Sayl the Faithless, Chaos Sorcerer
Sayl the Faithless, the "Twisted Seer of the Wastes," is the infamous Kurgan arch-sorcerer of the Dolgan tribe. Sayl is an utterly self-serving egotist and practiced murderer. His road to power lies in his total mastery of betrayal, guile and treachery which has seen him rise supreme over other rivals whose arcane powers were greater than his and even powerful Chaos Champions who have enjoyed the favour of the Dark Gods.[1a]
Such is Sayl's paranoia and hubris that he has never himself sworn allegiance to any single Ruinous Power, but rather paid lip service to many, and pursued pacts and bargains with many petty Chaos godlings and Daemons, betraying each in turn when expedient, earning him the epithet of "the Faithless."[1a]
History[]
Sayl's ascendancy within the Dolgan tribe of the Kurgan people of the Eastern Steppes began with his swearing allegiance to the powerful shaman-sorcerer Schalkain the Vile as one of his cabal of seven seer-apprentices, who used their prophetic powers to guide the tribe in war and in propitiation of the Chaos Gods. From the beginning, Sayl served no one but himself and manipulated the inherent paranoia and suspicion of the sorcerers. With honeyed lies he turned them against each other and fanned the flames of their suspicion into murderous strife.[1a][1b]
Sayl goaded Schalkain into conducting a Daemonic ritual involving Sayl and his master's three other remaining "loyal" sorcerers, to gain vengeance on the "traitors." Sayl sabotaged this ritual, causing Schalkain to be torn to pieces and the other surviving apprentices to fuse together into the horrific Chaos Spawn known as the Nightmaw. Although victorious, Sayl was not untouched by his treachery in the ritual, as his flesh mutated and his mortal sight was removed only to be replaced with the hellish and maddening senses of the Realm of Chaos.[1a][1b]
Hated and feared by his own people, Sayl the Faithless was nevertheless a strong war-leader whose mastery over the unholy storms of the northern Chaos Wastes and prophetic seer-craft made the Dolgan tribe under his sway greatly feared.[1b]
However, as his reign stretched into the scores of years, the list of Sayl's enemies, both mortal and Daemon, grew and Sayl's throne was ever-threatened. When the burgeoning horde of the Champion of Nurgle Tamurkhan crashed through the Dolgan's lands, Sayl shrewdly turned impending calamity to his advantage and allied his forces with those of the Nurglish Chaos Lord. At least, they would remain allies for as long as such a relationship suited Sayl's purposes.[1b]
Wargear[]
- Viperous Staff - The Viperous Staff is a foul heirloom of the Dolgan tribe. This dark-iron staff is entwined with serpents which come alive at the wielder's command, glowing venom dripping from their fangs as they strike with formidable speed and power to defend their master and slay his enemies.[1b]
- Schalkain's Teeth - This corpse-skin bag contains numerous, sigil-etched teeth and fangs Sayl has torn from the skulls of the various wizards he has defeated in his unholy career, not least of all those of his first master, Schalkain. Should his magic go awry, Sayl may hurl a handful of the teeth as part of a treacherous curse against an ally to divert the wrath of the Winds of Magic.[1b]