There are many hellish and monstrous creatures who plague the Old World and beyond. The hated Greenskin hordes who live for naught but war, the dark and murderous vampires that toil in the night against the living, the filthy Dark Elves that struggle and strive to dominate the globe and even the foul spawn of Chaos. But there is an ever present threat in the darkness of the under-passes that seeks to destroy all order and reason. Few are those who know of the silent, lurking menace that lies just below the surface. They are waiting, biding their time, scheming plots that extend unseen across the lands. An evil threat which lurks in the poisonous shadows. And there are those who are feared, hated and reviled even within the under-empire; the ruthless assassins and unparalleled skill of those skaven belonging to Clan Eshin. For the right price, these black-clad killers are capable of slaying any rival, steal any piece of information, infiltrate any fortress and commit any act of sabotage as required. Men, elves and dwarfs alike tremble with disgust and fear at the thought of the vile and hated Skaven, the Children of The Horned Rat who embody all that is vile and despicable. A race that have extended through the ages to every kingdom above and below ground. Their numbers are endless as is the number of the clans that form the skaven society, if it can even be called that. Amongst the four greatest Skaven Clans, the warriors of Clan Eshin are particularly shadowy and mysterious. They have eyes and ears in every corner of the under-empire and secret places of the surface cities and settlements. Most suspicious deaths and acts of espionage in skaven society are blamed on the nefarious Clan Eshin. Such accusations are probably true, but, of course, there is no evidence. Led by the ancient Nightlord Visktrin the clan vanished into the far-east leaving the other skaven clans left behind to wonder and speculate for centuries of their whereabouts. Many even forgot about their existence. However, after hundreds of years the mysterious clan returned to Skavenblight from the distant lands of Nippon, Ind and Cathay. Upon their return the Clan immediately pledged their allegiance to the Lords of Decay. On their return it soon became obvious that the Clan had used their time in the east well as they were now the undisputed masters of secrecy, stealth and assassination tactics, well beyond the skill or comprehension of the rest of the petty vermin. More than any other Clan in skaven society, Clan Eshin is shrouded in mystery and little is known of their inner workings and those who discover them suffer a swift death, are vanished forever or worse. They deal in secrets and death and both do not come without extortionate cost, but for those willing to pay the high price and ask the right questions, the deadly services of the Clan are in order. Any who dares to deal with these treacherous assassins and stealth masters can buy secrets gained from espionage; they can buy the location of secret entrances and passages well hidden from the general public, know the identity of shadowy figures, steal precious cargo and poison the water systems of cities and settlements, among a variety of other tasks and missions that can be accomplished thanks to their unmatched skills. Assassins can also infiltrate any place and silence any desired target. Having some of the most devious and dangerous killers in the world, the Clan has quickly risen to become one of the four major clans in all skaven society. Only the most despicable, back-stabbing and cunning of ratmen will find themselves representing their clan at the circular table of the Council of Thirteen and Clan Eshin’s own Nightlord Sneek sits at the table before the Horned Rat’s proxy. Lord Sneek is arguably one of the most powerful representatives of the dreaded Council as he employs assassination and sabotage tactics against any foe that dares to interfere with his own plans and agenda. With Nightlord Sneek being one of the representatives, the Clan’s political reach has grown so strong they have the power to call any before the Council a traitor with no need for any evidence but their word. Not only do they have this power, they have the strength to enforce the Council’s edict, cowing and corralling the minor clans into line while maintaining the authority and influence of the Great clans such as their own. It is well known that Clan Eshin is the hidden knife in the paws of the Council of Thirteen. Whether the Lords of Decay have something over the shadowy clan or have merely provided the best bribe, Clan Eshin provides the unseen force with which the Council maintains their reign. The constant removal of political and key opponents within the Under-empire and beyond has its drawbacks and often delays greater plans. It is said that the Council of Thirteen maintain a rolling blacklist of ten thousand names marked for swift death. On the secret list are the world’s leaders, be they man, elf, dwarf and many other characters of renown. Despite complex schemes to undermine the powers of the world, most resources are instead used to silence internal opposition, quell the over-ambitious and maintain the positions of the Council. The assassins of Clan Eshin are so impressive in their abilities and performance, it is supposed by some that they have supernatural powers that allow them to move faster than a galloping horse, climb smooth surfaces and disguise themselves in shadow as though they were clothed in it. However, these skills are the result of the clan’s many centuries abroad in the lands to the east, training and honing skills gathered from Nippon, Ind and Cathay as well as developing many styles and techniques of their own. The well trained assassins of Clan Eshin are always clad in black, using masks or cowls, rarely showing their faces. They excel in keeping themselves out of sight. These foul assassins show extreme proficiency in sneaking into every fortress. They hide in every shadow, working silently in the darkness, they dispense death with brutal and uncanny accuracy before disappearing once more into the shadows leaving their foe lifeless and not knowing what hit them. "Nothing was expected, and so the men were at ease. Sentries had been posted, but they, too, were weary from the road. We'd taken off our armour, set our weapons to the side. A pair of bruisers from Altdorf were throwing dice and telling bawdy jokes. Little did we realize that in mere moments, half of our number would be dead, and the other half would be running for their lives." Although all the assassins of the Clan are menacing killers who are cloaked in shadow, there is one above even their renown and prowess. Deathmaster Snikch, primary agent of Lord Sneek is the most infamous and prolific of Clan Eshin’s assassins. The mere thought of this cunning killer, let alone speaking the name aloud is enough to make any warlord or lowly rat squint into the shadows lest he be there. A true master of murder, Snikch is shrouded in mystery and legend. No one knows the true location of the Deathmaster in any given moment, except perhaps for the Grand Nightlord Sneek himself as he is the only one the Deathmaster answers to. With such a famed reputation it didn’t take long for Nightlord Sneek to begin using this to his own, and the Council’s advantage. Those who refused to follow the Council’s orders or dare to cross Clan Eshin in any way can expect to be greeted by Clan Eshin’s chief assassin at any time. Once marked by the assassin, no place or time is safe. Brutally efficient and absolutely without mercy, Snikch makes quick work of those he is dispatched to remove with his weeping blades, even carrying on by his whip-like tail, and only ever leaves the right clues in his wake. He wears a mysterious cloak of Shadows woven from stolen human hair and spider silk. The cloak effectively conceals and silences the wearer. Although it is not just the passages and gutters of the Under-way that are haunted and horrified by the brutal actions and mark of the Deathmaster, the surface too has been subjected to the vile assassin’s works. Beyond his formidable skills in the art of murder, Snikch is also responsible for many of the most reviled and despicable acts of sabotage to befall the mighty races of the surface world. Some of his most famous stories include the assassination of the Celestial wizard Heinrich Frisen, who was found flayed within his still locked observatory, leaving the guards puzzled. This act prompted some to lay the blame at the feet of daemons, those disgusting manifestations of the warp, but there were those clever enough to note that daemons seldom leave so few clues. The skilled assassin is also the main suspect of many other crimes and acts of subterfuge, including the bombing of the imperial navy at Reiksport, the Great Fire of Lothern and the destruction of the dwarf engineer Thornik Thorson’s Iron-Cog Dragon on the eve of the Battle of Bitter Peaks. Snikch is also likely to be the killer of King Belegar’s own brother, the dwarf Lord Dromgar who lost his head against the swift blades of the Deathmaster. When Snitch leaves clues, they are intentional and clear enough. Warlord Sskut of Murkpit had his neatly removed head stacked atop the one hundred heads from his stormvermin bodyguard. These are but some of the devious acts that Snikch has worked upon the world. Although it is surely his most practiced and potent work, it is not only striking from the shadows that Snikch excels at, for when the Skaven decide to use this devastating weapon on the enemy, Snikch emerges seemingly from nowhere at will in a blur of steel and daggers. Many an unfortunate lord has seen that whirlwind of blades before their eyes were darkened forever. Perhaps there are none who truly know how many of the greatest tragedies were carried out by at the hands of the Deathmaster. Despite his infamy, none know were Snikch might be. His location is an absolute mystery, once again suiting Sneek and the Council’s designs, for as long as none know where the Deathmaster might be, none can count themselves safe. The Clan does not only rely on sabotaging missions and tactics to break havoc on the enemy. They make for a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield and many foes have fallen against the deadly tactics employed by these skilled skaven. Among the troops of Clan Eshin, the most common warriors are the night runners. Despite being considered common troopers, they are still secretive and highly skilled. The night runners travel either in small furtive units to seize key terrain from the enemy or they also move with larger blocks scurrying ahead of the Skaven lines to slow down their enemies. Their weapons of choice are blades in each hand although it has been seen that they can employ slings to rain death on war machines or lightly protected units. On occasions, units of night runners are given a warp-grinder tunneling team to burrow beneath the ground and emerge upon the enemy’s flank or rear to break havoc amongst their ranks. Their fast strikes are done to weaken the foe before the main attack and prepare the path for the rest of the horde to come. There tend to be high casualties in their ranks, for their fight is always deep in the enemy territory. This is something the Clan Eshin masters already know. Those night runners that survive and excel on the battlefield are chosen to learn yet more of the arts of the Clan and become gutter runners. Units of gutter runners are highly skilled in the mysterious fighting style developed and learned in the Far East by the Clan. They do not wear any armor for they simply dodge any incoming attack from their foes. Arson attacks, night raids and contaminated water supplies are all favorite tactics often employed by these stealth troops. They use a variety of weapons and poisons to accomplish their tasks and they are chosen to carry some of the most dangerous missions for the Clan, some of them even labeled as suicidal. Under the orders of the dreaded Council of Thirteen, they have traveled across the globe, stealing and destroying the recorded history of skaven attacks from the great libraries of the Empire, searched for ways to penetrate the Emeral Gates of Ulthuan and located the descendants of the Von Carstein Vampires. An unprecedented amount of secret knowledge flows every day into Skavenblight, as the Council seeks to forever stay one step ahead of their many foes. Only the most promising of gutter runners are given the chance to prove themselves as worthy assassins of Clan Eshin. Deadly warriors that are almost invisible and their very shadow is said to be poisonous. The final tests for the pinnacle of Clan Eshin’s warriors are death missions assigned by the ruling council of the clan, presided by Nightlord Sneek. After surviving such missions, the assassin is considered an acknowledged master in the methodology of murder. In the summer of 1115 of the Imperial Calendar, after Emperor Boris Goldgather fell to the sickness of the Black plague unleashed by the skaven, the Empire of Man stood on the brink of ruin and collapse. It was then that the Council of Thirteen decided to launch a proper land attack and destroy the hated man things. While in disarray the Empire struggled to retaliate against the overwhelming nightmare that was the Skaven fighting force but there was one noble who would not be crushed without a fight. Mandred Von Zelt later known as Mandred Skavenslayer or Ratslayer rallied against the hordes of rat-men and led his men to many glorious victories. At the height of the battle of the Howling Hills, Mandred raised his runefang and struck the head of Warlord Vrrmik, a prominent member of the Council of Thirteen at the time, fashioning the horned skull into a disgusting helm that resides in the Imperial vaults to this day. With the forces of the Skaven scattered, Mandred was ascended to the Imperial throne with a majority vote. Alas no great deed goes unpunished. The Skaven Clans, though bloodied were now enraged and in disarray, but they dispatched one of Clan Eshin’s renowned assassins to enact their vengeance. In 1152 IC The Emperor Mandred Rat Slayer was slain by Nartik of Clan Eshin by order of the Council of Thirteen. False evidence of a mutant apparition was left before the shadowy assassin escaped into the sewers. In the wake of his death, the electoral council was halted by stalemate, leading to a series of civil wars while no Emperor was elected for several years. To this day scholars and loremasters fail to connect the Black Plague, the Skaven incursion, and the murder of the Emperor. Over time Skaven were dismissed as a threat to the Empire and within centuries what was known about the ratmen became so enshrouded in myth that many men now refuse to believe in their existence at all. As with all Skaven Clans, Clan Eshin is cunningly deceitful and self-serving with their base Skaven characteristics combined with their extreme proficiency in the arts of sabotage, secrets and working in the shadows. The powerful Clan Eshin and its shadow cloaked assassin heroes, spearheaded by the infamous and prolific Deathmaster Snikch are a horrifying and disturbing threat to all those on the surface. The Children of the Horned Rat are a monstrous force not to be taken lightly by any of those who dwell beneath the open sky and bask in the warmth of the sun.
