Lurk Snitchtongue, later renaming himself Lurk the Magnificent, was a warleader of Clan Skab that came to serve Grey Seer Thanquol.
History[]
Lurk Snitchtongue was born in Skavenblight as the eldest of his litter.[2b] He rose to his position within Clan Skab because of his connection to its chieftain, Vermek Skab. Lurk had provided Vermek with information about those that conspired against him., and was part of the army of Clan Skab that was tasked to conquer Nuln. The weakest of the warleaders without any protectors in Skavenblight, he was a welcome target for Thanquol's frustrations. Lurk claimed to be able to slay Gotrek and Felix, which agents of Clan Eshin had failed to do, by using traditional Skaven techniques like overpowering them by sheer numbers.[1a] When he learned of a secret scheme of Clan Skryre to gain the lion’s share of the conquest of Nuln, he informed Thanquol. The Grey Seer then used Lurk to deliver anonymous messages to Gotrek and Felix, in which he warned them of the schemes of his rivals, hoping that both sides would annihilate each other.[1a] The same procedure was done when Lurk uncovered schemes from Clan Pestilens and Clan Moulder. These betrayals were discovered and the leaders of these three Clans captured him. Lurk revealed that Thanquol had cooperated with Gotrek and Felix (leaving out his part). When the Clan leaders wanted him to assassinate the Grey Seer, Lurk instead suggested using the dwarf and his human companion for the task.[1b] At the same time, Thanquol sought to dispose his rivals, by assigning them to a strike team near their tavern. When he did deliver the message, he was discovered and fled into the sewers, where Gotrek and Felix were assaulted by Stormvermin, causing the attack on Nuln to start earlier than planned.[1b]
Following the disastrous defeat of the Skaven assault on Nuln, Lurk was given a place in Thanquol's retinue that went to the Bone Hills, seeking to discover what the dwarfs sought to build there. During the assault, Lurk was given the honor of leading the attack.[2a] While the attack failed, the Grey Seer managed to hide lurk in the airship, where he spied on the crew and learned about their destination in the Far North.[2a] During the travel northward, the Skaven was changed by the exposure to Warpstorms and Warpstone dust.[2c] He had grown to the size of a Rat Ogre, grown ram-like horns, his tail had mutated to grow stronger and was crowned by four spikes and developed tusk-like fangs. Thinking himself to be blessed by the Horned Rat, Lurk began to believe that it was his destiny to rule Skavendom.[2d]
When the airship returned and Thanquol managed to re-establish contact, Lurk became more rebellious against the demands of the Grey Seer, but played along.[3a] The pair ventured to Hell Pit after a failed attempt to secure the airship.[3b] On their way, they were intercepted by a chaos army. Masquerading as an emissary of the Council of Thirteen, Thanquol managed to gain the protection of Arek Daemonclaw, who sent an escort of his warriors to accompany Thanquol and Lurk to Hell Pit.[3c] Unknown to the Grey Seer, Lurk had been enticed by promises of the followers of Tzeentch, who further enhanced his mutations to advance his intellect.[4b] Within the Hell Pit, he was first taken prisoner and to be studied for his mutations, but managed to escape. Lurk Snitchtongue began a slave revolt, posing as a prophet and son of the Horned Rat that claimed that the leaders of Clan Moulder had strayed from the divine will of the god.[4a] The rebellion failed and Lurk fled the scene.[4c]
Sources[]
- 2: Gotrek and Felix: Daemonslayer (Novel) by William King
- 3: Gotrek and Felix: Dragonslayer (Novel) by William King