Screaming Bell

"The great battle of the plain hereabouts. The turning of the armies of the Empire! To a Man, we all sensed that something was amiss that day... something unnatural. Fear where there was fearlessness, a weakening of iron resolve. Brave men, Greatswords true, quailed and broke rank, sewing shame and enmity amongst their allies..."

—Sir Vogel, Empire Greatsword^[2a]

A Screaming Bell is an unholy battle-altar dedicated to the Skaven deity known as the Horned Rat, driven forward by the whim of the Skaven hordes with a Grey Seer at the fore.

In battle, the ominous tolling of the bell resounds above the clamor of the fighting, a message of death to foes but a declaration of supremacy to all Skaven. The deafening sound drives the Skaven hordes into a reckless frenzy, hardening their craven hearts to feats of uncommon savagery. The thunderous tolling is magically amplified and with each toll, the din grows louder and more terrible, causing the very stones to split and buildings to crumble. To those that are attuned to the Horned Rat, each toll gives out one single worded message: doom.^[1a]

History[]

"The horses were the first to be affected. With but a single haunting peal of that dreadful bell they began to panic, throwing their riders and trampling them under their hoofs in their desperation to escape. Then, as the bell rang out again and again, all good order collapsed, as to a man every one of us found ourselves gripped by the same strange and nameless terror. Here and there, seeking to restore cohesion, the captains cried out for the men to turn and face the approaching horde. But it was too late. We were already doomed..."

—Testimony from a survivor of the Battle of Boronadin in the year 2303 IC.^[3]

Total War Screaming Bell Render 2 — A *Screaming Bell* of the Skaven as rendered for *Total War: Warhammer II*.

The tolling of this unholy relic strikes deep into the hearts of the evil ratmen, inspiring such awe to its allies while inspiring fear into the hearts of the enemy. The Screaming Bell itself is an ever-present symbol of the creation-legend of the Skaven race and it is from these unholy altars that the Grey Seers preach their plans of total domination.^[1a]

These relics were cast in the hellish warpforges deep beneath the Under-Empire capital city of Skavenblight, using bronze alloy laced with pure warpstone to create the bell itself. The Warlock-Engineers of Clan Skyre are the ones who aid in the casting of the bell, joining alongside the Grey Seers in a thirteen-day ritual. The monotonous chittering incantation causes glowing, green runes of balefire to writhe mystically across the bell and as the casting is cooled, the metal is coated many times over with sacrificial blood. Once forged, the Screaming Bell is installed upon a wooden carriage drawn forward by a horde of fanatical followers and a great Rat Ogre to ring it.^[1a]

Rumour has it that some piece of the great tower of Kavzar, also called Tylos, the ruined city above the warrens of Skavenblight that was the birthplace of the Skaven, is incorporated into each Screaming Bell, be it a chunk of masonry or some small part of the Horned Bell (known to the Skaven as the "Great Shrieking Bell") that sits within the tallest tower of the great temple of the Horned Rat in the Skaven capital, the Shattered Tower.