A sketch of a tribesman of the Crow Tribe, found within the Liber Chaotica.
The Tribe of the Crow, also called the Crow Tribe, is a barbaric Norscan tribe dedicated to the worship of Nurgle, the Chaos God of disease and despair.[1a]
Beyond the icy lands of Norsca, in the hinterlands of the Chaos Wastes, there are some amongst the ignorant and wicked tribes of barbaric Men who reside there who worship Nurgle openly and with pride. To the majority of these ignorant fools, the Lord of Decay is known as "Neiglen" or with the epithet of the "Great Carrion Crow." This is because Neiglen is depicted as a great, diseased crow: gigantic, flightless and near-skeletal, its rotting flesh riven with all manner of diseases, and maggots writhing in its belly.[1a][2a]
This is the form in which Neiglen chooses to show himself to the tribesmen of the north. The tribes dedicated to Neiglen believe that the flight of a crow tells of death, of eyes without life, of a slow, lingering end caused by agonising wounds. The warriors of the Crow are grim men, finding the fulfilment they seek in the horrors of battle.[1a][2a]
It is the belief of the people of the Tribe of the Crow that suffering and misery, though not necessarily enjoyable, are the natural state of life, and to attain true understanding of themselves and the world (and to appease Neiglen) they must cast aside all the trappings and delusions of life to embrace and promote the truth of despair. They see Neiglen as the most honest of all the gods, in that he does not lie about the "purpose" and "reality" of life.[1a][2a]
They accept that all things decay and believe that as a result, there can be no true value to life. The people of the Crow hold that the only activity of any worth on the mortal side of the grave is to spread the "enlightenment" that Neiglen offers, thereby giving meaning to the otherwise pointless suffering of life, while also securing themselves a place in Neiglen's afterlife.[1a]
Magical winds blow constantly from the north, bringing with them all manner of plagues and diseases. To those dedicated to the Crow, contracting such a disease is considered a fate that pleases their patron. When word of a new disease reaches the Tribe of the Crow, they pray that they too will be "blessed" with it. Suffering a plague is considered a deed that pleases their patron god, and miraculously, many of the tribesmen survive these ordeals and are even strengthened by them.[1a][2a]
The people of the Crow Tribe believe that suffering from a plague is a noble and worthy endeavour, for it brings them closer to reality and Neiglen's great plan. As a testament to the pride their foul and disgusting god must have in these lunatics, many of the tribesmen survive these ordeals and are even strengthened by them. [1a]
Those poor souls that are captured by the Tribe of the Crow are tortured to death for days on end. While this goes on, the pitiless barbarians encourage the poor unfortunate souls to suffer in silence, as their god approves of those who accept their fate. After that they are buried deep, often still alive. This is not done out of respect, but because the earth below is seen as the domain of the Crow and the soul of the damned prisoner will be consumed by the god of pestilence as he slowly rots below the ground.[2a]
Notable Tribesmen[]
- Valnir the Reaper - Valnir the Reaper, also known as the "Scion of Nurgle" and the "Reaper of Souls," is a great, Half-Daemon Champion of Nurgle, the Chaos God of decay and pestilence. According to the sagas of the Tribe of the Crow of Norsca, Valnir was once a great chieftain and warrior. His strength of sinew and skill at arms such that he was the equal of the mightiest warriors of the numerous Khornate Norscan tribes. Yet despite his power and glory, despite the multitudes of victories he garnered for his tribe, the chieftain is said to have felt no pleasure. He took no pride in his strength or appearance, nor did he partake of the luxuries his small empire of conquered lands could bestow. Why this may have been, none of the legends recall, but all agree that Valnir was ever a man of grim visage and heavy heart. Indeed, it was often said amongst the Norscans that were Valnir's misery to flow as a river, it would have enveloped all the north in its bitter waters. Yet no defeatist apathetic was Valnir, for the chieftain had hated all the world with a passion, though none remember why, and was determined to impose his misery upon all the lands of Men. In time, the chieftain left his tribe, swearing that he would not return until he had found a way to make the mortal world suffer as he did. It was this purpose that led Valnir to sail across the Frozen Sea, travel through the lands of the Kurgans, and finally range far to the north to the Chaos Wastes, where he pledged his soul to Nurgle and became his mighty Champion. Valnir was finally slain during the End Times by Wulfrik the Wanderer, who decapitated the Champion of Nurgle during a duel to determine which of them would have the right to challenge Valten, the Chosen of Sigmar, to a duel to the death.