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Iron KIngdoms Unleashed: sKorne empIre

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PresidentSherry Yeary

Chief Creative OfficerMatthew D. Wilson

Creative DirectorEd Bourelle

Unleashed Game DesignJason SolesMatthew D. Wilson

Unleashed Lead DesignerJason Soles

Skorne Empire DevelopmentMatt Goetz

Additional DevelopmentWilliam Schoonover

Writing & Continuity ManagerDouglas Seacat

Additional ContinuityJason Soles

WritingMatt GoetzDouglas SeacatJason Soles

Additional WritingSimon BermanCraig CampbellDaniel MarthalerZachary C. Parker

RPG ProducerMatt Goetz

Editorial & Writing ManagerDarla Kennerud

EditingMichele CarterDan HendersonChet Zeshonski

Graphic Design DirectorLaine Garrett

Graphic DesignRichard AndersonShona FahlandMatt FerbracheJosh Manderville

Art DirectorMichael Vaillancourt

Cover ArtNéstor Ossandón

IllustratorsCarlos CabreraMarco CaradonaAlberto Dal LagoEric Deschamps Marius GandzelRyan GitterJason JutaMathias KollrosNéstor OssandónMichael PhillippiDevin PlattsKarl RichardsonBram SelsBrian Snoddy

Keith ThompsonRuk TramutaAndrea UderzoChris WaltonMatthew D. Wilson

PlaytestersCraig BishellAdam BollBruce BollDavid BollNicholas DodwellTom DonnellyDaniel GracesRichard GradyHeming HopkinsMark LemmonLucas LivramentoTravis MargStephen PoddLucas Smith

Senior Project ManagerShona Fahland

Licensing & Contract ManagerBrent Waldher

ProofreadersGeoff KonkelLyle LoweryMichael G. RyanMichael SanbegWilliam Shick

Credits

Visit: www.privateerpress.comPresident: Sherry Yeary • Chief Creative Officer: Matthew D. Wilson • Creative Director: Ed Bourelle • Director of Business Development: William Shick • Project Director: Bryan Cutler • Director of Operations: Jason Martin • Director of Publications: Michael G. Ryan

Privateer Press, Inc. • 1705 136th Pl. NE, Ste. 120 • Bellevue, WA 98005 • Tel (425) 643-5900 • Fax (425) 643-5902

For online customer service, email frontdesk@privateerpress.comThis book is printed under the copyright laws of the United States of America and retains all of the protections thereof. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks herein including Privateer Press®, Iron Kingdoms®, Full Metal Fantasy, Immoren, WARMACHINE®, Convergence of Cyriss®, Convergence, Cryx, Cygnar, Khador, Protectorate of Menoth, Protectorate, Retribution of Scyrah, Retribution, warcaster®, warjack®, HORDES®, Trollbloods, Trollblood, Circle Orboros, Circle, Legion of Everblight, Legion, Skorne, warbeast, and all associated logos are property of Privateer Press, Inc. This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is purely coincidental. No part of this publication may be stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form without written permission from Privateer Press. Duplicating any portion of the materials herein, unless specifically addressed within the work or by written permission from Privateer Press, is strictly prohibited. In the event that permissions are granted, such duplications shall be intended solely for personal, noncommercial use and must maintain all copyrights, trademarks, or other notices contained therein or preserve all marks associated therewith. Product information is subject to change. Paingivers prefer to practice their technique on copyright violators. For a first-hand experience of trial and error at its most agonizing, steal from us.

First printing: June 2015. Printed in the U.S.

Iron Kingdoms Unleashed: Skorne Empire . . . . . . . . . ISBN: 978-1-939480-67-5 . . . . .PIP 419

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table of ContentsThE SkORnE EMPIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25The Tors of the Skorne Empire . . . . . . . 31

ChARACTERS, GEAR, AnD ChyMISTRy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Playing Skorne Characters . . . . . . . . . . 41Skorne Castes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43New Careers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Skorne Adventuring Companies . . . . . 60New Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62New Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67New Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68New Arms and Equipment . . . . . . . . . . 70Chymistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

SkORnE MAGIC AnD WARbEASTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Mortitheurgy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Extollers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Skorne Warlocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Spell Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Spell Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91The Extoller Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Skorne Warbeasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

CREATURES Of EASTERn IMMOREn . . . . . . . . . . . 119

GAME MASTERInG . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Unleashing the Skorne . . . . . . . . . . . .151Playing a Skorne Campaign . . . . . . . .152

Iron Kingdoms Unleashed introduced players to the untamed and dangerous wildernesses of western Immoren and the uncivilized races that inhabit them. Now, players can cross the Bloodstone Desert and seemingly bottomless Abyss to eastern Immoren, the treacherous wasteland home of the skorne race and seat of their sprawling empire.

The expanse dominated by the Skorne Empire is larger than the nations of Cygnar, Ord, and Llael combined, and their military has an ancient heritage of discipline and might. This great eastern power has set its sights on the rich lands of the west and crossed the Bloodstone Desert to conquer and subjugate her people.

With Iron Kingdoms Unleashed: Skorne Empire, prepare to explore the eastern empire in depth. This book provides detailed information on the history and culture of the skorne, the harsh world that shaped them, and the cities they have built. Skorne Empire gives players an unprecedented glimpse into the unique culture of the east and the opportunity to take on the role of the skorne.

Enhance your Iron Kingdoms Unleashed experience with all-new content. Skorne Empire contains a treasure trove of options for both player characters and antagonists, including new races, careers, abilities, spells, adventuring companies, gear, warbeasts, and more. Play entire campaigns in the arid lands of the Skorne Empire, join the Army of the Western Reaches as it strikes ever deeper into the heart of the west, or face off against the military might of the invading skorne and defend your home from conquest and bondage at the hands of their armies.

With this book in hand, you stand ready to lead your own invasion on the Iron Kingdoms. Wield the traditional weapons of your caste and command a cohort of brave warriors to strike against the west. Will you achieve glory in battle and join the hallowed ranks of your exalted ancestors? Adhere to the warrior code of hoksune, fight for the glory of your house, and perhaps the extollers will deem you worthy.

Conquer. enslave. exalt.

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the skorne empire

Beyond the harsh and unforgiving expanse of the Bloodstone Desert lies a savage world of strange beasts and perilous lands utterly unlike the Iron Kingdoms. Divided from the west for millennia by a chasm that cracks the continent in two and the tempestuous Stormlands, eastern Immoren is a blasted, dangerous realm where only the strong survive.

Shaped by a cataclysm that split Immoren in half, eastern Immoren has always been a difficult land of barren expanses and desolate wastes. The arcane apocalypse brought on by the elves in the Time of the Burning Sky only intensified the dangers of the east, shaping the lands through storm and fire. The weak perished, while the powerful and ruthless thrived. A new landscape formed over many centuries of struggle and battle, creating an exotic region filled with menace and mystery.

From this place rose the skorne, a race of hardened survivors with a seemingly limitless appetite for conquest. When these brutal inhabitants of eastern Immoren learned of other nations across the great divide of the world, they made the perilous trek west. Emerging from the blasted expanse of the Bloodstone Desert, the warriors of the east fell upon the Iron Kingdoms like predators upon unsuspecting prey. Within three years the skorne army had carved out permanent fortifications on the western side of the chasm and could launch relentless assaults against the borders of the kingdoms of men.

The warriors of this army do not fight simply for conquest, but in the hope of earning immortality through great deeds. Skorne have no gods to protect them in death, believing their spirits fall into a never-ending torment in the Void instead of finding peace or rest. Most skorne accept this outcome as their likely fate, but some aspire to a greater destiny and strive to earn exaltation, or the preservation of their spirit in a sacral stone. Those warriors deemed worthy of this honor become the revered ancestor spirits of the skorne, glorious champions preserved and shielded from the torments of the Void.

The incursion of the skorne represents an invasion of western Immoren on a scale not seen since the landing of the Orgoth. Their militaristic society—with its prowess in battle, formidable numbers, and focus on conquest—is inimical to the survival of every race in western Immoren. Their goal is nothing less than the utter subjugation of the west, bringing its peoples into the Skorne Empire. Those who resist will be slaughtered in glorious battle; those who capitulate will be added to the ranks of slaves in servitude to the conquerors.

Skorne have been the dominant inhabitants of eastern Immoren for thousands of years. They came to prominence after the destruction of Lyoss in 4000 BR forced the surviving elves to flee into the west and settle in the kingdom of Ios. Skorne

occupy a similar niche in eastern Immoren as humans in the west, and recent events have brought both sides of the continent together in a violent clash.

Before the arrival of the former king of Cygnar, Vinter Raelthorne IV, the skorne lived as a fractured, feudal society consumed by inter-house warfare. The Conqueror used great strength of arms and charisma to convince skorne leaders he was one of their greatest ancestors born once again in living flesh. Known as the Reborn, Vinter used his martial skill to bend the legends of the skorne to his own designs. Entire armies swore fealty to him as he marched toward the great skorne city of Halaak, and the Conqueror built the Skorne Empire upon those who bent the knee to him.

Though Vinter’s reign was brief, he instituted sweeping changes to skorne society, particularly in regard to its organization, castes, and approach to warfare. The impact of Vinter’s reign was enormous. He transformed the skorne from a nation of feuding houses into a unified empire. By requiring skorne houses to support the Army of the Western Reaches and consolidating warriors into new houses, he forged a realm united in the thirst for conquest. Vinter planted the idea of plundering the untapped wealth in the west, since before his arrival the skorne were ignorant of anything beyond the Stormlands.

The Conqueror’s reign came to an end at the hands of Makeda of House Balaash. After discovering Vinter’s ultimate plan to use the skorne only as a weapon and means of reclaiming the Cygnaran throne, Makeda led the Army of the Western Reaches to besiege Vinter’s Abyssal Fortress and unseat him. In the end Makeda succeeded, but not before Vinter slew many skilled tyrants loyal to her. Makeda could have returned to the east and dissolved the empire, but she chose to stay and remake Vinter’s vision into a truly skorne image.

The new Supreme Archdomina Makeda of House Balaash has taken the reins of the empire. Makeda has a deep reverence for tradition, but she retained the governing reforms instituted by the Conqueror that helped create a single united empire. In particular, she preserved the infrastructure that facilitates the smooth functioning of her vast army. Conquest of the west remains the highest priority for the new leader of the Skorne Empire.

Nothing unifies a people more than war against an external enemy, particularly a people who view battle as a sacred necessity. The skorne see the value in putting aside their internal difficulties to focus on external conquest. Houses stake their fortunes on expanding the empire to gain new and fertile lands on foreign soil. Warriors strive to earn the honor of exaltation and stand among the paragons whose souls the extollers preserve past death.

One decade cannot erase thousands of years of history. The arrival of the Conqueror changed the focus and organization

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