The Alabaster Cult AKA "Clean Skaven"

[WoollyMammoth]

To birth a horned rat is believed to be a great blessing, and in turn sold to the Seer Clan for substantial wealth. To birth a Skaven white in color but lacking the blessing of the horned rat is instead seen as being half-blessed, and such a thing is of no value to the Seer Clan. Warlords, often being greatly superstitious, view this as a bad omen, but at the same time, fearful of what might happen if they were to put the thing to a blade. As a result, such Albino ratlings are cast aside. Left to wander as a newborn stray, these beasts turn feral in nature, left with nothing but their base instincts for survival.  

There is a certain sect of these albino Skaven, known as the Alabaster Cult. They pay agents of Eshin to seek out and capture the discarded ratlings. These creatures are brought before the Cult offered a choice - protection in the loving arms of their pale brothers - or to be fed to the stormvermin in ritualistic sacrifice.

The Alabaster Clut believes the lack of color to be a great blessing from the horned rat. Though different than the gift of the arcane which sprouts horns, the Achromic Blessing is said to come with great aptitude and will. Whether this is truth - or merely a vain superstition of the cult - cannot be known. Whatever the case, having spent their early lives fending for themselves gives them a fiercely independent and brutal nature, as well as a deep hatred for the dark-fur brothers who cast them aside.

The white ratmen take great pride in their appearance, and tend to groom more often than average Skaven (more than not at all) and on rare occasions - they may even bathe. They take great care to clean and sharpen their blades, even makeshift as they tend to be, and look to scavenge bright and elaborate textiles from those free folk they slay or enslave.

While the attacks of most Skaven tend to be random (as much as anyone can tell) the Alabaster Cult is quite different. It is said that they seek out targets of wealth and position, often raiding the manors and castles of nobles, leaving the poor and common folk completely undisturbed. This has led to a superstition among free folk that these white Skaven are the persecutors of the greedy and the vain.  In all actuality the cult is only acting on behalf of their own vile greed and vanity.

Chosen for their unique birth defect, and not for their strength or size creates a very varied warband. Those who may wield a great halberd are trained as Stormvermin, while the majority are trained with hand weapons and banded into clans. 

Vein as they are, they prefer to spend whatever wealth they have on Skyre contraptions or great machines to carry them into battle. Some contracts have been made with Clan Moulder, though the conditions of the contracts are unusual, and most believe its not worth the trouble. The Cult has a healthy relationship with Eshin, and is often working to maintain their relationship. While they do not have any hatred for the Pestilin Clans, their dirty garb and rotting, dark fur are a stark contrast to the white rats, and - if allied - tend to keep to separate parts of the battlefield or else risk contamination. 

The warlord clans however, are a different story. The clan seeks to prove their superiority over the clans that left them for dead. To defeat them in open combat - and devour their corpse - is believed to grant greater power. This can lead to increased status, being promoted to Clawleader or Fangleader. Any Cultist who lands the killing blow to a Warlord is himself instantly promoted to Cult Warlord. As such, hordes of ratmen often throw themselves right into Warlord Clan leaders. Unfortunately for this reason, the promotion is never long lived. Needlessly said, the Warlord Clans like to keep their distance from their fanatical white-furred brothers. This only fuels the hatred, which continues the cycle of hatred, leading to the clans casting aside the Albino ratlings at birth, in ever more dangerous and dire circumstances, hoping these creatures do not survive long.   

[Dead_Ghost]

Fantastic concept, can wait to see it 'in action'. 

[Kramer]

Very cool set up! Can't wait to see the execution  

[WoollyMammoth]

I have over 6k points of Skaven. I've been neglecting them in AoS for too long. 
Re-basing them and working on several projects atm. Here is my prototype:

[jwt708]

Cool write up and nice looking Skaven.

[WoollyMammoth]

[Dead_Ghost]

Brilliant stuff, love the detail on the paint jobs. 

[Davariel]

Exceptional work on those clanrats... although I can't imagine how long it would take you to paint an entire army of skaven to such a high standard

[WoollyMammoth]

13 hours ago, Davariel said:

Exceptional work on those clanrats... although I can't imagine how long it would take you to paint an entire army of skaven to such a high standard

Too long Davariel, too long.

But, I imagine that if I pulled it off - it would be a magnificent sight to behold. A couple hundred white rats with varied bright coloring. It would definitely be a unique looking army. Unfortunately I have like 8 full armies so its hard to devote that much focus.


Here is an action shot of my WIP Verminlord. He is magnetized to be any of the 3 'Gliave' types. Originally a Warpseer, I am working on the Warbringer now. I made the punch-claw and the face, and laid down some new base layers to work toward bringing the model up to a higher standard of painting. In the distance you can see some Stormvermin ravaging some longswords, but I have not done any new work on them yet, other than to get some on round bases.

[TheOtherJosh]

The "plaid" "kilt" on the skaven was an awesome touch.

I'd give two "likes" ... but that would likely remove my original like ... so two thumbs up from me