Scourge of God
Those who serve their Gods as flagellants sometimes survive throwing themselves into danger to smite the forces of Chaos and darkness. Those who survive long enough become Scourges of God, mighty warriors for their deity, blessed with a degree of divine protection.[1a]
Scourges of God are often highly charismatic, and gather other fanatics around them. In times of war, they are highly praised by the cult hierarchy, but when peace comes the priests prefer to move them along as quickly as possible, lest they find too many "enemies of God" within the towns or cities.[1a]
Most Scourges of God die bravely in battle, but some do move on, often to other ways of discovering and punishing the corrupt. Scourges of God almost always substitute the name of their God when describing themselves: Scourge of Sigmar, Scourge of Ulric, and so on.[1a]
A Scourge of God exhibits his devotion in a different manner, depending on the god he worships:
- Manann: A Scourge of Manann lashes himself to a ship's mast and undergoes voluntary keelhauling while shouting praises to the Lord of the Seas. The scourge's booming voice rivals the fiercest storms and instills fear in his enemies.[2a]
- Morr: The cold, penetrating glare from a Scourge of Morr seems to peer into a man's soul. To prove their favour with Morr, these fanatics are buried alive for days at a time, after which they report visions from the Land of Death.[2a]
- Myrmidia: Myrmidia's Scourges ride atop palanquins carried by their zealous followers. They go bare-chested into battle and slash their own bodies with knives while reciting verses from the Bellona Myrmidia.[2a]
- Ranald: No one has ever reported seeing a Scourge of Ranald, for the Trickster's ways are secretive. However, several peasant rebellions have been led by raving madmen who might have been devotees of the Protector.[2a]
- Shallya: Scourges of Shallya take the burdens of the world upon themselves by attaching heavy weights to their limbs and wandering among the diseased and dying.[2a]
- Sigmar: Sigmarite Scourges punish themselves with spiked flails. Their zealots carry braziers so Scourges can brand themselves whilst reciting verses from the Deus Sigmar. The Scourges often goes shirtless to expose his heavily scarred body.[2a]
- Taal and Rhya: Scourges of Taal and Rhya take month-long journeys into the dangerous forest, alone. They carry no weapons on these journeys and some even go stark naked. When they finally emerge in a feral state, no one questions their divine favour.[2a]
- Ulric: Like their Sigmarite counterparts, scourges of Ulric flog themselves with spiked flails whilst foaming at the mouth and shouting passages from the Liber Lupus. They expose themselves to extreme cold to demonstrate Ulric's blessing.[2a]
- Verena: Scourges of Verena attend criminal trials where they undergo ordeals of fire or water before the accused to demonstrate the justness of their god. If the accused survives the ordeal himself, he is urged to join the Scourge's retinue.[2a]