Skretch Half-Dead
Skretch Half-Dead is a Warhammer character originating from the Dreadfleet specialist game. He's a zombie Skaven pirate captain who pilots a undead monster fish that he made a ship out of. He wears many hats.
History[edit | edit source]
Skretch started out really well for himself occupying the relatively unique position of Skaven Pirate Captain, a position he attained via Skaven Diplomacy (I.E. stabbing everyone ahead on you in the back til you reach your desired station.) He commanded a small fleet of ships that dredged the sea for Warpstone as well as attacking the Tilean coast and other sea vessels for loot and treasure between the Skaven city of Spineport and Sartosa. Life was good and the bounty was plentiful.
This all went to pot when Skretch spotted what he though was a large boulder of Warpstone below the surface of the water, as his crew lifted it from the water what followed behind was a huge monster with massive teeth. They had grabbed the lure of a great Orb Leviathan who had marked them as its next meal. In a panic the Skaven fleet shot its artillery at the beast lancing it with Warp-Lighting Cannon, only succeeding in enraging the terrible thing. It vindictively destroyed Skretch's fleet in front of him, saving his vessel for last, taking him and his crew it in one solid bite.
Skretch would take his revenge however, the Leviathan had made a mistake in not killing the Skaven immediately. As his crew panicked and screamed in the belly of the beast, Skretch took command and set his crew on devouring the beast from the inside, heart, organs and all until it was and empty shell. This would kill their would-be devourer sending it to the depths of the ocean. However this was not the most forward thinking plan, as Skretch and his crew were still inside it sank they had no way to escape and so one by one they ran out of air and asphyxiated curing all around them.
And yet this would not be the end for Skretch. The Orb Leviathan's carcass was eventually swept up the the Galleon's Graveyard, where Count Noctilus was residing. A connoisseur of sea monsters, the Count wanted the Orb Leviathan as his own and set about casting necromantic magic to revive it. However said magic also worked on Skretch and his crew still in the beasts carcass. Skretch now revived, and feeling the necrotic pull of the sorcery set about his likewise resurrected crew to hurriedly gather the wreckage inside the monster and set about building a a new ship on the inside of their fleshy prison.
As the leviathan breached the surface, and the Skaven felt the call of the magic begin to take hold of their minds they hurriedly rang their Screaming Bell to drown it out of their heads. Skretch gave the signal and the beasts flesh ripped open and cannons fired and warp lighting pierced the air assaulting Noctilus and his ship. The Count was surprised by this assault and more so my the tenacity and ingenuity of his attackers. Calling for a parley, he hashed out a deal with Skretch. Join his fleet, and Skretch gets all the warpstone he desired. To which he, now known as Skretch Half-Dead agreed.
He now sails the oceans much as he once did in life, but now in a half ramshackle, half zombie sea monster ship known as Skapbrus. And at the eternal beck and call of Count Noctilus instead of the Council of Thirteen. Which considering Chaos Gods like the Horned Rat's opinions on the undead works out well for Skretch.