The Gaunt Summoners stand high in the favour of Tzeentch, their spells able to twist the landscape and immolate armies in warpfire. At Archaon’s command, each Summoner manipulates the fate of kings and the magic of Realmgates, guiding the Everchosen’s armies to victory over his foes.[1a]
Description[]
The Gaunt Summoners are an elite cabal of Tzeentchian sorcerers, perpetually shrouded by a maddening cloak of sorcerous deceits. Even before Archaon turned them to his service, the Gaunt Summoners were dreaded for their reality-twisting incantations. Indeed, some of the most horrific atrocities of the Age of Chaos can be laid at their feet.[1a]
It was a Gaunt Summoner who seared the skies of Yithe during the Flayer War. For a year, leering faces spat multi-coloured, mutating fire from above to transform the Free Nations’ armies to vast conjoined masses of screeching daemon-birds. When the twelve High Kings of Obsidia held what would prove to be their last Great Incendine Council, it was a Gaunt Summoner who bewitched each of the monarchs so that the words of his peers were, to his ears, familiar insults of staggering magnitude. The bloodbath which ensued and the vendettas sworn that day ensured that the royal line of Obsidia would never recover.[1a]
It is said that there are nine Gaunt Summoners, each one ordained by the Architect of Fate – certainly, it is rare for more than a single Summoner to appear at any one time. Some believe this too is a lie, and that the Gaunt Summoners are merely facets of a single entity of terrible cunning and magical might.[1a]
The Everchosen uses the Gaunt Summoners as weapons, pitting their searing warpfire against his foes or having them summon hordes of daemons to overwhelm enemy lines. Furthermore, the sorcerers scry the twisting paths of the future on their overlord’s behalf, and through them is the Everchosen able to weave his own plans into the great web of fates.[1a]
Some futures are far from certain. Torn from the treacherous minds of daemons, the Summoners must wring out their meaning. However, they prophesy a time when the Mortal Realms will be consumed by the Realm of Chaos, and it is towards these dark days that the Gaunt Summoners strive.[1a]
Equipment[]
A Gaunt Summoner of Tzeentch is armed with a Changestaff that can blast his enemies with the iridescent fires of Tzeentch, and a Warptongue Blade. He is never without a Book of Profane Secrets, with which he can call cohorts of daemons to the battlefield through a Realmgate. Some ride on Discs of Tzeentch, which can attack with their Blades and Stingers.[1c]
Known Gaunt Summoners[]
- Set'tyra'ex - The Tongueless Lord.[1a]
- Xer'ger'ael - The Tyrant of Eyes.[1b]
- The Eater of Tomes.