16 Apr 2013
Taratus-akh'p'ta the Architect
Not much is known about the origins of Taratus-akh'p'ta the architect. Some say that he is originally from Middenheim, and was an advisor to the council there on matters of advancement and economics. He became very wealthy despite being from a humble background and enjoyed near to fame amongst the people as the council thrived from his incredibly precise advice. He ordered mass storing of food and avoided a famine, and encouraged literacy and education by convincing them to build more schools. Life was peachy for the city under his guidance and the council never dared to utter a word against him or his advice as every time they did they had suffered terribly in some way or another. This caused great jealousy amongst the men in power who envied his influence, and due to an incident some say was staged his dark allegiances were discovered and he fled in terror and had to flee the city. Other whisperers say he wandered into Kislev one day a starving, lonely beggar, not a penny to his name, eating scraps given to him on the streets by kindly housewives until the people of Kislev were struck down by a terrible plague. It is said that the homeless beggar began to claim that he could heal the sick people of Kislev and after weeks of suffering and death one plague sufferer ventured out to speak with him and came back cured. His talent was spoken of greatly and near to half the city brought to him for aid. He single handedly rebuilt a city, and the people of Kislev adored him for it. But their adoration had a limit. As soon as the plague was all but gone, they branded him a Sorceror or feared that he was a daemon and so the story goes; killed him there and then as punishment for his crimes.
Whatever his origins, what is known is that he is a favoured son of the Changer of Ways, who valued his cunning, intelligence, and innate gift for manipulation. A silver tongued devil among men, he was rewarded for his deeds and it is said he passed into the realm of chaos itself to make his pact with his God. After his arduous journey into Tzeentch's final chamber, a bloodied, mentally scarred Tartarus faced whatever fate the Great Deceiver had foreseen for him. He was shown two visions of possible futures. The first, showed him lying dead in that very chamber in a pool of burning blood with his own heart carved out of his chest still beating given as a gift of remembrance to his God. The other image was of himself, in a body as strong as steel with great martial prowess and strength, imbued with the tiniest portion of the knowledge his God possessed which would be enough to demolish any normal mind. With this new body he would amass a horde of fervent followers from the North and travel south conquering cities in a blaze of confusion and manipulation spreading the great fire of Tzeentch.
The two visions were conflicting, and everything rested on his next actions or words as Tzeentch watched his subject with delight. It was at this moment Taratus knew what he had to do. He pulled out a ceremonial dagger he kept inside his robes, and carved out his own still-beating heart as an offering for his God.
He was rewarded with the second vision. He lives in constant physical pain, knowing that his heart does not belong to the body it resides in. The fragment of knowledge gifted to him by the Great Deceiver nearly crushed his sanity, and he has to actively choose not to think about most of it in order to retain any kind of grasp on the world. He longs for nothing more than to be freed from his eternal torment, and thus leads a fervent horde of warriors on a continuous war for the glory of Tzeentch. By human standards his body should be dead many times over, but Tzeentch has other ideas and has actively prevented his death on numerous occasions. This has led his followers to believe he is truly a chosen child of the Changer of Ways, and they will continue to collect souls for him until their own deaths take them to their master's side.
Not much is known about the origins of Taratus-akh'p'ta the architect. Some say that he is originally from Middenheim, and was an advisor to the council there on matters of advancement and economics. He became very wealthy despite being from a humble background and enjoyed near to fame amongst the people as the council thrived from his incredibly precise advice. He ordered mass storing of food and avoided a famine, and encouraged literacy and education by convincing them to build more schools. Life was peachy for the city under his guidance and the council never dared to utter a word against him or his advice as every time they did they had suffered terribly in some way or another. This caused great jealousy amongst the men in power who envied his influence, and due to an incident some say was staged his dark allegiances were discovered and he fled in terror and had to flee the city. Other whisperers say he wandered into Kislev one day a starving, lonely beggar, not a penny to his name, eating scraps given to him on the streets by kindly housewives until the people of Kislev were struck down by a terrible plague. It is said that the homeless beggar began to claim that he could heal the sick people of Kislev and after weeks of suffering and death one plague sufferer ventured out to speak with him and came back cured. His talent was spoken of greatly and near to half the city brought to him for aid. He single handedly rebuilt a city, and the people of Kislev adored him for it. But their adoration had a limit. As soon as the plague was all but gone, they branded him a Sorceror or feared that he was a daemon and so the story goes; killed him there and then as punishment for his crimes.
Whatever his origins, what is known is that he is a favoured son of the Changer of Ways, who valued his cunning, intelligence, and innate gift for manipulation. A silver tongued devil among men, he was rewarded for his deeds and it is said he passed into the realm of chaos itself to make his pact with his God. After his arduous journey into Tzeentch's final chamber, a bloodied, mentally scarred Tartarus faced whatever fate the Great Deceiver had foreseen for him. He was shown two visions of possible futures. The first, showed him lying dead in that very chamber in a pool of burning blood with his own heart carved out of his chest still beating given as a gift of remembrance to his God. The other image was of himself, in a body as strong as steel with great martial prowess and strength, imbued with the tiniest portion of the knowledge his God possessed which would be enough to demolish any normal mind. With this new body he would amass a horde of fervent followers from the North and travel south conquering cities in a blaze of confusion and manipulation spreading the great fire of Tzeentch.
The two visions were conflicting, and everything rested on his next actions or words as Tzeentch watched his subject with delight. It was at this moment Taratus knew what he had to do. He pulled out a ceremonial dagger he kept inside his robes, and carved out his own still-beating heart as an offering for his God.
He was rewarded with the second vision. He lives in constant physical pain, knowing that his heart does not belong to the body it resides in. The fragment of knowledge gifted to him by the Great Deceiver nearly crushed his sanity, and he has to actively choose not to think about most of it in order to retain any kind of grasp on the world. He longs for nothing more than to be freed from his eternal torment, and thus leads a fervent horde of warriors on a continuous war for the glory of Tzeentch. By human standards his body should be dead many times over, but Tzeentch has other ideas and has actively prevented his death on numerous occasions. This has led his followers to believe he is truly a chosen child of the Changer of Ways, and they will continue to collect souls for him until their own deaths take them to their master's side.
Belchfist Beastkiller Mountaineater the Everhungry
Check out my brand new Warriors of Chaos gnoblog
http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=25064.0
Daemons
http://ogre-stronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=9274.0
Ghark Ironskin and tribe
http://ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=8002.0
Check out my brand new Warriors of Chaos gnoblog
http://www.ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=25064.0
Daemons
http://ogre-stronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=9274.0
Ghark Ironskin and tribe
http://ogrestronghold.com/forum/index.php?topic=8002.0
