Flayerkin

Flayerkin are horrific followers of the Chaos Gods, usually sent to be modified by the fell Skaven into living weapons, or choosing to do so themselves due to mutation or sheer insanity.

Overview

Flayerkin are twisted Chaos Marauders who have replaced their hands with wickedly sharp hooks and claws.^[2] Flayerkin created by Skaven of Clan Moulder are mutants grafted from a fusion of Chaos Marauder, Skaven and hell-forged iron.^[3a]^[4a] Some Flayerkin arise through mutation, and others are created by barbaric surgery. The resulting creatures are basically Human - or at least, humanoid - but their arms end in great blades and hooks rather than hands, and They trail heavy iron chains that are fused to their spines.^[1a]

The claws serve a dual purpose: First, they are extremely effective weapons, as they are an extension of the Marauder's arms^[2], who can use them to behead their foes.^[3a]^[4a] Second, they allow the Flayerkin to gain purchase on nearly any vertical surface^[2] and scale castle walls with ease. The chains fused to their spines ensure that even if they are killed while climbing up to a battlement, their comrades can scale the walls using the trail of their dangling corpses.^[3a]^[4a]

During the siege of Middenheim, Archaon sent hordes of Flayerkin scaling the Ulricsberg, trailing chains behind them that their allies could climb. All were killed before they could reach the top of the rock, and dozens of the creatures were left to hang where they died.^[1a]