Come sit a while, join the feast and listen to tales of gallant knights fighting to uphold noble virtues and spread the beneficence of the Summerking... These are the sickly-sweet words that the seneschals of the Flesh-eater Courts believe they are uttering – though their enemies instead hear only the guttural howls of ensorceled mania.
For these are not the chivalrous knights they believe themselves to be, so much as sallow-skinned cannibals twisted by an ancient curse. They are hideous fiends raising banners of flayed flesh and brandishing weapons steeped in festering gore, suffused with the reek of death as they pillage and devour.
Their delusion stems from their liege Ushoran, the Mortarch of Delusion. At his behest they assemble in royal courts ruled by abhorrants – bestial vampires who spread their lord's madness far and wide. They rule their fiefdoms with unique brutality, and might be called to crusade in a twisted mirror of true chivalry. Those unaffected by the curse see them for what they truly are, however: roving hordes of hunched cannibals draped in gore and viscera.
Overview
Ushoran, the Mortarch of Delusion, is one of Nagash’s five most prominent lieutenants, and some consider him the most powerful of them all. Once the most noble of the Mortarchs, he fell victim to this terrible curse. Some claim, however, that he had always been an abomination, his noble countenance simply a projection of his terrible delusion.
Taking umbrage with his new attitude, Nagash imprisoned him in the Shroudcage,* an oubliette from which he eventually escaped to spread his bloodborne curse across the realms. This gave rise to the first of the Carrion Kingdoms, in which vampires who tasted his blood joined him in his curse and became loci for his maddening deception – establishing their own courts, and filling them with retainers like judges, clergy, and executioners.
They preside over the rotting husks of strongholds long since abandoned by any sane mortal, a twisted perversion of a standing army – ‘footmen’ armed with bone cudgels, ‘knights’ riding gruesome steeds, and hunched ‘champions’ with sharpened fangs.
The ultimate tragedy is that these really were once humans who have now succumbed to the curse. As their bodies atrophy, so too do their souls and minds, but the shared insanity of the Flesh-eater Courts provides a kind of solace.
Battle Traits
The shared delusion is so powerful that the Heroes of the royal court prove their worth by performing Noble Deeds: injuring foes, casting spells, or invoking miracles, with which they inspire their underlings. This manifests as a Feeding Frenzy to those with the delusion.
Potent acts of valour can rally wavering retainers, and a hero can either put out the call and Muster Guard, or Summon Loyal Subjects. While knights and footmen will lay down their lives, the Royal Blood running through the veins of the abhorrants has a potent regenerative power, keeping them hale and hearty during combat.
Battle Formations
Though they appear as an untamed rabble to outsiders, the delusion of the Flesh-eater Courts does manifest in rudimentary military doctrine. The Gore-splattered Hunters of the Ghoul Patrol are composed of warbands of menacing Crypt Ghouls who hunt together in packs, and perform synchronised strikes where two can perform Fight abilities back to back.
Other Battle Formations see the lords and ladies of Cannibal Courts step to the fore, rewarding noble deeds achieved in enemy territory. The Lords of the Manor rally more soldiers to the cause, while the Royal Menagerie brings its most ferocious monsters to the battlefield, goading them to strike with unnatural speed.
Arcana and Incantations
Like their Soulblight vampire kin, the abhorrants can wield powerful sorceries. They can use necromantic magic to summon a stampede of undead horses to send an enemy regiment into disarray.
This Corpsemare Stampede can trample underfoot even the most resilient warriors, dealing mortal damage to up to three units it passes through.
Unit Focus
When Ushoran, Mortarch of Delusion, deigns to enter the fray, the enemies of the Flesh-eater Courts are doomed. As the nexus of the delusion, he is a true force to be reckoned with. Even the most sure-hearted warrior may feel their grip on reality weakening when Ushoran grows near, and a moment's hesitation invites disaster.
As the Carrion King, Ushoran inspires his followers to new heights of ferocity, increasing the range of the Feeding Frenzy. The Shroudcage Fragment in his crown can cause up to three units in combat with Ushoran to be forced to strike last, while his Glimpse of Delusion turns enemies upon one other. As the Epicentre of Delusion, he can also warp the delusion his followers are captured in, making them believe they are proud monster slayers or participating in a raucous joust.
When the Sombre Paladin is wrapped up in the affairs of the court and cannot spread his message on the battlefield, he sends Marrowscroll Heralds in his stead. These vile ghouls carry with them bones filled with infected marrow, which they view as sacred objects bearing the King’s Entreaty.
Should one accept the infected bone, mania awaits, burbling speech and frenzied clawing interrupting commands and muddling spells and prayers. In the Flesh-eater Courts, these envoys are viewed as divine messengers, and gurgled yelps of Don’t Shoot the Messenger are uttered as they make their way through the ranks.
The most fervent serfs of the cannibal courts are the Crpytguard. They act as a Royal Bodyguard to the Abhorrants, shielding them with their bodies, their single-minded tenacity granting them and their charge a Ward (5+).
Their Armoury of Madness is steeped in toxin, and one nick from their corrupted edges is enough to shatter the sanity of even the most stalwart warrior, preventing units they’ve allocated damage to from using commands.
Soaring high above the battlefields are the Royal Zombie Dragons which are kept by the courts as beasts of war. These draconic horrors wheel in the sky, awaiting the opportunity to begin a Loathsome Descent.
The Word from the Studio
Jimbo: “It's all about racking up Noble Deeds points and spending them wisely while commanding these delusional cannibals. If your heroes can demonstrate their prowess through enough acts of authority and fruitfully engage enemy leaders in mortal combat, they will inspire their subordinates to fight more valiantly.
“Not only can they incite their followers into greater acts of violence, but they can also rouse their knights and serfs, encouraging them to enter the churn of combat with renewed aplomb. They bring wave upon wave of warriors to the battlefield, overwhelming the enemy in hordes of ghouls with scarlet maws, filthy claws, and rusted weapons.”
Spearhead Spotlight
Questing Abhorrant Archregents know that to keep up appearances with their peers, they must be accompanied by chivalrous knights on fine steeds and saintly paladins to maintain airs. Their Carrion Retainers are also more than capable of driving back any brigands or monsters they might encounter on their travels, but then very little in the Mortal Realms is as feverishly ferocious as a ghoul with an empty stomach.
This Spearhead’s battle traits closely resemble their full rules because the Flesh-eater Courts always pursue their virtues even in the smallest of engagements. Noble Deeds performed by the Abhorrant Archregent and Varghulf Courtier can send accompanying knights and serfs into a glorious Feeding Frenzy, and if the fighting gets too thick, they can Summon Loyal Subjects.
The Morbheg Knights that ride alongside their masters provide the primary punch for the Carrion Retainers, armed with grisly lances that do extra damage on the charge. The Predator's Pounce of the Nightshrieker mounts also lets them dart in and out of combat with unnatural grace, making them hard to lock down.
The Cryptguard retain their ability to shield heroes in battle and come with that all-important REINFORCEMENTS symbol. Their survivability is further bolstered by the Summon Loyal Subjects battle ability, meaning that this retinue of zealous cannibals is incredibly hard to eliminate.
Zeal and fervour remain the order of the day in our next Faction Focus, which will cover the fiery priests and berzerkers and of the Fyreslayers, an order of Duardin who roam the realms as mercenaries in an attempt to reclaim aspects of their shattered god.
* Of course, Nagash would claim that Ushoran had been locked up to prevent his madness from spreading while a cure could be found.