"Khorne!" they roared, invoking the sacred battle-name of Kharnath, the Blood God, Lord of Battles. "Khorne!" they howled until it seemed the walls must fall from the violence of their voices alone. "Khorne!" they shrieked as they gnashed their teeth and bit their shields."
A Nurglite Marauder Berserker as depicted in Warhammer: The End Times - Vermintide.
Marauder Berserkers, also known as Savages, are a brutal sect of Northmen warriors, known chiefly for being subject to terrifying battle-frenzies. Most berserkers are followers of Khorne, the Chaos God of war and murder, crying the praises of the Blood God while ravaging many a foreign shore.
Role
The feats of Marauder Berserkers fill the songs of the Skalds of the Norscans and loom large in the sagas of the north and the nightmares of Imperial soldiers who have faced them on the battlefield. Bred from the hardiest stock of the already hardy folk of the grim Northlands, the Marauder Berserkers of Norsca are a rightly feared warrior-cult.
Most purposely go into battle without armour or any other protection in order to display the bravery to their foe, to their kinsmen, and to their Dark Gods. They are possessed of a dark, brutal madness which compels them to fight on until they have slaughtered all about them, or are themselves slain.
Marauder Berserkers are driven by one thing alone, a lethal intent to inflict unparalleled brutality upon their enemies. Like all Chaos Marauders, they are unrelenting combatants who habitually take what their own lands cannot provide from lesser men, but are set apart by their bizarre pre-battle rituals and unequalled fanaticism for killing.
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A Savage of the Rotblood tribe of Norsca, their equivalent of a Marauder Berserker, as depicted for Warhammer: Vermintide II.
They immerse themselves in a psychotic state of mind before a fight, always consuming vast quantities of beer and indulging in head-butting contests prior to entering the battlefield. Once they see their enemies they attack without regard for their own lives, wild-eyed and frothing at the mouth. Upon reaching their target, the berserker turns into a Human whirlwind -- with an axe in each hand, he spins, chops, and dismembers with a strength only achievable by a madman.
Berserkers are often devotees of the Blood God Khorne, which is apt given Khorne's status as the Norscan god of war and battle-frenzy. Indeed, in order to will themselves into the rage, the berserkers bellow the sacred battle-names of the Lord of Battles, invoking him and thus gaining a measure of his fury that they might destroy all who oppose them on the battlefield.
In addition, many, if not all of these berserkers tend to become Chaos Champions of the Blood God, receiving his Mark and blessings that they might become even deadlier on the field.
However, while they are most often associated with Khorne, there are some berserkers who do not worship the Lord of Battles exclusively. These warriors deign to worship each of the Dark Gods equally as a pantheon in the form of Chaos Undivided. Others have dedicated their souls to an individual Chaos God, such as the Savages of the Nurgle-worshipping Rotblood tribe. Expatriate berserkers found within the Empire give allegiance, publicly at least, to Ulric, the god of war, winter and wolves within the Old World Pantheon.
Notable Berserkers
Portrait of a fearsome Norscan Marauder Berserker as depicted in Total War: Warhammer.
- Knut the Bloody - A legendary Marauder Berserker who became a Champion of Khorne. Knut fought alongside the twelfth Everchosen Asavar Kul, slaying thousands by his side, and also under the command of Engra Deathsword during the Great War Against Chaos.
- Hrolf Wyrdulf - Wyrdulf was the prince of the Norscan tribe of the Vargs, as well as Ulfwerener and lieutenant to the legendary Khornate Chaos Lord Garmr Hrodvitnir. Wyrdulf and his pack fought under their lord's command during Hrodvitnir's battles against the Dwarf Hold of Karak Kadrin in his quest to establish the Road of Skulls and bathe the Known World in the sanguine majesty of Khorne's realm. Hrolf met his end at the hands of the famed Dwarf Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson.
- Njarvord - A Baersonling and sword-brother of Wulfrik the Wanderer, Njarvord was a particularly brutal warrior who fought while clad in heavy steel plate armour and using a massive, double-bitted greataxe. He fought valorously on many of Wulfrik's raids, but was eventually slain during an incursion into Ulthuan by a High Elf noble, having been impaled on the Elf's pike. Njarvord's final act, however, was to pull himself down the noble's pike, much to the Elf's horror, and with a mighty bellow, strike a terrible blow that beheaded the High Elf lord's horse, crushing him underneath it and allowing Wulfrik to finish him off, thus avenging the berserker's death.
- Brutes of the Hound - Merciless and psychotic, these frenzied Berserkers kill with total devotion to Khorne, the God of Warriors.
Sources
- 1: Liber Chaotica: Khorne (Background Book)
- 2: Knight of the Realm (Novel) by Anthony Reynolds
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd EDdition: Tome of Corruption (RPG)
- 4: Wulfrik (Novel) by C.L. Werner
- 5: Tamurkhan: The Throne of Chaos (8th Edition)
- 6: Total War: Warhammer (PC Game)
- 7: Warhammer: Vermintide II (PC Game)