Talk:Skaven

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Here is the original tale from the Wikipedia. This tale seems different from the one currently here. Which is more accurate according to current Warhammer lore? In the Warhammer universe long ago, before the founding of [[the Empire (Warhammer)|the Empire]], a great city was built in the place now known as the [[Blighted Marshes]]. Men lived above ground and a great dwarven city was also built below the ground. Men and dwarves lived in harmony for many years. - - One year, a council of the wisest men and dwarves of the city decided to build a great tower in honour of their gods. The tower was to touch the sky and pierce [[Heaven]] itself; it would be the greatest building man or dwarf had ever created. So construction of the tower was duly started. Men and dwarfs worked on it for years; years turned into decades, and generations passed with the builders passing their great task on to their sons. After almost one hundred years of construction, the tower was nowhere near finished. One day a hooded man appeared at the gates of the city. The stranger conversed at length with the council and offered to help them finish the tower within a night as long as he could add a small part of his own design to the massive construction. The council agreed. - - Sure enough, the tower was finished by the end of the night. The townsfolk crowded round, gazing in awe at the giant wonder. When the council inquired what the stranger had added, he replied that he had added a huge bronze bell to the very top of the tower. The stranger demanded payment for his work, but the council refused — there had been no mention of payment in their deal. The stranger warned that if he did not receive his payment by midnight the next day the bell would ring thirteen times and a terrible curse would be placed upon the city. The council laughed at this statement and had him thrown out of the city. - - On the stroke of midnight the following night, the bell at the top of the tower began to chime. It was a terrible sound that would wake the dead; all the townsfolk rushed out of their houses, alarmed at the disruption. The sound caused some men to go mad. The bell struck thirteen times and then stopped abruptly. The stranger appeared at the top of the tower, appearing like a tiny speck on its surface. - - The next morning, rats began to swarm around the city, eating people's food and causing a nuisance. On the second day, foul [[warpstone]] began to rain down upon the city. The city's crops were ruined and the rats began to mutate and grow fat under the influence of the foul substance. On the third day, rats began to gather in groups and attack humans, dragging the weak or young off to devour them. Food was in short supply and the citizens began to worry. - - On the fourth day, with the warpstone continuing to rain down upon the town, the dwarfs began to grow wary, and retreated to their underground city to ride out the danger. They entered through the gates that morning, magically sealing them behind them. The Men within the city became furious at what the dwarfs had done, abandoning them to face this plague alone. after two long days of locking themselves within there halls, the men of the city demanded to be alowed within there tunnels for refuge. To which the dwarfs blindly refused. However, after the third day passed, and the men returned to demand refuge once more, there was no reply from the dwarven halls. Only Silence. - - On the fifth day, several of the rats began to walk on two paws and managed to start simple communication. Many of them roamed the streets devouring corpses and sometimes — if they were bold — entering houses and slaughtering their inhabitants. - - On the sixth day, the bell tolled a final thirteen times. All humans and dwarves within the city were dead or dying. The city had been completely taken over by the ratmen, and [[Skavenblight]], capital of the Skaven Empire, was born. - - ''See also: [[Tower of Babel]], [[The Pied Piper of Hamelin]], [[Moria (Middle-earth)]]'' - - This is the only source of information on the origin of the Skaven, but there are theories and speculations on who the hooded figure could have been. --Lygris 20:24, 24 October 2008 (CEST)