"At the pinnacle of this ever-changing pyramid, just below the Horned Rat himself, stands the Seerlord. The Seerlord is an enigmatic figure, the supreme religious leader of all Skaven."
- — The Seerlords of the Seer Council
A Seer Lord of the Skaven Grey Seers casting spells of the Lore of Warp.
A seer lord, sometimes spelled seerlord, and also known as a Grand Prophet of the Horned Rat, High Prophet, and a Master of the Grey Seers,[2b] is the title given to the most powerful magic-users of the Skaven Under-Empire.
They are found among the mage-priests known as the Grey Seers who comprise the Order of the Grey Seers. Having survived the trials of competition with other Grey Seers to achieve this rank, these ratmen embody the fickle magic derived from the ingestion and use of warpstone.[1a]
Role[]
"It was the seer lord's function to implement the edicts of the council and interpret the will of the absent Horned Rat."
- —Duties of the Seer Lord
Most seer lords advise Skaven Warlords and Skaven Chieftains, subtly directing their plans and actions to best accord with the wishes of their deity, the Horned Rat.[1a] However, the prime seer lord sits on the Under-Empire's ruling Council of Thirteen as one of the Lords of Decay and has tremendous sway over matters that affect the whole of Skavendom.[2b]
Whenever decisions the council makes, it is the seer lord's duty to ensure those edicts are enforced.[2b]
Though manipulation of the Winds of Magic is a skill every Grey Seer possesses, there are some spells and rituals known only to the Seer Lords. This information is jealously guarded, as it is powerful magic with awful and magnificent potency. Passed from Seerlord to Seerlord, any who come by this knowledge who are not meant to know it are almost certain to find themselves on the business end of an Eshin Assassin. And not just any assassin, but a Deathmaster or Master Assassin; when guarding their secrets, the Seerlords spare no expense and take no chances.[2a]
Like the lesser Seers, Seerlords reside within Skavenblight at the heart of the Shattered Tower where they hold the utmost sway.[2c] As high ranking males in Skaven society, they enjoy the company of private breeders and their pups are raised with them, apart from the common creches found in the Whelp-Pits.[4a]
Hierarchy[]
As in all facets of Skaven society, the seer lords arrange themselves into a hierarchy that is based on power. The strongest of the seer lords heads the Order of the Grey Seers and also sits in the first seat of the Council of Thirteen, called the "Seerseat." In this position, he is the right hand of the Horned Rat. The Seerseat is one of the most influential seats on the council, and as the Horned Rat's earthly voice, seer lords are afforded two votes on any matter brought before the council.[2b]
Though customarily held by a horned Skaven gifted with grey or white fur, it is possible for a non-Grey Seer to petition for the right to sit in the Seerseat. This was something the Arch-Plaguelord Nurglitch IV of Clan Pestilens sought to do during the Black Plague, when Pestilens had an iron grip on the power of the Council of Thirteen by holding three of its seats at the same time. [3a]
Notable Seer Lords[]
- Kritislik - Kritislik was for many centuries the most powerful of the seer lords and the head of the Priesthood of the Horned Rat before the Horned Rat himself devoured the Grey Seer in displeasure at the lack of progress made towards the Great Ascendancy.
- Thaumkrittle - Thaumkrittle rose to the position of Prime Seer Lord and leader of Clan Scruten after the untimely death of Kritislik during the prelude to the End Times, when the former seer lord was devoured by the Horned Rat himself.
- Tisqueek - Tisqueek is the second most powerful of the seer lords and as such is Kritislik's greatest ally...and greatest rival.
- Scrench - Scrench was a dreaded seer lord of old, and one of the many Skaven who were in possession of the Amulet of the Horned One.
- Skrittar - Skrittar was a power-hungry seer lord and one of the last Grey Lords of the Under-Empire who used a ritual to loose and then harvest warpstone shards from the green moon of Morrslieb during the Black Plague.
- Queekual - Queekual became the leader of the Grey Seers after Skrittar's demise. He was described as a hunched, grizzled, half-blind ratman. This seer lord succeeded where his predecessor had failed and restored the faith of the Order of the Grey Seers to its proper place as the orthodox religion of Skavendom. He schemed to create a version of the Black Death that would affect Skaven as well as Humans. The unleashing of this pestilence on Skavenblight ended Clan Pestilens' nearly successful attempt to dislodge the Grey Seers' dominance over the Horned Rat's faith.
- Qweeqwol - An old, half-mad mage-rat who ruled as seer lord for forty years before abdicating to Greemon. He was active during the Skaven's war against Nagash. Some ratmen claimed that he wasn't as mad as he seemed, and that the seer was simply using insanity as a cover for duplicity.
Canon Conflict[]
It is possible that the structure of the Horned Rat's priesthood was different during the era of the Black Plague in 1111 IC. In the novel Dead Winter by C.L. Werner, Seer Lord Skrittar, a powerful and ancient Grey Lord of the Under-Empire, appeared to be the only individual to bear the title of "seer lord" in the entire Order of the Grey Seers. His direct underlings, the most powerful mage-priests other than himself, were mere "seers."[2a]