Tribes of the North
So, this seems like an opportune time to discuss the indepth and rich lore of the northmen and the upcoming changes (or enhancements) we might expect from the release of the warriors of chaos rulebook on Saturday and the implications these might have on future editions of CoW.
The story so far:
I'll briefly summarise my understanding of their history, I'll limit my ramblings to just the Norscans and the Kurgan as these are the only ones that apply to the mod (and warhammer lore generally), please feel free to add and correct what I say.
On to the little understood Norse: Originally called the Norsii, a fair-skinned people adapted for the cold, they originally peacefully occupied the middle and north of what is now the empire until the warlike Teutogen raiders pushed the Norsii, taking their land, women, and deities (specifically Olric/Ulric), until they fled to Kislev. The few remaining Norsii living on the coast didn't get on well with Sigmar because he sided with their enemies. Eventually they settled in what is now Kislev (and beyond) and ruled over the Ropemenn in western Kislev (and still kind of do so) until the Ungol tribes from the eastern Steppes drove them further North after many great battles. Bitter and spent at this point the Norsii sought the assistance of the less savory deities of their pantheon: the chaos gods. The Norscans of the northerly reaches have been there for the longest and are therefore the most touched and can thrive in the less hospitable northern reaches of Norsca, they have fewer settlements, but more fortresses and are more populace and also more fractious. There are four north-Norscan tribes, the Vargs (horsemen and nomads), Aeslings (the most corrupted, brutal and often allied to the Kurgan), Graelings (the best sailors and pirates) and Baersonglings (the best berserkers and were-bears/wolves). The southern Norscan tribes are the Bjornlings (the most civilised and the usually produces the high-kings), the Skaelings (the best traders and pretty good sailors) and the Sarls (the best mercenaries and fortresses). The southern tribes are also more likely to trade with Norse-Dwarfs and Kislev and the Empire. There are two ways for a Norscan to become a chaos warrior: the first is by great deeds and attracting the attention of a daemon or even the gods themselves, like Wulfrik or Haargroth, that daemon then gifts the warrior with chaos armour: chaos armour can't be made by mere men. The second is to go on a pilgrimage to the wastes or even the realm of chaos itself, like Valkia or Melekh. There are many chaos warriors in Norsca, but they are few when compared to the Kurgan.
The most recent developments in Norsca (leading up to the SoC) is a new High-King: Gustav "The Holy Warrior" Swer after vctories in a holy crusade against Aesling invaders in the Bjornling lands, the two fellow southern kings swear alleigance, the union is called Midgard. After this the Aesling king launches a massive invadasion of the Sarls but are thwarted by Wulfrik the wanderer who is rewarded by an engagement to the Sarl's Princess, but by his hubris he is punished by the gods and is forced to kill the woman he loves and the king leaving the Sarls in a devastated state. In the Baersongling land a new king comes to power: Beorg the bearstruck of Urslo. The Vargs have a new king: Strykaar, champion of Slaanesh. A minor Aesling tribe ravages the land in a civil war between Melekh the changer ( commanding his daemon army) and his son Cyspeth enthralled to the local Shaman. The Graelings produce a great champion of Khorne called Haargroth the bloodied. A small southern Baersonling (The Wolf Brothers) tribe adopts a man from the empire blessed by Nurgle and change their name to the Decayed ones. The Prophet Vaino warns of the coming storm of chaos.
On to the Kurgan:
The inspiration of the Kurgan comes from two obscure places, one is the historical people in the real world also called the Kurgan, they were nomads too, similar to the huns, famous for their rich grave-good culture found in the Pontic-Caspian steppe (and beyond). The other source is that tragically terrible movie: Highlander, the antagonistic, called Kurgan, whose aesthetic tastes are very very comfortable in a Warhammer setting. So in Warhammer the Kurgan are a steppe people, horse-bound and nomadic with a penchant for cruelty, skull decorations and the occasional massive fortress built by hordes of daemon and human slaves. It's occasionally suggested that the Kurgan were the first humans to develop metalurgy (by contact with their gods), much to the concern of the dwarfs and the Elf ambassador at the time: Malekith (the future witch-king). The Kurgan are comparatively mysterious as their Norse cousins are a talkative bunch when mead is involved (which is most of the time). The Kurgan do trade from time to time (particularly the Dolgans), but are a more terse people. Their appearance is also darker, swarthy even. They have a higher percentage of their people touched by the gods and more people are called for a pilgrimage to the North. The Kul tribe is the most southerly and so has the most contact with everyone else, like a crossroad country, because of this the Kul have a long and proud history of producing great warlords that devestate the southlands, like Asavar Kul and Crom and other I can't think of right now.
The big recent events are mostly obvious: Archaon has spent over a century gathering the treasures from around the North and beyond, the eternal battling of tribes endures, Be'lakor plans his escape from infinite insanity. Other (more important) things happened, like the ascension of the first high-king of the Kurgan in generations: Crom the conqueror, King of the Kul, Herald of Archaon, High-king of the Kurgan peoples, lots of titles I know. Crom is a pretty big deal, even before he met Archaon. Obviously not all Kurgan tribes obey Crom, but Crom is still the first among equals, Archaon is like a spiritual leader like the pope (in a total different ball-game), Crom is the political muscle by virtue of his duelist ability works like the holy Roman Emperor, if the pope was like a super bad-ass.
So what changes do we see coming, if any? (I just mean the lore, not the rules, but we can talk about the rules too, that'd just take a long time and a lot of disagreeing).
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Originally Posted by vonVince
