Forsaken

"Little Humanity remains within the Forsaken, only a desire for battle, followed by a furious charge into the fray."

—Description of the Forsaken in Total War: Warhammer.^[3]

The Forsaken, also known as Half-Spawn, are those Chaos Chosen and Chaos Champions in service to the Dark Gods that have become too powerful to devolve into mere Chaos Spawn, and yet are too weak to bear the brunt of their mutations and find their minds breaking under the weight, transforming them into feral but still powerful savage warriors.

Role

Many Aspiring Champions and powerful Chaos Lords, no less valiant in the service of the Dark Gods than their brethren, find that the rewards of the gods turn out to be more a hindrance than a blessing. Forsaken by the gods, now, they fight only out of a dark, unnatural hunger and madness.^[1a]

Total War Forsaken Render 1 — A rendering of a Forsaken for *Total War: Warhammer*

The Forsaken come in all manners of shapes and forms, but all are invariably howling maniacs that rush to come to grips with the enemy, their mutated limbs flailing and overgrown jaws snapping like those of wild wolves. Though once proud and mighty Champions of Chaos, the severity of the mutations bestowed upon them have twisted them into something less than Human yet more then a mere Chaos Spawn. These unfortunates have been literally forsaken by their gods, reduced to the levels of mere animals who growl and snarl in a guttural parody of Human speech.^[1a]

These warriors have lost the capacity for rational thought, with most setting aside their proud axes in favour of their mutated claws or jagged tendrils. But there are those who still grasp ancient weapons in their warped fists, and these weapons are likely to have been blessed by the power of Chaos, or are Daemon Weapons in their own right, marking the Forsaken warrior as a great Champion in their former life.^[1a]

The mutations wracking the Forsaken's frame are varied, but always extensive. Chitinous claws, writhing tentacles, extra heads or even great, hairy grasping arms pushing out from cracks within the shattered remnants of their once proud Chaos Armour. Having lost much of their former personality, a Forsaken is always only a single step away from devolving completely into a mindless Chaos Spawn.^[1a]

Though they seem benighted abominations to the inhabitants of the south, the brutish tribesmen of Norsca and beyond make little distinction between the Forsaken and others marked with the favour of the Chaos Gods. For the most part, they are content to leave their brethren to their solitary existence, honouring them and summoning them in times of war with offerings of blood and bone. Whatever their mental state, the Forsaken still retain their strength as Champions of Chaos, and in many cases have grown even more lethal as a result of their mutations.^[1a]

In rare circumstances, a Chaos God may reward a long-lived and ardent Forsaken with the return of its former memories and personality. This allows them to truly appreciate the deadly mutations acquired in their former incarnation.^[1]

Marked Forsaken

ForsakenTWWArhammerIII — A Forsaken of Chaos Undivided as depicted in *Total War: Warhammer III*.

Forsaken of Khorne

When the warping forces of Chaos saturate the mortal frames of Khorne's warriors beyond the limitations of their flesh, they become his Forsaken; deformed, twisted warriors that know nothing but rage. Such changes may bring them closer to the image of Khorne or the Daemons of theBlood God's Domain, and go beyond mere strength. Their skin may turn black, red or brass, and their eyes become as dead and white as those of Daemons.^[5]

Their very faces may become the hideous likeness of a Bloodthirster, Bloodletter, Fleshhound or Juggernaut, their eyes may leak poison, or they may be granted the most disfiguring boon of this sort with their entire bodies becoming a hybrid breed of such Daemon spawn of the Blood God. While the hideous corruption of the flesh may outwardly appear a curse, for Khorne's purposes it is a blessing.^[5]

Forsaken of Tzeentch

Only the desperate or the utterly mad offer their souls to Tzeentch, and some who do are irrevocably altered in body as well as mind, never to be the same again. The Great Schemer oft ensnares his followers with spurious promises only to forsake them later, gifting madness to the mind and mutation to the body.^[5]

Of all the Chaos Gods, the Changer of Ways is surely the most generous with the reward of mutation. While some of His followers glorify in their tainted flesh, others experience mutation after mutation piled onto their frail bodies, their ravaged minds diminishing into nothing more than those of crazed killers until they devolve into true Chaos Spawn.^[5]

Forsaken of Slaanesh

Slaanesh, being the most capricious and wantonly cruel of the Ruinous Powers, takes great delight in the "happy accidents" that come about from the warping changes his supplicants suffer from receiving his mutational "gifts." Such changes may be in body, but for those without the sufficient mental fortitude, their resulting forms are also reflections of souls broken by excess.^[5]

Those doomed to such a fate will have lived at least some of their lives exceeding mortal limitations, so by the time Slaanesh's changes take hold all that remains is a soulless husk driven by the hollow desires of one who has both imposed and endured unimaginable forms of suffering.^[5]

Forsaken of Nurgle

Nurgle is a being of entropy and as such, can warp mortal flesh at will. Those who dedicate themselves to him might seek such changes as a sign of his favour, though it is more common for them to succumb to their rebellious flesh and devolve into some repugnant form of mindless mass, a true Chaos Spawn.^[5]

The Plague Lord favours mutations that reflect his aspect of decay; his warped devotees may have the head of a dung beetle or fly, their tongue may have transformed into a writhing slug, or they might ooze necrotising slime from every pore. The more revolting the mutation, the more pleasing it is to the Lord of Decay.^[5]

Notable Forsaken

Fraener - Once a mighty Chaos Champion and a great warchief of the Aeslings of Norsca, Fraener led his fellow warriors in daring invasions of the Eastern Steppes, slaughtering the Kurgan tribes and plundering their encampments. He even raided deep into the Chaos Wastes, making short work of the Beastmen and mutant bands who roamed there. Eventually, the blessings of the Chaos Gods became too much for him and he devolved into a bestial Forsaken, but even as such a creature, his skill in warfare remained undiminished and he continued to reap many victories for the Aeslings. He was eventually slain in single combat by Wulfrik the Wanderer, when Fraener fought as Prince Sveinbjorn's personal champion in ritual combat with the Wanderer.

Notable Regiments

The Daemonspew - The zealousness of the Forsaken is especially great in these Forsaken of Nurgle reborn in the macabre paradise of the Garden of Nurgle.^[5]

The Unclean - This regiment of Forsaken was made up of outcasts from the Skaelings tribe of Norsca.

Knights Entropic - These savages had begun their voyage through the Empire as drooling Forsaken and but had been blessed with the minds to truly appreciate the fruits of their violent labours.