Beastclaw Raiders

Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you the Dothraki of the Mortal Realms, the Beastclaw Raiders. They are a faction of nomadic Ogors that are cursed with the Everwinter, a perpetual snowstorm that follows them wherever they go, leaving frozen wastelands in their wake.

The Everwinter

While this blizzard does reduce everything around it to a whiteout, it oddly enough doesn’t kill the BCR. Instead it just freezes them in place until they thaw out either through time, global warming, or any number of other heat sources. Like many of the first edition Battletomes, little information exists on what exactly the Everwinter is. Though several ideas exist among Ogors regarding its origins.

• The original Beastclaw Raiders somehow pissed off Gorkamorka who creates the Everwinter as a punishment, forcing the always hungry Ogors to constantly move hunting grounds or become frozen statues.
• Sigmar conjured the storm to curse the Beastclaw Raiders and spurn their food.
• The OG Beastclaw Raiders unwittingly freed some mischievous ice gods that Nagash imprisoned in Shyish.
• The first Frost King was tricked by Mork into eating the frozen heart of a god beast and became the eye of the perpetual storm.

As time went on, the BCR began to revere and worship the Everwinter as an aspect of Gorkamorka, who has since become a God of Ice in the eyes of the Ogors. They regularly leave live prey and prisoners chained to the ground to be swallowed up by ice and snow, as well as the corpses of their dead brothers, saying they belong to the storm.

Organization

Likely the most interesting aspect of BCR is just how organized and disciplined they are, at least when compared to the other Destruction factions. Each Mawtribe of BCR is led by a Frost King, and the tribe is divided into various warbands called Alfrostuns, each led by a Frostlord. The Alfrostun is further divided into smaller packs, each with a specific purpose.

• The Jorlbad, also called the “First Hand” or the “Fighting Hand”, is the primary hunting party of the Alfrostun. They make up the bulk of the clan and are always leading the charge. They are led by a Huskard called the Jorl, or “Favored of the Frostlord”.
• The Eurlbad, also called the “Second Hand” or the “Eating Hand”, follows behind the Jorlbad to cover their flank and clean up any leftovers. Their Huskard is called the Eurl, “Second Favored”.
• The Torrbad, or the “Clapping Hand”, are seen as the Heralds of the Everwinter. They attract large packs of Icefall Yhetees thanks to their attuned nature to the storm. Their leader, the Torr, is the “Voice of Winter” and is a very quiet figure, often lost in constant prayers to the Everwinter.
• The Skals are groups of Frost Sabres, each led by an Icebrow Hunter. They operate outside of the Huskard chain of command, reporting directly to the Frostlord. Acting as a vanguard force, they scout ahead to find new prey and ambush enemies.
• Making up each of these warbands are even smaller groups of beast riders. They are the Atta (Great Strength) packs, Svo (Power of the Blizzard) packs, Otri (Endless Hunt) packs, Fvor (Campfire) packs, and Hirf (Vast Sky) packs

Other Facts

• The BCR have an interesting relationship with the Stormcast Eternals. They know they can’t eat them (except those of the Thunderbellies Mawtribe), but they have began to associate their arrival with the location of things they can eat, usually whatever the stormhost is fighting or defending. Essentially, the Sigmarines are dinner bells for the Ogors.
• In addition to basic Ogrish, the BCR have their own unique language called Svoringar, which they use to keep a level of secrecy regarding their own tribes. This extends to how they are seen by other Ogors, with each Mawtribe having both a basic name and a BCR name.