WHO ARE THE BEASTS OF CHAOS?
Beastmen are wild and brutish creatures that care little for other beings. They have bodies that are half-man and half-beast, usually with the horned head of a goat. In battle, they combine ferocity with a savage lack of discipline, fighting and battling amongst themselves in their eagerness to get at the enemy.
Beastmen willingly embrace their heritage of Chaos, for although they have a semblance of the intelligence of a man, they employ it with the base cunning of a wild animal. Beastmen are not natural creatures: they first came into existence when the polar gateway of the Old Ones collapsed, showering the world with mutating warpstone dust. It worked a dreadful change on many of the ancestors of Man and animals, causing severe mutations. Hence, Beastmen were created - men that became animals, and animals that became men - a mix that is wholly chaotic.
Shunned and abhorred by every other race, the Beastmen are bitter creatures, driven by animal rages and a highly destructive instinct. They do not seek conquest or glory, they fight only to bring ruin to others, to sow destruction and discord and bring other races to their knees. In particular, they despise the humans who they can never be, filled with self-loathing that turns to aggressive hatred. They are a constant threat, hiding out in the wilds of the world, favouring heavy woodland areas where they can remain hidden from the eyes of civilised races. But even in the lands of the south, in chivalrous Bretonnia and the bright lands of Tilea, and far to the east across the Mountains of Mourn, the ancient forests and desolate foothills harbour hidden Beastmen lairs. In the Old World they are particularly populous in the Drakenwald and the Forest of Shadows, but are found as far afield as Cathay, the Southlands, and the massive forests west of Naggaroth.
Beastmen live in roaming warbands led by the
strongest among them. Beastmen
hordes are extremely dangerous in battle; a ferocious horde of brutish
warriors,
great lumbering chariots, packs of slavering Chaos
Hounds and bands of larger
beasts eagerly tear apart any enemies that dare to stand in their way. The
Beastmen pour from their forests in endless masses, stretching across the horizon.
Often the horde breaks quickly into warring factions, for the Beastmen are
Children of Chaos and so order is an alien concept to them.
Beastmen forces are regularly joined by creatures that are wild and powerful even by their standards, such as Chaos Trolls, Giants, Ogres, Centigors, Dragon Ogres and the almighty Shaggoths.
A particularly hated foe of the Beastmen are the Wood Elves. Unbeknowest to most races, a secret war is constantly waged between the Elven folk of Athel Loren and the bestial hordes. They battle for possession of the sacred groves, where magic gathers in large amounts. The Wood Elves secure these places with waystones to absorb the magical energy, while the Beastmen erect their crude herdstones to syphon the corrupting power from the landscape and spill it across the world.
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