Gloomspite Gitz

Grand Alliance Destruction Gloomspite Gitz

Da Moon!

Lore Tactics General Tactics

"Da Bad Moon spoke to me, once. All dese years, through all dese realms, I've followed it in da skies and 'ave heard all da stories about 'ow it came to be..."

– Skragrott the Loonking

"Don't go 'round tonight. It's bound to take your life. There's a Bad Moon on the rise."

– Creedence Clearwater Revival

The Gloomspite Gitz are a loose coalition of Moonclan Grots, Spiderfang Grots, Troggoths and more. They're united in the worship of the Bad Moon, which they see as an aspect of Gorkamorka.

The Bad Moon

The Bad Moon itself is a supernatural moon (even moreso than Morrslieb from Fantasy) that travels between realms to no discernible pattern. A thing of horror and mystery, those who seek to divine its path are driven mad by the celestial object. It also sends ill portents across the realms wherever it passes. It can even speak, though the only person it has done so to is Skragrott... Allegedly, at least. If you take as many mushrooms as Night Goblins do you'd probably begin to hear voices as well. He ain't called "Loonking" for nothing.

There are three stories of its origins. Most greenskins claim it's a moon that Gorkamorka tried to eat. However, when he bit it it broke some of his teeth so he spat it out, but unintentionally left a bit of his power in it. The Spiderfang Grots see it as an egg of their spider god, which will one day hatch and flood the realms with spiders. Grot shaman's believe it is made of the coalesced souls of every grot shaman who's ever lived.

Whatever the case, the Bad Moon fills the Gloomspite Gits with lunacy, which they refer to as “Gloomspite”, that fills them with fervor and strength, but also takes a toll on their sanity. When the Bad Moon waxes, wars rage.

The Bad Moon is also followed and orbited by a smaller moonlet or asteroid that crashes into celestial objects in its way. Much like how the Grots have varying ideas of what the Bad Moon itself is, they believe the smaller moonlet to be the Bad Moon's punishing fist, the Bad Moon's pet squig, or even the ancient spirit of a powerful Grot warlord who conquered eight mighty mountain peaks in the primeval World-That-Was...

Groups

Skragrott the Loonking, self titled leader of the Gloomspite Gitz, has a plan. He abducts every seer and prophet he can find that's had contact with the Bad Moon. Then he infects them with a fungal strain that turns them into half-human, half-mushroom hybrids. The Loonking keeps these captives in his creatively named "fungal asylum". He hopes they will foretell where the Bad Moon will rise, with mixed results so far. His ultimate goal is to cover all the Mortal Realms in the Clammy-Dank and he has already achieved this in one part of Chamon, which could bring them in conflict with the forces of Chaos since the realm is currently dominated by the followers of Tzeentch.

The Spiderfang Grots are a little different; they still worship the Spider-god, but they also zealously follow the Bad Moon around for a different reason. They believe it is actually a FUCKHUEG egg laid by the Spider God, and that if they can make it stand still long enough it'll hatch, and spill a never-ending tide of Spiders across the Mortal Realms. Yeah. Says something about how crazy these gits are when even the Loonking thinks their interpretation is hard to believe.

Troggoths are pretty much the classic idiot troll, and come in a couple varieties: Fellwater (River), Rockgut (Stone), and Dankhold (Mountain). Fellwater Troggoths love to live in stinky swamps, fetid bogs, and stagnant pools, and stink so bad even ghosts hate them. Rockguts have the unique magical power to reshape rock and stone with their bare hands, but instead of using this power to create beautiful works of art or massive underground cities, they use their powers to scoop big rocks to throw at the enemy or make basic clubs out of. Lastly, Dankhold Troggoths are a strange breed that have hard, rocky flesh that fungus of all types can grow in. They also love to sleep, often sleeping for hundreds of years. Dankhold Troggoths also change size based on their environment, like huge humanoid fungus-goldfish, and if a Dankhold decides to squeeze itself into a tiny crevice, he'll wake up half his original size. Conversely, if a Dankhold sleeps in a huge, open cavern, he'll awaken taller than a Gargant. Lastly Dankholds love to eat fungus, especially fungi that grow on Realmstone veins, and instead of dying on the spot from consuming highly magical and radioactive fungi, the Dankhold internalizes the magic, making them magic resistant in the highest degree. Troggoths don’t really act as a unified group, no troll king barking orders or whatnot. Staying true to the classic "wild giant only here to fuck your shit up," Trogherds are formed when random groups of Troggoths just start to follow the lead of a bigger Troggoth, for no reason or goal other than to rampage. Even a Dankhold Troggboss only leads his "army" through some sort of poorly understood instinctive leadership or alpha quality, and most Troggbosses are too stupid to read, or even speak. This does not stop them from causing ridiculous amounts of destruction as they blunder through farmsteads, homes, villages, or even cities as the leader picks a direction and just starts walking, with a dozen or two other species of Troggoths following him close behind.

Notable Gloomspite Hordes

• Skragrott’s Konkererz: The Loonking’s personal army that led the invasion of Chamon. Following Skragrott are the High Gobbapalooza, which includes The Mighty Mezmerizmo and Curdlegore the Arch-Spiker. The ‘Eavies are a quintet of Dankhold Troggbosses who usually guard the entrance of the fungal asylum, but are more than happy to smash heads for the Loonking. The bulk of the army is made up of two Moonclan Skrap battalions, Da King’s Gitz and Izgit’s Loons, both groups constantly vying for Skragrott’s favor. Other detachments include the Badgob Batterers (Squigalanche), Warrblag’s Lurkers (Spiderfang Stalktribe), and the Lumberstomp Brothers (three Aleguzzler Gargants).

• Waaagh!Zigsnak: Led by a particularly influential Fungoid Cave Shaman, this horde also included the likes of orruks and ogors, a feat unheard of. With this massive collection of belligerents, Zigsnak won many a fight. Until the Waaagh! collided with a Khorne Goretide, and after a brutal eight day battle, the shaman’s head was claimed by Korghos Khul, and the Waaagh! was soundly butchered. This conflict has since been known as Zigsnak’s Folly, and is regarded by the Gloomspite Gitz as a cautionary warning. Specifically, "Don't fuck with Khorne."

• Claggit’s Smotherers: The closest thing to fire fighters in AoS. Loonboss Claggit, the “Grand Smotherdouser”, has a burning hatred for fire and has devoted his entire tribe to extinguishing all flames they find. Considering they make their lurklairs in the Kindling Forests of Aqshy, they are considerably busy fighting Fyreslayer lodges, Tzeentchian cabals, and the Clans Skyre. A favored tactic of the horde is to employ large mobs of Fellwater Troggoths, who vomit all over the fires of their obsession. The grots wear dark green and grey robes, made to blend into the clouds of smoke and ash they create.

• The Badsnatchers: You know that one idea where if you yell something loud enough people will believe it’s true? That’s kind of the story of the Badsnatchers in a nutshell. The horde’s leader, Ogwotz Da Magnificent, has proudly claimed to have covered all of Ulgu in the Everdank. This is very likely false given the nature of the realm of shadow, but none dare argue with the grots, who have become a special breed of arrogant braggarts who regularly pillage the surface world, confident that the Bad Moon is watching over them. They operate out of seven large lurklairs all situated in the Hushed Hills.

• The Scurrowstabberz: Another Ulgu tribe, these grots are earnest allies to the Frazzleshun stalktribes in Hysh. Using realmgates, they trade refined realmstone for spider riders and arachnarok venom.

• Zarbag’s Gitz: Through one way or another, the Madcap Shaman Zarbag and his personal crew ended up in the mysterious Nightvault hidden away beneath the city of Shadespire. Oh well, time to pillage and plunder!

• The Jaws of Mork: A gargantuan and inexorable Squigalanche that rumbles through the realm of life chasing the Bad Moon. Their leader is the masked Overbounder, a mysterious Grot who never lets his skin show. His reason? He wants to be “in cognee toes” so he can sneak up on the Bad Moon and bounce right over it. Instead of asking why he wants to do this, a more reasonable one would be how he plans to do so when his miles wide herd created tremors that can be heard across the realm.

• Frazzleshun: Dwelling in the Crackenmaw Chasm in the Realm of Light, swarms of spiderfang grots who spurn the shining radiance of their realm. Through their trade agreements with the Scurrowstabberz, they have crafted special shadow-silk webbings that they regularly use to block out the light and launch massive attacks with their venomous hordes. The tribe is led by shrewd committee of shamans known as the Spider’s Eyes.

• Glintfang: By feeding their spiders bits and bobs of metal, the Glintfang stalktribes create steel-silk, which is basically metal cabling. These wires are used to create anything from false jewelry to parachutes for dive bombing hapless foes.

• Murkthudd’s Troggherd: Murkthudd was a Troggboss of spectacular size and stupidity, and one day he decided to go for a walk. When he emerged from underneath the Domtanguan Mountains, he was followed by two dozen various Troggoths and a horde of Squigs. They wrecked havoc throughput the settlements surrounding the Ferrus Sea, regularly clashing with Freeguild and Stormcast regiments. Eventually they tore through the city of Azyrvale and marched right off the pier and into the sea. What became of them is unclear, though rumors persist that Murkthudd is still walking at the bottom of the sea to this day.

• Mollog’s Mob: The ancient pygmy Dankhold Troggoth called Mollog only wants to find a quiet place to sleep. Unfortunately for him, a group of tunneling Skaven woke him up and ruined his cozy hideout. Now he wanders through Shadespire to find a new hole to crawl in and sleep. He’s followed by a collection of various cave critters, all of whom are fiercely protective of their master.

See Also

• Tactics/Gloomspite Gitz