Derko Walrusbiter
Derko Walrusbiter was a Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant who fought in the Siege of Excelsis. He was killed by Morathi-Khaine during the battle for the city's harbour.[1a][1c]
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Personality
Derko was considered the brains behind the Gallet Stomp; the Big Heel of the Stomp, Huge Thargo, was his nephew, as were the Stomp's other three Mega-Gargants.[1a][1b] He was clever enough to convince many of the gargants living around the Coast of Tusks to join the attack on Excelsis and to conceal his gargant force's approach to the harbour by using the attack of an orruk flotilla as cover.[2a]
He was known to have a weakness for hallucinogenic fungus ale.[2b]
Wargear
In the Siege of Excelsis, Derko fought with a giant tentacle ripped from the sea monster known as the Terror of Izalend.[1c][2b]
History
Derko was the first gargant to pledge loyalty to the newly revived Kragnos, and he became the de facto leader of the gargants who flocked to the Earthquake God as he journeyed across Thondia. When Kragnos encountered Gordrakk in Donse, Derko fought in the ensuing battle.[2a]
After Kragnos and Gordrakk reached an accord and the two armies marched together towards Excelsis, Skragrott the Loonking struck a deal with Derko: in return for recruiting the Mega-Gargants of the Coast of Tusks to attack Excelsis at the appointed time, Skragrott would ensure that the Kraken-eater would get all the fungus ale he could ever drink and first pick of coastal territory after the city fell.[2a]
Derko, an old hand at navigating the coast and familiar with the locations of many coastal gargant lairs, quickly assembled an impressive force of nearly two dozen gargants, including powerful Mega-Gargants like Long Dobb, Grottob the Gullet, and Drukka the Siren and her sisters. When the time came to begin the assault, the gargants' swimming skills and ability to hold their breath for long periods, when combined with the distraction of the raucous orruk fleet landing, meant that Derko's force made landfall without the loss of a single gargant to the coastal defences or local sea predators.[2a]
The gargants simply stepped over the shield walls of the defending Knights Excelsior and Astral Templars, who couldn't very well pursue them with the orruks also attacking them. Derko and his companions then set about wrecking the harbour district.[1c][2a]
When a Scourge Privateer fleet arrived and began to pepper the attacking gargants with poisoned harpoons, Derko rushed back out into the surf and dove into the waters of the harbour, emerging moments later to grab the prow of the Black Ark flagship and begin smashing the giant ship apart. Unfortunately, the Black Ark was carrying Morathi-Khaine, and she wrapped intangible coils of shadow about his neck before suddenly coalescing into solidity, ripping his head off with twisting force.[1c]
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