A Vortex Beast sucking the essense of an Imperial regiment.
A Mutalith Vortex Beast is an utter abomination of nature. It is a terrifying fusion of monster and magic, a creature mutated beyond all reason by the powers of Chaos. In battle, a Mutalith’s tentacles smash into the ranks of the foe. Those not flung through the air are dragged screaming into the Mutalith’s maw, where hundreds of needle-like teeth shred flesh and crunch bones to powder. As horrifying as such a fate is, though, it is not the thought of being eaten alive by a Mutalith that gives its enemies waking nightmares.[1a]
Wherever a Mutalith treads, mutation and madness follow. A ball o f raw magic is anchored into the creature’s body, a seething orb of Chaos energy that warps and twists everything nearby. The flesh of the Mutalith itself is forever being healed and remolded, sucked in and poured back out again by the vortex. These same wisps of malign energy reach out across the battlefield, mutating everything they touch.[1a]
When facing a Mutalith, enemy soldiers are wracked with random mutations. For every warrior who sprouts an extra limb, another is transformed into a gleaming crystal statue or a pile of squirming three-eyed fish. Heroes have died as their own spines burst from their backs to strangle them, and warriors have watched on in horror as their flesh melts and falls off their bones. Worse still are those times when the vortex pulses, and entire regiments are engulfed by waves of mutating power that cause their bodies to twist together into the shape of a hideous Chaos Spawn.[1a]