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Kragnos

2021-06-08T02:52:57Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:F1B4:9AED:B540:9551: Scrambled Abortion

[[File:Kragnos.jpg|300px|thumb|right|]]
'''Kragnos''', the god of earthquakes and a central leader for the warmongering tribes of destruction.

==History==
===Age of Myth===
Kragnos was born a mortal member of a race of [[centaur]]s living in Ghur called the Drogrukh.

Being a short-tempered guy even then, Kragnos started out his violent path to godhood beating the shit out of his brother for the right to the same Drogrukh mare they were both down for. When the Drogrukh elders reprimanded him for it, Kragnos got fed up and decided to strike out with his four best bros.

Over the years he would accomplish many legendary tasks, some of them by himself, some with his companions. Among which were his crafting the Dread Mace out of the heart of a mountain (which knowing all the living mountains that are in [[Ghur]] is probably literal), climbing the Beastgrave peak and claiming the legendary Shield Involatile, which he made from a disc of rock that [[Gorkamorka (Deity)|Gorkamorka]] himself had broken a tusk on, leaving it with the power to eat spells. His actions earned him the attention and admiration of the Orruks, who named Kragnos "Da Boss Trampla" and his shield "Tuskbreaker". He also started killing and eating every big and tough critter the realm had to offer and wiping out any of the nascent Empires that were starting to emerge in Ghur, thus earning him the title of "The End of Empires".

The few local human tribes who survived his rampage began to see him as a god of Earthquakes while the numerous races of Destruction quickly decided he was a pretty cool guy and began worshipping him in addition to Gorkamorka (aided by the fact that Gorkamorka himself developed a healthy respect for the guy after Kragnos' attack on the Draconine Empire, see below). Given how the power of belief works where Orruks are concerned... Kragnos being the god of Earthquakes became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Humans and Orruks started killing monsters and leaving them as sacrificial offerings to Kragnos, and Kragnos actually absorbed more strength from eating the remains of beasts along with offerings of Amberstone. He was happy to be worshipped as a god and co-exist with the greenskins, because the greenskins like him believed that "might makes right". The fact that this stopped the greenskins from attacking the Drogrukh kin was lost on Kragnos.

Kragnos and his companions later arrived at the Draconine empire. This was the civilization of the Draconith, a race of reptilian humanoids - separate from the Seraphon - renowned for working with dragons, worshipping Dracothion and their prowess with magic. The Draconine Empire had been allies of the Drogrukh, having fought together against their mutual foes the Dragon Ogors, though there wasn't a formal alliance, just a non-aggression pact with Kragnos' father Gorgos and mutual respect.

But at that point the proud and headstrong Kragnos didn't care about the accord anymore. He saw the Draconith as a challenging foe worthy of his new power. He and his four companions waged war on them, the act of aggression winning the approval of the belligerent god Gorkamorka. The war waged on, with many Draconith dying and Kragnos and his companions taking many wounds. Eventually the Draconith fell back before Kragnos' might... but they gathered their remaining strength to kill Kragnos' four companions, then withdrew from the ruins of Draconith empire to wipe out the Drogrukh cities of Donse in revenge. Ignorant of the destruction of Donse, Kragnos was devastated and enraged by the deaths of his four companions and destroyed everything he could find of the Draconith, determined to erase them from history for the deaths of his friends. This reached a boiling point when he began curbstomping Draconith eggs into scrambled abortion.

Kragnos' attempted genocide of the Draconith was the last straw for the forces of order, they deemed Kragnos too dangerous to remain. Several Draconith sorcerers made contact with Lord Kroak and, in exchange for giving Kroak the last of their eggs. Kragnos was sealed away in a mountain, which was then isolated from time by an alliance of sorcerers led by the legendary [[Lord Kroak]]. They had the backing of the godbeast Dracothion as well, who personally restrained Kragnos in his coils as the sorcerers and Kroak wove their spell.

===Soul Wars===
The only notable thing that happened at this time was that Nagash's Necroquake left residual energies that, when combined with their opposite in life, would have devestating consequences on Kragnos' prison.

===Broken Realms===
During the [[Broken Realms Saga|Broken Realms crisis]], the energies of Alarielle's Rite of Life reacted with the energy of the Necroquake and unintentionally broke the spell of Kragnos' prison, allowing him to smash his way free.

Unaware that any time had passed since his imprisonment Kragnos emerged to discover his race had been wiped out entirely. He also discovered that the mortal city of Excelsis had been built on his tribe's former lands. He then began a rampage across Ghur fueled by his anger at captivity and the loss of his people.

Along the way, Kragnos encountered several Mega-Gargants, the first to join him did so after Kragnos killed four other Mega-Gargants who were with him. Then Kragnos ran into Gordrakk's WAAAGH! along with some Gloomspite Gitz lead by the Loonking Skragrott. The armies fight for a bit, with Kragnos fighting Gordrakk and his Maw-Krusha Bigteef before Kragnos triggered a rockslide that buried the three of them. After fighting their way out, Kragnos shrugged and invited the Orruks to help him on his quest to destroy Excelsis...something they were more than happy to do given they were already on their way to do just that when they ran into him.

When they get to the city, Lord Kroak's enchantment shattered Gordrakk's godbeast-skull battering ram, but couldn't stop Kragnos, who proceeded to smash his way through the Southern Wall of the city while the defenders are distracted by Gordrakk's attack on the North Wall. He then causes a whole shitload of damage before finally smashing open the city's main gate. This combined with the city’s Ogor mercanaries revealing themselves to be agents of the Loonking and turning on the defenders allowed the Orruk's and their allies to flood into the city.

Things were looking bleak for the city until help unexpectedly arrived in the form of Morathi who rolled up in a Black Ark along with an army of Daughters of Khaine. After dealing with some Mega-Gargants attacking the city docks Morathi sicced her second serpentine body on Kragnos to distract him while her elven body sought Lord Kroak who was trying to help out the city with his magical powers.

Finding Kroak and realizing Kragnos is too powerful for any of them to kill, Morathi convinced Kroak to send Kragnos away where he can be someone else's problem. Kroak opened a massive portal which Morathi cast an illusion on to trick Kragnos into thinking it was the remanants of his sworn foes, the Draconith Empire. Being about as dumb as he is big, Kragnos fell for the illusion and charged through the portal, which proceeded to drop his ass on the far side of Ghur. Without his presence in the city the Orruk lines begin to crumble allowing the defenders to force them into retreating.

Meanwhile Kragnos, upon realizing he'd been duped, proceeded to take out his frustration on the local Chaos fortress while a bunch of local Orruks, who happened to be an isolated tribe of Kragnos worshippers, look on in awe at the spectacle.

==Tabletop==
Kragnos can be taken by any {{AOSKeyword|DESTRUCTION}} aligned army.

This big boy is the epitome of the term "mighty glacier". He has a 2+ save, 18 wounds and his shield Tuskbreaker to keep himself alive. Tuskbreaker makes it so if he beats the spells casting value on a 3D6, the spell won't work on him. Note, that’s casting ''value'', not casting ''roll'', so Teclis, Nagash, Kroak? None of their bonuses matter.

Despite his slow speed he hits like a runaway train, fitting for the god of earthquakes. His weapon, The Dread Mace, hits harder than Ghal Maraz itself, wounding on 2's, -3 rend and does 4 damage with each attack, and he has six attacks which doesn't diminish if he takes damage. He can also bash enemies with his shield for three Rend -2, D3 damage hits and hit with his hooves for 2 damage at -1 rend up to six times. He also re-rolls charges and hit rolls against units with the Stardrakes, Drakes, Dracoths and Dracolines keyword due to his hatred of dragons (but somehow not Zombie Dragons).

And then there's his ultimate ability "Rampaging Destruction". After the charge, roll a dice for each enemy unit within 1" or an enemy monster within 1"; if the former is chosen, on a 2+ each unit suffers D6 Mortal Wounds, but monsters get it worse if you choose a the latter. On a roll of 7 nothing happens, otherwise the monster suffers a number of mortal wounds equal to the numbers rolled on the dice multiplied... meaning a monster could potentially suffer '''36 MORTAL WOUNDS, AND THAT'S "BEFORE" KRAGNOS ATTACKS IN COMBAT!'''

As the god of earthquakes, he has a roar that can burst eardrums, level buildings and make Bloodthristers look like they have laryngitis. Whenever he suffers wounds, roll a dice for each unit and defensible terrain feature within 6". If the number is equal to or greater than the score on the table (the required score decreasing as Kragnos takes wounds), enemy units within 6" suffer D3 Mortal Wounds and that defensible terrain feature is demolished and no longer defensible (any models garrisoning it are slain if they roll a dice roll of 1).

He also buffs the bravery of all {{AOSKeyword|DESTRUCTION}} units within 12" by 1.

[[Category: Age of Sigmar]]
[[Category:40k and Fantasy Gods]]

Viskeons

2021-06-06T20:17:52Z

2601:188:C300:64B8:F1B4:9AED:B540:9551: Pointed out a little ray of hope

[[File:Krashrak diorama.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Krashrak the Stalker, the only named Viskeon in the lore, as well as the only model]]

The galaxy of [[Warhammer 40,000]] is a big place, home to uncountable [[Xenos]] races, though that number has slightly thinned out recently thanks to the actions of [[Imperium|one in particular]]. Some races are big players on the main stage, like [[Human]]s, [[Aeldari]], [[Q'Orl]], [[Orks]], [[Necron]]s, and [[Tyranid]]s. Others are more of a supporting act, such as the [[T'au]]. And then there're the little guys who never even get invited to the party, like the '''Viskeons'''.

== Overview ==

The Viskeons were a cold-blooded race, native to a harsh but beautiful [[Deathworld]] of desert, plain, and jungle, and their unforgiving homeworld had bred a people of strength and pride. They valued [[Khorne|martial honour above all else]], adhering to a strict warrior code that viewed ranged combat as an insult to your opponent, denying them the chance to test their mettle against you in melee, like [[Firaeveus_Carron|a coward and a fewl]]. A favoured traditional weapon of theirs was their signature Shockthrottle, a unique-looking hand weapon with four main blades sprouting from a single head, and a chain wrapping it around the wrist to prevent disarmament.

In appearance, Viskeons were humanoid, as most Xenos are in this franchise, distinguished from the actual Humans by their blue skin and a fin on the back of their head ... [[Lizardmen#Skink|Wait a minute...]] They were also naturally ambidextrous, and had a large white tongue which contained their saliva gland, with a pore at its tip to eject the acidic spit. Some of them instead had green skin, no head fin, and Davy Jones' face but with a beak and stubby tusks instead of tentacles, though since their races' extinction it's now impossible to know the reason for this diversity. Because of their ectothermic metabolism, their physical condition varied considerably throughout a given day, being drowsy and sluggish when in the path of strong direct sunlight or equivalent, and alert and active when enveloped in shadow or during the night.

According to [[Xenology]], Viskeons, like starfish, can multiply by having limbs cut off. If you cut off a Viskeon's arm, the Viskeon will grow a new arm, and the arm will grow a new Viskeon.

=== Code of the Stalker ===

Viskeon warriors wore a [[Carapace_Armor|Carapace Armour]] Breastplate with a single horned [[Pauldron]] on one side, leaving their arms and legs mostly exposed to display their well-defined musculature, and the strings of white spurs that ran down their limbs. A relatively large Backpack unit was incorporated into the Armour, though not as bulky as those of [[Adeptus_Astartes|Astartes]] [[Power Armour]], and this housed an advanced sensor suite that could even rival a Psi-Tracker in detection capability, giving them an unparalleled track record in manhunting. And a pair of Neurogauntlets on the wrists rounded out their equipment, built-in [[Drug]] Injectors commonly filled with doses of stimulants such as Reflex, or sedatives like Chlorintone.

Chlorintone in particular was preferred, as when combined with Viskeon biology and sufficient training, it enabled them to reduce their body temperature and vitals to a point where their body could be examined by a Magos Biologis and declared dead, letting them sneak past even the most advanced sensor grids to catch their prey.

=== Extinction with Honour ===

The Viskeons met their untimely end thanks to the actions of one [[Eldrad|Mr. Ulthran]], who manipulated an [[Ork]] [[Waaagh]] into gatecrashing a Splinter Fleet of [[Tyranid]] [[Hive Fleet]] [[Hive_Fleet_Kraken|Kraken]] that had broken off at Ichar IV, redirecting it away from some [[Maiden World]]s but toward the Viskeons. Without ranged weapons of any kind, they were unable to hold back the uncountable tide as the skies turned purple with swarms of [[Mycetic Spore]]s, and their entire race was wiped out in a single night, their world and its stark beauty stripped clean in little over ninety days. The [[Troll|aloof]] [[Farseer]]s of [[Ulthwe]] considered this a sacrifice worth making, as [[Aeldari]] lives had been saved and that was all that mattered. And with no way of knowing of the Aeldaris' involvement in the whole affair, those few Viskeons who were offworld at the time had nobody to blame but the Tyranids.
Technically speaking, due to their way of reproducing a new young Viskeon from every torn off limb, hope for the Viskeon race against extinction isn't entirely vanished. As long as one is willing to keep ripping their arm or leg off over and over and over, on a relatively safe planet, the Viskeons could always restart their race anew.

== On the Tabletop ==

The Viskeons made their debut in [[White Dwarf]] 263, with a single individual represented in the [[Inquisitor_(role-playing_game)|Inquisitor]] [[Specialist_Game|specialist game]], Krashrak the Stalker. He had a base profile with WS79, BS11, S81, T73, I70, Wp56, Sg68, Nv93, and Ld23, but this could be modified depending on if it was high noon or midnight. If it was the heat of the day, he lost -2d6 WS, -2d6 S, -1d6 T, and -2d6 I, whilst if it was the cool of the night, he gained +2d10 WS, +2d10 S, +1d10 T, and +2d10 I. If the time of day hadn't been determined by the [[GM]] already, you had to roll 1d10 to figure it out yourself, with 1 to 3 being high noon, 8 to 0 being midnight, and everything inbetween being just normal. Skills included Subdue, Nerves of Steel, Furious Assault, Spit Acid, and Ambidextrous.

Krashrak was equipped with chest Carapace Armour, a Runic Talisman that counted as a Hexagrammic Ward, a Backpack that counted as a Psi-Tracker, and a pair of Neurogauntlets that counted as Drug Injectors with four doses of Reflex and unlimited does of Chlorintone. He was armed with a [[Basic_Close_Combat_Weapons#Sword|Knife]], which was just a Knife, but he also had a [[Miscellaneous_Weapons#Shockthrottle|Shockthrottle]], which was Reach 2 Damage 1d6+4 Parry Penalty -10%, on a Critical Hit couldn't be dodged, and injects the target with Chlorintone if the Damage roll exceeds the hit Location's Armour. At normal dosage levels, an affected target loses one point of Speed at once, and another every subsequent turn until incapacitated, but the dose can be upped to lethal levels. This adds +1d10 Damage to further Crits that penetrate Armour.

Outside of Inquisitor, there's potentially a more sinister representation of them in the main game. What with their distinctive head fin and acidic spit, it could very much be the case that the [[Hive Mind]] decided to retain these traits in the genepool, and used them to spawn one of its most numerous and successful strains, [[Gargoyle_(Tyranids)|Gargoyles]]...

== Famous Viskeons ==

*'''Krashrak''' - An infamous bounty hunter who once worked for Inquisitor Lichtenstein. He wasn't on his homeworld when the Tyranids attacked, and only learnt of its destruction a year after the fact, raising a glass to their souls at one of the seedy bars he frequented. And that he frequented any bars says a lot about alien life in the Imperium.

== Gallery ==

<gallery>
Krashrak model.jpg
Krashrak inquisitor.jpg
Viskeon xenobiology.jpg
</gallery>

[[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

[[Category: Xenos]]

{{Template:Important Species in 40k}}