Beastmen
From Lexicanum
Beastmen are partly human and partly animal creatures. Their minds too are a hybrid of man and beast; although they have the intelligence of humans, they employ it with the savage cunning of a wild animal.
Beastman are known as the Children of Chaos, and this is true quite literally, for they are unnatural creatures, born from men and beasts when Chaos first brought its scourges upon the world in the cataclysmic Time of Chaos.
Throughout the world, Beastmen thrive upon the edges of civilization, raiding isolated farmsteads, villages, and other settlements. They are most numerous towards the north, such as the dark forests that cover The Empire and the harsh wildernesses of Kislev. They are found in the greatest numbers throughout the Chaos Wastes of the northern and southern polar regions.
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Society
Beastmen live in nomadic bands lead by Beastmen Champions of Chaos. Beastmen have a natural empathy toward Chaos which overcomes any hatred they may have towards other races, so that Beastmen bands often ally themselves to other forces of Chaos, small bands even joining the ragtag warbands of mutants and renegades lead by non-Beastmen Champions such as humans and fighting their battles.
Types
Several distinct breeds of Beastmen make up the seemingly unordered hordes of Beastmen.
Gors are the most common type, distinguished by the fact they possess horns. Gors are a broad class comprising more specific types. Below the Gors are the lowly breeds which look to them for leadership.
Caprigors are the most common breed of Gor, recognizable by their goat or sheep like heads and legs, along with, more importantly, their curling or straight goat horns. A Caprigor with these mutations and no others is called a Truegor, and are stronger, braver and more intelligent than other Caprigors.
Bovigor are bull or ox headed beasts with cattle horns. Bovigors are also bullheaded in their nature, being very competitive and prizing brute power over any form of subtlety. Bovigors free of any mutation besides a bull's head and legs are considered Truegor.
Ungors are much more variable in appearance. They possess some form of horns, but the Ungors themselves are not recognizable as either Caprigor or Bovigor. The most favoured Ungors might possess a spectacular array of horns, or a single, fine horn, but most have only small or misshapen versions, which other Beastmen find contemptible.
Brays are the lowly breed of Beastmen. Their name refers to the braying cacophony they make when they feast or fight together. Brays can appear in any form, and are mainly distinguished by the fact they lack any kind of horns.
Turnskins are humans who at a later stage of life began to develop mutations. Ostracized and despised by their former peers they had no other escape than to flee human society. Many of them become renegades and some manage to join a beastmen tribe who will accept them as slaves.
Gaves are Beastmen born to normal human parents. Some parents attempt to hide their child's deformities while others will kill it but many mutant babies are abandoned near a forest, or set afloat in a river on a raft of reeds, to die of hunger and exposure. These creatures rarely die however, as the ears of Beastmen are always alert to the cries of their own kind. These foundlings are adopted and raised by Beastmen, who consider such a child a gift of their own fell gods.
Bray-Shamans are the intermediaries between the tribe and the Gods. The majority are not powerful enough to challenge the tribal leader, but some ambitious ones are more than willing and able to fulfil both positions. Shamans can spirit-walk in the Realm of Chaos and commune with the very daemons of the Chaos Gods. From these daemons he can seek advice or receive information of future events, which he can then relay to the chieftain. Spirit-walking is achieved through dreams or by the Shaman drinking themselves into a comatose trance.
The mark of a Shaman is that each eye is a different color. One eye might be red and the other blue. The specific colors are believed to signify the favor in which the Shaman is held by a particular Power. A Shaman might repeat the colors of his eyes in his robes, so that he might display the favored colors of the Chaos Gods.
Beastwomen are female and, compared to the beastmen, are shy and gentle [1].
Warherds
As befits such a primal and warlike race, the only social unit is the warband, called the warherd. Each warband has its own leader and shaman and the rivalry between different warbands runs deep. On occasion some or even many warbands are united by a ruthless and powerful warlord into a large savage horde. A rather undisciplined force, when led by an proper leader they can be very dangerous indeed.
Warbands are nomadic, living in temporary camps hidden within wildernesses such as forests. Caves near running water and with a good view of the surrounding terrain are considered the ideal camps. Eventually, after raiding nearby settlements, the warband moves on, establishing a new camp some distance away. Clashes often result between two warbands over a particular territory.
A warband comprises the many forms of Beastmen as well as the other allied creatures of Chaos such as Dragon Ogres, the monstrous Minotaurs, Centigors, and Chaos Warhounds. Beastmen generally disregard the use of anything but close combat weapons, as their instincts in battle are almost purely on closing with the enemy and fighting in direct combat.
Religion
Most Beastmen seem to worship Chaos as a whole. However some of them worship one of the four major gods.
Magic
The Bray-shamans are able to wield Dark Magic and use the lore of the wild.
Language
Beastmen speak Beast Tongue, a dialect of the Dark Tongue. It is a mix of bestial sounds, the Dark Tongue, and local human languages.
Notes & sources
- White Dwarf 124, Chaos Beastmen (extract from Realm of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned)
- Ansell, Bryan; and Priestley, Rick (1990). Realm of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned.
- Warhammer Armies: Beasts of Chaos (6th Edition)
- Warhammer Armies: Beastmen (7th Edition)
