Wadrhun Lore Part 1

Part One: The Elves Spires Ruin Everything Again

Conquest truly has some of the best lore in wargaming right now, with player and community participation and compelling reimagining of what we’ve come to believe fantasy tropes are. The Wadrhun are no exception, because lets face it Mesoamerican tribal orcs riding dinosaurs is quite the sales pitch!

To humanity, the tribes of the Wadrhun are simple and primitive; A young race with a short, bleak future. Some of the more learned even know that they are a creation of the Spires, and foolishly lump them in with clones or drones they commonly see amongst the Spire armies. What they fail to see is that the Wadrhun have created a society in a part of the world humanity is too scared to settle, and they did so during the cataclysms that shook the world to it’s core.

To understand the Wadrhun you have to understand the Spires. Exiles from another planet, the Spires have many goals and machinations, but over everything else all is the goal to return and claim their home world again. The Wadrhun are their insurance policy. The Wadrhun are the army of perfect warriors to reconquer their world with all it’s arcane and esoteric mystery. As such Wadrhun are not based on Spires DNA they are an amalgamation of a multitude of donor species DNA that contain the perfect mix of attributes the Spires were looking for.

As these things tend to go, the spires became endangered and threw an unprepared force of Wadrhun into the fight to save themselves and their research, believing that they would be slaughtered to the last.

Part Two: They were not Slaughtered to the Last

Not even the Spires know how the Wadrhun gained awareness. They only know that one day, two breeding pairs opened their eyes and came alive within minutes of each other. These four primes named War, Death, Conquest, and Famine, were like Gods upon the Earth, their prowess and physicality far outstretching even their creators hopes with latent strands of DNA granting them supernatural abilities. Terrified of their creation, the Spires forced the four primes into stasis. The primes (and their less almighty offspring) were eventually awakened to save their masters in their time of need. War, Death, and Famine sacrificed themselves so that Conquest could live and create a new future for her people.

Forced out into the harsh wasteland during the Fall, (editors note: this is a big cataclysimic event in the history of this world – I’ll try and convince Ben to write about it sometime.) the Wadrhun quickly became a resilient and hardy people. They survived catastrophic events that would have laid waste to other species. For the first time since their exile, the Biomancers of the spires had come together to build and create, succeeding in a way that even their most optimistic could not have predicted. The Wadrhun survived and flourished, discovering along the way many unintended boons and abilities hidden in their genetic material.

Part Three: The Tribes of Today

Wadrhun are all blessed with an Olympian physique. Their average size stands above 7 feet tall, their bones hardened beyond that of armor, and their physical strength dwarfing nearly any other species. Created with a supernatural level of hearing and extra auditory organs, Wadrhun can navigate in total darkness using their hearing. On the battlefield, they can communicate with a degree of coordination and speed that no other race can hope to ever match. With training, elite Wadrhun warriors, called the blood berserkers (so cool), are able to enter a blood trance and fight with supernatural skill. The closest example I could think of is Daredevil from Marvel Comics.

All Wadrhun connect easily with wildlife, even the prehistoric beasts of the wastelands where they dwell. However, a subgroup of the population called the speakers are able to communicate directly with the beasts that surround them. The beasts can hear and understand what the Speakers ask of them, and the Speakers in turn translate for the beasts. This allows for Wadrhun cavalry elements to be some of the most terrifying forces in the whole world as their supernally large mounts are guided with thought and speech as much as taught commands. Beyond the battlefield, the speakers are key members of society due to the ability they have to direct beasts of burden and protect their tribes. Males connect most easily with herbivores, while females tend to connect more with carnivores.

Another Subset in Wadrhun society is the Warbred. Towering over even the most impressive Wadrhun and possessing extra strength and stamina, the Warbred are shunned and reviled. The Tribes are intensely matriarchal, protecting childbearing tribeswomen with an intense ferocity. The Warbred are reviled because to give birth to a Warbred is certain death for the mother.

I could do this all day!

Thanks for reading about the tribes with me! I have a part two planned, including a background for my own custom personal tribe! I always dive deep into the lore of the games I play and I have to like the lore of my chosen factions. Let me know if there are any other factions you want me to write up lore snippets for!

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