Lords of Decay?[1c]
Fear of disease, in the eyes of Clan Pestilens, is heresy. Only when infected by one of the Horned One's plagues can the worth of an individual Skaven be judged. Inferiors perish, while superiors are endowed with a part of the Horned One's divinity, becoming stronger than before.[7c]
Many of the practices and rites utilised by Clan Pestilens are similar to those employed by followers of the Chaos God Nurgle, the god of disease and decay, and rumours that inner echelons of the clan are followers of the Lord of Decay rather than the Horned Rat are regularly circulated (not least by the Grey Seers). No hard evidence has ever been brought before the Council of Thirteen, however.[10a]
Clan Pestilens' sacred scriptures includes the Liber Bubonicus, the forty-nine symbols of the Final Pandemic and the Book of Woes.
Organisation[]
Clan Pestilens likes to paint itself as a -- for Skaven -- egalitarian clan, where all prostate themselves to the judgement of the Horned Rat instead of corrupt, self-serving clanlords. All litters of Pestilens and the Thrall Clans that comprise the Pestilent Brotherhood and follow the beliefs and traditions of Clan Pestilens are subjected to various diseases, with their rank being determined by what kind of plagues their bodies can withstand.[7c]
Rising in the ranks of the clan means subjecting oneself to one of the "Seven Lethal Poxes," sacred diseases imprisoned in the Cauldrons of a Thousand Poxes. Any Skaven, from Clanrat to Plague Deacon, can volunteer to be lowered into one of the Cauldrons. Should he survive, he is automatically given a higher rank. In this way, no clan chieftain can worm his way into authority beyond his right and no leader can retain power beyond his time.[7c]
In truth, Clan Pestilens is as riven with rivalries, backstabbing and intrigues as any other Skaven clan. At the top of the pestilential hierarchy stands the current arch-plaguelord, who always adopts the name Nurglitch, while below are the seven plaguelords, who oversee the internal structure of the clan.
Service to the Council of Thirteen[]
Clan Pestilens serves the Lords of Decay of the Council of Thirteen by destroying their enemies with fresh-brewed plagues the likes of which the Old World has never seen. The council is all too happy to accept Pestilens' aid in battle, as disease is a powerful weapon in anyone's arsenal.[1c]
Not only are the plaguelords capable of creating new ailments, they are also quite able to effortlessly cure a number of diseases. While the general consensus of Clan Pestilens' members is that curing any sickness or disease is akin to blasphemy, they know that now is not the best time to make such revelations known to their masters on the council. The Lords of Decay can easily recognise the value of Pestilens' contributions to their war efforts, and they continue to enlist their aid as the End Times and the Great Ascendancy approach ever closer.[1c]
Notable Clan Pestilens Members[]
- Nurglitch I - The first of the plaguelords, Nurglitch I was also the strongest of their number in his day. It was he who first travelled from Clan Pestilens' original home on the continent of Lustria to the Under-Empire's capital of Skavenblight in the Old World in order to challenge one of the Council of Thirteen for their position as a Lord of Decay. Lord Vask was the Skaven Nurglitch I proceeded to duel, slay and ultimately replace. Clan Pestilens has continuously maintained representation on the Council of Thirteen as one of the Great Clans since then. Due to his great deeds, Nurglitch I's name would be taken as a title by all of the future arch-plaguelords of Clan Pestilens.
- Nurglitch IV - Nurglitch IV was the Skaven arch-plaguelord of Clan Pestilens during the Black Death and the Skaven Wars in 1111 IC. He was the fourth Skaven to hold the title, a name handed down from each ruling arch-plaguelord of Clan Pestilens to their successor. Nurglitch IV was the first of three Lords of Decay from his clan to serve on the Under-Empire's ruling Council of Thirteen in this era, alongside Puskab Foulfur and Vrask Bilebroth, greatly increasing his power and making him for a time the greater lord of all Skavendom until the outcome of the Skaven Wars reduced Clan Pestilens' power once more. As the arch-plaguelord of Pestilens, Nurglitch IV held Seer Lord Skrittar, his religious rival, to be his primary foe on the Council of Thirteen.
- Nurglitch VII - Arch-Plaguelord Nurglitch VII is the current supreme leader of Clan Pestilens and the seventh such Skaven to inherit the clan's title of Nurglitch. Nurglitch VII is described as being bloated, old, decayed and possessed of an oozing voice.
- Puskab Foulfur - A plaguelord during the era of the Black Death and the Skaven Wars in 1111 IC, Puskab Foulfur was the creator of the original strain of the Black Death. He earned a place on the Council of Thirteen after winning the seat from Blight Tenscratch, the ratman who ironically allowed him to challenge the council in the first place. After taking the position, Foulfur became the right-claw of Nurglitch IV, who had been his mentor. After a variant of his plague ravaged Skavenblight as a result of the machinations of the Grey Seers who sought to erode the growing political power of Clan Pestilens, Foulfur was torn apart by an angry mob, killed in a plot set up by Seerlord Queekual, the leader of the Order of the Grey Seers at that time.
- Vrask Bilebroth - Vrask Bilebroth was a plaguelord and the great rival of Puskab Foulfur during the time of the Black Death and the Skaven Wars. He also claimed to have been the creator of the original strain of the Black Death pathogen in 1111 IC. He gained his rank of plaguelord after the Grey Lord Skrittar's death, when he deceived Arch-Plaguelord Nurglitch IV and claimed that he had a paw in causing the Grey Lord's demise.
- Skrolk - Skrolk, plaguelord of Clan Pestilens, is one of the most legendary disciples of corruption and decay. That Lord Skrolk walks the mortal world is an affront to nature and a sign of the power of the Horned Rat. Plants wither and die where Skrolk treads and the very air seems to congeal and darken, as if stained by his baleful presence. Skrolk is ancient, having existed many spans of even the most long-lived of his foul kind.
- Kanker Flett - Kanker Fett is the self-titled arch-prelate of Clan Pestilens. He is notable as he is a rare heretic among Skavenkind, worshipping not the Horned Rat, but the major Chaos God Nurgle in secret.
- Kratch - Kratch was an Apprentice Grey Seer coerced into Clan Pestilens by Skrolk. Before his death, he was the servant and minion of that plaguelord.
Notable Military Sects[]
- Bilekin Brotherhood - A group of green-cloaked Skaven within Clan Pestilens, distinguished from other brotherhood members by their cream-coloured cowls. The Bilkekin Brotherhood were considered religious extremists, even relative to other Skaven of the Pestilent Brotherhood.
- Chained Ones - Led by Pawleader Vitkrit Whiphand, the Chained Ones were Skavenslaves once belonging to the foolish Warlord Clans that had challenged Clan Pestilens and lost.
Forces of Clan Pestilens[]
"Plague Monks do not know the true nature of the Horned Rat and kill themselves for it. They are useful, but deride-hate the Grey Seers. This impudence will be their done-death."
- —Skreelin Thurntik, Grey Seer[1d]
The plague-ridden armies of Clan Pestilens on the field of battle.
The plagues of Clan Pestilens kill insidiously, regardless of an enemy's arms or armour. They are quiet weapons that do not risk the lives of the near-immune Plague Monks that spread them. The enemy even spreads the diseases for the Skaven, and provides breeding grounds for the plagues in the form of the poor sanitation and hygiene in the majority of the Old World's Human cities. As an added bonus, diseases do not destroy structures, equipment, or other spoils of war. Once the plagues have been spread and allowed to do their work, the madness and resilience of the clan's Plague Monks make the fighting forces of Clan Pestilens powerful foes on any battlefield.[1c]
Formations of frothing Plague Monks are led into battle by a line of Plague Censer-bearers, Skaven chosen to wield sacred Plague Censers against their foes. The Skaven of Clan Pestilens believe that their enemies will either fall to the plague or will fall to despair when their kin succumb. Even if they survive the physical and mental anguish that plague brings, they will be so weakened in body and spirit that they will easily fall before the vermin hordes.
One of Clan Pestilens' methods of spreading disease involves specially-bred rats. These plague rats are infected with any one of a number of diseases, and are then released into the sewers and alleyways of an Old World city. Rats are a common sight in any Human city, and the plague rats of Clan Pestilens seem no different from alley rats to the casual observer. They creep on quiet feet into the homes and larders of the Old World, leaving behind diseased droppings and half-eaten foodstuffs. Another tactic Clan Pestilens uses to spread diseases involves the use of prisoners. These unfortunate wretches are infected with a plague that is slow to manifest. Once infected, the Skaven release them. When they make their way back to their people, they become the unwitting killers of thousands of their own kind. By the time the symptoms are evident, it is far too late.[1c]
Clan Pestilens Infantry[]
- Plague Monks - The most common infantry fielded by Clan Pestilen, these groups of fanatics are utterly dedicated to spreading their corruption within the enemy ranks. When engaged in combat, these monks will chant various verses and curses from the Book of Woe -- endlessly repeating the Liturgus Infectus, or the Rites of Infection towards their foe. When they are near the enemy, the monks will go on a fanatical frenzy, killing their enemy with rusted swords and iron-tipped staves to infect those they hurt with unimaginable diseases. Due to their diseased bulk, Plague Monks can survive injuries that would kill an ordinary Skaven.
- Plague Censer-Bearers - A Plague Censer is a hollow, spiked, metal ball attached to a lengthy chain meant to be used as a weapon by the Plague Censer-bearers. Within the hollow ball are lethal doses of warpstone and vile contagions that release a foul greenish cloud that will cause flesh to erupt into sores and fluid-filled blisters. If inhaled, the fumes will cause the lungs to be clogged with foul fluid, creating an agonising death to those that breath it in. The Censer-bearers are fanatical in combat, never faltering or retreating, and continue on their murderous rampage until each and every one of them are cut down.
- Pusbag - Pusbags are Skavenslaves upon whom the Plague Priests conduct their experiments. Their short, painful and unpleasant lives are spent in whatever way their masters deem useful.[6c]
Clan Pestilens Warbeasts[]
- Plague Rat Swarms - The evil adepts of Clan Pestilens use rats as vessels of contagion to spread their lethal diseases. These animals are infected with one of the concotions created by the Plague Priests and released into a Human city's sewers. There they contaminate the local rat population, which passes the diseases on to the inhabitants. Anyone bitten by one of these creatures will succumb to the virulent fever they carry.[11a]
- Mad Rat Ogres - Unlike other Skaven clans, Clan Pestilens does not only use Packmasters to control their Rat Ogres. Instead, they infect them with rabid plagues, causing the creatures to revert to their most basic instincts.[6c]
- Rat Spawn - The path to glory is perilous indeed, and one fate awaiting those Skaven who falter upon it is transformation through the power of Chaos into a mutant rat-thing too horrible to contemplate.[6c]
Clan Pestilens Warmachines[]
- Plague-Claw Catapult - For many years, the clan has worked day and night to make the most perfect disease that will rid the Known World of all surface dwellers, and bring about the eventual Great Ascendancy of the Skaven. While still failing as of yet in their contagion, the by-product that was created during the brewing process has proven valuable as a weapon of war. As a result, these by-products are used in the form of ammunition for the Plague-Claw Catapult, hurling the corrosive substances at the enemy from afar, leaving whole companies of troops coughing and dying by the deadly fumes that are unleashed by the impact.
- Plague Furnace - The Plague Furnace is a disease-ridden altar dedicated to the Horned Rat and an unholy icon of the clan's power. The furnace is pushed into battle by chanting Plague Monks, the creaking of the iron-shod wheels audible above the drone of devotional maledictions. What makes this altar so deadly is the massive brazier-like wrecking ball attached to the top of the construct that is similar in appearance to the weapons used by the Plague Censer-bearers. The massive Plague Censer swings back and forth, producing a cloud of noxious gas that stings the eye and assails the senses of the clan's enemies. Once in contact with the foe, the rusty chains holding the great warpstone incinerator in place are let slip so that the vast censer plummets into the middle of enemy regiments, creating large gaps in the enemy's front-line, all while the deadly fumes continue to spread throughout the army.
- Cauldron of a Thousand Poxes - One of the holiest relics of Clan Pestilens, it is used by the Plague Pontifexes instead of the Screaming Bell relic of the Horned Rat that traditional Skaven clans use. Contained within the cauldron are the diseases the clan venerates and creates and which can be unleashed upon the enemy.[6b]
Clan Pestilens Heroes[]
- Plague Priest - The rank of Plague Priest is the highest obtainable rank within the clan, with only the plaguelords, the most senior of the Plague Priests who rule the clan, standing higher. A Plague Priest is a Skaven who has a deep understanding of the foul magic their clan has harnessed over the ages, and as such, are capable magic-users who can vomit geysers of lethal substances, or curse their foes from afar making them erupt in putrid boils. They are naturally resistant to many forms of attack, due to their body having grown tough through affliction by the very plagues they carry. They are also responsible for the overseeing of Clan Pestilens' siege equipment, such as the Plague Furnace or the Plague-Claw Catapult.
- Festering Chantor
- Stinking Thing - The title for a Clan Pestilens Plague Monk leader who has yet to attain the status of Plague Priest.[6c]
Clan Pestilens Lords[]
- Plaguelord[6b] - The plaguelords, also spelled plague lords, are the seven highest-ranking Plague Priests within the theocratic Clan Pestilens who serve as its collective leadership beneath the rule of the current Nurglitch, Arch-Plaguelord Nurglitch VII. As is said in the Book of Woe, there were seven plaguelords in the clan, and their number always remained unchanged. With the hierarchy and efficiency typical of Clan Pestilens, each of the plaguelord titles carried with it specific duties for the clan related to the post.
- Plague Pontifex[6b]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Children of the Horned Rat (RPG)
- 2: Uniforms and Heraldry of the Skaven (Background Book)
- 2a: pg. 10
- 3: Warhammer Armies: Skaven (7th Edition)
- 4: Gotrek and Felix: Skavenslayer (Novel) by William King
- 4a: "Night Raid"
- 5: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Lustria (RPG)
- 6: Warhammer: Lustria (6th Edition)
- 7: The Black Plague: Dead Winter (Novel) by C. L. Werner
- 8: The Black Plague: Blighted Empire (Novel) by C. L. Werner
- 9: The Black Plague: Wolf of Sigmar (Novel) by C. L. Werner
- 10: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: The Horned Rat Companion (RPG)
- 10a: pg. 24
- 11: Warhammer Armies: Skaven (6th Edition)
- 11a: pg. 15