The Astral Templars, also called "The Beast-slayers," "Heaven's Claw," and the "Bane of Tyrants," are a Stormhost of the Stormcast Eternals in service to the God-King Sigmar.
Called barbaric by some, the Astral Templars have lost none of their tribal savagery in the process of Reforging. Their speciality lies in the slaying of monstrous foes, for as mortals they hunted giant beasts to survive. Now they fight gargants and hulking tyrants on behalf of all the Mortal Realms.
History[]
Recruited from the most warlike and barbarous mortal tribes of the Eight Realms, the Stormcast Eternals of the Astral Templars are warriors born. They were once human savages and barbarians, uncouth but true of heart, and are hence never more at home than when surrounded by enemies in battle. This fierce heritage has stood them in good stead. Four Warrior Chambers of the Astral Templars famously entered the Gnarlwood of Ghur to hunt the monsters there -- and not only survived, but emerged from the darkness victorious.
Their commanders are the most ferocious of their kind, and they take great pleasure in hurling themselves into desperate combats and matching themselves against towering, Chaos-tainted monsters. Of especial skill are the warriors of the Vanguard Chambers, who have highly developed hunter's instincts.
The Astral Templars still wear furs and pelts over their sigmarite armour, mementos of their feral past. In their tribal rituals, the Stormhost honours Ursricht, the White Bear. Though commonly depicted as a white-haired man, it is said he is a godbeast that can take the form of a gigantic ursine monster when the season of war is at hand. It is his ferocious brawn that the Astral Templars seek to emulate.
When the skies rumble like the growl of a hunting beast, and the clouds yawn open to disgorge thick columns of lightning, even the largest Chaos-drake or vilest gargant can soon find itself not predator, but prey. The old divine patrons of the Astral Templars' original tribes are not forgotten, and many are afforded reverence second only to Sigmar himself. Ceremonies in their honour take place in the chambers of the Astral Templars' log-pillared stormkeeps, hidden caverns with walls marked with primaeval daubings or remote mountain valleys and forest glades. The specifics of these rituals are secret, but given the mortal cultures that shaped the Astral Templars, bloody offerings doubtless play a role.
Most honoured is Ursicht, the White Bear. He is considered the spirit of the Antdorian Glaciers, kin to the ur-bear Jorhar and Urs-sekir, whose blood boiled with Aqshian fury. Urshict is known as a skin changer, able to shift from a monstrous ursine to form to that of a white-bearded goliath.
Vanguard hunters of the Astral Templars sometimes speak of such a man roaming the wastes and asking to share there fire on the eve of battle, blessing those who honour the old customs of hospitality. Far travelling warbands of the Stormhost habitually set aside rations in anticipation of such a visitor, while bear-shrines carved from ancient heartwood stand haunched within their keeps.
The Astral Templars maintain a heavily fortified stormkeep on the edge of the Gnarlwood called the Valourhall. They use it to monitor the forest and as a rallying point from which they will occasionally set forth to cull Gnarloaks and whatever other evils they may encounter; however, they never enter the Gnarlwood proper with anything less than a full chamber of warriors. Since the Everqueen's new song has spilled over the forest, the Gnarlwood has gone berserk, its borders visibly growing as they scuttle outwards. The Astral Templars say the forest's hunger has increased tenfold and strange, ravenous new creatures are beginning to appear.
There are rumours of vicious fights breaking out between wildly varied groups of explorers here. They seek a Seraphon vessel called Talaxis which crashed within the eastern woods. The ship is rumoured to hold many powerful magical artefacts and other priceless treasures. While they are too proud to ask for aid, the Astral Templars desperately need assistance in figuring out what it will take to calm the Gnarlwood for Order.
Sources[]
- Battletome: Stormcast Eternals (2nd Edition) (2018), pg. 55