Nihilator
Nihilators are members of a skorne ascetic cult whose roots lie in the earliest days of skorne society. These warriors are obsessed with the pursuit of exaltation, seeking out the most violent deaths against the most impossible odds in order to gain the attention of the extollers. They are among the most fanatical and savage of the skorne and hope only for a sufficiently illustrious death.[1]
History
The nihilator cult was founded by Xaavaax the Flayed, one of Morkaash’s premier students. After Morkaash’s death, Xaavaax and a small group of adherents went into the Shroudfall Mountains to test the limits of mortification. Several of his followers soon died, but the survivors returned with a frightening zeal and the cult steadily grew in the harsh perimeter of skorne civilisation.[1][2]
Characteristics
The nihilator cult enacts rituals that are a radical reinterpretation of Morkaash’s teachings about enlightenment through suffering mixed with the code of hoksune outlined by Vuxoris. Whereas paingivers learn anatomy for excruciation of enemies and warbeasts, nihilators seek to transcend their physical limits by excruciating their own bodies. Nihilators begin their all-consuming path by a ritual requiring the scarring of their flesh. They use these self-inflicted agonies to achieve a waking meditative state that allows them to ignore even the most crippling injuries. In battle they enter a blood frenzy as they pursue glorious death in the hopes of earning exaltation, since all nihilators view themselves as warriors regardless of caste.[1][2]