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It is said that Behedesh, King of Zandri, claimed to have
invented this type of catapult and ordered them to be constructed.
He used these in his many wars and had them mounted on his
numerous war galleys, which gave him domination of the great
River Mortis during his mortal lifetime. When he had extended
his rule along the western bank of the river, but had yet
to subdue the kings and rebels encamped on the eastern bank,
he gathered a great many catapults together and hurled over
the skulls of his decapitated enemies who had been captured
in earlier battles. This demoralised his opponents and caused
their army to lose heart when the final onslaught came. The
king wished to repeat this tactic again against other, more
redoubtable enemies. Therefore he instructed the priests to
devise a spell to be written on the skulls of decapitated
rebels in hieroglyphic signs that would make the enemy tremble
with fear. This the priests demonstrated to the king. They
enchanted the skulls so that they screamed hideously as they
were hurled through the air – it was the very death scream
of the rebel at his moment of execution. The skulls were also
daubed in resins that burst into eerie, ethereal flames as
they flew. The king was indeed impressed and decreed that
henceforth the heads of all rebels would be reserved for these
catapults.
When the king was approaching death, he gave instructions
that the catapults should be entombed as an essential part
of his necropolis army, since they had brought him more than
one victory in life and he expected them to do so again beyond
death. The successors of Behedesh followed his example. Centuries
later, other kings who extended their rule over Zandri ransacked
the necropolis and found the burial pits containing the catapults.
These were looted and taken away for reburial in other necropoli,
together with scrolls containing incantations of awakening
and hieroglyphs of enchantment to be inscribed on the skulls.
A Screaming Skull Catapult may be added to your Tomb Kings
army as a Rare choice.
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