WARHAMMER ARMIES -
SKAVEN

BACKGROUND:

Beneath the bustling cities of the Old World, under the markets and the homes of the poor and wealthy alike, deeply rooted in civilization itself, is a world full of teeming chittering darkness...If people knew of the cancer that had spread itself, attached like a parasite to men's cities...

The Skaven are the blessed servants of the Horned Rat. According to the Skaven, they were shaped in the design of their creator, and await the time when the Horned Rat will deliver the world to them. The Skaven resemble large bipedal rats, often marked in some subtle way by their god. They live under the Earth in tunnels and warrens, caverns and other hidden subterranean sights, where their growing Empire cannot be seen.

They are often incorrectly lumped together with Beastmen. While Beastmen are the ever changing and varied servants of the many foul Chaos gods, Skaven are different in that they seem less varied and more stable. It is believed by many that the Horned Rat permits this stability in his servants to allow them to fulfill some nefarious purpose.

The Nature of Skaven
Skaven are foul servants of Chaos. Where they came from is unknown, although there are many varied legends. What is known, is that they rely heavily on Warpstone, which is essentially a pure physical and solid material made up of Chaos. Warpstone emanates Chaos, often poisoning, warping, and altering everything in the immediate area. Why the Skaven are unaffected to a great degree, and why they are so reliant upon it, no human scholars know.

Physical Description of the Skaven
To others, the Skaven are an amalgamation of the worst in both man and rat. Verminous and covered in a filthy matted fur they stand between four and six feet. In a parody of the other races, they walk about on their hind legs usually, using their "arms" for such things as bearing objects or weapons. Despite their solid build and strong skeletal structure, their bones are very flexible, allowing them to squeeze in to places unthought of. As strong and durable as the races that live above ground, they often match their opponents in physical feats.

Skaven are incredibly fast and quick. They are often hyperactive, and their motions and movements are rapid and jerky. Their abnormally high metabolism results in bouts of hyperactivity, and they require only four hours of sleep a night. This high metabolism and hyperactivity explains the speed and vigor of the Skaven as a whole. However, this does take a toll, requiring the Skaven to eat afterwards or weaken and die. This same metabolism, and their poor diet would explain why nearly all Skaven die fairly young with few living beyond a score of years or more. Skaven also suffer from Black Hunger. After exerting a great amount of physical energy, Skaven will often become ravenous and enter a frenzy, where they seek to feed upon the enemy, or by feasting on the wounded or the dead.

The color of their fur varies, often related to their relative position in the Clans. The strongest and most vicious of Skaven are the ones with darker fur, typically a very dark brown or solid black. The assassins of Clan Eshin are often of this color, as are the Stormvermin. At the other end of the spectrum are the albino, white, and light grey Skaven. These Skaven are often Skaven of great power or leadership. Most of the Grey Seers are albinos or light grey, as are the Council Guards and other great leaders.

The Skaven have acute senses. Although their vision above ground is poor, below ground they are imbued with good vision. Their sense of hearing is also quite sharp, as is their sense of smell. Their sense of Smell is important in identifying other Skaven, as many Skaven have a musk or scent all their own. Not only do Skaven exude a particular scent, but their emotional state may alter or augment their scent in subtle ways. When Skaven are frightened they will exude a certain musk, which tells other Skaven their emotional state. More subtle other scents are recognized also, such as self assurance, hunger, anger, and sickness.

Psychological Description of the Skaven
Skaven are social creatures, with very little concept of self identity. However, they each have very strong notions of self preservation, often seeking out of a situation that can prove dangerous or risky, and often will abandon fellow Skaven.

Skaven psychology is rooted around the notion twin notions of their social identity and their own psychological quirks. In a Clan, the Skaven will behave out of fear, not wanting to shorten their lifespans. Outside of rigid social hierarchies, however, it is every rat for themselves. This will often hinder Skaven expeditions once they leave their familiar Clan territory, as each Skaven will seek to dominate the others for control of the whole. Often, one Skaven will attain a position of strength, but the group will have been weakened and morale destroyed by the group infighting.

Despite their brittle courage, they are extremely cunning. Not so much intelligent rational but instead cunning and conniving. The most intelligent Skaven are also the most ambitious and deceitful, and they will often seek to manipulate and control a situation to serve their own ends.

Skaven Society

Skaven Culture
Most of Skaven culture is centered around Skavenblight, and extending throughout the Underground Empire. This area is under the control of the Cult of the Horned Rat, and consequently the Council of Thirteen and the Grey Seers. While the great majority of Skavendom at least nominally obey these authorities, some groups have become isolated or have rebelled, and defy the traditional authorities.

Because of the nature of their society and the Skaven themselves, strong central control is impossible. With the Skaven population dispersed about in fairly isolated communities, and their ambitious and scheming behavior, the Council of Thirteen only imposes control in times of dire need. All Skaven Clans are organized along a hierarchy, where the strongest and most cunning will control and dominate the lives of the others. In the competition for this power and authority, the Clans are eternally embroiled in political and sometimes military crises, with various factions dueling, fighting, plotting, murdering, scheming, abducting, torturing, allying, betraying, and dying in a complex web of conspiracy.

Skaven Clans
The fundamental unit in Skaven society is the Clan. The clans will determine the Skaven's place in life and their role in Skaven society. For nearly all Skaven, their life will revolve around the fortunes of their clan. If their Clan prospers, they prosper. If their Clan faces severe poverty or other misfortunes such as slavery, the fate is the same for all members of the Clan. A Skaven's personal existence is utterly indistinguishable from the fortunes of their Clan. Skaven don't share the same spirit of individualism as humans, elves or dwarves. The closest they ever come to being any sort of individualism, is when the Skaven feels it must act in it's own self interest.

Skaven are notorious for being cowardly and self serving, and will rarely face danger alone. This instinctive need to shelter in amongst a crowd, to be anonymous, is far stronger than any notions of singular self identity. As such, and coupled with the social hierarchy, the Clan is the single most dominant feature in Skaven society. Skaven can expect to live and die in the same Clan, and that Clan is all they will ever know. It is that kind of security that nearly all Skaven seek out. It is that security which keeps them from striving for any true concept of individuality.

Most Skaven live in one of the numberless Clans. These Clans are led by a Clan Chieftain and compose of a large group of Skaven sharing the same warrens, burrows and nest within a particular locale, which interact or depend on each other and share common lifestyles, and are under the leadership of the Clan Chieftain and his loyal followers. Powerful and clever Clan Chieftains may increase their own influence by defeating or cowing nearby Clans into submission. These strong Clans composed of the victorious Clans and their subservient Clans are known as Warlord Clans, with the victorious Clan leader known as the Clan Warlord. The smaller member Clans are led by individual Clan Chieftains, whom owe their position and authority to the Clan Warlord.

Amongst Skaven society, there are four major dominant clans, who, despite their size, wield an disproportional amount of power. These clans, Clan Eshin from the East, Clan Moulder from the North, Clan Pestilens from Lustria and the Southlands, and Clan Skryre from the Old World are the most significant clans.

Skaven Social Hierarchy in the Warlord Clans
Skaven adhere to a safe social hierarchy. As the clan rules the Skaven's life, the hierarchy is the system of rules by which the individual Skaven relate to each other. These roles for all Skaven are fairly fixed, and upward mobility is only possibly through guile and treachery.

At the top of any unified clan is the Clan Warlord, known by many names, such as Sewer Tyrant and other titles. He is the head and usually the strongest, cruelest, and most cunning to have united a number of Clans. Having proven himself in battle as a fierce fighter, and then manipulated his way through the ranks of social hierarchy, the Clan Warlord usually ended his predecessor's reign in a most deadly, cruel, and abrupt fashion, or intimidated and cowed the other Clan Chieftains into elevating him into the status as Warlord.

The Clan Warlord is one of the most powerful Skaven in Skavendom. The Clan Warlord decides whom has access to the breeding warrens. Here is where all the female Skaven are kept for breeding purposes. The Clan Warlord may also give permission for his most able of followers to enter. Anyone found in the breeding chambers without the Warlord's permission is killed in a most vile manner.

The Clan Warlord also has complete control over all clan decisions. He may discuss the topic with advisors, but ultimately all the decisions responsibilities are the Warlord. This however, doesn't mean that the Warlord must take accountability of his decisions. If one of his ideas proves disastrous, he can always place the blame on his advisors who had 'sabotaged' his ingenious plan by their own scheming and political maneuvering! Ah! The intricacies and beauty of Skaven politics...

Below the Clan Warlord, are usually several Clan Chieftains, Skaven who control individual Clan warrens and burrows. These are large extended family, consisting of a few hundred members at the very least. The Clan Chieftain is responsible for the daily operations within their part of the clan. In the absence of a Clan Warlord, they have absolute control of the clan, and are usually plotting against the other Chieftains for greater influence within the clan. It is the Clan Chieftain who is also responsible for the military strength and leadership of his clan.

Many clans don't have a Warlord, lacking anyone with the guile or strength to maintain such a position. If the Clan Chieftain is independent and not subservient to a Clan Warlord, than he possesses the same absolute powers that a Clan Warlord has, but with less influence. His word is law, and controls access to the breeding warrens.

Below the Clan Chieftains are the Clan Guard, and any other unusual groups of warriors that the Clan may possess. The Clan Guard form the bodyguard of the Clan Chieftains and Warlords, as well as the elite of the Skaven military forces. In many Clans, the Clan Guard is only filled by the infamous Stormvermin. The Clan Guard are often given access to the breeding warrens, a favored position that none under them in the hierarchy normally have.

The vast majority of Skaven are Clanrats. These are the Skaven who fulfill the daily tasks and chores that are necessary. At times of war, they are drawn up into semi-trained levies, and thrown at the enemy. Some Skaven, who prove themselves, may gain upward mobility by becoming Clan Guards. Other Skaven fulfill specialized roles in Skaven society and other much needed services.

The lowest class are the Slaves, Scavengers, and Sneaks. The slaves are the pitiful sorts who are prisoners of war, criminals, victims of political infighting, or the offspring of such unfortunates. Their lives are completely worthless and meaningless, and the most they can look forward to is a brief agonizing life followed by a short and brutal death. The scavengers are Skaven who crawl about the muck heaps, parasites of a parasitic culture. They are roughly equivalent to beggars in human society. These scavenger and other scroungers are the disadvantaged Skaven who barely scrape a living, depending on quick wits, begging, cowering, and thievery. The Sneaks, are even more thieving and plotting, melding in with the pitiful masses of wretched Skaven. Not well liked, they must conceal themselves and their activities by assuming the cloak of an undesirable, who would be to frightened to steal from their social betters.

The only group with a more pitiful existence are the wretched humans, elves, dwarves and the like, captured by the Skaven in raids. For these, their remaining lives are one of torment and torture, followed by a sickening death in some foul blood drenched ritual to the Horned Rat.

Skaven Family
The Skaven family is almost non-existent. The Clan Warlords, Chieftains, and Clan guards are essentially breeding studs, who spend their leisure time in the breeding warrens. Who's get is who's is a fairly confusing matter! And then, the Skaven offspring aren't very well cared for by the elderly and infertile female Skaven, who are quite bitter about their status, and forced into servitude in vast nursery warrens. By the time the time the few Skaven who survive the rigors of childhood are set out on their own, any concept of family is impossible. The one concept for them to latch on to is their identity and social status based on their position in the clan, and indeed their entire world are their Clan warrens.

Skaven Lairs
The tunnel complexes that the Skaven live, breed, and die in, are usually a massive twisting labyrinth of tunnels and caverns, natural and Skaven made, that have been linked together centuries ago. The massive concentration of warrens, burrows, tunnels, and communal caverns is the center of the community, and may exist in various levels. To go up levels, Skaven will build gradual ascending and descending tunnels, or steep tunnels or wells with crumbling stone steps, rickety wooden ladders, or in the more sophisticated communities, lifts pulled by Skavenslaves or other undesirables. This entire area is overcrowded, and reeks of filthy matted Skaven, of offal and excrement, of waste, and of dying Skaven. The air is close and foul, and the caverns themselves are fairly dark, illuminated occasionally at intervals by torches or other means of illumination. In the few outlying tunnels live the Skaven outcasts and other parasitic types. Beyond that, are guarded tunnels to other communities.

Female Skaven
Female Skaven make up less than a quarter of the Skaven population. The reasons for this are numerous. Many Skaven females die under the squalid conditions they are kept under. Skaven female newborns are often either killed and eaten by their mothers, or neglected of care and die. The lot of all female Skaven is a terrible one. Most are sequestered in filthy breeding warrens, where they merely sit and wait for the conjugal visits of the Clan Chieftain and his Clan Guard. Skaven females are seen as useless in Skaven society beyond their reproductive purposes, and few if any female Skaven escape this fate.

The female Skaven can look forward to bearing between three to five litters of squealing newborns, with each litter consisting of up to a score. Of their progeny, around a quarter may survive into adulthood.

Skaven Economics
Skaven economics is pure and simple, the strong take what they want. Whenever a Clan comes into wealth, the highest leader of a Clan, whether it's a Clan Warlord or Clan Chieftain, they get first choice. Then their Clan Guard and then Clanrats get to choose. Anything left over is passed down the line. Food is distributed only a little more fairly, and countless numbers of times have hungry Clans revolted against the reigning tyrant and sated themselves on their Clan Chieftain's corpse and his Clan Guard.

In allegiance to the Clan Chieftain, the lesser Skaven are given stuff to ensure their loyalty, with the Clan Guard it is the best food, best weapons, and possibly entrance to the breeding warrens. With the Clanrats it's weapons and armor and prestige over the rest of the masses. For the artisans and others, it is security from random and unpredictable acts of cruelty from the Chieftain and his guard.

On the Clan level, a large number of weapons and slaves change hands. The whole system cannot just be bartered. Instead, every Clan who seeks to be recognized by the Council of Thirteen, will surrender twenty percent of their Warpstone Reserves to the care and protection of the Council of Thirteen. These are known as Warpstone Tithes. A Clan does not have to tithe, but then the Council will refuse to hear any motions from the Clan, essentially ignore the Clan, but still expect the Clan to obey Council Decrees. These Warpstone Tithes are put in the Warpstone Reserves. Each Clan tithing Warpstone receives in exchange large enchanted tokens called Warpstone Tokens due to their representative value of that amount of Warpstone that they placed in the reserves. A Clan may always tithe more than ten percent, and receive even more Warpstone Tokens. Any Clan that holds the Warpstone Token literally holds the deed to that amount of Warpstone in the Council Vaults. The Warpstone Tokens may only be enchanted by Grey Seers, and therefore cannot be counterfeited. These Tokens are used in exchanges for large number of slaves, for grain imports or exports, or for the hiring of mercenaries. The Warpstone Tokens are so valuable that only under these or in treaty or diplomatic exchanges are they used. They are a currency only used on a large macro-economic scale.

Skaven Politics
Skaven politics is Machiavellian at best. The nature of Skaven society means that everything goes. Conspiracy, plotting, back stabbing, assassinations, intrigue, spying, scheming, violence, and treachery are all acceptable as long as one is cunning and strong enough to pull it off. This behavior in this rat-eat-rat world of dark ambition is central to Skaven society, and highly respected and valued. In this environment, the strong will reign over the weak, strengthening Skaven society. The reality though is that all this discord severs ties, and lives and power are lost in self centered grabs for power and in the resulting squabbling and conflict. Skaven society is one vicious circle of violence, influence, and treachery, which none are able to escape. To let one's guard down for even a moment will result in a well placed dagger in the back.

In Skaven society, the strongest element is the Cult of the Horned Rat and the Council of Thirteen. Yet even here the ambitions of the Grey Seers in the Cult usually result in epic Byzantine betrayals and treacheries for control, favor, and advancement in the Cult.

For Warlords, their position is a very precarious one. Having overcome the rivalries of their opponents by putting them to the sword, the Warlord is now in a position where his followers are so many that the Warlord must rely on other Skaven to help maintain power. Many of these Skaven advisors and assistants harbor wishes to attain similar power and influence that the Warlord wields. The Warlord will often find himself betrayed by his own advisors, as factions battle opposing factions or as a garrote slips around his neck as he enters his Breeding Warrens...

The Clan Chieftains share similar problems with the Warlord. While not as powerful or feared by the Clan Warlords, their position is still one that is greatly coveted. And many Clan Chieftains find themselves betrayed by their advisors or Clan Guard in a bid for power. The lives of Clan Chieftains are typically short and filled with paranoia.

The one group with the fewest fears of intrigue from below are the Council of Thirteen. The favored of the Horned Ones, they have little fear and much contempt for their followers. However, the plotting amongst the Council is so subtle and devious that plots will slowly unfold over the years as the Council members try to undermine the influence and schemes of rival Councilmembers through secretive and indirect means.

In short, politics is a Darwinian feeding frenzy within Skaven society, causing numerous and ever-changing divisions, factions, and political rifts. The end result is a highly unstable society steeped in fear and paranoia.

Skaven Language-Queekish
The language of Skavendom is a twittering language, incomprehensible to humans. The Skaven call their speech Queekish, and it fits their speech and vocal patterns well. To non-Skaven it sounds like chattering and twittering. The written form is known by few, and to non-Skaven look like scratchings or etchings.

Skaven Law
Skaven law, like Skaven society, is decentralized. There is no universal or ever-present authority monitoring the behavior of Clans or their leaders. The closest that exists is the Council of Thirteen and the Cult of the Horned Rat. Although both are powerful, they are often too preoccupied with their own concerns to worry about small Warlord Clans. Within each Clan, the Chieftain has almost absolute power. He may determine arbitrarily what laws should exists, and they are often ordered by decree or on whim. Such laws are never codified, and often discarded with the death of the Old Chieftain. Many times, the laws that are created are often initiated by influential or scheming advisors of the Clan Chieftain.

In matters of religious nature, however, the Cult of the Horned Rat has absolute control. Anyone deemed a heretic or impure may be executed by Cult authorities. No intervention by local authorities will have any legal justification, and only violent force will stop any Cult actions.

The most dominant body and head of the Cult is the Council of Thirteen. Disobedience of an Council laws or decree warrant an instant and irrevocable sentence of death. Interruption or disruptions of Council actions or proceedings result in the same sentence of death. The Council maintains only a few major decrees. The ones punishable by death follow. Many of the Horned Rats decrees are listed on the Pillar of Commandments.

Only Grey Seers and the Warplock Engineers of Clan Skryre may practice magic.
No defamation of the Horned Rat, the Cult, or of the Council.
No plotting or conspiracies against the Cult, the Council, or any of it's agents.
No contact with humans, Elves, or Dwarves without prior consent and supervision by Council Agents. (This excludes captured slave labor).
No disruption of Council rituals or rites.
No distraction of Council agents in the performance of their duties.
No disobedience of direct Council orders or decrees.
All available aid must be made to any Council Agents requesting it.
Any violation of the above tenants is enforceable immediately by any Council Agents. Failure to aid in the execution of offenders is in defiance of laws in aiding Council Agents, disobedience of Direct Council orders or decrees, and the distraction of Council Agents in their duties, and will result in the offender being executed, up to three time if necessary!

Skaven Religion
Nearly all Skaven follow the Horned Rat. Within the Underground Empire, this worship is universal. Isolated Clans will turn to worshipping other Chaos gods, normally either Nurgle or Tzeentch. Worship of Khorne or Slaanesh is almost unheard of. It is quite common to find small bands and Clans following Chaos armies or serving in Chaos warbands, under Chaos Champions.

A few Skaven Clans, and a very small and secretive faction seeking power in Clan Eshin worship Khaine.

Any deviation from worship of the Horned Rat is considered Heresy by the Council of Thirteen, and Clans worshipping others, when discovered or contacted, are usually purged of any heretical elements, and re-indoctrinated in the Cult of the Horned Rat.

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