Sylvaneth – Warscrolls

Veteran of a thousand bloody skirmishes, Kelthannor of the Golden Hunt is not a being to take lightly. He and his centauroid kin worship Kurnoth, the warlike consort of Alarielle the Everqueen, and to them, the pursuit of worthy prey is a spiritual duty. Though he is haughty, impulsive and often dismissive of those without royal blood in their veins, Kelthannor’s bravery cannot be questioned, and neither can his skill with a bow.

Arch-Revenants soar high over the battlefield, borne upon the wings of a companion zephyrspite. Swooping down to strike where the foe is most vulnerable, their majestic glaives weave a dance of death before they take flight once more, seeking out the next target to feel their wrath.

Matriarchs of the Sylvaneth's warrior households, the Branchwyches lead their kin to battle with blasts of jade magic and hissing swings of their scythes. These same weapons are used when the fighting is done to harvest the lamentiri of the fallen.

Grove Guardians are the keepers of the sacred soulpod groves, fey wardens whose powers of rejuvenation can grant new life to fallen Sylvaneth. In battle, they slay their foes with deft strikes of their sickles or leaf-bladed shears whilst regenerating the life energy of harvested lamentiri within the amniotic pods of their genesis trees.

The Warsong Revenants are few in number, but their influence is far-reaching. Their odd, skirling music causes the lands themselves to come alive, and the harmonies it brings to the spirit-song are a balm to nearby Sylvaneth.

The ground shudders beneath the tread of Alarielle’s gargantuan Wardroth Beetle as she leads the Sylvaneth charge. Wherever the goddess’s gaze falls, her foes cower, for there is no mercy in the Everqueen’s heart towards those who despoil her realm.

Belthanos is the greatest champion of the Hunter God, Kurnoth, and one of the Sylvaneth’s most fearsome warriors. Riding atop his loyal and deadly Carnelian Greatspite, the First Thorn hunts worthy prey, unleashing thunderous blasts from his Kurnothi war- horn before impaling his quarry with a thrust of his huge glaive.

Drycha Hamadreth keens with hatred as she tears through her enemies like a raging storm. The Queen of the Outcasts fights a never-ending crusade to eradicate those she sees as a threat to her people, leaving a trail of corpses of both friend and foe in her wake.

A Spirit of Durthu is a walking pillar of oaken barkflesh and fiery, righteous anger. Some amongst them form the personal guard of the Everqueen; others walk abroad to stamp her enemies into the mulch or cut down her foes with scything sweeps of their guardian swords.

The Lady of Vines is literally the hand of Alarielle, cut from the goddess’s wrist and then grown into a towering war leader. Her lashing whip-limbs and spear, Kurnotheal’s Wrath, have slain thousands of the Sylvaneth’s foes.

The fury of the forest is roused by the magics of the Treelord Ancients. Amongst the eldest living creatures in the realms, these towering tree spirits are not only fearsome warriors but also potent spell-weavers who can loose the wrath of the wyldwoods.

Ghyran’s most ruthless and cruel-hearted defender, the feared Drycha Hamadreth is as much a living hive as a true forest spirit. When her home realm is threatened, Drycha’s spite-swarms become more furious and potent than ever, impeding their advance and rendering them staggering and helpless in the face of a Sylvaneth attack.

It is the duty of the Revenant Seekers to extract the lamentiri of Sylvaneth who fall in battle and return them to the soulpod groves. The wickedly sharp sickles they wield for this purpose are equally useful for severing the mortal threads of those who would endanger the remains of their slain kin.

The Spiterider Lancers are Alarielle's elite cavalry. Mounted on agile dragonspites whose bodies thrum with life magic, they deftly swoop and whirl above the battlefield before suddenly diving into a charge, striking the enemy lines with shocking force.

Riding atop fierce dragonspites and armed with sickles that can slice through ironoak bark, Revenant Seekers have the dangerous task of recovering lamentiri from fallen Sylvaneth. Tragically, when war comes to Ghyran, these soul-seeds are in plentiful number; in desperate times, their innate magic can be channelled by the Revenant Seekers to aid nearby Sylvaneth.

Singing a song of slaughter, Dryads stride from the deepwoods to fall upon those who would defile the Sylvaneth’s soulpod groves. With vicious talons, these forest spirits rip and impale, dancing lithely between their enemies even as they tear them apart.

Gossamid Archers are afforded the power of flight by the zephyrspites that clasp their torsos. A gruesome fate awaits any struck by the shafts of these skirmishers, for the arrowheads contain voracious grubs that devour the target from within.

Some Kurnoth Hunters are armed with towering bows, each the size of the mobile artillery pieces of other races. Drawn by the great strength of their wielders, the huge shafts loosed by these weapons can be fired across awesome distances, skewering clutches of lesser foes and slaying the enemy’s elite with relentless precision.

The greatscythe is the weapon chosen by Kurnoth Hunters who show cool implacability and a desire to reap the greatest tally of kills. With a single sweep, these forest spirits can carve through multiple footsoldiers, and with their polearms’ hooked blades, they can drag cavalrymen from their saddles before ruthlessly dispatching them as they sprawl in the gore-sprayed undergrowth.

Many Kurnoth Hunters who favour the fury of close combat choose to wield immense greatswords, two-handed weapons that can cleave a warrior in two with a single blow. These Hunters favour an aggressive fighting style, pounding towards the foe on their powerful hindlegs and crashing into them like a hurricane in a forest canopy.

Spite-Revenants are shrieking terrors from the depths of nightmare. Light and shadow play weirdly around these ghastly beings as they tear and bite their victims, rending to bloody tatters any who do not simply fling down their weapons and flee.

The Twistweald were once Sylvaneth like any other. Now their bodies are grown over with parasitic plants and fungi that choke their bark and muddy their minds. They wander in a state of pain-induced frenzy, attacking with lashing thorned roots and clouds of vicious spites until their enemies are shredded into pulp.

Tree-Revenants move with flowing grace, flickering along the spirit paths to carve their way through the enemy’s ranks. Their highly ritualised martial customs and the memories of war they inherit from past generations of Sylvaneth through their lamentiri lend them a skill in combat that few enemies can match.

Treelords bear down on the enemy with earth- shaking strides, ignoring the feeble attempts of the enemy to slow their advance. Lashing vines shoot forth from their open talons to rend and ensnare, while every swing of their huge talons slaughters another swathe of foes.

When the wyldwoods of the Sylvaneth stir, enemies of the natural order must be on their guard. The spirits that dwell within these ancient groves are roused to terrible fury by intrusions into their domain, and they will take every chance to prey upon those foolish enough to stray beneath their shadowed boughs.

Gladewyrms are ferocious subterranean creatures formed from concentrated life magic, used by the Sylvaneth to protect the realmroots from eldritch invaders. When called upon, they leave their patrols along the spirit paths and erupt from the earth to aid their summoners.

With a humming chant, those versed in the magic of Ghyran can summon a Spiteswarm Hive. As enemies cautiously approach the comb, the air thrums angrily before the inhabiting spites buzz forth, their swarms swirling around the foe, crawling between gaps in armour to burrow into eyes, chew through jugulars and clog screaming throats.

Also known as the Drifting Death or the Creeping Willow, the Vengeful Skullroot is a manifestation of a forest’s fury. Black-hearted and hateful, these arcane plants can be summoned by Sylvaneth versed in magic. As the tree stalks across the battlefield, its tentacle-like roots bludgeon, crush and strangle all they pass over.

The Idoneth refer to a formation of two Allopexes as a Bloodthirsty Shiver – and for good reason. Perfected by the warlike Fuethán enclave and sought after by many forces of Order, this deadly pairing is fast, resilient and brimming with raw killing power. In their wake, the ethersea is stained red with the blood of the foe.

Kraken-eater Mega-Gargants are irascible old souls who have seen it all. They find just as much satisfaction in watching the sun rise while seated atop their favourite rock as they do in destroying a village, and they crave the relief that only the sea can provide – as well as the bounty that washes up on its shores. Bundo Whalebiter is a legend along Ghur’s Coast of Tusks. He is that rarest of things, a gargant known for both brain and brawn, and has been ever since an encounter with ocean-dwelling aelves near the Icefangs. While pursuing the aelves – for the sight of their sea creatures flying about out of the water irritated him to no end – Bundo was distracted by a Fangmora Eel to which a glowing lantern had been attached. The gargant throttled the creature and took the trinket, hanging it from his ear as a fetching accoutrement. The aetherquartz in the lantern worked its magics upon Bundo, heightening his intellect such that he can now converse with shocking clarity for a gargant. As a result, Bundo has won many mercenary contracts by arguing the value in having colossal aid to call upon.

When the need is great, a Vanari Lord Regent may lead a squadron of Dawnriders to aid the efforts of the Lumineth’s allies. Since the Reinvention, the aelves of Hysh have come to understand that no matter their people’s great power, the realms would have been entirely consumed by Chaos if not for the efforts of other civilisations. Therefore, when the hour is dire, they will ride out to tip the scales in Order’s favour.

Drekki Flynt is one of the most famous skyfarers in Kharadron society, a rogue and opportunist whose feats grow ever more outrageous in the telling. Captain of the Frigate the Aelsling, Flynt has lent the services of his vessel and his crew to many causes over the years – few of them entirely noble.