Skavens

Pierre distordante.

La Chute de Kavzar

La communauté fut fondée par un groupe de Nains en quête de gisements de minerai. Peu après son installation, l’une des premières tribus d’humains découvrit également la région. Prenant immédiatement conscience de la richesse des montagnes et du sous-sol, les deux races conclurent une alliance. Les humains et les Nains travaillèrent et vécurent en parfaite harmonie, s’entraidant du mieux possible.
Bien qu’ils vécussent séparés, les humains en surface et les Nains sous terre, les Nains fournissaient la pierre, le métal et les compétences d’artisans nécessaires à l’évolution de la ville des humains, tandis que ces derniers travaillaient aux champs pour nourrir la population des deux communautés. Associée à la prospérité de la région et des montagnes, la coopération entre ces deux grandes races permit à la cité d’atteindre sont apogée en termes d’architecture et de culture en l’espace d’une seule génération. Les techniques de construction et les talents d’ingénieur des habitants étaient les plus exceptionnels qu’on ait jamais vus et il allait falloir attendre des siècles avant que les réalisations d’une communauté humaine n’arrivent à la cheville des merveilles qu’on trouvait dans les rues de cette ville. Le fleuron de la cité était son immense tour, qui reste à ce jour le plus haut bâtiment jamais érigé dans Gorax et qui se prolongeait dans le sous-sol, à une profondeur égale à sa hauteur si l’on en croit la légende.
Toutefois, malgré toute leur science, les bâtisseurs de la cité furent incapables de hisser le dernier élément au sommet de leur tour spectaculaire. C’est alors que l’étranger encapuchonné mentionné dans le mythe de Kavzar fit son apparition. L’identité de ce personnage reste la plus impénétrable énigme liée aux Skavens et n’a toujours pas été élucidée. Les rares fois où ils parlent de leurs origines, les Skavens se réfèrent à ce personnage sous le nom du «Façonneur», et on prétend qu’il appartiendrait à «une race plus ancienne que la leur».
Quels qu’aient pu être l’identité et les desseins réels de l’étranger, l’effrayant pouvoir attribué à la cloche suscite l’incrédulité. En sonnant, elle déclencha une averse, un brouillard et un froid sans fin, emprisonnant la cité autrefois splendide dans une chape de ténèbres et de détresse. Puis vint le déluge de Malepierre, déformant et pervertissant la région à tout jamais. Les récoltes furent empoisonnées, le minerai corrodé et les humains et les Nains décimés par la maladie, la famine et le meurtre. La cité elle-même, dans toute la gloire et la splendeur de son architecture, fut dégradée et corrompue, puis transformée en un labyrinthe cyclopéen dont la hideur était à la mesure de son ancienne beauté. Et tandis que les habitants périssaient et que la ville était transformée, des créatures naissaient, qui allaient dévorer les rares survivants et feraient à jamais leur foyer de cette parodie de cité. Les hommes-rats étaient nés d’un massacre et leur tout premier acte en ce monde fut un génocide.
------ But the Rat Catchers know more than they let on. Behind the façade of grimy faces and hard eyes, they know that something far worse lurks below the streets. Certainly, if you ask them they will deny it, but the truth is there. You can see it in their faces when they hear the scrabbling click of claws on the cobbles, or when they see the tattered silhouette of some bent creature peering out from an alley. They know there are things that look like rats, but are far larger. Things that walk upright like men. No mere Beastmen, these creatures are far too cunning and wildly dangerous.
-----

Culture

Common Customs, traditions and rituals
The Skaven have a society rich in idiosyncrasy and customary behaviour. Most of these are completely unknown beyond the boundaries of Skaven society and would probably appear strange, pointless and possibly barbaric to an outsider but are rigidly observed within it and in some cases are observance is essential for survival. Flattery and Creative Grovelling Respect is the cornerstone of Skaven culture. All Skaven leaders expect to be given copious and creative demonstrations of respect and deference from their subordinates. Keeping one’s nose lowered to the proper level at all times when in the presence of a superior might appear somewhat amusing to a casual onlooker, but the constant head bobbing of every Skaven in the vicinity is essential if one is not to inadvertently cause offence. Raising one's snout higher than that of ones superior is considered a direct challenge to his rights and authority and can result in instant aggression and death. However, it is also mandatory to provide the customary degree of flattery and grovelling when forced to address ones superior directly. This flattery can take many forms, but is typically verbal in nature. Offering one's superior creative euphemisms is an art form in Under-Empire communities. The more creative the improvised flattery, the more likely that the flatterer will be trusted and favoured by his master and thus rise higher in rank amongst his peers. Examples include, “Yes-yes, shrewd-clever master,” “most merciful of potentates,” “killer-killer of man-things,” “boldbrave leader,” and so on. A less savoury demonstration of deference is the ability to show or at least create the appearance of fear. This is particularly important in situations where one's master is angry or stressed and includes both visible trembling and the ability to release the appropriate musk of fear from ones urinary tract on demand. Demonstrating the proper level of fear when your master is angry is an essential survival tool for any subordinate in Skaven society.

Genocide and Breeding

Whenever a change of clan leadership occurs one of the first acts of the new Skaven warlord is to secure their future and the loyalty of their followers by removing and replacing all the former warlord's subordinates with those of their own choosing. It is also common practice to kill and devour any juvenile Skaven remaining within the clan warrens. This is viewed as a celebratory dinner of sorts, which guarantees that the former clan leader genetic line ends with its offspring. Most of the mature descendants of the previous warlord are allowed to live and kept as slaves by the victors. However, they are never allowed access to breeding females unless they manage to distinguish themselves and rise above their new positions of servitude. From that point on all breeding will be restricted to the new warlord and his favoured minions.

Marking

Marking is a common behaviour and custom amongst Skaven that involves urinating upon, or rubbing urine onto, anything that belongs to you in order to mark it as yours. Skaven feel more comfortable when their possessions smell as they do, and marking is an excellent way for them to impregnate their gear with their own inimitable scent which makes it much easier to find in the dark. High-ranking Skaven even mark their subordinates, who in turn mark theirs to their subordinates, and so on and so forth. So, that packs of Skaven all share the smell of their leader and can naturally find each other through scent alone. Skaven also leaves small marks behind them as they travel. It is akin to leaving a trail of breadcrumbs so they can find their way back to their homes. In some cases, the Skaven refrain from marking their paths, especially when they are attempting to disguise their presence.

Nose Elevation

Body language plays a large role in Skaven communication. Posture, especially, is an indication of a Skaven’s attitude towards his peers, underlings, and superiors. Nose elevation has already been mentioned under 'Flattery and Grovelling' above but whilst it is always important for a lesser Skaven to keep their noses below the level of their master, it is equally important to keep it higher than those whom you consider being your inferiors. It is this constant need to review and adjust one's nose height that results in the rather idiosyncratic and amusing scenario of entire rooms of Skaven who are seemingly bobbing their heads up and down at random because each is attempting to give the necessary respect to those above him while at the same time maintaining his superiority over those close by who are below his station.

Superstition

The Skaven are a superstitious race with a wide variety of credulous beliefs. Notable amongst these is their hatred of cats, of which they have an almost instinctive fear. Cats of all colours are seen as signs of ill omen by the Skaven, and white cats are especially unlucky. When sacking a village or town, Skaven raiders will invariably hunt down and kill every cat that they can find, throwing their corpses upon large pyres after severing their tails. Dogs, especially those terriers commonly employed by rat catchers, are given a similar treatment. However, not all Skaven beliefs involve their fear of predators. For instance, legend has it that an entire army of Skaven was once lured to its doom by a Human playing upon a set of pipes. The story of the piper is told at banquets, and pipes are traditionally shunned by Skaven musicians as a result. Instead, the Skaven prefer bells of all sizes and tones when composing their own manner of discordant music.
Verbal Abuse of Minions Just as it is customary for Skaven to flatter and grovel to their leaders, so it is normal for their leaders to demean their underlings with a constant stream of mild verbal abuse and light chastisement. In doing so, Skaven leaders reinforce the worthlessness of their servants in relation to themselves. A Skaven who fails to insult his minions properly fails to maintain the proper chain of command. In many circles, failing to publicly slur one’s subordinates is akin to treating them as equals. This is one Skaven custom that rarely goes unobserved. --------

The Council of Thirteen

The Council consists of the Warlords of the Four Great Clans plus seven other lesser Warlords. The Seer Lord claims the twelfth seat, and the Council reserves the thirteenth seat for the Horned Rat. No others are permitted to sit in his place. To do so would be heresy. Though largely symbolic in nature, it is said that the Horned Rat’s seat is occasionally taken by a shadowy figure with luminous green eyes. Whether this is an avatar of the Horned Rat or merely a Warpstone-induced hallucination is unknown.

Nom Scientifique

Ogro Dawos Ratus