Raven Host

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This article describes the playable army of Chaos. See the article "Chaos" for more information and background on the concept of Chaos.

The Raven Host is one of the playable armies in WAR. They are the human followers of the chaos god Tzeentch. This puts them squarely within the realm of Destruction. The great Chaos warhost assembled by Tzeentch marches on the lands of the Empire, led by his Champion Tchar'zanek. The forces of Chaos have already pushed far into the northern territories of the Empire and are threatening the heartlands surrounding the capital at Altdorf.

[edit] Overview

To the north of the Empire and Kislev lie the lands of Norsca and the northern Wastes. These are cold, savage lands, where the barbaric tribes of humans known as Northmen worship strange, dark gods. These are the followers of Chaos; men and women who have given their souls over to damnation almost from birth. They live according to the will of the champions of the gods, leaders of warbands who have been favoured by one of the Chaos gods and who have been granted unnatural power beyond that of mortal men. Tchar'zanek is an especially favoured Champion of Tzeentch who has been tasked with raising a massive host in order to crush the Empire for good. This warhost has drawn warriors and fighters from many different tribes of Northmen, and it is accompanied by Beastmen and daemons as it travels south.

Followers of Chaos must bind their destiny completely to the will and direction of their patron god. If their worship manages to attract the attention of their god, their bodies will be branded with the mark of their god, magical symbols which set them apart from regular tribesmen. If they continue to please their god through their actions, they will be rewarded with gifts of mutation, magical weapons and Chaos armour to become Champions themselves; but they can just as easily be punished if their actions cause displeasure, with the most unfortunate having the destiny of being transformed into Chaos Spawn.

The Raven Host are the elite forces of the Chaos Champion Tchar'zanek, and comprise followers of Tzeentch wise in the ways of both war and wizardry. The Raven Host operates independently of the main body of the Chaos host, and their mission is different than that of the direct invasion of the Empire. Rather, the Raven Host are dispatched behind enemy lines to secure magical artifacts that Tchar'zanek wishes to seize in order to further some secret master plan for defeating the Empire, and to prevent the Order of the Griffon from uncovering this plot.