So this is the fluff about my future
WoC warband and about its major
HQ, hope you'll enjoy it
Warband of the Bleeding Eye : History
The Warband of the Bleeding Eye is one of the smallest and one of the most less known group of the various tribes and bands that dwells in the chaos wastlands of the north. Their recent rise to power came with the rising of its current leader, Harald Felhand. As childe, Harald was the son of the second in command of the warband, Godfrid Tryygvason, right hand man of the then warband leader, Guthrum the Decapitor. Under Gudrum's rule, the warband led small but unglorious raids again small settlements of the south, always preying on the weak. Guthrum always attacked easy targets, and because of that, the warband wasn't able to gain the favour of the gods, nor gain access to vast and important loot. With time, the warriors of the war host became weak and easy going, and this proved to be the reason of their demise.
Launching an attack on a small costal village of Northland, Gutghrum sent Godfrid to spearhead the first ground wave. However, the enemy was ready for them. The Empire, having learned from an astromancer that an attack would be made againts this village, and so decided to defend it with a large detachmen of artillery and cavalry. When the first wave made ground, they were welcomed by the devastating shots of cannons and pistols, before being violently crushed under the assault of the cavalry. Guthrum, watching from afar on his boat, ordered the retreat, and decided to let his men behind to slow down any attempt by the enemy to pursue him. Harald, who was on the boat, to young to be amongts the first wave, erupted in rage before the cowardice of Guthrum and his betrayal of his men (and of Harald's father). He violently provoked Guthrum in duel, but the gutless leader ordered his men to deal with the young warrior. Like a possessed berzerker, Harald slew any who came by him as he made his way to Guthrum. Once he reached the weak-willed man, he overcame him and strangled him till death, before decapitating him with his own axe. Brandishing the fallen chieftain head he let out a ferocious war cry, ordering the crew of the boat to sail forward to battle. Once it reached the village, Harald jumped into battle, followed by all the other men. Such was his fervor that it envigored the northmen in a berzerker state, enabling them to match the imperial forces despite the superiority of their weapons. Once the battle was over, the whole warband swore allegiance to Harald, recognising in him a true chosen of the Dark Gods. Harald the ordered that the fallen warriors be ritually incinerated and the village burned. He kept however Guthrum's head as a drinking tankard. Once all of this done, he ordered the return to the north.
Harald was a more competent leader than is fallen predecessor. Understanding his warband weakness and lack of favour from the gods, he decided that their first and foremost objective would be to gain it. He began by ritually challenging the leaders of other small tribes, defeating them and adding their warriors to his ost. Once this was done, he began to attack other tribes, launching full scale attack on those who had slightly the favour of the gods, but not enought to be unbeatable. Adding more and more warriors to his army, and gaining more and more prestige over the gods, Harald set forth back to the south, decided in bringing chaos to the civilized lands of the south. Never did Gruthrum being close to bring such havoc upon the territories of the Empire, for Harald was more than just a warrior, he was also a devoted man. Seeing his acts as offering to the Dark Gods, and understanding that he and his men were their messenger in the lands of the south, the young would-be lord brought not only devastation with him, but also horror. Once the towns were all but conquered, Harald ordered the peasants to be ritually tortured and slain, always seeking more and more gory ways to do it to prove his devotions to the Ruinous Powers. He also met directly the forces of the Empire, sometimes seeking them actively. The young conqueror was not blind however. When he judged having amassed enough loot and loss enough of men, he returned back to the north, seeking to recover his strenght.
Seeking more than ever to prove his worthiness to the Gods, Harald travalled to the Chimera Plateau in the north, where the champions of Chaos duelled one another to please the gods. Leaving behind his army to his second in command, Harald knew he would only be able to regain control of his war ost if he was able to gain the favour of the Gods, for as sure as the Gods existed, it was clear his second in command will claim his leadership in his absence. Travelling alone, facing the horrors off the wastelands, Harald reached the plateau after twelves days. There, hundreds of champions faced each others in gory and violents challenge. It wasn't long before the young chief was spotted as an easy prey by another champion, this one known as Krieeskgard the Vicious. The champion of Slaanesh provoked Harald in duel, and eager to prove his worth, he accepted. The two met fiercely, the two swords of Krieeskgard hitting his shield and his hammer. After two long hours, during which the young man suffered many blows, as the slaaneshi champion was about to deliver the killing strike to the kneeling and bloodied Harald, this last one viviously grabbed the other between his legs, and brutaly teared the heirloom of the champion, who was litterally horrified and screamed of pain. Getting up as the champion was prone in the bloodied snow, Harald took his hammer and smashed Krieeskgard hard into a bloody mess. Once the fight over, the other champions paused to look at the scene, silently admiring the audacity of which the young warrior had proven himself capable of. Suddently, the winds rised up around Harald, rapidly changing of colors, as his body was changing, growing painfully stronger and taller. Once the wind died, the now towering Harald knew he had gained the approval of the Gods.
Returning to his warband, Harald unsuprisingly discovered his second in command didn't wanted to give him back his position. Know even stronger than before, Harald butchered the betrayer and his followers, using nothing but his hands. Once back on his throne, Harald ordered his men to ready themselves, for they would prepare themselve for war during two months, before departing to the south. During the following two months, the Warband of the Bleeding Eye battled other clans, adding more and more warriors to its army. They were event times where small tribes and warbands lowered the weapons before Harald, accepting him as their leader withouth a fight. At these moments, Harald was known to punish these weak-willed men with scarifications and low position in his war host. Other times, it was small groups that were seeking to join him. At such occasion, Harald pitched these pretenders againts one another to find the strongest among them. Once this done, he made te survivors battle his men. Harald of course had to protect his throne at multiples occasions, slaying would-be conquerors and betrayers. Once the two months had passed away, Harald was ready. The lowliest of his men had made boats and weapons, and the other conquered tribes (or those that joined willingly) and brought such ressource also. The day the Warband of the Bleeding Eye departed, the sea was rided by tirtheen ships, all having the flag of a red eye in the center of the star of Chaos.
Once Harald and his men reached the Northland, they quickly set out to slaughter as many as they could. Presently, the Warband is pillaging and besieging anything that come along their way downward to the south. Harald has like ultimate goal to bring forth war to the southest point of the world, and then turn around and do the same again, or die trying, all the while slaughtering, burning and erecting blasphemous shrines to the Dark Gods. He will stop at nothing until his devotion and worth is proved to the Ruinous Powers.
Harad Felhand : Personnality and Traits
Some are born chosen by the Gods. Harald wasn't. Born to the second in command of an insignificant tribe, nobody could have foresaw the rise to power and greatness Harald would eventually ascend to. A fierce warrior bound to the twisted honor code of the north, Harald live in pursuit of the Dark Gods favour throught martial prowess. The only thing he respect his strenght of arms just a strenght of will, despising those who cannot fight or lay down their weapons. As cruel as he might seems, Harald fancy himself as an honorable man, both to his followers and enemy. One example of this would be when he and his host conquered a small imperial village, and two captives were came along his way. One was young and strong of body, while the other old and frail. The young pleaded for his life, and a such, Harald ordered him being blinded and having his hand cut off before being delivered to the woods. The old one asked only a weapon and the chance to duel the northman. Harald recognized in the old man eyes the fire that inhabit all warriors, and deduced the man to once have been a strong one, until the weight of age came. He accepted the man whishe, and battled with him fairly and with honor. When the time to strike him dowwn came, Harald did it by decapitating his opponent from a swing to the neck, giving him a painless death. Harald always reserve the same treatment to any who oppose him : fight and die, or surrender and suffer before being given death. The northman has no respect for those who cannot fight, be them women, children or handicapped individuals. He believe in the survival of the fittest, and bring his ideology to the land of the south all along the way of his bloody crusade. The reason why Harald is surnamed Felhand is because of his habit to strangle people or beat them to death with his fists (like when he strangled Guthrum, teared Krieeskgard heirloom or beaten to death those who betrayed him while at the plateau of CHimera). Harald isn't however without human traits. One of the rare few he has is that he loves (albeit to an extreme) hounds of all sort. Be they dogs, dire wolves, Chaos hounds, etc., Harald always take care of them like if they were children (which is strange since he doesn't hesitate to kill the ones of his enemy). He even ordered as a law that should one of his man brought harm upon a hound, this man would suffer an horrible death. Upon this law being pronounced, a recent addition to the warband said as a joke that Harad certainly had a physical attraction to those of the hound kind. When this reached the ears of Harald, he personnally strangled to death the warrior before chopping him to bits and feeding him to his chaos hounds sitting next to his throne. Since then, no one dare to make jokes, either about Harald, his love of dogs, or just about dogs.
Harald Felhand : Equipment
Harald is an exalted hero riding an armoured steed. He wields a magical hammer he took from the body of an opposing chieftain, which enable him to swing his blows in combat. He also wear a chaos armour made for him by Chaos Dwarves with whom he have commercial relationship, sometime exchanging them some of the loot he and his warband find, or other times bringing them slaves captured specifically for trade with the Dwarves.
