The Skaven

The lands south of Alexander are the home of the skaven tribes. Although they have a monarch over their people, the rule is fairly loose and control over the individual tribes is mostly limited to intratribal law and for purposes of banding the rat-men together in time of war.

The skaven are very male dominated, with the bulk of the females living in Illthmar, from which the tribal hunting parties set out in search of food and adventure. Skaven men are not highly social, except with other males while on a hunt. They love baubles and good steel. They are not prone to laugh, laughter being a thing for children and fools in their culture.

They have mastered the working of metals to rival even the dwarves. By 1100 modern, the skaven have developed a weapon called a spiner, a gunpowder based weapon that uses very little powder to shoot a single dart that resembles a darning needle with a bit of inflammable thread trailing behind. The dart is hollow, filled with poison of some variety, usually paralysis, but sometimes fast acting poison. They can fire a spiner once per round, which gets +1 on to hits vs. not wearing plate type armor due to the high penetration of the hardened needles. The bonus applies also to chainmail.

Another favorite weapon developed by this time is the gas globe. It is a hollow glass ball with toxic vapors within it, which are released when the globe is broken. They are lobbed at attackers, with various effects ranging from nausea and choking to paralysis or death, depending on the variety. Users of the device themselves wear a primitive sort of gas mask, which makes them immune to its effects. Some have even been filled with a gas that explodes upon contact with outside air. The globes are made of metal, with glass windows that break when they strike the ground. The explosion blasts metal shrapnel everywhere.

At times of war, the rats are called together by use of an artifact called the Screaming Bell. It is a 12' high bell mounted on a large wagon pulled by a team of horses. The metal is of unknown origins, but it has the property of chiming in tones unheard by most humanoid creatures, while being easily heard by the skaven. The striker of the bell can also call upon magical forces within the bell to lash out at opposing forces, including lightning bolt and mass sleep. The wizard attending the bell is the Grey Seer, who is accompanied by the Striker.

The skaven in general are not fond of humans, often stealing from them, and this dislike is shared by the humans of the kingdom of Alexander, especially by the people of Seestadt and the surrounding farming communities. One of their major enemies are the black horde, the forces of goblin, troll, and orc of the southern mountains. For the most part, the skaven and men seldom war.

Illthmar is located south of the jungle of Yinto, the abode of the forest goblins and savage orcs, which are the sworn enemies of the skaven. Passage therethrough is very dangerous for them. Thus they stick mostly to their kindom and to the mountains and sea surrounding them. Any travel to raid mannish races is done by boat. A large shipping port is located on the west of Illthmar. Trade is mostly in metals, both precious and steel. They sell much of it to the Empire in the far west by sea, though an occasional spelljammer is traded with.

By 1100, spelljamming is no longer the obscure and hidden magic that it once was. Illthmar is a minor Jammport, as are many of the larger towns of Asterland. Passage is expensive on the ships, but not outside the reach of adventurers, especially if they are willing to work for their boarding as shipmates or men at arms.