Clan Eshin

Across the surface of the world, alliances are severed, plagues are spread and wars are started – all orchestrated by a shrouded and impalpable menace that lurks undetected beneath the very feet of those they conspire to destroy. They are the Skaven – evil ratmen who seek to rule supreme from their sprawling Under-Empire. Gnawing at the roots of the world, they are guided by the furtive intentions of the Council of Thirteen and their malevolent god known as the Great Horned Rat, who forever scratches at the fabric separating the material world from the great beyond. The Skaven Under-Empire consists of countless clans, each one – just like each individual Skaven – jostling for position, status and power. Though the lesser Warlord Clans are a thriving mass of betrayals and broken alliances, the Greater Clans are near-unassailable in this never-ending race. Shrouded in shadow and mystery, Eshin is by far the most nefarious of the Greater Clans, feared as murderers and for the art of stealthy death that they have long mastered from their past contact with the Far East. They are silent stalkers, more than capable of infiltrating defences and getting past any number of guards or traps to reach their objectives. For the right price, Clan Eshin will slay any rival, steal any information or commit any act of sabotage required. No warlord wants to be targeted by their shady contracts, and the mere mention of their black-clad killers is enough to make anyone look over his shoulder. There are many Clan Eshin agents scattered across the clan strongholds and even within the cities of the surface-dwellers, but the one known as Deathmaster Snikch is truly the most dreaded figure of speculation. The deeds and whereabouts of Eshin’s most deadly killer are but rumours that echo throughout the Under-Cities across the world, suiting Lord Sneek, the Grand Nightlord of Clan Eshin and member of the Lords of Decay – because as long as no-one knows Snikch’s real location, then no one can ever feel truly safe. The ramifications of such mystique are always considered by Clan Eshin and the Council of Thirteen. Once deployed, Deathmaster Snikch does not fail, but the list of targets always grows more quickly than even this perfect killer can eliminate them. In times when he has been unleashed upon the world by his master, it has always been impossible for anyone to divine his presence. While a master of murder, it is likely that Snikch is also behind many of the ratmen’s most devious acts of sabotage; great fires, heinous bombings, the failure of war machines on the eve of tide-turning battles – who knows how many of the world’s pivotal disasters were really the work of Snikch?