Wardokk

A Wardokk.

Wardokk are potent orruk shamans that serve as the attendants, advisors, and bodyguards to the Wurrgog Prophet of their Bonesplitterz warclan.^[1a][2]

Role

Wardokks enforce the orders of the Wurrgog Prophet and take part in the various rituals the warclan performs to channel the Waaagh!. They are also responsible for riling up the mobs for battle, which they do via everything from elaborate chants and dances to simple smacks upside the head. In battle, they lead the Kop Rukks; the Morboys of the rukk are often the only ones who can understand a Wardokk who has really gotten into his dance.^[1a][4a]

Their ability to talk others up is a valuable skill when the warclan interacts with other followers of Gorkamorka, and their ability to convince multiple individuals that each one of them is simultaneously the biggest and the best - honed through years of managing orruk egos - makes them surprisingly effective diplomats between the various strength-obsessed Destruction cultures. (Provided they remain calm enough to be intelligible to non-Morboys.)^[5a]

Ritual Dances

The most important responsibility of a Wardokk is the knowledge of his warclan's ritual dances. While being able to shout loudly or catch others' attention with strange movements are not talents in short supply among Bonesplitterz or orruks in general, Wardokks are capable of catching Gorkamorka's attention with their dances. This talent, refined by practice and advice from their Wurrgog Prophet (often a former Wardokk himself), allows Wardokks to call upon mystical forces when they dance.

Common dance types include:

• Weirddokk or Weird Dance: A stamping and shuffling dance that calls up a boiling font of Waaagh! energy that can be harnessed by nearby Bonesplitterz shamans to power up their spells.^[1a][3b]
• Grimdokk Dance: An erratic but somehow rhythmic dance that revives flagging spirits and revitalizes the injured. The dance often involves spitting on open wounds and grabbing loose bits of allies (like an arm on the ground or some innards that have become outards) and sticking them back where they should be with worrying force, but it seems to work just the same.^[1a][3b][5b]
• Glyphdokk or Ju-ju Dance: A potent spirit-jig that charges up Bonesplitter tattoos and emboldens those who see it. Tattoos writhe like living things and glow with extra protective power, while their bearers find themselves willing to face great danger without flinching^{[1a][3a][3b][5b]}

Magic

As acolytes of the Wurrgog Prophet, Wardokks are not limited to channelling the Waaagh! through dance. They are capable of more conventional spellcasting; while they may not have the skill of the Wurrgogs, they also do not have the contain quite the same amount of raw Waaagh! energy.^{[1a][3a][3b][3c]}

Promotion

Should a warclan's Wurrgog Prophet die, one of the clan's Wardokks will normally succeed him. There is not usually a power struggle since the Bonesplitterz believe that Gorkamorka will make his choice clear through some sign. Green lightning striking the chosen successor or whirling spirits flying from the dead Wurrgog to one of the Wardokks are possible ways for the Great Green God to show his favour, but the exact sign is unknown until it happens.^[1a]

Equipment

Wardokks carry Bonebeast Stikks, heavy clubs often festooned with various charms and noisemakers to enhance their dancing. They usually carry or wear a number of similar noisy or flashy items to make sure they're noticed. It's also not uncommon for them to wear a ritual mask or helm made from a beast that they've killed.^{[2][3a][3b][3c][5a]}

Notable

• Wardokk
• Furgruk

Gallery

• 

  A Wardokk.

Notes

• Before the release of Battletome: Bonesplitterz (2016) this unit was named Savage Orruk Shaman.^[3c]

Sources

• 1: Battletome: Bonesplitterz (2016)
  • 1a: Kop Rukks, pg. 34-35
• 2: Wardokk product description
• 3: Warscrolls
  • 3a: Wardokk from Battletome: Bonesplitterz (2016)
  • 3b: Wardokk from Battletome: Orruk Warclans (2019)
  • 3c: Savage Orruk Shaman from Grand Alliance: Destruction
• 4: Battletome: Orruk Warclans (2019)
  • 4a Power of the WAAAGH!, pg. 32
• 5: Soulbound: Champions of Destruction
  • 5a: Wardokk, pg. 30
  • 5b: Talents, pg. 69-78