Chapter 102: Author's Note on Launching

Author's Note

"Fine, I said it, tell those technician boys to speed it up for me! These pieces of junk catapults don't have any force at all. This little dwarf-hump fortress in front of us is so small, if we can't even take this, how are we going to waaagh back to Pillar City?"

On a small rise outside the range of the Dwarf firepower, several Night Goblin leaders were whispering to each other. They were all wearing wide, hooded cloaks, and the one standing in the middle, who appeared to have the highest status, had the tallest hat.

"Also, drive those stupid and gluttonous Trolls out for me! They only eat and don't work; I'd rather have Snotlings than them!"

After one of his subordinates went off to carry out the order, the Night Goblin boss continued issuing his commands.

"Faster, make it faster! The dwarf-humps around here won't just sit by and watch! They might already be on their way!" the Night Goblin boss muttered to himself, his voice tinged with impatience.

"Gobla, be patient! You'll be able to have a big meal in a while, yes, that's your favorite dwarf-hump meat!" he said to the Squig beside him, which seemed a size larger than the common ones.

Watching the Goblins under his command surge toward the walls of Fearless Fort like a tidal wave, and listening to the clanging of weapons colliding from underground, the Goblin boss felt good. His eyes slowly lost focus, and he sank into memories of the past.

It was a moonlit night. After the membrane receded, the Night Goblin boss's small hands touched the soft soil. At that time, this little brain had no other desires besides digging desperately to reach the surface.

After breathing in the fresh air, he looked around. Everywhere were newborns just like him, but he looked smaller than the other Goblins, yet greener, his eyes redder, and his brain seemed faster.

This newborn boss and the Goblins born with him followed an innate sense of direction, and soon, they arrived before a fire.

"Iblit, Iblit is the greatest."

"The Evil Moon shines high, new Goblins are born! This is a good thing! New Goblins offered to Iblit, this is a gift! They are going to fight dwarf-humps and big rats!"

The newborn Night Goblins discovered a group of their seniors gathered before the fire, howling. These seniors did not bring any pleasant experiences to the Night Goblin boss at the time.

Goblins are creatures that bully the weak and fear the strong, and the Night Goblin subspecies even more so. These seniors bullied the newborns of the tribe severely.

The boss noticed Iblit. To him at the time, Iblit was as tall as a mountain, holding a double-headed axe in his hand. His tall hat was embroidered with many smirking moons and some weeping suns. One of Iblit's eyes was blind, there was a long scar on his face, and his hands were stained black with snot.

Iblit growled, stood up, and swept all the Night Goblins blocking his way aside with his axe, whether they were newborns or the original ones.

"These little runts are useless! I need new warbands to fight the rats, not this pig slop! Look at you all lying there like a bunch of Snotlings. Listen well, next full moon, I want four squads of sturdy boys. If you don't have them, don't think about staying alive!"

Iblit casually grabbed a Goblin and threw it against the wall; the poor wretch died instantly. Then he swaggered away, his personal guard following behind. These strong kin were armed to the teeth, smiling evilly at their weak kin by the campfire.

At that moment, the newborn Night Goblin boss had an idea—he wanted to be the boss!

However, the subsequent development did not go as he wished. In the early days, the little Goblins were forced to join the tribe as slaves. Their task was to plant and gather mushrooms parasitic in the shacks.

At the time, the Night Goblin boss was called "Little Rat" because of his small stature, but this disadvantage in strength did not stop his status in the tribe from rising, because he gradually discovered that he possessed intelligence exceeding the standard values of Greenskins.

After teaching several generations of newborn Goblins, "Little Rat" was finally acknowledged as a true member of the tribe and was officially renamed "Big Rat," because he was still the smallest Goblin.

He began to use his authority and intelligence to try to gain greater influence in the tribe. One day, he saved a thin, small Squig from his opponent's dinner table.

These attempts did not bring much change to "Big Rat's" living conditions, until one day he released a real big rat, a Clan Mors Stormvermin captured by the tribe.

Within the Under-Empire of the Skaven, the one possessing the highest decision-making power is the so-called Council of Thirteen. Thirteen is the sacred number of the Great Horned Rat, the most powerful among the lesser Chaos gods.

However, the Council of Thirteen only has twelve Skaven. This is because legend says the owner of the thirteenth seat will be the chosen one of the Great Horned Rat, but to this day, this person has not appeared. The current thirteenth person is a symbol, which is the giant head statue of the Great Horned Rat.

The head of the Council of Thirteen is the Grey Seer Lord. Since the Grey Seer is the spokesperson for the Great Horned Rat, he can cast votes on behalf of the Great Horned Rat, so the Grey Seer Clan has two votes. At the same time, the Grey Seer Lord is also the Chairman of the Council of Thirteen.

Although the status of the Grey Seer Clan is very high, compared to other Great Clans, their population is very small. At the same time, they have always been committed to promoting the integration of the race, acting as mediators among the major clans, so their influence on Skaven society is not the greatest.

Among the many factions in the entire Skaven Under-Empire, none are as powerful as the four Great Clans in terms of military, politics, and influence.

These ancient clans are Clan Skryre, which cultivates Warlock Engineers; Clan Moulder, which raises mutated monsters; Clan Pestilens, which trains fanatical Plague Monks; and Clan Eshin, surrounded by assassins.

The four Great Clans are at the top of the Under-Empire's rule. Their wealth, power, and influence allow them to change the political landscape and social structure of the Under-Empire with a single thought. Their power is so vast that the leaders of the four Great Clans each occupy a seat on the Council of Thirteen.

Clan Mors is one of the most powerful clans in the Under-Empire and is considered a nouveau riche Great Clan. Due to recent victories and rapid expansion, this clan's power and influence have approached that of the four Great Clans, and its Warlord also occupies a seat on the Council of Thirteen.

Members of Clan Mors are very united, contrary to the norm of Skaven society, and show unprecedented loyalty to the Clan Chief. Even when a large number of members from other annexed clans enter, they soon hear the newcomers praising the Clan Lord Genuoduoer and the Council of Elders.

This loyalty is not necessarily caused by the most obscene and filthy witchcraft or some as-yet-undiscovered drug; perhaps it is caused by other things unknown to the rat-folk.

This Stormvermin, known as Big Yellow Tooth, began to exchange information with the Night Goblin boss then known as "Big Rat"—specifically, information about each other's rivals. This made the Night Goblin boss at the time very wealthy, and his reputation grew daily. However, good times did not last.

His rival Snotruk, another Night Goblin also in the middle ranks of the tribe, discovered his secret dealings and reported him to the Clan Leader. The Night Goblin boss at the time was ordered to be executed.

However, a Dwarf Expeditionary Force arrived in time and attacked his tribe's camp. "Big Rat" was hurriedly thrown into an underground river, drifting away from Karak Eight Peaks.

When he survived a brush with death in the underground river and drifted to the shore, poor "Big Rat" was discovered by a group of Goblin Wolf Riders and captured as a slave. The leader of the Wolf Rider tribe was a strange and huge Goblin; his name was Makigi the Barbequer.

Perhaps because he had seen much from riding his Dire Wolf across the Badlands for years, or simply because he was a bit curious, Makigi was different from the previous tribe bosses. He sensed the potential of "Big Rat."

Therefore, he wanted to verify it by observing what this little thing would do while imprisoned. In his view, a guy who was so green, had such red eyes, and seemed relatively smart had the potential to form a spiritual connection with the Great Green and become a Shaman.

For this reason, Makigi locked "Big Rat" in a small cage for several years. During his imprisonment, "Big Rat" studied the habits of the Wolf Rider tribe and learned many tactics and combat methods he hadn't known before.

When the Wolf Rider tribe wandered around the Badlands, "Big Rat" used his intelligence to learn the Dwarf language and the Human common tongue by eavesdropping and asking Dwarfs and Humans who were also captives.

Thereafter, "Big Rat" seized the opportunity to reveal his intelligence and cunning before Makigi. Makigi realized that although this little guy hadn't awakened spellcasting abilities, he could still produce huge effects.

Therefore, Makigi released "Big Rat" and appointed him as his spy. Just like before, "Big Rat" soon stood out with his intelligence, which was different from the petty cleverness of his peers, so fast that other tribe members felt a bit afraid.

Having lived with these plains Goblins for a long time, "Big Rat's" physique began to grow larger and larger, until he surpassed most Night Goblins, but the plains Goblins still thought he was a little runt.

Eventually, "Big Rat's" ambition surpassed Makigi the Barbequer. Having seen the grand occasion of the Evil Moon Tribe in Pillar City, he felt that there was no future in following the latter.

This was because Makigi only thought about selling defeated armies as slaves, rather than assimilating them and forming a massive waaagh!

"Big Rat" finally found an opportunity to murder Makigi the Barbequer on a dark and windy night and took over the entire Wolf Rider tribe. His first order as leader was to return to Karak Eight Peaks to take revenge on his old master.

After discovering that the lower levels of Karak Eight Peaks had been conquered by the Skaven Clan Mors, "Big Rat" decided to take a secret passage to sneak in and negotiate with Iblit the Hangman, the leader of the Evil Moon Tribe.

However, "Big Rat" was caught by his nemesis Snotruk, who had betrayed him in the past. During the days he was away, this old rival hadn't been idle; he had become the leader of the Back-Stabber, a vassal tribe of the Evil Moon Tribe.

Snotruk intended to make "Big Rat" fight to the death with a group of hungry Cave Squigs. However, the largest and meanest Squig betrayed its companions and bravely protected "Big Rat"!

"Big Rat" realized that this Squig was the one he had saved on a whim many years ago, so he decided to adopt it as a pet and named it Gobla.

With Gobla's help, "Big Rat" broke free from his bonds and fed Snotruk to it. Finally, he annexed the Back-Stabber amidst the cheers of his kin.

When "Big Rat" cast his gaze toward the throne in the center of Karak Eight Peaks, the Great Green, which he had only had a vague sense of, gave him a response.

There, "Big Rat" believed he had seen the one among the two gods worshipped by the Greenskins who focused more on cunning and wisdom—Mork.

Mork told "Big Rat" that his strength was not yet enough, not enough to take Eight Peaks from his own kind; he needed to do something else first.

From then on, "Big Rat" had a new name—Skarsnik, meaning cold dagger.

After receiving the oracle from Mork, Skarsnik set his clever brain in motion. He wanted to find a good place for himself to accumulate strength to return to Pillar City.

After gathering information and weighing the pros and cons, Skarsnik chose the Grey Mountains as the starting point for his hegemony, because in his view, the Grey Mountains had just experienced a massive waaagh,

Due to the nature of Greenskins releasing spores after dying in battle or being injured, it is foreseeable that a large number of newborn Greenskins will soon break through the soil here.

Likewise, because the greatest Goblin Warlord Gulu raised his army in this area, his lingering influence will make the Greenskins more willing to accept a Goblin as their boss.

Beyond these two points, Gulu's massive Big Waaagh gathered the Greenskin tribes that originally occupied various strongholds, leaving behind a power vacuum. It also caused an impact on the surrounding Human, Dwarf, and other Order factions, which can also alleviate the pressure from the surroundings at the beginning of his power's development.

From such thorough considerations, it is sufficient to see how Skarsnik differs from ordinary Greenskins; he possesses a strategic vision that can be called rare among all intelligent races.

If everything proceeds according to plan, he will capture Karak-Azgalaz and use it as a base to develop and strengthen his power; several years later, he will lead a great army back to the Badlands, gaining control of the upper fortress of Karak Eight Peaks through a series of bloody battles and schemes.

From then on, Skarsnik will become the most threatening Greenskin warlord in the World's Edge Mountains, possessing an entire page dedicated to him in Thorgrim's Great Book of Grudges.

Besides Goblins, even Orcs and even Black Orc warlords will be forced to submit to this cunning Goblin, or be fed to Gobla.

This Goblin, who has earned the title of Warlord of Eight Peaks, will have to fight incessantly against two arch-enemies: the vengeful rightful owner of Eight Peaks, Belegar Ironhammer, and the mad God of War of Eight Peaks, Queek Headtaker; their battles will last almost until the end of the world.

If, everything develops according to plan.

Thanks to Di Di De Yang, Reality Is a Cruel Ideal, and the monthly votes from book friends.

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