Wolf Riders

In days of yore, long before the sundering of the Khazalid empire, the lands now ruled by the Kol-Dawi were home to great tribes of nomadic hobgrots. Under the vast open sky, bands of greenskins roamed from horizon to horizon, sometimes tending to their herds, sometimes raiding the towns and cities of their settled neighbours. These tribesfolk very rarely stood upon the ground, preferring a life on the back of their giant wolf mounts or sheltered in great wagon tents of fur and bone.

The power of the hobgrot khagans lay in the speed of their mounts and their skill with the bow. In the time it would take a legion of men to march from city to city, the khaganate wolf riders could run rings around them, picking off the weakest by day and sewing terror through their camps under the cover of darkness, trailing burning brands in each hand. Their mounts loped well across empty plane and rocky crag, with each wolf bonded with their rider from a pup. While their light sinewy bows were no match for the master works of the aelves, they could loose three arrows for every one of the aelves', and from the bounding gait of a wolf no less. Under this relentless storm of bone-tipped arrows, even the strongest foes would wither and succumb.

The days of the power of the khagans are long gone, however. Their wars against the Kol-Dawi broke the tribes, for even the swiftest arrow could not breach the granite walls of a ziggurat, and the enslaved fire daemons of the duardin burned grots and wolves alike. The Great Khagan, Guluk, capitulated to the duardin after a long and brutal conflict, swearing his tribes to the service of the Kol-Dawi for all time. The duardin, cruel in victory, made all but a select few slay their mounts to ensure compliance. Now, only those grots who have proved their loyalty without question are permitted to find wolves to ride. Their effectiveness is a mere shadow of the riders of the khaganate of old, but they remain a useful tool, ranging ahead of the main force of duardin and grots, poking and prying at weak points and vulnerabilities in those who would stand against the Kol-Dawi.