A Skaven banner
Unburdened by the weight of history, the Skaven enshrine no accounts of great deeds, tragedies, or inventions. Some clans keep records, but these are solely hyperbole, excuses or apportioned blame. Thus, this brief outline of the Under-Empire's momentous events has been compiled from Dwarf records and the few remaining Imperial markings not destroyed by espionage. The dates are all recorded in the Imperial Year and many (c) are best guesses, as accurate dating for such an anarchic race is impossible.[1a]
One reliable dating system for the Skaven are birthcycles, since this is the rate at which new Skavenslaves and Clanrats are produced that are needed for the schemes and battles of their superiors, making a reliable schedule necessary. Three birthcycles constitute the time length taken for a year in the Imperial Calendar.[4a]
Ancient History[]
- ca. -2500-2000 IC - The ancient city that later becomes Skavenblight is occupied by men and rapidly built to become the most populated human city in the Old World. The city is known to have traded with many of the wandering Dwarf Clans from the Black Mountains.[1a]
- -1950 IC - A wandering Dwarf clan from the Black Mountains establishes trade with the city and eventually settles there. The city grows even faster with their help and many advances in architecture and engineering are achieved.[2a]
- ca. -1860 IC - Construction of the great temple begins and goes on continuously for at least a century.[1a]
- -1880 IC - The Humans, with the help of the Dwarfs, begin work on their great temple. Work continues for a century.[2a]
- ca. -1780 IC - The temple is completed and coincides with great flares from Morrslieb. Many meteors are sighted. Within a year the city is overrun by a tide of vermin of unusual size and viciousness.[1a]
- ca. -1600 IC - The first true Skaven emerge as masters of Skavenblight. In search of more Warpstone, they look beyond their city. Skaven begin experimenting with magic. They expand their tunnel system to accommodate their rapidly expanding population.[1a][2a]
- ca. -1500 IC - The Great Machine of the Seer Order explodes. The Slann, ignorant of the newly emerged race, registered the energy and attributed it solely to their own powerful spells. To this day, they have failed to make any connection. The Great Migration out of Skavenblight begins.[1a] Just as the High Elves withdraw from the Old World back to Ulthuan after the disastrous War of the Beard, the Dwarf Empire in the World's Edge Mountains is devastated by a series of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes triggered by Skaven sorcery. Skavenblight's population is devastated. In the wake of this destruction, the 12 Grey Lords arise, forming the first Council of Thirteen and the Order of Grey Seers. Dwarf records indicate that this era marked the beginning of Skaven incursions into Karak Varn. The Skaven support the Greenskins against the Dwarfs in the destruction of Karak Ungor. This marks the beginning of the Goblin Wars.[2a]
- -1499 IC - Dwarf records from many holds begin to document (and curse) their first sightings of ratmen.[1a]
- -1498 IC - The flooded Dwarfhold of Karak Varn comes under full-fledged Skaven attack.[1a]
- ca. -1450 IC - The Lord of Decay known as Malkrit leads Clan Moulder into the Troll Country north of Kislev where they establish their stronghold that becomes Hell Pit. Lord Visktrin is mortally wounded by a Dragon in the Mountains of Mourn but instructs his successor to establish a colony far to the east IC - and so what is to become Clan Eshin passes out of knowledge for a time.[1a]
- ca. –1400 IC - The wandering Clans establish the first Skaven strongholds in the areas later known as the Southlands, Araby, and the Dark Lands. Lord Malkrit leads Clan Moulder into what will become known as Hell Pit in the Troll Country of Kislev. Lord Viskrin instructs Clan Eshin to establish its stronghold in far Cathay.[2a]
- -1399 IC - Clan Pestilens overruns the ruined city of Quetza and claim it in the name of the Great Horned Rat. They begin a campaign of terror across the jungle.[1a]
- ca. –1300 to c. –1250 IC - The War of Cripple Peak is fought with the legions of Nagash, the Great Necromancer.[1a][2a]
- ca. -1200 IC - The treaty of Cripple Peak is marked in blood on Dragonhide and the Council of Thirteen enters into a pact with Nagash.[1a] In exchange for Warpstone mined below Cripple Peak, Skaven temporarily join forces with Nagash's Undead legions to lure several tribes of Orcs and Goblins into the Cursed Pit. Skaven break through to the lower levels of Karak Eight Peaks, which falls to the combined forces of Orcs, Goblins, and Skaven. Once the Dwarfs are driven out, the Skaven keep fighting against the Goblins for possession of the upper levels.[2a]
- ca. -1200 to -420 IC - Dwarf soldiers discover gunpowder on a Skaven corpse, proving that the Ratmen have begun using the Dwarfs' own weapons against them.[2a]
- -1197 IC - Nagash is slain by Skaven treachery and his bones melted, save for his hand, which, unknown to the Council of Thirteen, crawls away to safety.[1a]
- -701 IC - Battle of Karak Eight Peaks. The Book of Grudges records that Miners first break into a Skaven tunnel. The Dwarfs are shocked to discover the extent of the Skaven burrows beneath them. A terrible and bitterly fought underground war begins.[1a]
- -513 IC - The Dwarfs record that Karak Eight Peaks falls as King Lunn orders the last of the survivors of the fierce battle to seal the tombs, armouries, and treasure holds, and break out towards Karaz-a-Karak.[1a]
- ca. -500 to c-300 IC - The Skaven battle the Greenskin hordes for domination of Karak Eight Peaks, or the City of Pillars as it is renamed. The top levels and ruined city are cleared of Orcs and Goblins by around -300.[1a]
- ca. –400 IC - Establishment of the Skaven Under-Empire and the first great tunnel networks beneath the Old World. Human tribes settle across the Old World.[2a]
- ca. –380 IC - Dwarf cannons are first used in battle, helping to prevent the Greenskin and Skaven armies from taking Karaz-a-Karak. Skaven spies steal the designs for the cannons and begin building warp-pistols and jezzails. Clan Skryre rises to power with these devices.[2a]
- ca. -350 IC - Skaven overrun Crookback Mountain in the Dark Lands and enslave several tribes of Night Goblins living there.[2a]
- ca. -300 to 200 IC - Skaven of Clan Pestilens return from Lustria, and a great civil war erupts in the Empire. Without support from the Skaven, the Greenskin armies weaken and the Dwarfs begin to turn the Goblin tide back.[1a]
- ca. -250 IC - Clan Rictus bribes the Council for exclusive rights to establish a foothold at Crookback Mountain, the underground gateway to the Dark Lands.[1a]
- ca. -100 IC - Nagash returns and Clan Rikek is destroyed.[1a]
- ca. -50 IC - Lord Nurglitch leads the majority of Clan Pestilens to the Southlands and establishes new strongholds.[1a]
- -15 IC - Dwarf King Kurgan Ironbeard is captured by Skaven of Clan Eshin in the Grey Mountains. He is then sold to Orcs for many pieces of Warpstone; he is later rescued from the Orcs by Sigmar, a Human chieftain.[2a]
- -1 IC - Battle of Black Fire Pass.[2a]
From Sigmar's Time Onwards[]
- 17 IC - Three different Imperial records and a tapestry record that, in this year, Sigmar, the man-god of the Empire, destroys an army of ratmen. These accounts have since been lost and the section of the tapestry dealing with this era has been eaten away by pests.[1a]
- ca. 100 IC - Clan Pestilens, long forgotten, makes a dramatic return to Skavenblight and starts a civil war. Back in Lustria, the remnants of the clan are destroyed or driven out of Lustria, although several key tunnels and strongholds escape notice.[1a]
- ca. 500 IC - Clan Eshin, the long-lost clan led east in the Great Migration, returns from far Cathay having developed and perfected many nefarious skills.[1a]
- ca. 600 IC - After consuming many Warlord Clans, devastating the Southlands and killing a Lord of Decay in ritual combat, Clan Pestilens finally place one of their Plaguelords on the Council, thus ending the civil war.[1a]
- ca. 700 IC - Warlocks of Clan Skryre perfect the warpfire thrower. Reports of these terrifying weapons are discounted as tales of madmen.[2a]
- 1110 IC - Lord Vilner, heir to the Drakwald throne, is assassinated by Deathmaster Slike, sparking civil war in the Empire.[2a]
- 1111 IC - The Black Plague strikes the Empire.[1a]
- 1112 to 1124 IC - The Man-things War. The Skaven Wars begin in the Empire. Few Imperial documents mention this period, leading many historians to brand it as an elaborate hoax (the kind favoured by university students with too much time on their hands).[1a]
- 1115 IC - Skaven start to systematically enslave the surviving Human settlements in the Empire. Emperor Goldgather is assassinated by Deathmaster Slike. When no successor is named, the Skaven declare themselves rulers of the Empire.[2a]
- 1116 IC - The Skaven march into Sylvania. Necromancer van Hel raises a massive Undead army to turn back the Skaven advance. The two forces fight to a standstill for the next five years.[2a]
- 1122 IC - Count Mandred Ratslayer breaks the siege of Middenheim, then rallies support from the Elector Counts and leads a crusade against the Skaven.[2a]
- 1124 IC - The Empire finally drives the Skaven below ground. Mandred is crowned Emperor.[2a]
- 1125 IC - Warlord Krricht Dwarf-slicer defeats all comers to become the new Warlord of Clan Mors.[1b]
- 1152 IC - Emperor Mandred Rat Slayer is slain by Nartik of Clan Eshin by order of the Council.[1b]
- 1247 IC - Tilean explorer Marco Polare reaches Cathay, and writes of spying the Skaven under the great city of Wei-jin.[2a]
- ca. 1300 IC - Clan Moulder creates the first successful Rat Ogre, and begins their rise in prominence amongst the other Clans.[1a]
- ca. 1435 IC - Sultan Jaffar, a powerful Arabyan sorcerer, welds together a coalition of desert tribes (and summons daemonic spirits, it is said) and carves out a sizeable realm. The Skaven spy for the Sultan and murder many rivals in exchange for warpstone.[1b]
- ca. 1448 IC - Jaffar is manipulated into invading Estalia and captures Magritta. This begins the Araby Crusades by the human realms of the Old World, notably Bretonnia and the Empire. Distrust and anarchy are spread wide.[1b]
- 1492 IC - The Tilean explorer Marco Colombo "discovers" the continent of Lustria, and reports sighting many Skaven in the jungles, still fighting their Lizardmen enemies. Upon his return, his ships are laden with gold, and he is lauded across Tilea. Word of his discovery soon spreads, swiftly followed by a veritable armada of treasure seekers setting sail for the New World, intent on following his example. With the lands north of the Chaos Wastes relatively quiet, the followers of Chaos are abroad, setting sail for the corners of the globe in order to win glory for their dread masters. Many Norscan pirates attack ships of the other races at sea to reach the riches of Lustria. At the same time, other Norscan reavers wait until they have landed upon the shores of Lustria to ambush other Old World explorers in lands that the Norscans themselves have already explored long before the newcomers. The followers of Chaos are eager to find even more rewards on the continent, from gold, slaves, magical artifacts, and even the many extracts of exotic plants which are particularly attractive to the followers of Slaanesh. Since the defeat of Clan Pestilens in Lustria and the subsequent civil war that was brought about by their return to the Under-Empire, the Skaven have sought to consolidate their power in the continent. Now, the vile race is ready to rise once more, and is turning its attentions back towards Lustria. Clan Pestilens seeks revenge upon the Children of Sotek for their previous defeat.[2a][5a][5b]
- 1563 IC - The Tilean city of Tobaro is overrun by Skaven breaking in through the ancient Elf-carved tunnels that riddle the cliff.[1b]
- 1565 IC - Tobaro is recaptured by a mercenary army mustered by the Prince of Tobaro, reinforced by a contingent of High Elves from Ulthuan.[1b]
- 1666 IC - Clan Skryre warlocks develop a reliable (by Skaven standards) warpfire cannon. Its terrifying payload can wipe out entire armies.[2b]
- 1707 IC - Skaven forces aid Orc Warlord Gorbad Ironclaw in his attack against the Empire. Skaven forces cripple Nuln from the inside, allowing Ironclaw to take control of that city without any significant losses. The Skaven are repaid handsomely with Warpstone.[2b]
- 1786 IC - The Red Pox breaks out in Bordeleaux in Bretonnia.[1b] Clan Eshin releases rats infected with the Red Pox in the town of Bordelaux. The city loses over a third of its population to the Red Pox in a single week. The Baron Giscard Du'ponte orders the poor quarter to be burned to the ground in a fit of desperation. The pox is halted immediately.[2b]
- 1812 IC - Southern Bretonnia and northern Tilea are ravaged by another outbreak of the Red Pox. Panic, anarchy and rioting spread through several Bretonnian cities as mobs rampage in the cities, burning anything that might carry the pox, including sheep, dogs, frogs and fish. In Brionne, the resulting Great Fire of Brionne razes three-quarters of the city. Again with the disease at its peak, the Skaven attack. Brionne, Bordelaux and Miragliano are all but destroyed by disease and invasion; the Ratmen then lay siege to Quenelles.[1b][2b]
- 1813 IC - Skaven armies emerge across Bretonnia, but are soundly beaten by fierce counter-attacks and driven off entirely at the Battle of Remarche by Bretonnian and Wood Elven forces.[1b] Duc de Parravon convinces the Elves of Athel Loren that the Skaven will turn on them next, and an alliance is struck. The combined forces of the Duc and the Elves break the siege at Quenelles and drive the Skaven underground once more. Over a third of the Bretonnian population lie dead from the plague and the invasion.[2b]
- ca. 1850 IC - The Skaven Under-Empire is mired in another civil war. The Council of Thirteen is broken and all clans strive for supremacy or simple survival.[1b]
- 1941 IC - Warlord Skinchewer of Clan Skab allies himself with one of the Tomb Kings. Acquiring new and dark magic from this arrangement, Clan Skab rises in power amongst the clans, although it is still far below the four Greater Clans.[2b]
- 1999 IC - The city of Mordheim is hit by a meteorite composed entirely of Warpstone, providing the largest concentrated source of that foul material ever known. Skaven immediately take possession of the town, and begin mining the stone.[2b]
- ca. 2000 IC - New Seerlord Kritislik leads Clan Scruten away from the battles in Skavenblight. The Clan establishes a stronghold hidden in the Cursed Marshes and extending beneath Marienburg.[1b][2b]
- 2084 IC - Clan Skryre warlocks perfect the Farsqueaker, allowing instantaneous communication between warrens any distance apart.[2b]
- 2111 IC - Lawful citizens of Rötebach discover that the Count of Middenland, Luitprand II, has made the Chaos Bargain. Luitprand has the entire town hanged to cover his tracks.[2b]
- 2207 IC - Another, smaller, Warpstone meteorite crashes to the ground, this time in the Barren Hills. Skaven crews carry much of it away but not all: a Human Wizard manages to grab one piece. He transports it in secret to Castle Wittgenstein.[2b]
- 2250 IC - Small skirmishes between the Skaven and the Tomb Kings of Khemri turn into outright war. The war lasts for some two centuries and provides cover for the Skaven to greatly expand their tunnel network to the Southlands.[2b]
- 2302 IC - The Great Summoning. The Order of the Grey Seers ordered all clans to come to the Under-Empire's capital at Skavenblight and dared to summon their god, the Horned Rat, to the mortal plane. The feuding between the Skaven clans ended as the Skaven Warlords were terrified into a level of obedience previously unthinkable. Warlords Gnawdwell, Vrisk Ironscratch, Griznekt Man-carver, and Paskrit the Vast joined the ruling Council of Thirteen.[1b]
- 2302-2320 IC - Terror in Tilea. Many small towns near the Blighted Marshes are razed or disappear altogether after a Skaven assault.[1b]
- 2302 IC - Magnus the Pious united the armies of the Empire in holding back the forces of Chaos and then marched to meet them in Kislev. The rising tide of Dark Magic across the Known World prompted the Grey Seers to step in and call upon their god the Horned Rat for divine judgement to stop the warring between their clans. In a massive ceremony at Skavenblight during Vermintide, the great annual feast of the Horned Rat, the Grey Seers succeed in summoning an incarnation of the Horned Rat. The Clan Lords are terrified into a level of obedience and cooperation previously unthinkable as the Horned One dictates the plan they are to follow. The Council of Thirteen is completely reorganised and all hostilities between Skaven are ended immediately.[2b]
- 2303-2304 IC - During the Great War Against Chaos, the Skaven fight the Chaos armies as well as the armies of the Empire and Kislev, but after several hundred years of internecine warfare, the Skaven's numbers are almost exhausted. The Chaos hordes are eventually defeated by Magnus the Pious at the Battle at the Gates of Kislev in 2304 IC. The Skaven ambush several contingents of the Imperial army as it returns home, and soon afterwards minor plagues erupt in Nuln, Talabheim, and Marienburg, though the Skaven have little direct influence on the outcome of the great conflict or prove able to exploit it for their own gains.[2b]
- 2320 IC - Skaven agents in Marienberg burn half the ships in that harbour to the waterline with firepots. The motive for this attack is never discovered.[2b]
- 2321 IC - Skaven warships are spotted in the Tilean Sea. Many coastal raids begin at this time. The Dwarfs of Barak Varr report sinking a Skaven fleet.[1b] During the winter, Clan Eshin Gutter Runners make a number of raids on Imperial, Bretonnian, Tilean and Estalian warfleets at anchor in their respective ports. The Gutter Runners use firepots and naptha to burn the fleets with varying levels of success.[2b]
- 2335 IC - Following a warning from the Elven Mages that protect Lothern, a Tilean vessel is stopped and boarded. The search by the Sea Guard turns into a battle. Rumours persist that several ratmen escaped the ship, leaping overboard and disappearing into the city.[1b]
- 2377 IC - The Monkey King seizes power in Cathay. He installs Warlord Kishkik of Clan Eshin as an advisor, and begins trade with the Skaven Empire.[2b]
- 2387 IC - Prince Karsten of Waldenhof employs Skaven to undermine the walls of the invincible Castle Siegfried in Sylvania. When refused their warpstone payment, the Skaven steal all the children of Waldenhof.[1b]
- 2399 IC - The Skaven of Clan Skryre begin developing warpfire-powered underground locomotives (“warprails”). Originally used to move mining carts, they are soon adapted for troop transport as well.[2b]
- 2473 IC to Present - The Dwarfs return to Karak Eight Peaks under King Belegar, descendant of King Lunn. They capture several levels and joining the ongoing battles for the upper levels against both Clan Mors and the Night Goblins of the Crooked Moon Tribe.[1b]
- ca. 2480 IC - Throt the Unclean returns from the Chaos Wastes with a captured Blindwyrm.[1b]
- 2485 IC - Clan Mors devastates several rival clans (including much of Clan Skab) and begins to rise in power and status.[2b]
- 2491 IC - The deadly artefact known as the Skaven Black Arc is stolen from Skavenblight but recovered at the Battle of the Monastery of La Maisontaal in Bretonnia.[1b] Bagrian, master of the monastery of La Maisontaal in Bretonnia, infiltrates Skavenblight and steals the awesome Black Arc. The Grey Seer Gnawdoom and his Skaven, along with allies in the form of the Undead army of the Lichemaster Heinrich Kemmler, move against the monastery and recover the Arc after a vicious battle with the monks.[2b]
- 2498 IC - The Battle of the Jaws. Tipped off by Skaven spies, Goblin Warlord Skarsnik ambushes a Dwarf army.[1b]
- 2499 IC - The Battle of Nuln. Half of the great Imperial city of Nuln is destroyed by invading Skaven from the Skaven settlement of Under-Nuln in its sewers and the resulting fires which break out across the city.[1b]
- 2504 IC - Sea Lord Aislinn's Dragonship squadron engages a ramshackle fleet near the Shifting Isles. Despite the foe's arcane machines, the Elves triumph. The Skaven corpses that wash up on the north-east coast of Ulthuan are gathered and burnt by the shore patrols.[1b]
- 2512 IC - Skaven sappers completely destroy Castle Wittgenstein and retrieve the Warpstone stored there.[2b]
- 2513 IC to Present - Towns and forts along both sides of the Grey Mountains begin to disappear due to Skaven attacks. The Empire and Bretonnia suspect each other. Although tensions are raised between the nations, only border skirmishes have thus far taken place.[1b]
- 2514 IC - Fritz von Halstadt, Chief Magistrate of Nuln and head of the Countess Emmanuelle's secret police, is discovered trading Warpstone to the Skaven in the sewers beneath Nuln. Grey Seer Thanquol has been feeding real information, half truths, and outright lies to the insane von Halstadt, manipulating him with the ultimate aim of starting a civil war in the Empire. The plot is exposed and von Halstadt is killed, but Thanquol escapes. Later the same year Thanquol returns, seeking vengeance with a Skaven horde. Using Nuln's extensive sewer network to infiltrate the city, they almost overrun it in a single night, halted only by fires lit by the defenders, which then rage through the city. Eventually the Skaven are driven back, leaving half of Nuln in ruins. Grey Seer Thanquol swears he will have vengeance upon Nuln and its inhabitants before returning to Skavenblight to face the inquisition of the Lords of Decay.[2b]
- ca. 2515 IC - In the Dark Lands Tretch Craventail begins to carve himself a reputation for greatness.[1b]
- 2515 IC - The Skaven burrow of Fester Spike is attacked by a Dwarf expedition seeking to reclaim one of the lost relic hammers of the Ancestor Goddess Valaya. Grey Seer Thanquol attempts to summon a Verminlord Daemon of the Horned Rat. Instead, he mistakenly conjures the Khornate Daemonic legion of the Bloodthirster Skarbrand, which then rampages amongst both the Dwarf and Skaven armies.[3a]
- 2518 IC - Lord Throt the Unclean and his army from Hell Pit fight Chaos Lord Aelfric Cyenwulf and his barbarian force. Cyenwulf later leads his army the opposite way, preferring to take on the might of Kislev rather than the mutated beasts of Clan Moulder.[1b]
- 2520 IC - High Mage Torinubar, Mage Lord of the Gates of Calith, is mysteriously slain. None of the typical signs of Dark Elf outrages can be found.[1b]
- 2521 IC - Clan Mors Warlord Queek Headtaker is recalled to the City of Pillars in an attempt to bring an end to the ongoing battles there. Elsewhere the copper mines of Grim-Duraz in the Grey Mountains become the latest Dwarf holdings to fall under Skaven control.[1b]