"Vecteek is friend-ally of Pestilens. Lord Nurglitch plan-plot much-much to sick-kill man-things. Rictus have many-strong warriors to conquer-take surface. Mors not so many-strong."
- — Puskab Foulfur sneers at Warlord Krricht Dwarf-Slicer's attempts to turn Clan Pestilens against Clan Rictus in service of his own Clan Mors
Puskab Foulfur was a Skaven Plague Priest and plaguelord of Clan Pestilens who held the rank of poxmaster during the time of the Black Plague in 1111 IC. He was the apprentice and favourite of Nurglitch IV, the arch-plaguelord and leader of the clan. Foulfur was also a member of the Pestilent Brotherhood, the alliance of Skaven Thrall Clans dedicated to spreading Clan Pestilens' unique, disease-focused worship of the Horned Rat among all Skaven.[1a]
Through his betrayal of Blight Tenscratch, Foulfur would go on to win a second seat for his clan upon the Council of Thirteen, helping to cement its power in the Under-Empire, but met his end at the hands of Seer Lord Queekual, leader of the Order of the Grey Seers.[1a][2a]
History[]
Black Death[]
It was Poxmaster Puskab Foulfur who took Clan Pestilens' newest contagion, the Black Plague, into the field and tested it on Humans, discovering its extraordinary lethality. According to the spies of Clan Mors employed by Warlord Krricht, Foulfur was either the creator of the Black Plague virus or he had stolen credit for the creation of the contagion from his hated rival, Vrask Bilebroth. [1a]
Foulfur met with Krricht, who tried to convince him to use his new disease against Clan Rictus. However, Foulfur refused, for Clan Rictus made better allies for Pestilens than Clan Mors, as they possessed more warriors and more power within Skavendom. Refusing the alliance, Krritch fell back on his original plan to ally with Foulfur's rival Vrask. However, Vrask demanded as a condition of the union that Krricht murder the poxmaster. Krricht dispatched two Stormvermin to slay Foulfur.[1b]
Foulfur mused over the meeting with Krricht on his journey back to the Pestilent Monastery, and he suspected that the Clan Mors warlord and his rival Vask did indeed have ulterior motives. At a meeting of the Under-Empire's ruling Council of Thirteen, the Seer Lord Skrittar had praised the poxmaster, and ignored his rival Arch-Plaguelord Nurglitch IV, the leader of Clan Pestilens. This, Foulfur believed, was a calculated move in order to pit the Pestilens poxmaster and the clan's ruling plaguelord against each other, which would create the perfect environment for Vrask's own schemes to succeed. Furthermore, Krricht's request to use the Black Plague against Clan Rictus suggested he knew that the Plague Priests had planned to make use of future strains of the disease against other ratmen. Indeed, after the surface races were eradicated in the wake of the Black Plague, the Pestilent Brotherhood planned to turn their new plague on those Skaven who did not fall in line with the religious beliefs of Clan Pestilens and the brotherhood.[1b]
After Foulfur suddenly noticed that the cavern they were travelling through was curiously bereft of any other Skaven, Foulfur called upon the Lore of Plague and ordered his Plague Monks to prepare for battle. This proved prudent, for they were suddenly attacked by the cave-rats of Clan Skrittlespike, a troglodyte race of Skaven that typically dwelt deep in the Warpstone-mines beneath under-warrens. However, with his magic and the frenzy of his Plague Monks, Puskab survived the ambush. The twin Stormvermin Krricht had sent to kill Foulfur also failed to strike him down, unable to effectively take advantage of the chaos of clan Skrittlespike's attack.[1b]
For a time, Foulfur was separated from Clan Pestilens and in questionable standing with its leader, Arch-Plaguelord Nurglitch IV. During this time, he was sheltered by the wormlord of Clan Verms, Blight Tenscratch. With its trade in breeding parasites and Pestilens' use of fleas to spread its plagues, a partnership between the two clans seemed natural. However, Tenscratch had merely wanted Foulfur to modify the Black Plague to bring all of Skavendom to its knees before Clan Verms. To this end, the clanlord had connived and schemed to put Foulfur on the Council of Thirteen, and destroy Nurglitch IV, claiming that the other Lords of Decay were ready for a change in the representation of Clan Pestilens.[1d]
Challenge to Blight Tenscratch[]
"Survive-win twelve tests. Now-now want-take thirteenth challenge! Take-win name-rank of Lord of Decay!"
- —Puskab Foulfur challenging the Council of Thirteen
With the sponsorship of Blight Tenscratch, leader of Clan Verms, Foulfur was able to learn the secret to every impossible trial that the Lords of Decay had devised during the Twelve Tests. Suspecting there was a traitor on the council and intending to take their seat, Foulfur stood before the Council of Thirteen and openly challenged them. Pointing a claw to one of the obscured, stony thrones of the Council Chamber, Foulfur challenged for the seat of the very Skaven who had helped him get so far: Blight Tenscratch.[1c]
The wormlord had intended for Puskab to challenge and depose Nurglitch IV, foolishly believing the Plague Priest would actually turn on one of his own in service to a heretic. For all their rivalries, the end goal for every Plague Priest of Clan Pestilens was to force all of Skavendom to accept their preferred form of worship of the Horned Rat. The members of Clan Pestilens were all fanatical believers in the spread of disease as the best way to serve the goals of their deity and individual grievances were not allowed to get in the way of that collective goal. Thus, Foulfur had already warned Nurglitch IV of the assassination plot against him. Foulfur had further already unleashed a new plague on the ratmen of Clan Verms, spread through infected fleas which he harbored in his fur.[1c]
Racing up the Shattered Tower after Tenscratch as part of the challenge, Foulfur made for the belfry platform, which he hoped to reach before the thirteenth toll of the Horned Rat's Bell. He arrived in time to challenge Tenscratch properly. In the vicious combat that ensured, Foulfur finally gained the upper hand, and used the Lore of Plague to weaken the wormlord's body before wielding his staff to shatter Tenscratch's skull like an egg. Foulfur thus won the challenge and earned Tenscratch's seat to become the newest Lord of Decay, granting Clan Pestilens a crucial two seats on the council.[1c]
Puskab himself had risen in rank, from minor plague priest to Plaguelord. In the hierarchy of Clan Pestilens, Foulfur was second only to the Arch-Plagulord himself.[2b]
Death[]
"Eat-Gnaw Heresy!"
With his rise to power, Foulfur set about eliminating his old rival, Vrask Bilebroth, and even planned to replace his old ally Nurglitch IV as the arch-plaguelord and ruler of Clan Pestilens. Foulfur tried to employ Vrrmik of Clan Mors to bring about his final ascension. However, the white-furred Skaven Warlord proved crafty and difficult to manipulate, and so Foulfur decided instead to eliminate him as an obstacle. Foulfur killed Vrrmik's bodyguards with the Lore of Plague and left a weakened Vrrmik to fight and die in battle against the great Imperial hero Mandred Skavenslayer.[2a]
With Vrrmik dead, Foulfur returned to Skavenblight, only to find the capital of the Under-Empire in disarray. The corpses of Skaven were scattered throughout the warrens, and Foulfur realised with terror that it was his own Black Death pathogen that was ravaging the Skaven capital. A mob of surviving Skaven pursued him and his Plague Monks as they fought their way to the basilica of the Shattered Tower at the heart of the city. However, Foulfur's old rival and fellow plaguelord and Lord of Decay Vrask Bilebroth refused to unlock the gate and let them into the tower.[2a]
In his final moments, Foulfur suddenly realised who was truly behind the outbreak of the disease in Skavenblight. No plaguelord would have been mad or foolish enough to release the contagion and ravage the other clans as it would leave too few survivors to be converted to the true faith of the Horned Rat. Foulfur realised that Seer Lord Queekual, the new leader of the Order of the Grey Seers following the death of Skrittar, had ample reasons to damage Clan Pestilens and reduce the influence of his religious and political rivals by claiming that it was Pestilens who was responsible for unleashing the Black Death upon Skavendom.[2a]
Foulfur fled, using his underlings and magic to aid his escape, but Seer Lord Queekual was already waiting for him. The seer lord launched his assault, preventing the poxmaster's plague magic from taking effect through the use of abjurative talismans. Queekual unleashed his own magic, forcing Foulfur into the midst of a throng of angry ratmen. The mob proceeded to tear Puskab Foulfur limb from limb, ending his brief rule at the pinnacle of Skaven power.[2a]
Appearance[]
Like all Clan Pestilens members, Puskab Foulfur wore tattered green robes. His face was hideous and marked by deep-set, yellow eyes. Decaying and leprous, the Plague Priest's skin had peeled away in some places while glistening muscle shown in others. His fur, once white, was jaundiced with filth and disease. An odor worse than swamp sewage or stagnant water clung to the Plague Priest and was enough to make even other Skaven wretch. He possessed crooked antlers and these, along with his once-white fur, would typically have marked him out as a Grey Seer, but he had chosen a different path to spread the greatness of the Horned Rat.[1b]
He had a single, long strong of white, mouldy fur extending from his chin, the lone bit of hair on his otherwise furless face.[2b]