Children of Chaos: Beastmen

Children of Chaos: Beastmen
Compiled by Thanis Ianakussis

eastmen are not natural creatures. They are mutants, created from men and animals by the energy of chaos. Their origin lies long ago, at a time when the Warhammer World was dominated by the ancient race known as the Old Slann. The Old Slann built two warp gates over the poles of the world. These warp gates were literally two holes in space between the real world, and the realm of chaos. By moving through and into the warp gates, the ships of the Old Slann could travel anywhere beyond the Warhammer World to the depths that separate one world from the next. The technological achievements of the Old Slann were such that they were able to control these gateways and prevent the materials and immaterial dimensions intermixing.

What caused the Old Slann to disappear is a matter for some conjecture. Perhaps it was the decline of their civilisation that led to the failure of the warpgates, or perhaps it was the other way round, and the collapse of the warp gates destroyed their thriving culture. Some people believe that the Old Slann deliberately destroyed the warp gates in a desperate bid to keep something dark and sinister out of the material world. Whatever happened, the mechanisms controlling the warp gates on the Warhammer world went wrong. The same thing happened on thousands of other worlds, as most of the Old Slann warp gates were destroyed. The result was rather like an explosion in the fabric of the realm of chaos burst into the material universe with catastrophic results. Clouds of black warp dust settled over the Warhammer World, causing mutation, and saturating the atmosphere with the raw power of chaos. In this new environment, all kinds of mutated creatures were brought into existence, including the rat-children Skaven, half men and half horse creatures called Chaos Centaurs, and many others of which Beastmen were the most common of all.

The name Beastmen describes this warrior race quite accurately, for the Beastmen are part man, part beast - creatures whose bodies combine the physical appearance of both animal and man. The majority of Beastmen are humanoid with upright stance: two arms, two legs, torso and head. They are hairy or extremely ugly, and the commonest Beastman form displays the head, horns and legs of a goat or bull, knit to a powerfully muscular humanoid torso. Their hovels and camps are home to a corrupted blend of Humanity made bestial, as well as tainted and twisted beasts; it is often impossible to tell one from the other. Beastmen are the children of Chaos itself, and their mutated bodies can be twisted into all kinds of bestial shapes. They are only partly human in other ways too, for although they have the intelligence of a man, they employ it with the cunning of a wild animal. Beastmen are savage fighters. They have the tenacity of wild creatures, the extraordinary strength of an animal, no more pity than a hunting beast, and yet they combine it all with human intellect. By their very nature, Beastmen are variable creatures, and it is impossible to make any general statement about their appearance. They usually appear as a strange mixture of Human and beast, and dress in stolen fragments of clothing and armour.

Their weaponry is similarly varied, a hodge-podge of anything that is hand, tentacle, pincer or paw. Beastmen in armies and warbands often use crude shield and banner designs to reflect the allegince to their group and Chaos Power. Isolated groups outside Chaos Wastes also adopt some some form of common symbology, although they tend to specialise in marauding raids rather than normal battles.

Beastmen are found throughout the Chaos Wastes. Occasionally they are found in other areas of the Old World; it is known, for example, that Beastmen live deep within the forests of The Empire. These are the scattered remnants of the Incursion of Chaos which came two hundred years ago, or new populations that have arisen from Human mutants. Beastmen inhabit almost any remote area where they have not been hunted down by Humans and other races. There are also the foolish and corrupt amongst Humanity who have turned to Chaos. Lured by the promises and seduced by the easy road to pawer that is offered, such degenerates worship the Powers of Chaos throughout the Old World. Those who worship Chaos take part in debasing Beastman rituals to the Dark Powers, sacrificing their future for momentary gratification. The strength of Chaos and the numbers of Beastmen thus grew secretly in the heart of the deep forests of the Old World as well as in the Chaos Wastes.

Since that time, Beastmen have thrived upon the edges of the civilised world and have grown strong upon their diet of unending battle. They have multiplied in numbers throughout the Old World, but remain most numerous in the north, within the dark forests of the Empire and the forbidding wilderness of Kislev. Even the Estaliens and the Tileans, the southern most nations of the Old World live in constant fear that the hordes of Beastmen will someday rise up and overwhelm them. This fear is largely unwarranted, for Beastmen are less concerned with humanity than humanity is obsessed with them. Of course, any human foolish enough to wander unarmed and alone into the forest would soon attract the attentions of the creatures who live their, but for the most part, Beastmen pay little attentions to the petty concerns of humanity.

Beastmen live in roaming bands, dominated by Beastmen champions of chaos. Small groups will often ally themselves to human, or other champions of chaos, joining their warband and fighting their battles. Beastmen have a natural empathy for Chaos - in a quite literal sense they are children of chaos because they were brought into the existence by its dark energies. This empathy overcomes any natural antipathy Beastmen may have for other races, so that they willingly serve all manner of Chaos Champions, whatever sort of creatures they are. Their unthinking attitude is reflected in Beastman society, which is harsh, brutal and very simple. They live by foraging and raiding, taking what they need from any settlements within reach: food, captives (although the two are often the same), weaponry and other essentials. Beastmen warbands or tribes vary in size froom a dozen individuals to several hundred, and can include other creatures such as Chaos Centaurs and Minotaurs. The strength and cunning of a leader and, more importantly, his ability to kill his rivals, determine the size of a group. Without rivals to lead factions or splinter groups, warbands grew in size, at least until old age, infirmity or accumulated mutations make a leader too weak to defend his position. The leader destroys his closest rivals, or they destroy him, and the struggle continues with new protagonists.

To the fearful eyes of the outside world, all Beastmen appear the same - an unruly mass of flesh, fur and teeth. In their ignorance, they can discern no distinguishing characteristics that mark the different physical and social types, nor any kind of social hierarchy apart from the simplest supremacy of the strongest. This is a mistake often made by humans, whose judgement of Beastmen is overwhelmed by the brutal power and savagery of these creatures. In fact, Beastman society is very precise and ordered, and there are several distinct levels of class and rank.

Gors

The most common type of Beastmen are called Gors, which can be readily distinguished from more lowly breeds by their horns. The number of horns is not important, although it is preferable that they should be on the creature's head. Gors take great pride in their horns and often polish, paint or decorate them to enhance their natural lustre or shape. Lowly breeds look to the Gors for guidance and leadership, praising them endlessly in victory, and grumbling behind their backs when things are not going so well. Most Beastmen battle their leaders and the best warriors will be Gors. The Gors are divided into two main types, these are the goat-headed Caprigors and the bull-headed Bovigors.

Caprigors are more common than other Gors. They have curling or straight horns on their head like a sheep or goat. A Caprigor may have the entire head of a goat and often the goats legs as well. A Beastmen with these mutation and no others in called a Truegor. This title is also shared with others types of Gor. A Caprigor Truegor is said to be bigger, braver and even more clever than other Caprigors.

Bovigors are not quite so numerous as Caprigors. A Bovigor may bear cattle horns on its head, and often the entire head of a bull or ox. If he has a bull's head, and either human or goat legs, he is a Truegor. Bovigors are often very competetive, and like to think that they are superior to other Gors. Most Bovigors believe that brawn is better than brain, many possessing a great deal of the former, and very little of the latter.

There is also a third variety known as the Ungor, which translates to something like 'not quite right Gors' or 'other Gors'. Ungors have horns, but these are often only scabby little horns or peculiar misshapen version, much to their annoyance and the amusement of 'higher' Beastmen.

The majority of Beastmen who are not Gors are called Bray. This name refers to the braying, whinnying and whooping cacophony that Beastmen make when they band together to fight or feast. Apart from lacking horns, there is very little consistency in appearance that distinguishes Bray from a Gor. A very brave, cunning and unusually lucky Bray can rise to become a leader, but this is not very common. Gors do not like Brays giving them orders, and a Bray who does not show a Gor the proper respect is asking for trouble.

The dividing line between a mutant and a Chaos Spawn is a narrow one. Amongst Beastman it is a line that is often crossed. as with the followers of Chaos, fresh mutation can turn them into a Chaos Spawn: mindless and unrecognisable things, divested of their intellect and form. Sometimes spawn are killed or driven away if they are dangerous or useless. But spawn who are helpful, perhaps because they are worthwhile fighters are kept out of respect for the mighty warriors they once were.

A Turnskin is a Beastman who was born human. The continual seepage from the broken warp gates causes mutations amongst all the creatures of the Warhammer world. Human mutants are not tolerated by most societies, and most are killed when they manifest themselves, or are driven from their homes to die lonely deaths. The toughest and most cunning manage to survive their physical and psychical rejection, and come to join up with band of Beastmen. Regardless of his physical appearance, a Turnskin is always a Turnskin rather than a 'pure' Beastman, which means he is the lowest of the low as far as the Beastmen are concerned. If a Turnskin has horns they are sawn off before he can be accepted by other Beastmen, otherwise, he might be mistaken for a Gor.

Throughout the lands of the Empire and northwards, it is not uncommon that healthy, sound human parents produce a mutant child. While some mothers try to conceal their babe's deformities, the majority feel such shame that they give them up to the forests or rivers. Left among a bed of fallen leaves or set afloat on a raft of reeds, the new born mutants are abandoned to die from exposure and hunger. But they rarely die, for the ears of Beastmen are keen, and they are always alert to the cries of their own kind. Such foundlings are adopted and reared in the forest in the deepest and most permanent camps of the Beastmen. They are called Gaves or Gave Children. The Beastmen regard them as a gift of Chaos and welcome them amongst their ranks. Gaves grow into Beastmen and become Gors, Brays or the other types depending on their appearance.

Shamans are a very special kind of Beastmen because they have magical powers. However, this fact alone is only part of what makes them special. Shamans are the intermediaries between Beastmen and the Realm Of Chaos itself. They can spirit walk in the Realm of Chaos and can talk with the very Daemons of the Chaos Powers.

The herdstones of the deep forests are encased within crude stone-built shrines erected by the Minotaurs, and overseen by the Shamans, to the glory of the Powers of Chaos. Within these shrines they hoard the weapons, armour and skulls of their defeated foes. It is supposed that these treasure houses are guarded by the wrathful eye of their Patron Powers - certinly only the most foolish creature would dare to desecrate such places. Minotaur warriors bring their trophies to the shirne, and often these tiny buildings are almost buried under a mass of rusting weapons and mouldering bones.

Minotaurs

Minotaurs are massive bull-headed monsters, many are twice the height of a man and far greater in bulk. Their gigantic bull-heads are broad and ugly, and their horns are sharp and dangerous. In addition to their bull head, many Minotaurs have the cloven-hoofed hindquarters of a beast as well. When Minotaurs taste blood they become insanely violent raining blow after blow upon their helpless enemy. Once their foe is defeated they tear at the carcass with their long claws, and gulp down hunks of raw meat. It is this bloodgreed that makes Minotaurs especially dangerous to fight. Minotaurs live in warbands of their own kind, and make their territories in the very deepest and most dangerous parts of the forest that even Beastmen avoid. Minotaurs will regularly join forces with Beastmen do raid nearby settlements, they also trade with the Beastmen and consult their Shamans. Normally ponderous and slow-witted, battle turns them into raging bulls and the scent of blood drives them to violent excess. In the midst of combat they tear their enemies apart and swallow down great chunks of bloody flesh, quenching their thirst upon the blood of the dying whilst battle rages around them.

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