Lorehammer: Morghur, the Essence of Chaos

What is Morghur? He is no beastman, though the source of his body may be the husk of a bray shaman drawn to some dark chaos power. Morghur has been sighted many times over the centuries, often with a devoted brayherd in tow as he wanders across the land, trailing chaos in his wake.

Morghur has no call to the warriors of chaos; no Norscan warbands flock to his banner. Whatever spirit of chaos inhabits his flesh calls to the beasts of chaos alone. These come through secret paths to Morghur’s banner.

The land around Morghur warps and twists, leaving a trail of mutated and horrific blendings of plant and animal life. Spontaneous mutations are common in his presence. Morghur himself seems immune, as though he stands in the eye of a chaotic hurricane. His body is bloated and sluglike but maintains a degree of integrity and purpose that distinguishes Morghur from a chaos spawn.

One ability he possesses is a prodigious degree of regeneration. Sword stokes are healed before the blade is drawn back, and a wound from one arrow will have vanished before the next can be nocked. On several occasions Morghur has been presumed dead, but has simply returned shortly after, his regeneration healing even the shredding of his body at the hands of a vengeful Ariel.

Morghur seems not to care how many followers he has. His wanderings follow no discernible pattern. The brayherd is content to follow where he leads, often without sending out their usual scouts. Where Morghur’s wandering and path are not fixed, over his recent incarnations one destination has been constant; the forest of Athel Loren.

Ariel of the Wood Elves has been his stalwart opponent over this time, leading the forest spirits and wood elves to combat the brayherds following Morghur. Each time Morghur penetrates further into the forest than before to defile the ancient forest with his presence. To date Ariel has always managed to rally sufficient forces to stop him. Morghur always returns, even if his body is destroyed (no easy feat) the essence endures and will find a new host in due course.

Morghur and Ariel have clashed several times, and it is not always Ariel who triumphs. At times she has been sorely wounded herself and sought the regenerative powers of the sacred groves for years rather than for a season.

Once more Morghur has returned to plague the lands. The beastmen gather, and will move inexorably towards Athel Loren. Can the defences hold once more, or will Morghur finally grasp what he seeks?

In miniature

The Morghur miniature is no longer available, but here is what you want to look out for:

If you look around you can find conversion work where people have made their Morghur look more like the John Blanche artwork above.