Chapter 294 144. No one can escape
(this chapter contains a lot of popular science, be careful to subscribe, and make a meal of dumplings for a dish of vinegar)
Sikke, a strange existence, he offends the world just by walking in this world, why does he The fact that they outlive other Skaven by centuries remains a mystery.
Although Skook was still alive in the mortal world, he was plagued by pimples, oozing sores, fetid parasites, scabs, thick phlegm, and other nasty diseases that fought for dominance within his withered body. But instead of weakening as he grew older, he gained a terrifying vitality as he grew older. The inexplicable vitality and vitality in his body concealed the fact that he was old and suffered from many illnesses.
Perhaps this miracle can only be explained by the fact that the old creature has been blessed by the Horned Rat, and that with the Horned Rat's blessing he can gain new powers from the new plague he has contracted.
In order to show his loyalty to the Plague King Nurgrich VII, Skook dug out his own tricks. Although he lost his eyes, he could observe the world through the shadow of corruption and decay that he radiated.
Although the endless miasma pressure made Skook's body stoop, his reaction was still supernaturally sharp and quick. A lump of flesh had accumulated on his back. It was said that these were the result of layers of abscesses, carbuncles, and boils. As he staggered, the lump would appear under the tattered leather cloak. Disturbing shaking occurs.
The air around Skook was also dimmed by the stench or the tide of parasitic insects. It was difficult to imagine what kind of unclean things could be parasitic on this ancient plague lord.
To Skaven from other clans, Skook is a large, walking, living source of infection. Because of this, he is nicknamed the "Walking Plague" in Skaven society.
The chief of the seven Plague Lords, Skok is the unparalleled Master of Plague. He only obeys the orders of Nurgrich VII, the leader of the Plague Clan.
Because the Second Skaven Civil War was once again in turmoil, after the last advance sent to return to Lustria by the Plague Censer Monks, there was no news, Nurgrich VII once again sent a team including the Skok. The three plague lords returned to Lustria to find the ancient being who had signed an agreement with the plague clan, and to refine new plagues to deal with the subsequent civil war.
Here I would like to introduce the system of the Pestilen clan. The Pestilen clan can also be called the Pestillon family, the Pestilen clan, die! Die! Clan Pestilence, yes! yes! The leader is the Plague Rat King with the title of "Nurglech", just like Malekith's spymaster. His real name is unknown to the world, so it's just a noun.
Nurgrich I was the leader who led this unknown small clan of Skaven to the continent of Lustria, and then launched an attack on the lizardmen after lurking in the continent of Lustria for hundreds of years. war, and then the familiar war between snakes and rats, and then they were driven back to the old world.
After the Plague Clan returned to the old world, that is, in the 50th year of the Imperial Calendar, King Nurgrich I led the Plague Clan to establish a stronghold in the jungles of the Southland and stayed there for fifty years.
In the 100th year of the Imperial Calendar, King Nurglech I sent a special envoy to Skaven Castle, demanding that the Plague Clan obtain the right to reproduce and use one-tenth of the warpstones, and also requested that the Plague Clan enter the Council of Thirteen. What happened? ...The envoy sent was massacred by the Council of Thirteen, and their bodies were thrown out of the Skaven City. Then the first Skaven Civil War broke out.
Due to the peculiar characteristics of the Plague Clan, the dual prevalence of plague and witchcraft, coupled with the constant speculation between the factions of the various clans between the north and the south, brought the war to a stalemate.
The first civil war of the Skaven Civil War lasted for 500 years. In the 500th year of the Imperial Calendar, the Eshin clan, which had been dispersed for a long time, returned to the Skaven Mordor from the Cathay region in the Far East.
Soon, with the emergence of the Eshin clan, who are good at assassination, the stalemate in the Skaven civil war was instantly broken. When the Eshin clan in black swore allegiance to the Council of Thirteen, the southern warlord leader and the rebellious clan Long and plague lords began to disappear on a regular basis.
As the power of the south continued to decline, finally in the 600th year of the Imperial Calendar, King Nurgleich I requested to negotiate with the Council of Thirteen. The assassinations and attacks against him along the way failed. When he arrived at the Skaven Castle , he told the members of the Council of Thirteen that he carried a vial of the plague, and if he died here the plague would break out in Skaven Mordor.
In doing so, King Nurgrich I felt like he was going to the meeting alone with explosives strapped to his body. He said that he would unreservedly hand over the resources of the Plague Clan to the control of the Thirteenth Council, and humbly obey the authority of the Thirteenth Council. but! He demands a duel in order to award Clan Pestilence a seat on the Council of Thirteen.
The rules of the Council of Thirteen are very abstract, like a counter-clockwise clock, but there is one more number than the clock. The thirteen numbers representing the will of the Great Horned Rat are listed at the top, followed by the numbers to the left of the thirteen numbers counter-clockwise. One is the supreme lord of the Gray Prophet Council, and the following numbers represent each clan, and so on. Two and three, as well as ten, eleven and twelve closest to thirteen on the right, are the relatively strongest clans, and those located Six and seven at the bottom are like goalkeepers. They are the most squat and bottom among the Thirteen Councils.
It’s 2019 in the imperial calendar, which is the time where Darkus is now.
The number one person in the Council of Thirteen is Lord Critisrit of the Council of Gray Prophets, the one who was burned to death by the shadow of the Great Horned Rat at the end of time.
The second is the Moss clan. Of course, the lord of the Moss clan is not the familiar Quark Headhunter, but the Skaven warlord Nordwell. Quark is Nordwell's gold medal fighter.
The third is the Grinning Clan. The lord of the Grinning Clan is not the familiar Drizzt Dreadtail, but the Skaven warlord Quichi Poison Claw. If maybe the leader of the Grin clan was Drizzt, the Grin clan might be the bottom among the Thirteen Councils.
There is no need to introduce much from four to eight. They are basically just a stepping stone and a fill-in.
But the fifth one to talk about is the Legu Clan, and its leader, Veris Ironmark, is the fleet commander of the Skaven fleet.
The seventh one is also quite unique. It is the Sickness clan, and it is also the Thrall clan among the Skaven. Thrall, as the name suggests, means slave. It belongs to the Sickness clan because it is a close ally and servant of the Blight clan. This seat gives the Blight clan extra Influence, despite being at the bottom of the Council, is always voted or vetoed at the behest of Nurglech VII.
There are many Thrall clans like this, but those who failed to join the Council of Thirteen thought that these Thrall clans formed a united alliance around the Plague Clan, supporting the Plague Clan's interpretation of the Great Horned Rat's will, and opposing the Gray Prophet the orthodox religious beliefs embodied.
In a word, the Plague clan and these Thrall clans are heretics and alternative in the Skaven society!
The ninth is the Eshin clan, whose leader is the Night Lord Snake, and the Death Master Snake is the leader of the assassins.
The tenth is the Plague Clan, whose leader is Nurgrich VII, and Skook is just the chief among the seven Plague Lords.
The eleventh is the Corrupt Clan, whose leader is Lord Formenkin. The mutant master "Unclean" Slott is one of the most terrifying among the nine Lords of the Hell Pit.
The eleventh is the Skryre clan, whose leader is the warlord emperor Lord Mosquita. Ict Talon, who is good at inventing and traveling the world, is the chief engineer warlock of the Skryre clan.
Of course, no matter whether these leaders are called emperors, lords, or anything else, their titles in the Thirteen Councils are "Lords of Decay."
In addition, these interesting leaders do not appear in the PC game itself or in the DLC called Full Hammer. Only their names and a few words are interspersed in it, like a background board.
At that time, Lord Vax, the seventh-ranked clan and warlord in the Thirteen Councils, fell victim to the end of the First Civil War. Lord Vax died at the hands of Nurgrich I in a duel on the clock tower platform, and the plague The clan successfully squeezed into the Council of Thirteen seats.
Because of the Eshin clan's side in the civil war, the Plague clan, which could have won and overthrew the Corrupt clan, the Skryre clan and the Council of Gray Seers, managed to squeeze into the Council of Thirteen in this way, thus gaining the eternity of the Plague clan. Hatred.
Later, another Plague Rat King inherited the name of Nurgrich and became Nurgrich IV. He became active in 1111 of the Imperial Calendar. At that time, the Black Death was raging in the old world. In the next four years, Half of the Empire died from this terrible plague.
The current Plague King is Nurgrich VII, and the current time is 2019 in the Imperial Calendar, and the second civil war among the Skaven is in full swing.
In 1850 of the Imperial Calendar, after the catastrophic failure of the Red Plague that raged in Bretonnia, the Decline Lords of the Thirteenth Council saw an opportunity and demanded that the heresy of the Plague Clan be driven out of the Thirteenth Council. After months of intense political manipulation, blackmail, bribery, threats, and assassinations, the Council of Thirteen finally voted to decide the fate of Clan Blight.
Interestingly, on the day of the voting, Nurgrich VII tried to lead the Plague Clan to seize control of the Thirteenth Council, declaring that the existing Lords of Decay were heretics! Many small warlord clans eager for opportunities in the opposition came with the Plague clan. Then, of course, a battle broke out. The Council of Thirteen came to a standstill, entered a state of anarchy, and lost control of Skaven society.
The strange number seven has an inextricable connection with the Plague Clan, such as Nurgrich VII and the seven Plague Lords under him, as well as the seat number he received when he entered the Council of Thirteen.
These seven plague lords have various noun titles.
The first one is "The Right Claw of the Plague Rat King". It has the title of the first seat among the Plague Lords, and it has been held by Lord Skook for a long time.
The second one is the "Deacon of Disease", this position is held by Lord Skremanks.
The third position is the "Grand Vizier of Abscesses", and this position is held by Lord Grich.
The title of the fourth Plague Lord is unknown, but Lord Krygos Berserker holds this position.
The fifth one is "Plague Word", which is a bit special. This position is held by the leader of the Disease Clan who ranks seventh in the Thirteen Council.
The sixth person is the "Plague Master", who is also the person in charge of the Infection Conclave. It is currently held by Lord Varioles. After Varioles was killed by Skook in the end, the seat was vacated. By Lord Grilock.
The Contagion Conclave are perhaps the most morbid of all Plague Monk sects. Their primary duty is to tend the cauldrons in which plague is stewed, and they are not just simple potion alchemists. They are also the most virulent group of Plague Monks. The robes they wear are known as the worst polluters in the world. When fighting, they either lead the charge or control the plague furnace.
The seventh Plague Lord's title, duties, whereabouts and identity are unknown even within the Plague Clan, and are unknown to other Skaven clans outside of the Plague Clan, much to the confusion of the other clans. , including the Essin clan who are good at spying on intelligence. Even Lord Critisrit of the Gray Seers Council did not know the identity of this plague lord. There is speculation among the Gray Seers that this position may be held by the Plague Rat King himself.
Next are the countless plague priests. Their status is second only to the plague lords in the plague clan. They lead their filthy compatriots to create the latest diseases, always searching for the ultimate plague that can weaken all countries.
It was the Plague Priests who incited the righteous fury of the younger Plague Monks of the clan, teaching them the scriptures of hatred and intolerance of other customs, these loyal and fanatical Skaven dedicated themselves to their holy cause. Giving.
Within the inner workings of Clan Blight, each member does not pursue personal wealth, but is completely maniacally focused on their master's work. It is these sick but loyal plague priests who enforce the harsh discipline. Under the guidance of the ruling plague lord, the plague priests are responsible for leading daily rituals, recording and monitoring the latest strains of powerful diseases, which are not only forced on prisoners, but even It can also be transmitted to other Skaven and the Plague Monk himself.
For these enthusiasts, these tailor-made diseases are not feared but seen as a blessing. To them, becoming a walking altar is the goal of every Plague Priest, and they lead by example.
In combat, the Plague Priest can spew black death or curse his enemies from afar, causing them to erupt in searing boils. They possess abominable but powerful magic, and when the outcome of a war is particularly important to the Plague Clan, they may even approve the construction of a Great Plague Furnace to assist the clan in its sacred mission to destroy all enemies.
Within the ranks of the Plague Priests, some display white or gray hair and horns, features that mark them as Gray Seers, the orthodox mage-priests of the Horned Rat God, according to the ancient rituals and laws of the Skaven. However, as Plague clans often do, the clan defied the Council of the Gray Seers and kept the Gray Horned Rat descendants within the clan, raising them with plague doctrine and teaching them the knowledge of the plague.
Next are the Plague Censer Monks with the title of Foul-Stinky Object. They are the reserves who will become Plague Priests, and then there are the Plague Monks at the lowest level.
The Plague Clan is said to be a clan, but from a certain perspective, it is more like a group of fanatical religious elements with strict hierarchies and systems.
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"It's time for you to go!" Uter, the leader of Nurgle's army, looked at Lord Skook and looked at him, with a weird expression on his face. Then he spoke seriously again, and the sound of the last word seemed to contain all the evil in the world.
The other plague lords and plague monks present frowned when they heard this sound, muttering a breathy hymn in their mouths that sounded like the buzzing of flies.
Uter looked at the rats in front of him with some boredom. He thought that the rats in front of him had attracted the group of guys here. What he had to do now was to tell the rats to get out immediately, and then close the door of the Amyrlin Room. He has perfectly hidden himself and the Amyrlin Room. He has been doing this for nearly six thousand years and has never failed.
At that time, they came to Queza and survived the plague. When the leader of the clan, Nurgrich I, was preparing to lead the remaining Skaven through the passage back to the old world to reorganize their clans, they encountered a man deep underground in Queza. Very scary stuff. There was a creature that had never been seen before. Resting on the filthy Jade Throne was a bloated Chaos Demon with the same oozing ulcers as the Skaven. Sores, foul odor, and large blistering lesions.
In order to save his despicable skin, King Nurgrich I desperately promised everything that was left in the clan to the Chaos Demon and the Great Horned Rat. So under his leadership, the Skaven in the clan chose to accept those who had almost killed them. A plague of total destruction.
On that day, these Skaven truly became the Plague Clan, heretics in Skaven society, and carriers of plague, disease, and filth.
From that moment on, the power of the Plague Clan began to grow crazily. The Plague Clan submitted to the supervision of their demonic masters, and in return they gained secret knowledge about disease and plague. They reconnected the channels of the spiritual network to Wu The Amyrlin Chamber where Uter is located, and assures Uter that this will allow Uter to connect directly to the energy of the Old Ones.
When these plague-carrying Skaven reappeared in the Lustrian jungle, a plague swept across the entire continent. These plagues did not subside for centuries. Whenever a plague became extinct, A newer, more terrifying infection will appear, and the process will start over and over again. During this time, the Skaven of Clan Pestilence continued their unholy experiments, expanding their network of caverns beneath the continent of Lustria, only to release new experiments from the Cauldron of Thousand Pestilences. The disease only appears on the ground.
This period of plague without relief or forgiveness continued until Tehenhoin appeared and the war between snakes and rats began.
Utr existed long before the Skaven first came to Lustria. During the Great Invasion, he came here with the Nurgle Army led by the Great Unclean One. He was hungry for power and left. The large army chose to come under Queza. When he came out again, he found that the army had evacuated and was replaced by the group of lizardmen. Not wanting to return to the Chaos Demonic Realm, he chose to return below Queza and lurk. When he got up, he also took the giant cauldron down while the lizardman army was not paying attention.
Since then, Uter has lain dormant in the Amyrlin Chamber beneath Queza for centuries, drawing power from the great web of spiritual veins left behind by the Old Ones. In order to avoid attracting the attention of the ever-vigilant Slann Demon Priests, he only drained a small amount from the spiritual veins at a time.
For a Chaos Demon born in the Chaos Demon Realm, the magical wind contained in the giant spiritual network is a completely unfamiliar type, and transforming this power is also a difficult and time-consuming process for him. But as time went by, he finally found a way to absorb the power left by these aliens, process the power, make it his own, and destroy the guards and defenses of the spiritual vein network to better manipulate the power.
What followed was that the lizardmen stationed in Queza continued to die mysteriously after the great invasion.
Since Uter signed the agreement with the first Nurgrich, his ambition has become more and more swollen with more power links. He feels that he is not close to returning from hibernation and spreading pain, disease and plague to the world. The time is coming, and if he achieves this great deed, perhaps he can use it as a way to declare war on his master, his dear father, the Lord of Disease.
In the Amyrlin Hall, the other two plague lords present looked at Si Ke, waiting for his order, while he hesitated for a while as he looked at the green bubbling cauldron of Thousand Plagues about to prepare a new disease.
"Follow your orders, let's leave here right away!" After Sikke saluted Ult, he made a rotten tone in his mouth.
The two plague lords and plague priests present breathed a sigh of relief.
On the other side, the battle was still going on. The plague monk who was blocked and retreating was irritated by the unpleasant smoke in the plague furnace and became furious. Amidst the screams, the two wars waved their weapons and opened the way forward. The monitor lizard pounced.
Compared with the crazy ratmen, the two war giant lizards' fighting style is also very wild, but their wildness is still stable and methodical. They fight in a small space, one behind the other, one behind the other. Standing on the left and right, they kept swinging the long-handled weapons in their hands.
The plague monks kept flying backwards under the blows of the two war giant lizards, or they exploded into a ball of flesh and blood on the spot, but they were still rushing forward crazily.
Standing behind the war lizard were three lizard-human ancient blood warriors and the two skink lizards Tehenhoin and Insi-Huz.
Except for Tehenhoin who casts spells and Yinxi Huzi who uses long-range weapons, the three lizard-human ancient blood warriors couldn't go up at all. After coming out of the enlightenment room, the passage became narrow again and could not accommodate so many fighting bodies. position, they could only keep roaring manically from behind.
Similarly, except for Kami and Insi-Huzi, who had not experienced the war between snakes and rats, the other lizardmen present knew that they had hit a big fish this time under the guidance of Umak.
Behind him, Chakas was still roaring and arranging the temple guards to protect Shakspati's formation. He did not dispatch the temple guards to support the battle ahead. His mission from beginning to end was to protect the Slann Demon Priest from any attack. harm.
The Drukhi did not choose to move forward, but were waiting for Shakspati to wake up to decide the next step.
"Leave it for now! We will deal with it later. Listen up! No matter what the purpose is, any kind of secret hiding is strictly prohibited!" After Chakas finished making arrangements, Darkus glared at the Druchs, especially the women. The warlocks said seriously that he knew that Hal Gancy's group of Cain believers also played with poison, and would go to Ulthuan from time to time to experiment with it, but he was not interested in things like poison and plague; There is an innate sense of rejection, and he does not want Ulthuan and Lustria to be filled with these things, and it will be too late.
However, Darkus did not cut it across the board and ordered them all to be burned. He planned to focus on the next step. If he could avoid Seven, he would arrange for appropriate sorceresses to study it. In his opinion, these things could bring The terrible plague can also gain knowledge on prevention, avoidance and treatment.
After a while, a star stone representing the medieval world floated up, flying quickly towards the passage ahead.
Darkus looked at the star stone flying past, and he cracked his mouth and showed a cruel smile. He knew that Shakspardi should have found the main passage to the old world, and the star stone would serve as Shakspar Ti's vision anchor point, allowing the temple guards waiting at the save point to teleport there.
The next thing will become easier to handle, just close the door and beat the dog! No one wants to run away!
After Shakespati had done all this, the team behind them started marching again. On the way to the research room, the team also discovered that the extended tunnel had many branching roads, but the team did not choose any so-called division of troops. Instead, Shakespati entered the state of perception again, and then except for the hammer held by Shakespati, the other star stones flew to different channels.
"Unholy existence!" Before the star stone could fly back, Shakespati opened his bulging eyes and roared angrily.
Then, the team moved in the unknotted direction. There were no Skaven guards along the way. There were only messes, feces and disgusting stench everywhere. The team carefully looked at their feet as they marched. To avoid stepping on anything dirty with the soles of her shoes, Shakespati simply crossed her legs and floated in mid-air without Chengyu's support.
"Is this?" Silsis, who was holding a harpoon crossbow and barely holding up his shield, rushed to the front of the team with his two sons. He was stunned when he saw the scene in front of him. He saw something in the shadows. A pair of bright green eyes were staring at him. He had experienced many battles, but he was still a little hairy when he was stared at. It was a kind of direct gaze from the soul. It seemed that he was being stared at by something strange at that moment. Being stared at, he pulled the trigger of the harpoon crossbow without thinking.
Hearing the sound of the harpoon crossbow's trigger being pulled and the sound of surprise in their father's mouth, Dorian and Julian directly fired the harpoon crossbow's trigger without thinking.
Then Malekith, who swaggered in, glanced at the fussing Sirsis and his son, shook his head slightly, and then released a light spell to illuminate the huge circular room.
The green eyes are not beasts or Skavens at all, but a one-meter-high altar with a bloated spherical object placed on the top. Its most prominent feature is the protruding outwards on its forehead. of double horns. The green eyes under the horns could no longer light up at this moment. Two harpoons were poured in, and another harpoon was shot into the forehead between the horns and the eyes.
The smooth walls surrounding the room were marked by the Skaven with a black, foul-smelling liquid that seeped down from the ceiling and walls, eventually disappearing beneath the altar.
Darkus waved his hand and walked over, resisting the suffocating stench.
"Be careful! Don't touch those liquids, unless you want to contract yellow head fever!" Colonia, who was walking behind Darkus and saw what the liquid was, shouted loudly, reminding Druch around him.
"I can feel there is corruption here!" Maranur, who was standing at the door, also shouted loudly. He did not choose to come in at all. He knew how much he weighed. Compared to his sister and brother, he was just An ordinary male Druch, so... standing next to this big toad is the best solution. After saying this, he turned his head and showed a polite but embarrassing smile to Chakas who was looking at him, and then He tried to move closer to Shakspati again.
But Chakas was not used to Maranur's shortcomings. He turned the star stone hammer staff sideways to block Maranur's approach. In his opinion, these hot-blooded species could also threaten Shakspati's existence. , just because of the existence of Umak, otherwise his hammer and staff would have passed by.
Even without Colonia's reminder, the Druchi who gathered around would not be stupid enough to reach out and touch the liquid and the altar itself.
At this moment, a strong stream of putrid air spurted out like a fiery breath, blowing out from the cracks in the wall behind the altar.
Malekith, who felt the flow of Aegir's wind, immediately waved the Sun Flame Sword and activated the energy in the sword to offset the air. Through the steel ring, he discovered that there seemed to be something behind the altar?
"There is something behind the altar." Malekith pointed at the strange place with his Yangyan sword.
Darkus walked cautiously in the direction pointed by Yangyan Sword.
"There is something, but it needs to be brighter."
After hearing Darkus' words, Drusala immediately cast another light spell, and a bright magic light ball floated over.
As the light source came closer, Darkus saw a brief golden light reflected deep inside the opening.
"There is indeed something!"
(End of chapter)