"No seer on the Council? No seer? Unthinkable."
- — Soothgnawer, reacting to Kritislik's death, and Clan Scruten's fall from grace.
Soothgnawer[1a] was an Exalted Verminlord, and one of the Shadow Council of Thirteen. He was a huge, white-furred verminlord with a skeletal face and an impressive rack of horns.
History[]
"The head of our Council has plans for him, as I have plans for you, little seer. Thanquol will succeed in his venture, but Clan Skryre will fail. The Great Spell must succeed!"
- — Soothgnawer, talking to Kranskritt.
Being the Champion of Clan Scruten, Soothgnawer was aghast when it fell from grace and when the Horned Rat devoured his Seer Lord, Kritislik, leaving no Seer on the Council of Thirteen. Thinking it was a bad omen that no Seer sat the council, Soothgnawer sought to help the clan regain its standing in the eyes of the Horned Rat and its place among the Lords of Decay. To this end, he and Skreech Verminking looked to Thanquol, much to the alarm and anger of the remaining Verminlords. However, the eyes of the Throne of the Horned Rat, glaring down on the shadow council, very quickly changes the direction of the conversation.
While Lurklox worked alongside Skaven such as Queek Headtaker, Soothgnawer sought out Kranskritt to do his bidding on the mortal plane. Such bidding included manipulating the Headtaker, which Soothgnawer provided Kranskritt a fear-nullying potion in order to do. Naturally, the Grey Seer made plans of his own to dominante the Verminlord, but Soothgnawer was -- equally as naturally -- knowledgable and several steps ahead of Kranskritt, though still rather annyoned at these plans. He regarded Kranskritt like a favorite slave, referring to him as "little seer", but was also willing to frame him for Soothgnawer's own schemes.
The end goal of Soothgnawer's machinations were to foil Skryre's attempt to destroy Morrslieb, to ensure the Great Spell, and that Queek Headtaker, deemed insane enought to be a credible threat to his plans, died.[1b]