"Work or starve."
- —Emperor Boris' cold response when asked by unemployed soldiers recently disbanded by his tax policies what they should do to survive as they had no other skills than war.[2b]
Boris I Hohenbach, also infamously known as "Boris Goldgather," and "Boris the Incompetent," who bore the official titles of "Protector of the Empire," "Defier of the Dark," "Emperor Himself and Son of Emperors," and "Chief Defender of the Faith of Holy Sigmar," was the Baron of Kutenhold, the Duke of Scheinfeld,[6a] and the Emperor of Man from 1053 to 1115 IC. He was the last and by far the worst of the so-called "Drakwald Emperors." His reign was brought to its miserable end by the outbreak of the Black Plague and the onset of the terrible Skaven Wars.[1a]
History[]
Reign as Emperor[]
Boris Hohenbach was elected emperor in 1053 IC because the Elector Counts believed him to be young and weak, the opposite of his father Ludwig II. In truth, Boris had a keen sense of survival, and often pit rival nobles against each other, using their own power against them and forcing them to scheme against each other. Boris made himself into an arbiter between rival Imperial princes and potentates, a position which made him indispensable to them and allowed him to play them against each other in pursuit of his own designs.[2a]
Upon his ascension to the throne, Boris once again moved the Imperial capital from Nuln and back towards Altdorf. [6b]Devoted solely to money and its acquisition, Boris let the Elector Counts rule as they would as long as he received appropriate "gifts." New titles and offices were invented and sold, so now Elector Counts vied with each other to acquire ever more grandiose titles, such as "Grand Prince" or "Grand Duchess Palatine." A quick bribe would see a troublesome free town's charter revoked by the emperor, the first news of which would come when soldiers of the local noble would seize control and hang the burgomeister.[3a]
Others joined the game as the Empire's religious cults began selling ecclesiastical offices. The emperor himself would even sell to commoners the right to spend the night in the Imperial Palace, renting out the chambers of a 9th century IC emperor, Jürgen the Opulent.[1a] When the Drakwald province was destroyed by Beastmen during the years 1106-1110 IC, the emperor did nothing to help the people of that region, despite originating from that province. Instead, he confiscated the Drakwald Elector Count's Runefang and what holdings remained for the Imperial throne, until such a time as he decided on a new heir.[1b] He even made a horse into a duke.[3a]
It was strongly suspected from some of the other Elector Counts that the Emperor had recalled Everhardt Johannes Boekenfoerde from rooting out the rest of the Beastmen, even though the warherd had been crushed in a field battle. They believed this because without the Drakwald as a province, its wealth and titles went to the Imperial office. Others suspected that if the Norscans had captured the rest of the Westerland, then it would've been in the same position. This was further suppoted by the fact that Boris had refused to appoint any new Duke after the Drakwald's ruler was killed by Beastmen.[6b]
The Elector Counts were infuriated at Boris' new tax on every able-bodied peasant. One shilling was required for every person between ten and fifty and half a shilling for those outside that range. The Elector Counts were outraged at this, but the next change left them completely infuriated. The class of peasantry known as the Dienstleute was to be relieved of its traditionally tax-free status. This group was made up of conscripted and enlisted soldiers. Such a change would force many of the Elector Counts to let go of their soldiers, some of whom had no other skills other than service in the military. Boris did not care, seeing this as an opportunity to extract even more wealth.[2b]
The Black Plague[]
Boris' new tax caused a massive march on Altdorf by veterans who's lords could not afford to keep them. This culminated in the Bread Massacre of 1111 IC in Altdorf. Boris unleashed Adolf Kreyssig and the Kaiserjaeger to slaughter the veterans and the Imperial Knightly order called the Kaiserknecht, who had sided with the former soldiers. Boris watched as their grand master was executed, only for the crowds to quickly turn against the Emperor. Representatives from Stirland, Sylvania, the Cult of Sigmar, Middenland, and the Mootland all after this, realizing the Emperor must be forced to abdicate. They were interested in removing him from office but not in assassination. [6b]
Judgement for Boris Goldgather came in 1111 IC, when the Black Plague erupted in several Imperial cities at once in the east, spreading inexorably to the western lands. The easternmost lands of Talabecland and Ostland, what would later become Kislev, were denuded of even animal life by the disease and had to be abandoned. The crowded towns and cities of the Empire were hardest hit, and desperate authorities would set fires to burn whole neighborhoods at the first sign of disease. Travelers even suspected of carrying the plague were hung and their corpses burned by desperate roadwardens. Prayers to the gods went unanswered, priests dying at their altars, while nobles and the wealthy abandoned the urban areas for the relative safety of their rural estates.[1a]
The emperor himself could not have cared less. Boris secluded himself at a palace miles from Carroburg and allowed only the wealthiest and most beautiful of his subjects to join him there. There, thoughts of plague and pustulated peasants were far away. They would laugh and drink and wait for the plague to finally die down.[1a]
In the summer of 1115 IC, there was an especially virulent eruption of plague. The emperor, most of the Elector Counts, and their immediate families and retainers had gathered at the Carroburg palace to hold court and wait for it to die down. One hot summer evening during a ball, they instead died themselves.[1a]
As the emperor gorged himself on roast goose and the courtiers danced under the stars, none noticed the figures in ragged robes gathering upwind of them. They were the censer carriers of Clan Pestilens, and this was the beginning of the Skaven's final assault on the Empire.[1a]
The winds carried the many plagues of the Skaven throughout the palace grounds. Hundreds of the Empire's leaders died that night, buboes sprouting from their bodies and pustules bursting. As he lay dying, Boris the Incompetent listened as the Skaven leader told him of their grand plan, how armies of his kin were that night marching across every land of the Empire, the bearers of its downfall and the fall of all the realms of Men.[1a]
Legacy[]
Boris I's death is still celebrated as a national holiday all across the Empire, called Goldgather's End.
While Boris' noble house originated in the Drakwald province, he himself was not the Elector Count of Drakwald, an office held by Count Vilner until his death in 1110 IC.[4a][1b] Afterwards, the most likely candidate, Konrad Aldrech, died under mysterious circumstances, leaving the office of the Elector of Drakwald vacant until its outright abolition during the reign of Emperor Mandred II.[5a] It is likely that the requirement that the emperor must also be an Elector Count of one of the Great Provinces to qualify for election to the Imperial throne was passed into law after Boris Goldgather's death, likely as a reaction born from the calamitous experiences of the realm during his reign.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Sigmar's Heirs (RPG)
- 2: The Black Plague: Wolf of Sigmar (Novel) by C. L. Werner
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Altdorf - Crown of the Empire (RPG)
- 3a: pg. 115
- 4: Warhammer Armies: Beasts of Chaos (6th Edition)
- 4a: pg. 11
- 5: Warhammer Armies: The Empire (8th Edition)
- 5a: pg. 13
- 6: The Black Plague: Dead Winter (Novel) by C. L. Werner