"I am a Champion of Slaanesh."
- —The last words of Richard Crowell[1]
Richard Crowell, once a mariner and a hero in Tilea, is now a mutated Champion of Slaanesh, corrupted during his voyage of revenge in the Sea of Claws. Yet his legend is still told by mariners across the Old World.[1]
History[]
"You were a babe, so you don’t remember. But Richard Crowell, he was your father. Your mother was killed only a week after you were born - killed by a beastman. That was the real reason for Richard’s quest: he wanted revenge against the things that had taken his young wife away. Oh, but it was much harder than he’d thought it would be. He anchored his fleet off the coast of Norsca, told me to stay on board ship and take good care of you, and went ashore with his army. He promised to come back if he could. But he never did. Only one of his men survived long enough to get back to the ship, and he told us terrible stories about the creatures they’d seen on land, with terrible magical powers. He died from his wounds just a few hours later, and the crew were so scared they set sail right away, heading back south."
About fifteen years ago or maybe more, the summer proved a troublesome season in the land of Tilea. Every day the sky was dark and riddled with storm clouds, the ground was damp and cold, and the nights seemed darker than they should have been. The dead rose from their graves and Griffons were stealing babies, even in the Tilean cities, and Beastmen were seen all over the hills.[1]
Richard Crowell, whose wife had died at the hands of those monsters of Chaos, gathered the best swordsmen and the bravest warriors and drove the creatures of evil and their allied sorcerers from their cellars and their underground coves. He made Remas safe for his people once again.[1]
Then, deciding to go further, he led an army to the Sea of Claws, as he had learned that was where the worst of the servants of Chaos came from. Nothing after was heard from Richard Crowell or his expedition. Some say he succumbed to the evil forces he pitted himself against, after he made landfall and ventured into Norsca. But no one really knows. He had with him Dawnstones, enchanted items that were capable of undoing magical effects.[1]
The truth is that Richard Crowell survived his journey into the north as a horribly mutated Champion of Slaanesh. One arm was a huge purple crab claw, the other a brown tentacle. Above his fur-covered body loomed a bear's head with bulging eyes and black horns. His feet were hooves, and a sharp reptile tail had grown out of his back. He was able to cast illusion spells which he used to ensnare his victims.[1]
One such was his son Tomas Fenman, who had been cared for since Crowell's disappearance by his old ship's cook, the Halfling Brodie. Perhaps moved by the distorted desire to honour the promise given to his infant son to return to him, Crowell eventually returned to the shores of the Bay of Remas and used a Goblin-infested cave as a lair.[1]
It was there that he orchestrated a trap for his son by kidnapping the survivors of a recent shipwreck and using those Sea Elves as bait for his son. When Fenman arrived in the lair he was forced to kill his father and only by finding the twin Dawnstone of the one once owned by his mother, still carried under Crowell's fur, did Fenman come to understand to his horror who the mutated beast truly was.[1]
Sources[]
- 1: Cry of the Beast (Novel) by Ralph T. Castle