3. The Black Death, the great plague of the Skaven
Skaven are the nasty ratmen from Warhammer, who usually live unnoticed underground and sometimes have entire realms beneath realms.
The Skaven are divided into different clans with various preferences and tasks. One of them is Clan Pestilens, which specializes in plagues and diseases. This clan almost wiped out the world with a pandemic in the year 1111.
This “Black Plague” corresponds very closely to the great plague from our history: the body is covered with dark spots, followed by delirium, fever, swollen limbs, and finally mutilation or – in most cases – death.
Clan Pestilens unleashed this plague in Altdorf, Nuln, and Talabheim, three of the largest cities in the Empire, and spread it rapidly from there. The Skaven wanted to attack the weakened realms due to the disease.
Ironically, their own disease and Nagash’s legacy may have prevented the worst: In Sylvania, the necromancer Frederick van Hal raised the dead from the plague and led the undead army against the Skaven.
Skaven are an interesting race: They follow their own god, the Horned Rat, who resembles Nurgle in many aspects but lacks his friendly demeanor. The Horned Rat will later become a fully-fledged Chaos God and expand the pantheon to five gods.
