Clan Eshin
Clan Eshin is one of the four great Skaven clans. It specialises in the deadly and secretive arts of stealth, murder, poison and assassination learned from the exotic Far East. Compared with all of the other clans that populate the Under-Empire, Clan Eshin is by far the most secretive and hidden of them all. This mysterious Clan has eyes and ears everywhere and its deadly operatives are scattered throughout the Under-Empire as well as secreted about within the cities and settlements of the surface dwellers. For the right price, the black-clad agents of Clan Eshin will steal any information, commit any act of ruthless sabotage or assassinate any rival with ruthless efficiency.
Considering the treacherous nature of the Skaven, it is of no wonder that Clan Eshin has become so powerful and so feared. In a race filled with sneaking, scampering cut-throat killers, the warriors of Clan Eshin rank many times above the petty vermin. Clan Eshin provides an unseen force with which the Council of Thirteen and other powerful Skaven Warlords maintain or gain their position of power. Within the highly feared Caverns of Unyielding Shadow, the Clan Eshin district deep in the bowels of Skavenblight, many treaty-pacts are claw-marked and the doom of many rivals is assured.
Structure
- Nightlord - Political and diplomatic leaders of the Clan who usually have a seat on the council of thirteen.
- Deathmaster - Highly skilled veteran leaders of the clan's assassins, often with very advanced skills and specialised weapons.
- Assassin - Eshin Assassins are capable of infiltrating virtually any fortress and eliminating any enemy. The Council of Thirteen regularly uses them to eliminate rebellious warlords and disloyal Grey Seers. Their services are also sold to whoever may afford the price demanded by Clan Eshin. They are capable of committing sabotage, like burning ships or houses and poisoning wells and food supplies. Operating mostly alone, they are also capable of concealing themselves inside a regular Skaven infantry unit to better slay an enemy champion amidst the confusion of battle.
- Gutter Runner - Gutter Runners are nimble and quick; they would have to be to have survived their apprenticeship in the ranks of Clan Eshin’s Night Runners. They are elite skirmishers and scouts, second only to Eshin’s Assassins in the art of stealth and speed. Their attacks are quick and effective, frustrating their enemies as the Gutter Runners appear, attack, and vanish just as quickly in a flash of smoke or a splash of shadow.
- Night Runner - The Night Runners are considered the rank and file soldiers of Clan Eshin. Lightly armed and armoured so as to take advantage of their tremendous speed and agility, the Night Runners excel at flanking manoeuvres and lightning-fast attacks. They cannot stand long against heavily-armed or armoured opponents and are best kept in a reserve role unless no other course is available. Despite their limitations, they are often thrown into the fray as necessary, their lives sacrificed en masse.
- Initiates - Clan rats selected as potential Night Runners.
- Slaves - failed initiates or less promising Ratkin used for menial work and emergency food.
Public Agenda
To secure power and respect through the skilful application of stealth and murder.
History
Early in the history of the Skaven, Clan Eshin stole away to the Far East. Eshin was thought to have been lost for hundreds of years, but the Clan mysteriously returned to Skavenblight to offer its allegiance to the Lords of Decay.
The time spent exploring the lands of Nippon, Ind, and Cathay had served Eshin well, for the clan had gained significant training in the arts of stealth and assassination. The assassins of Clan Eshin are rightly feared by all Skaven. They come silently, dispense death with uncanny accuracy, and return to their warrens with their foes none the wiser. Their methods are seemingly supernatural, and the shadows appear to cling to them like spiderwebs.
Rarely are their faces shown, for they hide them behind cowls and masks. Clan Eshin is not merely a den of assassins. Because of their stealth, their fighters are also prized as spies and scouts. Eshin sells its services to the warlords, offering skirmishers and light troops that can infiltrate the rear of an enemy’s line to scout enemy formations or dispatch leaders, wizards, and other valuable assets. Eshin also maintains a powerful cadre of informants from which they draw a great deal of useful information.
Eshin is shrouded in mystery, much more so than the other Great Clans. Little is known about the clan’s inner workings, and this information is well-hidden from prying eyes and ears. Skaven who learn too much about the assassins have been known to wind up dead, or worse, which ensures that the clan will sustain its secrecy in the centuries to come.
Information is a prized commodity amongst Clan Eshin’s population, and secrets are not given away for free. It would seem that Clan Eshin strives to increase its own wealth and power in the Under-Empire by lending its services to anyone willing to pay their exorbitant prices.
They have yet to use the secrets they have learned for their own power bids or to provide false information to their clients for their own benefit. The clan has simply worked its way into the good graces of the Lords of Decay and continues to serve the Council unquestioningly. Whether this obedience will continue is a question that future generations must answer, but for the time being, Clan Eshin is virtually untouchable.
The Loathsome Ratmen and all their vile kin - The Black Library 2004;
Children of the Horned Rat (2nd Edition Fantasy Roleplay
Warhammer Armies: Skaven (7th Edition
"All Clans fear the assassins. They envy-hate them for their power-strength. Assassins kill-kill Skaven and many Manthings. To the Lords of Decay, the assassins are valuable tools that should not be squandered like hapless Clanrats."—Skreelin Thurntik, Grey Seer.
"We will give-show these manthings the true face of diplomacy!"—Iksha Fastclaw, Nightlord of Clan Eshin.
Type
Guild, Assassins
Alternative Names
The Death Bringers
Parent Organization
Location
Related Ethnicities
"You owe your fur to the Nightlord!..."—Deathmaster Snikch, Chief Assassin of Clan Eshin
"Is it possible that the Skaven are no less than a manifestation, a dark and morbid reflection of man's cities, his civilisation, even his fears? Are not the Skaven, their religion, and their foul dank world not just a growing shadow and a dark twin of mans deep and barren nature?"—Passage from "The Malefactorum", by Professor Theodosius.
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