A herdstone, also called a "Chaos Heart," is an unholy standing stone, one of dozens scattered throughout the dark forests of the Old World and the rest of Mallus, that serve as the primary campsites and gathering places of Beastmen warherds.[1a]
Many of these ancient artefacts may originally have been Elven Waystones that were corrupted by Chaos. Such Waystones once dotted the whole of the mortal world in an attempt to better ensure the flow of the energies of the Winds of Magic from the Realm of Chaos into the Great Vortex at the heart of Ulthuan.[1a]
Role[]
A herdstone as depicted in Total War: Warhammer II.
Herdstones are sacred to the Beastmen, and all manner of horrific offerings are left at one to appease and earn the favour of the Dark Gods; weapons, armour, the banners of vanquished foes and the corpses of mutilated enemies can all be found piled around the base of these standing 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.[1a]
The herdstones are always erected in places of great magical significance, usually over the remains of one of the baleful meteors of warpstone that helped bring the Beastmen into being all those ages ago during the Great Catastrophe. Herdstones are also well-hidden, often in the darkest and most inaccessible parts of the forests, deep within caves or on mountain tops. Most are located far from Human settlements, for no such settlement founded near one has survived more than a single season.[1a]
There are almost always Beastmen warherds and Minotaur tribes nearby wherever a herdstone can be found. 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 a role as the keepers of the herdstones, becoming the fearful guardians of these most sacred Beastmen shrines.[1a]
The herdstones serve as rallying points for the Beastmen where warherds can meet and join together without fighting between them instantly breaking out. It is at the herdstones that most of the important celebrations and festivals of the Beastmen take place. They are also the place for feasting, most importantly the ritualistic "Champion's Feast," where the flesh of slain Beastlord chieftains is ritually consumed by the herd.[1a]
Two variants of Beastmen herdstones as rendered for Total War: Warhammer.
To gather the warherds to the herdstone, a raging signal fire is lit in the centre of the herdstone circle. Often, Beastmen 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.[1a]
Over the following nights, other Beastmen will slowly gather at the sacred stones, attracted by the fire and the smell of burning flesh and fat. Each arriving chieftain scratches his name or mark onto the central stone in the crude Beastmen version of the Dark Tongue, known simply as the Beast Tongue, and his warherd sets up camp to await the inevitable melee between the Beastlords to determine who will command the inevitable brayherd that will soon go forth to bring death and destruction to the cvilisation of Men.[1a]
Miniatures[]
