Nagash desires nothing more than to turn the Mortal Realms into a stifling necrotopia, where the immutable stillness of Death reigns supreme. To him, the Gnarlwood is a stain on existence, and though he has sent his Pyregheists to burn it to the ground, a new worry has overtaken him. Nagash loathes change, evolution, and all things that defy his iron control – should he inadvertently free the lost Seraphon temple-ship within the Gnarlwood from its choking arboreal prison, its life-bringing realmshaper engines could spread their vile influence far and wide.
In response, he has deployed the Teratic Cohorts to watch over the entrance of the Ravening Ruin. These are Ossiarch Bonereapers who have failed the Great Necromancer in some way, transformed into mocking forms and dispatched far from his glorious legions as outriders and guard dogs. Despite their bestial appearance, these constructs are still fiercely loyal to their master – or at least, driven by a forlorn hope of regaining his favour.
A Kavalos Centari leads each Teratic Cohort, their keen military mind coordinating the defence. For their failures as a Liege-Kavalos, they have been punished with a centauroid form, their construct body combined with a Deathrider mount. Cognisant of their past failures, they pursue orders with desperate vigour.
The Centari must know how best to harness the Unleashed Rage of their bestial warriors. This ability allows any member of the warband to cleave through enemy units by doubling up a critical hit, and a canny commander can discard two saved wild dice to score two extra criticals instead.
Manipulating wild dice is part and parcel of the Teratic Cohort’s powers in Warcry, and this pool of resources would run out quickly without the ever-watchful Eyes of Katakros, a powerful
ability which can be used once per battle round to create more wild dice. These outcasts are always under the gaze of the Mortisans, who spy on them through the monocular nadirite eyes embedded in the skulls of the Kavalos Centari and the Mortek Cykloptians.
The body of the Teratic Cohorts are flocks of Aviarch Harpies, created from those Morteks who allowed their prey to escape, and packs of skeletal hounds. Teratic Prowlers are crafted from Mortek soldiers deemed somehow defective, reforged into pseudo-canine hunters who relentlessly track their foes.
The feral energy lingering in their beast-bone bodies makes the Teratic Cohort tough to put down in a fight, and they will respond to attacks with a Predatory Ravage, instinctively lashing out in focused flurries.
With these skills and more, the Teratic Cohorts are ready to go claw-to-root with the malformed warriors of the Twistweald. They will be available first in Warcry: Briar and Bone, which is up for pre-order on Saturday.