Name: Tharzu Severclaw
Age: 7
Race: Skaven
Gender: Male
Fur Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Red
Height: 3’8”
Weight: 69 lbs
Occupation: Mercenary
Alignment: Neutral Evil
*Race:
Skaven stand usually around or just less than four feet tall, possessing an average lifespan of about 20 years. Although an important thing to mention is that their leaders, the grey furred rats often live much longer owing this to life prolonging drugs or magic. Skaven are usually rather slim, with extremely high muscle mass providing their high dexterity. They are covered in fur, on all places other than hands and feet, red, grey, brown of color and usually short and stubbly. Black furred Skaven are said to be pure, ruthless killers, the most vicious of Skaven. The humanoid rodents have long, rat-like snouts from which protrude two incisors. Their rat-like eyes are red or black of color, their ears pointy and furry on the outside. Skaven practically possess every decisive trait of a rat, such as sharp teeth and a tail to add to the aforementioned. They are not to be considered lycanthropes though, nor are they in any way related to them. Additionally a thing to take notice of is the Skaven’s resentment towards goblins and other “green-skins”.
All Skaven possess Dark Vision, meaning that over the centuries this race has lived underground their eyes have become attuned to seeing clearly within the enclosing darkness.
In the Skaven hierarchy, the color of one’s fur determines one’s position. Thus…they are as follows.
Grey (Leader) – Grey furred Skaven are often the driving minds behind entire armies of the humanoid rodents. Ninety percent of the time these creatures attune themselves to magic skills, serving as prophets or a medium to contact the Skaven deity – “The Horned Rat”. Their intelligence and wisdom exceeds that of any normal Skaven by far, they are extremely versed and deceptive, making them a sincere threat to any other race.
Black (Special Ops) – Black furred Skaven are used mainly as assassins, they have a ruthless and cold demeanor to their already pronounced killer instinct. They are to be considered the most fearful of the Skaven being faster, stronger, smarter, and better than the “rest”…
Brown (Warrior) – Brown furred Skaven belong to the normal warrior caste. Their lives are predestined, for all they are to do is serve the Clans and follow orders without questioning. Nonetheless they are not to be underestimated, regardless of their stubbornness and narrow-mindedness they are fearful combatants and tacticians.
Red (Servant) – Red pose to be the lowest caste within the Skaven hierarchy. The exist to serve the other breeds in every moment of their worthless existence. In wars they are often sent out as cannon fodder or messengers.
White (Researchers) - White Skaven possess the intellect of they grey brethren, but lack the cunning and ambition to truly lead the Skaven Hordes. They instead love nothing more than to tear something apart to see how it works. Oftentimes they experiment creating machines or monstrosities from those the Skaven kill or capture. The Skaven often stay clear of the tunnels leading to the Scientists area, lest they become the next experiment.
Personality:
Not differing a great deal from his kin, Tharzu is rather narrow-minded and hard headed. The rat being is rather jittery, speaks extremely erratically, and finds it hard to sit still for even the shortest period of time, making him unnerving to people not used to contact with the restless race.
Unlike the rest of Skaven, Tharzu does not share their common cowardice. Regardless of how forlorn a battle seems the furry little critter will not back down. He has also proven to be slightly more intelligent than his many brothers, concerning the manipulation people.
What is more important though is the first impression the critter will leave in peoples’ minds. At first encounter Tharzu appears very light-hearted and joyful, adventurous, spontaneous, and daring. All of those traits are definite parts of his character, traits that make him who he is, nonetheless there is more to him. The fact that he is a Skaven almost naturally gives him a backstabbing nature, meaning that if his own benefit overweighs that of another he will ruthlessly betray them – unless of course a very strong bond exists between him and the other, such as a friendship based on a life saving act. Additionally Tharzu would never strike down a befriended Skaven, making him thankful not to have been born with black fur.
Tharzu is also known as a heavy drinker amongst those considered friends, and he can certainly hold his ale…Many a grown man of at least six feet has lost in drinking challenges with the humanoid rodent.
Due to his low education concerning other languages than Skaven, his means of communication are rather simple: “Tharzu want glass of Ale!”, “I no like this”. To every other race he will refer to as a “thing”, for example: “Human-thing, Elven-thing.” Additional to his rather primitive way of talking comes that his voice is rather squeaky and rough…basically like that of a rat.
Appearance:
Tharzu is possesses an unnaturally bulky asset of muscles for his caste. He’s easily as strong as a grown human, needless to say as fast and agile as any Elven warrior. Upon his furry brown body hang torn, beige rags of sorts that serve as a sponge for blood spilled upon the Skaven warrior in battle. Above the rags on his upper body lies a thick leather vest, reinforced with a thin steel plate. Over his head and snout runs a thin spiked nose bone guard, steel of material. Either of muscular upper arms is clad in steel bracers adorned with six inch spikes protruding from the upper half. His well defined underarms are clad in hard leather bracers of simple workmanship. The Skaven requires no shoes as they would force him to shorten his claws and therewith take away the ease with which he can clamber himself rather rapidly up whatever objects.
Skills:
*Skaven Physique: Being a Skaven means being blessed with an extremely healthy set of muscles. Their muscles can support at least twice their weight in most cases, and allow the Skaven to exercise utmost speed and endurance. A Skaven’s usual size improves the agility he can move with, making him – added the Skaven speed – extremely well at dodging attacks of sorts. Their sharp claws and teeth not only serve as last resort weapons, but also as climbing tools.
Specific Information:
Example of Power: 1.5 times stronger than your average, well trained, human warrior.
*Skaven Darkvision: Being related to the rat, Skaven prove to have extremely well vision within darkness. Nothing changes of color, things simply seem brighter to their eyes allowing them to speed through darkness and shadows without the slightest insecurity of where to step.
**Rodent Rage – Tharzu is forced to submit to his rage when angered or wounded immensely. His physical attributes multiply in a sense sheer unthinkable to any normal human being (2 x Human Warrior Norm). With ease Tharzu will be enabled to smash and drive his fist through objects of very dense (hard) material. Tharzu’s physical attributes all multiply in capacity (speed, strength, agility). Additionally his entire body becomes numb, blending out all sorts of sensory and pain. The downside of awakening from this fit of rage when being wounded greatly is that he will then feel the full effect of his wounds, if not more, just as any other being. The result of this could possibly even be fatal depending on the dimension/extent of the damage done to his body.
Characteristic Information:
- Tharzu’s eyes become glazed with some sort of mucky fluid, almost pitch black of color when he becomes the victim of his rage. Another thing that will increase is the favoring of using his own body to butcher and dispose of his opponent rather than using his blade.
Specific Information:
- Example of Power: Under the effect of “Rodent Rage” Tharzu is able to smash his fist through a wooden tree.
- Duration: Two posts (Battle) / 5-10 Minutes (Quest)
Out of Character:
(*) = Passive Ability
(**) = Circumstantial Ability
- Tharzu does not possess a single magical/sorcerous skill or ability, thus his physical capacities are to be considered above average.
Items:
Tharzu possesses a 50ft rope which he carries diagonally wound across his torso.
Weapons:
- 3 Foot Serrated Blade (Steel)
- 1 Pest Bomb/Grenade (Sturdy glass ball, to be handles and thrown like a grenade. On forceful contact it will break and emit a baneful gas, often primarily blinding an opponent and/or causing nauseating to gagging reflexes. If the Pest Grenade is thrown at another Player Character it is as their discretion to decide what effect it takes.)
Armor:
- Wooden buckler reinforced with steel framing and lining. From the middle of it protrudes a five inch spike. Adorning the outside of the wooden buckler is an arcane Skaven symbol (see Skarsnik’s Avatar)
- Hard boiled leather vest, reinforced with a thin steel plate.
History:
Tharzu was born a brown fur, leaving him predestined to a life of brutish wars to fight. From the moment he could open his eyes the young ratling was taught the ways of combat, training and sparring every day. Amongst the horde he was all but insignificant, thus it didn’t take long for him to spark the interest of the grey furs. Immediately after being taken notice of Tharzu was appointed special training, and the schooling in advanced war strategies. The mentor he was appointed was around the age of 16, a veteran of Skaven warfare one could say.
Only few years after being under the supervision of Raknar Severfang, his mentor, Tharzu had come to find how horrible Skaven politics could be. Raknar had become a sort of father to Tharzu, teaching him everything he knew with zeal and great effort – and he did not only teach him the ways of war, but also of life. It didn’t take long for Raknar to prepare his makeshift son for the lead position of a Skaven battalion, and thus came his proposition to the grey furred to assign Tharzu to such a position.
A couple short days latter, to his mentor’s proposition, Tharzu received word that he would be taking the lead position of an important Skaven battalion. Overjoyed and anxious to report the message to Raknar Severfang the young Skaven rushed to the quarters of his mentor. What he saw there was possibly the most shattering moment in the young ratling’s life up ‘til then.
His master lay lifeless beside his desk, his stomach and throat slit wide open, in a pool of his own blood and gut. Shocked to find out by a myriad of rumors that went throughout the Skaven cities, that his mentor had been the leader of the battalion that Tharzu was appointed struck the young ratling harshly. Not wanting to become the next victim of the Skaven politics, Tharzu forged plans to escape the under dark. So much was clear, even to the slightly hard-headed and narrow minded Skaven youth.
He knew it wouldn’t be an easy deal, for would he be seen escaping…well…the penalty for “traitors” was the death sentence. On a day where half of the capital was fully occupied with dispatching almost every patrol and force to an ongoing war Tharzu decided it was the perfect day to escape the clutches of the vile grey furs and their deathly politics.
He grabbed his possessions and ran for his life, from his quarters into the many tunnels threading themselves through the under dark.
The Skaven sped through the pitch black tunnels as fast as he could, only a silent tapping of his paws to be heard upon the damp ground. Soon he came to a forked tunnel, one way leading back to Skavenblight – the capital of the Skaven nation – the other leading to what he considered freedom. Then suddenly as he stepped forth into a larger chamber, ready to sprint into the direction of the world that lay above, a figure dashed into the corner of his eye. His entire body came to an abrupt halt, his claws screeching across the stone ground. It was a Skaven that stood at his side, one of the researcher breed with white fur. There they stood, both dead in their tracks, staring quietly at one another.
Lastly the silence was broken as his obverse spoke, “Leave Grey furs?”
"...Yes..." Tharzu replied timidly, "...me no agree grey furs."
“Grey furs kill too much…we go together?” Skarsnik asked carefully.
Tharzu, startled to have found a fellow he could seemingly trust, replied with joy, "I agree you, we go together!"
"Me Skarsnik, you?" The other said introducing himself to his fellow traitor.
"Tharzu my name, happy meeting you." Tharzu replied, returning to an eased posture.
However, the short alliance was cut even shorter by the sounds of others heading up the tunnels. Skarsnik looked at his companion before he began to run for the exit hissing, “Run before grey furs kill us!”
“By horned rat!” Tharzu squeaked as his feet lashed into movement.
“There bright light! We almost there!” Skarsnik squeaked as he tried to redouble his efforts reaching the end of the proverbial maze.
The two deserters dashed down the dark tunnel, both at an utmost effort not to have their life ended here. They raced towards a distant, miniscule light, a light leading them to freedom.
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