Shepherds Of The Broken

Stormcast eternals are immortal god warriors of Sigmar, reforged in his light. Should they meet their end once more, their soul shoots back to Azyr to be reforged once more. This painful procedure slowly takes pieces of each stormcast each time they are reforged. After being reforged countless times, a stormcast is but a former shell of themselves. Yet, most remain functional as a warrior of Sigmar. But for some, the process takes too much. These stormcast become Broken. Their souls so degraded, diminished, deformed that even attempting to reforge them as a stormcast is a danger for even the Chosen Six themselves. Many of these become Lightning Gheist, dangerous manifestations of azyrite energy. Others fall apart as soon as their souls are reforged into a new body. For these broken souls there are few options. Many Lightning Gheists are slain whilst the broken souls remain floating around the Anvil. 

For these unfortunate souls, there is a solution, with a very small chance of succes. These souls can be attempted to be contained into a body of stone, a mastercrafted statue made by artisans of great skills. If the ritual succeeds, the body is infused with the broken soul and given life. These so-called “broken” are more stable than the uncontained souls and Lightning Gheists, but by no means are they normal stormcasts. The Broken can vary from aggressive, almost animal-like beings to childlike mannered warriors. Their speech and train of thought is often incoherent and scrambled. Only the most collected are able to form proper sentences from time to time, whilst most mutter the same word over and over again, or sing holy hymns without end. Without direction the Broken wander the halls of their Stormkeep, Soulquarry, aimlessly. However, if given purpose, a cause, a leader to rally behind, the once noble souls of the Broken can shine through once more, ever so slightly. This purpose comes in the form of the Shepherds. Stormcast who are not broken, but choose to live amongst the Broken and aid their lost kin. The Shepherds come from various stormhosts and for different reasons. For some, it’s a noble cause to help their brethren in need, for others, it is a sort of punishment placed upon themselves for a dishonour they have committed. The Shepherds form a sort of bond with the Broken and have managed to lead them into combat against Chaos. As long as the Shepherds are there to guide them, the Broken can form a semicoherent Stormhost, who can match even the most ferocious and brutal of the Celestial Vindicators. The Broken fight in a brutal manner, with little regard for themselves. With the guidance of the Shepherds, these souls once lost, deemed useless and thrown away by their kin, can be reforged into a weapon of Sigmar once more.

This does not go without problems though. The Broken can be hard to control, especially in combat. It has happened before that the Broken have attacked allies or innocent bystanders, their minds unable to see anything else than rage and hatred. For this reason, the Shepherds prefer to fight alone. This isn’t an issue, as many of the other forces of Order and even other stormcasts avoid the Broken. Many stormcast look down at the Broken, some out of pity, some out of a sense of superiority. For many, the Broken are a grim reminder of the cost of their immortality. Others just see them as weaklings, unable to burden the responsibility that comes with being the chosen of Sigmar. 

Lord Celestant Thoruhn The Shepherd

At the front of the Broken stands their fearless leader, their guiding light, Lord-celestant Thoruhn The Shepherd, Lord Of Stone, Guiding Light, Hammer of Brysdol. Thoruhn was the original Shepherd, first to take the mantle as the leader of the Broken. Thoruhn used to be a well respected military leader within the Hammers of Sigmar, until one day he broke a sacred vow, after which he chose to become one of the Broken as a form of punishment. At first, he did nothing more than wander the desolate halls of Soulquarry, like all the Broken used to do. But over time, he began to see potential within the ranks of stone. Mostly, they were a shambling mess, incoherent, dangerous but every now and then, a glimpse of their former selves shone through and Thoruhn saw what was buried beneath. For a long time, he had been one of the many that saw the Broken as nothing more than weaklings and cowards, but a certain event finally made him realise that they were his kin. His brothers and sisters, his fellow stormcast, discarded by their own kind for being unable to bear the immense burden placed upon them. He finally realised he had been wrong all along. They were no animals, no traitors, they were lost souls, who needed help, not solitude. And so he started to speak too them, treating them as equals, not as broken tools. And ever so slowly, the Broken started to talk back. Not many coherent things, no deep conversations, but small things. A simple thanks, a hi, a yes sir. And that was all Thoruhn needed. He had come to realise that this is what he had needed, this had been his destiny. Over time, Thoruhn managed to get the Broken in line, start doing simple things. Stand guard, march to a spot, defend against an attack. Over time, Thoruhn had done the impossible, he had given the Broken a spark of hope, a touch of kindness and in return they have given everything their broken minds can gather. They follow his every word and he is the only voice that can calm any raging Broken. His sheer presence can cause nearby Broken to gather themselves and stand straight. They’d die for him, over and over again, sacrificing what little remains of themselves if it meant Thoruhn can remain whole a little longer. In return, Thoruhn would fight the gods themselves to protect the Broken. To him, they are his kin, his true allies, his real friends.

At the battle of Brysdol, Thoruhn had his first chance to show his fellow stormcast how wrong they’d been for discarding their fellow warriors of Sigmar. Right at the center of the small town of Brysdol, a massive gate right into the realm of chaos had erupted, from which endless tides of the servants of nurgle had started to pour. In no time, the whole town and the surrounding area had become a vile land of disease and rot. Whilst his fellow Stormcast failed to wither the incoming storm, Thoruhn came riding atop his bronzen Dracoth, followed by the raging legions of the Broken. The soldiers of stone followed their leader into the heart of infected wasteland, their stone bodies eroding away because of the sheer amount of vile chaos magic. But their shattered minds cared not, they needed no coherent thought, they needed no orders. They had but one thing on their mind, destroy this chaos, and so they did. Where their so-called ‘superior’ brothers had failed, the almost animalistic Broken had prevailed, smashing through the ranks of the Nurgle daemons with an unbridled rage. Thoruhn led the charge himself, right to the realmgate, his flesh boiling from the various magical diseases he had contracted. But with his newfound kin at his side, he shut the gate to the realm of Chaos, before succumbing to his wounds, his soul shooting back to Azyr. Once the Lord-Celestant was reforged once more, he ignored the stormcast who tried to thank him, question him, recruit him. Instead, he rode right back out to the now desolate village of Brysdol and collected what remained of the Broken and led them back to their home. As the tales of his heroic act began to spread, there were stormcast who now wished to voluntarily join Thoruhn, and so the Shepherds were formed. Stormcast who choose to help their kin in need, leading their discarded brothers and sisters into battle against chaos. These days, it’s said Thoruhn is actively searching for a way to repair the damage caused by reforging, or at least find a way to minimise the cost of their immortality. Not for his own sake, but for that of the Broken, so they can be repaired again, be made whole again. So they can be the heroes they once were again.