"Formed of living bronze, the rage-filled Doombull, Taurox, is nigh-on invincible – save for one area on his gargantuan neck."
- —Description of Taurox in Total War: Warhammer II.[2]
Taurox, also known as Taurox the Brass Bull, and as the "Slaughterhorn," the "Bloodbeast," or the "Brazen One," is an all-mighty Minotaur Doombull and Beastlord who was responsible for laying a trail of destruction all across the lands of the Great Forest of Talabecland. It is not just the warherds of the Gors and Ungors that are rising up in greater numbers than ever before. All across Talabecland there spread legends of this giant bull-headed fiend with a mutant body made entirely of living brass.[1a]
It is told that this monstrous warrior marches at the head of a column of armoured Minotaurs fully a mile long, and that whenever the scent of flesh is carried upon the wind, whether it be Greenskin tribes, Human towns, or Beastmen warherds, the column breaks into a frenzy-stampede to seek and destroy them. The tales are corroborated by sentries across the Old World who have seen the forests scarred and torn down by the Minotaur army's rampage as it passes below.[1a]
Riders following this trail of devastation on the swiftest of horses have reported its passage through and over Imperial market towns, armoured barracks, flagellant camps, sacred temples and riverside wharfs, leaving nothing but ruin and great smears of blood that extend out of the other side of each site for many leagues. Of the inhabitants of these unfortunate locales there is invariably no sign other than the odd scattered boot or broken sword. Most disturbing of all, the outriders swear that the Brass Bull's army is heading directly for the great city of Talabheim, and growing larger with each passing week.[1a]
Taurox is an unstoppable force; a roaring, snorting engine of destruction virtually impervious to physical harm. Cast in the form of a grotesquely-muscled Doombull, Taurox looms over his followers, a mountain of living brass with curving, bladed horns and a gnashing metal maw that constantly drools with gore.[1a]
History
The Brass Bull was not always a metallic monstrosity. Once a fearsome Beastlord of the Minotaur tribes, Taurox enforced his brutal will upon the lesser beasts of the forest by felling any creature who dared meet his stern gaze and then devouring them alive. The Brass Bull was merciless beyond measure, and the ground at his feet was ever wet with the freshly-spilled blood of friend and foe alike.[1a]
So it was that one night a Daemonic emissary of the Ruinous Powers crawled into the mortal world from the devastated remains of one of Taurox's rivals. The hell-borne nightmare was sinewy and crimson-skinned, coiled with unholy Chaos energy, and it met Taurox's gaze with its hollow black eyes. This proved to be a costly mistake.[1a]
Before it could utter a single syllable in the Dark Tongue, Taurox grabbed the Daemon by its wattled throat and bit off its head. There was a moment's silence, then a violent thrashing as Taurox spasmed and shook, seized by a vision of the mortal world awash with blood and afloat with corpses. Taurox roared and screamed, biting and clawing at himself in his convulsions before taking up his axes and slaying every member of his own tribe one by one.[1a]
But he did not stop there. For a year and a day, Taurox raged across the lands in a blind rampage, killing every living thing he could find. Tribes of Beastmen, covens of witches, nomadic Strigany caravans, mercenary Ogres, Imperial patrols, proud knights, two-headed Chaos Giants, all fell to Taurox's boundless wrath.[1a]
When he finally came upon the Human-settled vale of Lietberg he killed so many citizens that a river of blood was born at his feet. Exhausted, Taurox collapsed in the crimson stream, and he would have died then and there, for his energies were completely spent. But the Ruinous Powers had uses for him still.[1a]
Under a scarlet moon, Taurox was reborn. He rose up and bellowed his defiance, blood cascading from his now-brazen frame, for the Chaos Gods had rewarded his fell deeds with a new body made completely of shining metal. No more would he tire, no more would he have a moment's respite from the rage that now consumed him.[1a]
Taurox drank deep of the gory river he had made, and the blood sluiced and boiled inside his brass body, giving him unholy vitality. Clashing his rune-inscribed axes together in savage pride, Taurox set off once more and began the slaughter anew. This time he did not stop, and the Brass Bull will not stop until he is somehow put in the grave once and for all.[1a]
Notes
Despite his brass motiff, aesthetics and origin fitting those of a worshipper or Chaos Champion of Khorne, the Chaos God of war and rage, as well as the Daemonic emissary that he ate being described as crimson-skinned, Taurox is never explicitly stated to be a servant of Khorne in the 7th Edition Beastmen armybook. He is instead described as being blessed by all four of the Chaos Gods in the form of Chaos Undivided.[1a]
Trivia
The "brazen bull" was a (possibly mythical) torture and execution device used in antiquity. The condemned was locked inside a hollow bronze bull under which a fire was set, eventually resulting in the victim being roasted to death. Taurox's epithets of "The Brass Bull" and "The Brazen One", along with his metal body, may have been inspired by the brazen bull device.
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Beastmen (7th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 58
- 2: Total War: Warhammer II (PC Game)