"‘Make sure you tell all those humies, humie, make sure you tell ’em good, make sure you tell ’em about the king in da mountain. Tell ’em all about me, Skarsnik, tell ’em all about my life, leave nuffink out.’"
- —Skarsnik, Warlord of the Eight Peaks
Warlord Skarsnik, the most cunning Goblin Warlord to have ever lived
Warlord Skarsnik, known by his official title as King of Karak Eight Peaks or simply just the King in the Mountain, is the chieftain of the Crooked Moon Tribe and the most powerful Night Goblin Warlord in the whole of the southern World's Edge Mountains. All the other Orc and Goblin warlords acknowledge his overlordship of the mountains around the ruined Dwarf hold of Karak Eight Peaks, for none could overcome Skarsnik's incredible cunning and ruthless command. Since his rise to power, Skarsnik has since been singled out from all the other Goblin Warlords before him for possessing an incredible intellect that is wholly unexpected from such a primitive race. Skarsnik is an expert strategist as well as a powerful warrior, who is able to plan out strategic battlefield plans and guide and command his warriors to feats of organization that has never since been accomplish by his race of this day and age.
Since the Dwarfs returned to occupy their ancient hold, Skarsnik has since virtually kept the Dwarfs prisoner within their tiny citadel. When the Dwarfs try to enter or leave the stronghold, he hunts them down and hangs their beard scalps on long poles within sight of the citadel walls. He is remarkably cunning and is constantly luring the Dwarfs into ambushes and traps. At the battle of East Gate, Warlord Skarsnik had managed to surround a powerful Dwarf relief force and virtually destroy it, forcing the remnants to flee back into the citadel itself in utter shame.
Along with his immense intellect and powerful magical staff, Skarsnik is accompanied by a huge Cave Squig which he called simply as Gobbla. Gobbla is enormous, very smelly, and mindlessly vicious creature that Skarsnik had saved from death when it was a mere Squigling. Ever since then, Gobbla had become an eternally loyal companion for Skarsnik, for although his other Goblin chieftains and Warlords loyalty can be put into question, Gobbla had since saved Skarsnik's life on more then one occasion. As a sign of their close companionship, Skarsnik feeds Gobbla regularly with the tasty flesh of Dwarf, Skaven and any Goblins careless enough to stray too close to its murderous maw.
History
"‘Good, good! Dat’s what I want, a good story. Because I am going to tell you a good story. An’ I want you to take it wiv ya, and I want you to tell all da uvver ’umies out dere who the biggest and meanest and bestest goblin in the world is, you got dat? And if you don’t do it in pretty words den I’ll come and eat your liver while you watches, got dat?’"
- —Skarsnik as he commands the playwright Bickenstadt to write the story of his life
The life and story of Skarsnik can all be traced by the recorded accounts of a once famous playwright by the name of Bickenstadt, a son of a minor family that had dreams of making himself famous and wealthy through the writing of plays. However, his father originally wanted him to be a famous professor at the University of Altdorf, but Bickenstadt refused to follow the path his father laied out for him. This choice was the pivotal part of Bickenstadt's life, for after both refusing and hurting his father's wishes, Bickenstad went about his life as a freelance playwright, where he would eventually journey to the hostile lands of the Border Princes.
From there, Bickenstadt and the merchant caravan he was with had been attacked by a large warband of Night Goblins during their stay at a local fortified inn. Bickenstadt was later captured and sent to the domains of the Greenskin infested stronghold of Karak Eight Peaks. There, Skarsnik, the Warlord of the Eight Peaks had both offered and threatened Bickenstadt to write down the story of his life. Without any real choice on the matter, Bickenstadt was forced to obey and began writing down Skarsnik's life on paper.
The Spawning of Skarsnik
"I was different, see...Oh, dey called me da Runt and dey beat and hurt me, but I was always quicker than them. You know what I mean? Da chains we had, ‘dey was so easy to get out ov. When da runtboss told us to work, I’d set me gang up and sneak away. We’d be down dere days, sometimes, and as long as I came back wiv da goods, it didn’t matter. I’d see fings… incredible fings.’"
- —The Life of Skarsnik
On the accounts given by Bickenstadt, Skarsnik was born like any other Greenskin born into existence. The goblin that would later be known as Skarsnik started out life by clawing his way out of the dirt, and into the darkness of a glowing mushroom-lit cave. From here, a few more spawnings of similar Goblins had also appeared from the earth. In time, these bands of small Goblins began to venture into the domains of the Backstairs Boys, a small tribe that is a part of the larger Crooked Moon tribe. Even upon his birth, Skarsnik showed an aptitude of intellegence by being able to spurt out his first words moments after birth and being able to command his brethrens through the dangers of the caves.
After these small Goblins went into the central camp of the Backstairs Boyz, the small Goblins were soon integrated into the Tribe. As time passes, these Goblins were given the task of harvesting the many mushrooms that infest the lairs of the Backstairs Boyz. Skarsnik during this time was named simply as Runt, for unlike his other brethrens, Skarsnik was significantly more smaller then the rest of the other Goblins. Even as time passes, Skarsnik's former brethrens had already grown to their full size and became true Goblins or Boyz in the eyes of the tribe, forcing Skarsnik to still be a lowly runt in the tribe's slave pens. His small stature, however, did not stop him from rising through the ranks of his tribe. After a few years of personally leading the newer spawning of little Goblins by himself, Skarsnik was finally elevated to the position as a true member of the tribe, and was renamed as RuntGit, for he still was fairly small.
Due to Skarsnik's uncommon intellect and cunning, Runtboss Grobskab gave Skarsnik the task of slavemaster, or Runtboy to his own warband of little Goblins. Using his now prestigous position, Skarsnik had been able to curry favor from the tribes leader's Big Boss Tarkit Fing-Finger and Master Shaman Duffskul. Skarsnik had also been able to gain a powerful ally amongst the Skavens that infest the mountain by helping to reinstate Skreekrit Yellowtooth, a former captive of the Backstairs Boyz, as Fangleader of Clan Mors.
In return, secretive trade between the Skavens and Skarsnik had made his tribe, and more specifically Skarsnik, incredibly wealthy. However, Skarsnik's personal nemesis, Runtboy Snotruk, had revealed Skarsnik's secretive dealings, which angered Big Boss Tarkit and forced him to order for Skarsnik's death. However, thanks to the timely arrival of a Dwarf expeditionary force attacking the camp of the Backstairs Boyz, Skarsnik had been thrown into an underground river and taken to the outskirts of Karak Eight Peaks. It is from there that he became a slave to a marauding tribe of Goblin Wolf Riders.
The Enslavement of Skarsnik
Source
- Skarsnik (Novel) by Guy Haley