| abstract | - They are the Clanking Boneshredders, the Blood-soaked Spires, the Dreadskull Totems. A given Blood Throne of Khorne is a baleful echo of that mighty cathedral upon which the Blood God resides. It is a mighty Daemon Engine, armoured in brass and driven into battle by iron-shod wheels that crush and mangle all who stand in its path. The bloody carnage left in the engine’s wake is all but obscured by the choking black cloud of acrid soul-smoke that billows from its exhausts, the screams of its victims drowned out by the thudding sounds of industry harnessed to battle — the grinding of gears, the clanking of pistons and the roar of the Daemon furnace.[1a] The Blood Throne is a mark of status — a physical manifestation of the Blood God’s favour. The Herald of Khorne that resides atop its pinnacle does not rest or repose as would another in his position, but prowls restlessly as his chariot advances, eyes and tongue twitching madly as he anticipates his next kill. No bastion of command is this, as it perhaps would be in a mortal army - the Herald certainly does not attempt to direct the massed regiments of Bloodletters that fight in his shadow. Even when the tang of blood is not heavy on the air, Khorne’s Daemons are monomaniacally driven in their pursuit of skulls and slaughter. Once the battle begins, raging bloodlust reduces Bloodletters and Heralds alike to maddened beasts, with neither ear nor voice for the finer details of strategy.[1a] Should the Herald stand sufficiently high in Khorne’s favour to resonate with a locus of the Blood God’s power, his blessing ripples outward from the throne. So does a portion of Khorne’s unbridled wrath become infused within the veins of nearby Daemons, lending ferocity to their blows or driving them into a maddened frenzy.[1a] From atop his macabre throne, the Herald searches for foes whose skulls will make the most audacious offerings. When such enemies are sighted, the Herald spurs his throne forward, howling with unspeakable joy as he readies his Hellblade for the kill. Khorne cares naught from where the blood flows — the death of a shamed coward offers praise to the Blood God just as surely as that of an honoured hero. That said, whilst all blood is equal, the skulls of the slain are not. Those plundered from cowards are fed into the Blood Throne’s baleful workings, consumed in fire to bring the Daemon Engine fresh vigour. Those taken from the valiant slain are claimed by the Herald and fused with the throne itself, to stand throughout eternity as grim monument to the futility of opposing Khorne.[1a]
|
