Beastclaw Raiders
 | |
| Grand alliance | Destruction |
| Associated factions | Ogor Mawtribes |
| Main grouping | Alfrostuns |
| Races | Ogor |
| Mounts | Mournfang Stonehorn Thundertusk |
| Creatures | Blood Vulture Frost Sabre Icefall Yhetee |
| Prayers | Everwinter Prayers |
| Scenery | Great Mawpot |
| Warbands | Hrothgorn's Mantrappers |
Beastclaw Raiders are a type of Ogor tribes that wander through the Mortal Realms, devouring everything in their stead, leaving nothing but a wasteland of cracked ice and frozen bones.[1] The cold winds are the harbingers of their coming, their vanguard emerging from behind whirling snowflakes.[2] Followed by the supernatural blizzard called the Everwinter they are constantly driven to find fresh hunting grounds ravaging the regions in their path.[4a]
Origin
The origins of the Beastclaw Raiders are shrouded in legends of the Age of Myth. It is said that the Beastclaw were once favoured warriors of Gorkamorka until Baergut Vosjarl, the first Frost King, betrayed Gorkamorka and was punished with the first Everwinter while others claim Sigmar cursed the Beastclaw tribe for their gluttony creating a winter storm to deny their prey and other legends claim that the Everwinter is in fact Winter Gods who were freed by ogors when they opened the Icefell Vaults of Shyish where they were imprisoned by Nagash and now follow the ogors to give them the gift of endless cold.[4a]
Society
The Beastclaw Raiders are known to speak a mysterious language known as Svoringar .[4]
Hunting
They are consummate hunters, with sharp senses, cunning tactics and a ability to relentlessly wander the realms stalking and looking for prey. Armies and empires are their targets quickly become food and fuel for their campfires, leaving behind them nothing but a lifeless and frozen wasteland.[2]
They are known as masters of wilds beasts and highlands predators, known to use them in their hunts. They prefer coldblooded beasts, creatures of ice and snow that cover the earth in crunching frost, like Frost Sabres, Blood Vultures, Yhetees, Mournfangs, Thundertusks and Stonehorns, often using the last three as mounts.[2]
Mawtribes
- Boulderhead Mawtribe: Considered unmatched beastmasters by other ogors, they are also known for extreme and excessive cruelty. [3]
- Thunderbellies Mawtribe: Living in the Realm of Chamon, they favour speed over brute force, though there’s no shortage of the latter as they attack in tight-knit hunting packs. [3]
- Winterbite Mawtribe: The tribe uses thes the unrelenting fury of the Everwinter storm to mask their movements. [3]
- Splinterguts Mawtribe: Infamous for playing both sides in the War of Life in Ghyran, joining with whoever can provide the better meat.[5c]
- Jarkan Mawtribe: A mysterious tribe with an unusual affinity to their Everwinter.[5c]
- Vintrbad Mawtribe: A cruel tribe of ogors serving as mercenaries of Archaon and regarded with suspicion by other ogors.[4][5c]
Religion
They worship the aspect of Gorkamorka known as the Hungering Predator.[2] They believe that the god exists all around them, especially in the cold and wind of the Everwinter. The spiritual leader of a tribe, the Huskard Torr, communes with the cold and weather to discern the will of Gorkamorka.[5a]
They believe that the Everwinter claims to their dead and so do not generally eat their fallen as their Gutbuster cousins do. If they did so and the storm was denied its due, it would only pursue them with greater ferocity.[5b]
Rituals
- While the Beastclaws do not normally build permanent structures, they are known to mark a place of particular importance, such as the site of a great feast or a successful hunt of a magnificent beast, they might erect a monolithic Heng Stone - actually a huge shard of ice - carved with runes and an image of Gorkamorka.[5a]
- Before an important hunt, a tribe might curry Gorkamorka's favour by erecting a Svorgork post of bones and rocks atop a high peak. They tie to the post their finest meats, whether cuts already prepared or prisoners still alive, for the cold to claim.[5a]
- It is considered bad luck for two Beastclaw tribes to meet each other unexpectedly, so when this happens (and the tribes don't end up fighting each other) they participate in the Alarok, a joint hunt of a great beast followed by a feast. The ritual requires both tribes to eat side-by-side from the beast's carcass and to devour it all in order to prevent bad fortune from befalling them both.[5a]
- When multiple Beastclaw tribes meet deliberately, it is for the Vosok Torr - the Great Meet. The Frostlords of all the tribes share in a feast, and then the tribes set out under the cover of their combined Everwinter on a great hunt.[5a]
Sources
- 1: Battletome: Beastclaw Raiders product description
- 2: Grand Alliance: Destruction - Beastclaw Raiders, pg. 92.
- 3: Beastclaw subfactions on Warhammer Community
- 4: Battletome: Ogor Mawtribes (2019)
- 5: Battletome: Beastclaw Raiders (2016)
| Destruction | |
| Fimirach • Monsters of Destruction • Sons of Behemat | |
| Gloomspite Gitz | Aleguzzler Gargants • Gitmob • Moonclan • Spiderfang • Troggoths |
| Ogor Mawtribes | Beastclaw Raiders • Firebellies • Gutbusters • Maneaters |
| Orruk Warclans | Bonesplitterz • Greenskinz • Ironjawz • Kruleboyz |
