Post by krazkul on Jan 1, 2020 22:01:36 GMT
"Fear not the savage greenskin - see now, the broken corpse of your foe. For all their ferocity they are but beasts, crushed beneath the faithful flames our crusade!" - Imperial knight to a crowd of peasants while showcasing Krazkul's battered figure after their battle.
The early life of the orc known as Krazkul started inauspiciously enough. Like most greenskins, he lived for war and the thrill of battle and sought little more than the next fight along with his warband. Not particularly strong or bright in his time, he was nevertheless content to follow the biggest, meanest boss around for his share of the fun. His band of boyz were fond of raiding the local Empire farms, plundering what food and supplies they could and burning the rest in their wake. While they were rather adept at terrorizing the local peasants, they were less fortunate when faced with well trained regulars. An imperial regiment comprised of pious militia and a handful of lowly knights was carving a path of retribution through the farmlands Krazkul's band had been raiding, and it was only a matter of time before they clashed.
When they did, the 'battle' could hardly be called as such. The imperial troops, awash with righteous fury and supported by fiery magic, easily repelled and subsequently destroyed the greenskin band, scattering what few survivors remained back into the hills. Krazkul was unfortunately neither - falling beneath the might of the Imperial troops, his skull was fractured by the weight of steel and his exposed brain was lashed by torrents of magical fire. Collapsing onto the battlefield he was presumed dead, his horrific wounds and lifeless body laying limp among the corpses of his fellow greenskins. After their victory, the knights took a handful of orc and goblin bodies and strung them behind their horses, Krazkul among them, dragging them through the local town to showcase their prowess and give hope to the peasants who had suffered under the raids.
Ironically, it was probably the fire that consumed him that saved Krazkul, cauterizing his grievous wounds even as it scorched his mind.
"'Ere now, boss - you took yooself a right nasty thumpin'. You drink 'dis 'ere - me own brew of WAAAGH jooce. Don't gag! It's 'ard stuff, an' it'll make you even 'arder. If, y'know... you survive." - Skarskrap, goblin 'shaman' attempting to revive Krazkul.
After being paraded about, the bodies of the fallen greenskins were brought to the base of the hills to be burned. Fortunately for the skill unconscious Krazkul, the peasants tasked with the job lost their nerve being so far away from the protection of their town and decided that simply dumping the bodies would suffice as the local fauna would take care of the carcasses. That's where one enterprising goblin happened upon Krazkul as he was stripping the corpses of anything valuable, including teeth, eyes, tongues, and anything he could pry loose and pop into one of his filthy bags.
While it's entirely clear why Skarskrap decided to aid the wounded orc and (attempt) to bring him back from the brink - perhaps he saw a potential ally, or just wanted to test one of his new concoctions on a patient / victim that couldn't really fight back - he managed to successfully revive Krazkul. Upon regaining consciousness, however, the wounded greenskin was fundamentally changed. Whether it was the magic that (quite literally) touched his mind, his time spent near death, the goblin brew or perhaps some odd combination therein, he awoke bristling with what could possibly be considered 'fervent piety' if he were anything but an orc - but in his case, it bordered on fanatical insanity.
"You... you'z in me way. You can try an' move, but you'z gonna be in my way then, too. Da kruzade is 'ere, an' now it'z too late." - Krazkul da Kruzada
Whereas he was little more than a grunt before his defeat, Krazkul was now filled with a burning desire to 'bring proppa orcy-ness' back to the world, both to his enemies and his fellow greenskins. Claiming to have been touched by Gork and Mork themselves and eschewing the traditional love of shiny loot metal armor and all other modern implements of war, he instead embraced a more feral approach to combat and life in general. He only utilized what he could take from the corpses of his victims or the land itself, utilizing bone, hide and stone in place of steel and iron. He considers any orc who donned the latter to be 'less orcy' and doesn't attempt to hide his disdain for those who do. While this certainly earned him an odd look or two and often amounted to little more than shouting or a brief scrap, it sometimes resulted in violent confrontations where Krazkul would lead a 'kruzade' to cleanse a local population of orcs of those he deemed 'eretiks', thereby making the tribes more pure and 'proppa' in the eyes of his savage gods.
In addition to this odd fanaticism (which seems to wax and wane in intensity at any given moment), he also began to display an arguably unnatural talent for 'tak-tiks'. His sudden ability to grasp (relatively) complex military maneuvers and execute plans beyond simply running headlong into battle as loudly as possible has also made some greenskins consider him more than odd and perhaps even un-orcy, though any mention of this within earshot of the Kruzada always leads to a violent reprisal. Because of this, he's been known to actually coordinate with other races as something of a mercenary. The Druchii, who consider him an odd if not somewhat savagely entertaining addition to a strategy or the Norscan tribes who share in his love of battle have invited (or at least tolerated) him to a number of battles since his revival.
While his ire is often turned against the 'eretiks of own kin, he has plenty more for the Empire and their allies. Due to his rather odd ways he will likely never lead a large warband of his own (and in fact seems to have no inclination to do so of his own accord), but that doesn't stop him from carving his way into any scrap or battle that he can find. His 'kruzade' has adopted more of a wandering nature than a defined path, claiming to be led by Gork and Mork to the next fight (which varies between strategic Order locations or 'eretic greenskins). While not in the throes of combat Krazkul is arguably one of the more 'reasonable' greenskins, capable of discourse of a (relatively) higher aptitude among other races which is perhaps why he is tolerated (relatively) more than some. After being stuck in his fanatical piety to his gods comes out in full display, however, and even those who consider him an ally (or at least, not an enemy) give him a wide berth.
Whether it's men, elves, or his fellow greenskins one thing is painfully clear - Krazkul will bring his kruzade to the world with righteous WAAAGH-y zeal and make it proppa, for Gork and for Mork.
The early life of the orc known as Krazkul started inauspiciously enough. Like most greenskins, he lived for war and the thrill of battle and sought little more than the next fight along with his warband. Not particularly strong or bright in his time, he was nevertheless content to follow the biggest, meanest boss around for his share of the fun. His band of boyz were fond of raiding the local Empire farms, plundering what food and supplies they could and burning the rest in their wake. While they were rather adept at terrorizing the local peasants, they were less fortunate when faced with well trained regulars. An imperial regiment comprised of pious militia and a handful of lowly knights was carving a path of retribution through the farmlands Krazkul's band had been raiding, and it was only a matter of time before they clashed.
When they did, the 'battle' could hardly be called as such. The imperial troops, awash with righteous fury and supported by fiery magic, easily repelled and subsequently destroyed the greenskin band, scattering what few survivors remained back into the hills. Krazkul was unfortunately neither - falling beneath the might of the Imperial troops, his skull was fractured by the weight of steel and his exposed brain was lashed by torrents of magical fire. Collapsing onto the battlefield he was presumed dead, his horrific wounds and lifeless body laying limp among the corpses of his fellow greenskins. After their victory, the knights took a handful of orc and goblin bodies and strung them behind their horses, Krazkul among them, dragging them through the local town to showcase their prowess and give hope to the peasants who had suffered under the raids.
Ironically, it was probably the fire that consumed him that saved Krazkul, cauterizing his grievous wounds even as it scorched his mind.
"'Ere now, boss - you took yooself a right nasty thumpin'. You drink 'dis 'ere - me own brew of WAAAGH jooce. Don't gag! It's 'ard stuff, an' it'll make you even 'arder. If, y'know... you survive." - Skarskrap, goblin 'shaman' attempting to revive Krazkul.
After being paraded about, the bodies of the fallen greenskins were brought to the base of the hills to be burned. Fortunately for the skill unconscious Krazkul, the peasants tasked with the job lost their nerve being so far away from the protection of their town and decided that simply dumping the bodies would suffice as the local fauna would take care of the carcasses. That's where one enterprising goblin happened upon Krazkul as he was stripping the corpses of anything valuable, including teeth, eyes, tongues, and anything he could pry loose and pop into one of his filthy bags.
While it's entirely clear why Skarskrap decided to aid the wounded orc and (attempt) to bring him back from the brink - perhaps he saw a potential ally, or just wanted to test one of his new concoctions on a patient / victim that couldn't really fight back - he managed to successfully revive Krazkul. Upon regaining consciousness, however, the wounded greenskin was fundamentally changed. Whether it was the magic that (quite literally) touched his mind, his time spent near death, the goblin brew or perhaps some odd combination therein, he awoke bristling with what could possibly be considered 'fervent piety' if he were anything but an orc - but in his case, it bordered on fanatical insanity.
"You... you'z in me way. You can try an' move, but you'z gonna be in my way then, too. Da kruzade is 'ere, an' now it'z too late." - Krazkul da Kruzada
Whereas he was little more than a grunt before his defeat, Krazkul was now filled with a burning desire to 'bring proppa orcy-ness' back to the world, both to his enemies and his fellow greenskins. Claiming to have been touched by Gork and Mork themselves and eschewing the traditional love of shiny loot metal armor and all other modern implements of war, he instead embraced a more feral approach to combat and life in general. He only utilized what he could take from the corpses of his victims or the land itself, utilizing bone, hide and stone in place of steel and iron. He considers any orc who donned the latter to be 'less orcy' and doesn't attempt to hide his disdain for those who do. While this certainly earned him an odd look or two and often amounted to little more than shouting or a brief scrap, it sometimes resulted in violent confrontations where Krazkul would lead a 'kruzade' to cleanse a local population of orcs of those he deemed 'eretiks', thereby making the tribes more pure and 'proppa' in the eyes of his savage gods.
In addition to this odd fanaticism (which seems to wax and wane in intensity at any given moment), he also began to display an arguably unnatural talent for 'tak-tiks'. His sudden ability to grasp (relatively) complex military maneuvers and execute plans beyond simply running headlong into battle as loudly as possible has also made some greenskins consider him more than odd and perhaps even un-orcy, though any mention of this within earshot of the Kruzada always leads to a violent reprisal. Because of this, he's been known to actually coordinate with other races as something of a mercenary. The Druchii, who consider him an odd if not somewhat savagely entertaining addition to a strategy or the Norscan tribes who share in his love of battle have invited (or at least tolerated) him to a number of battles since his revival.
While his ire is often turned against the 'eretiks of own kin, he has plenty more for the Empire and their allies. Due to his rather odd ways he will likely never lead a large warband of his own (and in fact seems to have no inclination to do so of his own accord), but that doesn't stop him from carving his way into any scrap or battle that he can find. His 'kruzade' has adopted more of a wandering nature than a defined path, claiming to be led by Gork and Mork to the next fight (which varies between strategic Order locations or 'eretic greenskins). While not in the throes of combat Krazkul is arguably one of the more 'reasonable' greenskins, capable of discourse of a (relatively) higher aptitude among other races which is perhaps why he is tolerated (relatively) more than some. After being stuck in his fanatical piety to his gods comes out in full display, however, and even those who consider him an ally (or at least, not an enemy) give him a wide berth.
Whether it's men, elves, or his fellow greenskins one thing is painfully clear - Krazkul will bring his kruzade to the world with righteous WAAAGH-y zeal and make it proppa, for Gork and for Mork.